GW2 Aquatic Ruins Fractal Guide

GW2 Aquatic Ruins Fractal is part of the Fractals of the Mists dynamic dungeon. You can read about Fractals of the Mists entrance and other fractal guides in our Fractals of the Mists Guide.
 

Objectives for Aquatic Ruins Fractal

1. Enter the shallows.
2. Free the captured villagers – 0/3 villagers freed.
3a. Enter the underwater ruins – Avoid detection while swimming through the ruins.
3b. Delve into the deep waters – Find a way out of the deep water.
4. Swim deeper into the ruins.
5. Kill the jellyfish best to stabilize the fractal – Jellyfish Beasts.
 

1. Enter the shallows.

Once you enter the Fractal you are going to head into the shallows to locate the villagers. You will find them in a cage at the bottom surrounded by big statues.

2. Free the captured villagers – 0/3 villagers freed.

In order to free the villagers you simply need to defeat all the hostile creatures surrounding the cage. You will face more enemies on higher leveled versions of the Fractal.

Once you free the villagers you will have two different choices with how to proceed. You can either enter the Underwater Ruins or Delve Into the Deep Waters. Both end up in the same place .

3a. Enter the underwater ruins – Avoid detection while swimming through the ruins.

If you get Delve Into the Deep Waters you will find yourself turned into a dolphin. It’s hard to fight enemies as a dolphin so you will need to avoid all hostiles as you proceed. Your goal is to reach the different marks on the map until you reach the boss of the Fractal.
 
In order to avoid the enemies you will need to take advantage of the special abilities your dolphin form grants you. You can use your special dodge ability, throw dolphin bait on hostile creatures, and even resurrect your fallen party members. Use these abilities to their fullest and you will make it through the map with few problems.
 
Beware that on higher level versions of the Fractal you will have to avoid even more enemies!

3b. Delve into the deep waters – Find a way out of the deep water.

If you get to enter the Underwater Ruins you will need to travel a path marker by Luminous plants until you can reach the end of the map. If you venture out of the light and into the dark you characters will be attacked by fish that you cannot see or defeat, meaning you don’t want to venture out of the light for long. There are small underwater volcanoes that you can use as checkpoints along the way.
 
You can pick up some of the Luminous Plants along the way, and it is recommended that you grab them whenever possible. Not only will they help keep the fish off of you but you can use them to resurrect any allies that have died along the way.
 
There are a few Veteran Kraits along the path but they can be easily defeated or skipped.

4. Swim deeper into the ruins.

After making it through your chosen path you will head deeper into the ruins to face the boss. Prepare yourself!

5. Kill the jellyfish best to stabilize the fractal – Jellyfish Beasts.

The final boss is a giant jellyfish. He will occasionally spawn adds near him that you will need to defeat as soon as possible (on higher levels he will spawn more enemies). Other than that his main ability is that he will swallow a character if he gets to close to them. If you are the one who gets sucked inside you will need to use ability one in order to escape his belly. At some point he will start regenerating his health which will lower your DPS output, just keep hitting him with all you have until he dies.
 
You can see cages scattered around the room where you fight the boss. If you can lure him near the cages you can bring his health down even faster. For the quickest kill you will need to keep him near these cages as you fight him.