Kavanah's Berserker Build

[kavanah]

Kavanah's Tank & Berzerker Build Loadout

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/booger2005/11f2ad1b.jpg

Description:

The stat focus of this build is going all strength. This is also to switch from a tanker to a higher DPS'er loadout, I will be explain more as I work on it. This build is about having high survivorability while being able to dish out pretty good damage. It's called a Berzerker Build rather than a Tank build because this build doesn't include all tank skills but some other DPS skills and allows for zerker loadout.

When to use zerker loadout? When you have several bears in the same game, you will probably tank less, so switch to zerker build to be more DPS effective. You also want to use Djinn Spear over Shock Lance if everyone else is using lance, since the Spear proc stacks with the Lance proc.


Skills:

Vengeful Slash 5/5 (58-108dmg)
Stomp 5/5 (73-94dmg)
Tuant 5/5 (+16 dodge 12sec buff)
Rage 5/5 (+50% crit 20sec buff)
Super Mega Slash 5/5 (59-125dmg 20%-90% chance to stun)
Iron Blood 5/5 (+50 armor 12sec buff)
Hellscream 5/5 (-50dmg, -25hit% 8m area of effect to non-allies)
Evade 5/5 (+30 dodge 20sec buff)
Beckon 4/5 (50% chance to stun, pulls target to you 12m areao of effect to non-allies)

Base Stats:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/booger2005/f31ebb50.jpg

Stats with Recommended Tanker Equip:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/booger2005/0522210b.jpg

Stats with Recommended Zerker Equip:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/booger2005/4ea762d6.jpg

Recommended Gear for Tanker loadout:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/booger2005/b6367a1b.jpg

Weapon - Zuraz Shock Lance or Djinn Spear of Thoth or Djinn Spear of Isis

Helm - Mynas Helmet of Thoth or Mynas Helmet of Isis

Armor - Mynas Plate of Thoth or Mynas Plate of Isis

Shield - Scarab Buckler of Thoth or Scarab Buckler of Isis

*Note about itemezation: You want only 1 thoth item on. It doesn't really make a big difference which item you use for your thoth item. Right now I use this gear setup in my Tanker loadout and use my Zerker itemezation in another loadout but both loadouts only have one thoth item:

My Tanker Loadout:Zuraz Shock Lance, Mynas Helmet of Isis, Mynas Plate of Thoth, Scarab Buckler of Isis

Recommended Gear for Zerker loadout:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/booger2005/798f54b4.jpg

Weapon - Djinn Spear of Horus or Djinn Spear of Thoth

Helm - Mynas Helmet of Horus or Mynas Helmet of Thoth

Armor - Mynas Plate of Horus or Mynas Plate of Thoth

Shield - Scarab Buckler of Horus or Scarab Buckler of Thoth


My Zerker Loadout:

Djinn Spear of Horus, Mynas Helmet of Thoth, Mynas Plate of Horus, Scarab Buckler of Horus



How To Use Loadouts:

Step 1:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/booger2005/steponeloadout.jpg

This will bring you to the loadout screen. Make sure you have your gear equipped when you enter this screen if you wish to save that current gear setup. Whatever gear you have on when entering the loadout screen is whatever gear you will save onto a given loadout.

Step 2:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/booger2005/step2loadout.jpg

The edit button will allow you to name your loadout whatever you wish. I have named this loadout black because that is what color it makes my character when I want to look all black.

Step 3:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/booger2005/step3loadout.jpg

This will save your currently equipped gear to this loadout. The gear that I have on currently will be saved to my "black" loadout.

Step 4:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/booger2005/step4loadout.jpg

You will see the name of the loadout you have edited. After it has been saved with your currently equipped gear, tapping on the name will give you that saved loadout. When I tap on "black" I will get this gear shown.

You can set multiple loadouts to how you would like. As you can see I have a loadout for an all black suit, an all red suit, my tanker suit for tanking, and my zerker suit for dps.

[Raxie]

nice guide! all str is the best for a bear farmer.

[Formora]

That leaves 4 skill points left. What do you recommend I put them in?

[Demonicdevyn]

k can i just have a show of hands in pvp tanker or beserker in pve tanker or beserker

[Azrael]

Its bewn awhile since i wrote the first berserker build guide, sometime in april i believe. This guide brings back some fond memories.

This pure str build seems viable, but crushing blow is far superior to taunt. Also i generally think having a total of 16 int is always worth it. Part being a zerker is never stoping. I assume you would also use beckon.

Pure str seens like it could be cool, tell is how it goes.

[kavanah]

Its bewn awhile since i wrote the first berserker build guide, sometime in april i believe. This guide brings back some fond memories.

This pure str build seems viable, but crushing blow is far superior to taunt. Also i generally think having a total of 16 int is always worth it. Part being a zerker is never stoping. I assume you would also use beckon.

Pure str seens like it could be cool, tell is how it goes.

This is actually going to be my tank guide and I will edit it for a zerker guide after I've done some more testing with horus. That's why I have taunt over crushing blow =)

[Demonicdevyn]

how wud a beserker compare to a tank i know tanks run through bosees and stomp up in pvp how wud this match against one cuz the no dex makes his dps low

[kavanah]

how wud a beserker compare to a tank i know tanks run through bosees and stomp up in pvp how wud this match against one cuz the no dex makes his dps low

A true bezerker build would be 142 str and the rest dex, with 1 thoth and 3 horus. That would be a pretty nice dps build for a tankier bear. I'm more focused on tanking than dps, so I want to have a loadout that I consider my zerker loadout simply for more dps than my tank loadout. You could also do the true zerker and have a loadout for isis to siwtch to a bit more tankier spec. It just depends which one you would rather dump stats into to focus more on. I personally think str should be buffed in the amount of health, regen, and armor it gives while also adding to the damage of str weapons. I'll be pm'ing Asommers about this on Tuesday.

So right now, while playing a bear, what are you aiming for? In what way does the scale tip for you when comparing dps and tanking ability?

Here of my quick ideas on bear builds:

Ninjabear,bowbear, shivbear (full dex talon,bow,dagger respectively) High Damage - Low Tanking
Zerker (142str/rest dex) - Medium Tanking - Medium Damage
Tanker (full str) High Tanking - Low Damage

So pick what you want and then use a loadout to compensate if you need to switch to either tanking better or dps'ing better in the given situation.

[Xviperr]

Ninjabear,bowbear, shivbear (full dex talon,bow,dagger respectively) High Damage - Low Tanking
Zerker (142str/rest dex) - Medium Tanking - Medium Damage
Tanker (full str) High Tanking - Low Damage

thanks for this info!!

[kavanah]

thanks for this info!!

I will add, before someone critiques it, that with the evade/iron blood skills, any bear is a beastly tank. So in all fairness every one of those builds can tank well. Just a side thought!

[Royce]

"My love for you is like a truck, BERSERKER
Would you like some making"...
nevermind, anyway very cool guide. I'm interested to know if this build's high health and skill damage makes it at all viable in PvP. I tried out a full Int enchantress after the stat-driven skills update and discovered that you still really need Dex to compete in PvP with a mage, but a full Str bear, especially with Isis on would just be so hard to kill...

[Raxie]

you need some dex when you are tank. i have tried the all str build and it sucks. with the hit% debuffs you miss every frecking shot.
it's useless and sucks at pvp.

[Royce]

you need some dex when you are tank. i have tried the all str build and it sucks. with the hit% debuffs you miss every frecking shot.

Well, actually a tank is not meant to be a serious damage dealer. A tank is meant to soak up damage and control mobs while the DPS stands back and kills. So a full Str build is actually pretty decent for a tank. For a DPS warrior or PvP warrior, you have always needed Dex, but I'm interested to know how a beastly full Str bear with 400 health and 29 H/s would fare in PvP, especially now that they have stronger skills as well. It may very well be total fail, but it would certainly be a tough character to take down, it's just a matter of whether or not it would be able to do enough damage fast enough to kill any opponents before they restore their own health.

[Raxie]

i wasn't talking about a pve situation. i was talking about a pvp situation where the debuffs lower your hit% to like 50%.
it seriously sucks; full str bears are one of the easiest to take down.

[Royce]

i wasn't talking about a pve situation. i was talking about a pvp situation where the debuffs lower your hit% to like 50%.
it seriously sucks; full str bears are one of the easiest to take down.

I wad simply referring to your use of the word "tank" which had a very specific meaning in this and other MMOs. Also, there is no way a full Str bear is "easy" to take down. Whether or not they can take down an opponent is another issue, and perhaps they cannot at all. Still, if real team PvP ever got popular, where you actually work together playing different roles rather than just playing as an individual like current "team" PvP, then a PvP tank would probably be quite useful ;)

[kavanah]

i wasn't talking about a pve situation. i was talking about a pvp situation where the debuffs lower your hit% to like 50%.
it seriously sucks; full str bears are one of the easiest to take down.

It's a good thing you weren't talking pve because my tank can solo any map, did all AO2 without pots.

[Demonicdevyn]

kk i get it the idea for ur build is to sacrafice ome damage to last longer then the compettion

[vulgarstrike]

this thread should be renamed the Fat Mans Build. berserker sounds very DeXish

[kavanah]

I was referring to your use of the word "tank" which had a very specific meaning in this and other MMOs. Also, there is no way a full Str bear is "easy" to take down. Whether or not they can take down an opponent is another issue, and perhaps they cannot at all. Still, if real team PvP ever got popular, where you actually work
together playing different roles rather than just
playing as an individual like current "team" PvP,
then a PvP tank would probably be quite useful
;)

I hold my own in one on one peeveepee.

[Raxie]

royce, play a pure tank player and you'll see what i mean. obviously you can't ko full str bears but after 10 secs, they become very fragile. i played about 5 full str bears and i was always at full hp, due to the fact they can't hit me AT ALL because of their lack of dex.

[kavanah]

this thread should be renamed the Fat Mans Build. berserker sounds very DeXish

Berserkers have never been dex based in any lore. A tank dpser is a great lore description of a berserker and that's what this build is

[Demonicdevyn]

yo kananah wats the better build to follow top or bottom
??

[vulgarstrike]

"My love for you is like a truck, BERSERKER
Would you like some making"...
nevermind, anyway very cool guide. I'm interested to know if this build's high health and skill damage makes it at all viable in PvP. I tried out a full Int enchantress after the stat-driven skills update and discovered that you still really need Dex to compete in PvP with a mage, but a full Str bear, especially with Isis on would just be so hard to kill...

I'm not sure if you know this, but my pure Mage has brought instant respect from chankleta and chaudex who I see as some of the best pvpers around in the paladin and warrior build. I can consistently rank 1st and 2nd in kills. the only downside is i am destined to die by archers.

[Royce]

royce, play a pure tank player and you'll see what i mean. obviously you can't ko full str bears but after 10 secs, they become very fragile. i played about 5 full str bears and i was always at full hp, due to the fact they can't hit me AT ALL because of their lack of dex.

I do have a Str/Dex tank actually, his name's Royce-Fnord ;) But anyway, I wasn't disagreeing in general that Dex is useful for PvP, just disagreeing with your use of the word "tank", and your assertion that they are "easy" to take down. And remember just when you think a tank's buffs are running out, your hit% debuff on them will also be running out ;)
Anyway, guess I'll have to respec to full Str and try it out. I've just been too busy playing with my 3 mages' stats since the stat-driven skill update to spend much time on my bear. I'm sure I'll go back to some Dex after testing it, but exactly how much should be interesting to determine, just like it now is for Int mages.

[Raxie]

you won't believe me until you try; so go play a full str bear.
and i'm sorry but i don't get your 'tank' definition. did i use it in the wrong context?

[Bentmer]

I do have a Str/Dex tank actually, his name's Royce-Fnord ;) But anyway, I wasn't disagreeing in general that Dex is useful for PvP, just disagreeing with your use of the word "tank", and your assertion that they are "easy" to take down. And remember just when you think a tank's buffs are running out, your hit% debuff on them will also be running out ;)
Anyway, guess I'll have to respec to full Str and try it out. I've just been too busy playing with my 3 mages' stats since the stat-driven skill update to spend much time on my bear. I'm sure I'll go back to some Dex after testing it, but exactly how much should be interesting to determine, just like it now is for Int mages.

Hate to play devil's advocate here, but technically speaking, there are no 'tanks' in pvp. Since there is no way to 'taunt' players to attack you and there is no such thing as aggro in pvp, the term tank really doesn't exist. What do you call a low burst dps, high health player in pvp? Probably something like low priority target. :p

I am curious with the testing going on, has anyone determined just how much extra damage/healing is being increased for every point invested in the primary stat?

[Royce]

Hate to play devil's advocate here, but technically speaking, there are no 'tanks' in pvp. Since there is no way to 'taunt' players to attack you and there is no such thing as aggro in pvp, the term tank really doesn't exist.

I disagree. Taunt is barely effective for holding aggro even in PvE. So just like PvE, a PvP tank has to control opponents with beckon and stuns ;)

[kavanah]

yo kananah wats the better build to follow top or bottom
??

There is only one build that I have listed. That's the main build which is my "near" pure tanking build that I have saved in my "Tank" loadout. The other loadout which I've titled my "zerker" loadout is simply for me to adjust to a game with more tanks in it, that I would be tanking less so I could switch to a loadout with more DPS.

So the main questions you have to ask yourself is, "do I like the playstile of ursans?", "do I like their skills?", "do I want to be more of a tanker, a damage dealer, or be able to switch between both while compromising on damage and tanking dps?" The whole point of this setup is so that I can go from being a heavy tanker to being a decent DPS.

[Bentmer]

I disagree. Taunt is barely effective for holding aggro even in PvE. So just like PvE, a PvP tank has to control opponents with beckon and stuns ;)

It may not work very well in PvE, but it totally doesn't work in PvP ;)

The basic concept of a tank is to get the enemies to hit you instead of them. Stuns and movement control skills are a form of crowd control, not aggro control. You're still not getting them to attack you when you beckon or stomp them. You are just getting them to temporarily stop attacking others.

I'm speaking of PvP in general by the way. In all of the MMO's I've ever played, the tank is probably the least useful build in PvP. Unless you count flag running or something. It would be cool to see something where you could actually force a player to attack you for a few seconds tho. I understand that it is almost impossible go program that.

[Royce]

It would be cool to see something where you could actually force a player to attack you for a few seconds tho. I understand that it is almost impossible go program that.

It's been suggested that Taunt in PvP should cause any oppents in range to automatically target you at least momentarilly. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but it would definitely make tanks more useful for PvP.

[kuroi]

hey kavanah

[Arterra]

It's been suggested that Taunt in PvP should cause any oppents in range to automatically target you at least momentarilly. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but it would definitely make tanks more useful for PvP.

not a bad idea... tho means the bear gets the axe in a huge group brawl.

[Nytesdawn]

I'd opt out vengeful slash for crippling slash and 4 skills in taunt for 4 in crushing blow