Ok I give up....Follow

..What are Berserkers for??

Every newbie or PL area is over-run by them rushing around wearing out their Temp on Orcs and Muck Diggers.

And then one shouts "lvl 14 Berserker LFG" and I thought "What for"?

Why - if I had a group - would I want a Berserker? What do they bring that I can't get from any other melee?

Are they tanks or dps? or neither?

What are they good for when the PL is over?

Go look for a cause someplace else. I'm not criticising them.

It was a genuine question.

Give them a chance to do what? I know what rogues, rangers, Warriors etc do and how they fit into a group. I don't know where a Berserker fits.

Each of the existing classes has both good and bad points and abilities differ. Assuming that Berserkers must also have this profile (otherwise they would be the same as another class) what are theirs?

I see a chain-wearing class using 2HS weapons. The business with proccing thrown axes seems like a gimmick and directly comparable to existing spells anyway.

So when I get invited to a group and they have one already I'd like to know what their normal role is.

At present I'm seeing something halfway between a warrior and a rogue without the tanking ability or one or the dps of the other.

From your answer you consider them a dps class.



thanks I'd never have guessed. How are Berserkers unique?

Anyone know what the refresh time on these things is? It seems instead of having a berzerker do his "throwing axe cut tendons! Rrwarr!!!" schtick, you'd be better off with a ranger casting Snare.

If I was forming a group and a berzerker wanted to join, I wouldn't refuse him so long as we were looking for DPS*, but I can't imagine people going "Ohhh! Try to find a berzerker!"

*Well, if I was forming a group today with my main and a berzerker wanted to join, I'd probably refuse him. Damn PL'd lvl 63 berzerkers with a Defense of 7...

Edited, Thu Feb 12 09:54:55 2004 by Jophiel

I dunno.. some of those 2H weapons have scary sub-1 ratios. I imagine you can do lots of DPS with a 45/40 weapon or whatever.

Monks are a dps class last I checked. Most high end monks prefer 2hb over dual wielding. Berserkers get double attack at lvl 15. I believe they get triple attack at lvl 60. They also get a special attack called Frenzy at lvl 6. At low levels this is just an additional melee attack, not sure how this might change as you level. Berserkers also get quite a few utility abilities like snare and stun with their thrown axes. They will be a dps class, probably in the top 5 melee dps at the high end. They will also be able to produce probably the 2nd best ranged attack dps. Add in their utility abilities and the ability to tank in a pinch and it seems like they will be able to fill a few different roles in a group similar to how druids and beastlords are.

Ok here is some intresting points that i did this morning cramed 4 hours of play with a bezerker and a monk of the same lvl... I didnt train frenzy and didnt get blade cut ( was lvl 9 at the time) Was hunting in the pit with my wifes cleric covering heals and temp...

Ok here goes same lvl ikky monk dual weilding kept getting agro( since zkers dont have taunt couldnt out dmg him) So i let myself die went to trainer got leg cut and and Frenzy. Ok now i i pulled used leg cut which beutifull for future axe kiting.

Now the intresting part begins leg cut works both range and combat with the combination of leg cut and frenzy the monk couldnt pull agro off me even when he was dual weilding and has a haste item and i didnt wear a haste item... Frenzy also has a chance to double hit as well currently it does 22 damage plus 28 dmg from the weighty polearm i was using... Frenzy has the same refresh time as kick which is a bonus... with Double attack fast approaching Zerkers have the chance to quad hit at lvl 15 with frenzy.. Another side note at lvl 20 a zerker will be able to out dmg a war in the 2h category because of frenzy... Lvl 20 is going to be very intresting for the zerker as well because we get intimidation which will be another excellant thing for kitting... with the ability to snare from leg cut and intimidation its will be fun to see... However i really think that zerkers abilites make them close to rangers with alot of major differnaces... Zerker hammers and axes also have agro reducing like the Jolt line for rangers.. the other intresting aspect is that they also have stuns in there ranged weapons unsure if it works in combat like leg cust does... Only time will tell...

But in all honesty zerks are pure DPS and its apparent when they will reach 15+

Currently my zerk has 500 hp and 360ac at lvl 12 so pretty close to hp of a war ( or maybe slightly higher) once i get the time ill put him up on the characters list for profiles...

Anyone else find this amusing?

Hey im not holding my breath on intimidation but with a snare combo with it its kinnda odd....

However throw on sow and we can do what ranger can do like they can do with there bows eventually some of our axes and hammer throws will have dots and stuns and a stronger snare...

Is the axe effect a chance of happening or a definite effect (subject presumably to resists)? Are they subject to LoS issues like other ranged weapons - and unlike Snare or the corresponding spells.

I was trying to save mana on my Paladin the other day so I tried to bow-pull a spider standing just in front of me. There was a bump in the floor. No arrow could pass it so I stunned the stupid thing.

No thrown weapon will have the range of a good bow and decent arrow.

I have "fear-kited" with my Rogue using Serrated Bone dirk and Intimidation. It worked once or twice. I got a lot of Defense skill-ups.

I certainly don't remember people crying out for another melee class that can do some of the things other melee classes do only differently.

the leg cut ability doesn't have an axe graphic being shown. I havent used it in hilly types of conditions as of yet. the snare effect can be avoided is the message you receive fo resist.I havent tried it in extreme hilly or rocky areas yet. I will let you know soon however or someone else. The leg cut is a definate effect with a reuse time of roughly 2 tics. However the snare effect can range from 2 tics lasting to 10 tics or 12 sec to 1 minute which ever you prefer. The leg cut is a combat skill and you must have the summoned axes to use ( havent tried the regular throwing axes but the range on the store bought axes i beleive is 75, the summoned ones are 150+ ) When the leg cut is used it looks like we have casted a spell.... I will give you more details as when i tryem out

Berserkers can stun and snare. Only Beastlord pets can stun and rangers snare of the 4 classes above. Berserkers can also add buffs to the group although I am unsure exactly what effects their are. I have heard of stuff like minor haste (10%), increases in attack, etc. Also I was being conservative on my dps estimate since no one has parsed a high level berserker yet. They may very well end up number 2 for melee damage and number 2 for ranged damage. Only time will tell there. I would expect them to tank similar to a ranger although it looks like they may get more hp, hard to tell so far. If nothing else it is another dps/utility class that can fill a few different roles in a group allowing you to be less selective in which classes you have in the group. It also seems to have more soloability than any other pure melee except for maybe the high end ranger. As with beastlords I am sure that berserkers will be tweaked over the next year until they are wanted as much as any other dps class, more or less.