PJ Coffey
PJ Coffey (they/them)
See the original at: Classes and Classifications: Berserkers
This essay builds off the definitions found in Classes and Classifications I: Definitions and will look at how the berserker class is supposed to work and which role it fits best. I will then break down the level by level progression drawing out points of interest and at the end I will provide a level by level list of suggestions for “safe” options to take. (It should go without saying that this is just my opinion and that you can make whatever choices seem best to you and you should refrain from telling other people how to have fun “correctly”, this is for people who are finding it all a bit confusing and would like some guidance on the way.)
The Berserker class
A quick overview
The defining features of the berserker are:
As a resource, berserkers primarily rely on hit point management. To this end they have the largest hit die of any class, the d12, and the resistance to the most common damage types when raging makes them one of the few classes that is worthwhile casting healing spells on mid combat.
Tier 0
All berserkers are proficient with medium armour and shields but at level 1 they gain Rage and a Battle Defense. The option of wearing heavy armour or trading the increased AC for a more ability score based unarmoured version with extra speed is available.
The rage class feature is also picked up here, along with a Developed Talent which allows for increased ability to adapt to exploration challenges or survival.
At second level, Furious Critical is unlocked. The DC is based off Constitution and the attack itself is, in most foreseeable circumstances, only available using a Strength based attack. The additional effects of critical hits made can range from extra damage to forcing saving throws against conditions, to debuffs, providing a minor, if unreliable, support element. On the other hand this needs to be contrasted with “elemental wrath” which gives 2 or more rounds of additional d6 elemental damage.
The class now gains access to combat maneuvers and has an exertion pool of 4. The schools available are: Adamant Mountain, Mirror’s Glint, Rapid Current, Tempered Iron, Tooth and Claw.
Danger Sense also provides extra survivability with advantage on Dexterity saving throws.
Tier 1
At 3rd level, Developed Talent now allows for use of the Fighter Soldiering Knacks as well as the Berserker exclusive talents. The Berserker also chooses an archetype (or subclass) of which more later. Warrior born is a smattering of social based abilities which are of limited uses per rest. Your number of rages goes up to 3 per day.
At 4th level, Berserkers can take an Ability Score Increase or a feat. For simplicity and value, +2 in Strength offers a lot of value because berserkers want to be attacking a lot, and +1 to hit and +1 damage add up. Strength is, paradoxically, one of the weaker attributes
In terms of feats: If one looks at hit points as being a key resource than Hardy Adventurer is an excellent choice granting a full level worth of extra hit points and effectively a +4 bonus to Con every level up. If you’ve rolled for stats and a +1 Strength would seem handy then Heavy Armor Expertise is an oft-ignored feat. If you’ve taken Juggernaut and got attacked by a bandit captain, then assuming they hit with all three attacks you would expect to take 17 damage reduced to 8. If you had heavy armor expertise this reduces the damage to 8 which you’d reduce to 3 when raging, which I would describe as pretty good due to how the reduction, halving and rounding down works (because we always round down in D&D), also consider that you will be gaining 2 rage hit points per turn so that absorption of damage could realistically only reduce your actual hit points by 1. For the purposes of increased range and attacks, Polearm Savant seems like an excellent choice, granting a guaranteed bonus action attack which can add significant amounts of damage and offers more chances to score a critical hit, synergising with that class feature. Alternatively Powerful Attacker can be a strong choice against lower AC opponents, I don’t feel it’s as good a choice as Polearm Savant. The disadvantage to gain the bonus damage means that your chance of scoring a critical drops to 1/400 from 1/20 and whilst the Press the Attack bonus action can attract enemy attacks through granting them advantage, it consumes your bonus action which means that you wouldn’t be able to use the cleaving swing maneuver. Guarded Warrior offers opportunity attacks against creatures taking the disengage action and will reduce speed to zero on a hit. You can also use your reaction to make a melee attack against an opponent that targets one of your allies, slightly weaker compared with the guaranteed attacks of polearm savant but offers significant synergies later in terms of action economy.
Tier 2
In addition to the powerful extra attack feature, at 5th level the critical hit range of the berserker increases further producing synergy with the Furious Criticals feature. The 2nd tier of combat maneuvers opens up; the exertion pool reaches 6 points.
At 6th level, the Berserker gains another Furious Critical feature, now with access to Dazzling Prowess and Mighty Blow and a choice of small bonuses to social situations and an archetype feature. Mighty blow allowing an extra weapon damage dice when determining critical hit damage is pretty strong. A very good level, you’ll also pick up your 4th rage which should keep you going strong!
At 7th level, the Berserker learns an extra combat maneuver and their Battle Defences can increase either by mimicking the evasion feature (which turns a successful save being half damage into no damage and a failed save into half rather than full damage), this can have advantage from Danger Sense, but being able to swap saves versus Int, Wis or Cha for one which the Berserker is proficient in seems like a much better deal.
At 8th level, the Berserker gets their 4th Furious Critical feature, and an ability score increase. Str or Con are both worthwhile increasing. Strength for the same logic at level 4, but if you’ve hit 20 already, then Con because it increases the Furious Critical save DC. In terms of feats Swift Combatant is available at 8th level and offers increased Speed and three exertion free maneuvers, including using potions as a bonus action, gaining extra speed as a stance and the Charge maneuver.
At 9th level, the berserker gains access to 3rd degree maneuvers, and has an increase in Proficiency bonus which affects both maneuver DC and furious critical DC and you gain 3 rage hit points per turn not just 2. Battle Moxie offers some choices in limited social situations and offers a novel advantage to Berserkers that have invested in Charisma.
10th level brings the fifth Furious Critical feature out of 15. and also a archetype or subclass feature.
Tier 3
Level 11 is one of the quietest levels with School of the Open Road, offering minor social choice effects which are all aided by having a good Constitution score.
Level 12 is quite the doozy! Crit range increases to a staggering 18+ which is where polearm savant is really going to shine. Another Furious Critical effect becomes available, 4th degree maneuvers and of course the ability score increase. An excellent time to pick up one of the feats identified if you haven’t already or keep upping those base Strength and Constitution scores. Oh and you’ll get 5 rages a day!
Level 13 brings a bonus to proficiency which is great for Furious Critical DC as well as maneuver and to-hit. Notable reputation offers what might be called “ribbon” abilities, so-called because they make a character look pretty and nice, but aren’t tied into game mechanics with any particular depth or affect.
Level 14 grants the 7th out of 15 Furious Critical features and an archetype or subclass feature.
Level 15 offers Prickly Mind which grants you proficiency (+5) in Wisdom Saving throws and means that you can deal proficiency bonus damage to creatures trying to charm you, which could well cause them to lose concentration on the effect they’re attempting!
Level 16 An 8th choice of Furious Critical. Another ability score increase or Feat, if you haven’t upped your Furious Critical DC with Con this could be a good time to do so. Another good bonus is that you’ll be raging up to 6 times a day, in addition you’ll be gaining 4 rage hit points as well!
Tier 4
Level 17 Hitting peak berserker! You get improved proficiency bonus, your crits are now 17+ rendering Furious Momentum moot and reducing the usable pool to 14. You know have access to 5th level combat maneuvers with an exertion pool of 12 and you also gain Reliable Might which lets you use your Strength or Constitution scores in place of check (not saving throw) results. Not terrible!
Level 18 is your final Furious Critical giving you a choice of 9 different options on your two (or three if you took polearm savant) potential crits per turn.
Level 19 Your fifth ASI and if you’ve been pursuing an attribute based build with a standard distribution, an excellent place to crown your stats with two 20s (which synergises well with Reliable Might from 17 if that’s important to you).
Level 20 Congratulations! Your rages are now unlimited! You gain +4 to both Strength and Constitution which are now capped at 24. In addition you can become a maximum of Large in size, your theoretical +5 rage hit points is a staggering +10, you grant disadvantage to saving throws versus say being knocked prone or grappled and you gain a solid d8 to Strength and Con saving throws.
The Roles of the Berserker
So, from this we can see that Berserkers perform well at surviving damage through having lots of hit points and by being difficult to ignore, this makes them excellent tanks. Whilst having access to shield proficiency, shields don’t particularly enhance the role of the berserker because a shield makes them a less tempting target and reduces the amount of damage they can cause. To really lean into their role the berserker should be pressing the attack often to make themselves a more tempting target and using a two handed weapon to offer increased damage output. Whilst the concept of a two weapon wielding berserker is iconic the loss of damage due to not having access to the two-weapon fighting fighting style is significant.
I would argue that the role of a berserker is a strategic rather than tactical one. You will often be deciding when the party engages and where the focus of the fighting will be. You’ll be focused on being too threatening to ignore and provoking opportunity attacks will be something you’ll have to be comfortable with. Hit points and rages are your major resources, so conserving these when you can is important but equally you’ll need to expend them to get things done!
To play a berserker on “easy mode” you want to lean into those things which will make you a good tank. You can also choose options to increase your “Tankiness” or to grant yourself Support or Control options. This is a skeleton of a build, you know your game best but these choices seem like they should be good in most situations I can envisage.
Assuming a standard array you probably want a stat line like:
Str 14 +1
Dex 13
Con 15 +1
Int 8
Wis 12
Cha 10
At level 1, choose juggernaut and adopt a polearm with the heavy property.
At level 2, Furious Critical: relentless attack. This stacks very well with advantage. Combat Schools: Adamant Mountain, Rapid Current. Combat Maneuvers: Swift Stance (start of the day for +5 movement), Charge
Level 3: The Tempest Way of Wrath is popular for a reason. Resistance to Lightning damage (a frequent type of spell damage) and being able to do additional Thunder damage (a rare type) with a character that specialises in crits is very useful.
Level 4: Heavy Armor Expertise feat for bonus strength and increased survivability out of rage. Pick up Catch your Breath to keep yourself in the fight longer.
Level 5: Rapid Drink as a maneuvre means that combat potions are now a bonus action for you. Consume those consumables! Your crit range expands!
Level 6: your rages now give you half cover, and you also gain resistance to thunder. Nice. Furious Criticals: relentless attack, elemental wrath. (Also quite thematic. If you’re a little short relentless is good, if you’ve got more fight go elemental wrath.)
Level 7: Pick up Reactive Knockdown to be more of a menace. For advanced Battle Defence Intelligence is a good one to sub for Constitution as there are some nasty spells out there!
Level 8: This is an excellent point to pick up Polearm Savant for those extra attacks. Furious Criticals: relentless attack, elemental wrath, knockdown strike.
Level 9: Whirlwind Strike is a great maneuver allowing you to hit up to 4 in a single round! And as a bonus action you still get your action!
Level 10: Furious Criticals: relentless attack, elemental wrath x2, knockdown strike. You can push creatures away with forceful gale.
Level 11: Unstoppable is a solid choice to keep yourself from being taken out of the fight.
Level 12: Guarded Warrior goes nicely. Now you have something guaranteed for your bonus action and reaction every turn and with a polearm the reach to enforce it. This means more attacks and thus more criticals which can be powered up by elemental wrath. Furious Criticals: relentless attack, elemental wrath x2, knockdown strike, overbearing hit. This helps you assist allies who are being attacked by enemies by potentially knocking them over if you crit, they may not have the speed to get back up again and will certainly be easier to outrun!
Level 13 First Blood because going first is why you’re playing a berserker.
Level 14 Furious Criticals: relentless attack, elemental wrath x2, knockdown strike x2, overbearing hit which will allow allow you to knock targets 15 feet away and prone. You now deal half your berserker damage in probably thunder damage to hostile creatures in 10 feet on a failed Constitution save.
Level 15: Wild Swing is a cheap way to turn a miss into another chance.
Level 16: +2 Strength, Furious Criticals: relentless attack, elemental wrath x3, knockdown strike x2, overbearing hit
Level 17: More attacks, 17+ crits, and level 5 maneuvers! World-shaking strike seems hilarious!
Level 18 Furious Criticals: relentless attack, elemental wrath x3, knockdown strike x2, overbearing hit x2 (sometimes you want to shout “Fore!” and send something flying).
Level 19 round strength to 20.
Level 20 Level 16: +2 Strength, Furious Criticals: relentless attack, elemental wrath x4, knockdown strike x2, overbearing hit.
Conclusion
It is definitely possible to build berserkers to fill roles other than tank, the obvious one being DPR, but I feel that would be something they’d struggle with because they don’t tend to have bonus damage (except on criticals, which aren’t guaranteed), and they don’t enjoy the benefits of a 3rd attack at level 11. Whilst finer minds than mine will doubtless find it trivial, I feel I would struggle to create a convincing Berserker Face, Travel Facilitator or Support. Control is definitely the best supported with a lot of knocking prone and flinging around. I’m certainly advocating for some “stickiness” with the opportunity attacks and increased reach allowing the Berserker to be where they wish to be, the whirling maelstrom at the heart of a good combat.
I am a little disappointed by the anti-synergy of trying to build a “dex” barbarian due to how Furious Critical is written, but I’m sure there will be a subclass along in a minute to address this. The lack of two-weapon fighting is also a bit saddening (although with judicious grabbing of dual-wielding expert at level 4, you can use the versatile part of Furious Critical still, but won’t gain your Strength bonus to damage from the off-hand attacks which feels like a problem even with the boost to this fighting style in A5e).
Still, on the whole, “numbers go brrr” as the saying goes and whilst you’ll use combat maneuvers less than I would anticipate, you’ll probably have a good time with this class. A major surprise to me was how many Rapid Current maneuvers I chose. Initially I envisaged rather more Adamant Mountain but when I was making the choices Rapid Current kept being the one I’d go to first.
If you thought this essay was nifty feel free to grab a copy of the Dragonfly Titan or another book. Happy gaming!
Classes and Classifications: Berserkers
IntroductionThis essay builds off the definitions found in Classes and Classifications I: Definitions and will look at how the berserker class is supposed to work and which role it fits best. I will then break down the level by level progression drawing out points of interest and at the end I will provide a level by level list of suggestions for “safe” options to take. (It should go without saying that this is just my opinion and that you can make whatever choices seem best to you and you should refrain from telling other people how to have fun “correctly”, this is for people who are finding it all a bit confusing and would like some guidance on the way.)
The Berserker class
A quick overview
The defining features of the berserker are:
- rages and raging
- extra effects on critical hits
As a resource, berserkers primarily rely on hit point management. To this end they have the largest hit die of any class, the d12, and the resistance to the most common damage types when raging makes them one of the few classes that is worthwhile casting healing spells on mid combat.
Tier 0
All berserkers are proficient with medium armour and shields but at level 1 they gain Rage and a Battle Defense. The option of wearing heavy armour or trading the increased AC for a more ability score based unarmoured version with extra speed is available.
The rage class feature is also picked up here, along with a Developed Talent which allows for increased ability to adapt to exploration challenges or survival.
At second level, Furious Critical is unlocked. The DC is based off Constitution and the attack itself is, in most foreseeable circumstances, only available using a Strength based attack. The additional effects of critical hits made can range from extra damage to forcing saving throws against conditions, to debuffs, providing a minor, if unreliable, support element. On the other hand this needs to be contrasted with “elemental wrath” which gives 2 or more rounds of additional d6 elemental damage.
The class now gains access to combat maneuvers and has an exertion pool of 4. The schools available are: Adamant Mountain, Mirror’s Glint, Rapid Current, Tempered Iron, Tooth and Claw.
Danger Sense also provides extra survivability with advantage on Dexterity saving throws.
Tier 1
At 3rd level, Developed Talent now allows for use of the Fighter Soldiering Knacks as well as the Berserker exclusive talents. The Berserker also chooses an archetype (or subclass) of which more later. Warrior born is a smattering of social based abilities which are of limited uses per rest. Your number of rages goes up to 3 per day.
At 4th level, Berserkers can take an Ability Score Increase or a feat. For simplicity and value, +2 in Strength offers a lot of value because berserkers want to be attacking a lot, and +1 to hit and +1 damage add up. Strength is, paradoxically, one of the weaker attributes
In terms of feats: If one looks at hit points as being a key resource than Hardy Adventurer is an excellent choice granting a full level worth of extra hit points and effectively a +4 bonus to Con every level up. If you’ve rolled for stats and a +1 Strength would seem handy then Heavy Armor Expertise is an oft-ignored feat. If you’ve taken Juggernaut and got attacked by a bandit captain, then assuming they hit with all three attacks you would expect to take 17 damage reduced to 8. If you had heavy armor expertise this reduces the damage to 8 which you’d reduce to 3 when raging, which I would describe as pretty good due to how the reduction, halving and rounding down works (because we always round down in D&D), also consider that you will be gaining 2 rage hit points per turn so that absorption of damage could realistically only reduce your actual hit points by 1. For the purposes of increased range and attacks, Polearm Savant seems like an excellent choice, granting a guaranteed bonus action attack which can add significant amounts of damage and offers more chances to score a critical hit, synergising with that class feature. Alternatively Powerful Attacker can be a strong choice against lower AC opponents, I don’t feel it’s as good a choice as Polearm Savant. The disadvantage to gain the bonus damage means that your chance of scoring a critical drops to 1/400 from 1/20 and whilst the Press the Attack bonus action can attract enemy attacks through granting them advantage, it consumes your bonus action which means that you wouldn’t be able to use the cleaving swing maneuver. Guarded Warrior offers opportunity attacks against creatures taking the disengage action and will reduce speed to zero on a hit. You can also use your reaction to make a melee attack against an opponent that targets one of your allies, slightly weaker compared with the guaranteed attacks of polearm savant but offers significant synergies later in terms of action economy.
Tier 2
In addition to the powerful extra attack feature, at 5th level the critical hit range of the berserker increases further producing synergy with the Furious Criticals feature. The 2nd tier of combat maneuvers opens up; the exertion pool reaches 6 points.
At 6th level, the Berserker gains another Furious Critical feature, now with access to Dazzling Prowess and Mighty Blow and a choice of small bonuses to social situations and an archetype feature. Mighty blow allowing an extra weapon damage dice when determining critical hit damage is pretty strong. A very good level, you’ll also pick up your 4th rage which should keep you going strong!
At 7th level, the Berserker learns an extra combat maneuver and their Battle Defences can increase either by mimicking the evasion feature (which turns a successful save being half damage into no damage and a failed save into half rather than full damage), this can have advantage from Danger Sense, but being able to swap saves versus Int, Wis or Cha for one which the Berserker is proficient in seems like a much better deal.
At 8th level, the Berserker gets their 4th Furious Critical feature, and an ability score increase. Str or Con are both worthwhile increasing. Strength for the same logic at level 4, but if you’ve hit 20 already, then Con because it increases the Furious Critical save DC. In terms of feats Swift Combatant is available at 8th level and offers increased Speed and three exertion free maneuvers, including using potions as a bonus action, gaining extra speed as a stance and the Charge maneuver.
At 9th level, the berserker gains access to 3rd degree maneuvers, and has an increase in Proficiency bonus which affects both maneuver DC and furious critical DC and you gain 3 rage hit points per turn not just 2. Battle Moxie offers some choices in limited social situations and offers a novel advantage to Berserkers that have invested in Charisma.
10th level brings the fifth Furious Critical feature out of 15. and also a archetype or subclass feature.
Tier 3
Level 11 is one of the quietest levels with School of the Open Road, offering minor social choice effects which are all aided by having a good Constitution score.
Level 12 is quite the doozy! Crit range increases to a staggering 18+ which is where polearm savant is really going to shine. Another Furious Critical effect becomes available, 4th degree maneuvers and of course the ability score increase. An excellent time to pick up one of the feats identified if you haven’t already or keep upping those base Strength and Constitution scores. Oh and you’ll get 5 rages a day!
Level 13 brings a bonus to proficiency which is great for Furious Critical DC as well as maneuver and to-hit. Notable reputation offers what might be called “ribbon” abilities, so-called because they make a character look pretty and nice, but aren’t tied into game mechanics with any particular depth or affect.
Level 14 grants the 7th out of 15 Furious Critical features and an archetype or subclass feature.
Level 15 offers Prickly Mind which grants you proficiency (+5) in Wisdom Saving throws and means that you can deal proficiency bonus damage to creatures trying to charm you, which could well cause them to lose concentration on the effect they’re attempting!
Level 16 An 8th choice of Furious Critical. Another ability score increase or Feat, if you haven’t upped your Furious Critical DC with Con this could be a good time to do so. Another good bonus is that you’ll be raging up to 6 times a day, in addition you’ll be gaining 4 rage hit points as well!
Tier 4
Level 17 Hitting peak berserker! You get improved proficiency bonus, your crits are now 17+ rendering Furious Momentum moot and reducing the usable pool to 14. You know have access to 5th level combat maneuvers with an exertion pool of 12 and you also gain Reliable Might which lets you use your Strength or Constitution scores in place of check (not saving throw) results. Not terrible!
Level 18 is your final Furious Critical giving you a choice of 9 different options on your two (or three if you took polearm savant) potential crits per turn.
Level 19 Your fifth ASI and if you’ve been pursuing an attribute based build with a standard distribution, an excellent place to crown your stats with two 20s (which synergises well with Reliable Might from 17 if that’s important to you).
Level 20 Congratulations! Your rages are now unlimited! You gain +4 to both Strength and Constitution which are now capped at 24. In addition you can become a maximum of Large in size, your theoretical +5 rage hit points is a staggering +10, you grant disadvantage to saving throws versus say being knocked prone or grappled and you gain a solid d8 to Strength and Con saving throws.
The Roles of the Berserker
So, from this we can see that Berserkers perform well at surviving damage through having lots of hit points and by being difficult to ignore, this makes them excellent tanks. Whilst having access to shield proficiency, shields don’t particularly enhance the role of the berserker because a shield makes them a less tempting target and reduces the amount of damage they can cause. To really lean into their role the berserker should be pressing the attack often to make themselves a more tempting target and using a two handed weapon to offer increased damage output. Whilst the concept of a two weapon wielding berserker is iconic the loss of damage due to not having access to the two-weapon fighting fighting style is significant.
I would argue that the role of a berserker is a strategic rather than tactical one. You will often be deciding when the party engages and where the focus of the fighting will be. You’ll be focused on being too threatening to ignore and provoking opportunity attacks will be something you’ll have to be comfortable with. Hit points and rages are your major resources, so conserving these when you can is important but equally you’ll need to expend them to get things done!
To play a berserker on “easy mode” you want to lean into those things which will make you a good tank. You can also choose options to increase your “Tankiness” or to grant yourself Support or Control options. This is a skeleton of a build, you know your game best but these choices seem like they should be good in most situations I can envisage.
Assuming a standard array you probably want a stat line like:
Str 14 +1
Dex 13
Con 15 +1
Int 8
Wis 12
Cha 10
At level 1, choose juggernaut and adopt a polearm with the heavy property.
At level 2, Furious Critical: relentless attack. This stacks very well with advantage. Combat Schools: Adamant Mountain, Rapid Current. Combat Maneuvers: Swift Stance (start of the day for +5 movement), Charge
Level 3: The Tempest Way of Wrath is popular for a reason. Resistance to Lightning damage (a frequent type of spell damage) and being able to do additional Thunder damage (a rare type) with a character that specialises in crits is very useful.
Level 4: Heavy Armor Expertise feat for bonus strength and increased survivability out of rage. Pick up Catch your Breath to keep yourself in the fight longer.
Level 5: Rapid Drink as a maneuvre means that combat potions are now a bonus action for you. Consume those consumables! Your crit range expands!
Level 6: your rages now give you half cover, and you also gain resistance to thunder. Nice. Furious Criticals: relentless attack, elemental wrath. (Also quite thematic. If you’re a little short relentless is good, if you’ve got more fight go elemental wrath.)
Level 7: Pick up Reactive Knockdown to be more of a menace. For advanced Battle Defence Intelligence is a good one to sub for Constitution as there are some nasty spells out there!
Level 8: This is an excellent point to pick up Polearm Savant for those extra attacks. Furious Criticals: relentless attack, elemental wrath, knockdown strike.
Level 9: Whirlwind Strike is a great maneuver allowing you to hit up to 4 in a single round! And as a bonus action you still get your action!
Level 10: Furious Criticals: relentless attack, elemental wrath x2, knockdown strike. You can push creatures away with forceful gale.
Level 11: Unstoppable is a solid choice to keep yourself from being taken out of the fight.
Level 12: Guarded Warrior goes nicely. Now you have something guaranteed for your bonus action and reaction every turn and with a polearm the reach to enforce it. This means more attacks and thus more criticals which can be powered up by elemental wrath. Furious Criticals: relentless attack, elemental wrath x2, knockdown strike, overbearing hit. This helps you assist allies who are being attacked by enemies by potentially knocking them over if you crit, they may not have the speed to get back up again and will certainly be easier to outrun!
Level 13 First Blood because going first is why you’re playing a berserker.
Level 14 Furious Criticals: relentless attack, elemental wrath x2, knockdown strike x2, overbearing hit which will allow allow you to knock targets 15 feet away and prone. You now deal half your berserker damage in probably thunder damage to hostile creatures in 10 feet on a failed Constitution save.
Level 15: Wild Swing is a cheap way to turn a miss into another chance.
Level 16: +2 Strength, Furious Criticals: relentless attack, elemental wrath x3, knockdown strike x2, overbearing hit
Level 17: More attacks, 17+ crits, and level 5 maneuvers! World-shaking strike seems hilarious!
Level 18 Furious Criticals: relentless attack, elemental wrath x3, knockdown strike x2, overbearing hit x2 (sometimes you want to shout “Fore!” and send something flying).
Level 19 round strength to 20.
Level 20 Level 16: +2 Strength, Furious Criticals: relentless attack, elemental wrath x4, knockdown strike x2, overbearing hit.
Conclusion
It is definitely possible to build berserkers to fill roles other than tank, the obvious one being DPR, but I feel that would be something they’d struggle with because they don’t tend to have bonus damage (except on criticals, which aren’t guaranteed), and they don’t enjoy the benefits of a 3rd attack at level 11. Whilst finer minds than mine will doubtless find it trivial, I feel I would struggle to create a convincing Berserker Face, Travel Facilitator or Support. Control is definitely the best supported with a lot of knocking prone and flinging around. I’m certainly advocating for some “stickiness” with the opportunity attacks and increased reach allowing the Berserker to be where they wish to be, the whirling maelstrom at the heart of a good combat.
I am a little disappointed by the anti-synergy of trying to build a “dex” barbarian due to how Furious Critical is written, but I’m sure there will be a subclass along in a minute to address this. The lack of two-weapon fighting is also a bit saddening (although with judicious grabbing of dual-wielding expert at level 4, you can use the versatile part of Furious Critical still, but won’t gain your Strength bonus to damage from the off-hand attacks which feels like a problem even with the boost to this fighting style in A5e).
Still, on the whole, “numbers go brrr” as the saying goes and whilst you’ll use combat maneuvers less than I would anticipate, you’ll probably have a good time with this class. A major surprise to me was how many Rapid Current maneuvers I chose. Initially I envisaged rather more Adamant Mountain but when I was making the choices Rapid Current kept being the one I’d go to first.
If you thought this essay was nifty feel free to grab a copy of the Dragonfly Titan or another book. Happy gaming!
