4 replies to this topic

[d_fens]

I'd like to ask experienced dungeon runners about explorable mode difficulty. I recently managed to complete fractal dungeon on tier 1 and 2 and I was wondering how does it compare in terms of difficulty with explorabe mode dungeons. Are early fractals much easier or maybe on par? We completed T1 and T2 without much problems...Thanks

[Milennin]

Fractals below level 10 are easier than explorables. At 10+ they start coming on par with some explorables.

[Sheepski]

The only difference, at least for me, is they style of mechanics.

In fractals, you have a lot more tricky mechanics all squashed into a smaller area. Also, if you're no good at getting through corridors of traps, or jumping puzzles or whatever, like me then you'll struggle more with fractals, as they require you to do it yourself, whereas in the other dungeons, one other can go through and turn off the traps or complete the mechanic etc.

Having said that, it's all about practice and experience with those things, most aren't as bad as they first seemed to me

[Frozyyn]

I've done fractals levels 1 through 20 and I've done a fair bit of dungeons.

Starting off with the early fractals, 1-3 can be difficult because you have players who haven't done much with fractals before. So it's difficult in terms of coordination and communication. After that, 4-9 it's relatively easy, and is on par with an explorable mode dungeon run  with experienced guildies. There is some slip ups, but you finish.

10-14 is where the fun starts in fractals, since 10 is when agony starts to kick in. It's like starting at 1 again with folk, since most of the time you'll get people who haven't done 10 before. 10 is when difficulty is kicked up, and comparing it to an explorable mode dungeon, I'd say it's like Pugging one of the harded TA or CoF Paths.

15-19 have proven to be the most difficult to me, there are not a lot of people in this zone so finding a group can prove to be challenging or take a while, and again difficulty is slightly kicked up.

At 20, you'll either get a group of people who absolutely screw up all the time because they weren't prepared, or you'll get into a daily's run group who knows every secret knook and cranny to make the run smooth as possible. For the first group you eventually just become the one person who knows the secrets and calls the shots. You'll also want to avoid cliffside 9 times out 10.

Hope that helps/makes sense.

[Xunlai Agent]

The early fractals should be a walk in the park. I have been in PUGs for the first five with some horrendous players and we managed to complete them anyway. I think it will start to pick up at level 10 and then get harder again post level 25 or so (judging by what other players have written on the subject).