Howling Berserker

196 ratings

Howling Berserker

By TheMasterBlaster

This Berserker build creates a damage feedback loop that lets you obliterate everything in sight, even if it's not close to you. The more mobs there are the faster they all die and the stonger you get. If you enjoy being right in the middle of the action and not messing around with kiting, then this is the build for you!!

Of course all Conan images are TM by the original owners, so on and so forth...

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Terminology and FYI

In all of my guides for builds I frequently refer to the early game, mid game, and end game. For my purposes, these references relate to specific levels...

Early Game = level 1 to 30

Mid Game = level 31 to 70

End Game = level 71 to 100.

Regarding skills...

I frequently mention the stats of certain skills in these builds. Be aware that usually I am referring to the max 15/15 points for a skill, or at least the max points used in a particular skill for a build. If you would like additional clarification about certain skills please ask me and I will add it to the guide.

Please let me know if there is additional terminology you would like clarified and I will add it to my guides.

Thanks!

Mods

This entire build is based on the Synergies Mod. I feel that this mod is a good improvement of the core game without breaking the game and making it too easy. Most of the information in this guide is still viable with the core game, but certain details are likely to be different. If you haven't tried the Synergies Mod you should check it out! You won't regret it!!

Stats

Strength - 300

Dexterity - 50

Focus - 80

Vitality - 105

STRENGTH

This is a serious melee dps build, so Strength is the main skill here. Strength is what determines the amount of extra crit damage, and most of the stat points should go into Strength and Focus in the early game.

DEXTERITY

It's tempting to put more points into Dexterity, but it's really not necessary. You don't even need to worry about gear with crit bonuses, even though more than likely you will use some. 50 Dex for a Berserker only provides a 9.5% bonus to crit chance and Dodge. So what's the deal? Well, because this build focuses on long duration Frenzy states when every direct attack is an auto crit, you don't need godly amounts of Dex to increase your crit chance. The only serious drawback to 50 Dex is that it might impede your chances to use certain higher level weapons, but there are other ways to mitigate that drawback in this build.

FOCUS

This build is not very mana dependent until you start using the Ravage skill, but high focus does increase your chance to Execute, and it increases magic damage. While this build doesn't utilize elemental damage with skills, it's more than likely that you will use weapons that deal some elemental damage. Near the endgame you should have at least 300 mana points. Since natural mana regen is based on the total amount of mana you have, a high focus will help quickly fill up your mana after a series of attacks. With 2 or 3 mana regen gems or weapons that steal mana per hit, it's unlikely you will need to use mana potions very often unless you suffer from a mana drain attack. You're going to need plenty of mana once you start using the Ravage skill, so you should almost always put at least 1 or 2 points into Focus each level until you reach 80 points. The sooner you reach 80 Focus, the easier it will be to deliver several Ravage attacks without needing to use mana potions.

VITALITY

This is a melee build. You want to be completely surrounded by as many mobs as possible, so you are going to need the health and armor boost from Vitality. It also increases the odds of surviving more than just one hit by hero mobs and bosses in the endgame. Vitality is not too important in the early game, but you will need all of it before completing your first run through all the acts. At some levels you may even want to put all 5 points into Vitality until you reach 105. With the proper gear, enchantments and gems, you should end up with at least 150 Vitality.

Skills

HUNTER - 57

Howl - 15/15

Battle Rage - 15/15

Ravage - 15/15

Blood Hunger - 11/15

Rampage 1/15

HOWL

This is an early game skill and is one of the keys to the power of this build. The area of effect is always centered on you, and multiple casts dont stack with each other. Regardless of how often you Howl, mobs can only be affected by one Howl at a time. This is an amazing defensive and offensive skill all in one. But the best thing about this skill is that it increases ALL damage dealt to mobs. It doesnt matter who, or what, deals the damage. Keep this in mind as you consider the rest of the skills for this build.

BATTLE RAGE

This is more of a mid game skill. Ideally you will round up a huge horde of mobs, and activate this skill. At 15/15 you will deal +10% damage for each monster within 6m and take -7% physical damage. In many maps and dungeons its possible to round up dozens of mobs and reap huge benefits from this skill.

RAVAGE

This is another mid game skill, but is the only offensive attack skill in the build. This skill does several nice things, but most importantly is that it gives you 3 melee attacks to EVERY MOB within 5 m after you max it at 15/15. After you have enough Focus and mana, you can spam this skill until everything is dead, but that won't take long. I even use this skill on single bosses and hero mobs and tear them apart rather easily. You won't believe how powerful this skill is with Howl, Battle Rage, and Shadowbind all active together on a mob horde or a boss.

BLOOD HUNGER

This is an early game skill. Berserkers need constant healing while in melee combat and this skill does that nicely, especially when you are in a Frenzy state getting auto crit attacks. This skill works like a health potion by providing steady healing after you make a crit attack. However, you will still need to use healing potions and weapons with gems that have life steal. Combined this all means that you will have a constant source of healing while you are fighting. 15 points in this skill only provides 2% more healing than 11 points, from 12% down to 10%. My opinion is that those extra points can be better spent elsewhere.

RAMPAGE

Even with only 1 point in this skill it will probably activate everytime you obliterate a mob horde. Take a point in this skill in the early game as a nice perk.

TUNDRA - 30

Ice Shield - 15/15

Rage Retaliation 15/15

ICE SHIELD

This is an end game skill. The best thing about this skill is not that it reflects ranged attacks, but that at 15/15 every ranged attack is guaranteed to generate 10% charge for your Frenzy state. I like to activate this skill while I am rounding up a mob horde and getting pinged with several ranged attacks. When I am ready to engage in melee I usually have a substantial Frenzy charge built up without even attacking anything.

RAGE RETALIATION

This is another end game skill. With 15 points this skill activates frequently, does substantial damage, and when paired with Howl it means that mobs will help in their own demise when they attack you in melee. Basically it's free attacks!! Pretty nice for a passive skill.

SHADOW - 45

Shadowbind - 15/15

Frenzy Mastery - 15/15

Shred Armor - 15/15

SHADOWBIND

This is an early game skill and is another crucial part of this build. Its similar to Howl in the offensive sense, but you can TARGET the area of effect. There are some very clever ways you can utilize Shadowbind. After casting Howl on nearby melee mobs, you can immediately cast Shadowbind on mobs that are out of your reach, like spellcasters and archers. When you attack the melee mobs, the spellcaster and archer mobs targeted by Shadowbind will die without you even directly attacking them. It's a sight to behold.

If there are no ranged mobs nearby, you can double down with Howl and Shadowbind on the same mob horde for an incredible damage boost.

When fighting bosses and minions, you can use this skill in two different ways. If the minions are really messing you up, then Shadowbind the boss and attack the minions. If the boss is all up in your face and the minions are just a nuisance, then Shadowbind the minions and concentrate all your attacks on the boss.

Be aware that the damage from Shadowbind is only based on damage you deal with melee attacks. So it won't stack with skills like Ice Shield and Rage Retaliation.

FRENZY MASTERY

This is an end game skill. I know many people argue that this skill is a waste of points because when using fast weapons you can build up Frenzy charges pretty easy, but for this build I think it's well worth 15 points. When at max points this skill means your Frenzy state will last for 13.5 seconds. The only fights you have lasting longer than that will be boss fights. However, this allows you to sprint from one mob horde to another without losing your Frenzy. It also means that all of your basic attacks will be auto crits, and most of your Ravage attacks will also be crits. This also works great with Blood Hunger. There is nothing wrong with a near constant state of Frenzy, and this build needs something to increase crit chance because this build does not use lots of Dex points.

SHRED ARMOR

This is a mid game skill that virtually every Berserker build uses and for good reason. Mob and boss armor goes down, and yours goes way, way, way up. Sweet! But keep in mind this is just a physical armor bonus, so you still have to be careful of elemental attacks.

SKILL PRIORITY

Howl

Shadowbind

Blood Hunger

Always keep these early game skills at maximum until they are 15/15, or 11/15 for Blood Hunger. Eventually you will have some extra points for the next set of skills for this build.

Ravage

Battle Rage

Shred Armor

Alternate points between these three mid game skills as they are all equally important for this build. However, take Ravage as your first mid game skill because it works wonders with Howl and Shadowbind.

Ice Shield

Frenzy Mastery

Rage Retaliation

Rampage

Rampage is a nice perk, so put one point into it in the early game. The other skills are end game skills that will round out the full potential of this build.

Spells

Player Spells

For leveling and endgame...

Dual Wielding

Weapons Expertise

Willpower

Armor Expertise

I prefer Adventuring for a leveling spell, but replacing any of these spells with Adventuring creates serious hazards. More so than most of my other class builds, these spells are critical to the success of the build. Remove any of these spells and the build collapses like a Jenga tower. Dual Wielding should be obvious as you will read in the Gameplay section of the guide. Weapons Expertise is critical not only for the damage, but more importantly because it provides easier access to higher level weapons. I believe that every build benefits from Armor Expertise, especially a melee build. Willpower is crucial too. A fast attacking melee build is doomed if you get frozen or slowed in the middle of a mob horde.

Pet Spells

Retribution

Zombies

Archers

Nether Imp

This build doesn't take full advantage of a minion build, but using your pet to summon all these minions lets you concentrate on the action. The minions don't deal any significant damage on their own, but thanks to the Howl skill your pet and minions can actually do a little damage.

Retribution is a good pet spell for this build thanks to the Howl skill. Your pet in the middle of a huge mob horde that is afflicted by the extra damage from Howl, then casts Retribution and actually does pretty decent damage without needing all kinds of Pet damage bonuses from your gear.

Gear, Gems, and Enchantments

Gear For Leveling...

Using the proper gear is crucial for this build. In the 20s level range you want to try and get the Regent armor set. Only 4 pieces gives you awesome surivabilty and nice offensive bonuses. After that you want to upgrade to the Ironlord set in the 40's level range. This will give your mid game some serious offensive power. When choosing pieces for the Ironlord set I suggest Vitality as the main stat to prolong the set's usefulness until you upgrade later on. Thanks to certain skills in this build, the Ironlord set should serve you well into your early 70s level range.

For weapons in the early game you can choose whatever suits your fancy, but make sure you are using 2 of the same weapon type so you can get the Execute bonus. However, in the mid game about the same time that you put points into the Ravage skill, I suggest switching to dual claws. Yes, claws, and here's why; claw weapons ignore 50% of physical armor. This means that your Ravage attacks will be even deadlier against strong mobs and bosses than if you are using dual swords or maces, and you won't need to worry about the drawback of basic claw attacks not dealing splash damage. Claw weapons are also super fast, meaning that you will generate Frenzy charge easily, and can benefit from health and mana steal on the claw weapons at a greater clip than on slightly slower weapons. Even if you think you hate claw weapons, just give it a try after you have your first point in the Ravage skill. You won't regret it.

Gear For End Game...

Eventually you will get to the point that you might die from just one or two hits by a hero mob or boss. The benefits of the Ironlord set are fantastic, but the armor value can't support you into the end game. When you have several Vendor Boon Scrolls, and are at least in the low 70s level, you should try to buy the Savage set to take you into the end game. You will need a lot of Vendor Boon Scrolls to get the 7 pieces you need. Make sure you have saved LOTS of gold before using the scrolls.

The Savage Set pieces have some nice survivability bonuses, and the crit damage bonuses from the set are totally insane. 6 Savage pieces gives you a nice poison damage bonus, so keep your eyes open for weapons with poison damage for the end game.

Weapons...

Feel free to experiment with any dual weapons that suit your fancy, especially when you finally get some awesome Legendary drops. However, I still feel that dual claws is the best option for this build because of how well they work with Ravage attacks. Weapons with substantial mana and life steal will help your survivabilty tremendously. Regardless of what weapons you use, you dont need to worry too much about armor strip bonuses. With Ravage and Shred Armor you will never be short of sweet armor stripping attacks.

Gems

This build works well with weapon gems that have large amounts of health steal. If you have a weapon that already has health steal, and then socket a health steal gem in it, then your survivability increases dramatically. For armor I like to use Vitality gems and health bonus gems.

Enchantments

I am not too picky about enchantments for armor. While leveling I prefer the enchantments that decrease elemental damage or physical damage. For my weapons I prefer getting raw physical damage bonus enchantments.

Gameplay

This is a very fun build to play but it requires a certain play style to really see the full potential of this build. In the early game you can use Howl and Shadowbind to easily disperse of a mob horde, but dont get too carried away. In the mid game after you start using the Ravage and Battle Rage skills the fun really begins.

I like to activate Battle Rage and run through a map area or dungeon, gathering as many mobs as possible and finally positioning myself right in the middle of them. Then I activate Howl and Shadowbind on the nearby melee enemies. After a few quick Ravage attacks everything dies. It is incredible to see so many mobs dies at once. You can literally clear HUGE map sections of mobs using this technique. Occasionally you will die doing this, but most of the time this technique works perfectly and it is so much fun.

In the end game you get to add Ice Shield to the mix while you are running around herding your doomed horde of mobs. Then finally when you are totally surrounded Rage Retaliation just adds to the overall damage the nearby mobs take.

This build uses basic attacks a lot, so I don't mess with my main attack setting. However, using Howl, Shadowbind, Ravage, Ice Shield, and Battle Rage effectively requires some tricky key binding. The period and comma keys are the default keys for cycling through your alternate skills. I reset one of those keys to the V key and I like to change my alt toggle key binding to the C key. That way I can use the SHIFT, Z, X, C and V keys for all of my Berserker needs. I set SHIFT as my movement stopping key so I can stand in place and Ravage my mobs without having to click on them. Of course Z and X for potions, and SHIFT + Z and X for pet potions. Then C switches between my active skills. I like to have Howl and Shadowbind as my two active skills, then use V to quickly cycle to Ravage. By using the C and V keys I can easily cycle through and toggle my skills to use them when needed.

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TheMasterBlaster [author] 22 Nov, 2019 @ 1:01pm 

Oh no, definitely not a HC build!!

HiFive 18 Nov, 2019 @ 7:34pm 

Lol, "risky". I was trying to decide if I should do it on Hardcore or not. I'll factor your comment into my decision.

TheMasterBlaster [author] 18 Nov, 2019 @ 12:57pm 

Ha, yeah I'm still around but haven't dabbled in this game for more than a few years. This is the riskiest and most enjoyable build I played in this game.

HiFive 18 Nov, 2019 @ 8:43am 

I just noticed this in the community feed, after all these years. I don't know if you are still around, but I like the way you explain things on this. The build is totally different from how I play Berserker, but I'm intrigued, so I might try it on my next Berserker. Thanks for these ideas.

KingLich 17 Mar, 2018 @ 10:34pm 

Awesome

ScaryTerry_Bitch_ 17 Aug, 2014 @ 2:37am 

how did you get over a hundred skill points?

Kunari 16 Feb, 2014 @ 3:24am 

Similar to how I'm building my build, he's only at level 17 so far though. I'm gonig to use this for reference.

Шиноа 11 Nov, 2013 @ 6:56am 

да

Flytrap 4 Nov, 2013 @ 1:27pm 

very well thought out build. I ran into a mob where there were about 15 grave diggers endlessly spawning a horde that I couldnt get through with my build. This build let me target the inner mob with shadowbind and howl the larger baddies to DEMOLISH my way to the center.

Sword&Sorcery 14 Aug, 2013 @ 1:05pm 

awesome conan pics fit perfectly

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