Pro Infusions - mandatory ?

[Acacabuto.5021]

Hi there. I'm looking for little guide concerning infusions for fractactals. I get that i  need enough to survive agony (so far i use multiple +9 infusions). But when I look at metabattle, snowcrow etc builds that they recommend using different infusions, like 'Spiteful 9 Agony Infusion' (apart from agony resistance they bring little dmg, condi dmg etc). Are they mandatory in pugs group in e.g. t4? They do matter ? I ask this cause they seem to be extremly expensive (Integrated Fractal Matrix seems to be the biggest issue)

[vares.8457]

No, I wouldn’t say that they are mandatory in T4 fractals. 

[Danikat.8537]

I've not done T4 much, but I haven't seen any group asking for them. Agony resistance is essential in Fractals, at higher tiers you will literally die without it. The other bonuses are optional, they're a helpful stat boost but it's not going to be impossible to complete Fractals because you're lacking a few extra stat points.

It makes sense that build guides would include them because they're aiming to show you the best possible builds and even if it's trivial anything which adds to your stats will help, I assume they're expecting players to know how to judge which parts are actually worth the trouble to get.

For some other games I've seen guides which will have 'starter' versions of builds which cut out or substitute the harder to get items. That's mainly in games where getting gear is more restrictive - for example a guide might recommend a helmet that's only available as a rare drop from 1 specific raid boss, so they need to have a work-around for people who are starting raids. But I think it could be useful to have the same for GW2 for things like infusions and expensive rune sets. (Or just a general priority list, including things like which equipment pieces to upgrade to ascended first.)

[schrodingerscat.3872]

nope the +9AR infusions with stats are not mandatory, especially not in pugs (though more dps to phase things in fractals is always nice). Whether they are worthwhile or not depends on where you stand with endgame content. People who try and push for the highest possible dps (or healing) will buy those. People who don't care about that, don't buy them. I have i think 3 builds with +9AR +5 stat infusions (and another 2 with WvW infusions that I don't take into fractals), but I also have brought my soulbeast and mech into fractals with normal +9AR infusions. Oh but do make sure you have at least 150AR if you plan on doing all T4s. I mean yea technically you don't need 150 until the higher levels of T4 (and ironically you don't need any AR to do 100CM), but having a solid 150AR is a guarantee to not take agony damage.

TLDR: no you dont have to get them but they are useful to those that care

Edited March 12 by schrodingerscat.3872

[Acacabuto.5021]

Thank you all!

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

They're not neccessary, and they're insanely expensive. In every other area of PvE, like raids and strikes, players use the WvW infusions instead which are far cheaper and still give +90 stats.

 

Its better to grind out the infinite potion first and then Fractal God(ess), which makes you require far less agony resist, then you can realistically go for the +stat infusions since you'll only need +5AR on the majority of your set. Its also a far better investment of your fractal relics.

Edited March 12 by SoftFootpaws.9134

[Cyninja.2954]

The short explanation, as mentioned by others: no they are not mandatory. Most builds include them for completions sake.

 

The longer answer: the stats from those infusions will provide approximately 1-3k increase dps wise, depending on build and stats of the infusions. They are almost equivalent to dropping max rank in food to lowest tier stat wise (for example, using +50 power/+40 precision versus +100/70). You can check use different food buffs on the golem if you want to see your exact performance disparity (easier and cheaper than getting a full set of infusions).

 

I'd advise:

- stick to regular +9 agony infusions

- with the gold saved, diversify into 1-2 additional builds/roles

- if so desired, as mentioned, get WvW infusions for raids/strikes

On that note: spending 10-20 minutes in practicing on the golem is more valuable than any 90 stat points so I'd advise that in any case.

Edited March 12 by Cyninja.2954

[Acacabuto.5021]

18 hours ago, Cyninja.2954 said:

 

On that note: spending 10-20 minutes in practicing on the golem is more valuable than any 90 stat points so I'd advise that in any case.

Yeah, if i can't afford that gear part, then at least I should get some practice with rotation. Again - ty!