Guild Wars 2: Volcanic Fractal Guide (2024)

If you start playing Fractals from the first, the Volcanic Fractal will be your introduction to this game mode. The Volcanic Fractal is a level 1, 19, 28, 52, and 92 Fractal in Guild Wars 2, in which your objective is to disrupt the Grawl rituals that are taking place inside a large volcano.

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You will need to defeat the Shaman who is attempting the ritual, and save the kidnapped captives if you wish to complete this Fractal. Let's take a look at how to complete each part of this Fractal, including how to beat each of the bosses you will encounter.

Grawl Ritual

As you begin the Fractal, you will be attacked by waves of Grawl enemies. Defeat these enemies until they stop spawning to continue ahead.

Next, you must pass through a tunnel that has flaming boulders rolling down the corridor. Being hit by one of these will instantly kill you, so you'll need to avoid them as you move down the tunnel. Watch the path of the boulders and move accordingly to avoid being hit.

Champion Grawl Shaman

After dodging the boulders, you will face the first boss of the Volcanic Fractal, the Champion Grawl Shaman. When the fight starts, the Shaman will cover himself in a protective shield, negating all damage dealt to him. To break this shield, use the Infused Stones that periodically fall from the ceiling. Throwing these at the boss will take away one stack of his shield; when all stacks have been depleted, you will be able to attack the boss normally.

Throughout the fight, Veteran Grawl Shamans will spawn and slowly move toward the captive humans. If any of the Grawl reach them, they will push the captives into the lava, sacrificing them for the ritual.

The boss will periodically replenish his shield, so once again use the Infused Stones to break it. Getting the Champion Grawl Shaman to 25 percent health will end this boss fight and allow you to continue to the next area.

Broken Path

After defeating the Grawl Shaman, you will move into a large vertical area with a pit of lava at the bottom. You will need to jump across the broken wooden staircases and railway tracks to reach the other side. In the first room, jump down the path of stairs on the left side to make it across.

In the next room, parkour across the stairs on the right side down to the opening. Avoid killing the imp enemies in both areas, as they will not follow you to the next area, making them not much of a threat once you've reach the end of the jumping platforms.

Legendary Imbued Shaman

After crossing the broken path, you will enter the heart of the volcano, where you will face the final boss, the Legendary Imbued Shaman. The area you fight this boss is covered in hot lava, causing you to be inflicted with burning if you stand still for too long. To avoid this, strafe to the left and right while attacking the boss.

• Similar to the Grawl Shaman, the Imbued Shaman will gain a protective shield at 25 percent health intervals. This shield has 40 stacks, and normal attacks will reduce the shield by one stack.
  • While the shield is active, the boss will slowly move toward the captives around the edges of the arena. If he reaches one, he will sacrifice them to gain roughly 20 percent health back. Break the shield quickly to avoid healing the boss.
  • Additionally, when the Shaman's shield is activated, Grubs will spawn around the arena that use immobilizing attacks. Use condition cleansing abilities to break the immobilization and continue attacking the boss.
  • The best way to break the Shaman's shield is to continue to auto-attack with fast-hitting attacks. Applying quickness to the party will also allow you to attack more frequently, further reducing the shield's stacks.

• The Imbued Shaman will use a swooping attack that creates large lava AoEs on the ground of the arena. When the boss flies into the air, move away a short distance to avoid these AoEs.
• Additionally, the boss has an attack that shoots a flaming arrow at a random player, inflicting burning if they are hit.

To beat the Legendary Imbued Shaman, we recommend bringing professions that can apply groupwide quickness, like Scrapper, Chronomancer, or Firebrand, to more easily break the boss's shield. Also, be sure to bring at least one instance of condition cleansing for yourself to remove stacks of burning you may gain.

Projectile reflecting skills like Mesmer's Feedback can also help immensely when the Grubs spawn, as this will reflect their immobilizing projectile attack.

When the boss gains its defiance bar, be sure to take advantage of this by using crowd control abilities to deplete the bar and make the boss vulnerable.

After defeating the Legendary Imbued Shaman, and collecting your loot, you'll be able to return to the Mistlock Observatory and spend your Fractal Relics.

Next: Guild Wars 2: End Of Dragons - How To Get Antique Summoning Stones