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What Are Fractals?
Fractal Tiers And Difficulty Scale
Finding A Group
Agony And Agony Resistance
Fractals Rewards
Fractals are level 80 mini-dungeons in Guild Wars 2. This instanced content takes place in the Fractals of the Mists, and is intended to be challenged by five players. If you've just hit level 80 and are wondering where to begin with Fractals, we've got you covered.
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Starting out with Fractals can be confusing. The interface alone is a lot to look at, so let's go over a few of the basics of Fractals, including where to start them, how to participate and find a group, and what the rewards are.
What Are Fractals?
As mentioned above, Fractals are level 80 instanced mini-dungeons that are intended to be played by five players. The unique aspect of Fractals is their increasing difficulty scale, allowing for more challenging runs that give better rewards. There are over twenty different Fractals set in a variety of locations around Tyria.
Each Fractal takes place in a small segment of Tyria's past, present, or future. For example, the Thaumanova Reactor Fractal explores what happened that caused the Thaumanova Reactor to explode in Metrica Province, and will have you and your party explore the area as Inquest Asura.
Fractals are designed to be mini-dungeons, meaning they are not as long as regular dungeons, but not as short as quick open-world events.
To enter the Fractals of the Mists and begin playing Fractals, head to Fort Marriner in Lion's Arch. Here, you can find the entrance to the Mistlock Observatory, which is the hub for all things related to Fractals. Inside, you can select the current Fractal and difficulty, buy things from vendors, and access the bank and trading post.
Starting a Fractal
To start a Fractal, you will first need to choose the Fractal level you wish to complete. For this example, let's use Fractal level 2, the Uncategorized Fractal. After selecting level 2, you will enter the Mistlock Observatory, where you can use the LFG tool to recruit four other players to your party. Once everyone has arrived, you can begin the Fractal by entering the portal in the center of the Observatory.
In the Uncategorized Fractal, you will start by jumping up floating platforms while fighting enemies. Then, you will fight a boss before attempting another puzzle. Fight a second boss, complete another set of jumping platforms, and you will be at the final boss of the Fractal. After defeating him, you will receive your loot, and you will be sent back to the Observatory.
Fractal Tiers And Difficulty Scale
Fractals are separated into four tiers of difficulty, with one being the easiest and four being the hardest. Within each tier, each Fractal has its own difficulty level, scaling in sets of 25. For example, the first Fractal, Volcanic, is level 1 and is the easiest in terms of the damage and health of enemies.
Essentially, each Fractal is assigned an unchanging difficulty level that can be checked when entering and changing the current Fractal. At higher difficulty levels, enemies will use new attacks, including Agony, but better rewards can be obtained.
Mistlock Instabilities
At higher Fractal levels, Mistlock Instabilities will occur. These are special modifiers that apply a variety of effects on you and your party, and change each day. These will change how you approach the Fractal by applying effects like causing enemies to apply random conditions, or causing you to take more damage when you are too far away from your allies.
When you're just starting out in Fractals, you won't need to worry about Mistlock Instabilities. However, keep this in mind when you progress into the higher Tiers of Fractals.
Finding A Group
To find a group of players to challenge Fractals with, you can use the game's built-in Looking For Group tool. Here, you can join or advertise your group for a specific Fractal. Usually, other players will most often recruit for the current Fractal dailies. If you're looking to start completing more Fractals, doing your Fractal dailies each day is a great way to start.
Fractal Dailies
Fractal dailies are a set of Fractal Levels that are randomly chosen each day. Completing these specific Fractals will reward you with more loot and expensive items.
Agony And Agony Resistance
At higher Fractal scales, you will encounter the Agony affliction. Enemies will inflict Agony with certain attacks, which deals unavoidable damage to you. Luckily, you can mitigate this damage with Agony Resistance.
This stat can be added to Ascended gear using Infusions. If you've completed Fractals up until you encounter Agony mechanics, chances are you've seen Infusions before. These items are added to your gear and give different amounts of Agony Resistance. It's important to know that you can only add Infusions to Ascended and Legendary equipment and weapons, so you'll need to upgrade if you're still using Exotics.
You can check if your Agony Resistance is enough for the current Fractal scale by standing in the Agony AoE near the Chronicle Mistwalker.
Fractals Rewards
Finally, we have the most exciting part about Fractals, the rewards. Typically, upon completing a Fractal, you will receive things like Rare gear, basic Infusions, and Fractal Relics. Additionally, as you climb to higher levels of Fractals, you will have the chance to get Ascended Gear drops, and materials used to craft your own Ascended gear.
From daily Fractals, you can get Fractal Encryption Keys, which are used to unlock Fractal Encryptions. Inside these items, you can find materials, Ascended gear recipes, and items that you can sell for gold.
Fractal Relics can be traded to vendors inside the Mistlock Observatory for items like Ascended Rings, infusions, and Fractal Weapons.
Overall, the rewards you get from Fractals alone make them worth playing.
Next: Guild Wars 2: The Best Ways To Earn Achievement Points
