The best I can be... 46 Berserker question.

[Ru]

http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/pplayer.vm?characterId=106233103 I'll put my armor back on after crafting, so it will show, but, I have: a full set of dropped rubicite armor, t5 str and sta hex dolls, Monsoon, SSoY, SBD, PGT, imbued fulginate assault axe, dropped cedar crudgel, imbued cedar tower shield, imbued cedar bow, fulginate/ebon arrows, FBSS, two glowing shard braclets, ancient slayer's ring of stamina, imbued bloodstone ring, fishbone earring, and enchanted bone necklace... Whew... As for skills, everything is app 4-adept 1... So, I'm thinking, my next priority should be to upgrade my skills to adept 3. Of course, the top priority is my taunts, but, what after that? Any suggestions, for skills, or gear? I solo a lot, but MT when in groups, and sometimes am DPS (raids, or if there is a better tank)... So, I need to be flexible. Like, for example, I've not been able to beat the Arena Champ yet. Everything is fine until him, but, I usually die fast (best I got was down to 8%). And, Harclave of course, for soloing/making cash, but, I have a hard time on the hardest setting. Can't beat the last mob, and have a hard time getting to the ark. Something I've avoided, cause I don't understand is potions... I think I should be using some, but what's good for Berserkers? There is so much to chose from. <div></div>

[philgon]

<P>Well I currently own a level 50 zerk on Antonia Bayle. Below is a print screen on how my character look.</P> <P><A href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/pplayer.vm?characterId=113158104" target=_blank>http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/pplayer.vm?characterId=113158104</A></P> <P> </P> <P>First thing you should do, is bring your harvest ability to 250 and start harvesting for Ruby. After you get them find someone who can craft you all the set of Level 50 usual Adept 3. The common I use, is Tides of War, Unbridled Fury, Destructive Rage, Fearsome Shout, Bully, Vanquish, Frenzy, Rupture, No Quarter, Wallop, Infuriate, WarChant, and just make sure to have your taunt always at A3 or Masterize.</P> <P>Second thing to do, find Ebons and craft yourself a good suite of Ebon armor.</P> <P>You can obtain Ruby if you get into a good raid guild if you don't want to harvest or by farming some golds and buying them. The problem they are kinda expensive.</P> <P>__________________________________________________ ________________________</P> <P>A must weapon to get is the Prismatic Longsword. Yeah, the Prismatic longsword is the one you need to get, you are not a Scout and you definetly not a DPS. Thats why you have Taunt [Removed for Content].</P> <P>In Raid you will switch to DPS and Tank. So there are various good 2h to have as backup when you need to switch to temporary DPS mode. Royal Flail is a good one.</P>

[infernus006]

Well if you want advice on gear, unless you can get some of the really nice fabled stuff of course, I recommend getting a full set of pristine ebon vanguard armor (feet included), 2 pristine imbued ruby rings (I have one for STR and STA and keep a bloodstone one of AGI in my bag that I use just to cast the buff when I need it), 2 pristine rhodium bangles, and the Curn Eye Necklace.  This is what I currently wear, along with the Fishbone earring, as I do not belong to a large raiding guild so I have to make do with what I can get on my own for the most part.  I mined all of my ebon out of the Feerrott.  I baught my rings and bangles premade off the broker for about 2pp each since I could not bear to use any of the t5 stone rares I mined for anything but spell upgrades.  Also, believe it or not, I sold my FBSS and LJboots because I didn't like the stats on them.  Most tanks I see wearing them have exceptionally low mag resist unless they have a lot of fabled gear that makes up for it.  Looking at your profile I can't help but notice your low mag and poison resists.  Might want to work on that, especially if you tank or solo a lot.  Currently I wear Unargin's Smithy Apron that has 10sta, 7 str, 400 mag, and 240 poison (not fabled).  Before that I wore the Belt of Spider Legs which is also nice and more common (7 agi, 7 str, 440 mag, and 200 poison).  For my bow I have a treasured longbow I found on the broker for about 35g that has 10str and 10agi on it (ancient cedarwood long bow).  I also have 2 t5 hex dolls as well, one for STR and STA.  As far as weapons go, I also use Monsoon for my 2h when going for max DPS but most of the time you'll see me with Blood Fire and SBS because I'm the MT for my guild and a lot of my friends rely on me for that purpose as well.  As for spells, here's my current list of Ad3's: Taunts:  Fearsome Shout, Bully, Promise of Violence, Raging Strike, Taunting Blow, and Rescue (yes I still use the lower ones that never got replaced along with the new ones) Buffs:  Focus Rage, Rage, Unbridled Fury, Rampage, Unflinching Will, Weapon Guard, Tides of War, Destructive Rage, War Chant, Bloodlust, Screaming Fury, Call to Arms, and Battle Tactics (currently all of these still stack with each other, so you can have them all on at the same time, which I always do) AOEs:  Stunning Roar and Slaughter Single Target DD/Stun:  Vanquish Other Stuff I Still Find Useful Sometimes:  Hold the Line and Unyielding Will I just aquired another rhodium cluster the other day and plan to have Berserker Assault made next.  After that I want Frenzy.  Ad3's I wish I hadn't bothered with include Focus Rage and Rage because getting them didn't change a [expletive ninja'd by Faarbot] thing from the Ad1 versions I had before that so they were a total waste.  Furthermore, I saw a master1 for sale of Focus Rage one time and there was absolutely nothing different about it either from the Ad1 I had, so that one's definitely not worth it.  Keep in mind, though, with the new combat patch coming up so soon I would definitely hold off on getting any of your buffs upgraded to ad3 or higher at this point since they may not stack like they do now and who knows what effects they're going to have or how many conc slots they'll take up when it's all said and done.  Definitely get all AD3 or higher taunts if you can if you do a lot of tanking for groups and then work on your AoEs next.  I don't have any masters because I've never see any of mine drop and every time I see one that I want on the broker they want way more than I could even think about paying for it right now, plus most of them are not that much better than the Ad3s from what I've seen. BTW, I can beat the arena Champ (on easy) with no problem without using any potions if that helps you at all. <div></div>

[uux]

<span><blockquote><hr>Ruse wrote: [...] As for skills, everything is app 4-adept 1... So, I'm thinking, my next priority should be to upgrade my skills to adept 3. Of course, the top priority is my taunts, but, what after that? Any suggestions, for skills, or gear? I solo a lot, but MT when in groups, and sometimes am DPS (raids, or if there is a better tank)... So, I need to be flexible. Like, for example, I've not been able to beat the Arena Champ yet. Everything is fine until him, but, I usually die fast (best I got was down to 8%). And, Harclave of course, for soloing/making cash, but, I have a hard time on the hardest setting. Can't beat the last mob, and have a hard time getting to the ark. Something I've avoided, cause I don't understand is potions... I think I should be using some, but what's good for Berserkers? There is so much to chose from. <div></div><hr></blockquote> As far as taunts are concerned, I have found the class trait called Balok's Stifling Cry to be invaluable.  Using your other interrupts and stuns, you can effectively keep mobs from casting if you time everything right.  One downside is that this taunt does not work against epic mobs.  It works quite well against the Pit Champion. Some potions that are useful are Translucent Sigmond's Absolution (+20 str +20 sta for 30 minutes), and Translucent Elixer of the Rainmaker (might have the name wrong, +20 agi for 30 minutes).  These give you a few more hitpoints, more power, and can help you hit harder.  The agi buff can increase your avoidance slightly, but it also helps you to land more hits.  There are some potions (and the names escape me at the moment) that can increase your mitigation to various types of attack. Overall, these can be expensive, and 99% of the time you probably do not need them, but when you're in a pinch or want a slight edge, these can help. I haven't gone after the champ in a while, and I may be mistaken, but I believe he deals poison and crushing damage.</span><div></div>

[infernus006]

<div></div><div></div>"<span>As far as taunts are concerned, I have found the class trait called Balok's Stifling Cry to be invaluable.  Using your other interrupts and stuns, you can effectively keep mobs from casting if you time everything right.  One downside is that this taunt does not work against epic mobs.  It works quite well against the Pit Champion." Don't forget that Sunder deals a knockdown (aoe) and Bully interrupts as well, and both of them work against epic mobs, so if you didn't pick that particular CA during the trait selection then you're not really SOL in that regard.</span><p>Message Edited by infernus006 on <span class=date_text>08-22-2005</span> <span class=time_text>02:14 PM</span>

[uux]

<span><blockquote><hr>infernus006 wrote:<div></div><div></div>"<span>As far as taunts are concerned, I have found the class trait called Balok's Stifling Cry to be invaluable.  Using your other interrupts and stuns, you can effectively keep mobs from casting if you time everything right.  One downside is that this taunt does not work against epic mobs.  It works quite well against the Pit Champion." Don't forget that Sunder deals a knockdown (aoe) and Bully interrupts as well, and both of them work against epic mobs, so if you didn't pick that particular CA during the trait selection then you're not really SOL in that regard.</span><p>Message Edited by infernus006 on <span class="date_text">08-22-2005</span> <span class="time_text">02:14 PM</span></p><hr></blockquote> FYI, Balok's Stifling Cry (update to Mad Cry) not only interrupts the mob, it keeps the mob stifled for 4.9 seconds.  Recast is 8 seconds.  It's on the same timer as Bully.  Sunder deals the knockdown, but the recast timer is much longer.  You're not screwed without it, but I find it to be very helpful.</span><div></div>

[Sabin the Gre]

<P>I'll make this simple.  If you want the most bang for your buck get the following adept 3 --->   ANARCHY</P> <P>It simply increases far beyond that of any other spell and is far and away the best spell that berserkers have. </P> <P>Also, get rare armor in this order --->   1st   Chest,    2nd   Legs,     3rd  Forearm, Shoulder.   4th  Gloves, Boots,    5th   Helm</P>

[uux]

<span><blockquote><hr>Sabin the Great wrote:<p>I'll make this simple.  If you want the most bang for your buck get the following adept 3 --->   ANARCHY</p> <p>It simply increases far beyond that of any other spell and is far and away the best spell that berserkers have. </p> <p>Also, get rare armor in this order --->   1st   Chest,    2nd   Legs,     3rd  Forearm, Shoulder.   4th  Gloves, Boots,    5th   Helm</p> <div></div><hr></blockquote> Anarchy is definately the clear winner before the combat revamp.  What about after the revamp?  </span><div></div>

[Spike]

<P>If they shorten up the recast on anarchy after revamp it would be nice, i may still use it but i dislike the 1min 30s recast with only a 30s duration. I would rather it take 2 concetration slots and be more useful, but they may make us overpowered.  I am glad i went for tanking gear before the revamp instead of getting str gear , even though i have some.  By my self with no potions i can get to 252 str but i take a huge hit on agi for that extra str.( That strength is with the RGF equiped its obviously more with the pristmatic greatsword, which i regret picking.) If i had the foresight to know what these changes were gonna do i would have grabbed the longsword.</P>

[Ru]

Thanks for all the tips. I'm not sure if I want to invest in ebon right now though. Less than a month til the expantion, and I'm trying to devote as much time to leveling as I can. And, while I want to be an outstanding Berserker, it takes a back seat to Carpenter (which I should have capped in a few days, leaving me plenty of time to Berserk. But, I know I don't have time to catch up everything, so, which should take precidance? Armor, skills, or weapons? And, I'm not a heavy farmer/raider, and I chose Carpenter as my tradeskill profession... so... I'm fairly poor. But, I do have a steady stream of income, which I'm using to upgrade a little at a time. <div></div>

[Sabin the Gre]

<DIV><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> uux wrote:<BR><SPAN><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Sabin the Great wrote:<BR> <P>I'll make this simple.  If you want the most bang for your buck get the following adept 3 --->   ANARCHY</P> <P>It simply increases far beyond that of any other spell and is far and away the best spell that berserkers have. </P> <P>Also, get rare armor in this order --->   1st   Chest,    2nd   Legs,     3rd  Forearm, Shoulder.   4th  Gloves, Boots,    5th   Helm</P> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR><FONT color=#66ff00>Anarchy is definately the clear winner before the combat revamp.  What about after the revamp</FONT>?  <BR></SPAN> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE>If I had to infer about which spells to upgrade for post revamp I'd say unflinching will (our mitigation stance), unbridled fury (our offensive stance) and rampage (1.5 min recast, rawr).<BR></DIV>

[Spike]

So how is rampage looking after revamp besides the obvious 1.5 minute recast time?

[Sabin the Gre]

<P>Basically it lists what it really does.  It can proc a  maximum of ten times on the encounter.  Beyond that I think its pretty much the same, since the damage per proc wasn't all that monsterous to begin with. </P> <P>Small Note:  It cracks me up when people talk about maximizing rampage damage.  Generally speaking you're only going to rampage in a group of mobs of significant size.  Lets say 5+ members.  The current rampage only procs 10 times (roughly) and it has a 30 second timer.  So run in stunning roar, that's 5 procs, relentless battering, 6, vanquish, 7, frenzy, 8-10 (and at this point your weapon should've hit.  Total casting time you're lookin at what?   1.5-2 sec for Roar, 1 for Battering, 1 for Vanquish, and like 1.5 for frenzy.  So that is around 5 - 7 seconds depending on post casting delays.  I mean you got 23-25 seconds left.  So unless my rampage is broken, it's dropping basically on my 3rd or 4th CA in Zek.</P>