What to Do After Level 80 in Guild Wars 2?

GW2 – what to do at 80?

The endgame is an incredibly important part of all MMORPGs. In many older titles, it used to be the promised land - the grand prize waiting for the most persistent players at the end of the grueling grind. The newer games often allow the players to reach the level cap much easier and faster. In a way, it makes the endgame even more important, since more players spend more time in the most challenging game locations and instances. The devs have to make sure that this content is engaging and rewarding enough to keep the players in the game for a long time. Luckily, ArenaNet has some experience with that – in the first Guild Wars game, even the causal players were able to reach the level cap in just a few hours, and yet, many people have played it for years.

There's a lot to do after you hit level 80 in Guild Wars 2. The most traditional MMORPG endgame activity would be clearing group content like fractals and raids. You can also explore the immense world of Tyria – all the zones have their own meta-event chains related to the main storyline. You can also aim for 100% map completion by visiting all vital points inside each location. Furthermore, you can engage in so-called Fashion Wars and farm for the most expensive armor sets and legendary weapons. Finally, there's more to GW2 than just PvE! You can have tons of fun in the World versus World and the structured PvP.

PvE group content

In Guild Wars 2, the endgame group content is based mostly on Fractals of the Mists, with a dash of raids and dungeons.

Fractals

Fractals of the Mist are a unique type of PvE content. They consist of 20 instances that can be entered and completed on multiple difficulty levels. Players can access fractals through Mistlock Observatory that serves as lobby area to find groups and decide which fractal you want to go for. Each of them can be completed on 4-6 difficulty levels, resulting in 100 options to choose from. Their order is based on difficulty, with 1 being the easiest and 100 the most difficult. Fractals are designed for the standard 5-man groups.

The fractals are divided into four tiers. T1 is available for every player that reached level 80. You can get access to higher ones by increasing your account's fractal level. Every time you complete a fractal that's higher level than you, your account fractal level increases by 1. The second tier is available from level 21, the third tier from level 46, and the fourth tier from level 71.

The 20th fractal introduced a unique mechanic called Agony. It affects every player in the instance. Agony reduces the amount of healing received by 70% and deals a percentage of the player's Health as damage every three seconds. The higher the fractal level, the more damage it deals. There's no way to remove Agony inside of a fractal, but you can significantly reduce its effectiveness by using infused gear with Agony Resistance. In fractals that are level 70 and higher, Agony deals over 100% of players' Health with a single tick! You need a lot of Agony Resistance to have any chance of completing them. It's impossible to mitigate the Agony completely, but with enough resistance, you can reduce the tick damage to 1% of your Health. At the same time, this attribute is utterly useless in all the other types of content. Because of that, many players have a separate set of equipment, dedicated exclusively to clearing Fractals of the Mist.

Besides offering a great challenge, fractals can provide the players with really valuable loot. The drops include Ascended equipment, materials for infused and attuned gear, Fractal Relics, and more. At the end of each fractal, you will also receive a Fractal Encryption – a box with additional loot that can be opened with a Fractal Encryption Key. There are also additional rewards for the Daily Fractals achievements.

Dungeons

Dungeons are a slightly easier piece of group content. We recommend doing them if you want to test and learn new builds. They're also an excellent place for learning to play in a more coordinated group environment.

There are eight dungeons in Guild Wars 2, but each one of them can be completed in the Story Mode and Explorable Mode. Moreover, the Explorable Mode provides multiple paths that all lead to a different ending with a different final boss. Finishing all the paths is an exciting challenge for players who want to experience all the content that GW2 has to offer.

There's another reason to finish every dungeon at least twice. When you complete each one in both modes, you will get access to a daily repeatable quest called Dungeon Frequenter. Every day, you'll be able to complete eight unique dungeon paths for an additional reward: 5 gold coins and a Chest of Dungeoneering. Doing it daily is a commitment, but it can generate you a lot of gold.

Raids

Raids are often considered the most difficult pieces of PvE content (even though some players believe that the top-level fractals are harder). They're designed for squads of 10 people. While many fractals are often played with random pickup groups, most raid squads are premade, often composed of the members of the same guild. Usually, completing a raid requires a near-perfect execution and awareness of all the mechanics. Boosters, Revive Orbs, and few other consumables are disabled during raids.  

Each raid has multiple phases that require the players to adjust on the fly. In order to succeed, the whole squad should be coordinated and experienced. Some of the encounters feature a timer that makes the fight significantly more difficult when it runs out. Players can access the raids through Lion's Arch Aerodrome that acts as a lobby area.

The first raid is called Forsaken Thicket. It consists of three wings that work as separate instances: Spirit Vale, Salvation Pass, and Stronghold of the Faithful. The remaining raids are Bastion of the Penitent, Hall of Chains, Mythwright Gambit, and The Key of Ahdashim.

The rewards from completing Ascended and Exotic gear, miniatures, Legendary Insights, Legendary Divinations, and more! There's also a unique boss chest at the end of every successful raid. Since the prizes are so valuable, the players are only eligible to get them once per week on each raid. You can clear them more often, but it will be significantly less worth it in terms of loot.

Map Completion

We have already covered the most challenging PvE content, now let's focus on an endgame option that's more accessible to some of the casual gamers. To complete a map, you have to visit every important location inside of it. That includes vistas, points of interest, hero challenges, renown hearts, and waypoints. Completing a map rewards you with coins, experience, crafting materials, and a Transmutation Charge or a Black Lion Chest Key.

Besides the rewards, completing maps is great for players who enjoy exploring Tyria, visiting the beautifully designed locations, and interacting with NPCs. If you're one of these players, you can also complete all meta-events and play through the storyline of each zone.

Completing all the six cities (Lion's Arch, Black Citadel, Divinity's Reach, Hoelbrak, Rata Sum, and The Grove) as well as the 25 explorable zones in Central Tyria (excluding The Silverwastes, Dry Top, and Southsun Cove) results in the full World Completion. It grants you two Gifts of Exploration and a title Been There, Done That. The maps added after the Living World Season 2 don't count towards this achievement.

Fashion Wars

Collecting and crafting the most prestigious items is a massive part of Guild Wars 2. Most of them only have cosmetic value, but players still grind pretty hard to get them. In terms of your character's equipment, you will first go for Exotic items, then for the slightly more powerful (and significantly more expensive) Ascended gear. After that, the most relentless players start grinding for legendary weapons. These items don't provide any combat advantage, and the difference between Ascended and Legendary is purely cosmetic.

Crafting Legendaries requires using the Mystic Forge. It's a multi-stage process that features multiple components called gifts and the precursors - Exotic or Ascended weapons that act as the core parts in the process. While using the Mystic Forge is not associated with any of the crafting disciplines, multiple ones are necessary in order to synthesize necessary components. Of course, you can try and buy the components from the Trading Post, but in that case, you will need a lot of gold.

Besides the Legendary weapons, fashion wars also apply to armor skins outfits, miniatures (pets), dyes, finishers, mounts, and musical instruments. Most of them can be obtained as rare drops or from the Black Lion Chest. However, the finishers are one of the rewards in structured PvP.

PvP

While GW2 PvP is not exactly an endgame-exclusive activity, it can definitely be treated as one. Each session (both in WvW and in structured PvP) is a little bit different, and there's a high amount of skill expression – it makes PvP interesting and engaging. Besides, what's a better way of showing off your Legendary weapon that smacking other players with it?

World versus World

If you're looking for some mass PvP action, WvW is the perfect option for you. It's a huge scale conflict where players from three different Worlds (clusters of servers) fight against each other. Each match lasts the whole week what gives the players a lot of time to conquer objectives and capture territories for their side.

Every 5 minutes, there's a tick that grants the number of points, based on the controlled objectives and territories to each team. The goal is to capture multiple objectives and hold onto them as long as possible. It's a great game mode that can feature some action-packed big scale fights or solo missions behind the enemy lines to create a distraction and cut-off their supplies.

Players can use a unique WvW mount called Warclaw that helps with sieging and breaking down the gates. If you want to move faster, you can also use a glider inside the territories controlled by your world.

Structured PvP

Structured PvP is a better option for people interested in a more competitive fight that features shorter matches, clearer rules, and more competitive gameplay. There are three types of sPvP matches: Conquest, Team Deathmatch, and Stronghold. Players can choose the Custom Arenas that allow a hot-join system or go for Unranked or Ranked Arenas for a more serious match. Ranked Arenas are a part of PvP leagues, where players can climb to higher divisions and receive rewards.

Team Deathmatch can be played in 2v2 or 5v5, and its objective is to kill the enemy team. Stronghold is a specific mode that's somewhat similar to a MOBA game, as it requires both teams to protect their own base while also attempting to break into the opposing one. It features multiple NPC characters and secondary objectives that you have to achieve before you can reach and defeat the enemy Lord (the win condition).

However, the most important PvP match is Conquest. It's a 5v5 game mode, where two teams face each other in strategic combat. There are two ways of scoring points in Conquest: killing the enemy players or holding onto the capture points. Each map features three of these points -one next to the bases of each team and a single neutral one that usually is the main point of contention. It is the most competitive PvP mode in GW2, and most of the hardcore players focus on optimizing their builds and strategies for this type of match.

What to do in GW2 after level 80?

These are all the most important activities in the Guild Wars 2 endgame. As you can see, there are quite a few options that differ a lot from each other. Every player should be able to find at least one or two enjoyable things to do after reaching level 80 and completing the main story.

What are your favorite activities in the GW2 endgame? Let us know in the comments below!

FAQ

What is the GW2 endgame group content?

The endgame PvE group content in Guild Wars 2 is based mostly on Fractals of the Mist, raids, and to a small extent on dungeons.  

Are there raids in Guild Wars 2?

Yes, raids have been added to the game in the Heart of Thorns expansion. They are 10-players instances divided into multiple stages with unique mechanics.

What are fractals in GW2?

Fractals of the Mist are unique instances that are shorter and more challenging than dungeons. Each fractal can be played on multiple difficulty levels.