The Best Way to Find a Guild in WoW

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Human Made

Having learned how to play video games before he could walk or read, Jeffrey is a gaming zealot. With a fixation on efficiency and details, he'll d... Read more

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

Few things keep players around longer than the bonds they form with their guildmates. A cornerstone of MMOs, guilds are a definitive part of WoW, giving players a community to call their own and rely on for help.

But finding the right guild can be a struggle. With potentially hundreds to choose from on your server cluster, each advertising themselves as the perfect one for you, it can be somewhat overwhelming or feel like a waste of time. So with that in mind, we’ll be going over how to find a guild in WoW: Shadowlands.

Why You Should Find a Guild

Frankly, you might be questioning if being a part of a guild is worth it. There are multiple benefits that spring to mind, namely the socializing aspect. However, we’ll start with the most tangible immediate ones: extra passive abilities.

Passive Bonuses

There are three notable passive perks that benefit you even if you’re a solo player and are simply a part of the guild for those benefits. These perks are available upon joining a guild immediately.

1. Mount Up. Your mount speed will be 10% faster at all times outside of battlegrounds and arena.

This is frankly the single biggest reason for being in a guild at all times, as cutting down on travel time is invaluable.

2. Hasty Hearth. Reduce your hearthstone cooldown by 15 minutes.

I’ve had this ability for so long that I can’t actually imagine what it’s like to play the game without it. Being forced to wait the default thirty minutes for the hearthstone’s cooldown to reset is unimaginable in modern WoW.

3. The Quick and the Dead. Move 10% faster while dead and resurrect with 50% more health while outside combat, battlegrounds, and arenas.

You’ll find yourself dead fairly often in this game. That’s just how it goes. Getting back quicker means actually playing the game more, so this is free real estate.

There are two other gameplay-affecting abilities, but they’re more reliant upon you interacting with your guild. These are also available immediately on joining a guild.

You receive Guild Mail, making your in-game mail to guild members be instant (as opposed to having to wait an hour for it to arrive). This passive is quite nice when you need something out in the world and guild member is willing to help you out by sending it to you.

Finally, you have Mobile Banking, letting you summon a chest to access your guild’s bank once every hour. If your guild bank is well-maintained, you can often grab useful consumables and the occasional utility item when you forget it out in the world.

Socializing and Consistent Allies

WoW Socializing — *Image: Blizzard Entertainment*

The nature of an MMO is interacting with other players. By being in a guild, you immediately have common ground with the other players in it.

Typically, most players form the closest friendships in the game with their guildmates. Personally, I’ve made connections with some of my guild members that have lasted for over twelve years. There are periods where the game simply feels boring and repetitive, but the interactions with your guildmates can tremendously help break the monotony.

You’ll also usually be running most group content such as raids and mythic+ dungeons with your guild members, especially if you want a consistent team of players doing the content. People are naturally more willing to help out players that already belong to their own group (thanks primitive lizard brain psychology!), so joining a guild helps out tremendously in finding party members.

What To Look For in a Guild

With the sheer amount and different types of guilds out there, it’s important to know exactly what it is you’re looking for before committing to one. The biggest factors you should take into account are the size of the guild, what type of content they organize to do, the general skill level of its players, and what the guild expects from you.

But before we dive into the details of what to expect, we’ll go over an app that every serious WoW player should have — Discord.

Discord

If you haven’t heard of it, then know that Discord is currently the go-to communication app for gamers everywhere (no, this message is not sponsored). It’s a free third-party app, similar to Slack or Skype, designed to allow gamers to easily hop into voice channels to talk to one another, share information about games/strategies, and just generally hang out and keep up with each other.

You can easily set up multiple channels for different topics, post images/gifs/videos without any hassle, and keep all communication and information in one centralized area with easy access.

Frankly put, if you’re not using Discord, then you’re not remotely serious about learning how to find a guild in WoW. Many players will hang out in their guild’s Discord server and communicate there instead of typing in the in-game guild chat.

It is considered absolutely essential for any end-game content in WoW, as voice communication trumps typing out callouts and strategies every time.

It’s 2022. You can afford to buy a simple headset with a mic to help you communicate like a real person.

Guild Size

Each guild can have up to a maximum amount of 1000 unique toons in it. Most players will have multiple toons in their main guild and may skew the perception of how large it truly is. However, it’s safe to assume that larger guilds have more unique players in them.

While having more players online means an easier time finding others to do content together, it can reach the point where you don’t really get to know anyone well. Especially if you can’t keep track of which toons/alts belong to which player.

Typically, most mega-sized guilds are just incredibly casual chit-chatting rooms that invite anyone with a pulse. Most players who are a part of these guilds are usually using them for the passive perks, and the experience as a whole really doesn’t reflect what being part of a guild is like.

Conversely, you don’t want to be in a guild that’s too tiny, as no one will ever be online or have the numbers needed to do any group content.

If you’re looking to actually be involved with a guild, we recommend looking for a medium-sized guild, ranging from around 100–300 players. They’ll typically have 8–20 unique players on at a given time that are ready for organized content, and you’ll actually get opportunities to know the members pretty well.

Type of Content

WoW Guild Battle — *Image: Blizzard Entertainment*

A guild will usually have a type of content it focuses on for group activities. A majority of guilds focus on the PvE scene, trying to gather up enough members to attempt raids and occasionally put together mythic+ dungeon groups. Other guilds focus on the PvP scene, with an emphasis on going around world PvPing or putting together a rated battleground team if the stars align.

As mentioned earlier in the article, leveling guilds are usually just temporary homes for players interested in the passive bonuses. Unsurprisingly, roleplaying guilds are almost exclusively isolated to the roleplaying servers.

Social guilds tend to dabble in all sorts of content, so if you’re looking to just give everything a try, they tend to be quite good. Just don’t expect to put together a team for most end game content.

Some guilds advertise as doing everything, but it’s rather rare for them to actually live up to that statement. It’s inevitable that they end up focusing on one type of content, as doing organized PvE and PvP content takes up too much time for most players and requires very different mindsets.

Skill Level

There are a lot of players out there, each with their own skill level and understanding of the game. If you really want to enjoy the game together with your guildmates, it’s in your best interest to find one on the same skill level as you.

Few things are as frustrating as not being able to do the content you want to do, because everyone in your guild is far better or worse than you. Being able to tackle challenges together and knowing that everyone is pulling their weight makes failures more bearable and victories more satisfying.

Don’t be afraid to do content with a guild as trial period to see how they play and if they’re a good match for you. If not, you can decide to stick around and teach people or ask for help in improving your own gameplay. Otherwise, keep looking for a guild that matches up with how you play.

This is especially common when considering guilds that do the highest tier of endgame content like mythic raiding. At that point, everyone has to be playing at their best. Underperforming will result in you being benched. The PvP equivalent would be 2000+ rating battlegrounds or arenas.

Guild Expectations

Guild Hall — *Image: Blizzard Entertainment via HGG*

If you’re serious about learning how to find a guild in WoW, it’s critical that you know what the guild expects of you. This ranges from contributions towards guild events to knowing what social norms are acceptable. If you can’t live up to these expectations, expect your stay in the guild to be a short one.

When we say contributions, we’re usually referring to time. Say the guild has a raid scheduled and you’ve signed up for it — you better be able to make it consistently and reliably. Maybe you’ve been grabbing materials from the guild bank non-stop for professions. Contribute either good or finished goods to other guild members. If your guild requires you to have an add-on to prevent failing on a fight, you better get that add-on.

It’s all these little things that add up. Contributing means helping out where you can to make sure the guild is successful. Do what you’re good at, and don’t take the contribution from others for granted.

Most importantly, respect the rules of your guild. If there’s a rule saying no political discussion, don’t be an absolute troglodyte and go bringing up massive political debates in the main channel. Obviously, you’ll get a better understanding of social nuances and what’s allowed the more you interact with your guild, so focus on building up those relations.

And hey, even if you decide that you’re better off in another guild, there’s no reason to burn bridges with your current one. Thank them for the experience and memories and keep channels open to them. It’s not an uncommon sight to see guilds merge after players from both of them team up for various challenges.

How To Find a Guild in WoW: The Search

Now that we’ve covered what you should expect from a guild, let’s jump into the WoW guild search itself. The simplest and default way for joining a guild is to apply via the in-game guild finder tab.

1. Guild Finder

First on our list of how to find a guild in WoW? The guild search, of course!

By default, you can access it by hitting ‘J’ or clicking on the Guilds and Communities button in the bottom right of the game.

From here, you can hit the ‘Search’ button and simply scroll through all the available guilds on your server cluster. However, we recommend setting up some search filters, mostly based on type of content you’re interested in. You can thankfully select multiple options, choose what sized guild you’re interested in, and declare what roles you’re interested in for your class.

Once you decide on a guild/multiple guilds to apply to, simply wait for an officer from that guild to accept your application. You can accept the invite at any point, so don’t worry about missing it by accident.

Do note that you can only be in one guild at a time on a toon. If you want to leave your current guild, just type in “/gquit” without the quotation marks.

2. Trade Chat

It’s not an uncommon sight to see people advertising their guild in trade chat (or general chat in zones). These guilds are usually looking for specific type of people to fill their roster for endgame content. If it happens to match up with what you can do and are looking for, we recommend reaching out to the advertiser.

As a heads up, these types of guilds tend to run trail periods on recruits to see if you live up to their standards/requirements.

Otherwise, you normally see smaller guilds advertising as doing everything and are desperately trying to get enough people to even be considered a real guild. We recommend avoiding these. They tend to go nowhere with no real concrete goal.

3. Networking

Warcraft Logs — *Image: Blizzard Entertainment via HGG*

Personally, I’ve found the best way to find a guild in WoW is to join up with random players doing higher-tiered endgame content and network with them. They’ll probably be on the guild Discord server, and it gives you an opportunity to actually speak with them. Good guilds are constantly on the lookout for talent, and if you can prove yourself to them and mesh with their personalities, you’ve probably found a new home.

Otherwise, make friends with players who clearly know what they’re doing in game. Even if you’re not that great of a player, they’ll be more than likely willing to help you out and introduce you to their guild.

If nothing else, it gives you backup options if you decide your current guild isn’t working out for you.

Alternatively, you use external websites to look for a guild. If you go down this route, you’re probably looking for a hardcore raiding guild and are willing to server transfer. Our recommended go-to site would be:

www.warcraftlogs.com

You’ll have to make an account on the website but it’s a fairly simple and painless process. Most players also end up linking their Blizzard Battle Net account to it, but that’s up to you.

4. Communities

If you’re looking for how to find a WoW guild with an active group of people for some niche activity (such as hunting rares in a specific zone), we recommend joining an in-game community.

Somewhat of an alternative to guilds, you can join as many communities at once on a toon. This is great for players who are satisfied with their guild but want access to other channels for grouping up. Besides rares, the most prominent communities are those consisting of players looking for arena partners or individuals interested in forming rated battleground teams.

The interface is identical to the Guild Finder tab and is accessed by simply scrolling down a bit further on the left side of the same tab. You can find most communities by simply typing in the keyword associated with what you want in the search bar. Common keywords are things like ‘rare,’ ‘arena,’ ‘achievement,’ etc.

Become a High Grounder

And that’s it for our guide on how to find a guild in WoW: Shadowlands. We hope it’s been helpful — if you have any other suggestions, leave them below in the comments! Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter for more content like this.

Happy gaming!