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Berserker - Condi Macezerker

The community gave this build a rating, making it second-tier: Good

Focused on: Condition damage and Control

Designed for: PvP Conquest

Difficulty:
Normal
This build was last updated on August 08, 2024 and is up to date for the August 20, 2024 patch.

Overview

A PvP Berserker build which combines high stacks of various conditions and CC for an all-out condition burst to make up for its low sustain.


Skill Bar

Mace/Shield
Sword/Torch
Utility


Skill Variants

Weapons

  • Off-hand Sword over Shield - trades CC, a leap finisher and a better block for more damage and more frequent access to a blocking skill.

Utility

  • Balanced Stance over Shattering Blow - a better defensive skill which could help against both CC and Power damage, but makes it harder for you to build adrenaline and deal with projectiles.


Template Code

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Specializations

Variants

  • Shield Master improves adrenaline generation and makes your blocks reflect projectiles, which opens up new and creative ways to pressure enemies. You do lose some Weakness Weakness application however which removes a cover condition from the build and decreases your sustain a little.


Equipment

Mace
Shield
Sigil
Sigil
Sword
Torch
Sigil
Sigil
Rune
Amulet
Relic


Equipment Changes

Rune

  • Rune of Orr - makes your Sword/Torch and King of Fires burst a bit weaker but adds more defense against conditions without giving up offensive stats.
  • Rune of Undead - this fills the same purpose as Orr but against Power damage.


Sigils

  • Sigil of Cleansing over Sigil of Smoldering - adds extra cleansing to the build.


Relics

  • Relic of the Demon Queen - makes your Mace burst damage a bit worse in exchange for better Poison Poison uptime and higher healing reduction from it.


Usage

Elite specialization mechanics

  • Berserker Berserker grants Warriors acceess to Berserk, a mode during which they gain new burst skills.
  • To Enter Berserker mode you must have full adrenaline (30/30). The Berserking burst skill Skull Grinder (Mace) and Flaming Flurry (Sword) become available during this time frame, these cost 10 adrenaline (which amounts to 1 regular adrenaline bar, 1/3 of the cost of what it took to enter Berserker mode).
  • Rage skills like Head Butt and Sundering Leap are important adrenaline management tools. They're especially useful for getting back to full adrenaline just before Berserk recharges so you don't have to waste time building adrenaline while Berserker is available. Even in Berserker mode they are useful, allowing you to quickly fill up the adrenaline bar for back-to-back burst combos.


General

  • Both the initial cast and the landing strike of Sundering Leap restores adrenaline, so try to land on top of enemies. The skill also applies useful cover conditions for burst combos and could act as a gapcloser.
  • Versatile Rage restores 5 adrenaline on weapon-swap. This is great at instantly getting that last bit of adrenaline you'd need for burst skills especially if you're having difficulty building adrenaline (like getting outranged or Blind Blind spammed).
  • Aside from Brawler's Recovery most of your cleansing is tied to bigger CDs like Mending and "Shake It Off!". Proper CD management is necessary when it comes to surviving condition pressure. Bridge the gaps in your sustain with proper use of blocks, stuns, and leaps.
  • Much of the pressure comes from spamming Skull Grinder and detonating Fire Aura Fire Auras using Berserker skills made possible by King of Fires. Any skill related to the elite specialization could detonate Fire Auras: Rage, Torch, or Berserker-mode skills.
    • Sometimes Blaze Breaker can proc the Fire Aura Fire Aura from King of Fires on one of its early strikes, and then detonate said aura when the skill ends. This is because crits can give you Fire Aura, and Torch skills count as Berserker skills that detonate these auras, but the trait will only check if a Berserker skill had been used once the skill has successfully finished its entire animation.
  • While Mace/Shield is more defensive because of the blocks and CC, Sword can help you survive too with proper use of Savage Leap to leave enemies behind, especially if you jump from one ledge to another or behind a pillar/wall to deny line of sight. Flames of War is also a great condi cleanse.
  • CCing a target grants Stability Stability via Stalwart Strength. This trait procs before the self-stun of Head Butt, so you never have to worry about that part of the skill anymore.
  • Both weapon sets could combo Fire Aura Fire Aura in Flames of War:
    • Savage Leap on Sword/Torch.
    • Shield Bash on Mace/Shield.
    • Sundering Leap is a utility skill therefore works on both. It's also a Rage skill capable of detonating the aura, so using this inside a Fire field first gives you an aura and then detonates it on impact right away for burst damage.


Survival

  • Entering Berserk gives you an Endure Pain-like effect via Savage Instinct, turning the skill into a formidable defensive tool. Not only that but the Superspeed Superspeed from Burst of Aggression could help you run away from enemies if you're being focused.
  • Savage Leap and Sundering Leap both have inherent defensive value as mobility skills, you could use these to quickly disengage from fights and resustain before heading back in. Being mobility skills these could also break you out of Immobilize Immobilize, making it harder for enemies to pin you down.
    • Sundering Leap even has Aegis Aegis to cover your escape. Of course if you use this to run away you'll only get half the adrenaline, but that's a small price to pay for survival.
  • Always factor in what other cleansing CDs are available before you'd heal with Mending as this is your best mass cleanse. If the answer is none and you heal with no conditions on you in a condition matchup, you might get killed a few seconds later due to the lack of cleansing. Sometimes it's worth holding onto for a few extra seconds just to be safe.
  • CC shouldn't be much of a problem for you with the amount of Stability Stability access and stun breaks in the build. Deciding which stun break to use depends on the situation, for instance:
    • If you're getting condi bombed then "Shake It Off!" might be the clear winner.
    • If the target is in melee and has no Stability you could counter-burst with Head Butt.
    • If you're sitting in a Gravity Well with 3 people on you then the damage mitigation of Savage Instinct or Balanced Stance (if taken) is what you need.


Burst combo examples

Using both sets

  1. Flames of War Savage Leap for Fire Aura Fire Aura
  2. Head Butt
  3. Enter Berserker mode, cast Flaming Flurry while they're stunned and you have Quickness Quickness
  4. Weapon Swap
  5. Shield Bash for 2nd Fire Aura while Flames of War is still up
  6. Skull Grinder to detonate the aura again


From range

  1. Flames of War
  2. Sundering Leap for Fire Aura Fire Aura and to close the gap, also to detonate said aura upon landing
  3. Weapon Swap
  4. Berserk
  5. Skull Grinder


Opener/Without Berserker mode

  1. Blaze Breaker hoping for a King of Fires "double" proc (both an aura and an aura detonation, as mentioned earlier)
  2. Flames of War
  3. Sundering Leap for fire aura and an aura detonation upon landing


Top Streamers


Ratings

This build has a rating of 4 stars based on 5 votes.
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4 stars
Hanz gave this build 4 stars • June 2024
Offers exceptional burst with just enough sustain to make it work. The build itself is perfectly fine, it's just overshadowed by the more "balanced"/defensive version with Longbow. This version has more Stability and mobility though which is nice.
3 stars
Ethan gave this build 3 stars • April 2023
This build is definitely better with more recent buffs and nerfs to spellbreaker. I think the longbow builds are better though in general because of most meta classes having ranged damage. Its not bad but right now I'd still say its an "okay" If I could give a three and a half, that's where I'd put it
4 stars
Rhubarbpie gave this build 4 stars • October 2022
After buffs to berserker this build has gotten stronger. One of the go to warrior builds now. A little weaker than the meta builds at the moment, but could be l2p issue on my part.
3 stars
Emforay gave this build 3 stars • September 2022
It's fun but like any non-meta build/spec gets shut down easily in g2+. Very rewarding if you do have a good team that'll actually give you windows to finish off targets but don't expect to win a 1v1 vs someone who knows what they're doing, and can't sustain enough to bait cooldowns before headbutt especially in this glass cannon meta.
4 stars
Zuko gave this build 4 stars • May 2022
IMO the best war build at the moment, however I have some suggested changes. Savage instinct over last blaze. Signet of Fury over shattering blow. Endure pain over outrage. Savage instinct and endure pain let you survive bursts and signet of fury means you’re not useless if you miss headbutt.

Comments

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