Guild Wars 2

Triumph.
Best designed fractal.
With no knowledge and pugging we found straight forward to figure the puzzles without them being overly cryptic.
Awesome boss final. Each profession has mechanics that are useful against it.
Well done.

I have to second this. The fractal is amazing. Especially the raid-like design. Less trashmobs, more boss action.

I think anets fractal team really getting to grasps with the identity of fractals as a middle ground between raids and dungeons. this was most enjoyable. pug group beat it first time tier 3 a few downs and wipes, fun different bosses maybe bit overboard with aoe circles but it did stop us from standing still and auto attacking for long times. bit disappointed was no toxic spore nodes like molten had the mining ones. can you add a small patch that sprout at the fractals final boss kill or after each boss kill would be a bit rewarding and help drop the spore prices a bit on trade.

anyway this was fantastic and my fav fractal but not just because my names nightmare ok maybe a little bit.

What does the cone infront of the player do to allies or if it’s not allies related, what does it even do? I only did the easiest lvl t1 alone and haven’t got much time today to try t4.

It was definitely fun to fight the watchwork champion and the watchknight again, thanks for bringing those back to the game Anet.

I’ve did it today at T4 and I have to say that implementing raid-like mechanics was a great idea The encounters were decent and required some dexterity. Players can be a bit punished during the last encounter if they are not depleting the breakbar fast enough. Overall it’s a great fractal. Hope fractals become a good stepping stone for players that want to go to raids after.

10/10. This is what fractal 100 is supposed to be. Kitten brilliant. The only complaint I have is that the last boss is a bit too tanky. But that’s probably gonna be “fixed” with more experience.

Amazing fractal. Love it. Not much more to say about it rly.

Benjamin Arnold.3457:

Thanks guys, we worked really hard on this and I’m glad it paid off! I hope this sets the standard for what you all can expect from us going forward.

Cameron Rich.3905:

We’re stoked to hear the positive responses today, and like Ben said, this should set the standard for what to expect going forward.

See you all in the Nightmare.

Nice to hear. Looks like every PvE aspect of the game is getting its appropriate portion of attention in reasonable time frames now.

I’ll add my voice to this. This fractal is absolutely amazing – and a perfect example of how to do multi-tier content in the game.

I LOVED IT! IT WAS A DREAM COME TRUE!

So before anyone corrects me dont worry it was a play on words :P

But let be the 7th person to say, you guys knocked it out of the park. I have never felt so accomplished after finishing a fractal. We went straight 100 and i went in thinking “meh this’ll be easy peezy”

To my surprised.. i got my butt WHOOPED. and i love it! I love love love how you build up to the final boss. You the implemented all of what we’ve learned from previous mini bosses to all be used against final. Theres not enough words to describe how amazing this turned out. The bar is HIGH for upcoming fractals ;P This has quickly become my #1 favorite.
OHHH and that music from lws1??? Let me just say.. I LOVE YOU. Added ever more motion to the fight. Thank you, thank you, ty!

Well “too tanky” thing is gone. Did 100 second time and it went a lot faster.

I want to make it clear after doing both 75 and 100 as a Valk/Zerk Power reaper.

This is quite literally everything I wanted from the GW2 combat system when I first got this game years ago.

A good pacing to the fight, good map design all around that really makes you feel the menace from the boss, Combat requiring mobility and positioning. Strengths and weaknesses to going ranged vs melee (Attacks behaved differently depending on distance to the boss), Enough pressure in both areas that you WANT to go to where your most suited for the sake of survival, a reason to be a little tankier than normal and to bring utility skills instead of just dps boosts, (I brought rise and well of corruption to deal with boons and to help me if I get CC’d before that kitten combo slam).

All in all this fight made me WORK for it. I had to learn and pay attention and even then there was enough happening to me and my team mates that I found myself using every skill on my tool bar multiple times throughout the fight.

This is exactly what I wanted. And even though I know everything coming forward will be different. Hearing that this fractal is the “standard” moving forward just makes me plain excited.

(AND ALSO THAT MUSIC…gods I can’t believe how much I missed that song)

SnowyLeobard.9721:

What does the cone infront of the player do to allies or if it’s not allies related, what does it even do? I only did the easiest lvl t1 alone and haven’t got much time today to try t4.

It was definitely fun to fight the watchwork champion and the watchknight again, thanks for bringing those back to the game Anet.

That cone is actually harmful for your team. Idea is DONT be facing your part members while the cone is highlighted. The emote looks similar to whenn you eat too much candy and you throw how. Except it doesnt have a ground effect and your “vomit” is acid. Lol I killed a teammate to it already!

Did all achis except the one that requires you to get pasted (and die?) in last boss. Could you maybe change that achi for one that doesn’t need you to get hit?

The difficulty of the fractal was well designed, it was melee friendly and immersive. Puts good emphasis on CC and a bit of projectile defense.The last ‘shield’ part on last boss was really scary, claustrophobic even, but in a good way. I have no idea how will it be with the challenge mote (reduced healing), but I am looking forward to it.

I like the way mysterious asura story is going, but I think he takes us for friendly a bit too soon in fractal? Wish we could talk with him to at least confirm we aren’t bad guys instead of staying silent.

I’m liking it except for the Orbs. They are too dependent on low lag and fast reflexes that people playing a game like GW2 over, say, Super Meat Boy, may not always possess. Between that and the infinitely respawning adds, this part turns into more of an exercise in repeatedly rezzing until you manage to bull through it than anything else for some players.

Clarify: I mean the trio, not the ones during the final boss.

I like the new fractal, it’s challenging without becoming annoying. But I have something to say about the length these fractals are becoming. Less rooms inside the fractal please, 2-3 rooms max not 5. 30min just for 1 fractal is really too time consuming.

Really good design, its challenging but not punishing this is what made it so good.
If your group wipe after getting one or two circle, they dont reset so its make way less frustrating for pugs as they can progress little by little. And the last fight where everybody ress if someone pass 66% and 33% at the circle phases, first time doing it today, only person alive at 66% it was so nice to see everybody ress after i got the last circle.

This one was really well tuned at 75, just the right amount of challenge. The atmosphere was amazing as well. Actually looking forward to trying 100.

By the way guys, you can jump over the orbs and focus on the orange circles only. Just spamming jump and moving away from orange circles get you a long way ahead.

I am impressed, amazed, I’m so, so surprised, I expected nothing but I got everything I wanted!

The new Nightmare Fractal is so far, the best thing that has happened to this game. It makes use of the combat system so, so good. The mechanics are fun, the difficulty is fair, and I have to say that the way it’s designed, I feel every class has its fair share of action and utility.

THIS is the game I heard GW2 was and I really, really cross my fingers for it to keep eon going this way for both casual and hardcore players!

Do lv100 with my team last night(at my place). Pretty fun fractal. Last boss wipe us out a few times but we managed to beat it .

Takoyakii.2146:

Do lv100 with my team last night(at my place). Pretty fun fractal. Last boss wipe us out a few times but we managed to beat it .

How did you play something last night that was released this afternoon?

Boogiepop Void.6473:

Takoyakii.2146:

Do lv100 with my team last night(at my place). Pretty fun fractal. Last boss wipe us out a few times but we managed to beat it .

How did you play something last night that was released this afternoon?

Timezone difference. It exists.

It’s released afternoon in USA, around midnight in oceania

Harbinger mode is everything I didn’t realize I wanted in my 5-man endgame content. We got to 25% on a “just to see how it goes” run after 100 normal and I got pounced and we all died because of it. On normal it’s clear enough to see where aoe’s will hit and you generally can understand that in melee range you worry about melee attacks, at range you worry about ranged. Probably the most fun I’ve had in PvE combat, and definitely the most fun I’ve had in fractals.

Amazing fractal and by far my favorite one yet. Level 100 was exactly what 5 man end game should feel like. The biggest reason why this is far superior to Chaos is that the difficulty isn’t just “let’s punish melee players and make range easy” (which is why Chaos feels terrible). Instead, Nightmare is melee viable and fun, especially at that last 33%.

Can’t wait to see what the fractal team has in store for us next (please let it be marionette or scarlet)

best stuff ever and then this challenge mode. i got really surprised by that one.
keep it up anet, this is definitly the way to go.

This fractal is inspired by one of the best living world season 1 part of gw2. And this fractal merge nostalgia and new things with ease. Well done.

Please more of LS1 best part, such as marionette and scarlett fight (with her personal OST in each phases, ofc).

Asa.3602:

I like the new fractal, it’s challenging without becoming annoying. But I have something to say about the length these fractals are becoming. Less rooms inside the fractal please, 2-3 rooms max not 5. 30min just for 1 fractal is really too time consuming.

It’s the endgame fractal, what did you expect? The length is fine.

Can’t wait to try out!!

The encounter pace is very well tuned. The boss has just the right amount of mechanics and attack frequency to keep you on your toes while not being too difficult for pug group. And the fight length feels perfect as well, unlike the tedious Mai Trin fight.

Not had chance to try it yet.
Any update on if the challenge mote loot can be obtained daily?

Previous comments all ring true… So well tuned.

And so much more enjoyable than raids since I can actually bring my revenant.

My first reaction to a 100 Nightmare: “And I thought the new Swamp was tough! O.o”

Still, I would give this new Fractal a thumbs-up as well. The lead-up encounters are fun, diverse, and they’re well explained enough that even a group of first-timers was able to figure out what they needed to do fairly quickly.

I think that Ensolyss’ health might need some toning down, although I’ll reserve my judgment on that until after people are more familiar with his fight. I think that two areas could also do with a bit of tweaking:

1. His shockwave attack can be a bit difficult to dodge since there’s not a lot of lead time, which makes it especially hard for people with higher latency. Perhaps give Ensolyss about another 1/4 second charge-up time before he does this attack.

2. The 33% orb phase is incredibly punishing. Reflects don’t work against the orb projectiles, and again, players with higher latency are at a severe disadvantage when it comes to trying to avoid the projectiles since they often aren’t where your screen shows them to be. I’m still brainstorming tactics and skills that might make this phase more manageable, but so far, the combination of high damage + Agony + greatly reduced movement space (due to the tighter circle) + shockwaves is a lot to endure.

And now for my fellow players, what are tips/tactics you can share for the orb phases? I know for a fact that reflects do not work against the projectiles, but apparently blocks do (which means that skills like Shield Stance, Counterattack, and Shield of Courage should all help in giving you breathing space). Invulnerability skills should obviously also be a big help. I was also considering that maybe it might be better for the party to stick together and cap one circle at a time, since you can share heals and blocks. (However, I’m unsure if the floor AoE’s would clump up, which would render this strategy useless.)

You really loved it? It was just the same boring stuff they had during the tower of nightmare events in kessex hills. Guess this what you can expect of anet’s staff. Just keep at it not implementing stuff the players would actually enjoy…

Smoochoo.1086:

You really loved it? It was just the same boring stuff they had during the tower of nightmare events in kessex hills. Guess this what you can expect of anet’s staff. Just keep at it not implementing stuff the players would actually enjoy…

Tower of Nightmares during S1 was completely and utterly different than the vast majority of mechanics pushed out in this fractal. The monsters in this fractal might wear the same skins, but they are smarter, and definitely harder to deal with.

The orbs are hard to see at times for players with higher latency, but I’m not sure this can even be corrected (I have the same issue with Sabetha and eventually learned to pre-emptively avoid stuff). It also happens with Arrk’s shield sometimes, the AoE simply doesn’t show and I have to either know the cooldown by heart or be ready to follow my team at all times towards it. I don’t think it’s a video issue because I can clearly see and avoid the puzzle orbs during capture parts.

Other than that, I must say, I was one to criticize the decision to keep using LS1 content instead of some actual meat of Tyrian history, and I’m very glad of how wrong I was. The whole thing seems very original and nostalgic at the same time (like fractals were supposed to be), and it gave a new life to old enemies. Not to mention the challenge mote, that was a very good surprise and I’d say you guys graciously shoved your response to “fractals are too easy but raids are too hard!” on our faces, without locking out the already established fractal people. While normal mode T4 is the perfect balance in difficulty, the challenge mote is grounds to train many mechanics at once. I can safely claim it’s a good practice for many raid mechanics outside of the raids themselves, because there are no timers like some people wanted and you can also rally off adds at most times, while still being unforgiving and hectic. I personally loved it!

Smoochoo.1086:

You really loved it? It was just the same boring stuff they had during the tower of nightmare events in kessex hills. Guess this what you can expect of anet’s staff. Just keep at it not implementing stuff the players would actually enjoy…

Ever played Tower of Nightmares and the new Fractal? I did and the Mechanics there are completely different. Ring AOE,s that Cone Bomb, the mob Fixation Mechanic, jumping AOE’s, Bullet Hell, dat Charge Attack. None of these were in the ToN.

The Assets themselves may be the same but this Fractal is nothing like the ToN

That final 33% phase on the final boss was something of a nightmare ^^ Not that I want it nerfed or anything.

I really like this fractal. Bullet time is fun. Boss mechanics are fun. Dodging aoe’s is fun.

My only (very very very minor) complaint is that I have no idea what the cones that come from the player do. I know it has to do with the ghosts spawn. I just don’t know if I’m supposed to look at the ghosts, other players, the boss, or away from the the players and boss.

Absurdo.8309:

I really like this fractal. Bullet time is fun. Boss mechanics are fun. Dodging aoe’s is fun.

My only (very very very minor) complaint is that I have no idea what the cones that come from the player do. I know it has to do with the ghosts spawn. I just don’t know if I’m supposed to look at the ghosts, other players, the boss, or away from the the players and boss.

It’s basically a spit attack that will dmg other players if you look at them.

cranos.5913:

Absurdo.8309:

I really like this fractal. Bullet time is fun. Boss mechanics are fun. Dodging aoe’s is fun.

My only (very very very minor) complaint is that I have no idea what the cones that come from the player do. I know it has to do with the ghosts spawn. I just don’t know if I’m supposed to look at the ghosts, other players, the boss, or away from the the players and boss.

It’s basically a spit attack that will dmg other players if you look at them.

Ok, so just don’t have the cone aoe’s on players?

Absurdo.8309:

cranos.5913:

Absurdo.8309:

I really like this fractal. Bullet time is fun. Boss mechanics are fun. Dodging aoe’s is fun.

My only (very very very minor) complaint is that I have no idea what the cones that come from the player do. I know it has to do with the ghosts spawn. I just don’t know if I’m supposed to look at the ghosts, other players, the boss, or away from the the players and boss.

It’s basically a spit attack that will dmg other players if you look at them.

Ok, so just don’t have the cone aoe’s on players?

That’s what seems to be the case. I thought it was connected to the spirit first too, but the attack has 0 effect on it. So yeah, just don’t aim at other players (unless you wanna troll guildies :P).

I am disappointed it’s a lvl 25 fractal+. Thaumonova when it released gave a grace period of being to just go in experience it. The highest any of my guild is lvl 20 in fractals, so we gathered together in advance to do it…only to find it shut out to us.

Really hoped we could at least experience it straight off the bat for t1 at least once.

I am looking forward to at least getting to it though after hearing all these great things!

Randulf.7614:

I am disappointed it’s a lvl 25 fractal+. Thaumonova when it released gave a grace period of being to just go in experience it. The highest any of my guild is lvl 20 in fractals, so we gathered together in advance to do it…only to find it shut out to us.

Really hoped we could at least experience it straight off the bat for t1 at least once.

I am looking forward to at least getting to it though after hearing all these great things!

if you have the agony resistance, just search for an opener incase nobody has level 25 or more and just play it.

but depending on your level of play, level 25 is not as much fun as level 100.
at least my group did it on level 25 after beating 100 just to see the difference and the only thing that happend at every boss was: direct cc, dmg him to the next phase / kill it.
bosses couldn’t even do 1 attack.

bosses could take a bit off a hp buff on level 25. :P

Randulf.7614:

I am disappointed it’s a lvl 25 fractal+. Thaumonova when it released gave a grace period of being to just go in experience it. The highest any of my guild is lvl 20 in fractals, so we gathered together in advance to do it…only to find it shut out to us.

Really hoped we could at least experience it straight off the bat for t1 at least once.

I am looking forward to at least getting to it though after hearing all these great things!

I’m sure anyone in lfg would be willing to open it for you if you still want to try it.

One thing that I’d like changed is how often pets get knocked back and interrupted by Ensolyss. I don’t like how my Frost Spirit gets pushed around so much that I have to just destroy it and resummon it eventually.

I noticed that the bombs in the Hallucination Maze targeted defeated players which felt strange.

I think the health on the boss in Tier 4 might be a tad high. It might be because of how the transitions on this boss go though. Currently we fight 33% of the boss’ health in the first phase, 33% in the second, 18% in the third and 15% in the fourth. I think it might feel better if it was 30%/30%/25%/15%.