Berserker - Sword + Dagger Large Scale PvP Build
- Great AOE CC
- Easy to Play
- High mobility
- Low Damage
- Long cooldowns
- Off-meta
Overview
This Sword and Dagger build is designed for Large-scale PVP and is perfect for those looking to build an evasion based tank, making use of the dagger for extra damage while acting as an engager and someone that is left to draw attention of enemy groups on his own, capable of CCing entire groups and acting as a fantastic defensive tank. It is considered an off-meta build but it can definitely punch above its weight as the build is more than capable of holding its own when played correctly by experienced players. This is a great build for those looking for an alternative to the classic Templar or Crusader builds most players use in Large scale PVP scenarios.
Attributes
Strength
Dexterity
Perception
WisdomFor this build, focus on Strength and Dexterity first, as they increase your max HP and make you more resistant to ranged, magic, and melee attacks, improving overall defense. Second, invest in Perception for extra damage and defensive. Wisdom helps reduce skill cooldowns but isn't generally a great choice for this build.
Skills
You should aim to level your damaging skills first: 
Brutal Incision 
Cleaving Moonlight 
Shield Strike as they will help a great deal in the beginning and even later on when playing this build solo or outside large scale scenarios. These skills remain a very important part of the Berserker build, while your skills cannot be compared to DPS specific builds, you are still able to deal significant damage in PvP as a bruiser. 
Annihilating Slash damage shouldn't be underestimated either though, even though it acts as your main CC ability (even before getting Queen Sword), being able to use it twice brings a lot of DPS.
Don't forget your main defensive skill either as 
Counter Barrier gets used very often while 
Stalwart Bastion is fantastic for helping your party members. 
Immortal Pride on the other hand is extremely important in all fights as it offers extra max HP, allowing you to take even more damage without going down.
Make sure to also invest into getting your 
Shield Survival Technique to epic as blocking is the main way of defending yourself against attacks. This also plays well into your passive as 
Resilient Mind is the only way to regain mana with this build.
As far as passives go, 
Spectrum of Agony should be a high priority as its combined with 
Provoking Roar as it deals sustained damage while enemies attack you. Your other defensives shouldn't be ignored either with a high priorty on upgrading 
Aegis Shield because of how it offers damage reduction percentage based on your shield block chance. This is also the reason why you should always go for swords with high block chance. 
Impenetrable is another great defensive passive used in this build, getting better depending on how many enemies are around you at the time.
Berserker's damage increases come from the dagger passives like 
Wrathful Edge and 
Assassin's Instincts. However, a core part of the build is the access to 
Shadow Walker which greatly increases your evasion rate every time you dodge or if you are using Cleaving Moonlight or 
Shadow Strike. Make sure to trigger this passive as often as possible in order to maintain a high evasion rate.
Equipment
These are the first items you should strive for through the leveling period as they are very easy to get and upgrade or trait as needed. However, you shouldn't try to trait these items too much as you won't be spending too much time playing with this setup before you start changing pieces into the Midgame. The green accessories however are very easy to trait as you can craft many of them quickly in order to get the correct traits so you should consider traiting them until you change into purples. The same goes for the blue ring as you keep it for a long time.
This is the gear you should transition to once you're leveled to 50 and start grinding gear. It is comprised of gear you can get either from dungeons or by completing Litographs, they are relatively easy to trait up and you will spend most of the time wearing this set before advancing into the late game so traiting these items is very important and should be your main focus.
This is the current endgame gear you should aim for, and while it isn't easy to acquire, it offers great power without the need of acquiring archboss gear pieces. However, items like 
Tevent's Fangs of Fury or other archboss weapons are superior but difficult to acquire for the majority of players. If you do manage to get the archboss weapons for your build, feel free to use them over the weapons shown here.
Weapon Masteries
Melee Defense |
 |
Health Regen |
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Weaken Chance |
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Max Health |
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Melee Evasion |
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Shield Block Chance  |
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Buff Duration |
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Damage Reduction |
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Stun Resistance | ||
| Shield Block Chance  |
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Melee Hit Chance  |
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Damage |
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Boss Endurance |
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Max Health |
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Stun Resistance |
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Boss Damage Reduction |
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Mana Cost Efficiency |
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Melee Hit Chance |
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Bonus Boss Damage |
| Max Health |
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Melee Hit Chance |
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Collision Chance |
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Damage Reduction |
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Weaken Chance |
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Collision Resistance |
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Damage |
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Melee Defense |
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Cooldown Speed |
| Ranged Defense |
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Health Regen |
|
Debuff Duration |
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Mana Cost Efficiency |
|
Cooldown Speed |
|
Evasion |
|
Buff Duration |
|
Ranged Defense |
|
Weaken Resistance  | ||
Movement Speed |
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Melee Hit Chance |
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Off-Hand Weapon Attack Chance |
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Weaken Chance |
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Mana Regen |
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Buff Duration |
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Silence Chance |
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Mana Cost Efficiency |
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Melee Hit Chance |
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Cooldown Speed |
| Melee Critical Hit Chance |
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Damage |
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Off-Hand Weapon Attack Chance |
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Melee Critical Hit Chance |
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Cooldown Speed |
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Critical Damage |
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Damage |
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Skill Damage Boost |
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Added Attack Speed |
Dagger: Focus on Poison and Disguise to gain incredible evasion, faster cooldowns, and a higher weaken chance. Start with 6 points in Disguise to unlock the passive evasion boost early. Use your last 1 point on Assassination for a damage increase.
Sword: Max out Collision for better cooldown speed and collision-related stats. Next, allocate 9 points to Provoke & Counter to enhance your shield block chance and resistance. Prioritize the 6 points into Provoke & Counter early on to get the shield block bonus sooner.
Rotations
- This rotation is best used out of
Camouflage Cloak as its a great way of catching multiple enemies unaware. Open up with Shadow Strike to put yourself in PVP state but makes sure that you target an enemy that is near others. Follow up with Provoking Roar and quickly use Counter Barrier after that to resist damage.
- Ideally, you want to continue the rotation by using
Strategic Rush to slam all caught enemies into a wall and stun them but you can also push the group of enemies into your allies for easy kills. Maximizing the amount of enemies you hit with Strategic Rush will also lower your cooldowns thanks to 
Morale Boost.
- Follow up with Cleaving Moonlight to keep Shadow Walker active before continuing with Shield Strike and yet another cast of Cleaving Moonlight. Finish off the rotation with Annihilating Slash to slow all enemies you caught and stop them from fleeing. Keep in mind however that Shield Strike will constantly be getting reset so use it as it comes off cooldown throughout the rotation.
Counter Barrier: Always use this as you start getting focused and use your defense skill to reflect damage.
Phantom Smokescreen: This is a fantastic defensive ability that can save your life or help your party members survive. Using this will release a smokescreen that will block out most ranged damage. However, when facing enemies using Phantom Smokescreen, you can use Strategic Rush to push them out of it and have them killed.
Stalwart Bastion: Use when going for a push with your team or when getting pushed, the buff extends to your whole party so make sure they are in range before using it.
Camouflage Cloak: This is your escape tool. Use it when you're under pressure or need to reposition quickly. It can also be used to reset a fight and recover cooldowns or get out of the fighting area. Stealth has many versatile uses, so feel free to experiment and get creative with how you use it!
Brutal Incision: This is used as filler damage, it deals good damage and can act as great follow-up after Shadow Strike and Cleaving Moonlight.
Comments
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