After 3+ years of being Live, finding a group, especially at the lower and mid-tiers, can be a challenging task. It helps if you are one of the two sought-after archetypes, a fighter or a priest, but what if you aren’t? (And most of us aren’t.)
Well, there is one sure-fire way to get the group you want in the time you have. Start your own!
When starting your own group, there are a couple key things to keep in mind:
- Make sure you have the required pairing: a tank; a healer. Tanks are standard: Guardians, Berserkers, Paladins, Shadowknights, Monks, Bruisers. Healers are standard: Templar, Inquisitor, Warden, Fury, Mystic, Defiler.
- Support your group with adequate DPS. It’s a common mistake to build a group with whatever is available. While most dungeons are certainly do-able with almost any mix, it will help speed things along and keep you alive if you have at least 3 solid DPS classes in your group. If you feel confident in your healer, go with 4.
- Don’t despair over the “perfect” group make-up. Until you reach tier 8, you won’t usually have the luxury to spend an hour waiting for that elusive Defiler to log in, or that rare Coercer. Go with what is available to you, and work it out as you need.
Using the Channels
There are a couple things you can do to help speed the process of putting a group together.
1. Go to the zone you will be working in BEFORE you start recruiting. Right off the bat, if players see youa re inviting them TO that zone, they will be more likely to stick around, and more likely to hurry there. If, on the other hand, you invite players from Qeynos Harbor, they are more likely to dawdle, and some may even leave if the group doesn’t get underway fast enough. By inviting players directly to the zone you will be adventuring in, you’ve already put it in everyone’s head that you mean business.
2. Put up your LFM tag. This can be done from the advanced LFG window. Click on the Key icon in your group window, and you will be able to select the tab “Group Looking for More” from there. Fill in your info, check off what you need, and throw it up. Can’t hurt. And you never know who might be checking it.
3. Advertise in the appropriate level chats. If you are, say, going to Runnyeye, a level 33-41 zone — roughly — then you can safely advertise in the 30’s and 40’s channels. When you advertise, be sure to give the levle range your are looking for, and what types of classses you need i.e. healer, tank, DPS, utility, etc. If you already have your core group and are just looking to fill out, simply say something like “Any class” and you are almost guaranteed to get quick replies.
4. Use the LFG window. Many players put up their LFG tags but don’t consistently — or never — advertise in level chat. They may be busy working on quests, or they may have forgotten they were LFG, or you may have just formed your group when no one was advertising. Check the LFG window to see who you can invite. MAKE SURE to send a tell first! Sending a /tell not only is polite, it also informs the player you are inviting: who you are, your attitude, where you want to go, and what you need. You are more likely to get Accepted invites if you send a tell first.
If you take just a little bit of initiative, you can quickly put together the group you want, when you want it, and, as leader, you reserve the right to kick out any annoying players, too! 
Always a good perk!
I play on a german server, and at least there is another thing you may try when you miss a key class and no one if LFG. You can do a search for that class (or simply for “fighter” or “priest”) in the given level range without beeing LFG, and then look if someone is in a tradeskill instance or in a town. When you ask politely if he or she wants to group with you, you may get a positive answer. You should have already set your destination so you can ask for a specific zone or quest. You will get a lot of refusals, but in my experience people are always friendly. And it happens often enough to find the needed healer or tank this way. But you should look at the zone first. It doesn’t make sense to ask someone who is in Runnyeye and is not LFG.
Just came across you blog today and love it!
I just wanted to say, that I check the Groups LFM everytime I go LFG.
Thank you for making this a point, as I have spoken to a lot of players(mostly on Najena server) who just don’t use it. On Najena, most players don’t even advertise “XX Class LFG” in chat, they just sit waiting for someone to say in chat “Runnyeye Group LFM, DPS pref” etc.
Keep up the good work!