Okay, so. I’ve been playing Berserker ever since I did kind of manage to finish the talent tree and used it for the rest of the HoT story line. And even after that, I’m just wanting to lay a bit of feedback on some good and (mostly) bad aspects on what I perceived on the spec. So, take my opinions with a grain of salt but I would love to see certain improvements on this supposed Hybrid Condi/damage spec
I. Minor Talents
There really isn’t much to be said here, I just have a bit of beef with how underwhelming the first minor turned out to be.
1st Minor
- Primal Rage
Obtain the ability to go berserk, changing your bursts into improved versions of themselves
Honestly. While it is unique due to it’s ability to alter all of the bursts when Berserk is activated, the issue here is that about more and a third of the primal bursts are just Worthless.
-Arc Divider has no actual present combo field and it’s just a larger yet weaker version of Arcing Slice
-Rupturing Smash has a misleading targeting reticle and is less useful than it’s original counterpart
-Scorched Earth cannot be targeted unlike it’s Original counterpart
-Decapitate is just a weak cone AoE that’s hard to aim
-And Skull Grinder is just plain bad and slow to use.
Though Gunflame and Flaming Flurry are alright to use because of one of the major talents that put it in the spotlight
2nd Minor
- Always Angry
Activating Berserk increases Raw and Condi damage by 7%
A flat damage increase in both Raw and Condi damage. Not bad. Could be a little better.
3rd Minor
- Fatal Frenzy
Gain Fury, Quickness, and Swiftness when activating Berserk
One of the weaker minor talents in this tree but it’s better than nothing I guess.
II. Major Talents
Honestly, from what I know. The three top talents in this tree are the only good ones. With the exception of Eternal Champion for PvP. Everything else is either really situational or just Eugh.
First Tier
- Smash Brawler
Reduces Recharge on Berserk and Primal Bursts by 33%
Honestly, this is why Gunflame and Flaming Flurry are good in my opinion. Arc Divider is also made a tad better with this inclusion but it’s still practically garbage and not worth grabbing a greatsword or any other weapon besides the Torch or Rifle for this elite spec.
- Last Blaze
Set nearby foes on fire when you use a rage skill
This considerably has some pretty low damage, a small radius and no CDR on rage skills. Why would anyone want to pick this up?
- Savage Instinct
Break out of stun and remove a condition when using berserk
While it does Synergize with Headbutt, Outrage already does a better job than this talent. So why take it?
Second Tier
- Blood Reaction
7% of your precision is converted into ferocity, this conversion doubles while in Berserk
The holy grail of all things damage, who wouldn’t want to run with this talent?
- Heat The Soul
Reduces recharge and adds condition damage when you have a Torch equipped
I won’t lie. I’m a bit of a sucker for faster usages of my skill. But Blood Reaction is far more better than the added condi.
- Dead or Alive
When fatally struck while in Berserk, You’ll be healed for a set amount
This provides okay survivability for the Berserker. But it’s bad against Conditions or flurry attacks. Plus the 30 second ICD is no bueno.
Third Tier
- Bloody Roar
Taunt enemies in a radius around you while dealing 10% increased damage
The radius is small for this one, but Taunt? Why? I’m pretty sure if I saw someone come at me roaring in my face and weapons about. I would flee instead! Overall the extra damage is fine, but adding taunt doesn’t really do much good for the charging Berserker.
- King of Fires
33% Increase in burning duration, critical hits spread burning
Ew.
Isn’t this just a slightly better version of Permeating Wrath for Guardians? Even so. This hardly has any other usage other than building full condi.
- Eternal Champion
Gain stability when you activate Berserk, gain might when you break out of a stun
This is pretty alright for PvP, makes Outrage much more worth it if it’s on your Utility set for the free might. But Berserker in PvP never survives unless they run a Gunflame build.
IV. Utilities
I’ll be honest, at this point, it’s been over an hour now since I’ve started this post. I’ve been checking what I’ve said about each talent for a while and wondered what I should add or rewrite. So I’ll keep it a little brief here.
Healing Skill
- Blood Reckoning.
Heal for a small amount, then gain a 25% increase in Critical Strike Chance, heal for 35% of each Critical strike and gain bonus Adrenaline
This is basically an offensive version of Defiant stance, but it’s pretty bad for a healing skill.
Utility Skills
- Shattering Blow
Summon a rock, shatter it, anyone caught will receive 4 stacks of bleed. And the shock reflects projectiles, gain 5 Adrenaline if this hits.
It’s really hard to time the reflection property of this skill. But it’s short CD and Bleed is okay.
- Wild Blow
Strike the target so hard that you launch it and others behind it, this skill always critically strikes, gain 5 Adrenaline if this hits
Another hard to aim skill. But it’s fun throwing people around with it.
- Sundering Leap
Leap into the air and gain 5 Adrenaline when you land, enemies caught near your landing is crippled and gains 10 stacks of vulnerability.
It’s okay for a Gap closer. The Vulnerability is nice but you’re probably already dead when you jumped in anyway.
- Outrage
Break out of stun, gain 3 adrenaline for every enemy near you
This is kind of a good talent to keep when you’re running with Headbutt. As it prevents you from being caught out if they break their stun early.
Elite Skill
- Headbutt
Step forward and headbutt your target, if it hits, deal damage and become stunned for one second, as they’re stunned for three. You also gain 30 Adrenaline.
Alone, this is kind of a bad talent to use as it’s pretty much free aim and can often miss, even if you hit it. It’s kind of a bad situation if they either break out of stun early or you forget to even do something when you’re out of stun.
V. Suggested Improvements
You guys are probably wondering what I would suggest (Or just came here to talk about how inexperienced I really am. In which case, I don’t blame you.) to improve this specialization.
Well..
-Rework Arc Divider or fix the issue with the nonexistent combo field. It’s really not worth using it while in berserk if it’s just bigger circle of damage
-Update Rupturing smash’s ground target reticle and add better condition effects such as bleed or burning. If you broke the ground that hard, I’m pretty sure you would have caused a gushing wound or caused lava to flow
-Provide the ability to aim Scorched Earth.
-Make Decapitate swing around the player instead of sending a shock wave. Heads must roll!
-Provide a better damage increase or an actual stun for Skull grinder.
-Improve lack luster talents such as Dead or Alive, King of Fires, Last Blaze, Savage Instinct, etc.
-Remove the stun from Headbutt and have them suffer minor damage for landing the skill instead.
I won’t lie. I understand that Berserker spec is pretty much go hard or go home. But the reward for doing so is just so little. This is the first long post I’ve made about anything on this forum and probably my last. Though I might make another but I had to provide some sort of input in hopes of contributing to a better Elite spec.
(edited by Kanek.5472)