Build:Berserker - Greataxe Berserker

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Focused on: Strike damage and Mobility

Designed for: PvP Conquest

Difficulty:

Normal

Overview

A Power Berserker PvP Build with high Power Damage made with roaming and plus ones in mind.

Skill Bar

Greatsword

Axe/Sword

Utility

Skill Variants

Utility

For the optional slot:

• Signet of Might - tech option against builds that rely heavily on blocking skills to survive, like most Guardians or Catalysts.

• Balanced Stance - great skill vs CC and even mitigates strike damage so it could be used to survive bursts.

• Shattering Blow - better adrenaline building and some Stability / projectile hate.

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Equipment

Greatsword

Sigil

Sigil

Axe

Sword

Sigil

Sigil

Rune

Amulet

Relic

Equipment Variants

• Rune of Spellbreaker for a higher critical hit chance in cost of some toughness

Usage

Elite specialization basics

• Berserker grants Warriors access to Berserk (F2), a mode during which they gain new burst skills.

• To enter Berserker mode you must have full adrenaline (30/30). The Berserking burst skill Arc Divider (Greatsword) and Decapitate (Axe) 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).

• Shattering Blow and Sundering Leap are both important adrenaline management tools. They're especially useful for getting back to full adrenaline before 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

• Settings: disable auto targeting, otherwise it'd be impossible to use skills like Rush for disengaging. For more tips check out our settings guide.

• Fast Hands reduces the CD of weapon swapping to 5 seconds, which keeps gameplay rather fast paced with minimal downtime. As a result you won't be auto attacking much unless you're cleaving a downed enemy.

• Both the initial cast and the landing strike of Sundering Leap restore 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 quite useful when you're just a little short of having enough adrenaline to use burst skills, especially if you're having difficulty building adrenaline (like getting outranged or Blind spammed).

• Signet of Rage is mainly taken for its passive, but if you're going for the kill you may consider sacrificing the passive for the active which significantly bumps up your damage for a few seconds.

• Mobility skills remove Immobilize.

Damage

• Landing Arc Divider and Decapitate are the most important part, below these are Whirlwind Attack, Impale (warrior sword) and Throw Axe on the priority list. Everything else is more or less a filler.

• Decapitate recharges itself if it strikes an enemy. You can use Rage utility skills like Shattering Blow to quickly refill your adrenaline and srike again.
  • This skill has twice the range of a usual melee attack, so you can hit your target slightly out of melee range too.

• Dodge rolling gives you Resistance and makes your next attack a guaranteed crit via Relic of the Daredevil. Using your burst skills right after dodging could therefore increase your damage and also the odds of landing the attack.

• Throw Axe serves as a finishing move with medium range, dealing significantly more damage to low HP targets. This is especially useful against targets who are trying to flee on the brink of death.

• Impale (warrior sword) can do a lot of damage on its own but using its chain skill Rip in melee range does even more.

• While Berserker mode is not active you should mainly focus on survival and adrenaline building, but the build can still dish out decent damage. The regular burst skills Arcing Slice and Eviscerate can still be used, although you should try to think ahead and only use them if you're able to build the adrenaline back up by the time Berserker mode becomes available. Thankfully this shouldn't be hard to do as long as you have Sundering Leap or Shattering Blow.

• Arcing Slice still has a role to play as it's the only reliable source of Fury in the build, so its use is encouraged whenever you find the time and arenaline for it.

Survival

• Both entering and leaving Berserk grant you powerful defensive buffs, making this an important part of your sustain:
  • Savage Instinct - stun break and immunity to strike damage.
  • Dead or Alive - grants Blood Reckoning which causes damage you deal to heal you.
  • Eternal Champion - grants Stability and endurance.
  • Burst of Aggression - the Superspeed could help you run away from enemies if you're being focused.

• Don't hesitate to cut Berserker mode short with Eternal Champion (F2) if you're taking too much damage.

• Sundering Leap has inherent defensive value as a mobility skill, you could use it and the Superspeed from entering/leaving Berserker mode to quickly disengage from fights and resustain before heading back in. When playing with Warrior's Sprint this could also break you out of Immobilize, making it harder for enemies to pin you down.
  • Sundering Leap even has Aegis for covering 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.

• Brawler's Recovery and Cleansing Ire provide a steady stream of cleansing, but for Cleansing Ire to proc you actually have to hit something.

• 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.

• Shattering Blow reflects projectiles. While its duration is short, with proper timing it could still take pressure off of you. The brief Stability could also be used to cover important casts like a Mending.

• Dodge rolling applies Resistance. This is especially useful against builds with a lot of Blind and Weakness spam, allowing you to land important skills without having to worry about the attack missing or doing less damage.