Berserker - Power DPS

Part of the current metagame

Our curator decided this build is in the current metagame regardless of rating. The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Focused on: Direct damage

Designed for: Raids and Fractals

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Normal

This build was last updated on November 17, 2023 and is up to date for the September 19, 2023 game patch.

Overview

A fresh iteration of the Heart of Thorns era build, Power Berserker. This version has strong burst and sustained damage from spamming in .

Skill Bar

Axe/Axe

Greatsword

Utility

Weapon Variants

Greatsword is only a minor DPS gain, so you could keep the offset for utility weapons such as:

Mace (in either hand) for CC
Warhorn to provide Swiftness in the event you don't have it from your supports
Rifle or Longbow for ranged damage

If using any of these options, just camp Axe/Axe for damage.

Skill Variants

or can replace or . This will provide more burst DPS through , but will be lower DPS long-term so you'll need to know what your phase times will be. Therefore this is more viable in fractals than in raids.

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Specializations

Trait Variants

If the target has boons, run .

Equipment

Head
Assassin

Shoulders
Berserker

Chest
Berserker

Hands
Berserker

Legs
Berserker

Feet
Berserker

Backpiece
Assassin

Accessory
Berserker

Amulet
Assassin

Ring
Berserker

Axe
Berserker

Sigil

Greatsword
Berserker

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x18

Relic

You want to aim for 2050 precision.

Equipment Variants

It would be marginally higher damage to run full Berserker stats with either four Precise Infusions or an Assassin stats headpiece, and (or ascended alternatives) as your food. The recommended setup was chosen to use the more common food option.
In encounters where the boss does not get stunned, you can replace the with a on the Axe and a on the Greatsword. This will be a small DPS increase.

Consumables

Food

or ascended alternatives

Utility

Usage

Beginner Rotation

Click to View

The full rotation for Power Berserker is very fast paced and relies heavily on hitting certain skills off cooldown to avoid dropping out of Berserk. By camping axe, you can use your rage skills earlier, making it easier to maintain Berserk. Additionally, as you no longer weapon swap you can switch Discpline for Tactics:

Opener

Due to the lack of , adrenaline takes longer to build up so use the following combos to reach full adrenaline for (listed in priority order):

⇒ (if you had Stability then you don't need the stunbreak from Outrage and can immediately after Head Butt)
+ + +
+ + full auto chain

In fights with longer phases, the lack of adrenaline means you should swap for . This makes it easy to stay in Berserk as long as there is a target to hit, and also provides you with more adrenaline generation. In this case your opener is:

Opener

And your combo list is:

+ + +
⇒
+ + full auto chain

Video guide by Masel

Rotation

The rotation aims to get as many casts of and off during mode as possible. Effectively, this means that while on Axe/Axe you cast followed by a combination of skills that gets you back to 10 Adrenaline to recast .

When your target is below 25% health, gains extra damage so it is used extra times during the Axe section, also allowing for an extra .

Opener

Weapon Swap
- make sure to let the entire attack finish!
Weapon Swap

Greatsword section

during Arc Divider
- Make sure the final hit goes through or you may not have enough adrenaline for Arc Divider
Weapon Swap

Axe/Axe section

- the extra adrenaline from means you can immediately Decapitate after this
⇒
(only below 50%)
Weapon Swap
Return to start of Greatsword section

Video example by Rick

Video example (axe only)

General Tips

Greatsword

You can manually weapon stow (or weapon swap) immediately after the third hit of to shave ~0.25s off the cast time. This may not seem like much, but it adds up.

Axe

If you have trouble memorising the Axe section, it may be helpful to think of it as a priority list to build adrenaline for your next :

+
+ or
+

When is almost off cooldown, use your remaining axe skills (make sure to be at full adrenaline) and Weapon Swap instead of .

Berserk

All your Rage skills extend the duration of Berserk, which means it is important to use them as soon as they are available to avoid dropping out of Berserk.
- This involves using , and to maintain damage rather than a stunbreak/CC.
If you drop out of Berserk, you should already be at full adrenaline when it is next available, so you use ⇒ after entering Berserk instead. This means your second Berserk has a longer duration and is easier to maintain.
Generally you shouldn't be auto-attacking while mode is active.

Outside of Berserk

Ideally you are always in Berserk during DPS phases.
Stay on Axe when you're not in Berserk, but as isn't available you should just use your Axe skills as they come off cooldown.
Try to complete your Axe auto chains when not in Berserk.
Do not use your rage skills whilst outside of Berserk.
Use as soon as it is available.

Berserker - Power DPS

Contents

Overview