Guild Wars 2

I’d like to start doing Fractals with my fiancee, and would like a very basic overview of its mechanics; I’ve looked, but I want to hear it from another player.

How does the progression work? Every time I do three fractals, I get moved up a level group, but can still run with lower levels? A three fractal run of level 1 will allow me to do level 2 and so on? And then if I want to do the higher level fractals, everyone in my group must be at that level or higher, but not lower?

How do you attain the ascended gear within the fractals? Random loot from the end? I’m not sure how.

How accessible is it? I don’t have WoW Heroic Raid levels of dedication in me to get through this. I really want the best end game gear, but I don’t want to have to get this dedicated group, schedule run times, use vent, etc. My fiancee and I are very smart and adaptable, but we’re very busy and our schedules are always rather iffy.

What is the loot like? Anything else I should know?

I really hope that Anet only keeps it to a few pieces of Ascended gear, I’d hate it if we eventually had to get full Ascended; I know that this is a CHOICE for people who want harder content, but Fractals is pretty much siphoning off any interest in other dungeons as it is.

1- progression works like this: you start at level 1. every time you beat a set of 3 fractals on your highest level, you move up a level. you can do any difficulty level you’ve already cleared plus your highest one. the maximum level a party can go is the maximum level of the player with the least levels in the fractals (example: if four members have it up to level 5 and one member has level 2, the maximum you can do is level 2)

2- random drops, though some of the drops are actually materials used to create ascended backpieces.

3- i’ve done it with a level 8 player and with a level 10 player. it’s tough, but it’s accessible, at least on early levels.

4- loot is rather good it seems, dropped a few yellows from mobs and even got an exotic (although account bound) from a chest once. other than that, standard fare.

5- ascended gear is only necessary way down the line, it seems. first couple levels you aren’t even affected by agony. and the attention is being taken from other dungeons because it’s the new thing, everyone wants to play it.