The Berserker class is one of the most popular classes in Lost Ark, and the reason is not far-fetched. Equipped with a massive weapon of destruction, this is the most beginner-friendly class in the game. Regardless of your level of expertise, this class is a must-try for every Lost Ark player. If you’ll love to know everything you need to become all-conquering, then you should read every line of this Berserker Class Guide for Lost Ark!
Table of Contents
Berserker’s Characteristics and Identity Skill
The Berserker is one of the four Advanced Classes under the Warrior class. They wield a weapon known as the greatsword, with which they deal heavy DPS and large AoE to their foes. Due to the ease of using this class, they’re quite popular among beginners.
However, their long skill cooldowns and extended animations are some disadvantages of using this killer of a class. When playing with the Berserker, you should try to stay out of the heat of the battle. If not, well, you might find yourself rage quitting more than once.
Also, as a beginner using Berserker, you’ll need to get into perfect positions to launch attacks. This is because most skills (before leveling up to 50) require Back Attacks for you to yield the maximum damage.
Also, Berserkers are only perfect for close attacks due to their expertise in melee combat. While they’re faster than other advanced classes in the Warrior class, their speed is still average at best. So, you should make sure you don’t get caught in compromising positions as defense isn’t the Berserker’s forte.
Finally, the Berserker character has the Fury meter, which gets filled as they inflict damage on their foes. When the Fury meter is filled, they enter into their Burst Mode, which is their Identity Skill. The Burst Mode is where Berserkers wreak the most havoc. Their attack and movement speed increases, and the amount of crit damage they can deal increases as well. They’re pretty much an unstoppable force in this mode. Every Lost Ark player using the Berserker character should strive to be in the Burst Mode as many times as possible.
However, once the Burst Mode wears off, you have to wait for 30 seconds before you can start to build up your Fury Meter again. So you must ensure you make the best of the Burst mode each time you utilize the buff.
Berserker’s Skills and Tripods
While the Berserker character has access to 18 skills after maxing it out to Level 60, you can only use eight skills while playing. Also, you have access to Tripod systems that help modify your skills by either adding extra damage or reducing the cooldown period after using these skills. We’ll go through eight skills in the order of the ones you should use the most when playing:
- Shoulder Charge: This skill allows the Berserker to dash 7m forward and deal damage to your foes. It increases the dash range by 2m. You can even further increase the distance you can run through by choosing Excellent Mobility. You can also improve the character’s damage by adding the Fury Explosion and Down Strike. The Shoulder Charge has a cooldown period of 14 seconds.
- Hell Blade: This is one of the heavy heavy-hitter skills in the Berserker’s artillery. The Berserker pierces the ground with its greatsword and inflicts DoT to surrounding enemies. If you hit the perfect zone, you can inflict a huge amount of damage to surrounding enemies. This skill has a Leap Tripod, which allows you to jump into a horde of enemies up to 8m away by simply pointing your cursor to their location. You could also add Melt and Earth Flip to increase the crit damage you can do with this skill. It has a cooldown period of 36 seconds.
- Tempest Slash: The Berserker slashes the enemies and throws them up in the air. You can add two skills to the Tripod System: Raging Storm and Weak Point Detection. The Berserker deals additional damage in Raging Storm with three consecutive sword spins after the slash. In Weak Point Detection, the Berserker deals extra damage to enemies immune to stuns and pushback damages. This skill has a cooldown of 24 seconds.
- Wind Blade: This skill allows the Berserker to charge through enemy lines while waving his sword and inflicting damage. It doesn’t have a Tripod System. It has a cooldown period of 20 seconds.
- Strike Wave: This skill enables the Berserker to plunge his greatsword into the earth and create a scorched hole. You can add Blaze Wave, which causes a lava splash from the hole and deals additional damage. You can also add Cerberus, which creates three holes instead of one. This skill has a cooldown period of 36 seconds.
- Red Dust: The skill triggers a Jagged Blade Strike which causes heavy damage. You can increase the damage further (125%) by adding Red Wave. You can also add Quick Prepare to lower the skull’s cooldown period. Originally, it has a cooldown period of 30 seconds.
- Whirlwind: The Berserker spins the greatsword for 3 seconds, wreaking havoc on the surrounding enemies. You can add tripods like Cracked Blade and Vacuum Slash to the skill. Cracked Blade increases the radius of the blade swing by 40% and increases the damage by 40%. Vacuum Slash also increases the skill’s radius by 20% but doubles the number of spins and increases damage by 50%. The last skill in the Tripod System is the Enhanced Duration which increases the duration of the attack by 4 seconds. Whirlwind has a cooldown period of 24 seconds.
- Sword Storm: The Berserker character jumps in a counterclockwise direction and drives the greatsword into the ground, knocking enemies down in the process. Tripods you can add to the skill include Vital Attack, Fire Storm, and Find Weakness. Vital Attack increases the critical strike chance for this skill to 15%. Fire Storm increases the damage done by this skill, and if the Berserker’s health is below 50% when you add this skill, the damage is increased by 100%. Find Weakness increases the damages done to enemies immune to stuns and knockbacks. Sword Storm has a cooldown period of 30 seconds.
- Other skills available to the Berserker include Assault Blade, Mountain Crash, Powerful Swing, Diving Slash, Maelstrom, Chain Sword, Execution, and Aura Blade.
Berserker’s Engravings
Every Advanced Class in Lost Ark has Engravings that allow you to access special skills particular to your class. To access these Engravings, you have to complete endgame activities such as Abyss Dungeons, Chaos Dungeons, and Guardian Raids.
Every class has its Unique Engravings, while there are also General Engravings available to all classes. I’ll go through the characteristics and downsides of the Unique Engravings first. Two Unique Engravings are available to the Berserker Advanced Class: Berserker’s Technique and Berserker Mayhem.
Berserker Mayhem
Mayhem is an Engraving that gives you raw power. When using the Mayhem Engraving, you’re always in Burst Mode. This means you get increased movement and attack speed and greater damage. However, your HP maxes out at 25% of the original health bar. While this seems like a disadvantage, it puts you at an advantage.
To start with, all the damage you suffer is reduced by 65%. Also, it doesn’t lessen the effect of all healing potions. This means that these potions would heal you completely, unlike in the Normal State. This way, you’re not suffering much damage and can heal up more efficiently.
However, if you want to get the best out of this Engraving, you should upgrade to Level 3. At this level, you get a 19% increase in crit damage alongside other movement and attack speed buffs. This is more than double the 4% increase given at Level 1.
When using the Mayhem Engraving, you want to make sure you’re utilizing your heavy-hitting skills in dealing as much damage as possible. Below are the eight skills and tripods that will fit your playing style best:
1. Red Dust: You can add tripods such as the Vital Attack or Red Wave.
2. Sword Storm: Recommended tripods include Flame Storm, Weak Point Detection, and Vital Strike.
3. Finish Strike: You can add tripods such as Tenacity, Weak Point Detection, and Lights Out.
4. Hell Blade: Recommended tripods for this skill include Leap, Deadly Blow, and Earth Flip.
5. Strike Wave: You can add tripods such as Wave, Blaze Wave, and Cerberus.
6. Shoulder Charge: The only tripod available here is Excellent Mobility. However, make sure you don’t use the Shoulder Charge to run into an opponent. That could cause instant death.
7. Tempest Slash: You can add tripods such as Quick Preparation, Weak Point Detection, and Driving Hit.
8. Whirlwind: Recommended tripods include Sustain Enhancement, Cracked Blade, and Vacuum Slash.
Combat Stats
When playing with Mayhem, you want as much Crit as you can get. The 2nd most important stat would be Swiftness. Hence, you’d want to share your stats between these two. The other four (Specialization, Endurance, Expertise, and Dominance) do not have any benefit when playing Mayhem, so you should avoid them altogether.
Characteristics
- Focuses heavily on dealing heavy damage.
- Increases offensive statistics without causing any drawback.
- Works well with Paladins in their team (for group content). Due to their healing engraving, they help supplement the Berserker’s HP best.
- Attack and Movement Buffs are permanent. You’re always in the Burst Mode.
Downsides
- Long periods of skill cooldowns.
- Long animation periods could make you vulnerable to some enemy attacks.
- No consumables to increase your damage extent.
Berserker Technique
Berserker’s Technique is the 2nd class engraving for the Berserker Advanced Class. With the Technique Engraving, you get increased critical damage in the Burst Mode. Also, you can start building your Fury meter immediately after the Burst Mode is exhausted. This is unlike the normal mode, where you need to wait for 30 seconds before refilling your Fury Meter. This way, you can enter your Burst Mode more frequently in battles.
You should also aim to get to Level 3 of Berserker’s Technique as quickly as possible. Offering you a 50% increase in crit damage when in Burst Mode, it is better than the 30% you get in Level 1.
The skills you should utilize are just the same as those mentioned earlier in Mayhem.
Combat Stats
The most important stat in the Technique Engraving is Specialization. The 2nd most important stat to gear up is your Crit. Sharing your combat stats between these two lets you get into your Burst Mode faster and stay in it for longer periods. This way, you can deal with a truckload of damage over an extended period.
Characteristics
- Provides increased crit damage.
- Removes Exhaustion after Burst Mode.
- Enables longer periods of Burst Mode.
Downsides
- Long periods of skill cooldowns.
- Long animation periods could make you vulnerable to some enemy attacks.
General Engravings
While there are several of these engravings, I’ll review each of them based on their usefulness to the Berserker play style.
- Master’s Tenacity: This increases the percentage of the damage you wreak on foes without any negative effect. It increases your damage extent by 3%, 8%, and 15%, depending on if you’re on Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3 of the skill.
- Keen Blunt Weapon: This Engraving increases the critical damage you can cause. However, it also decreases your Damage extent by 20% at all levels. However, the critical damage extent increase with each level (10% at Level 1, 25% at Level 2, and 50% at Level 3).
- Raid Captain: This Engraving increases the damage you deal to enemies as a percentage of your basic Move Speed bonus percentage (10% increase at Level 1, 22% increase at Level 2, 45% at Level 3).
- Master of Ambush: This Engraving increases the amount of damage you can do from successful Back Attacks (5% from Level 1, 12% for Level 2, 25% for Level 3).
- Awakening: This Engraving reduces the cooldown period for Awakening skills and increases the number of times you can use the Awakening skill in a battle.
- Spirit Absorption: This increases your attack power and movement speed of the Berserker.
- Heavy Armor Equipment: This increases the extent of your defenses by a certain percentage depending on the Level the Engraving is at. If you’re more of an aggressive player, this Engraving might not be a good match for you.
Although most guides recommend Grudge and Cursed Doll Engravings, I’m deliberately leaving them out due to their overbearing disadvantages. For example, the Grudge Engraving helps increase the damage you can do to bosses and increases the extent of damage you can take from them. While it might be useful at Level 3, Level and 2 are the opposite as you’re losing more than you’re getting. Hence, for beginners, such Engravings might be more of a burden.
Berserker’s Awakening Skills
There are two awakening skills available to the Berserker: Berserk’s Fury and Chain of Vengeance. I find Chains of Vengeance an absolute beauty in terms of mechanics. However, let’s see how both weigh up in terms of damage:
1. Chains of Vengeance: This skill makes the Berserker generate chains of energy that pull your foes in and then explode to cause massive damage. This skill is best suited for Berserker’s Technique Engraving. This is because it generates an enormous pump for your Fury meter. Hence, when you use it just at the end of the Burst Mode, it gets you started for another Burst Mode.
2. Berserk Fury: This skill makes the greatsword charge up to deliver a massive damage blow. As the greatsword charges, its damage and range also increase, and it reaches a peak if you hit the sweet spot at the end of the charge. Although this skill deals more damage than Chains of Vengeance, it contributes less to the Fury Meter. This is a better fit for the Mayhem Engraving.
Berserker’s PvP Recommended Build
In PvP, it’s all about being the heavy hitter. That’s exactly what this build is about. If you stick to this build, you’ll most likely be carrying your team most times. I’ll be going with the Berserker’s Technique Engraving for this build. This is because you’ll need to be in your Burst Mode for as long as possible when playing PvP.
The skills you should choose include Mountain Crash, Shoulder Charge, Red Dust, Tempest Slash, Wind Blade, Diving Slash, Sword Storm, and Execution. Of course, I’ll go with Chains of Vengeance as my Ultimate Awakening Skill. If you read the Awakening Skill column, you should know why by now.
While this is not a general rule of thumb, you could use the skills in this order: Shoulder Charge, Mountain Crash, Red Dust, and Tempest Slash. This first part of the combo deals a world of damage to your enemies. You can run them down further by adding Wind Blade and Diving Slash. Stun them with the large AoE from Sword Storm and finish it off with an Execution move.
This Build makes you feel so untouchable and aggressive during the battle. Long-skill cooldowns are a downside. Also, it means you need a lot of Swiftness in your Combat Stats. Another important stat is Crit. So, it is advisable to share your stat points between both. We recommend 800 stat points for Swiftness and 400 Crit.
Berserker’s PvE Recommended Build
When playing PvE, you’ll be facing hordes of enemies in dungeons and facing bosses in raids. Berserker skills that will help deliver damage in PvE include Tempest Slash, Hell Blade, Strike Wave, Red Dust, and Execution. I’ll also go with the Berserk’s Fury as the Awakening Skill here. The Mayhem Engraving is also a better choice here due to the increase in crit, attack, and movement speed that it offers.
The best choices here would be the Sharp Blunt, Master’s Tenacity, and Cursed Doll for the General Engravings.
Conclusion
Playing with the Berserker character is one of the most thrilling things to try out in Lost Ark. All that power and destruction are at your fingertips. However, if you want to get even more powerful and aggressive, then this is the Berserker Class Guide for Lost Ark you must check out.
