Guild Wars 2

I’m a newer 80 and I am looking to start fractals for the first time. I’m replacing my open-world Power gear for a Condi setup. Obviously Viper is one of the most effective (based on posts and builds) – if I don’t have Viper yet, what is the recommended alternative? Sinister and Dire both seem appealing and affordable, but are they good for a few months while I figure out Viper?

I can’t speak for anyone else, but personally I don’t really care what stats my teammates run in low level fractals.
As long as you have fair DPS and know the mechanics enough that you don’t hinder the rest of the team (E.g. Not stacking on the molten berserker is very annoying), the lower fractals are quite forgiving.

I ran power up to about scale 40, then swapped to condi for more effective damage while boon stripping. Sinister would be fine while you’re sorting out Viper’s.

Thank you both for the info!

For learning the mechanics, is there a particular resource people like or just YouTube each fractal?

http://gw2dungeons.net is a good resource.

And [KING] made a good video series covering all the fractals. Those are aimed at the highest tier, but many principles apply at lower tiers too.
https://m.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/4i9h3q/king_fully_updated_guides_for_master_tier/

Finally, if you’re in a good guild, you can get someone can show you the ropes.

http://gw2dungeons.net/ has a section for fractals which will explain each one as well as telling you what instabilities there are and how much AR you need. The best thing to do is start at scale 1 and work your way through. My guild helped me get started and we’re always training new people in fractals and raids so I’m sure others do the same. Regardless, 1-20 don’t need any AR and pugs generally won’t get upset at those scales if you’re unsure of what you’re doing. Don’t be afraid to admit you’re unfamiliar with the content – people are often much nicer about it than you’d expect.