Guild Wars 2

I’ve never done them. At all. And from looking at the forum it sounds like if you’re not an expert, you’re out. To make matters worse, there’s so many fractals that even reading guides is less workable than it is for dungeons, where you can study and master them one by one. So, a couple of questions:

1: Is it possible to solo/duo fractals? I am of course talking about the low level ones here.

2: If I am going to want to pug, what characters are most welcome? Got pretty much everyone to lvl 80 now apart from thief and necro.

I am very hesitant to join a dungeon guild because one, I do not have much time and is already in two guilds, and two, I don’t want to make a career of it. I just want some fractal relics for my potted plant.

I usually hate video guides, but this is one of those few that is just immensely helpful. They aren’t too long, just hits on the key points of each fractal.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-f7beQOnuHhR9Rkjyv0e6gl4TKU0RVzj

Malin.2490:

I’ve never done them. At all. And from looking at the forum it sounds like if you’re not an expert, you’re out. To make matters worse, there’s so many fractals that even reading guides is less workable than it is for dungeons, where you can study and master them one by one. So, a couple of questions:

1: Is it possible to solo/duo fractals? I am of course talking about the low level ones here.

2: If I am going to want to pug, what characters are most welcome? Got pretty much everyone to lvl 80 now apart from thief and necro.

I am very hesitant to join a dungeon guild because one, I do not have much time and is already in two guilds, and two, I don’t want to make a career of it. I just want some fractal relics for my potted plant.

Start by reading the wiki page and understanding the basic structure of fractals. Each “run” consists of three fractals, randomly selected from three tiers, and a boss fractal. There is a mechanic called “agony” at higher levels and you need “agony resistance” to progress further in the dungeon.

Now, in regards to your questions.

1. Some are solo/duoable. Each of the ones I’ve bolded should in theory be soloable or duoable. That’s not to say that it will be easy, just possible.

1. Aquatic Ruins, Swampland, Urban Battlegrounds, Uncategorized.
2. Uncategorized, Snowblind, Urban Battlegrounds, Molten Furnace, Cliffside.
3. Aetherblade, Volcanic, Thaumanova Reactor, Underground Facility, Cliffside.
4. (Boss fractal): Solid Ocean Fractal, Molten Boss Fractal or Captain Mai Trin Boss Fractal.

So as you can see, I think all but thaumanova reactor and underground facility can be done with 1/2 people. Reactor cannot be at higher levels because one of the “tasks” requires 3 people to simultaneously hit some switches. At lower levels you can skip this “task” and it should be soloable. Underground facility cannot be done without 3 people at any tier because it requires 2 people to stand on a switch while a third uses a gate.

The EASIEST to start with on tier 1 are aquatic ruins and urban battleground. Of those, urban battleground is much easier because you get a whole team of Charr with you. I often solod it pre-patch in the 70s. If you’re going to start by yourself, enter FOTM and “roll” until you’ve opened a fractal with lots of Charr. Most teams will start with swamp first though, because it’s by far the shortest fractal.

2. In fractals, all classes can perform well but necro is usually the least wanted. Guardians are really useful because there are ample opportunities for reflects, especially on the volcanic fractal. They are my personal most wanted class for fractals.

Edit: Also, I’m sure if you write “new to fractals lfg level 1” you can find a helpful and considerate party.

Fractals is more accepting of all professions, if you have one profession that you always play, it’s more than welcome as long as you are a team player. It’s hard to solo/duo fractals because there are some team mechanics that require 3+ people.

Watch that video guide and then join either a new group or one that is lvl 1-9 (since they are the same difficulty), do not do lvl 10+.

Can run some low levels with you if you need, I’m EU.

I dont’ think people ask that much for a low level fractal. I see a lvl2 fractal lfg up without asking for any requirement right now.

The people who are expert at fractals and repeatedly run them for loots are at high fractal levels. The vast majority of people at fractal level 1 are newcomers or people there for a fun run. Fractals are not like the dungeons where the speed runners and casual players mix. The problems only start when inexperienced players or players without AR go into high level fractals. If you don’t do that then you should be fine.

Thank you for the advice! I’m going to watch those videos, and then decide who I want to run with. That was actually a good point, about the fractal levels separating groups. I had not thought about it that way, I just wouldn’t want to get in the way of anybody’s farming.

I just wish I was better at playing my guardian, he was my third lvl 80 and just never really gelled with me. Though I haven’t played him post the trait redesign, so who knows, maybe he’ll feel more like me now.

My advice is: just try it. Starting lvl 1 create your own lfg. No guide or videos will help you that much as running it yourself.

I played almost all my fractal runs which is maybe 800+ full runs now with pugs.

You basically want to build your personal reward up anyway so the first runs are gonna be easier anyway. The video guides are good study first as mentioned to get a grasp of the encounters but then jump right in and start practicing as you build your reward level.

The most sought professions for a fractal pug are almost the same as for other dungeons but the value or being able to reflect and block projectiles comes to play even more. So guardian/mesmer/thief….

If ele offhand focus is pretty standard. And thief has ofc blinds which are pretty valuable as some fractals on higher levels have strong trash mobs that cant be all skipped and when they can be skipped invis is handy

As in all dungeons knowing how to play the profession you go in with is the most important thing and knowing when to use right skills fro the benefit of the group. Like as a guardian you use wall/shield, remove condi, provide stabi aegis etc. as needed in the right situations

Just so you know, the Thaumanova fractal is duo-able and frankly even solo-able (latter would involve a mesmer or thief).

Swamp fractal is actually bit harder to solo, unless you use portals. It kind of requires three people to run the wisps. But I suppose if one person uses portals, he/she could run two wisps instead of just one. Its tricky though.

But hey, if you are new to Fractals, just join a simply pug for levels between 1-10. Its not hard, just follow their lead, and you’ll be fine. Solo/duo is something you really only want to do once you are experienced at Fractals, and not something you want to start with.

koen.4729:

Just so you know, the Thaumanova fractal is duo-able and frankly even solo-able (latter would involve a mesmer or thief).

How do you do the switch room with the reflecting shields?

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

Swamp fractal is actually bit harder to solo, unless you use portals. It kind of requires three people to run the wisps. But I suppose if one person uses portals, he/she could run two wisps instead of just one. Its tricky though.

But hey, if you are new to Fractals, just join a simply pug for levels between 1-10. Its not hard, just follow their lead, and you’ll be fine. Solo/duo is something you really only want to do once you are experienced at Fractals, and not something you want to start with.

Swamp is soloable with a pro thief and a watchwork portal device.

Nevets Crimsonwing.5271:

koen.4729:

Just so you know, the Thaumanova fractal is duo-able and frankly even solo-able (latter would involve a mesmer or thief).

How do you do the switch room with the reflecting shields?

Portal and shadowtrap.

The best way would be to find a guild that do dungeon/fractal but that are casual or casual friendly.

Start by mastering the basic of dungeon, like you said they are easier to learn, so you have the basic about build, what most people except for a specific profession and how to play through an instance.

You can ask for help in the LFG, just make sure you specified that you are new, so people don’t assume you know your stuff and get mad when they figure out you don’t.

If you have 2 friends, you can probably go through all fractals at level 1. It will be hard, but you will be able to experiment by yourself and have a basic understanding of fractals. But don’t go in less than 3 ppl total or you won’t be able to complete them all.

If you join a random party for a level 1 fractal, no one will complain that you are new. Guaranteed. That is why we have Fractal levels to begin with.

Well, one exception to that. If you see a listing for “Level 1 daily, Swamp rolled”, don’t join those. These groups are basically just doing one Fractal for the daily achievement. The expectation is that you know how to do Swamp and everybody will just leave after doing that 1 Fractal since the daily is complete.

Yes, that is true. And the swamp fractal is one of those fractals where people can get very annoyed if you don’t know what you are doing. But generally speaking, when people are doing a full run in a low level fractal, you can be pretty sure that most of them are newb’s too.