Guild Wars 2

Hey,
If the topic already exist, i’ll delete it.
My question is what is your list from best to worst fractals?

Some people will call this topic pointless in some way and i can understand but whatever. I’m interested in other opinions and i never heard which fractals was hated or loved except dredge. Nobody likes dredge. Anyway here is the list of the fractals:

Mistlock Observatory
Aquatic Ruins Fractal
Cliffside Fractal
Snowblind Fractal
Swampland Fractal
Underground Facility Fractal
Urban Battlegrounds Fractal
Volcanic Fractal
Uncategorized Fractal
Thaumanova Reactor Fractal
Molten Furnace Fractal
Aetherblade Fractal
Captain Mai Trin Boss Fractal
Molten Boss Fractal
Solid Ocean Fractal

My list isn’t ready because im pretty new in fractals (lvl but played every fractal atleast once except from 1-2.

I think the list might really depend on the level. For instance 1-10 is categorized is stupidly easy.
However 20+ it is pretty crappy unless you have a thief or whatever.

I’m sure other levels also differ too, but I don’t have any other examples. ^^;;;;

Best Fractals:
1. Volcanic Fractal (best boss fight!)
2. Molten Furnace Fractal (best dungeon in the game!)
3. Urban Battlegrounds Fractal (straightforward and simple combat)

Worst Fractals:
1. Underground Facility Fractal (Too many frustrating gimmicks!)
2. Molten Furnace Fractal (Arm Seals…)
3. Uncategorized Fractal (those harpies…)

Worst: Dredge, even Harpy is much much less annoying than Dredges
Everything else is fine.

The ones i like the best? Underwater, ascalon, harpies (yes, i know, i hate their knockback, but i like that fractal in general)

The worst ones? Dredge (for almost everything except last boss fight, which is cool), Aetherblade fractal (the boss fight. I hated those revolving lasers and pulling golems originally, and i hate them now). Snowblind (for too much cc in the elemental fight).

Cliffside not included, because, while it is just too long, and the arm seals healing is annoying, i like it in general. I’m just not sure whether i hate the arm seals part more than i like the general design or not.

And of the end boss fractals, i definitely liked maw better than both the new ones, oven if (when done right) they are faster.

Best:
Solid Ocean Fractal
Swampland Fractal
Volcanic Fractal

They’re all well balanced in length and difficulty. You can play them well with pickup-groups and they offer some non-combative challenge.

Worst:
Aquatic Ruins Fractal: too long, too little to do and the dolphin bit is silly.
Underground Facility Fractal: too long and way too many trash mobs that should either be skippable or not there (skipping can be a challenge in itself)
Captain Mai Trin Boss Fractal: again, too long, cannon phase is just boring and waiting instead of challenge. And why was a champion added before the fight? That’s just a time filler (something I’d hoped wouldn’t be present in GW2).

ThiBash.5634:

Captain Mai Trin Boss Fractal: again, too long, cannon phase is just boring and waiting instead of challenge. And why was a champion added before the fight? That’s just a time filler (something I’d hoped wouldn’t be present in GW2).

The legendary at the beginning of the cliff-side fractal is even worse. Why does that guy exist? The fractal is long enough already, why do we need to stall for 5 minutes on a pointless legendary? Just put the hammer on top of the altar at his feet. The entire thing is just stalls and gimmicks.

Cottontail.8526:

The legendary at the beginning of the cliff-side fractal is even worse. Why does that guy exist? The fractal is long enough already, why do we need to stall for 5 minutes on a pointless legendary? Just put the hammer on top of the altar at his feet. The entire thing is just stalls and gimmicks.

It doesn’t take 5 minutes to kill him.

Cliffside would be my favorite if not for Armseals. Because of that one part, I dislike the fractal.

haviz.1340:

Cottontail.8526:

The legendary at the beginning of the cliff-side fractal is even worse. Why does that guy exist? The fractal is long enough already, why do we need to stall for 5 minutes on a pointless legendary? Just put the hammer on top of the altar at his feet. The entire thing is just stalls and gimmicks.

It doesn’t take 5 minutes to kill him.

it takes more for a pug actually, not everybody running with a preready zerk group..

Vissarion.6509:

it takes more for a pug actually, not everybody running with a preready zerk group..

You realize he was solo’d by a guardian, in about 13 minutes at old scale 48 which had more extreme scaling? If it takes more than 5 minutes to kill him your team has horribly low dps capabilities.

Best: swamp, all new fractals(i love ’em).
Worst: dredge, volcanic kitten, dredge again.

haviz.1340:

Vissarion.6509:

it takes more for a pug actually, not everybody running with a preready zerk group..

You realize he was solo’d by a guardian, in about 13 minutes at old scale 48 which had more extreme scaling? If it takes more than 5 minutes to kill him your team has horribly low dps capabilities.

Yes, zerker guards have way better dps capabilities than bunker/hybrid builds. That’s nothing new, right?

Astralporing.1957:

Yes, zerker guards have way better dps capabilities than bunker/hybrid builds. That’s nothing new, right?

Yes, in a group. Zerker guard solo is not exactly the epitome of dps if there are no reflections involved since he cannot buff himself offensively. And he used a scepter.

My list from best to worst, keeping in mind that i rarely do(did) anything under 48 (and I think 47 now :P ). Also not from the one I’m most happy to see during a run (usually the quickest), but the one that I enjoy the most. I usually play a guardian.

Fractals

1. Cliffside Fractal
2. Volcanic Fractal
3. Aetherblade Fractal
4. Swampland Fractal
5. Thaumanova Reactor Fractal
6. Urban Battlegrounds Fractal
7. Snowblind Fractal
8. Molten Furnace Fractal
9. Uncategorized Fractal
10. Aquatic Ruins Fractal
11. Underground Facility Fractal

Bosses

1. Captain Mai Trin Boss Fractal
2. Molten Boss Fractal
3. Solid Ocean Fractal

My List, I’ve put them in an order which I enjoy, I have had ‘success issues’ with some of my favorites, and I’m often loving and dreading the Molten Bosses at the moment depending on what my group is like. I’m lvl 50, run 47/49s mostly, I do not play in pick up groups, so these comments are based on a semi organised team, although our professions depending on who is playing can be pretty whacky!

Ones that I think are in a good place

Volcanic Fractal
Nicely challenging boss fight, and it’s not too long to get there, defending the humans for the small chest is also quite cool

Aetherblade Fractal
I love the traps and mechanics with agony throughout the fractal, more should be designed like this

Cliffside Fractal
This used to be one of my most hated, it tends to take longer than other fractals, but since they have tiered the fractals I no longer have any issues with this, the boss fight at the beginning could be removed to make this a better length for a fractal

Thaumanova Reactor Fractal
I like each of the rooms and different challenges, I think it could have been a bit more intricate in the design of the area with props and such, but in general a nice edition

Molten Furnace Fractal
I like the length, traps, and difficulty of this fractal, the pack after the tunnel can easily wipe an under prepared team in the higher levels

Ones I think could be improved

Uncategorized Fractal
This is quite low on my list, due to the harpy knock backs, although it makes for the epic comedy moments, it also can be super long. The updates to reduce the number of harpies is appreciated and moves above Urban in my list

Urban Battlegrounds Fractal
This is probably lower than most would rate it, I enjoy the fights and the length of this fractal, but I don’t like the reliance on the npcs / having them not randomly agro from the very edge of the boss area and manmode!

Swampland Fractal
This used to be really fun, however since the wolf changes on Mossman I’ve not enjoyed it as much, but Bloomhunger is always pretty cool

Aquatic Ruins Fractal
Boss fight is so boring, don’t have any problem with the rest

Snowblind Fractal
The constant knock backs during the first boss fights makes this tedious, although I do like the rest of this fractal, I think the knock back frequency should be reduced

Underground Facility Fractal
The endless clown car in the middle makes this unbelievably long, just have the boss in this room with a few adds and it would probably be a decent fractal, the boss in there actually has some good mechanics

Bosses
Captain Mai Trin Boss Fractal
Nice length, the mechanics make this challenging enough but not to an annoying degree

Molten Boss Fractal
I love this boss fight because it requires a lot of dodge mechanics, however it does require your whole team to be able to dodge well, which can make this annoying

Solid Ocean Fractal
This is fine, but it is the least interesting boss fight of the three

Sidenote: #TheThingsKiritoDoes

Aquatic Ruins Fractal – 7/10. It’s a nice change of pace and overall a calm yet active fractal. A good starting one.
Cliffside Fractal – 8/10. It’s definitely well designed. Ramps up really well and ends really epically. First boss is a bit stale.
Snowblind Fractal – 8/10. Great teaching of mechanics, a nice lead up and great atmosphere. The final boss is a bit boring.
Swampland Fractal – 5/10. Either stupidly easy because your team is competent or stupidly hard and frustrating because they just don’t understand the run. The Moss Man is super easy and the other guy is actually a good fight.
Underground Facility Fractal – 2/10. Each part is interesting, but overall made punishing and slow by high health pools, huge mobs and cheesy tactics.
Urban Battlegrounds Fractal – 6/10. Interesting mechanics with the siege, but they can act in really immersion breaking ways (pot of oil anyone?). Overall, I think more could have been done with this fractal’s mechanic of siege and GW1 combat.
Volcanic Fractal – 6/10. First part is mindless. Saving the people is mindless. The boss is mindless. The run to the final boss is pretty cool. The final boss is a nice challenge. I think there could be a lot more done to make the beginning better, because the idea for the mechanics is there. Imagine if instead of veterans going to kill the prisoners, it was regular mobs and there were 4 at a time or more.
Uncategorized Fractal – 8/10. Your love of this one is dependent on how much you love jumping puzzles. I love them. From a design perspective, the pacing in this is great. The only part that is a bit stale is the final boss and the first fighting encounter. The final boss is a waste of a possibly cool mechanic (the positive negative stuff) and the first fight drags on a bit too long.
Thaumanova Reactor Fractal – 7/10. Very interesting mechanics. The first time you go through this, it’s a pain, but that final boss makes up for it. The turret room makes me cry sometimes. I love the ooze as it is a CC style boss, which we don’t see very often.
Molten Furnace Fractal – 5/10. The tunneling part is super slow and really just kinda boring. The mist gates that pop up and can’t be invulned through are just there to slow you down. No challenge to it. The final boss is great, but most players cheese it in the corner, making it less fun.
Aetherblade Fractal – 9/10. Amazing fractal that is being cheesed in a corner. Fix the cheese and this is a 10 in my books.
Captain Mai Trin Boss Fractal 8/10. The overall mechanics are amazing. Very interesting, very challenging and a LOVE the look/feel of Mai herself. That said, there are no ramping up mechanics in this, making it feel a bit repetitive, especially since every cannon phase is a near wipe for most parties.
Molten Boss Fractal – 10/10. Amazing boss fight. You can decide to fight him in different ways, both mechanics are really interesting and there’s actual strategy to fighting them. Killing berzerker first is sooooo worth it for the epicness of the flying guy’s fight.
Solid Ocean Fractal – 2/10. This is the most yawn enducing fight ever. He has a cool mechanic, he just needs to have more to it. Maybe at lower health he starts targeting two at once. Maybe the attack becomes AoE around the player and leaves a death circle there for 10 seconds. Maybe he actually has that skill that can break the floor from the cutscene!

Overall Average – 6.5/10. That’s not terrible, but I think a few simple fixes could bring this up to at least an 8 or higher. Some simple fixes:

1. Less health on dredge bosses.
2. Require only 8 seconds for the switch during the dredge fractal.
3. Less health on the maw. Attack faster. Make the crystal guys more deadly.
4. Spawn more grawl to kill the prisoners in volcanic.
5. Focus more attacks on the corner during the molten facility fractal boss.

The only fractals I have any issue with are snowblind, the molten facility, and dredge. Cliffside could use work, but it’s just kind of boring, though the arm seals not resetting fully on wipe is a huge pain too. Snowblind is just painfully boring, I’d take anything but dredge over it, the fractal is literally just 3 instances of waiting games, it’s awful. Dredge is at least a little more engaging but is painfully dull, switches need tanks more or less and the clown car is worse than ever. Molten facility is basically just the kd spam tunnel and it bugs out a lot. I think the urban, thaumanova, swamp, and aquatic are by far the best, they have their issues still too, but they do what they set out to do.

Haven’t done any of the new fractals yet. I don’t know if they’ve changed their dungeon versions so I won’t include them in my rankings.

Swampland

Aquatic

Ascalon

Uncategorized/Snowblind

Cliffside

Volcanic

Dredge

Mistlock Observatory mobs are way OP.

I like them all but my personal favourites are Volcanic, Cliffside, Urban Battlegrounds and Molten Facility for the nostalgic factor – I had so much fun farming that place back in the day.

Best – Swamp ( easy and fast )
Worst – Dredge ( no question ask, long and ridiculous boring! )

Not the order I would actually want to get them, but what I would deem well/poorly designed.

-Best-
- Molten Boss Fractal
- Cliffside Fractal
- Aetherblade Fractal
- Thaumanova Reactor Fractal
- Volcanic Fractal
- Captain Mai Trin Boss Fractal
- Molten Furnace Fractal
- Snowblind Fractal
- Urban Battlegrounds Fractal
- Uncategorized Fractal
- Swampland Fractal
- Solid Ocean Fractal
- Aquatic Ruins Fractal
- Underground Facility Fractal
-Worst-

I’m confused about Aquatic Ruins. What makes it bad?

Too lazy for a full list, so I’ll just do best and worst.
For me the worst fractal is Dredge (surprise surprise), even with a good group in a smooth run it’s annoying, and the mechanics are fairly dull.
Favorite is actually a boss fractal, the Molten Duo. It’s challenging yet fair, and you can mix things up by changing the kill order.

LOW level

best-

swamp
water
aetherblade or grawl

^ best to me means fastest

HIGH level

swamp
water, ascalon, harpy
aetherblade the asura one, or giant……..just not dredge

finish all runs with maw and im happy. well if i can do a run with no dredge or molten at the end…alls good.

I do not know how one would categorise them into ‘best’ and ‘worst’ but my:

• favourite is the Grawl/Volcanic Fractal. The boss fight in this fractal is exhilarating. It can punish without mercy if you make a mistake but at the same time you can take a moment of respite if needed.

• I disliked the Underwater Fractal because of the boss fight [too long and boring] and the Kraits [not the three groups you have to fight but the ones you have to avoid]. They have changed the boss fight so this fractal is no longer disliked.

Lilith Ajit.6173:

I’m confused about Aquatic Ruins. What makes it bad?

Dolphins. And big useless and boring boss. Uh, and dolphins too.

(Tough I must admit, I’m one of those people that since the patch only rolls swamp and I didn’t do it since then)

It’s pretty fun tho. You have different ways and awesome designed. Only the boss lacks a bit but that’s ok. I guess watergameplay is in general hated. See for example “zelda: lake temple in mm”.