Guild Wars 2 ‘Fractals of the Mist’ dungeon unveiled

Tomorrow, Guild Wars 2 will experience The Lost Shores, the second update for ArenaNet's MMORPG that will "forever change the world" of Tyria. The update, which goes live tomorrow, introduces a slew of new features and a one-time only, multi-stage event.

Although the event is a mystery, ArenaNet is slowly revealing details about the "mini-expansion". Some of the new features include a new Ascended rarity type, Infusion upgrades, and a new monster called Agony who is found in the upcoming Fractals of the Mists dungeon. What's Fractals of the Mist you ask?

Up until now all we've known is that its a new dungeon, but today ArenaNet released the first details about the dungeon and how it will work. According to ArenaNet, it's "unlike anything you've played in Guild Wars 2."

Fractals of the Mist is comprised of nine mini-dungeons, called fractals, each offering a "distinct, separate experience with themes, mechanics, and art specific to that fractal." However, you'll only need to clear three of the fractals, which are chosen at random, for each run. Every other round, before returning to the Mistlock Observatory safe haven, you'll be faced with a bonus "boss fractal" similar to what you'd encounter with Tryia's world bosses.

Despite being intended to challenge level 80 players, the dungeon is designed to accommodate parties of any level. Additionally, to make things more challenging, the dungeon scales up in difficulty. Fractals of the Mist will remember your progress, and will poll the party's levels when you enter, scaling the dungeon to the "highest common attained level."

Your efforts will not go unrecognized, though. The higher the dungeon scales, the more rewarding the loot. At a certain point, you'll need to make use of the newly added Ascended items and Infusions to survive.