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Orginally posted by Sword Tip at bfnet
So why is the berserker a possible better choice? The answer is simple : at skill level 20, Berserk add 450% of Magical damage! On any creature except the very few ones who are immune to magic, this is simply devastating.
There is a caveat, however. A rather strong one. When you swing your weapon, your Defense is negated. Not reduced. You have 0 Defense Rating. This little guide should give some hints on how to deal with this and make a monstrous killer of your barbarian.
Some initial considerations
So we have no defense. Don't be fooled by the Berserk duration, you're always swinging your weapon, so your defense is ALWAYS 0 when you fight. This implies the following points:
1. A berserker will need A LOT of hit points.
2. A berserker needs a shield and good blocking statistics.
3. A berserker had better kill his opponents before they can strike back.
4. A berserker had better recover quickly from hits.
You see what I mean? Let's see now what we can do about that.
Stats
First idea of a player who wants to create a Berserker, I want Life, so Vitality. Well, let's remember what we gathered already:
1. Hit points -> OK, Vitality
2. Shield and blocking -> He, he, this implies good Dexterity.
3. Kill -> Strength, of course, but also Dexterity for Attack Rating.
So here we go: Vitality, Strength, Dexterity. How to distribute among them? My personal choice (highly debatable) was something around this at each level:
Below level 30 :
Strength : 3 points
Dexterity : 1 point
Vitality : 1 points :
After Level 30 :
Strength : 2 points
Dexterity : 1 point
Vitality : 2 points
Remember, it's interesting to get around 170 in Strength when you reach Act 4 in Nightmare, to get a huge exceptional Executioner sword or an Elite sword in Act 5. These swords also have high Dexterity requirements, so a high Dexterity is definitely useful. Do not put too much points in Dexterity, though. Rely on some items and on the Acte 3 quest to bring you to the 110 mark, needed for high-damage swords.
Skills
This is the crucial part here. What do we need? I will only list the skills I find useful for this build. Requirement skills will get 1 point. Other will be ignored.
Combat skills
Leap Attack : 1-3 points
This is a very good skill to get out of trouble, as it has no range limitation (except screen, a good reason to play in 800x600). It is also useful to get to contact with elusive creatures as Demon Imps.
Concentration : 1-5 points
It's a requisite for Berserk but it can also be useful against Magic Immune creatures. Revert to that skill against them. Any points that you can spare is good here.
Berserk : 20 points
This is one of your main skill. Max it as soon as possible. You must kill anything in two strikes max (well, except super-uniques, of course).
Combat Masteries
One weapon : 20 points
Remember, you must deal a lot of damage. So choose a weapon and stick to it. However, use one-handed weapon, as you will need a shield. This is the skill to max at early levels. I chose swords (not original but always good, high damage, good basic speed).
Natural Resistance : 1-5 points
Useful to put some points here, as you will be able to concentrate your magical choices of items on damage and life, instead of resistance.
Warcries
War cries are mandatory for a berserker. I didn't manage to get far without them. However, three are mostly useful and you should concentrate on two of them.
Find potion : 2 points
You'll need Rejuvenation. Many of them. So search bodies, my friend. But 2 points are enough, especially as they can be boosted by +skills magical items.
Battle Cry : 1 or 20 points
There are two war cries that can be handy for a berserker. This one reduce damage from opponents by nearly half at max level and also nearly guarantees that you will hit them back as it reduces their Defense to 12% of its true level, nearly as bad as you! This is my preferred.
Battle Orders : 20 points
Another mandatory skill. Get a 92% boost for your Life and Mana. Mana doubling, particularly, is interesting as Berserk can drain mana quickly.
Grim Ward : 1-3 points ?
I didn't use it yet but it can be a handy skill to use against Uniques : they will not be affected but their minions will, so you can deal with the Unique without the whole pack.
War Cry : 0 or 20 points
This is the possible replacement for Battle Cry. Two advantages : it stuns and inflicts damage. However, the stun duration is too short from my point of view for Hell and some Super Uniques are not affected by the stun, while they are affected by damage reduction of Battle Cry.
Items
Quite evidently, the items defense is not to be considered by a Berserker (except maybe in situations against Magic Immune creatures but this is secondary). Other magical properties, however, should be highly expected :
1. + to Life or Vitality
2. Damage reduction, especially Uniques and Set items with PERCENTAGE damage reduction
3. High blocking shield
4. Very high damage weapon. The Elite legendary sword is really cool, as the basic speed is Very Fast for a Barbarian and it has good one-handed damage.
5. Of course, + skills items, who will increase both your life and damage while decreasing even more your foes' damage and defense, should be highly sought after.
6. Increase attack speed (of course)
7. Fast hit recovery : this one is important as you will often get hit, so you'd better recover quickly to keep hitting your foes.
8. Damage goes to mana : this is great for berserkers. Understand me, you will always get hit, whether you like it or not, with this build. So with that kind of property, at least, you never run out of mana and you can keep on delivering massive blows to your opponents.
9. Fast cast : that seems odd for a Barbarian, but it's nice to be able to shout your War Cry when surrounded by enemies without being interrupted. This can help.
Of course, some resistance is always handy. Prevent monster healing is very good for Hell, and percentages of Crushing Blows or Deadly Strike are just awesome. I've got the "Gore Rider" war boots and it's crazy of monsters go down quickly with this one, especially if you attack very quickly. Baal in 6 strikes anyone?
A word on leeching : leech doesn't work with magical damage. So leeching will only work on the damage from your weapon and from your Mastery bonus. Do not expect too much leech then. With the high amount of life that you will get, concentrate on Rejuv potions.
Progression
The question is of course, what do I do until I get Berserk, i.e. until I get level 30?
Well, Bash, Concentrate and Leap Attack will do the trick, especially if you max as soon as possible your Mastery. Also get the requisites for various Warcries. As you get 31 skill points before getting level 30, that makes you fill all the requisites to get Berserk and get your Mastery to 16.
After that, you'll only need to increase your 4 main skills (with one or two points in some other useful skills).
Mercenary
I found in the Expansion the mercenaries to be quite an interesting improvement. They are now able to kill a monster by themselves in Acte 5, which is really an improvement (it makes the Amazon's Walkyrie laughable, by the way...).
So what is the best Mercenary for the Berserker?
The immediate answer could have been : another Barbarian! But there is a much finer choice : in the Act 2 of Nightmare, you can get a Mercenary with Holy Freeze aura (the defense aura...). Believe me, with this aura, a good pike or better, a good armor and your +92% of your Batlle Orders, this one is going far and is quite helpful! As a Berserker, you only thank him to be hit only half the time by your opponents.
The end
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