Berserker - Sword + Dagger Small Scale PvP Build
- High DMG (for a Bruiser)
- High sustain
- High mobility
- High skill ceiling
- Long cooldowns
- Off-meta
Overview
This Sword and Dagger build is designed for small-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 a bruiser. 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 in all types of fights. It can do well in 1v1s with certain gear setups but it isn't as good as some other DPS oriented options.
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, being an 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 and remain very tanky. 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.
Make sure to also invest into getting your 
Shield Survival Technique to epic as blocking is the main way of defending yourself against attacks.
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 |
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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 |
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Debuff Duration |
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Mana Cost Efficiency |
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Cooldown Speed |
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Evasion |
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Buff Duration |
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Ranged Defense |
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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: Max out Poison and Disguise to boost your evasion, cooldown speed, and weaken chance. Start by investing 6 points in Disguise to benefit from the passive evasion early on. Use the final 1 point on Assassination for additional damage.
Sword: Fully upgrade Collision for faster cooldowns and improved collision resistance and chance. Then, spend 9 points on Provoke & Counter to increase your shield block chance and resistances. It’s best to put the 6 points into Provoke & Counter first for the early shield block benefit.
Rotations
- This is your main single target rotation. Open up with Shadow Strike after
Inject Venom and Counter Barrier, you have a chance to apply a silence on your target, allowing you to do the rest of your rotation with ease.
- Continue the rotation with Cleaving Moonlight to keep Shadow Walker active before following up with Shield Strike and yet another cast of Cleaving Moonlight. Finish off the rotation with Brutal Incision. Keep in mind however that Counter Barrier will constantly reset your Shield Strike so make sure to use it every time it gets reset even throughout the rotation.
- This is another important rotation and used when you are looking to pull a target out of position and lock it down for you and your team to kill.
- Starting with Inject Venom to apply poison every attack you make,
Chain Hook will pull and bind the target and 
Strike Shield will weaken them. Follow up with Shadow Strike to silence the target and proc Shadow Walker. CC them with 
Ankle Strike as it makes the target prone and vulnerable before using Cleaving Moonlight to stack poisons on the target. Finish off the rotation with Brutal Incision for heavy damage.
Counter Barrier: Always use this as you start getting focused and use your defense skill to reflect damage.
Strategic Rush: Main mobility skill, use when your team is retreating or you got hooked. Can also be used offensively to stun players by pushing them into walls/terrain.
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 get-out-of-jail-free card. Use it when you are getting focused or have to reposition. Can also be used to reset a fight and cooldowns after bursting a target. There are many other use cases for stealth so be creative!
Comments
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