Feedback from former berserkers?

[ZerkerDwarf]

<p>Could some guardians who have betrayed from berserker give some feedback please?</p><p><b>Do you regret your betrayal? Are you happier with your class than before? What are the reasons?</b> </p><p>Especially I am aiming at T8 betrayers since I have a level 70 berserker (fully KoS fabled and fully mastered) whom I retired at RoK release since I don't find / haven't found a good, successful and ambitous raidforce with this useless and unwanted class (seen from point of view of good raidforces who of course have their reliable tanks). Having levelled a swashy to 80 there is a desire somehow to get back to my tank again since tanking and healing is too important to have others do it, hehe. The heaviest obstacle to betray is the fact, that my zerker is FULLY mastered (52+) and there is not the faintest chance to get the guardian specials at master now (since those zones are no longer frequented and the servers do not create such items any more).</p>

[Araghone]

did the betrayal quest for about 2 weeks ago (formar confirmed zerk for nearly 3 years)<span class="postbody"><b>Do you regret your betrayal?</b>- if you want act as an mt... definitely <b>NO!</b></span><span class="postbody"><b>Are you happier with your class than before?</b></span><span class="postbody">- if you want act as an mt... definitely <b>NO!</b></span><span class="postbody"><b>What are the reasons?</b>- ability to survive </span><span class="postbody">(in comparison)</span><span class="postbody">- tauntreusability and hate-amount (in comparison)- useful grp-buffs- REINFORCEMENT- higher single target dps- as a t8 RT the chance of the more powerful/useful mythical weapon (in comparison)- (my own opinion) lesser diminishing return curvep.s.: english is not my native language^^</span>

[Daghammerskold]

I betrayed a 70 zerker to a guard that's 74 now.I don't regret it at all.<ul><li>You still get the warrior AA tree plus the guard's AA tree is better than the zerk's.</li><li>I have only tanked Karnor's Castle at this point but I have been to most zones on my main, there is far less use for zerker AEs in RoK.</li><li>Your masters and equipment all need to be replaced anyway.</li><li>Guards get better defensive abilities. Reinforcement, plant, sentry watch, sentinel sphere, tower of stone. They make more of a difference than I realized.</li></ul>

[Emlar_from_Halas]

<p>I've been playing a zerk from nov 2004 until late KoS.In my previous guild, we managed to share the raid MT position between a guard, another zerk and I.It became rapidly obvious that ToS and Reinforcement provided 2 huge benefits that made the MT position easier for the guard. So was I proposed to betray.</p><p>I never regreted this move. But the questions you should ask yourself is why would you like to betray yourself ?</p><p>If this is to keep your MT position, go for it. You will really enjoy the DoF benefits. Of course, your dps will get down significally, but otherall your position will become easier to handle. The lack of Lyceum/Hall of Seing encounter in T8 content, with 6+ mobs, is really a shame for the existing zerks MTs.</p><p>If this is to look for a raid MT position, you can probably forget it. Unless your server is underpopulated with guards, it's quite unrealistic to apply in a raiding guild as a MT if you're not already one.</p><p>If this is to be mainly playing instances, the benefit would be very balanced, specially since you would loose all your masters and your previous dps <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />. Playing with a warlock will require proper hadling that you probably didn't use to as a zerk.</p><p>Whatever your choice is, The Tribunal will judge you on your acts my friend <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/e8a506dc4ad763aca51bec4ca7dc8560.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" /> </p>

[Dvara]

<p><span style="font-size: x-small;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> Long time board lurker, but first time poster here..</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Well, it's different going from Zerker to Guardian, but nothing too terrible. I was a Zerker from about a week after game launch up until a couple weeks ago, here are some observations. Keep in mind, im your very average equipped MT. I switched since all of my gear is Kunark Legendary Zerk/Guard equippable and I wasn't really losing any gear except the Zerker Fabled Epic.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;font-family: Arial;">Mind you, I am MT for a casual guild and were only dabbling in Protector's realm at the moment, so I can't speak for the really high end game stuff here..</span></p><p>If your MT, you can stay in fights much longer, that's not to say a Fable equipped Zerker can't, but if your an average geared Guard vs. average geared Zerk your going to do better vs. Single epic mob's spike damage. Tower of Stone along with block are really excellent skills.</p><p>Your DPS is going to slide a bit from what you are used to, but if you spec the Sta line for buckler reverse, your still doing pretty decent. With raiding, you have so many buffs on you, that DPS agro shouldn't be any issue.</p><p>Hrmm what else.. I still preferred my Zerker for regular group instance runs, COA, Maiden's Chelsith..etc were no problem tanking. The only reason I switched is that Guards enjoy an advantage over Zerks with mitigating spike damage. I held Agro better with my Zerker, but in a raid setting, agro isn't an issue if you have the right people in the MT group.</p><p>I miss my DPS only a little, my soloability really hasn't taken any hits much, I still grind t8 guild writs no problem because I am buckler specced. Make no mistake, a good geared Zerker is almost always going to out DPS you a bit, as they should, especially with Linked encounters, which Kunark is sorely lacking.</p><p>Looking back I have no regrets, I miss my Zerker, but I am also the MT for my guild, and we weren't going to move forward with my current legendary gear if I couldn't find some way to deal with spike damage. They're both excellent classes that are very capable of tanking most if not all fights, but for really hard hitting single encounters, the Guardian takes the punishment better, and that's the essence of a raid tank, to soak damage and stay standing.</p><p>Oh I will say one thing, the Zerker Epic starter was much much easier than the Guardian one, Guard one has you running around fighting alot of group junk, where I was able to solo a good part of the Zerker Epic. (Fabled, not Mythical)</p><p>Hey good luck in whatever you decide!</p>

[Ketchup]

I betrayed from Berserker at Level 71. I have to say that I do not regret it one bit. The Guardian, to me, is so much better than Berserker. I don't have any hard data, so I must be mistaken, but it seems that the Guardian does as much DPS while tanking, has better aggro management, and better defense. Why have a Berserker?  It's ironic. I went without the buckler spec on the Guardian to save some AA's. It seems to me that with dual wielding on the Guardian, I do acceptable DPS, and I have a lot more survivability. That was the whole reason I went Zerk in the first place.

[Wilin]

<p>The general consensus is that in T8, there is currently no good reason to play a berzerker over a guard unless you have some RPing reason. There aren't enough multi-mob encounters to pull the berzerker ahead in DPS, single mob DPS is very close to the same, and berzerkers while good tanks, don't get the defensive guard abilities that count the most. The few berzerkers that I've ever known have all betrayed after Rok came out and they've all told me exactly what I just said.</p><p>The DPS gap that others mention above will narrow as you get better gear.</p>

[Anjin]

<p>Personally I think Guardian single target DPS is greater than that of a Berserker.  Guardian CA's hit harder (and debuff more) and the extra DA in the Guardian AA tree all add to better single target DPS.  If you look at the major DPS tools of a Berserker; Juggernaut, Open Wounds & Turmoil, Juggernaut is a bit limited for MT use and only Turmoil offers the same level of benefit in a single target encounter.</p><p>Now with the extension of choice in the fighter AA trees, Guardians can get 40% encounter aa chance, which seriously negates the benefit of Open Wounds.  Berserkers can get it too of course, but again ut reduces the 'real' effect of Open Wounds.  Added to that, a Berserker still has a more limited choice in AA lines due to Tower Shield specs still being not as viable for Berserkers than for Guardians due to the Guardian abilities to both hold and regain aggro.</p><p>I changed from Berserker to Guardian at 80 (had done the berserker epic too (fabled)) and can't believe how much better Guardian abilties are for a) survivability and b) aggro retention & regain.</p>