Fractals of the Mists offers organized groups a unique chance to gather their wits and challenge the most difficult levels of GW2′s current group content. If you’ve ever wanted to see an organized group in action during the level 50+ Fractals, today we have a set of videos just for you. Captured by The Brainz and Kunst, the following videos showcase Fractals from ranges level 51 through 55. The group stays the same throughout, and is comprised of one Guardian, three Elementalists, and one Thief. Some videos are quite long, while others focus on a particular boss fight.

To take a peek, hit “Continue Reading!”

Isaiah Cartwright, lead designer on Guild Wars 2, issued a developer blog last Friday with some details about future improvements being made to Fractals of the Mists. We’ll be seeing an improved reconnect feature for players as well as improvements to the party-tier system, which is used for placing groups within the fractal tiers. Here’s what he had to say about the tier system changes:

We’ve also made a few changes to the way party-level restrictions work. Currently, players who want to join a party are limited to the lowest fractal level in the party. This makes it difficult for lower fractal-level players to find parties, so we’ve modified the party-level restrictions to allow players of any fractal level to group up. At party creation, players can choose any fractal level up to the highest fractal level in the party. Upon completion of the fractal run, all players equal to or lower than the chosen fractal level will have their fractal level increased by one. All players above the chosen fractal level will gain karma, but their fractal level will not increase. Rewards from the fractal will be based on players’ personal reward level as long as the reward level is equal to or lower than the chosen fractal level.

For all the details, make sure to check out the full developer blog.

After yesterday’s Guild Wars 2 Update, quite a number of items became broken due to the update. Jumping, for one, which was fixed in a quick hotfix later that same night. One other broken item currently affecting players is the last fight in the Cliffside Fractal. Robert Hrouda, Content Designer, made a post on the official forums warning players, and offering a possible workaround that sometimes does the trick to making the fight unbroken again. Here’s what he had to say:

Originally posted by Robert Hrouda (Source)

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Problem: The Novices aren’t spawning during the final boss fight, prohibiting players from charging the hammer and breaking the seal.

We’re aware of the problem and are working on it. It does not effect 100% of the players. If you engage/agro the Novices before the boss takes the hammer back from you at the start, that seems to cause the issue when it does happen.

Meanwhile we have found a workaround while we try to resolve the problem with a patch. If the entire party wipes and restarts from the checkpoint, it could fix the problem.

Players have since reported that the suggested workaround does not always work. With any luck, ArenaNet will fix this issue as soon as possible.

It’s been a good week for The Lost Shores information reveals! Yesterday we received another developer blog update from Leah Rivera, who showed off some details and a cool video about the new dungeon that’s built out of mini-dungeons being added Friday– Fractals of the Mist:

This dungeon is unlike anything you’ve played in Guild Wars 2. It’s built of an array of mini-dungeons, which we call fractals. These fractals are slices of the Mists, fragments of time that have been stabilized by the intrepid asura researcher Dessa. Some of these vignettes from history may be familiar to original Guild Wars players, while others will represent previously unseen events. Because of their eclectic origin, each fractal is built as a distinct, separate experience with themes, mechanics, and art specific to that fractal.

Leah Rivera goes on to explain the fractals system, which plops your party at a central hub every time a mini-dungeon, or fractal, has been cleared. After this point, the party has the opportunity to explore a different fractal, which is completely random and scales in difficulty as your party advances. This new dungeon will be open for players of all levels, since it will scale us to level 80, but it’s definitely meant to be a challenge, especially for lower level parties.

Keep reading to check out the video, which is quite impressive!

We recieved more information about The Lost Shores yesterday, including a cool video, wallpaper, and a more detailed schedule for the event’s various stages. The new dungeon is called Fractals of the Mists, and will feature unlimited challenges with brand new Ascended items as loot. Ascended items are upgradable pieces of equipment that become improved via Infusions, which are found inside dungeons. In addition, the Black Lion Trading Company will feature exclusive Lost Shores items, including unique weapon skins and mini pets.

Check out all the details on the official Guild Wars 2 Lost Shores event page.

Keep reading to see the schedule!

This month will see the largest update to in-game content so far with the addition of several PVE and PVP additions. Areanet has queued up three different additions ranging from a new sPVP map to mini-dungeon challenges. The first of the updates is a new sPVP map called Temple of the Silent Storm.

The map takes place on and inside a massive iceberg, which features a large temple that serves as a place of meditation and training dojo for Guild Wars 2’s armored polar bear race, the Koden. ArenaNet is emphasizing a sense of verticality with this map and just like all of the Guild Wars 2 PvP maps, the ‘Temple of the Silent Storm’ will feature conquest gameplay with a twist.

The twist is in the series of buffs that will be strewn throughout the map. Players can meditate at certain areas to acquire buffs that confer bonus points for a variety of activities, ranging from killing other players to capturing objectives. However, the buff that is likely to be contested the most is one that will reset all the capture points throughout the map.

The second is a more interesting introduction of fractals, a series of challenging mini-dungeons.

Each fractal’s experience will be similar to that of the various mini-dungeons littered throughout the open world of Guild Wars 2. These fractals will feature a variety of challenges, puzzles, and boss fights, with an emphasis placed on use of the environment. Players can expect each fractal to take anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes to complete and the game will throw you through a series of three fractals, from one to the next, before returning you to town. Every other set of three fractals that players complete will initiate a special boss fight along the lines of Tequatl the Sunless or The Shatterer.

The last is a weekend event in the Lost Shores.

The ‘Lost Shores’ weekend event will be a one-off event in Guild Wars 2 that will run between Friday, November 16 through Sunday, November 18. ArenaNet describes the theme of the event as being a “monster movie, invasion type thing” that will focus on the lore of Lion’s Arch. During the event, Lion’s Arch will be invaded by a new enemy group called the ‘Karka’. We’re told the Karka will be quite challenging for Guild Wars 2 players and will even feature a number of new mechanics for players to overcome in order to emphasize this. Visually, the Karka will feature a heavily armored shell of sorts that players will have to penetrate. ArenaNet has even worked on a new shader technology that allows players to actually see pieces of the armor fall off of the Karka as they wear it down.

To find out more details, make sure to read the sneak peaks provided by Massively and MMORPG.com.