Duoing challenge: DPS or mitigation?

[JediGoph]

<DIV> <P>I have two issues I’d like help with.</P> <P>First, I’d like some pointers for redoing my traits, tactics and traditions with the /respect command.<SPAN>  </SPAN>I have read elsewhere in this board that STR is nerfed and that most players opt for AGI or STA increases.<SPAN>  As a level 24 berserker m</SPAN>y damage output seems decent, but I appear to be having troubles with damage mitigation.<SPAN>  </SPAN>This dovetails into my issue…</P> <P>Second, I’d like some advice for duoing.<SPAN>  </SPAN>I regularly duo with my wife, who plays a level 24 fury; I play a level 24 berserker.<SPAN>  </SPAN>Recently, she has started commenting that she thinks I have problems tanking when we duo.<SPAN>  </SPAN>Her comment stems from the fact that when we tackle tougher mobs – blue and white ^^ - she spends almost all of her time healing me.<SPAN>  </SPAN>I can’t say that she is entirely wrong.  However, in a duo I feel torn between two roles that appear to me as mutually exclusive: I am supposed to hold aggro and soak up the damage and simultaneously serve as the DPS’er for the duo.<SPAN>  </SPAN>For reference, I will list my gear and stats then I will lay down a brief summary of my tactics:</P> <P> </P> <P><STRONG>Stats</STRONG> (<EM>augmented only by the gear</EM>):</P> <P><FONT size=2>Health: 1140</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>Power: 698</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>Attack: 415</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>AC: 2326</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>STR: 56</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>AGI: 36</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>STA: 45</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>INT: 28</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>WIS: 38</FONT></P> <P> </P> <P><STRONG>Gear:</STRONG></P> <P><FONT size=2>Head: Steel Vanguard Barbute (orange)</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>Chest: Steel Vanguard Cuirass (orange)</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>Shoulders:<SPAN>  </SPAN>Hearth Forged Spaulders (orange)</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>Arms: Hearth Forged Bracers (yellow)</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>Hands: Hearth Forged Gauntlets (yellow)</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>Legs: Hearth Forged Greaves (orange)</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>Feet: Hearth Forged Boots (yellow)</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>Neck: Crude Fashioned Opaline Necklace (orange)</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>Ear: Agate Earring (orange)</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>Fingers: Demini’s Class Ring (yellow) and Blackened Bloodletter Ring (green)</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>Wrists: Garden Bracelet and Gold Bangle (both blue)</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>Waist: Iron Girdle (green)</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>Weapons: usually a pristine forged carbonite [Removed for Content] sword (2H), or, more rarely, a carbonite scimitar and an ashwood kite shield (all orange to me at 24)</FONT></P> <P> </P> <P><STRONG>My Tactics:</STRONG></P> <P>1. Keep Focus Rage (App I), Battle Tactics (App I), Battle Chant (App I), and Call to Arms (App II) up at all times (gotta love the ten minute timer of buffs).</P> <P>2. Before I pull I buff with Fury (App II), Bloodlust (App II), Blood Rage (App II), and Skeleton Master or Gnoll Master, if appropriate.</P> <P>3. Pull with bow, then use Anger (for solo mobs) or Shout (for groups).<SPAN>  </SPAN>I never lose aggro, even with as many as six mobs.<SPAN>  </SPAN>If the mobs are tough I will throw in Stand Firm to make sure I don’t lose aggro.</P> <P>4. For solo mobs I start with Deep Wound; initiate HO (to get Skycleave, which I believe debuffs the target); trigger Kick then Maul.<SPAN>  </SPAN>Then I cycle the whole thing again.<SPAN>  </SPAN>By this time I am usually berserk, and my Reckless Counter and Crazed Swing are generally triggering.<SPAN>  </SPAN></P> <P>5. Same general tactic for group mobs – but I throw Furious Onslaught (App II) in for extra measure.<SPAN>  </SPAN>This is where Crazed Swing really helps.</P> <P> </P> <P><STRONG>My partner’s – the Fury - tactics:</STRONG></P> <P>1. Buff me before the fight with DS and regen.  Other augmentation buffs like SoW always running in the background.</P> <P>2. DoT, heal, heal, heal, (maybe) nuke, heal…you get the point.</P> <P> </P> <P>By the end of the fight with tougher mobs we are usually both low on power, and lately I have been either very low on health or dead.  As a sidenote, my partner and I occasionally trigger group HOs, but that is more by accident than design.  After reading other posts I am not convinced that the group HOs are all that valuable.  </P> <P> </P> <P>With my recent struggles I am willing to try just about anything to even the fights out a bit and to shift my wife's fury's role away from being my  personal physician.  Any advice as far as gear, skills, or tactics?<SPAN>  </SPAN>I appreciate in advance any advice that anyone can provide me, particularly if you have experience duoing with a fury.</P></DIV>

[DaemonSlay]

<DIV>I am level 22 I cant remember all by stats</DIV> <DIV>But my helath is roughly the same and my power is only 10 or 15 points higher</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My strength is 82, my agility is 44, my stam is 45, Int is 12 and my Wis is 40</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Your AC seems good, your stats are ok... the only thing I noticed that most of your skills, and proberly your buffs are all (app II) have you not got any (adepts)?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>also remember that ^^'s are gonna hit you for more anyway, so that means more healing <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>You may have to use abilitys such as hunker down and soilders stance to stop taking as much damage, however this also takes away some of your offensive power  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I dont duo much, so i cant really help, but i understand its hard... as a Main tank i use a one handed wepaon and a shield when i can, But all the other times I am using duel wield to dish out more damage.... both my duel wields give me +7 stregnth each, so thats also i nice little bonus damage... Going berserk whilst playing main tank is a <EM>bad </EM>thing if you have it <STRONG>Off </STRONG>your DPS damage delt is <STRONG>reduced </STRONG>but the damage you <EM>take </EM>is also <STRONG>reduced by about 30 or 40 %</STRONG>, if you have berserk <STRONG>On </STRONG>Your damage DPS is <STRONG>Increased</STRONG> but you also take <STRONG>more damage</STRONG> It must also be diffiuclt to detirmine when to use a shield and when not to... Its hard to be main tanks, and main damage dealer, but that is what duoing is..</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I have about 280 LESS AC than you (without using shield) so when playing main tank, i stay in the helaers good books <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <P><SPAN class=time_text></SPAN> </P><p>Message Edited by DaemonSlayer on <span class=date_text>02-21-2005</span> <span class=time_text>12:36 PM</span>

[Huna]

are you sure that berserk mode decreases your defensive stats? I thought that had been taken out, and I could have sworn that the new skill descriptions didn't list that has an effect of berserk.

[Stormbil]

<DIV>Pretty sure berserk has no negative effect anymore.  But back to the topic at hand...........You definitely need to upgrade your combat arts.  app 1 and II's are pathetic for your level (sorry).  You should have app IV or adept 1's in everything.  Also, you should not expect to take white con ^^ mobs with just 2 people.  I think that is unreasonable, and if you do, you should expect that the healer will be working overtime to keep you standing.  A ^^ mob that is two levels lower than you and your partner is more reasonable I'd say.  I would also say don't use a shield while duoing since you need the dps, but that is just my opinion.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Just some thoughts.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[-Aonein-]

<DIV>Yes they have taken out the decrease to defensive stat's while Berserking now, so Berserking is Safe for us now, but of course, with any Haste increasement, come's the chance of more Riposte's when tanking.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If you Duo alot, the best way to go about it, is balance, you want good mitigation and you also want good DPS. Using a 1 hand wep and Shield while Duoing isnt a very good idea, cause your healer will be out of power before the mob's dead. A good defense is a strong offense when duoing, faster you kill the mob, the more chance you have of walking away, but saying that, Duoing also has it's down side's, you probally wont be able to Duo much except for Blue / White Con mob's, and then it also depend's on what mob's you are fighting, cause i can Duo some white con mob's with my wife ( 39 Templar ) and then some just rip right through me, it's all trial and error, learn which mob's you can Duo and which one's you cant. Everyone love's to adventure, and Solo / Duo let's you do plenty of that. :smileywink:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Taemek Frozenberg 40th Berserker<BR>16th Outfitter<BR>Blood and Ice<BR>Everfrost Server<BR><BR>Enlightened Aonein Amillion ( retired )<BR>70th Stone Fist of The Celestial Fist<BR>Five Rings on Luclin Server</DIV><p>Message Edited by -Aonein- on <span class=date_text>02-22-2005</span> <span class=time_text>09:10 AM</span>

[JediGoph]

<DIV>Thanks for the input so far.  I knew that I was falling behind in my arts; no insult taken that having App I and App II at this level is pathetic.  Guess I will start auctioning for upgrades since the brokers seem to have a limited selection of Berserker arts on Highkeep server.  I also found it helpful to see that my partner's and my experiences aren't unique; we cruised through white ^^ Highland Huntresses last night, then got absolutley wasted by Tidewater Octopi.</DIV>

[los]

<DIV>35 Zerker here</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I duo'd with my friend who is also a fury from beginning to now. If your wife is good, you can handle almost any mob. The trick is this: During the 20s</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Pull with anger or taunt.</DIV> <DIV>Concussion</DIV> <DIV>Stun with shield next if you are using a shiled.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>During this time, your wife is casting  debuffs on the mob</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Next she will cast a regrowth</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>At the same time,you are starting an ho and finishing it</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The mob should now be debuffed, slow and then you can go to town. You got the aggro and you can pass hos back and forth.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>It gets a LOT easier when the fury turns 30s. At that point they can do some "serious" damage with nukes, 250+, actually right now, I just hold aggro at 35, continue to dps with regular skills, my friend debuffs and does ho's through the fight (about 300-500dmg) at a time. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>We never really run into any danger.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The 20s-25 is a tuff time because the Fury is just getting into the groove and has some pretty useless spells (like breath under water,etc).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>post 30, she actually will get some ae nukes</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>and to answer your question...</DIV> <DIV>we did an experiment.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Shiny Metallic shield with a super 1 hand axe</DIV> <DIV>Dual weld</DIV> <DIV>or my SHB</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>With the Shield, the fight just lasted a bit too long. Duel weld is less dps than my sbh right now.. right now we are duoing with my shb on and Weapon Shield Buff. Its just easier to get rid of the mob earlier.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Zenmu]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> JediGopher wrote:<BR> <DIV> <P>Second, I’d like some advice for duoing.<SPAN>  </SPAN>I regularly duo with my wife, who plays a level 24 fury; I play a level 24 berserker.<SPAN>  </SPAN>Recently, she has started commenting that she thinks I have problems tanking when we duo.<SPAN>  </SPAN> <HR> <P></P></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> <P> </P> <DIV>Anyone else see this as his wife using the game as a metaphore for bedroom issues?</FONT>   :smileysurprised:</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Try the forums here: </DIV> <DIV> <A href="http://love.ivillage.com/author/bio/0,,prtr,00.html?arrivalSA=1&cobrandRef=0&arrival_freqCap=1&pba=adid=13618204" target=_blank>http://love.ivillage.com/author/bio/0,,prtr,00.html?arrivalSA=1&cobrandRef=0&arrival_freqCap=1&pba=adid=13618204</A></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Sorry, just trolling </FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></FONT></DIV> <P><SPAN class=time_text></SPAN> </P><p>Message Edited by Zenmuse on <span class=date_text>02-22-2005</span> <span class=time_text>04:31 PM</span>

[JediGoph]

<DIV><FONT size=3>I walked right into that one, Zenmuse.  However, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and sometimes playing EQ is just playing EQ.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>JediGopher</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV><p>Message Edited by JediGopher on <span class=date_text>02-22-2005</span> <span class=time_text>05:21 PM</span>

[Vurin]

I'm gonna reiterate the fight easier stuff things. At 21-23 a lvl 19 mob literally couldn't touch me, and was still worth xp.basically fighting stuff at least 1 or 2+ levels below you insures that your ability to dodge hits is very high, and as a result you can dualwield/use twohand and really go to town on the damge, and not have to resort to soldiers'stance or hunker down or otherwise turtling up via buffs.And even green group mobs give excellent xp as a duo. Maybe pick up a bard when one's lfg and you got a three man group that can chain pull greens and blues.You should also experiment on what mob configurations work best for you. Maybe you find the furies ability to debuff a single double up makes those fights easier, or maybe you go after groups with no up arrows for quest credit, fury proc, and blood rage.Speaking of Blood rage... In a duo I personally wouldn't rely on it over much. Its short duration, rare procs, and hefty hp bites just waste healer power.My personal experience duoing was that I prefered the double up. Scarecrows and the like in TS are prolly good for your level. Easy to debuff and when they do hit you its just one moderate chunk, rather than a torrent of piddly ones if you fight stuff like swarm beetles. Also try and avoid casting mobs in general when duoing. Your armor doesn't deflect spells very well after all.Just my two cents, you may have different results. Just view this as an anecdotal guideline, and not any sort of hard and fast set of rules.

[JediGoph]

<DIV>Vurin,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks for the advice.  Like you said...there are no fast and firm rules, but all of the responses have given me sufficient anecdotal experience to interpolate some revisions to the way that I duo.  So far the results have been much better - lots of experience and two completed quests weighed against one death (my fault on a lousy pull).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks to you and everyone who offered their input.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>JediGopher </DIV>

[Wolfmon]

<DIV>One of the things that jumped out at me, Jedi, is that all of your spells are at app 1 or 2. Upgrade to App IV or Adept 1 and I think you will see a lot of difference.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Plus if you wife's spells are also at app 1 and 2 this could be a large part of why she is running out of power.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The investment in upgrades is well worth in IMHO.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Chanliang]

For green,blue,yellow opponents I'd dual wield or use 2h and anything above that grab a good tower shield cause your dps dw/2h wont be good enough so you have to change to overlast mob tactic. And as also mentioned several times already you and your wife should upgrade your spells/skills at least to app4/adept1.

[DaemonSlay]

<DIV>good point wolfman... </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>make sure your wifes skills are updated if they are not already.. this will help alot</DIV>

[Namsin]

What I find humorous ...Why is it people think they have to fight white and above mobs solo?Blue and below give just as much exp ... and they are earier to kill and faster, with no down time.Stop trying to be uber ... and just play the game.***This isnt directed at anyone posting here --- its just an general observation***

[Dorg Brokenha]

<DIV>Only other thing I can see is why as a beserker are you using a kite shield?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Get a tower shield.  It's worth the extra 100 ac.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>And never try to tank in a duo with a 2h weapon unless you're harvesting greens.  Giving up 280 AC or so makes the difference between the healer keeping you alive and letting you die on ^ and ^^ mobs.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[reakshav]

<DIV>This is just an observation: seems like when I'm highest level in the group killing green/blue group mobs I get better exp then when I'm lowest in a group killing red and orange mobs.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Namsin]

and I bet you kill them faster.which means you make exp faster.imagine the possibilities <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Zakane]

All I can say about Duoing is that I have successfully and quickly went from lvl 1-25 grouping with my bud who is a Bruiser and I being a Tank. We do very good eh mabye later on not as good dunno XD

[JediGoph]

<DIV> <P><SPAN>I appreciate the feedback to date.  My partner and I have concentrated on improving our skills, which has paid handsome dividends for us.  We have also learned to manage our expectations a little now that we are 20+, and that has helped, too.  However, there is a big difference between offering advice and making an unconstructive remark.  To this end, I just wanted to highlight Namsin's post; it was pejorative, unconstructive, and didn’t belong with this thread.</SPAN></P> <P><SPAN></SPAN> </P> <DIV align=center> <HR> </DIV> <P><SPAN>Namsin wrote:<BR>What I find humorous ...<BR><BR>Why is it people think they have to fight white and above mobs solo?<BR><BR>Blue and below give just as much exp ... and they are earier(sic) to kill and faster, with no down time.<BR><BR>Stop trying to be uber ... and just play the game.<BR><BR><BR>***This isnt (sic) directed at anyone posting here --- its just an general observation***</SPAN></P> <DIV align=center><SPAN> <HR> </SPAN></DIV> <P><SPAN></SPAN> </P> <P><SPAN>I have two issues with Namsin's remark.  First, why did Namsin write, <SPAN><EM>"***This isnt (sic) directed at anyone posting here --- its just an general observation***?"   </EM></SPAN>If the remark was not addressing any of the issues raised by the thread, why pop off with generic and clearly pejorative comments like <SPAN>"<EM>Stop trying to be uber ... and just play the game</EM>"?</SPAN></SPAN></P> <P> </P> <P><SPAN>Second, Namsin failed to consider that not everyone else plays the game the way that he does.  Maybe we are not all trolling for experience, trying the level as many characters as quickly as possible.  In my specific case, my partner and I were trying to duo white ^^ mobs for reasons other than delusions of grandeur or suicidal impulses.  We were trying to complete portions of AQ6 (heavy and light), but its a challenge with very full real lives.  When I saw that my partner and I were struggling I wrote a factual, civil post trying to solicit assistance, not to invite blanket criticisms.</SPAN></P> <P><SPAN></SPAN> </P> <P><SPAN>To everyone: use the posts to offer your analyses and anecdotes to help others and the community at large, but keep it civil.  Save the taunts for the mobs and the ***holes whose posts clearly deserved to be flamed.  In addition, start your own thread if you want to make a "one size fits all" observations.</SPAN></P> <P><SPAN></SPAN> </P> <P><SPAN>JediGopher</SPAN></P></DIV>

[Scarax]

I play a 34 Berserker and my girlfriend plays a 34 Fury. One of the first things we made an agreement on in game was never to tackle double arrow mobs unless we aboslutely had to. We could do them sure, but she always got low on mana and the fight took much longer than the 3-5 no arrow mob pulls.So we run around looking for those nice juicy 3-5 pulls where we can go to town with AE's. Let me tell you that my Blood Rage, Stunning Cry, Berserker Barrage, Stomp, Furious Onslaught with her Starfire is just BRUTAL. No joke, try it for youself and tell me it doesn't bring a smile to your face.We really came to the conclusion that with berserker's being AE orientated and her with Regrowth to easily counter the loss of HP's from Bloodrage that it was just the way to go. When she got Starfire a few levels ago I about crapped my pants. It's that good! Still, there's always more than one way to skin the proverbial cat so I'd love to hear more ideas and examples of what other Berserker-Fury Duo's do.

[scl]

Hello, Jedi. I would like to share my experiences with you. First of all though, I find it quite strange that so many Berserkers are finding it troublesome to solo ^^ enemies. I hope that I can shine some light upon this. <p> I am a level 21 Berserker, who duo's with a Mystic on a daily basis. My stats and equipment are as follows: <p> <pre> Health 1,026 Power 693 Attack 384 Defence 1,958 Strength 86 Agility 55 Stamina 45 Intelligence 23 Wisdom 31 Cold Resist 285 Heat Resist 265 Poison Resist 328 Disease Resist 286 Magic Resist 280 Divine Resist 384 Mental Resist 265 </pre> <p> I am fully suited in Pristine Forged Carbonite Vanguard and wield two Giant Pick-Axes, each with +7 str and +3 agi modifier. Yes, that's +14 str and +6 agi just from my weapons. I have a Pristine Conditioned Tower Shied, which I use with a Pristine Forged Carbonite Axe but have only used this combination once since the day of purchase. Most of my abilities are App IV with a select few being Adept I. <p> The reason for using dual wield weapons is two-fold. 1. I find it easier on myself and the power pool of my healer if we can kill the enemy quick. 2. I find that the high chance to parry and riposte with dual wield more than make up for the meager AC a shield offers. I am aware that a shield also has a chance to make the enemy miss all together but I find parry more reliable and frequent. Also, we are Berserkers after all. Let's not hide behind our shields like girls, let us kill things throughout the land!! <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> <p> One little piece of information I have stored in the back of my mind is a simple rule for upgrading. This is not to be taken as Gospel, but I've found it to work well. Generally, Magi and Priests should concentrate on upgrading their abilities first and fore-most, whilst Fighters and Scouts should upgrade their equipment and certain abilities, namely Taunts and Stealth. Once again, this is not to be taken as de-facto, but it works pretty well for me. <p> On to fighting ^^ Mob's. You mentioned taking on a White ^^. While I have conquered White ^^'s in the past, I would generally say this is your limit as far as duo'ing goes. In my experience it's about 40/60 in favour of the enemy, which, is a little more risk than I like to take. Both you and your partner will probably be out of power and you will almost certainly be down to the wire health-wise. The only occasion(s) where I have safely entered a white ^^ encounter and won is when I completed the Hero's Armour HO. <p> That said, in my experience, anything under white ^^ is fairly rudimentary. My Mystic friend and I regularly conquer Green ^^, Blue ^^, Green and Blue group encounters, White ^ and Yellows. I will list how an encounter usually goes with us.. <ol> <li>Mystic casts Wards and Buffs, before combat. I have Focus Rage active and cast Intervene and Stand firm on the Mystic. <li>I engage combat, either with a normal melee hit or normal ranged hit. <li>I cast Call to Arms, Battle Tactics and Hold the Line.** <li>I cast Wound followed by Concussion followed by T3 Taunt trait (Can't remember name) <li>During that time, the mystic has done nothing, ensuring I pick up as much aggro as possible. <li>This is where I just let rip! It's usually a constant cycle of : Mangle, Forced Swing, Knee Break, Wound, Concussion, Taunt... repeat till dead! <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> I don't bother with HO's because my melee hit is 103 where my magic hit (HO) is 100 so it doesn't really make that much difference to me. <li>During the previous step the Mystic will be healing and casting wards. </ol> <p> That is pretty much it, we rarely die. I hope this has helped you slightly. As for Berserkers supposedly being unable to keep aggro... whatever. I've never once lost aggro once I've got it. <p> One more tip before I go. It may be worth getting your partner to drop the weapons all together and get some Tomes or Symbols instead. The reason being, she shouldn't really be involved with the combat as she won't be able to add much of an advantage and Tomes/Symbols give higher stat increases that will give her more power and wisdom. <p> <i>** Reason for buffing in combat rather then before combat - Buffs increase aggro! If you use Call to arms, etc whilst engaged you will build up a lot more aggro than normal. I even cast them when they're already active just to build hate.</i>

[Gavpim]

<DIV> <DIV>I've done quite a bit of duoing since i started my berserker from lower lvls through higher lvls.  I've duo'd, and still do duo, with Wardens, Fury's, Templars, Inquisitors and defilers.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>All these are great to duo with in their own way, Fury's for there great offence, Templars for their debuffs, Defilers for their slows, Inquisitors for there stifles and Wardens for their AWESOME heals.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>With all these class's i tend to follow the same general rule though when it comes to DPS/Mitigation choice.  For Mobs Green ^^ which are 4 lvls below me (these are the best exp over time in duo groups imo) I duel wield all the way.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>For Blue ^^ mobs I duel wield too.  however duoing Blue ^^'s is not efficient hunting.  lots of down time for both you and the healer, i only really kill these in duo's if they are named or place holders.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>For Named Mobs Green ^^ 4lvls or less lower than me, or blue ^^s i use Sheild EVERY time.  The Extra mitigation can be the difference between wining and losing these named fights.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Gavpimmy</DIV> <DIV>49 Berserker - Neriak</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.eq2dogsofwar.com" target=_blank>www.eq2dogsofwar.com</A></DIV></DIV>

[Nz]

<DIV>Hi, first time poster - long time zerker / board reader.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I used to be in a similar situation, duoing with my good RL friend who plays a warden, what I found helped the most was Soliders stance, more than anything I'd recommend getting this skill to App IV/ Adept 1 and keeping it up 24/7 the difference when fighting any sort of melee mob is astounding.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Also, you aren't using Blood rage when trying to tackle ^^ mobs are you?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Nzak 44 Berserker - Najena</DIV>

[cr0wangel]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Namsin wrote:<BR>What I find humorous ...<BR><BR>Why is it people think they have to fight white and above mobs solo?<BR><BR>Blue and below give just as much exp ... and they are earier to kill and faster, with no down time.<BR><BR>Stop trying to be uber ... and just play the game.<BR><BR><BR>***This isnt directed at anyone posting here --- its just an general observation***<BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P> </P> <P>Because killing yellow, orange or red is fun :smileyhappy: and I play to have fun. Killing easy mobs get boring after some time.<BR></P>

[Chanliang]

duo with mystic and ^^ blues cant touch you (+2-4 defence, loads of str/sta, hp/power, str/sta debuff and attack/speed debuffs on mobs) practically no downtime. Whites and higher then it gets harder...

[Queen Ebos]

It seems funny to me that a berserker would go for any stats except STR, even with the nerf (btw agi and sta were nerfed as well). After all if you wanted to go for agi or sta why did you not choose to be a Guardian?As for soloing I'm 37 right now and pick every peice of gear in this order, STR, STA, AGI, because we are DPS, not tanks, I have never had trouble soloing orange mobs and even some reds at all levels, as for ^^ I can easily beat greens, but ^^blues are iffy. I think if you tweak stats for the quick high DPS battle with STR, rather than the longer defensive battle with AGI you are much better off, after all thats what berserkers are.

[Huyenmiak]

<DIV>HI.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I play a zerker on HIghkeep as well. L 27 </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Ive pretty much soloed he whole way. ussualy i stick to green ^^ mobs, ussualy in edgewater or FG. ive just found them better exp than even yellow solo mobs.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Green ^^ mobs 4 levls lower than me rarely hit me. and with them i use 2 hand or dual weild,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Green ^^ mobs 3 levels lower than me are ussualy cake (casters being the expeption) ussualy use 2 hand </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Blue ^^ mobs 3 levels under me.. ussualy a bad idea, but some warrior mobs i can kill, scout and caster will wipe me out in short order every time.. rake,, [Removed for Content] is up with that spell ouch , I have to use a tower sheild to pull it off when i try this (255 more ac) can make or break this kind of fight</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>even and over,, yea right, not without ho kiting,, and thats lame</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'm a ogre zerker, and i took the +5 def trait, this seemed to help allot</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>str, all the way.. the 100-120 hp gain i'd get for 10 more sta is like half a hit,, but the higher dps and power i get from str last forever i have 90 sta on my ogre sk and she has around 2200 hp self buffed at level 30, i wish i would have taken str with her too.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>one thing that helps me out ALLOT in solo fights vs ^^ mobs is concusion, i adept 3'd it and at 27 drains 31 power per tick, 4 ticks</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>if i land that 3 times in a row on your average mob thats 4-2 levels lower, they are oop very fast, they seem to have a much smaller powerpool than they do life, and once they are oop, they are kittens</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>also yea, highkeep is horrible for finding adepts on the broker, and if you do find an zerker adept .. its always bloodlust for 5gp.. its sad</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Freeki</DIV> <DIV>level 27 and 95% Zerker</DIV>

[Telaris]

<DIV>I have duo'd an Inquisitor and Berserker from Level 1 on the island...(lots of exp here)..now level 50</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Green and Blue  ^^ Mob's (dual wield or 2 hander) - Go for DPS mode</DIV> <DIV>White Mobs and Up ^^ (use a Shield and 1 Hander) - Go for Defense Mode</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>As you get higher levels the mobs hit so insanely hard that the more you get missed or block will determine whether or not you make it through the fight.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>At level 50 the difference in DPS between the shield and sword and 2h/dual wield are not that significant....but the difference in healing required is huge.  You can get away with a 2hander or dual wield if you use your defence boosting skills but you will take less hits with the shield ....</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If you have any specifics just post here and I will respond...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>