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How much do you miss without playing dungeons/fractals/raids?


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Returning player. (I had another thread about this. Stopped end of 2013 and started playing again just a week ago.) Back then there were dungeons and fractals and afaik the fractals needed for ascended stuff.

I do WvW and PvP sometimes. But I don't care about the dungeons/fractals/raids which require to look for groups first and play as efficiently/skilled as possible (in order to not get kicked out of the group).

For dungeons I know a lot of stuff is now even possible without playing them - like those WvW reward tracks that seem to offer dungeon stuff sometimes. (And story from story mode I can just read wiki or watch videos.)

What about legendaries/ascended? Are dungeons/raids necessary? What unique stuff to dungeons/raids offer? Special skins or achievements are not that important for me. I care a bit about the "collections" achievements though. Are there a lot that require fractals/rakds? (I saw at least one that required a lot of items ... all of them buyable with gold or karma but 1 item which is only obtainable at fractals according to wiki?)

What's the easiest to start with (out of dungeons, fractals, raids) if you don't want to spend much time but still want to try it a bit? I guess raids need a lot of time per run. What about fractals when starting - are they shorter and easy to learn at the beginning at low levels?

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You need raids only for legendary armor skins. You can get legendary armor from PvP and WvW. You can get dungeon tokens you need for legendary weapons from PvP and WvW as well. You can also just join a casual guild and run dungeons without being efficient. You can craft ascended weapons and armor without ever entering a dungeon, fractal or raid.

I should add, plenty of people in this game PvE exclusively and never enter a dungeon, fractal or raid. It's weird, but true.

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Thanks. That's reassuring to hear. Since skins are not that important and legendary always seemed more like a long-term goal (where I don't really want to grind ... I just play normally and collect stuff ... maybe at some point I'll grind a bit) I might stay with my current play style.

With lots of achievement stuff related to the new maps introduced since I stopped (a lot of stuff since I stopped playing long ago) there is tons of PvE stuff to do keeping me busy. And the occasional WvW or PvP every now and then of course. And the elite stuff and new class that I need to get used to. (Even need to get used to the changed traits/skills on the old classes.)

Might focus on the ascended stuff first if it is possible entirely without fractals since they (afaik) have the same stats as legendary - only other skin and fixed stats where legendary allows to change stats.

Dungeons at least for the achievemenst ... I might try them with a casual guild.

Still fun to have the map completion 100 percent on one of my old chars and having done most of the basic jumping puzzles. (I guess some of the players that started later only jumped to the new contend not even trying the old jumping puzzles - unless they are achievers/explorers. A lot of people tend to focus on farming gear and doing dungeons/raid stuff. :D)

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Mostly armor.

I don't really raid/fractale/dungeon much. Mainly because I have a lot of young kids and busy at work - so I don't have a lot of time to commit to an organized group. The big thing I've noticed I'm missing out on is armor skins that can only be acquired by grinding out some dungeon currency from the dungeons. In this case, it's just the skins that you're after.

Fractales are mainly the easiest way to get Ascended armor. Ascended is marginally better than exotic armor and gives you slots for Agony Resistance - which you need to survive in higher level fractales. Exotic armor is adequate for raiding though.

Raiding's big reward for me is that it unlocks the Legendary Armor and allows you to craft it.

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Luthan, if you're interested in learning the game in a casual manner, I can help you. I teach a lot of people PvE in the game, including dungeons and low level fractals, but also a lot of things that aren't immediately obviously about combat and open world stuff. If you're on a US server hit me up in game.

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Up to tier 3 fractals it's just fine to go in as casual (occasionally you'll find a bad line-up of instabilities and mechanics but for the most part they're pretty easy). You can get some MPs and valuable loot on the side, as well as currency for quite a few things including ascended gear.Also, the stories and locations are interesting and entertaining.

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@Luthan.5236 said:What about legendaries/ascended? Are dungeons/raids necessary?

Depending on which legendary/ascended items we are talking about, no, they are not necessary. Every available stat of ascended gear and armor is craftable via recipes, which are purchased either with laurels or from map vendors for map currency - or off the TP.

@Luthan.5236 said:What unique stuff to dungeons/raids offer? Special skins or achievements are not that important for me. I care a bit about the "collections" achievements though. Are there a lot that require fractals/rakds? (I saw at least one that required a lot of items ... all of them buyable with gold or karma but 1 item which is only obtainable at fractals according to wiki?)

Weapon skins and Legendary backpack from Fractals, Unique Armor/Weapon skins from raids, as well as Legendary Armor, and a few novelties iirc.

@Luthan.5236 said:What's the easiest to start with (out of dungeons, fractals, raids) if you don't want to spend much time but still want to try it a bit? I guess raids need a lot of time per run. What about fractals when starting - are they shorter and easy to learn at the beginning at low levels?

Dungeons (exploration) are technically harder than fractals as they tend to be longer, some have unique mechanics that if not observed, lead to a wipe, and are sparsely populated. The only advantage is that dungeons are scaled to LV 80 exotic gear with core traitlines, so the powercreep from HoT/PoF compensates a bit.

T1 Fractals are pretty easy to get started with, just by using the LFG. Just be up front that you are new to fractal / that particular fractal, and if you're in a solid group, there should be no issues. Helps to read up on the wiki at first, just to get an idea of what you're heading into. Check the wiki to see what the dailies are that day (as that is what LFG groups will run) so you know what to prepare for.

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