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scl · 02-28-2005, 06:23 PM

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.

I am a level 21 Berserker, who duo's with a Mystic on a daily basis. My stats and equipment are as follows:

 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

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.

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!! SMILEY

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.

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.

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..

Mystic casts Wards and Buffs, before combat. I have Focus Rage active and cast Intervene and Stand firm on the Mystic.
I engage combat, either with a normal melee hit or normal ranged hit.
I cast Call to Arms, Battle Tactics and Hold the Line.**
I cast Wound followed by Concussion followed by T3 Taunt trait (Can't remember name)
During that time, the mystic has done nothing, ensuring I pick up as much aggro as possible.
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! 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.
During the previous step the Mystic will be healing and casting wards.

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.

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.

** 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.

02-28-2005, 06:23 PM	#22
scl Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Wales, UK Posts: 181	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. I am a level 21 Berserker, who duo's with a Mystic on a daily basis. My stats and equipment are as follows: 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 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. 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!! 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. 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. 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.. Mystic casts Wards and Buffs, before combat. I have Focus Rage active and cast Intervene and Stand firm on the Mystic. I engage combat, either with a normal melee hit or normal ranged hit. I cast Call to Arms, Battle Tactics and Hold the Line. I cast Wound followed by Concussion followed by T3 Taunt trait (Can't remember name) During that time, the mystic has done nothing, ensuring I pick up as much aggro as possible. 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! 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. During the previous step the Mystic will be healing and casting wards. 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. 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. 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.