Fractals of the Mists

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Disambig icon.png This article is about the dungeon. For the region, see Fractals of the Mists (region). For the achievement category, see Fractals of the Mists (achievements).

Fractals of the Mists

Fractals of the Mists map.jpg
Map of Fractals of the Mists

Levels
80
Type
Dungeon
Region
Fractals of the Mists
Connects to
Lion's Arch
Mistlock Sanctuary

Fractals of the Mists loading screen.jpg
Loading screen

Image(s)

Interactive map (Surface)

This portal leads to a mysterious destination. Many adventurers have entered, few have left.

— In-game description

Fractals of the Mists (FotM) is a special dungeon that consists of an array of mini-dungeons called fractals, each featuring its own story and environment. The Mists refers to the setting of the fractals which represent various realities and historical events found by groups of explorers. Fractals feature some unique systems and design, including a difficulty scale, Agony mechanic, Mistlock Instabilities and other.

Like other dungeons, Fractals of the Mists are designed and balanced for parties of five players, but allow smaller groups of fewer players. Characters are adjusted to level 80 within the fractal. Fractals are one of the primary sources of ascended equipment and provide materials for crafting infused equipment and attuned equipment. They are one of the core pillars of Guild Wars 2's endgame.

The Fractals difficulty scale ranges from 1 to 100, and can be selected prior to entering the fractal. The personal fractal level is an account-wide stat which tracks the current maximum difficulty scale that can be selected. To increase the personal fractal level, and therefore, the highest fractal scale accessible to the account, the player must complete a single fractal on a fractal scale equal or greater to their personal fractal level. This provides progression, allowing players to continuously complete higher levels on the difficulty scale and earn greater rewards as a result.

When entering Fractals of the Mists, the players arrive in the Mistlock Observatory in the Mists, which serves as a fractal lobby. There, players meet Dessa and her group of scientists, who research islands of reality found in the Mists. As these areas still contain threats, the players are asked to "stabilize" each fractal — make it safe for the scientists to start their work. Throughout each fractal, Dessa's communicates with the party and comments on their progress. Once a fractal is stabilized, she and her krewe transport the characters back to the Mistlock Observatory.

Introduction letter[edit]

Mail.png

The Consortium PR and Legal Defense Team

A Dazzling New Attraction in Lion's Arch


The Consortium invites you to visit our asura gate near Fort Marriner to experience the spectacular scenery and awe-inspiring adventure of its newest attraction: Fractals of the Mists! Re-live the greatest and most exciting moments from Tyria's past as you test your strength, speed, and skill against some of the most formidable opponents from the annals of history. All this and more is waiting for you in the Fractals of the Mists!

(WARNING: some fractals may cause injury, psychic trauma, blindness, or death. By entering this asura gate, you officially waive any and all rights to pursue legal damages against the Consortium. Participate at your own risk.)

—The Consortium PR and Legal Defense Team

Getting there[edit]

Once any member of your party has entered, you will be prompted to join them from anywhere within Lion's Arch, Memory of Old Lion's Arch or Mistlock Sanctuary. Note that you will not be prompted if you're already in a different fractal instance, even in the Mistlock Observatory lobby area. If you end up in a separate instance to the rest of your party, leave to Lion's Arch and then use the prompt to join them.

Mechanics[edit]

Matchmaking[edit]

Primary article: Looking For Group#Fractals of the Mists Category Mechanics

Difficulty scale[edit]

The difficulty scale selection window, showing all four tiers of the Fractals available.

Fractals of the Mists uses a difficulty scale in contrast to the story and explorable modes of dungeons. The scales are as follows:

  1. Tier 1: Initiate, 0—25
  2. Tier 2: Adept, 26—50
  3. Tier 3: Expert, 51—75
  4. Tier 4: Master, 76—100
  • Your personal fractal level increases by one each time you complete a fractal scale equal to or greater than your personal level.
  • Whoever enters the hub may choose the initial difficulty level, which can be set up to the highest personal fractal level of any member of the current party.
  • Increased personal levels offer increased rewards, even if the run is at a lower difficulty level. Higher difficulty levels offer greater challenges and higher chances of better rewards, from foes, chests, and bonus chests.
  • Each fractal scale corresponds with a specific fractal 'island' and set of unique conditions.
  • There are four fractal difficulty scale ranges that are listed in the Looking For Group tool. For new characters, all of these skill ranges are locked (they cannot be used to find groups). The first scale range called "Initiate Scales 1-25", will unlock when a character reaches level 80. Higher group scale ranges will unlock when an account's personal fractal level nears the upper boundary for that group. For example, the ability to search in the 51-75 range unlocks when an account's personal fractal level is 46. More details can be found on the page Looking For Group.
Standard changes at higher difficulty levels
  • Standard foes spawn in greater numbers and have higher levels.
  • Foes gain increased health and damage values.
  • Some foes will gain new abilities, e.g. in the Uncategorized Fractal, the harpies start to knock players back.
Major changes at different tiers

Fractals include more substantial changes starting at level 26, 51, 76, so these are called the difficulty "tiers".

  • New items begin dropping at higher tiers; other items begin dropping more frequently.
  • New challenges are added at new tiers:
    • Agony is added to enemy and boss attacks at level 20, and it continues to increase with each level.
    • A Mistlock Instability is added at level 26, with additional instabilities added at levels 51 and 76 (for a total of 3).
    • Starting at level 71, whenever a player gets downed a Fractal Avenger will spawn to finish the player.
      • Interrupting or killing it will cause it to disappear. If a downed player stealths or teleports away, it will continue its finisher, but it will fail if a player is still stealthed or has moved far enough away by the time its animation finishes.
      • Fractals with the Fractal Vindicator instability will spawn a Fractal Vindicator instead, which deals heavy damage to its target and persists until slain. Unlike with the avengers, only one vindicator will spawn per player whenever they go downed until their current vindicator has been slain.
  • Daily Fractals rewards are available for difficulties 1-25, 26-50, 51-75 and 76-100.

Mistlock Observatory[edit]

The Mistlock Observatory serves as the lobby area for the dungeon. It offers a variety of relevant services and merchants that sell fractal-related equipment, Fractal Potions, and infusions. The Fractal Instability Trainer gives access to a training area where players can test their build against agony, mistlock instabilities, and enemies of various ranks.

A portal near the entrance of the Mistlock Observatory can be used to access the fractals; this requires confirmation from all players in the party.

Differences from dungeons[edit]

  • There are no waypoints. If any party member dies, they must wait to be revived by their party or for the rest of the party to get out of combat, at which point any defeated member is given the option to teleport back to the most recently completed checkpoint (or to leave the fractal entirely).
  • Any character that re-enters an existing fractal instance (excluding the lobby) will spawn dead.
  • Any characters under level 80 will be scaled up, allowing lower-level characters to participate, though stats gained from gear will still be lower, and mobs will generally target lower leveled players specifically.

Agony[edit]

Primary article: Agony

Agony is an effect introduced starting at scale 20, reducing healing and dealing a large percentage of your maximum health as damage per second. The amount of damage inflicted gradually increases as the difficulty scale increases, starting at 10% and capping out at 180%. Certain mechanics, mistlock instabilities, and enemy attacks will apply Agony.

The damage taken from Agony can be reduced with Agony Resistance, down to a minimum of 1%. The main source of Agony Resistance are from infusions that can be placed in Ascended and Legendary equipment. Temporary Agony Resistance can be obtained from using an Anguished Tear of Alba.

Mistlock Instability[edit]

Mistlock Instabilities are special modifiers that introduce additional mechanics or effects onto players and their party's journey through the Fractals of the Mists. These can be anything from incurring simple conditions to insidious extra creature attacks. These effects start at difficulty scale 26. Starting at difficulty scale 51 there are two Mistlock Instabilities active, and at scale 76 there are three Mistlock Instabilities active. Active instabilities can be previewed from the difficulty scale selected or viewed on your effects bar. Mistlock Instabilities will be assigned randomly every day.

Icon Mistlock Instability Description
Mistlock Instability Adrenaline Rush.png Adrenaline Rush When enraged, enemies deal 100% increased damage while they're low on health but can no longer critically hit. Enemies deal 10% less damage when not enraged.
Mistlock Instability Afflicted.png Afflicted Outgoing resistance and resolution duration is increased by 33%. Enemies apply random damaging conditions.
Mistlock Instability Boon Overload.png Boon Overload Each boon reduces maximum health by 1.5%. Outgoing boon duration is increased by 20%.
Mistlock Instability Flux Bomb.png Flux Bomb You are periodically afflicted by the Anomaly's flux bombs. Flux bombs apply to both allies and enemies. Enemies standing in flux bombs are periodically afflicted with random conditions.
Mistlock Instability Fractal Vindicators.png Fractal Vindicators Fractal Avengers are replaced by more-powerful Fractal Vindicators.
Mistlock Instability Frailty.png Frailty Players are smaller and take 10% more damage, but move 25% faster.
Mistlock Instability Hamstrung.png Hamstrung Low health increasingly slows your movements, up to 33%. Endurance regenerates 33% faster.
Mistlock Instability Last Laugh.png Last Laugh Enemies explode upon dying if not stunned. Stunned enemies apply protection, regeneration, and stability to nearby allies.
Mistlock Instability Mists Convergence.png Mists Convergence The Fractals of the Mists are blurring together…
Mistlock Instability No Pain, No Gain.png No Pain, No Gain Enemies receive boons when hit. Stripping an enemy boon will apply that boon to nearby allies. (Cooldown: 20 seconds)
Mistlock Instability Outflanked.png Outflanked Allies within a range of 300 take 100% damage when attacked from behind. Non-boss enemies within a range of 300 take 100% damage when attacked from behind or the side.
Mistlock Instability Social Awkwardness.png Social Awkwardness Players will be pushed away from one another. Stability negates this effect.
Mistlock Instability Stick Together.png Stick Together Take 25% increased damage when not within 300 range of an ally. Deal 5% increased damage when within a range of 300 of an ally.
Mistlock Instability Sugar Rush.png Sugar Rush Increases movement speed and attack speed by 15%. Elite and lower enemies' movement speed and attack speed increases by 25%, but critical chance is reduced by 25%.
Mistlock Instability Toxic Sickness.png Toxic Sickness Team members will periodically be affected with vomit-inducing sickness. Combatants struck by vomit are debilitated and inflicted with conditions.
Mistlock Instability Toxic Trail.png Toxic Trail Enemies leave a path of poison behind them. Blocking a toxic trail attack will absorb it, cleanse poison, and pulse exposed to enemies near the source of the trail.
Mistlock Instability Vengeance.png Vengeance When enemies die, they enhance nearby foes with multiple boons. Strip any enemy boon to inflict them with weakness and damage nearby foes.
Mistlock instability availability by fractal

The following table describes the possible instabilities for each fractal. Click "show" to view.

Historical Mistlock Instabilities

The following mistlock instabilities were either renamed, reworked, or removed.

Fractal Masteries[edit]

Fractal Attunements is a special mastery track introduced with Heart of Thorns. In addition to providing access to additional rewards and daily achievements, these masteries unlock certain NPCs in the Mistlock Observatory. Through these NPCs players can gain access to Infusion Extraction Devices, special crafting materials and other rewards. These are extremely helpful in completing the higher difficulty scales. In addition, players pursuing the Legendary Backpiece collection will need high fractal mastery to obtain the rare collection items required.

Fractal Potions[edit]

Primary article: Fractal Potion

There are three types of Fractal Potion available: offensive (increased outgoing damage), defensive (decreased incoming damage) and mobility (increased movement speed) potions. These consumables stack up to five times (Large potions apply all five stacks in one use), and can be used in addition to nourishment and utility consumables. Depending on the Fractal Attunement mastery rank achieved, each potion may provide additional bonuses to vitality, toughness and concentration, respectively.

Infinite Fractal Potions have the same effect as Large, granting five stacks of a standard potion, but can be reapplied infinitely and used to craft the Infinite Mist Omnipotion. The Omnipotion grants all three potion effects simultaneously, lasts twice as long, and is applied automatically upon interacting with a Mistlock Singularity.

Account Augmentations[edit]

Account Augmentations is a system of account progression in the form of upgrades that can be purchased from Deroir. Augmentations grant additional rewards for completing a fractal and an account-wide bonus to agony resistance. Each upgrade has four tiers which get progressively more expensive.

List of fractals[edit]

No. Area Description Sigils & potions Day or Night Fractal Scale Date added
0 Mistlock Observatory Main hub for Fractals of the Mists; entry point from the asura gate in Lion's Arch. No foes Day All November 15, 2012
1 Aetherblade Fractal Infiltrate the hidden Aetherblade base with the help of Inspector Ellen Kiel. Scarlet's Armies Day 14, 45, 65, 70, 96 November 26, 2013
2 Aquatic Ruins Fractal Explore an ancient underwater ruin. Krait, Fish Day 7, 26, 61, 76 November 15, 2012
3 Captain Mai Trin Boss Fractal Defeat Mai Trin, leader of the Aetherblades. Scarlet's Armies Day 18, 42, 71, 95 November 26, 2013
4 Chaos Fractal Investigate the destabilization of the Mists. Elemental3 Day 13, 30, 38, 63, 88 July 26, 2016
5 Cliffside Fractal Investigate a strange cult in an unknown location. Bandit4 Day 6, 21, 46, 68, 94 November 15, 2012
6 Deepstone Fractal Aid a pair of master thieves as they journey into the lost dwarven city of Deepstone. Elemental Day 11, 33, 67, 84 June 26, 2018
7 Molten Boss Fractal Defeat the twin champions at the heart of the Molten Alliance weapons facility. Scarlet's Armies Day 10, 40, 69, 90 November 26, 2013
8 Molten Furnace Fractal Attack the Molten Alliance weapons facility with the help of Rox and Braham. Scarlet's Armies, Elemental3 Day 9, 17, 39, 58, 83 November 26, 2013
9 Nightmare Fractal Overcome the monstrosity gestating inside this illusory landscape. Scarlet's Armies, Krait Day 22, 47, 72, 97 November 21, 2016
10 Shattered Observatory Fractal Visit a familiar locale, twisted by the tides of time. Scarlet's Armies3 (Arkk) Day 23, 48, 73, 98 July 25, 2017
11 Silent Surf Fractal Explore the fate of Luxon sailors and the threat emerged in the Jade Sea in the aftermath of then recent Jade Wind cataclysm. Day 25, 50, 75, 100 June 27, 2023
12 Siren's Reef Fractal Escape the cursed island. Ghost Day 12, 37, 54, 78 January 8, 2019
13 Snowblind Fractal Defeat the Sons of Svanir in a frigid forest. Elemental, Sons of Svanir Night 3, 27, 51, 86, 93 November 15, 2012
14 Sunqua Peak Fractal Embark on a journey to bring peace to a troubled land. Elemental Day 24, 49, 74, 99 September 15, 2020
15 Solid Ocean Fractal Explore the solid ocean, and slay the beast within. Elemental3 Night 20, 35, 44, 60, 80 November 15, 2012
16 Swampland Fractal Banish evil spirits from a dangerous swamp. Norn, Plant Night 5, 32, 56, 77, 89 November 15, 2012
17 Thaumanova Reactor Fractal Investigate the destruction of the Thaumanova Reactor. Icebrood3, Inquest3, Flame Legion3, Nightmare Court3 Day 15, 34, 43, 55, 64, 82 November 26, 2013
18 Twilight Oasis Fractal Spearhead the assault on the oasis. Night 16, 41, 59, 87 November 28, 2017
19 Uncategorized Fractal Ascend an unknown asuran structure. Inquest, Harpy, Bandit3, Flame Legion3 Day 2, 36, 62, 79, 91 November 15, 2012
20 Underground Facility Fractal Delve deep into an underground dredge facility. Dredge, Elemental Night 8, 29, 53, 81 November 15, 2012
21 Urban Battleground Fractal Join the Flame Legion in an assault on an Ascalonian city. Human Day 4, 31, 57, 66, 85 November 15, 2012
22 Volcanic Fractal Eliminate a grawl cult that resides inside a volcano. Grawl, Demon3, Elemental Night 1, 19, 28, 52, 92 November 15, 2012
1 Foe types are listed for those interested in using appropriate nourishment and/or sigils.
2 Sigil of the Night is effective in the fractals that are in permanent nighttime, including the Solid Ocean fractal with the Jade Maw.
3 There is only a single foe or a group of this type in the fractal.
4 Powerful Potion of Outlaw Slaying is effective as bandits are outlaws.

Fractal levels[edit]

Each difficulty scale corresponds with a specific fractal 'island'. Agony is introduced at level 20, and its damage increases with the scale. The table below shows the island for each scale plus the minimum amount of agony resistance required to reduce damage from agony to its minimum of 1% of your total health per tick. (These can be used to match your personal fractal level to find a fractal of suiting difficulty.)

(You can reach this table from in-game at any time by typing /wiki fl into the chat box.)

Initiate
Level Fractal AR
1 Volcanic 0
2 Uncategorized 0
3 Snowblind 0
4 Urban Battleground 0
5 Swampland 0
6 Cliffside 0
7 Aquatic Ruins 0
8 Underground Facility 0
9 Molten Furnace 0
10 Molten Boss 0
11 Deepstone 0
12 Siren's Reef 0
13 Chaos 0
14 Aetherblade 0
15 Thaumanova Reactor 0
16 Twilight Oasis 0
17 Molten Furnace 0
18 Captain Mai Trin Boss 0
19 Volcanic 0
20 Solid Ocean 8
21 Cliffside 10
22 Nightmare 11
23 Shattered Observatory 13
24 Sunqua Peak 15
25 Silent Surf 17
Adept
Level Fractal AR
26 Aquatic Ruins 18
27 Snowblind 20
28 Volcanic 22
29 Underground Facility 24
30 Chaos 26
31 Urban Battleground 27
32 Swampland 29
33 Deepstone 31
34 Thaumanova Reactor 33
35 Solid Ocean 34
36 Uncategorized 36
37 Siren's Reef 38
38 Chaos 40
39 Molten Furnace 42
40 Molten Boss 43
41 Twilight Oasis 45
42 Captain Mai Trin Boss 47
43 Thaumanova Reactor 49
44 Solid Ocean 50
45 Aetherblade 52
46 Cliffside 54
47 Nightmare 56
48 Shattered Observatory 58
49 Sunqua Peak 59
50 Silent Surf 61
Expert
Level Fractal AR
51 Snowblind 63
52 Volcanic 65
53 Underground Facility 67
54 Siren's Reef 68
55 Thaumanova Reactor 70
56 Swampland 72
57 Urban Battleground 74
58 Molten Furnace 75
59 Twilight Oasis 77
60 Solid Ocean 79
61 Aquatic Ruins 81
62 Uncategorized 83
63 Chaos 84
64 Thaumanova Reactor 86
65 Aetherblade 88
66 Urban Battleground 90
67 Deepstone 91
68 Cliffside 93
69 Molten Boss 95
70 Aetherblade 97
71 Captain Mai Trin Boss 99
72 Nightmare 100
73 Shattered Observatory 102
74 Sunqua Peak 104
75 Silent Surf 106
Master
Level Fractal AR
76 Aquatic Ruins 107
77 Swampland 109
78 Siren's Reef 111
79 Uncategorized 113
80 Solid Ocean 115
81 Underground Facility 116
82 Thaumanova Reactor 118
83 Molten Furnace 120
84 Deepstone 122
85 Urban Battleground 123
86 Snowblind 125
87 Twilight Oasis 127
88 Chaos 129
89 Swampland 131
90 Molten Boss 132
91 Uncategorized 134
92 Volcanic 136
93 Snowblind 138
94 Cliffside 139
95 Captain Mai Trin Boss 141
96 Aetherblade 143
97 Nightmare 145
98 Shattered Observatory 147
99 Sunqua Peak 148
100 Silent Surf 150
The recommended agony resistance values shown in-game can vary by ±1 from the ones shown here, depending on your character's max HP.

Daily Fractals[edit]

There are two types of daily fractals: Tier N and Recommended. In every tier there is at least one fractal for each of the three Tier N Dailies. In each of the three lower tiers (1-25, 26-50, 51-75) there will be one Recommended fractal.

All Daily Fractal reward chests contain a Pristine Fractal Relic and some +1 Agony Infusions.

(Click here to purge the server cache, this forces the server to update the contents.)

Tier N Fractals[edit]

The Tier N Fractal daily achievements are on a 15-day rotation as indicated on the following table.

Set Fractals
1 Nightmare Snowblind Volcanic
2 Aetherblade Thaumanova Reactor Uncategorized
3 Chaos Cliffside Twilight Oasis
4 Captain Mai Trin Boss Deepstone Silent Surf
5 Nightmare Snowblind Solid Ocean
6 Chaos Uncategorized Urban Battleground
7 Deepstone Molten Furnace Siren's Reef
8 Molten Boss Twilight Oasis Underground Facility
9 Silent Surf Swampland Volcanic
10 Aquatic Ruins Snowblind Thaumanova Reactor
11 Sunqua Peak Underground Facility Urban Battleground
12 Aetherblade Chaos Nightmare
13 Cliffside Molten Boss Siren's Reef
14 Deepstone Solid Ocean Swampland
15 Captain Mai Trin Boss Molten Boss Shattered Observatory

Completing a daily fractal will reward players with a chest depending on which tier was completed:

Recommended Fractals[edit]

Recommended fractals are on a 15-day rotation; one at each tier excluding Master.

Set Tier
Initiate Adept Expert
1 2 - Uncategorized 37 - Siren's Reef 53 - Underground Facility
2 6 - Cliffside 28 - Volcanic 61 - Aquatic Ruins
3 10 - Molten Boss 32 - Swampland 65 - Aetherblade
4 14 - Aetherblade 34 - Thaumanova Reactor 74 - Sunqua Peak
5 19 - Volcanic 37 - Siren's Reef 66 - Urban Battleground
6 15 - Thaumanova Reactor 41 - Twilight Oasis 60 - Solid Ocean
7 24 - Sunqua Peak 35 - Solid Ocean 75 - Silent Surf
8 25 - Silent Surf 36 - Uncategorized 69 - Molten Boss
9 12 - Siren's Reef 40 - Molten Boss 67 - Deepstone
10 8 - Underground Facility 31 - Urban Battleground 54 - Siren's Reef
11 11 - Deepstone 39 - Molten Furnace 59 - Twilight Oasis
12 18 - Captain Mai Trin Boss 27 - Snowblind 64 - Thaumanova Reactor
13 4 - Urban Battleground 30 - Chaos 58 - Molten Furnace
14 16 - Twilight Oasis 42 - Captain Mai Trin Boss 62 - Uncategorized
15 5 - Swampland 47 - Nightmare 68 - Cliffside

Adept and Expert tier Recommended fractals require the Follows Advice mastery. Unlike the Tier N fractals, Recommended fractals are always a single scale.

Completing a Recommended fractal will reward players with a Research Chest depending on the tier. All Research Chests will give a Fractal Research Page and a large Fractal Potion depending on the chest.

Fractal Research Pages, in conjunction with Grandmaster Marks, can be used to exchange for Ascended chests through BLING-9009. They can also be used to combine into Fractal Journals, which are used for certain steps of the Ad Infinitum collection and towards acquiring Mist Attunement 1 and Mist Attunement 3.

Rewards[edit]

Personal Fractal Level Rewards[edit]

  • Your personal fractal level will increase by 1 each time a fractal difficulty scale is completed at or above your current personal fractal level.
  • Completing a fractal awards you up to 3400 karma. Less karma is received if completing a fractal scale closer to your own personal fractal level, although the amount can be increased with karma modifiers.

Purchasable Reward bonuses[edit]

Deroir offers permanent reward increases for your account. They include bonus experience, bonus karma, bonus fractal relics and bonus encryptions.

Completion Rewards[edit]

Fractal Relics[edit]

Completing a fractal grants a certain amount of fractal relics depending on the scale:

Scale per fractal
1-5 Fractal Relics
6-10 Fractal Relics
11-15 Fractal Relics
16-20 Fractal Relics
21-25 Fractal Relics
26-30 10 Fractal Relics
31-35 11 Fractal Relics
36-40 12 Fractal Relics
41-45 13 Fractal Relics
46-50 14 Fractal Relics
51-60 15 Fractal Relics
61-70 16 Fractal Relics
71-80 17 Fractal Relics
81-90 18 Fractal Relics
91-100 19 Fractal Relics

Completing each Fractal from level 1 to 100 results in a total of 1,325 Relics.

Each level of Mist Attunement acquired adds 1 Handful of Fractal Relics (Scales 1-50) or 1 Pouch of Fractal Relics (Scales 51-100), respectively worth an additional 3 and 5 relics each.

Fractal Encryptions[edit]

Completing a fractal grants a certain amount of fractal encryptions depending on the scale:

Scale per fractal
1-20 2 Fractal Encryption.pngFractal Encryption
21-40 3 Fractal Encryption.pngFractal Encryption
41-60 4 Fractal Encryption.pngFractal Encryption
61-80 5 Fractal Encryption.pngFractal Encryption
81-100 6 Fractal Encryption.pngFractal Encryption

Each level of Mist Attunement acquired increases the number of encryptions dropped by 1.

The Chaos Isles Fractal, Nightmare Fractal and the Deepstone Fractal give 1 extra Fractal Encryption on scales below 40 and 2 extra Fractal Encryption on scales higher than 40.
There is also a small chance to get a Fractal Encryption Key instead of one Fractal Encryption.

Experience[edit]

Completing fractals awards experience central Tyria mastery experience in the form of Writs of Tyrian Mastery:

Scale per fractal
1-20 2 Writ of Experience.pngWrit of Tyrian Mastery
21-50 4 Writ of Experience.pngWrit of Tyrian Mastery
51-75 8 Writ of Experience.pngWrit of Tyrian Mastery
76-100 12 Writ of Experience.pngWrit of Tyrian Mastery

Each level of Fractal Empowerment acquired increases the number of writs dropped by 1.

Ascended Crafting Materials[edit]

Certain crafting materials can be obtained as random loot from foes in the Fractals of the Mists; unlike the above rewards, these drop from killing ordinary enemies, not for completing fractals. Each has a minimum difficulty scale at which it can appear. As of July 26th 2016, these can also be bought from INFUZ-5959.

Scales Ascended Crafting Materials
1+ Vial of Condensed Mists Essence.pngVial of Condensed Mists Essence
26+ Glob of Coagulated Mists Essence.pngGlob of Coagulated Mists Essence
51+ Shard of Crystallized Mists Essence.pngShard of Crystallized Mists Essence

Tips[edit]

  • Skills that block, absorb or reflect projectiles are very important in the Fractals of the Mists, as almost all fractals have multiple enemies that use ranged attacks and skills and many of them let you deal massive spike damage if you time your reflections properly.
  • Skills that provide Stability, Blind or Weakness and skills that remove Conditions and Boons are very useful during many encounters in the Fractals of the Mists. Be prepared to switch skills often before different encounters.
  • Skills that remove or corrupt enemy Boons are especially useful in higher-tier fractals with the 'No Pain, No Gain' instability, all the dredge fractals as well as some parts of Aetherblade-themed fractals.
  • Crowd control skills such as dazes, stuns and knockbacks help break defiance bars, which give your party a reprieve from boss attacks while boosting your own damage. This technique is critical in some fractals such as Nightmare and Shattered Observatory, where bosses have devastating attacks that can only be stopped by breaking it.
  • Some enemies, like Jade Colossi in Solid Ocean, who reflect most projectiles and are best fought with melee or non-projectile based attacks.

Related achievements[edit]

Trivia[edit]

  • In-game description:

If you're looking for a new type of dungeon, try the Fractals of the Mists, accessible through the Fractals asura gate in Lion's Arch. The rewards improve as the difficulty rises.

— Level 80 rewards.

  • Fractals of the Mists was introduced as part of the Lost Shores release (November 16th, 2012), which also added the first ascended items into the game.
  • 3 new fractals and 2 new boss fractals were introduced as part of Fractured release (November 26th 2013). These are Thaumanova Reactor Fractal, Aetherblade Fractal, Molten Furnace Fractal, Captain Mai Trin Boss Fractal and the Molten Boss Fractal. In addition, personal fractal levels were made account-bound rather than character-bound.
  • The entrance to Fractals of the Mists originally was outside the Consortium Gift Shop in Fort Marriner in Lion's Arch. With the destruction of Lion's Arch (Escape from Lion's Arch release) it was moved to Vigil Keep in Gendarran Fields. During the rebuilding of Lion's Arch (May 19th, 2015 patch) the entrance was relocated to Postern Ward, and after the building work was completed (June 23rd, 2015 patch) it moved back to Fort Marriner.
  • Numerous changes took effect with the Heart of Thorns release (October 23rd, 2015). These include an increase of the max scale to 100, introduction of new challenges and instabilities, the legendary fractal backpiece, the elimination of the old 4 fractals islands per run system, and a complete reworking of fractal rewards.
  • Since Heart of Thorns' release and during the timeframe of Living World Season 3, the Fractals have seen the addition of three new fractals (Chaos Isles, Nightmare and Shattered Observatory) and numerous quality-of-life changes in order to make them more engaging. Major highlights include the streamlining of Agony infusions, revamp of the Mistlock Observatory lobby and reworks to the Cliffside, Swampland, Snowblind and Thaumanova Reactor fractals.
  • With the release of the first Living World Season 4 Episode: Daybreak (November 28th, 2017) the Twilight Oasis fractal was introduced. The Molten Boss and Mai Trin fractals were also reworked.
  • With the release of Living World Season 4, Episode 3: Long Live the Lich (June 26, 2018) the Deepstone fractal was introduced.
  • With the release of Living World Season 4, Episode 5: All or Nothing (January 8, 2019) the Siren's Reef fractal was introduced.
  • On September 15, 2020, the Sunqua Peak fractal was introduced.
  • On June 27, 2023, the Silent Surf fractal was introduced.

See also[edit]

External links[edit]