Need Before Greed
Need Before Greed describes a loot setting governing the distribution of loot in raids. When a boss is killed, party members see a window pop-up with multiple options to communicate your interest in the item and your ability to use it effectively. Those who choose the highest priority option will receive the item. If multiple people choose the same option, a number is randomly generated between 1 and 100 — the player who receives the highest number wins. The item, the player's chosen option, and their numerical 1-100 "roll" is displayed in the loot results window, accessible by /loot.
When using the window, mousing over the item's icon will display the item's characteristics, and holding ⇧ Shift will then compare it to what the player currently has equipped. The available options are as follows:
|
Need: This option is the highest priority above all others, and normally designates item is a potential upgrade. This option is disabled for players who are not the same armor type, or can't use it effectively. Continued abuse of this option will likely cause a player to be scorned as a ninja, and be removed from their group. |
|
Transmog: The second-most priority option, replacing greed to designate the player has not collected the item's appearance. |
|
Greed: The third-most priority option. This normally designates the player wants to sell or disenchant the item. |
|
Pass: The last priority option. This normally designates the player has no interest in the item - however, if everyone passes, it becomes freely lootable amongst the party. This option is chosen if time expires without the player making a choice. |
When rolling has concluded, the highest-roller among the participants is awarded the item, and it goes in that character's backpack. If their backpack is full, that person, and only that person, may loot it by clicking on the monster's corpse after first clearing up space.
Secondary Rolls
In the event of two or more rolls being equal (for example: if 2 players have a 'greed' roll with the number 56 for a certain item), the system performs a hidden secondary roll to determine which player will receive the item.
Other Rules For items other than equipment, other rules apply. You can't roll Need on:
- Mounts or toys you already have.
- Recipes you don't have the required professions for, including tradable recipes for items that you need.
[Chaos Orb] if you don't have at least 500 in a profession that uses it.
Anyone can roll Need on gems, and Low-level items are unrestricted.
Off Specs
When playing a Hybrid class, items may drop that may be used for any of a player's possible roles. The loot distribution convention when using the Need before Greed system is that a player who needs an item for their Main spec is prioritized to receive the item before a player who needs it for their Off spec. This is called main spec before off spec, or MS>OS for short.
If you are running a Pickup group raid with the intention of getting gear for a spec different than the one you're playing as, it's safest to declare this before the run starts or any loot has dropped, to maintain your consistency. In that case, you should be willing to forego your current spec's Need rolls.
Historically
In original World of Warcraft, it was not always obvious who needed an item. Perhaps the mage already has better armor or perhaps the party loots some crafting items and it's not known who has what professions. Prior to patch 1.9, people would typically say "n" or "g" to indicate if they want an item for need or for greed, and use the /roll command to output the result as a System message. If everyone declared greed, then everyone rolls for the item; if one or more people declared need, only they roll on the item, which was the usual tactic of ninjas.
While part of a party most players expected that if they needed an item they should get first pick at it before those who want it for Greed. For example, of a party consisting of a rogue, a mage, and a warrior, one might loot some rare cloth armor. All of them could potentially wear that armor, but only the mage really needs it, the rest would likely just sell it or give it to an alt. Therefore, it is expected that the warrior and rogue will allow the mage to have it by rolling greed on the item.
Before patch 3.3.0, the Need before Greed setting only took into account whether or not you could use the item now, not in the future. This means that if a mob dropped a piece of armor requiring level 37, the level 36 warrior in the party would not be able to roll on it. Similarly, a level 39 hunter would not be able to roll on mail items even though they would be able to use them next level.
Patch changes
Patch 10.1.5 (2023-07-11): Group Loot roll toast plays a new animation when you roll Need for your main specialization. - Patch 10.1.0 (2023-05-02):
- Group Loot roll results frame (/loot) has been redesigned with a new look.
- Group Loot now has a Transmogrification option that replaces Greed if the player has not collected the appearance. Transmog rolls take priority over Greed rolls.
- Patch 10.0.0 (2022-10-25): Re-added with a new ruleset.
Patch 8.0.1 (2018-07-17): Removed. 
Patch 5.0.4 (2012-08-28): When a player wins a loot roll, a pop up window appears letting the player know and displays their winning roll number. 
Patch 3.3.0 (2009-12-08): Redesigned to recognize gear appropriate for a class. To "Need":
- The class must be able to equip the item.
- The class must have a spec that uses the item's primary stat (strength, agility or intellect if one of these is present; stamina otherwise).
- Classes are limited to their dominant armor type (ex. paladins for plate).