Crafting Ad Infinitum: The Complete Journey to GW2‘s Prestigious Fractal Backpack - 33rd Square (2024)

As an avid Guild Wars 2 player with years of experience grinding Fractals daily, I‘ve had the pleasure of crafting many different legendaries. But few come close to the journey required for Ad Infinitum – GW2‘s prestigious fractal backpack requiring epic dedication!

In this guide, I‘ll walk you through everything you need to know to craft your own Ad Infinitum backpack, from totals materials to daily time-gating limits. You‘ll also get tips to prep your character, optimize daily fractals, and stay motivated on the 40 day grind. Let‘s get started, friend!

What Makes Ad Infinitum so Special?

Ad Infinitum is the pinnacle of Fractal achievement, requiring you fully master this end-game system. Unlocking it shows your dedication to fractals and PvE progression.

Beyond the prestige, Ad Infinitum offers these rewards:

• Epic Cosmic Skin – Nebulas, galaxies, and stardust trails make this the most dazzling backpack skin in the game! It will turn heads in Lion‘s Arch for sure.

• Selectable Stats – Choose any ascended stat combo like Berserker‘s or Viper‘s. Ideal for optimizing your build.

• 3 Infusion Slots – Each slot can take a +5 stat infusion for a huge attribute boost!

For veteran players looking to flex their PvE prowess, Ad Infinitum is the ultimate trophy. Let‘s break down exactly what it takes to craft this legendary backpack!

Summary: The 4 Ad Infinitum Collections

Ad Infinitum is obtained by completing 4 collections:

Total Time: ~40 days

Each collection requires obtaining certain ascended crafting materials, Fractal currencies, and time-gated account-bound components.

The major time-gates are:

• Fractal Research Pages – Only 3 per day from doing Daily Recommended Fractals
• Fractal Relics – Capped daily from Fractal dailies & quests
• Pristine Fractal Relics – Limited to 42 per week from challenge modes

Let‘s break down each collection‘s requirements in detail!

Seasons of the Dragons Collection

The first collection focuses on crafting the 4 Gift of the Dragons items, each representing the 4 living Elder Dragons.

Materials Needed:

• 150 Fractal Research Pages
• 1200 Fractal Relics
• 3 Balls of Dark Energy (time-gated)

Fractal Research Pages are the big time-gate here, limiting you to 3 per day.

Daily Gains:

• 3 Research Pages from Daily Recommended Fractals
• 24 Relics from Daily T4 Fractals

At this pace, it will take around 50 days to obtain 150 Research Pages, and 10 days to get 1200 Relics. But the Gift of Zhaitan crafting creates an additional time-gate, so in total this collection takes 10 days.

Mystic Tribute Collection

For this collection, you need to craft a Mystic Tribute – a rare material made from expensive account-bound ingredients:

Materials Needed:

• Gift of Fortune (250 Globs of Coagulated Mist Essence)
• Gift of Craftsmanship
• 77 Mystic Coins
• 250 Globs of Coagulated Mist Essences

Globs of Mist Essence are time-gated with a max of 10 per day from Fractal dailies.

Daily Gains:

• 10 Globs from Daily Recommended Fractals
• Chance of Globs from Daily Chests

Given the daily cap on Mist Essences, this collection also takes around 10 days to complete.

Gift of Ascension Collection

Here you must gather materials to craft 2 high-tier gifts:

Materials Needed:

• Various T6 Fine Crafting Materials
• 500 Fractal Relics
• 50 Fractal Research Pages
• 100 Pristine Fractal Relics (weekly time-gated)

Daily Gains:

• 3 Research Pages from Recommended Fractals
• 24 Relics from Daily T4 Fractals
• Up to 42 Pristine Relics per week

The main time-gate is the 100 Pristine Relics, taking a minimum of 3 weeks to acquire. But combining the relic and research page requirements, this collection is approximately 10 days as well.

A Star to Guide Us Collection

The final collection requires the most fractal currencies:

Materials Needed:

• 1350 Fractal Relics
• 3500 Unstable Cosmic Essences
• 250 Crystalline Ingots
• 100 Piles of Crystalline Dust

Daily Gains:

• 24 Relics from Daily T4 Fractals
• Cosmic Essences from completing fractals

Assuming T4 dailies, this collection takes around 10 days to accumulate the currencies.

Optimizing Your Daily Fractal Grind

Completing Ad Infinitum fully relies on smart optimization of your daily and weekly fractal grind. Here are my best tips:

• Always do the Daily Recommended Fractals – these reward bonus research pages and mist essence glob rewards.

• Focus on Tier 4 dailies – these offer the most relics and chances of pristine relics and research pages in daily chests.

• Consume Fractal Potions for bonus relic rewards to speed up collections.

• Build 150 Agony Resistance – required for high tier fractals with +5 infusions.

• Bring Ascended Food/Utilities – boost stats to safely speed-run fractals.

• Complete Weekly Challenge Modes – grab bonus pristine relics and skins.

• Open Daily Chests on Level 80s – ensure maximum relic and research page drops.

By adopting these fractal grinding best practices, you‘llminimize the total time to 40 days from start to finish.

Preparing Your Character for Ad Infinitum

Before starting your Ad Infinitum journey, make sure your character is properly geared and ready for end-game fractals:

• Get Full Ascended Armor – required for adding +5 Agony Infusions

• Unlock Agony Resistance – aim for 150 AR minimum to do T4 fractals

• Level Crafting Disciplines – needed for ascended material refinement

• Equip Meta Builds – browse SnowCrows for the best compositions

• Practice Mechanics – watch guides and join training runs to prep

Having proper gear, AR, and experience under your belt will make the daily grind much smoother. Don‘t wait until you‘ve started crafting to prep your character!

Staying Motivated on the 40 Day Grind

I won‘t sugar coat it – completing Ad Infinitum is a marathon, not a sprint. Here are my tips for staying motivated:

• Set milestone goals – aim to finish each collection, unlocking new backpack skins along the way

• Find farming buddies – having friends to grind fractals with each day keeps things fun

• Take breaks between collections – split up the journey over a few months to avoid burning out

• Watch TV/streams while grinding to make it less monotonous

• Vary your daily routes – change up which T4s you complete to keep things fresh

Celebrate each mini-milestone, switch up your daily routine, and remember the awesome backpack waiting for you at the end!

Is Ad Infinitum Right For You?

While I highly recommend all players eventually go for Ad Infinitum, it does require a major time investment. Before embarking on the journey, make sure it aligns with your playstyle and goals:

Ad Infinitum is ideal for players who:

• Love mastering fractals and showing dedication
• Enjoy prestigious items that show mastery and prestige
• Appreciate GW2‘s beautiful cosmic-themed skins
• Want a backpack with selectable stats and infusion slots
• Have several hours to play per day for farming

Other legendaries may be better if you:

• Are more casual and play 1-2 hrs per day max
• Primarily play solo
• Dislike repeating content like fractals daily
• Prefer legendaries achievable within 1-3 weeks
• Want something with an easier crafting journey

While a long journey, making your Ad Infinitum will be extremely rewarding! The ultimate trophy for fractal fanatics.

I hope my guide gives you a realistic overview of the grind, tips to optimize it, and motivation to stay the course. Let me know if you have any other questions – and see you in the Mists, my friend!

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