Hello everyone,

While doing Fractal of the Mists daily (CM's + T4 + Recs), I've noticed that some class have become extremely recurrent to what we see in daily T4, CM's and Recs and I've wanted to question if some changes could be possible in order to make other class more viable (I'm mostly referring to support class) and make the game more enjoyable.

This post talks about the following topics:

• Clearing times: I've divided Looking for Group (LFG) groups in 5 different categories and explain how each group complete the fractals in a given time. With this, I attempt to make a distinction between what I believe is "Try Hard Mode", "Acceptable speed" and "Quite slow" clearing speed.

• Reccuring and forgotten class: I highlight, what I believe is the current meta comp and point out, how does it affect the class that are "in" and "out" of the meta.

• Boons and Utilities: I look at the boons, conditions and utilities that each different class bring to a party. I have only looked at Meta, Support and Power class. With this, I hope to show how some class are outperforming others.

• Speed clear and elitism: Furthermore, I'd like to highlight that, this game shows high possibilities for elitism fast clear and strategies, but doesn't give option to do so more than 1h, 2h a day in it's daily content (by this I'm saying that for a lot of player that enjoy HL PvE, once you've done your daily fotm and weekly raid clear I truly do not know what those players are supposed to do, if not go to PvP but that's an entirely different game mode.

Edit:-Title change: original title "How does elitism destroys game mode", and the one after that was "Is fractal clear time important?"-Last edit: 01/06/2018 (added the section support class to "Boon and Meta comp")-Last edit: 05/06/2018 (added Necromancer to "Recurring and forgotten class"; added the topic "Why look at clearing times?"-Last edit 06/06/2018 (added Radiance signet share variant to boons section of the Support Firebrand to the section "Boon and Meta comp")-Last edit 06/06/2018 (changed the introduction and removed "note:" of introduction part; previously indicating to skip to "Recurring and forgotten class"; after multiple edits, most sections have became important to this posts)

What are Fractal of the Mists?

Fractals of the Mists (FotM) are a special type of dungeons, they becomes available to player at level 80 and can be completed daily for rewards. There are 15 different 'fractals' (mini-dungeons) which can be played at different difficulty level. There are 4 tiers, each tier is more difficult (1 being the easiest, 4 the hardest). Higher level fractals gives better rewards, but requires higher Agony Resistance (AR).

-Tier 1 Initiate (level 1-25) requires 17AR-Tier 2 Adept (level 26-50) requires 61AR-Tier 3 Expert (level 51-75) requires 106AR-Tier 4 Master (level 76-100) requires 150AR

There are three type of daily fractals (17 chests in total):

• Tier N, which award 12 chests – There are 3 different daily Tier N fractals and completing higher tier will automatically award lower tier fractals chests.
• Recommended, which award 3 chests – There are 3 daily Recommended, one in each of the lower tier fractals (Tier 1 to Tier 3)
• CM's, which award 2 chests – There are currently 2 fractals which include a Challenge Mode (100 and 99)

Because the daily rewards gives a good amount of gold players tend to do them daily. However, there is a huge gap between

T4 clearing times & the 5 different group levels

I will only talk about Tier 4 fractal group and how I think there are different group level and the difference between them. Most players who do fractals daily are doing T4 fractals, and those who aren't there yet, will reach it fairly quickly, as it is now relatively fast to acquire Ascended Gear and infuse it with +9 infusion in order to get 150AR to do all different fractals level.

In my opinion there are 5 different fractal group which you can find while doing daily CM's / T4 / Recs (link to Google spreadsheet here)

• Level 1 (Meta)Comp: Chrono, Warrior (banner), 2x Weaver and DruidCM's: 20-30 minT4: 15-30 minThis gives you the fastest clearing speed. Weaver currently have the highest DPS in Fractals and the fact that there are power let you use different sigils for different encounter.

• Level 2 (Power class)Comp: Chrono, Warrior (banner), 2x Power class and DruidCM's: 30-40 minT4: 15-30 min

• Level 3 (Synergise class)Comp 1: Chrono, Warrior (banner), Holosmith, 1x Condi class and DruidComp 2: Chrono, Warrior (banner) or Druid, 3x ScourgeComp 3: Chrono, Warrior (banner), 1x Power DPS, 1x Condi DPS and DruidCM's: 30-40 minT4: 20-40 minIt's quite rare to see those group in the LFG, if they appear, it will most likely be a group of friend or a Guild who just need 1 or 2 extra player, and they most likely can't or don't want to run a Weaver comp, but still enjoy doing CM's + T4 on there preferred class. Hence the 40+ kp requirement is not accurate.

• Level 4 (Chrono + Druid)Comp: Chrono, 3x Any DPS and DruidCM's: generally don't do themT4: 30-80 min

• Level 5 (Whatever group)Comp: 4x Any Class, 1x DruidCM's: generally don't do themT4: 40-120 minThose comps generally run a druid for might + healing but do not really care about the overall efficiency of the group or just 'play for fun'

As you can see, Level 1 to 3 are relatively viable in completing daily fotm fairly quickly. There can however be a massive gap between level 1 & 2 group (see Boons and Meta further down), however you will most likely not be able to experience the difference (or very rarely) if you join a LFG group.

Why look at clearing times?

I believe it is important to look at clearing times, for the following reasons. First, it gives you a global view on how fast each group clear fractals daily. Second, it shows you what class in particular are in those different group levels. And Third, it also shows you what comp or class are not in those levels.

While, I believe that the answer to How long should you take to clear daily fractals? will vary with each player and that there might not be a correct answer. I do believe that each "Role" in FotM should be available to be played on multiple class. I will however, only accentuate my arguments on the role that I believe currently have potential to be played on other class. Here hence, me referring to the 'healer support' class.

Recurring and forgotten class

ArenaNet did a very good job at balancing the different DPS, however my point is that as you aim to always improve your clearing time or be more 'elitist' until you reach a level that is good enough for you ^^ the amount of class you can play in fotm decline. I don't mean that condi class should become 'more viable', nor would I wish so. I think that it make sense to have power class upscale in fotm. The possibility to min/max your class for every encounter through the use of Sigils and Infusion for those who wishes to do so, is far better in my opinion. Conditions class can be played in raids and other game mode. However as it is possible to see above, some class are still very recurring and I don't understand why it needs to be so.

Recurring classes:

• Chrono: or Boon Support; Currently provide the most boons in the game, while giving a bunch of utility, I think it is very hard to replace this class or create other class which could take up this role, and it may not be necessary.

• Warrior: or Utility Support; Really good improvement have been done to the warrior class, it is now possible to play either Condi Berserker, Core Warrior (with discipline for quick weapon swap <3 Anet) or Spellbreaker. Although it is just one class it is a lot of fun to play. Arguably Revenant/Renegade could be another alternative.

• Druid: or Healer Support; Although a lot of rework to druid has been done and that it is now possible to Run one druid with another healer in Raids, I still don't understand why it is still the only viable support/healer option in Fractal of the Mists. Even if spotter is not really relevant anymore and that in order to provide might his healing have strongly been reduced. I think that the other healing class (Firebrand, Herald, Tempest) which are just sitting there should be playable.

And further down the line; a.k.a forgotten DPS classes:

• Thief: Thief are really good in dungeons, due to their skip possibilities but are completely MIA (missing in action) when it comes to Fractal of the Mists. Condi aren't that good in Fractals as the condi stacks up too slowly, and power thief.... are..... let's say a good way to be kicked from a group. Or that to be viable it would take you such a level of dedication (18 +9+5 power infusion; Sigils for each boss encounter; Fractal God +7% dmg) as a 'default requirement' to even show up in fotm that the effort don't feel rewarded.

• Revenant/Renegade: I'm not too sure what to say about this class, it looked great when HoT was release, with PoF it seems to have a lot of potential. But is apparently completely forgotten for 5man content. Am I not seeing the number and actually no-one play this class so it would be a waste of time and ressources to even make this class playable or is it something else?

• Necromancer/Reaper: I initially did not include this class in "the forgotten class" as I remember seeing multiple Reaper in FotM during HoT. But after reading multiple comment on how there are no Necromancer in FotM, I decided to include it. And I then came to realise that if you remove the condi spec from Scourge, Necromancer, seems like an all round class, which seems to be able to do everything but does not belong in a specific category. I'm not entirely sure of the viability of Support Scourge, nor do I think condi Scourge is really realistic for FotM. There should exist a viable Power Reaper build available for Necromancer players. Maybe there already is, (Please do quote and refer me to video or forums/reddit post if there is already such a spec) I've seen quite a few Power Reaper recently in PVP.

Boon and Meta comp

First let's review the possible boons and condition with each class brings to daily fotm and then I'll explain how it is possible to best use those information to make up different team comp and how I think possible solution for each class to be played can be found based on those statistics. I will only look at Level 1 Meta comp here (as described above) and reference back to dT website for the other class, as their Guide are the best I could find so far.

If you wish to look further more into it, you can find the link to Discretize [dT] Build Guides for Fractals here

Level 1 (Meta)

• Chrono (Chaos/insp)Boons: (12) Quickness, Alacrity, Might, Fury, Retaliation, Protection, Swiftness, Regeneration, Vigor, Aegis, Stability, ResistanceConditions: (1) Vulnerability

• Warrior (Banner)Boons: (0)Boons 2: (3) Banner of Discipline, Banner of Strength, Empower Allies (270 power, 170 condition dmg, 170 ferocity, 170 precision)Conditions: (1) Vulnerability

• Weaver (Power DPS)Boons: (4) Might, Fury, Swiftness, ProtectionConditions: (3) Weakness, Vulnerability, Blind

• Druid (boon/support)Boons: (7) Might, Fury, Regeneration, Swiftness, Protection, Vigor, StabilityBoons 2: (5) All utility spirits (count as 2) Frost, Sun, Storm, Stone; Glyph of empowerment, Spirit of Nature, Spotter (100 precision, 5+10% damage)Conditions: (3) Weakness, Vulnerability, Blind

Other power DPS class still viable Level 1 to Level 2

• Spellbreaker (Power)Boons: (0)Conditions: (2) Weakness, Vulnerability

• Chronomancer (Power)Boons: (0)Conditions: (1) Vulnerability

• Holosmith (Power)Boons: (0)Conditions: (4) Vulnerability, Blind, Crippled, Immobile

• Dragonhunter (Power)Boons: (2) Retaliation, AegisConditions: (3) Vulnerability, Blind, Crippled

If you were to now look at the support class

• Firebrand (Support)Boons: (11) Aegis, Quickness, Might, Fury, Stability, Vigor, Regen, Resistance, Swiftness, Protection, RetaliationBoons 2: Valor (1) Strength in Numbers (100 toughness) or Radiance (2-3) Wrath of Justice, Perfect Inscriptions, Bane Signet, Signet of Mercy, Signet of Wrath (432 condition, 216 power, 216 healing)Conditions: (5) Bleeding, Burning, Crippled, Weakness, Immobilize

• Herald (Support)Boons: (5) Fury, Protection, Regeneration, Might, SwiftnessBoons 2: (2) Facet of Nature, Project Tranquility, Assassin's Presence (150 Ferocity, 33% outgoing boon duration)Conditions: (4) Weakness, Vulnerability, Blind, Alacrity

• Tempest (Support)Boons: (5) Regeneration, Protection, Might, Swiftness, VigorBoons 2: (2) Aura, SuperspeedConditions: (8) Blind, Bleeding, Crippled, Burning, Immobilized, Chilled, Stuns, Weakness

If you now compare Druid to other support class. I think it is safe to say that only Herald offers some kind of competition to druid, by giving 150 Ferocity +33% outgoing boon duration. Arguably, the Chrono could then run full berserker (leadership runes) illu/duelling instead of chaos/insp and make up for the 100 precision, 5+10% damage loss from the Druid. But let's be realistic here. Chrono can still run a Hybrid build with a Druid and you are almost already running full berserker in Fractals anyway, since potion gives you increase boon duration.

Actually, as soon as you unlock the Druid spec. I think, Anet, should grant you the title 'God walking amongst mere support class'.

Now you could say "Druid is fine and the title 'God walking amongst mere mortals' should be given, upon creation of a Warrior (270 power, 170 condition dmg, 170 ferocity, 170 precision)". But I am leaving this topic alone, because while banner warrior damage is still pretty high, you are still giving up a lot of utility as a DPS class, and end up doing less damage than other DPS class. However Druid by being completely overpowered leaves no room for other support class.

I believe Druid and Warrior gives a good comparison point , in terms of where does the Druid spec stand? Is it a Healing support class or is it a DPS support class? And depending on the answer I believe some adjustment needs to be made. In my opinion, Druid is currently both and this is an issue.

Possible solution

Although there are no major problem with Fractal of the Mists, beside Druid being overly used and Thief + Renegade being completely forgotten. I believe, a solution should be found in how does a team synergise as one. We are currently seeing debut of such thing at Desmina, Sabetha and Dhuum CM with the use of Epi bounce from the Scourge class.

My immediate thoughts on the subject would be:

• DPS Class: are arguably good.I don't see a major issue with Weaver being overly powered for the people that want to do speed clear run, while other power class still fall within the level 2 clearing speed (see "Gap between players" above)

• Firebrand, Tempest, Herald (healer/support): should bring a damage modifier somewhat matching the ones of Druid, or offer some possible synergy with other class.With the release of Path of Fire and all the work, which has been done towards new support class I believe it would be a mistake to leave things the way they are. Amazing support class are just waiting there to be viable in 5 man content.

• Druid: I think druid should give less boon and not have access to ALL core ranger availability.

• Thief: I think class such as thief, should have more skip possibilities in Fotm. Thief was/is still great in dungeon and provides lots of amazing skip which increase the completion time of the dungeon, even though he doesn't necessarily bring much DPS. Maybe this is not possible, as it would require too many changes to Fractals and that other class might still be able to do it anyway through the use of blast combo. But I think it's a bit sad if you really like the class and cannot play it in the thing that is done the most daily, at a playable "power class level" a.k.a. level 2 power dps class.

• Revenant/Renegade: Same thing for revenant, I think it should be playable in daily fotm, because right now, it's level 3-4, while Thief is level 4-5.

Furthermore, I find truly amazing the amount of min/maxing, which daily Fractal of the Mists can bring it's player to do and I truly enjoy this part of the game (possible skip, possible ways to improve clear times, etc...) However I feel like once I am done with the daily clear which the fastest you are, the less time consuming it becomes (this is positive I think), I truly don't know what to do next. I don't know if anyone else think like me haha.

Just some idea from the top of my heads.

• There could be some leaderboard of some sort, with each speed clear being season based. Like the PvP season. Possible rewards/title could be given out at the end of the season.
• An upscaling difficulty mode, which could be completed with a different level of difficulty at the end like what we see in Diablo 3 mostly.
• Some special rewards obtainable through achieving special clear times only. (Even though given that people already know the fractals it might be too easy)

Basically, if there could be some kind of competitive PVE content for low scale party 5man etc... I've played a lot of MMORPG, and I think this game has really a massive potential regarding min maxing etc...

OR....... This is Guild Wars right....Maybe the 'Guild aspect' could be exploited towards that end :D

PS: I also wanted to make a poll regarding what class do people like to play the most, how they regard fractals etc... but I'm not too sure how to do so with 'Markdown'. If anyone know please let me know.

Thank you for reading

How does elitism in Fractal of the Mists destroys game modes?

What does class balance have to do with elitism though? Whats destroyed?

Most of people will always want to fastest possible clear and they'll take whatever classes can achieve that. Then there's other type of people who just want a casual run so you can join on any class and any build. There's no elitism in setting up your own rules in your own parties.

This again, huh

There will always be best option. That beeing said support clases have enormous gap in between them. I think that condi quickness fb is held back by renegade. Give renegade some offensive ultility (like low uptime huge dps boost) and we might see other options. Right now anything else then a druid is usless in raids since you play druid for buffs and not healing so other healers will never be meta

Elitism has existed since the game launched with the earliest example that I can think of being the CoF P1 farms. The same solution back then remains applicable today; use the LFG to create the group how you want it to be.

This thread kinda all over the place or am I just getting sleepy? Anyway.

I do play Fotm less due to personal project but everytime I play (using renegade. "unplayable" class). People still join me and finish dailies it in reasonable amount of time most of the time. Pugs are unpredictable for me. Sometimes all "meta" class join but they're so bad. Sometimes I got weird comp like 3 necros but it's end up being a pretty good run.Different experience like this kinda make this game mode somewhat enjoyable.

In the end. I don't really see current class balance as a Fotm problem.

@Ayrilana.1396 said:Elitism has existed since the game launched with the earliest example that I can think of being the CoF P1 farms. The same solution back then remains applicable today; use the LFG to create the group how you want it to be.

Actually my initial thought when making this post was that, I remember when I was still discovering the game, I enjoyed making new classes, gearing them and then trying them out in Fractals of the Mists, as dungeons are not much of a challenge anymore, and it is hard to find a group so fractals seemed the best place where to 'play the class'. However now, I have learned most class (almost) and whenever I join a 100 + kp group I almost feel bad to the group to bring any other dps than a weaver. Or a fully optimized power class (infusion +9+5, Night/Night sigils, impact + slaying sigils etc...) but that requires a lot of investment in one character + the available bag slots.

@Takoyakii.2146 said:This thread kinda all over the place or am I just getting sleepy? Anyway.In the end. I don't really see current class balance as a Fotm problem.

Okay, but wouldnt you want to be able to play any other support class than druid?

But maybe my title is wrong as well.

Personally, I dont care if people bring meta builds in FotM. Anything works, as long as we do the dailies within a reasonable time frame. Wipes can be expected, too. Power nec, condi engi, heal rev, power rev, tempest, I honestly dont care if people play half well and have basic knowledge of the mechanics. And every day, I can honestly say, they deliver. And it is fun.

@"tim.4596" said:Actually my initial thought when making this post was that, I remember when I was still discovering the game, I enjoyed making new classes, gearing them and then trying them out in Fractals of the Mists, as dungeons are not much of a challenge anymore, and it is hard to find a group so fractals seemed the best place where to 'play the class'.

You can still "play how you want" even T4s. Just join "Daily T4s" and such stuff or open an own lfg.

However now, I have learned most class (almost) and whenever I join a 100 + kp group I almost feel bad to the group to bring any other dps than a weaver.

Those groups are different from the usual fractal experience. They are playing the high end. Those groups ARE NOT "discovering the game". You need to make a difference here!

Or a fully optimized power class (infusion +9+5, Night/Night sigils, impact + slaying sigils etc...) but that requires a lot of investment in one character + the available bag slots.

You can really exclude that from your equation and don't need to worry. A lot of 100+ kp cm runs are filled with players that also raid and they won't use night or slaying sigils because those don't work in raids. Also, only very dedicated raiders and fractal players have +9 +5 infusion. Those don't make a difference in pugs because the runs are far from being perfect or near speed runs where those stats can or would matter. In pugs you'll barely see optimal dps numbers and as such the stat difference is negligible.

double post - delete pls

leave Druid alone we got enough knee-jerk nerfs as is thanks (◡ ‿ ◡ ✿)

Edit: and by that I mean if you want balancing, I think you should focus on leveling up the playing field for other classes rather than bringing druid down.

A very long read on your thoughts about fractal :). Tad long to the point & is the OP a question?

Just some idea from the top of my heads.

• There could be some leaderboard of some sort, with each speed clear being season based. Like the PvP season. Possible rewards/title could be given out at the end of the season.• An upscaling difficulty mode, which could be completed with a different level of difficulty at the end like what we see in Diablo 3 mostly.• Some special rewards obtainable through achieving special clear times only. (Even though given that people already know the fractals it might be too easy)

Edit :

@tim.4596 said:

@Takoyakii.2146 said:This thread kinda all over the place or am I just getting sleepy? Anyway.In the end. I don't really see current class balance as a Fotm problem.

To priortize clear speed, you need damage; which leads us to might stacks and other boons. Mesmer + druid setup covered that part extremely well atm. Any competative DPS not necessarily tempest with the duo setup(mes + dr) will be able to clear it within your given time frame. Group wipe is the biggest downtime.

@Vinceman.4572 said:

@"tim.4596" said:Actually my initial thought when making this post was that, I remember when I was still discovering the game, I enjoyed making new classes, gearing them and then trying them out in Fractals of the Mists, as dungeons are not much of a challenge anymore, and it is hard to find a group so fractals seemed the best place where to 'play the class'.

Yes but why would I want to join a T4 group only and take the same time that I would with a fully optimized group to do CM's + T4?

Actually, I have done that, but I would generally wait another week before doing it again, because I dont want to spend 2h in fotm.

Maybe I should use video to illustrate video to better illustrate my point, and actually compare those numbers live.

@tim.4596 said:Although there are no major problem with Fractal of the Mists beside Druid being overly used and Thief + Renegade being completely forgotten....

• Druid: I think druid should give less boons, which could potentially allow other support/healer class to bring those boons instead and allow the chrono to play a more offensive build. Which might make up for the 100 precision and 5+10% damage modifier of the druid.I find it rather curious that you hit druid quite a few times, yet seem to ignore the spec that's a much worse offender to balance: chrono.

Holy shit, some people must have a lot of time to spare to post such lengthy posts. I like the dedication though.

@CptAurellian.9537 said:I find it rather curious that you hit druid quite a few times, yet seem to ignore the spec that's a much worse offender to balance: chrono.

I ignored chrono as I cant see any class atm that could potentially replace it. There were some thread about how Firebrand + Renegade could replace chrono, but that's two class to make up for one, so I just simply couldn't imagine it. Firebrand mostly do damage based on condition and the current condi + boon duration gear are really bad. So you pretty much have to run commander or minstrel, or seraph, but that's pretty bad imo.

I am confused over the times. My clears for dailies normally dont take longer than 30-45 min with whatever group anyway...

@tim.4596 said:

@CptAurellian.9537 said:I find it rather curious that you hit druid quite a few times, yet seem to ignore the spec that's a much worse offender to balance: chrono.

@"tim.4596" said:Yes but why would I want to join a T4 group only and take the same time that I would with a fully optimized group to do CM's + T4?

I don't know. Why would you? Some players just don't run CMs and I think that's the majority of T4 people. Sometimes I join random 99 CM groups and they are - although a lot of them play "meta" or similar to meta - so much worse than specifically adjusted groups for a full clear. There is a lot of skill difference between players and that's ok. In my static raid guild we clear all wings but I won't take more than the half of them into my daily CM+T4+Rec routine because they are just not used to fast clear or meta strategies. Of course they will be able to if they invest the time that's not the thing here but now take into consideration that there are a lot of T4 players out there that also don't raid and therefore will be less skilled in fractals as well. We should let those players play their own pace. It's enough room for everybody in fracs!

Actually, I have done that, but I would generally wait another week before doing it again, because I dont want to spend 2h in fotm.

Yeah, that's why we have different LFGs and if you respect them you'll most likely have a nice experience within the groups you are joining. (I can speak for myself considering the last 8 months with the above mentioned daily routine).

Maybe I should use video to illustrate video to better illustrate my point, and actually compare those numbers live.

Why should you? Things are clear to the people here in the forums. It's the player base out there you want to aim for but those almost never listen/read stuff besides ingame messages. And that's totally fine.

No mention of the poor necromancers.....

or engineers, for that matter....

Another change of the thread title? Seriously....

And the answer is: As long as you personally wish. Be it fast and sober or several hours. There is no defined answer.

@"Oogabooga.3812" said:No mention of the poor necromancers.....

Necromancer are fine aren't they? I mean you can play condi scourge it's not amazing but it's more viable than power herald/rev or power thief.

or engineers, for that matter....

Power holosmith is good and completely playable. It's probably at the same level of power dps spellbreak atm and cheaper to gear than spb as it only use one set of weapon rifle like the elementalist. So you can easily get Night/Night, Impact/Force and all slaying sigils fairly easily. It's a really good class in raid too like Weaver so it's worth the infusion investment. Especially since they introduced fractal titles, you dont need a whole set of +9 +5 anymore +7 +5 mixed with some +5 +5 should do the trick.

You can check out discretize holosmith build.

@"Vinceman.4572" said:Another change of the thread title? Seriously....

Yes, I changed the title quite a lot sorry. I noticed that my original title "How does elitism in fractal destroy game modes?" wasn't in direct relation to the topic.

And the answer is: As long as you personally wish. Be it fast and sober or several hours. There is no defined answer.

My initial argument was that elitism, or what I call elitism, destroys game modes, as it set the time, to how fast you should clear daily fotm. And therefore, how does it make some class unplayable (support class).

If you take both Open World and PvP content apart. You are left with FotM and Dungeons as 5man content. While I believe Dungeons are amazing and that most class can be played into it, they are mostly aimed towards new player and their difficulties with the release of HoT and PoF became outdated. Fractals of the Mists then become your only 'challenging' option. And for this very reason, I believe you should be able to play what ever class, you want to play in it.

In my post above, I categorised the LFG into 5 different level and demonstrated (maybe poorly) how level 1 to 3 clear time are "Good Enough" and how level 4-5 clear times are "Quite slow". This is due in my opinion that removing 1 or 2 core class from a comp (either warrior, chrono or druid) affect your clearing time too much.

Then my main reflection was that, if I want to play certain class (Support: Firebrand, Tempest, Herald or DPS: Thief, Revenant) at a PvE level, which I enjoy, the game content is simply missing. Hence my suggestion that ALL support class should be viable in fractals and that there should be more challenging 5man content.

• By 'viable', I mean that playing any NON-CORE CLASS in a 5man team comp, shouldn't send you back to level 4-5. When looking at the current playable classes, support classes other than druid seems to be lacking with most, hence my accentuation on Druid and my suggestion to make perfectly good support classes who are just sitting there 'viable'.
• By 'challenging', I mean that a 5man team comp in order to progress through challenging content should have a certain amount of buff or synergy available from the game–alacrity, quickness, 25 might, fury etc...