@Cal | If / When Non-EoD Traits Get Love Thread | Berserker + What would everyone else like to see?

[PseudoOAlias.4279]

• I want to preface this with: I love Berserker & am obviously biased. & Also realize that not much change other than tweaking numbers will likely happen up to the release of EoD. -

• There's obviously lots of traits / skills that don't make much PvP or WvW sense post the great nerf patch of 2020: e.g. [Head Butt], [Executioner's Scythe], [Wild Blow], [Holographic Shockwave], etc.

So here's a couple thoughts on my fav & often neglected class. <3

I understand that Berserker was probably never designed to be a serious PvP class, and currently [Wild Blow] is only a solid break substitute if your group needs it in PvE.

However 2 big problems:

1 If you use it in PvP or WvW it "automatically crits" | But that doesn't matter since it's a CC skill & had it's damage toned to 2. So instead you do 3 damage, yay...2 If you use it to proc [King of Fires] it automatically crits if it hits which generates a fire aura & then, being a berserker skill, detonates the fire aura for some spike damage. Which is a really cool interaction. | Except that it's also a launch & as such it sends the target flying so the damage tick from [King of Fires] doesn't actually hit. Which sucks.

Again I'm not asking for the moon here, but if Zerker or any of the non-EoD trait lines ever end up getting some love again, for what it's worth, I have a couple suggestions:

Change: [King of Fires] to proc at the beginning of the cast of berserker skills instead of the end. (This would also help ensure that your fire aura doesn't expire while you're casting the year-long channel from [Flaming Flurry] as well if you decide to run that.

Change [Wild Blow] to flip over into > [shattering Blow] if it hits. + Make Shattering blow cripple instead of giving stability (since it no longer has synergy with headbutt as that also does 2 damage & you have basically perma stab in PvE.) and make both grand +2s in berserk instead of +4/+3 | The 1-2 punch of these skills has really cool theoretical synergy. But giving up 2 utility slots for both is a big ask since they're both pretty mediocre atm. ++ Give berserker a new utility skill since it would now need one.

*Suggestion: Something like "[Fired Up]" Gives you full adrenaline but lights you on fire for 1 stacks of burning for 8s if you have no conditions. (aka are out of combat) / cleanses 3 conditions & extends berserk or lowers the cooldown of other berserker skills (including primal bursts) by 1s for each condition cleansed + does not refill adrenaline if it cleanses conditions in this way.Something in this game needs to be able to put you in-combat so you can retain adrenaline generated, e.g. a sigil that applies vuln + does something good on elite skill usage, would also be nice, because vs something like holos where heat declines at a slower rate, adrnaline loss out of combat if you can't get a hit on something is pretty brutal.

Also, and this is super just an opinion, but it doesn't make sense that Berserker mode gives you + 15% attack speed & [burst of Agression] gives you 2 seconds of quickness because they do not stack. & That Berserker while supposed to be the "angry class" has no specialization ways to generate adrenaline / might. While Spellbreaker can do both in multiple ways. But again that's kind of thematically subjective. <3

---

Anyway that's about it, there are lots of other dream changes to Berserker that I'd like. But I've posted about those: here. But what would everyone else like to see? Personally I'd like to see lots of the super old traits that don't have any use / have outdated functionality like [Dual Wielding] / [Riposte] get updated to be competitive as well. But that would obviously only happen if / when we start to get buff patches again. =)

[Lighter.5631]

wild blow is such a badly designed joke

[Dadnir.5038]

@"PseudoOAlias.4279" said:I understand that Berserker was probably never designed to be a serious PvP class, and currently [Wild Blow] is only a solid break substitute if your group needs it in PvE.

Why would you even use Wild blow in PvE? In PvE you want your foes grouped and close to you and your allies, you certainly don't want them pushed away and spread (Pushing back foes in PvE is the best way to have players curse at you in this gamemode). Wild blow is best used against Players in WvW zergs.

It might not be to ambitious, but I'd like to at least see the remaining weapon trait (sundering mace) that don't have a "general" bonus finally get it. I mean, sundering mace could increase the duration of all CCs, not just mace's CCs. It not like mace itself see a lot of use anyway, as it is the trait is almost as dead as the 2 stances traits which just so happen to be in the exact same traitline making the variety of choice within the defence traitline extremly poor (especially in PvP/WvW).

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

@Dadnir.5038 said:

@"PseudoOAlias.4279" said:I understand that Berserker was probably never designed to be a serious PvP class, and currently

[Wild Blow]

is only a solid break substitute if your group needs it in PvE.

Why would you even use

Wild blow

in PvE? In PvE you want your foes grouped and close to you and your allies, you certainly don't want them pushed away and spread (Pushing back foes in PvE is the best way to have players curse at you in this gamemode).

Wild blow

is best used against Players in WvW zergs.Break bars. Best CC on your bar for breaking bars.It might not be to ambitious, but I'd like to at least see the remaining weapon trait (

sundering mace

) that don't have a "general" bonus finally get it. I mean,

sundering mace

could increase the duration of all CCs, not just mace's CCs. It not like mace itself see a lot of use anyway, as it is the trait is almost as dead as the 2 stances traits which just so happen to be in the exact same traitline making the variety of choice within the defence traitline extremly poor (especially in PvP/WvW).That is something that we decided on over in the omnibus thread. 15% increased duration, doubled for mace CCs.

[Grand Marshal.4098]

Rage Skills and Berserker traits do need some love indeed. I personally haven't changed my mind on the changes I suggested (and then tried to improve with everyone else) at the omnibus thread.

But at this point I'm getting very nervous that specs which are subpar as of right now, may never return in any meaningful way post- EoD. Core already need's to be fixed, so dedicated updates on the first specs seems unlikely tbh..

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

@Grand Marshal.4098 said:Rage Skills and Berserker traits do need some love indeed. I personally haven't changed my mind on the changes I suggested (and then tried to improve with everyone else) at the omnibus thread.

But at this point I'm getting very nervous that specs which are subpar as of right now, may never return in any meaningful way post- EoD. Core already need's to be fixed, so dedicated updates on the first specs seems unlikely tbh..

There will be a pre balance patch prior to EoD that will do what HoT and PoF did, which means the current specs both core and elite will be tailored in such ways as to more enforce particular playstyles and create room for the new espec identity.

I suspect that Berserker will see some significant changes to make it more playable, and perform at a higher level as the dedicated DPS spec. Spellbreaker I suspect will see its boon removal increased, Full Counter get some damage back, and some self sustain that is better than what S&MS gives now to better enforce it's role as the bruiser spec.

I don't suspect many changes to Discipline, Strength, or Tactics, but I do for Arms and Defense. Ideally from the EoD prepatch balance Berserker should out dps the new spec, Spellbreaker would have a more definitive bruiser role, but neither would be able to compete with the new spec at what it does which should be a team support spec of some sort of flavor.

[Grand Marshal.4098]

@Lan Deathrider.5910 said:

@Grand Marshal.4098 said:Rage Skills and Berserker traits do need some love indeed. I personally haven't changed my mind on the changes I suggested (and then tried to improve with everyone else) at the omnibus thread.

But at this point I'm getting very nervous that specs which are subpar as of right now, may never return in any meaningful way post- EoD. Core already need's to be fixed, so dedicated updates on the first specs seems unlikely tbh..

There will be a pre balance patch prior to EoD that will do what HoT and PoF did, which means the current specs both core and elite will be tailored in such ways as to more enforce particular playstyles and create room for the new espec identity.

I suspect that Berserker will see some significant changes to make it more playable, and perform at a higher level as the dedicated DPS spec. Spellbreaker I suspect will see its boon removal increased, Full Counter get

some

damage back, and some self sustain that is better than what S&MS gives now to better enforce it's role as the bruiser spec.

I don't suspect many changes to Discipline, Strength, or Tactics, but I do for Arms and Defense. Ideally from the EoD prepatch balance Berserker should out dps the new spec, Spellbreaker would have a more definitive bruiser role, but neither would be able to compete with the new spec at what it does which

should

be a team support spec of some sort of flavor.

I am a rather new player. Joined in late S4, late Spring of 2019 and up until late 2019, I never bothered with balance, because I was still in the leveling experience and mostly cared about PvE. SO I didn't see any of the pre-Expac patches to have an idea about them. But I hope you are correct.

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

@Grand Marshal.4098 said:

@Lan Deathrider.5910 said:

@Grand Marshal.4098 said:Rage Skills and Berserker traits do need some love indeed. I personally haven't changed my mind on the changes I suggested (and then tried to improve with everyone else) at the omnibus thread.

But at this point I'm getting very nervous that specs which are subpar as of right now, may never return in any meaningful way post- EoD. Core already need's to be fixed, so dedicated updates on the first specs seems unlikely tbh..

There will be a pre balance patch prior to EoD that will do what HoT and PoF did, which means the current specs both core and elite will be tailored in such ways as to more enforce particular playstyles and create room for the new espec identity.

I suspect that Berserker will see some significant changes to make it more playable, and perform at a higher level as the dedicated DPS spec. Spellbreaker I suspect will see its boon removal increased, Full Counter get

some

damage back, and some self sustain that is better than what S&MS gives now to better enforce it's role as the bruiser spec.

I don't suspect many changes to Discipline, Strength, or Tactics, but I do for Arms and Defense. Ideally from the EoD prepatch balance Berserker should out dps the new spec, Spellbreaker would have a more definitive bruiser role, but neither would be able to compete with the new spec at what it does which

should

be a team support spec of some sort of flavor.

I am a rather new player. Joined in late S4, late Spring of 2019 and up until late 2019, I never bothered with balance, because I was still in the leveling experience and mostly cared about PvE. SO I didn't see any of the pre-Expac patches to have an idea about them. But I hope you are correct.

If they follow historical precedence that what I mentioned above should be applicable. But Anet is free to do as they please with their game's balance.

[Sent.8501]

I feel like they missed the potential of utilizing rage skills for extending berserker duration. Like I think, using headbutt into outrage as a stunbreak would allow a stack of seven, translating into an extra seven seconds of berserk when you actually use it. You'd probably have to nerf smash brawler, but I feel like the traits should be reworked to incentivise rage skill use anyways. Boons/barrier or something.