The Berserker Build

Introduction



Hi there, my name is Radu and I play mainly with Barbarian. Since there is no Berserker Barb guide here, along with Hal's great Concentrate Barb guide, PvP Singer and the Wolf Barb ones, I decided to make one. I love the Berserk path; for me and I'm sure for many others fellow Barbs it is the only way to go with a Barbarian

Looking in a dictionary, there are two meanings of the "berserker" word:

1 : an ancient Scandinavian warrior reputed to be invulnerable, of enormous strength, and filled with wild frenzy in battle;

2 : one whose actions are marked by a headstrong intractable spirit or by reckless defiance (as of orthodox views or attitudes).

The description of the Berserk combat skills is: "A powerful attack that leaves the Barbarian more vulnerable." (Arreat Summit web site). Berserk converts all the physical damage into huge magic damage, while leaving the Barbarian defenseless for a period of time (2.7-1.3 seconds, depending on the Berserk skill level). "One of the most powerful combat skills a Barbarian can learn is to cross that line - between passion and rage - into rage, expending the sum of his energy and slaying everything without regard for consequences. When you have slain all of your enemies, what is left to fear?" (Arreat Summit website). I just love doing this, it's a true barbarian way of fight.

The goals a Berserker should achieve are:

- max resists;

- max damage reduction (50%);

- huge amount of life (at least 3000 on Hell difficulty mode);

- the ability to fight with and slay ANY monster in the game and to go in any area of the game without fear;

- as Hal says in his Concentrate Barb guide, "create a character with a mix of skills which will allow him to handle any situation encountered, with emphasis on flexibility and versatility".



Disclaimer

This guide is only a template for the build, it only provides you with the general idea of what your Berserker should be.



Skill points distribution

20 Berserk

20 Weapon Mastery of choice

20 Battle Orders

20 Shout or Howl (depends on the preference)

1 Battle Command

1 Battle Cry

1 War Cry

1 Natural Resistances

1 Whirlwind

1 point in any prerequisites for the skills above

All the remaining skill points go to Howl (or Shout, if Howl is already maxed).

The key skills are Berserk, Weapon Mastery, Battle Orders, Battle Command, War Cry, Battle Cry, Leap Attack, Whirlwind, Shout, Howl and Natural Resistances. Another key skill is Taunt, if it has enough levels (from equipment).

Berserk is the heart of the build, is your "hack and slash" skill It provides huge damage, magic damage. While monsters have resistances to elemental and physical damage, they have no resistance to magic damage, except those imune to magic. So Berserk not only provides very high damage, but it also provides a type of damage to wich there is no resistance, thus allowing you to hit really hard. To the monsters imune to magic, there is Concentrate as backup skill (wich takes bonus from Battle Orders), or Whirlwind. Also, dealing 100% magic damage, you cannot be affected by Iron Maiden (and that is SO great).

The Weapon Mastery boosts the damage and attack rating with the class of weapon it reffers to, thus allowing the Berserker to reach higher valors of damage and attack rating. It also offers a chance of doing double damage with that class of weapon (Critical Strike).

Battle Orders increases the amount of life, mana and stamina of you and your party.

Shout and Howl are the synergies of Berserk, each of them adding 10% more damage per skill level. Shout increases the defense of you and your party, and Howl makes monsters run in fear for a given amount of time. While the defense boost provided by Shout is useless for the Berserker, it is very good for his mercenary and party. Howl lowers the presure you may be under, by making the monsters around you abandon the attack and running in fear; it does not affect Bosses and Champions though, and the effect depends on the player's level, Howl skill level and monsters' level (the higher the player and Howl levels compared the the monsters' levels are, the higher the chance of monsters to be affected is). It is up to you wich to max, Shout or Howl, depending on the strategy chosen and playing style.

Battle Command increases all your and party's skill levels by 1.

War Cry stunnes the monsters surrounding you for a given amount of time, depending on its skill level. Once stunned, monsters are easy targets for you. You can use War Cry again and again before the stun period ends, keeping the targets stunned. Like Howl, it does not affect Bosses and Champions. Depending on your style, you can allocate 1 point or more to this wonderfull skill. If you choose to allocate more, keep in mind that you will receive aditional points from your equipment. I stick with 1 point and the equipment bonuses, preffering to save the skill points for other skills. I usually stun the monsters for 2-3 seconds, and this is enough for me. By the time the stun ends, the target is dead. If there are more targets, I use War Cry more times, untill all lie dead on the ground.

Battle Cry is another wonderfull skill, wich lowers the monsters defense and damage. 1 point is enough, since you will receive more from equipment.

Natural Resistances increses your resistances. 1 point is more than enough, since with proper equipment you will reach very easy 75 to all resists.

Leap Attack is another great skill, allowing you to jump (thus Barbarians are the only characters that can jump). You can reach places hard or impossible to get to by foot or you can evade dangerous places. It eases your moving by allowing you to make long or high jumps. Be carefull of using it, however, if you are cursed with Iron Maiden, since Leap Attack is now a melee attack, not a ranged one anymore (as it was in 1.09).

Whirlwind allows you to pass through groups of monsters or to evade when surrounded. It also, along with Concentrate, allows you to leech life and mana. Don't use it if you are cursed with Iron Maiden

Taunt is another great skill that should be used in order to ease fighting with groups of monsters, especially against those with ranged attacks. It makes monsters abandon their attacks and move into melee attack, whith lowered damage and accuracy. It works great with Howl for crowd control.

Concentrate and Whirlwind are your backup skills against the magic imune monsters. Concetrate receives 10% damage per from Battle Orders skill level.

Another way to allocate the skill points, especially for PvP, is maximizing Whirlwind in the detriment of Howl. You can also allocate, for this build, 1 point in Increased Speed.



Stats points distribution

Strengh: enough to wear your equipment.

Dexterity: enough to have 75% chance to block if using a shield, or enough to wear the weapon if going with two handed weapons.

Vitality: the rest of the remaining points. With zero defense while hitting with Berserk, you need high amount of life more than any other build. For every point allocated in vitality, the barbarian receives 4 points of life.

Energy: none, not a single point allocated. You deal the need of mana by leeching it.



Equipment

In choosing your equipment, you must look for items with mods:

-> +skills;

-> +stats;

-> +damage;

-> increased attack speed;

-> cannot be frozen;

-> deadly strike, crushing blow, open wounds;

-> prevent monster heal;

-> +% damage to demons/undead;

-> +life;

-> faster hit recovery;

-> resistances.



Knockback should be avoided, since being melee you don't want the target pushed away.

As Hal says in his guide, Light Radius, while increasing the range of attack, it also increases the range at wich monsters can detect you, so you should avoid this mod too; Colossus Swords, Colossus Blades, Berserker Axes have a range of 3, wich is more than enough.



Helms

Anything that provides +skills, resists, life/mana leech, and also deadly strike, crushing blow or open wounds.

Low-level: Sigon, Tarnhelm, any decent rare, any barbarian helm with bonuses to weapon mastery;

Mid-level: Rockstopper, Guillame's Face, Vampire's Gaze, any good rare barbarian helm, Arreat's Face;

Endgame: nothing compares to the Arreat's Face.

For magic find, the Immortal King's Will socketed with 2 perfect topazes is the best helm.



Gloves

Anything that provides increased attack speed, life/mana leech, %damage to demons/undead, crushing blow, deadly strike, open wounds. 20% increased attack speed is great for gloves.

Low-level: Sigon, Hand of Broc, Sander's Folly;

Mid-level: Magnus' Skin, Lavagout, Venomgrip, Blood Gloves;

Endgame: Laying of Hands, Steelrends, Dracul's Grasp, vrey good Blood Gloves.

For magic find, Chance Guards or any rare with at least 20% chance of getting magic items.



Belts

Anything that provides +life/mana, life/mana leech, resists, damage reduction, faster hit recovery, slow targets, +stats, +skills.

Low-level: Death's Sash, Sigon, Nightsmoke or any decent rare with resists;

Mid-level: Immortal King's Forge, Thundergod's Vigor, Blood Belt, String of Ears, any good rare;

Endgame: Verdungo's Hearty Cord.

For magic find, Goldwrap or Tal's belt.



Boots

Anything that provides +stats, critical/deadly strike, open wounds, faster run-walk.

Low-level: Treads of Chton, Goblin Toe, any with decent mods;

Mid-level: Gore Riders, War Travelers, Immortal King's Pillars, Marrowwalk, good Blood Boots;

Endgame: Gore Riders.

For magic find, War Travelers or Immortal King's Pillars used together with the Helm and gloves.



Body Armors

Being a Berserker, you don't need to look for high defense armors, but to those with resists, +damage, +stats, +skills, +life/mana, faster hit recovery.

Low-level: Sigon, Iceblink, Twitchthroe, any decent with resists;

Mid-level: Duriel's Shell, Lionheart, Guardian Angel, Shaftstop, Skullder's Ire;

Endgame: Chains of Honor, Enigma, Arkaine Valor, armors with the "Jeweler's" prefix and "Whale" or "Colossus" suffix socketed with increased attack speed jewels, Guardian Angel (for over 75 resists), Lionheart;

For magic find, Skullder's Ire or Body Armor socketed with 4 perfect topazes.



Shields

Again, you don't need to look for high defense shields, but for those with high chance to block, block rate, resists and faster hit recovery.

Low-level: Sigon's Guard, any decent with good block rate and resists;

Mid-level: Rhyme runeword, Whitstan's Guard, Mosser's Blessed Circle, Gergke's Sanctuary;

Endgame: Stormshield.



Amulets

Anything that provides +skills, +stats, increased attack speed, critical/deadly strike, resistances, life/mana leech.

Low-level: Eye of Etlich or any decent with resists;

Mid-level: Cat's Eye, good Blood Amulet, Highlord's Wrath;

Endgame: Highlord's Wrath;

PvP: Angelic set amulet together with the Angelic rings (for high attack rating).

For magic find, any with at least 20% chance.



Rings

Anything that provides life/mana leech, cannot be frozen, +damage, resistances. For higher levels, unless you are offered the "cannot be frozen" mod from other items, you need to stick with one Raven Frost for this mod. Raven Frost is a great ring anyway, since it also provides high dexterity and cold damage.

Low-level: Manald Heal, Cathan's Seal, any decent (+damage, life/mana leech, resists) ring;

Mid-level: Raven Frost, Blood/rare rings, Bul Kathos' Wedding Band;

Endgame: Bul Kathos' Wedding Band, Raven Frost, good Blood/rare rings;

PvP: Angelic Rings together with the Angelic Amulet.

For magic find: Nagelring or any with at least 20% chance.



Weapons

The main weapon choice depends on the picked Weapon Mastery. The switch weapons must be ones with the Echoing prefix (+3 to warcries). A good main weapon must have high damage and be fast. It should also have mods like deadly/critical strike, open wounds, crushing blow, ignore target's defense, +skills, +stats, life/mana steal, prevent monster heal.

Low-mid level: anything with good damage and speed;

Endgame: Breath of the Dying runeword made in ethereal weapons. For Axe barbs: Doom runeword, Famine runeword, Death Cleaver, 5 sockets Rune Master, any high damage and good mods rare/blood crafted axe. For the other barbs: any high damage and good mods weapons. Do not forget the weapon speed when choosing between weapons. Speed is a key feature for Berserk.



Charms

Anything that provides physical damage and life. You can also go with resist and +stats, +life/mana charms, if needed.

Low-mid level: anything with +skills, +stats, +life/mana, %chance of getting magic items, %extra gold;

Endgame: +skills, small charms with the "fine" and "vita" affixes, faster hit recovery charms in order to get to the 48% break point and Annihilus.



Socketing the items

Low-level: rubins in armors for life, diamonds in shields for resists, topazes in weapons for high damage;

Mid-level: +damage, %enhanced damage, %increased attack speed jewels, diamonds or Shael in shields;

Endgame: 15% increased attack speed jewel in Arreat's Face and body armor, Shael rune in Stormshield and weapon (or enhance damage/increased attack speed jewel in weapon).



Mercenary selection

Without any doubt, the Might mercs are the best, found in Act 2 Nightmare, Offensive. Once you got one, equip him with good defense gear and a high damage polearm. Note that items he wears do not lose durability, so you can give him ethereal ones. For Hell dificulty, life leech is a must for him, together with high resists (over 70). I think that The Reaper's Toll is the best weapon for him. You can choose another, such as Bonehew, in wich case Delirium runeword is great.



Gameplay tips

Use your common sense. Don't rush blindly into battle. Fight after a plan, a strategy.

Use a shield. Being defenseless, monsters will always have 95% chance to hit you, so you need the shield to block their attacks. If you want to stick to a good two-handed weapon, make sure you have good life/mana leech rate in order to quickly replenish your life and mana with Concentrate or Whirlwind.

Try getting as high attack speed and attack rating as you can. Demon Limb is very good with its level 23 Enchant for increasing your and your mercenary's attack rating.

When surrounded and trying to escape, don't run, walk! Running drops your block rate at 1/3. If you need to get out of there quickly, use Howl then open a town portal or start running.

Control the crowds with Howl, Taunt and War Cry. These warcries must have hotkeys assigned in order to switch and use them quickly. Also assign a hotkey to Battle Cry and use it. Keep in mind that Howl, Taunt and Battle Cry cannont be in effect simultanously.

Take care of your mercenary, do as much as you can to keep him alive. Use Shift+1, 2, 3 or 4 to give him life/rejuvenation potions. Also use Howl, Battle Cry and War Cry to ease his fight.

Against Gloams and other ranged attackers use Taunt or Howl, if engaged in melee fight with other monsters.

Decrepify is very bad for a Berserker, since for him the attack speed is of the esence. When under the effect, get ride of it or of the source as fast as you can, or if you can`t, use Concentrate or Whirlwind, keeping an eye for Iron Maiden.

Uber Diablo (the Diablo Clone) is a piece of cake for a Berserker with high life and resists, even without the "prevent monster heal" mod (as long as the attack speed is high).

Finally, use your Barb for magic find. Along with Sorcerss and Hammer Paladin, he is one of the masters of Magic Find. He has native resists, high dmage and high defense and he can go in ANY area of the game, he can also make MF in multi-player games for increased chances.



I hope this will be helpfull for you in making a good Berserker Barb, and I wish you good luck with your builds. I also expect corrections and constructive comments either on the forum or via email at un_tip@mymail.ro .|||pretty nice guide, I'm planning on building a zerker IK barb, for the IK guide I'm writing (just kinda want to go over all possible IK variants) you're guide will be a big help. I've always loved zerk, the damage is insane, and of course it's unresistable magic damage. The only thing that I found hard about it is the 0 defense, not so bad if you have a shield, but well, IK set... need I say more. Then again even without the IK set, I'm a huge fan of massive damage 2 handed weapons.. (it just makes the barb look so cool!!!!)|||As long as you have high amount of life, high resists and use War Cry, Howl, Taunt and Leap Attack properly, you won't have problems.|||Very nice, I'd suggest talking to a mod about sticking



War Cry can affect champion and Uniuqes, but it won't be 100%

Shout can provide extra defense in high archer area, or when Beserk isn't an option (act 2 vs. Mummies) I would take Shout>Howl|||not to mention shout is more party friendly.

good guide.

in my experiences with beserk, I found it best to go with no shield and a big weapon. using a shield put me into a blocking animation a lot, which I hated.

So with proper cry usage, and whooping-*** damage, you can easily work around groups or solo monsters.

g|||Uhm, sometimes I had that problem, with the blocking animation, but I got ride of it by increasing the block rate (i.e.: Shael in shield). One of Berserker's main problems is that his attack is interruptible and, while being in the hit recovery time, he will also be defenseless for at least 1 second, which may hurt pretty much, especially when cursed with Amplify Damage or under heavy attack. This problem - which is encountered more often when using two handed weapons - can only be dealt with by increasing the faster hit recovery percentage. The lack of the shield must, thus, be suplimented with items that give you high recovery speed Stone runeword armor, Arkaine's Valor (socketed with Shael), Sazabi's Ghost Liberator (socketed with Shael), along with FHR charms are items that can help a lot.|||I've been trying out some tests with this build in single player. The Damage is INSANE!

like 7K - 13K. Sure you're running around defenseless but with such a high level of howl, getting mobbed is pretty rare. I'm still playing around with it, so far I'm impressed.. |||I like this guide, it looks pretty fun, but is it PvP viable at all? Judging by the insane damage, magic damage that is I'de say this could chunk out mass amounts of life. Even though the defense suffers the Druids defense is not all that great and they do just fine. And from recent testing on single player attack rating seems pretty easy to come by with on Berserk. Good addition to the barb forum.

Dr@kE~|||say, can we use a pike or pole class weapon instead?|||Berserk is viable in PvP

Get the synergies on, get enormous resists, a shield and a lightning fast weapon. The shield isn't necessary.

One hit killer. Takes some skills mind, unless you don't mind teleporting after people. Then again, most pvp builds require some skill...