I’ve noticed that when I kill certain world bosses, I don’t receive any loot — even on what should be my first kill.
Here’s what I’ve experienced:
Back when I fought Mists of Pandaria world bosses, I didn’t receive any loot. I can’t recall if those granted first-kill achievements at the time.
More recently, I defeated Warlords of Draenor world bosses and did get first-kill achievements — but again, no loot and nothing sent to my mailbox.
I understand that world bosses have weekly lockouts and repeat kills don’t grant loot, but these were first-time kills, so I should’ve received something.
Is this expected behavior for higher-level characters under legacy loot rules, or might this be a bug?
I took a look at the official patch notes and also checked the undocumented changes page, but I didn’t see anything regarding world boss loot or first-time kills. Could you clarify what specifically changed in 11.1? Maybe I missed something.
Just to note, the issue I saw with Warlords of Draenor bosses is similar to what I experienced with Mists of Pandaria world bosses — those were well before 11.1, yet I still didn’t receive loot on first-time kills.
I’m mainly trying to understand if this missing loot is intended under the current system, or if it could be a bug.
All pre-11.1 world bosses (IE: everything from MoP until the TWW S1), just gave you RNG chance of loot on kill. At best, it uses the raid drop rate, which means the drop rate is terrible.
Starting with Undermine, the world boss is guaranteed to give you 1 war bound item, for the first kill of the week on your account.
I want to clarify a few things based on how the system actually works:
Loot from world bosses is always guaranteed. If it can’t go directly into your inventory, it will be sent via mailbox. What is not guaranteed is the specific item you receive — that’s where RNG comes into play.
Patch 11.1 only changed loot for the new world boss, Undermine (The Gobfather), guaranteeing one warbound-until-equipped item on the first weekly kill. Older world bosses (MoP, WOD, early BfA) still follow the original RNG system for item content.
So when you say pre-11.1 bosses “just gave RNG chance of loot” as a fact, I’m confused. The system never worked by giving nothing on first-time kills. Community reports of missing loot may reflect a bug or unusual RNG outcomes, but it isn’t an intended feature.
Could you clarify whether you’re referencing an official Blizzard source, or if this is based on personal experience or community observation?
It may have worked that way before MoP (before push personal existed), but once world bosses swapped to some version of personal, it’s just RNG for each player.
I’m trying to understand the mechanics for older world bosses (MoP → TWW S1). I haven’t seen any official Blizzard documentation confirming that first-time kills could drop nothing at all.
Could you share links or sources that show how loot for these older bosses actually worked? If not, that’s exactly why I posted this in the Bug Report forum — to investigate whether missing loot on first-time kills is actually a bug. I want to clarify whether this is intended or a genuine issue, rather than relying on personal observation or assumptions.
Edit: After reviewing available Blizzard documentation and patch notes, there is no official statement confirming that older world bosses (from MoP through TWW S1) could drop no loot at all. Blizzard’s official stance has been that loot from world bosses is always guaranteed; if it cannot be delivered directly to your inventory, it will be sent via your mailbox.
Even for solo players, the old system would still guarantee a drop — the only RNG was in what item you received, not whether you got something at all. This further suggests that experiencing no loot on a first-time kill may indicate a bug, rather than intended behavior.
This is exactly why I posted this in the Bug Report forum. Experiencing missing loot on first-time kills is not normal behavior, even if it’s something you’ve seen before — which might be why it feels like it’s “working as intended.”
I remember doing MoP raids in LFR and occasionally not getting certain items, but under legacy loot rules, you always received something. That’s the key difference: legacy loot rules guarantee a drop, even if the specific item is determined by RNG.
I’m trying to clarify whether this is intended or an actual bug, rather than relying on personal observation or assumptions.
Thanks for clarifying the distinction regarding legacy loot rules. I understand that legacy loot only applies to instances, and world bosses being open-world encounters operate under a different system.
That said, the behavior I’m reporting — literally receiving no loot on a first-time world boss kill — isn’t documented anywhere as intended. Even under the open-world RNG system, loot is expected to drop for the player, with RNG only affecting the specific item, not whether anything drops at all.
This is exactly why I posted this in the Bug Report forum: to get official clarification from Blizzard on whether missing loot on first-time kills is intended or if it’s a bug. Until Blizzard confirms, it’s difficult to interpret this behavior as “working as intended.”
I understand that Bug Reports are mostly one-way communication, and that you don’t expect a reply.
My goal isn’t to argue about the mechanics, but to report an observed issue: receiving no loot on first-time world boss kills. Whether it’s intended or a bug, only Blizzard can confirm.
Submitting the report is the appropriate way to have this behavior officially reviewed, and until Blizzard clarifies, it’s not possible to definitively say that this is “working as intended.”
You’re stating that QA will automatically flag this as not a bug. That’s purely your assumption — we won’t know how Blizzard handles this until they actually review the report.
Blizzard has replied in the Bug Report forum before when additional information was needed, when a bug was confirmed, or to clarify whether a behavior was intended. The absence of a public response does not confirm that missing loot on first-time world boss kills is “working as intended.”
This post is reporting observed behavior; only Blizzard can confirm whether it’s intended or a bug. Speculating about internal QA decisions doesn’t provide clarity.
This has been intended behavior for 10+ years. World bosses do not give loot on your first kill. With the changes to be Personal Loot, World Bosses have a chance to give loot like any current content boss because they do not enable legacy loot rules in open world. This behavior was changed in 11.1 when they made your first kill on Gobfather each week give guaranteed loot. This continued into 11.2. They did not go back and enable this behavior for previous bosses and expansions. This can be observed with the 11.0 world bosses for example.
I understand that’s the general understanding among players, but I haven’t seen any official Blizzard documentation confirming that “no loot on first kill” for older world bosses is intended behavior. Patch 11.1 specifically addressed the new system for Gobfather and beyond — it didn’t mention retroactive changes to older bosses.
That’s why I’m raising it here: to confirm whether the missing loot on first-time kills is actually intended or a long-standing oversight that’s gone unreviewed.
Exactly. And as you said, it was a new system. Meaning it didn’t exist before. Meaning the behavior wasn’t there before. You’re not “missing loot,” you’re just not getting any. If it was a long-standing oversight, it’s a 20-year oversight that no one in the history of the game except you thought about.
I get where you’re coming from, but that’s exactly why I brought this up — because Blizzard has changed and clarified legacy behaviors before once players brought attention to them.
The idea that it’s “always been that way” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s intended, just that it’s never been reviewed. Blizzard has retroactively fixed long-standing inconsistencies plenty of times after similar reports.
That’s why I’d rather wait for official confirmation from Blizzard than rely on assumptions, no matter how long they’ve gone unchallenged.