Can you farm dungeons for loot?

As seasoned MMO players know, actively farming dungeons for coveted loot drops has become a time-honored tradition. With developers embracing more generous loot systems and eliminating lockouts in many instanced dungeons, the opportunities abound to chain-run content for everything from incremental gear upgrades to ultra rare cosmetics with drop rates of less than 1%.

In this extensive guide, we will pull back the curtain on dungeon farming, synthesizing statistical insights and expert strategies so you can determine if the grind is right for you.

Why We Farm Dungeons

The psychology that motivates people to repeatedly farm dungeons often comes down to a combination of factors:

• Gambling-like dopamine rushes when valuable loot drops
• A sense of predictable advancement by targeting drop rates
• Peer recognition and prestige obtained from rare drops like mounts and titles

Additionally, with free-to-play models, dungeon farming enables advancement for non-paying players willing to put in the time investment. The ability to convert real world time into in-game power proves desirable.

Based on historical player data aggregated by sites like Warmind.io for Destiny 2, we can analyze playtime distribution to predict and quantify farming behavior. Across the entire player base, the top 5% of players account for over 50% of total playtime – so the people farming dungeons are committed!

Destiny 2‘s Farming Endgame

Bungie‘s continual improvements to Destiny 2 loot systems have made farming dungeons incredibly rewarding. As of Lightfall, all Legendary dungeon loot now drops fully unlocked for crafting and Deepsight extraction immediately. And when featured as the weekly pinnacle activity, dungeon exotic drop rates reach upwards of 30% chance through farming.

But which dungeons are most efficient to farm? Utilizing community-sourced data, we can compare the stat distributions:

So while Prophecy takes longer and has lower average drops, its Moon loot pool may be preferable for some players.

Utilizing third party apps like Destiny Item Manager to rapidly transfer loot allows for over 30 dungeon completions in an 8 hour farming session. This translates to 180-300 drops in a day when paired with optimized strategies.

WoW Mythic+ Farming Setup

In World of Warcraft, players have crafted specialized techniques over years of dungeon farming. The launch of the Mythic+ system introduced a scaling difficulty system with coveted loot in the Great Vault for completing higher keystone levels each week.

Though group composition varies by dungeon, here is an example setup used by high ranking teams to farm 20+ level keystones efficiently:

• Brewmaster Monk Tank: High mobility and effective damage smoothing via Stagger
• Resto Shaman Healer: Powerful group cooldowns like Spirit Link Totem
• Balance Druid DPS: Burst AOE and priority damage to crush trash packs
• Marksmanship Hunter DPS: Precision burst on demand to eliminate dangerous targets
• Fire Mage DPS: Unrivaled AOE potential to demolish large pulls

This setup prioritizes crushing large pulls then blowing up bosses rapidly with cooldown stacking. Tazavesh, one of the most lucrative farming dungeons, can be completed in under 15 minutes consistently by exceptional groups – leading to over 40 full clears in 8 hours.

Evaluating Your Effort vs. Rewards

However, before you drain your energy bars spamming dungeon runs, determining expected value based on drop rates and goals is prudent. An Exodus Black simulation for Destiny 2 demonstrates how even 600 dungeon completions can result in only a 50% chance at the coveted Exotic ship drop.

Likewise, analyze upgrading gear in incremental light levels against time invested. Unless targeting a high-end PVE or PVP activity with level requirements, incremental upgrades in the 1580-1590 range may not be worthwhile in the iterative Light leveling system.

Review the opportunity costs – if focusing on seasonal story content or PVP ranks, what is lost by spamming dungeons instead? Player data shows far fewer engage in extensive dungeon farming compared to consistent raiding or Crucible play. Determine what brings you satisfaction and pursue that, avoiding unhealthy burnout.

The Next Evolution of Dungeon Farming

While unfettered farming keeps engagement high among dedicated players, developers walk a tightrope of preserving game economy health. As seen in games like Lost Ark recently with rampant botting issues, aberrant play patterns can disrupt the schema of advancement they aim to foster.

As such, future dungeon design may introduce diminishing returns – tactfully slowing, but not removing, the ability to repeatedly farm by capping weekly rewards. Ultimately though, the playstyles to engage this content across the spectrum of time investments will live on as long as loot exists!

So rally your fireteam, optimize those group finder filters, and delve into the thrill of the dungeon farm my friends!