TL;DR: Despite what your character sheet and ability tooltips tell you, queuing for a dungeon does not actually give you a damage buff if you are a max-level character.

This is a pet peeve of mine: I'd join a pre-formed group for a specific dungeon, and instead of simply porting into the dungeon by wayshrine, the group members insist on queuing for the dungeon, claiming that we will get a damage bonus--a damage bonus that I have long argued doesn't actually exist. I don't mind queuing a pre-formed group if we are far from a wayshrine, but if we are all in town, I much rather prefer the freedom of just porting in normally, which prevents the group from being converted into a Group Finder group with all the accompanying restrictions and downsides.

In any case, the merits of queuing vs. wayshrining is irrelevant to the topic of this thread. My aim with this thread is solely to dispel the common myth that queuing grants a damage bonus.

To demonstrate that this damage bonus is indeed a myth, I gathered some people and went to Spindleclutch II. At the entrance of this dungeon is an enemy that is being tanked by a friendly NPC, making it a convenient in-dungeon test subject.

Test #1: Max-level character, normal entrance by wayshrine Just establishing the baseline. Ported in, attacked the enemy with light attacks and hard-casted frags. Additionally, I included the results from hitting a target skeleton. The numbers for a target skeleton should be identical, and indeed, they are. (Also, LOL at that crit RNG--I wasn't using Acuity.)

Test #2: Max-level character, Group Finder queue When you queue in for a dungeon, you'll see that your Spell and Weapon Damage are 25% higher than usual. The tooltips for your abilities are correspondingly higher, too. But when you actually hit the enemy, you'll notice that you're doing the exact same amount of damage as before, and you'll see this with both the in-game Combat Text and with combat log addons. The character sheet and ability tooltips are incorrect.

Test #3: Low-level character, normal entrance by wayshrine This is a character from one of my bank mule accounts. Level 50, CP 13 with random low-level gear.

Test #4: Low-level character, Group Finder queue Notice how the character sheet has a buff called "Looking For Group"? This buff exists only if you queue with a character that's below level 50 and/or below CP160. You don't see this buff on your character sheet with a character that can wear max-level gear. And you'll notice that in this case, the damage boost actually does work.

The Takeaway:

• Yes, there is a Group Finder stat boost, designed to help characters who are below level 50 and/or below CP160. If you're eligible for this stat bonus, you'll see the "Looking For Group" buff on your character sheet.
• This stat boost does not apply to characters who can wear max-level gear.
• The character sheet and ability tooltips are bugged and incorrect: They indicate that max-level characters will get a damage boost, but actual combat reveals that you are doing normal damage.
• This is not new. I first tested this during the One Tamriel patch in 2016; this most recent demonstration is to show that this is still the case during the Dragon Bones patch in 2018. It's possible that it's been like this even before One Tamriel.
• If you do have a non-max-level character, though, it's worth queuing for the damage buff.
• I believe that the bug is with the character sheet and tooltips reflecting the Spell/Weapon Damage buff and that the lack of a buff for max-level characters is intended. It makes no sense to hand out a buff this strong to max-level characters. Something like this would've eroded the challenge of difficult content and devalued difficult dungeon achievements.