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Fractals of the Mists – The Complete Guide

GW2. A complete guide about Fractals of the Mists, everything you need to know.



What Are Fractals?


Dungeons in Guild Wars 2 were fun in the past, but after many content updates they became abandoned with no adaptations to meet the new changes to the game. Now they are mainly the introduction to group content for players leveling up and provide extra story.


Credit to Mukluk for the video.

What people generally think of as dungeons in Guild Wars 2 is instead the Fractals of the Mists, which are a bunch of mini-dungeons called Fractals, where each one has its own story and environment. Some of them are more focused on boss fights, and some others more focused on progressing through puzzles. Both of these aspects are what people enjoyed about the original dungeons. We can still call them dungeons and since they offer much more mechanics and developer attention, it is a true end-game feature.

In Fractals, characters are adjusted to level 80, so even if you are a new player you can experience them. Fractals are one of the primary sources of ascended equipment and provide materials for crafting infused and attuned equipment.

Fractals have some unique mechanics and design. This content is designed to be played with a party of 5 players, so you can just gather a few friends or use the Looking For Group in-game tool (LFG). However, when you start on the very first levels, it is very possible to solo some of them, and some elite players challenge themselves by soloing higher tier levels as well.



Usually people do a “Fractal Run” when they do 3 of these mini-dungeons (Fractals) in one sitting, and while you can manually choose which ones you want for specific achievements, the general population follows the daily order of 3 because the daily rewards are very efficient. It will be easier to find groups as well if you do this.

Fractals are fun, challenging, social and on this guide I will try to cover and explain everything you need to know to maximize your fun and knowledge.


Getting Started and Requirements


First of all, you can start doing fractals at any time without restrictions by just simply going to the Mistlock Observatory area, which is a “hub” where you can prepare your party.

You have 2 ways to get into the Mistlock Observatory:

  • Lion’s Arch – The entrance is an asura gate directly in the center of Fort Marriner – [&BDAEAAA=] in Lion’s Arch. Located just south of the “Mist Portals” point of interest, look for the red icon on the map.
  • Mistlock Sanctuary – Requires Mistlock Sanctuary Passkey. The entrance is on the eastern side. This is a VIP area lobby, which you can buy from gemstore.


As mentioned previously, you don’t have restrictions to start doing Fractals, but you will be limited on how far you can progress at first. There is an ascended gear and fractal level grind that players must do to reach the higher levels, but once this has been done the first time it is account bound. Getting your second character ready to top tier fractals will take much less time.

Once you enter the portal, you will be prompted to select a difficulty scale, this really does not matter at this point, because you can change it once inside on the Scale Setting Sequencer console. I will explain more about the Difficulty Scale later on this guide. Once you are ready just walk into the big portal in front and you and your party will be teleported into the Fractal selected.



In Fractals starting from scale 1 to scale 19 you will be fine, but when you continue your progression you will find a big barrier which is the Ascended Gear, you will need this to survive in higher levels, because one of the more important mechanics in Fractals is the Agony condition, you will find more explanations and details below on this guide.

For now, I can recommend that you start working on getting your ascended gear, because it will take some time, and the sooner you start, the sooner you will get it. For this purpose I strongly recommend that you read this guide on how to get your ascended gear.


LINK

Mechanics


Fractals have unique mechanics that will be the main difference between the classic dungeons, and even from any other instanced content in the game.


Agony


Agony is a condition, but it’s a special kind of condition because you can’t cleanse it. Agony is introduced to fractals at level 20, and it reduces your incoming healing by 70% while dealing a percentage of your maximum health as damage per second.



The amount of damage inflicted increases as the difficulty scale increases, it starts at 10% and reaching a maximum of 180%. Some mechanics and some enemy attacks will apply Agony to give them more weight and tell the players what they should be avoiding.

Another thing that makes Agony a special kind of condition, is the fact that Agony is not removed upon going downed, so it will continue doing damage. Because Agony works with %Health and your downed health is triple your base health, Agony will also do three times more damage to your downed body.

Enemy attacks that apply Agony can be avoided by dodging, evading, blocking, going invulnerable and any other action that prevent the attacks from hitting, but Agony itself cannot be avoided once it is applied. In certain Fractals, when you reach the final area where the boss is usually at, all players will receive Agony in the whole area, this is also called an “Agony Check”.

Chronicle Mistwalker at Mistlock Observatory can also help to check your resistance. This NPC is the Charr sitting behind the big portal, and at his side you can find a “red circle”. The purpose of this NPC is to allow players to test whether they have enough resistance to Agony before they invest in the fractal and reach the “Agony Check”. Once you selected the difficulty scale on the console, you can test here how much damage the Agony will do to you based on the scale selected. Just walk into the red circle and it will apply one stack of Agony. (You can also quickly walk in and out fast to apply multiple stacks of agony to yourself for science)



The damage you take from Agony, can be reduced with Agony Resistance (AR), down to a maximum of 1%. The main source of Agony Resistance is from infusions, and this is why you need Ascended Gear, because you need the Infusion Slots on your gear to place them. Other sources of Agony Resistance are potions like Anguished Tear of Alba.


Agony Resistance


You can reduce or mitigate the damage from Agony, using Agony Resistance (AR).
Every level of difficulty increases the health loss by approximately 2.1%. Each point of AR reduces the health loss by 1.2%, to a minimum of 1% health lost per second.

You will also see that every Fractal has a “Suggested Agony Resistance”, so you can know in advance if you will be able to survive or not with your current gear. Here below you can see two graphics, showing how the Agony damage scales throughout the difficulty scales, and also the amount of Agony Resistance Suggested for each one:



These tables are based on the following formula:

(((Scale * 2.136) - 33) - (AR * 1.2)) = Percent_Damage

This formula was extrapolated from observational data on agony damage in the game, not from any official source.


Agony Infusions


An Agony Infusion is a type of Infusion upgrade item that can be added to an infusion slot to increase your Agony Resistance.

You will find many ways to obtain these infusions, for example:

  • 1 to 3 +1 Agony Infusions drop from Fractals of the Mists reward chests
  • From salvaging ascended equipment with an Ascended Salvage Kit
  • Artificers can combine two identical Agony Infusions with a Thermocatalytic Reagent to create a single infusion with one additional point of resistance
    • For example, it takes two +3 infusions to create a +4.
    • In general, crafting a single +n Agony Infusion requires 2n–1 basic Agony Infusions and 2n–1-1 Thermocatalytic Reagents
  • INFUZ-5959 in the Fractals of the Mists lobby can combine agony infusions into higher tiers
    • Combining infusions with the merchant is minutely cheaper than with an Artificer (This applies only if the Reagents are bought from a merchant, if it is bought for a lower price from the trading post, it will be cheaper with an Artificer). However, this merchant only offers every other level up to 11, and players seeking to complete some collections, such as Ad Infinitum, will require an artificer to craft the unavailable levels
    • INFUZ-5959 also sells Fine, Masterwork, and Rare infusions which provide small additional attribute boosts
  • Trading Post, usually the most convenient way, just use your gold and buy the Infusions you need from the TP

Once applied to gear, Agony Infusions can be removed via:

  • Infusion Extraction Device
  • Upgrade Extractor


Alternatively, you can replace existing infusions with a new one, destroying the old one. Doing this on legendary equipment will instead place the old infusion in your inventory and the new infusion will be applied.


Optimizing your AR


The first thing I have to mention, is the “Infused” and “Attuned” attribute that you can give to certain pieces of Ascended Gear, in order to increase the amount of infusion slots that they can have.


Infused

You can only “Infuse” Rings and Back Items, this process will allow you to increase the amount of infusion slots from 1 to 2.



The way you can “Infuse” rings is through the Mystic Forge, and you will need some account bound materials that you can only obtain through Fractals.

  • Mystic Forge Recipe: Ascended Ring (Infused):
    • 1 Ascended Ring
    • 5 Vials of Condensed Mists Essence
    • 3 Globs of Coagulated Mists Essence
    • 1 Shard of Crystallized Mists Essence
  • Mystic Forge Recipe: Ascended Back Item (Infused)
    • 1 Ascended Back Item
    • 1 Shard of Crystallized Mists Essence or Glob of Coagulated Mists Essence (Depends on the specific Back Item)
    • 1 Gift of Ascension
    • 250 Globs of Ectoplasm

You can obtain most of these materials as rare drops from enemies while completing Fractals on certain scales:

  • Vial of Condensed Mists Essence – Earned by playing Fractals of the Mists scales 1-20. (Despite what the in-game description says, it can be found at fractals greater than 20).
  • Glob of Coagulated Mists Essence – Earned by playing Fractals of the Mists scales 21-50.
  • Shard of Crystallized Mists Essence – Earned by playing Fractals of the Mists scales 51-100.
  • Gift of Ascension – Sold by BUY-4373 inside the Mistlock Observatory for 500 Fractal Relics +25 Silver.

As an alternative you can buy all of these Mists Essence items from the NPC INFUZ-5959 as long as you have the fractal mastery for it “Follows Advice”.

NOTE: Back items that require an expansion to obtain, including those from raids and Living World content, require a Shard of Crystallized Mists Essence to upgrade; others require a Glob of Coagulated Mists Essence instead.
Back items that are precursors for legendary back items cannot be infused. However, Unbound has two infusion slots by default.

Warning: The upgrading process creates an entirely new item, so you will lose any existing infusions on the original, non-infused gear. Any pieces with selectable stats will also be reset and allow stats to be chosen again. Remember to use Infusion Extraction Device if the infusion is worth more than an extraction device.


Attuned

You can only “Attune” ascended Rings, and this process can be done alone or on top of the “Infuse” process. It will add an extra slot, so you will be able to forge ascended rings with a max of 3 infusion slots.



This process is more friendly to new players because you won’t need specific account bound materials, except one, that you can obtain from a vendor inside the Mistlock Observatory, as long you have the second fractal mastery “Agony Channeler”. This process is the same as infusing, so all upgrades will be lost.

  • Mystic Forge Recipe: Ascended Ring (Attuned):
    • 1 Generic or Infused Acended Ring
    • 1 Agonized Essence
    • 1 +1 Agony Infusion
    • 1 Philosopher’s Stone

Buy the Agonized Essence from the INFUZ-5959 NPC at the Mistlock Observatory, under the tab “Mastery Items”.
Buy the +1 Agony Infusion directly from the Trading Post very cheap.
Buy the Philosopher’s Stones on Miyani, the NPC right next to the Mystic Forge.

NOTE: If the ring you want to attune is a “Mist Band” you will require three +1 Agony Infusions instead of one and five Philosopher’s Stone instead one, for the forge recipe.


Reaching 150 AR

After mentioning the methods for Infused and Attuned equipment, you will eventually need to aim for the optimal amount of AR to be able to survive on the maximum difficulty scale which is level 100. For this you need to reach 150 AR. If you were able to use the methods above to add extra slots and you have your full Ascended Gear, your character can have a maximum of 18 infusion slots.

So the most efficient way to reach 150 AR is the following:

  • 2 +7 Agony Infusions (14 AR)
  • 8 +8 Agony Infusions (64 AR)
  • 8 +9 Agony Infusions (72 AR)

This has an approximate cost of 60-65 Gold. (Be aware that market prices could change by the moment this guide is made)
Additional Agony Resistance over 150 does not offer any additional protection versus Agony, it does however increase the bonus stats received when using Fractal Potions.

NOTE: Only your currently equipped items will have their agony resistance count towards the total. In other words, weapon swapping may cause you to lose some resistance if the weapons being swapped to do not have agony resistance in them. The same thing will happen when switching to Aquabreathers and Aquatic Weapons while underwater (e.g. Aquatic Fractal). Weapons should hold the lowest value infusions so that additional infusions will be cheaper to add if multiple weapon sets are used.


Difficulty Scale


This is one of the main differences between Fractals and Classic Dungeons. In Fractals you will see a system based on difficulty scale rather than story and explorable modes of classic dungeons.

First you will notice that you have a Personal Fractal Level. You will be able to increase your level by 1 each time a fractal difficulty scale is completed at or above your current fractal level.
Whoever enters the hub may chose the initial difficulty level, which can be set up to the highest personal reward level of any member of the current party. The scale can be changed while in the lobby through the Scale Setting Sequencer.



Regardless of the fractal level, rewards are based on individual personal levels , even if the run is at a lower difficulty level. Higher difficulty levels offer greater challenges and highers chances of better rewards, from enemies, from chests, and from bonus chests like daily rewards. Each Fractal difficulty scale corresponds with a specific fractal “island” and set of unique conditions.

There are four fractal difficulty scale ranges on the Looking For Group (LFG) tool. For new players, all these scale ranges are locked. The first scale “Initiate Scales 1-25”, will be unlocked once your character reaches level 80, from there the next scale range will eventually unlock when your personal reward level is near the upper boundary for that group, for example, the range 51-75 will unlock when your personal reward level is 46.

Some of the standard changes at higher difficulty levels are:

  • Standard enemies spawn in greater numbers and have higher levels.
  • Enemies gain increased health and damage values.
  • Some enemies will gain new abilities, for example in the Uncategorized Fractal, the harpies start to knock players back.

Some other changes are more noticeable and with bigger relevance, starting at level 25, 50, 75, so these are called the difficulty “tiers”, and Daily Fractals rewards are organized by these difficulties 1-25, 26-50, 51-75 and 76-100.


Mistlock Instability


Mistlock Instabilities are special modifiers or mechanics, that have many different effects on the players or the enemies. These can be anything from simple conditions to dangerous enemy attacks.

These effects starts at difficulty 26 with just one instability. At difficulty scale 51 you will start to have two instabilities, and starting at scale 77 you will have three instabilities active. You can preview which specific instabilities the fractal will have by the Scale Setting Sequencer interface while selecting your difficulty.

These instabilities are assigned to fractals randomly every day.

  • Adrenaline Rush
    • When enraged, enemies deal 150% increased damage while they’re low on health. Enemies deal 20% less damage when not enraged.
  • Afflicted
    • Outgoing resistance duration is increased by 50%. Enemies apply random conditions.
  • Boon Overload
    • Each boon increases incoming strike damage by 5%. Outgoing boon duration is increased by 20%.
  • Flux Bomb
    • You are periodically afflicted by the Anomaly’s flux bombs. Flux bombs apply to both allies and enemies.
  • Fractal Vindicators
    • Fractal Avengers are replaced by more-powerful Fractal Vindicators.
  • Frailty
    • Players are smaller and have 30% less health, but move 25% faster.
  • Hamstrung
    • Low health increasingly slows your movements. Endurance regenerates 33% faster.
  • Last Laugh
    • Enemies explode upon dying if not stunned. Stunned enemies apply protection and stability to nearby allies.
  • Mists Convergence
    • The Fractals of the Mists blur together, and enemies or allies from different fractals will spawn
  • No Pain, No Gain
    • Enemies receive boons when hit. Stripping an enemy boon will steal their life. (Cooldown: 20 seconds)
  • Outflanked
    • Enemies receive boons when hit. Stripping an enemy boon will steal their life. (Cooldown: 20 seconds)
  • Social Awkwardness
    • Players will be pushed away from one another.
  • Stick Together
    • Take 60% increased damage when not within 300 range of an ally. Take 20% reduced damage when within 300 range of an ally.
  • Sugar Rush
    • Increases movement speed and attack speed by 15%. Elite and lower enemies’ movement speed and attack speed increases by 35%.
  • Toxic Trail
    • Enemies leave a path of poison behind them. Blocking a toxic trail attack will absorb it and cleanse the condition.
  • Vengeance
    • When enemies die, they enhance nearby foes with multiple boons; does not apply to elite foes. Strip any enemy boon to inflict them with weakness. Boons Removed: 1 – Range: 80.
  • We Bleed Fire
    • Enemies create flaming missiles when damaged. Incoming condition damage is reduced by 20%. Interval: 2 seconds.


While you are in the Mistlock Observatory, you can test any of these effects in advance using the training grounds.



Fractal Masteries


Fractal Attunement is the mastery track from Fractals of the Mists.

This mastery track will provide access to additional rewards and daily achievements, it will unlock certain NPCs at Mistlock Observatory, which you will need to gain access to items like Infusion Extraction Devices and some other special crafting materials. You will need these masteries to help you progress on the higher difficulty scale levels as well.



Follows Advice

  • XP required: 635,000
  • Points: 1
  • With Dessa’s authorization, gain access to additional daily achievements and special vendors with unique items inside the Mistlock Observatory

Agony Channeler

  • XP required: 1,270,000
  • Points: 2
  • Prolonged exposure to agony will result in improved rewards inside fractal dungeons. You’ll also gain access to Mystic Forge recipes for adding extra agony infusion slots to ascended rings. Mist potions will give bonus attributes.

Recursive Resourcing

  • XP required: 2,222,500
  • Points: 3
  • Greater attunement with the fractals will grant bonus rewards from Chests of the Mists as well as Unlocked Fractal Encryptions. Fractal potion conversion also improves.

Mistlock Singularities

  • XP required: 3,175,000
  • Points: 5
  • Research how to activate the lifesaving Mistlock Singularities within the Fractals of the Mists. Fractal potion conversion improves.

Fractal Potions


There are three types of fractal potions:

  • Offensive: Outgoing damage in fractals is increased by 3% per stack. Outgoing condition damage in fractals is increased by 3% per stack.
  • Defensive: Incoming damage in fractals is reduced by 5% per stack.
  • Mobility: Movement speed in fractals is increased by 5% per stack. Endurance recharge rate in fractals is increased by 10% per stack.

There is an extra potion called Anguished Tear of Alba, which will give you an extra 10 Agony Resistance, and up to 15 if you have the Fractal Attunement Mastery. You can buy these potions from the NPC called Dessa’s Alchemist at Mistlock Observatory.




These consumables stack up to five times (Large potions apply all five stacks in one use), and can be used in addition to nourishment and utility consumables. Depending on the Fractal Attunement mastery rank achieved, each potion may provide additional bonuses to precision, toughness and concentration, respectively.


Infinite Fractal Potions

These potions can be bought from BLING-9009 located in the Mistlock Observatory.



Unlike their basic counterparts, these potions are not consumed on use. Using a Mistlock Singularity will grant you the effects of all infinite fractal potions within your inventory.

There are four types of potions:

  • Infinite Mist Offensive Potion
    • Costs 8 Integrated Fractal Matrices + 8.000 Fractal Relics
  • Infinite Mist Defensive Potion
    • Costs 5 Integrated Fractal Matrices + 5.000 Fractal Relics
  • Infinite Mist Mobility Potion
    • Costs 5 Integrated Fractal Matrices + 5.000 Fractal Relics
  • Infinite Mist Omnipotion
    • Obtained by combining the three Infinite Fractal Potions with 5 Gifts of Ascension in the Mystic Forge.


These potions will grant five stacks of their respective effect with the Omnipotion granting five stacks of all three effects.


Bonus Stats

Players with the Fractal Attunement mastery will receive bonus attributes based on which mastery they have unlocked and their current agony resistance.

  • Agony Channeler – 10% of AR per stack.
  • Recursive Resourcing – 25% of AR per stack.
  • Mistlock Singularities – 30% of AR per stack.

The bonus given by each potion is as follows:

  • Fractal Offensive – Bonus to precision
  • Fractal Defensive – Bonus to toughness
  • Fractal Mobility – Bonus to concentration

A player with 150 agony resistance and five stacks of a potion will gain 225 of its respective attribute.


Account Augmentations


Account Augmentations are upgrades that can be purchased from Deroir and grant additional rewards for completing a fractal and account wide agony resistance. Each upgrade has four tiers and get progressively more expensive.

Be aware this section is the very end-game content of Fractals, and intended for hardcore players.


Fractal Empowerment

Permanently gain an extra Writ of Tyrian Mastery from the final chest in every fractal.

  • Fractal Empowerment 1
    • Costs 1 Gold + 1 Integrated Fractal Matrix + 250 Fractal Relics
  • Fractal Empowerment 2
    • Costs 5 Gold + 3 Integrated Fractal Matrices + 500 Fractal Relics
  • Fractal Empowerment 3
    • Costs 10 Gold + 5 Integrated Fractal Matrices + 750 Fractal Relics
  • Fractal Empowerment 4
    • Costs 15 Gold + 8 Integrated Fractal Matrices + 1000 Fractal Relics


Karmic Retribution

Permanently gain bonus karma from the final chest of every fractal.

  • Karmic Retribution 1
    • Costs 1 Gold + 1 Integrated Fractal Matrix + 500 Fractal Relics
  • Karmic Retribution 2
    • Costs 5 Gold + 5 Integrated Fractal Matrices + 1000 Fractal Relics
  • Karmic Retribution 3
    • Costs 10 Gold + 10 Integrated Fractal Matrices + 1500 Fractal Relics
  • Karmic Retribution 4
    • Costs 15 Gold + 20 Integrated Fractal Matrices + 2500 Fractal Relics


Agony Impedance

Every character on your account permanently gains 5 agony resistance in fractals up to 20 total. Agony Impedance require a Personal Fractal Level of 100 before any levels may be purchased.

  • Agony Impedance 1
    • Costs 2 +11 Agony Infusion + 10 Integrated Fractal Matrices + 1000 Fractal Relics
  • Agony Impedance 2
    • Costs 4 +11 Agony Infusion + 15 Integrated Fractal Matrices + 2500 Fractal Relics
  • Agony Impedance 3
    • Costs 6 +11 Agony Infusion + 22 Integrated Fractal Matrices + 4500 Fractal Relics
  • Agony Impedance 4
    • Costs 9 +11 Agony Infusion + 30 Integrated Fractal Matrices + 7000 Fractal Relics


Mist Attunement

Grants agony resistance, damage and passive health regeneration to each character within fractals. The final chest in every fractal rewards an additional Fractal Encryption and a bag of fractal relics. Each level will grant a unique title and an effect listing the total of all bonuses.

You must have at least Fractal Empowerment 2, Karmic Retribution 2, and Agony Impedance 2 to purchase Mist Attunement.

  • Mist Attunement 1
    • Costs 1 +13 Agony Infusion + 75 Integrated Fractal Matrices + 25000 Fractal Relics + 8 Fractal Journals
    • Gives Fractal Savant effect: Gain 5 agony resistance, 1% outgoing damage, and 10 health per second.
    • Gives Fractal Savant title.
  • Mist Attunement 2
    • Costs 1 +14 Agony Infusion + 150 Integrated Fractal Matrices + 35000 Fractal Relics + 1200 Pristine Fractal Relics.
    • Gives Fractal Prodigy effect: Gain 10 agony resistance, 2% outgoing damage, and 25 health per second.
    • Gives Fractal Prodigy title.
  • Mist Attunement 3
    • Costs 1 +15 Agony Infusion + 225 Integrated Fractal Matrices + 45000 Fractal Relics + 16 Fractal Journals.
    • Gives Fractal Champion effect: Gain 15 agony resistance, 4% outgoing damage, and 50 health per second.
    • Gives Fractal Champion title.
  • Mist Attunement 4
    • Costs 1 +16 Agony Infusion + 300 Integrated Fractal Matrices + 55000 Fractal Relics + 2000 Pristine Fractal Relics.
    • Gives Fractal God effect: Gain 25 agony resistance, 7% outgoing damage, and 100 health per second.
    • Gives Fractal God title. The effect will display Fractal God for male, and Fractal Goddess for female characters.


Rewards and Currency


Fractal Relics

Each time you complete a fractal, you will earn Fractal Relics, this is the most common currency and it will be used for pretty much everything that you can buy in Fractals of the Mists.

From 5 to 19 relics are dropped from the end chests for each fractal. The exact number depends on the fractal scale.


Pristine Fractal Relic

You can earn Pristine Fractal Relics mostly by doing the Daily Fractal achievements, and you will get a total of 15 per day if you do all dailies and recommended fractals. (3×4 for the daily chests, plus 3×1 for the recommended; an additional 4 can be gained by doing the Nightmare Fractal challenge mode and Shattered Observatory challenge mode, each rewarding 2 pristines)

The Fractal Initiate, Fractal Adept, Fractal Expert and Fractal Master achievements also award some Pristine relics when completed.


Fractal Encryptions

These are an special kind of loot-boxes that you can earn by completing fractals. Each level gives at least one Fractal Encryption. And the daily chests will also give some more.



To open these chests you need to buy a Fractal Encryption Key from the NPC BUY-4373, it will cost 1 Fractal Relic and some Silver coin.



NOTE: Only 30 keys can be purchased daily for 20 silver each, and another daily 30 keys for 25 silver and 4 copper each. Past 60 keys, any further keys purchased will cost 30 silver each.


Daily Fractals



You will see two types of Daily Fractals:

  • Tier Based
  • Recommended

In every tier there is at least one fractal for each of the three Tier Based Dailies. All Daily Fractal reward chests contain a Pristine Fractal Relic and some +1 Agony Infusions.

Completing a daily fractal will reward players with a chest depending on which tier was completed, and also you will get the reward for lower tiers:

  • Tier 1 – Fractal Initiate’s Chest
  • Tier 2 – Fractal Adept’s Chest and all lower tiers
  • Tier 3 – Fractal Expert’s Chest and all lower tiers
  • Tier 4 – Fractal Master’s Chest and all lower tiers

It’s optimal to just do the Tier 4 Daily, because you will get all the rewards at once.

In each of the three lower tiers (1-25, 26-50, 51-75) there will be one Recommended fractal.

Adept and Expert tier Recommended fractals require the Follows Advice mastery. Unlike the Tier Based fractals, Recommended fractals are always a single scale.

Completing a Recommended fractal will reward players with a Research Chest depending on the tier. All Research Chests will give a Fractal Research Page and a large Fractal Potion depending on the chest.

  • Fractal Initiate’s Research Chest – Large Mist Defensive Potion
  • Fractal Adept’s Research Chest – Large Mist Mobility Potion
  • Fractal Expert’s Research Chest – Large Mist Offensive Potion

Fractal Research Page

Fractal Research Pages are time-gated content obtainable as rewards for completing daily recommended and challenge mode fractals. This currency is mostly used to buy Ascended Gear on the NPC BLING-9009.



You can combine 28 Fractal Research Pages into 1 Fractal Journal. Fractal Journals can be sold to vendors or used in fractal backpack collections. They will also be needed if you plan to obtain Account Augmentations.


Weekly Fractals


A new set of achievements were added on the last update, allowing players to get extra rewards for completing fractals weekly.


Resets weekly on Mondays. Each one will reward you 2 Gold and a Cache that can contain some Fractal Research Pages and some Potions.


Classes and Builds


Fractals can be fun and challenge your class knowledge, so figuring out how to solve each situation using the tools you have can will take some skill. You can use any class and any build that you want, however, when you keep progressing into high tier fractals, the encounters become more demanding from each player.

While most classes and builds are fine, players have many things they want to do and getting things done efficiently appeals to them. While you don’t need to play what others want you to, you should respect other players as much as you expect respect from them. If you join a group that is looking for a specific build/class, be a part of their team or find another group. Players get into routines and often find ways to optimally complete the content because of this, which leads to a “meta”.

What does meta mean? It is a term originating from RPGs: Metagaming. This is when a player uses real-life knowledge concerning the state of the game to determine their characters actions despite their character not being aware of that knowledge. This is generally considered “breaking character” in RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons. However, immersion is not the only thing that is valuable in a game.

Metagaming can bring about a more competitive or more efficient play style which can be appealing to another audience. Players can theorycraft what is the most optimal way to play using statistics and a lot of testing, and it creates an evolving meta game when people are competing with each other trying to be the best.

But, at the end of the day, choosing to play meta, create the meta, or play what you like is up to you. Just be sure that your party is on the same page and no miscommunication occurs.

Check out builds here:

LINK

Fractal Guides


There are a total of 20 different fractals, here you can see specific guides for each one of them:


Challenge Mode


Challenge Modes are begun by interacting with Motes or small interactive will-o’-wisps which activate buffs on players, allowing them to acquire achievements during Living World instances. In Raids, Fractals, and Strike Missions, Challenge Motes may be used to activate a harder version of an event or instance.



While there are a few Fractals with the option to activate the Challenge Mote (usually needed for the legendary back item collection) these challenge motes are easy enough.

Legendary Back Item Collection

  • Aquatic Ruin Challenge Mote
  • Swampland Challenge Mote
  • Uncategorized Challenge Mote
  • Snowblind Challenge Mote
  • Volcanic Challenge Mote
  • Cliffside Challenge Mote
  • Underground Facility Challenge Mote
  • Aetherblade Challenge Mote

The real challenges are through the following fractals:

End-Game Challenge Modes

These fractals on the CM are really hard compared to the normal versions. Mechanics are exaggerated so that you have to learn them and react to them rather than ignore them. Most of the story elements are gone, so it’s purely focused on gameplay.


CM Fractals have more and better rewards, but completing any of the three daily will give you a new currency called “Unstable Fractal Essence”, with this you can buy Prestigious Items on BLING-9009 NPC, such as cosmetic infusions and skins.



Achievements


Fractals of the Mists – Total achievements: 64 – 340AP – 15MP

Aerialist – 5AP

On Twilight Oasis Fractal, jump over Amala’s Mystic Wave attack three times without being hit.



Aetherblade Captain Stabilizer – 5AP

Complete the Captain Mai Trin boss Fractal.


Aetherblade Retreat Stabilizer – 5AP

Complete the Aetherblade Fractal.


Aquatic Ruins Fractal Stabilizer – 5AP

Complete the Aquatic Ruins Fractal.


BUY-2046 PFR’s Challenge #103 – 5AP

Complete difficulty scale 50 in Fractals of the Mists.


Boots on the Ground – 5AP

During your final confrontation with the Voice in the Deepstone fractal, do not fall or jump off of the platform.


Carrier Cacophony – 5AP – 1MP

On Underground Facility Fractal, make it through Rabsovich’s onslaught without dying.


Chaos Demolisher – 5AP

Complete the Chaos Fractal on the Master tier.


Cliffside Fractal Stabilizer – 5AP

Complete the Cliffside Fractal.


Curse Catcher – 5AP

In the Siren’s Reef Fractal, catch 8 bags of cursed treasure while navigating the maze.


Falling! Screaming! Diving! (Hidden) – 1AP

There is a pair of Diving Goggles in the tree at the end of the puzzle Mistlock Mountaineer inside Mistlock Observatory. Using these and jumping into the portal grants the achievement.



Fancy Footwork – 5AP – 1MP

Complete the Swampland Fractal without triggering a single trap.



Firestorm Extinguisher – 5AP

Defeat the Molten Firestorm before defeating the Molten Berserker in the first phase of the encounter, then defeat the upgraded Molten Berserker in the second phase of the encounter in the Molten Boss Fractal.


Flawless Fins Foil Foes – 5AP – 1MP

As a dolphin, you evaded capture by the krait while swimming through the Aquatic Ruins Fractal.


Follows Advice – 10AP

Complete the Follows Advice tier of the Fractal Attunement Mastery.


Fractal Adept – 5AP

Complete each fractal scale from 26 to 50.



Fractal Experience – 1AP

Complete a Fractal dungeon.


Fractal Expert – 10AP

Complete each fractal scale from 51 to 75.



Fractal Frequenter – 15AP

Complete a total of 500 Fractals.


Fractal Initiate – 5AP

Complete each fractal scale from 1 to 25.



Fractal Master – 25AP

Complete each fractal scale from 76 to 100.



God of the Mists (Hidden) – 0AP

Purchase Mist Attunement 4.


Going Berserk – 5AP

Defeat the Molten Berserker before defeating the Molten Firestorm in the first phase of the encounter, then defeat the upgraded Molten Firestorm in the second phase of the encounter in the Molten Boss Fractal.



Great Heights – 5AP

Defeat the Anomaly without anyone falling off the platform inside the Thaumanova Reactor Fractal.



Headhunter – 5AP

Defeat the Legendary Archdiviner at the top of the Cliffside Fractal while only killing five cultists or chanters. This does not include the initial entourage. Must be completed on scale 21 or above.


Hollow Victory – 5AP – 1MP

Complete the Twilight Oasis Fractal on the Master tier.


Holo-Hornpipe – 5AP – 1MP

On the Aetherblade Fractal (/dance) with the two Aetherblades hologram dancers. The first hologram is found to the right of the shack with the switch that shuts off the charged floor panels. The second hologram is in the center of the next room at the top of the ramps with the moving phase walls.



Hop, Skip, and Jump – 5AP – 1MP

Complete the Uncategorized Fractal without falling to your death.


Horrik’s Horror – 5AP – 1MP

On the Captain Mai Trin Boss Fractal, defeat Mai Trin’s 2nd-in-command, Horrik.


If We Only Had Marshmallows – 5AP – 1MP

Lit every bonfire in Snowblind Fractal.


Kitty Compactor – 5AP

In the Chaos Fractal, defeat the Chaos Anomaly and each of the champion golems.

  • Deafeated CHOP K1T-D.
  • Defeated BLIGHT K1T-D.
  • Defeated DOC K1T-D.
  • Defeated PLINK K1T-D.

Lessons in Agony – 3AP

Complete difficulty scale 20 in the Fractals of the Mists.


Master of the Molten Ore – 5AP

Only use four buckets during the boss encounter of the Underground Facility Fractal.


Mercy of the Mordant – 5AP

End the suffering of all 15 downed foes in the Twilight Oasis Fractal in one run. Here you can see the map with their locations. Red dots represent NPCs on the ground level, while green dots represent the ones found atop buildings or balconies.



Mistlock Mountaineer – 10AP

Complete the jumping puzzle at Mistlock Observatory. Head north-east to the small portal which teleports you to the Fractal Instability Trainer golem. Go down the stairs, turn left, run across the stream and up the hill. On the south side you can see some stairs. This is where the jumping puzzle starts.


Credit to Tekkit's Workshop for the video.

Molten Boss Fractal Stabilizer – 5AP

Complete the Molten Boss Fractal.


Molten Furnace Fractal Stabilizer – 5AP

Complete the Molten Furnace Fractal.


No Lasers! – 5AP

On the Solid Ocean Fractal, defeat the Jade Maw without anyone in your party being hit by its beam attack.


Notetaker – 5AP

In the Chaos Fractal, find all 7 of the lost journal pages in Chaos Isles.



Of Spiders and Sentinels – 5AP

In the Deepstone Fractal, kill both the Brood Queen and Deepstone Sentinel within three minutes of each other.


One with the Mists (Hidden) – 0AP

Purchase Mist Attunement 1.


Open Grave – 5AP – 1MP

Kill all of the monsters in the Solid Ocean Fractal.


Out of Cluck – 5AP – 1MP

While inside the Urban Battleground Fractal, your team killed all the chickens in the city.



Riches Unveiled – 5AP

In the Deepstone Fractal, discover all 10 hidden treasure chests in one run.
The chests are initially invisible, but their locations are indicated by floating blue sparkles; use Light of Deldrimor to reveal them.
Map with known possible treasure locations marked:



Savage Cannoneer – 10AP

Using the shadow cannons, deliver the killing blow to ghosts in the Siren’s Reef Fractal. A total of 368 kills.


Shockwave Skipper – 5AP – 1MP

In the Molten Boss Fractal, defeat the leaders of the Molten Alliance without being hit by a shockwave.



Snowblind Fractal Stabilizer – 5AP

Complete the Snowblind Fractal.


Solid Ocean Fractal Stabilizer – 5AP

Complete the Solid Ocean Fractal.


Spirit Evader – 5AP

In the Siren’s Reef Fractal on Tier 4, move stealthily through the maze to avoid alerting the spectral orbs.


Stealth Bombers – 5AP

Use stealth to bomb the reinforced door without triggering any security turrets or contractors within the Underground Facility Fractal.


Still Faster Than Light – 5AP

In the Aetherblade Fractal, complete Kleptotronic Advanced Designs without being hit by lasers.



Subject 6 Deep-Sixer – 5AP – 1MP

Defeat Subject 6 after causing it to gain maximum stacks of overcharge possible without exploding. Bring Subject 6 to 19 stacks during its shield phase before killing it, and do not let it reach 20 stacks at any point thereafter (it explodes at exactly 20). If it reaches 20 stacks, the achievement is voided.



Swampland Fractal Stabilizer – 5AP

Complete the Swampland Fractal.


Take a Bow – 5AP – 1MP

You and the captured colossus of the Cliffside Fractal share a moment of respect. Use the emote /bow at the colossus after you complete the fractal.



Thaumanova Reactor Fractal Stabilizer – 5AP

Complete the Thaumanova Reactor Fractal.


The Floor Is Lava. Don’t Step In It. – 5AP – 1MP

Complete the Volcanic Fractal without falling in the lava.


Three with the Mists (Hidden) – 0AP

Purchase Mist Attunement 3.


Two with the Mists (Hidden) – 0AP

Purchase Mist Attunement 2.


Uncategorized Fractal Stabilizer – 5AP

Complete the Uncategorized Fractal.


Underground Facility Fractal Stabilizer – 5AP

Complete the Underground Facility Fractal.


Urban Battleground Fractal Stabilizer – 5AP

Complete the Urban Battleground Fractal.


Volcanic Fractal Stabilizer – 5AP

Complete the Volcanic Fractal.


Volcano Hero – 5AP

On the Volcanic Fractal, defeat the Imbued Shaman on scale 51 or above without losing any captives.



Weapons Tester – 5AP – 1MP

On the Molten Furnace Fractal, destroy the thermal core without being struck by any molten weapon attacks.


Collections


Fractal Master

Unlock all 19 fractal weapon skins in your wardrobe.



You can get these weapons as random drops from daily fractal chests (Tier 1 and Tier 2), or you can buy a “Fractal Weapon Crate” and select the skin you want from the BUY-2046 PFR NPC at Mistlock Observatory, it costs 20 Pristine Fractal Relics.


Gold Fractal Master

Unlock all golden fractal weapon skins in your wardrobe.



You can get these weapons as random drops from the daily fractal chests (Tier 3 and Tier 4). There is also a “Gold Fractal Weapon Crate” from completing the Fractal Master collection, you can buy more of these crates on BLING-9009 NPC with Gold Fractal Relics and Integrated Fractal Matrices, which can be bought using fractal relics and stabilizing matrices which can be salvaged from ascended trinkets.

You have the choice between gathering 10 relics and buying a crate from BLING-9009 to select a specific weapon you need, or as an alternative you can use 4 Relics in the Mystic Forge for a random weapon. Check this LINK to see all the different possible Mystic Forge combinations. If you want all of the skins, it is better to use the random weapon recipe at first, and as you get more of them and the chance of getting a duplicate increases, switch to the guaranteed specific weapon method.


Abyssal Fractal Master

Unlock all abyssal fractal weapon skins in your wardrobe.



These weapons are rewards from Sunqua Peak Challenge Mode.


Legendary Back Item – Ad Infinitum


LINK

3 Comments

  1. “In Fractals, characters are adjusted to level 80, so even if you are a new player you can experience them.”

    Very comprehensive guide, but I am still left wonder HOW all this applies to an under 80 character.

    Everything around agony resistances is for over 80 and focused on acquisition of ascended gear to circumvent and reduce it’s impact.

    If I am under level 80 I will not have this gear, so how is this addressed? I would like to learn about what fractals are like before getting to level 80.

    • That’s because fractals under dificulty scale 10 don’t have the agony mechanic, so players can try out, not optimal but works.

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