Berserking or aim head?

[Wyildarren]

So I've been working on berserk ranks in the guild, it's definitly getting easier and is tons of fun, but my question is; As I progress in level will I hit a wall at some point where I'll have to hit each critter each time to kill it? If that is the case would it not be more effective to try to aim for the head for quicker kills?

I use a mattock if that make any difference.

[Menos]

Even the biggest and baddest things will bleed out from a few mattock berserk rounds. Of course, as a warrior, no reason not to train for both. 2x CM and 1xish ambush should aim a mattock just fine and will not impair your berserk ability.

[JHarris]

It depends on your play style. The higher level you get, the more ability things will have to turtle and cast really devastating spells, though. It can be pretty frustrating to enter a berserk and see a sorcerer walk in the room knowing you still have 8 rounds of swinging at him before you can break it. If he is in defensive and has spells up, he then has 8 rounds to implode you. Thus, you have to be a little more careful at higher levels unless you are completely confident that your AS will overcome anything's DS even turtled.

Aiming for the head after a maneuver with a big weapon tends to be a pretty fast kill. Its good to be able to do both at different times - I've found that you can be far more effective as a warrior if you can be flexible in how you approach different situations. This means working up your warcries as you'll find stuff later game that you can't feint or tackle well (Triton Radicals come to mind - you really don't want to wait for them to swing since they can cast some nasty spells.)

[Androidpk]

Ask Khariz if he thinks berserk is viable at cap.

[Buckwheet]

You rage across the battlefield, striking with unrelenting fury!
You swing a massive iron-bound mattock at a half-elven thug!
AS: +467 vs DS: +340 with AvD: +53 + d100 roll: +96 = +276
... and hit for 63 points of damage!
Internal organs bruised.
The half-elven thug is stunned!
Pearly light flares up suddenly from within you, lending strength and focus to your attack!
You swing a massive iron-bound mattock at a half-elven rogue!
AS: +482 vs DS: +360 with AvD: +53 + d100 roll: +17 = +192
... and hit for 30 points of damage!
Finger ripped away from left hand.
You swing a massive iron-bound mattock at a human marauder!
AS: +467 vs DS: +255 with AvD: +36 + d100 roll: +74 = +322
... and hit for 148 points of damage!
Massive blow punches a hole through the human marauder's chest!
The human marauder rolls over and dies.
You swing a massive iron-bound mattock at a half-elven thief!
AS: +467 vs DS: +271 with AvD: +53 + d100 roll: +17 = +266
... and hit for 71 points of damage!
Knocked sideways several feet by blow to back.

I think I would have been better off aiming for the head.

[Archigeek]

Depends on the situation. I use both, but almost never berserk during regular hunting. Most of the time when I berserk it's while doing bandits.

[Loyrl]

I usually aim for the head, I only berserk for bandits, and to get out of things. Although I have berserked in plane5, and in nelemar only a few times when I broke out of my stun with out berserk.

[Valyss]

They're both excellent tools to have in the toolbox, and nothing about one precludes using the other. I find myself using both quite frequently in a single hunt-- feint + ambush on dangerous casters, single target berserk on meaty mobs that don't stun or crit, multiple target berserk to stun and clear a room quickly, etc. Bandits alone are a sufficient reason to berserk, not to mention breaking stuns and binds- which will happen a lot as you get up there.

Someone in the thread suggested that 2x CM + 1x ambush was fine, but in my experience that's actually overkill. I made due just fine with 2x CM + 25 ranks ambush up until level 85, although I recently upgraded to 40 ranks.

[Androidpk]

Someone in the thread suggested that 2x CM + 1x ambush was fine, but in my experience that's actually overkill. I made due just fine with 2x CM + 25 ranks ambush up until level 85, although I recently upgraded to 40 ranks.

You still mauling?

[Valyss]

yep! so my experience should be very similar to the original poster, since mauls and mattocks are mechanically almost identical

[Mohrgan]

I'll throw my hat in for the "both" opinion.

Berserk is a lot of fun, yes, and it is good for keeping crowds of critters stunned at the same time...it's actually one of the only options warriors have to keep multiple things immolbilized. The warcry <all> only works a few times before you blow your vocal cords. But ambush <critter> head is often faster and SAFER if you are only dealing with one or two.

At lower levels (I mean, anywhere below High Lord at least) you can really just berserk with impunity and not be "too" worried about dying. But berserking in the wrong hunting ground can be a good way to get yourself killed.

If you are already 2xing CMAN, just use some extra points to get yourself up around 24 ranks of Ambush. That's where I am at cap, and I have no trouble braining things I want to brain. For open aiming, IMO, 1x is way way way way overkill.

The other benefit of being able to aim your shotsthat hasn't been mentioned, I think, is if you want to be able to skin things, so you don't hit the wrong spot and ruin the skin, which is key for being able to do the skinning bounties, if you're into that.

[Sam]

I was 2x CM and 40 ranks of Ambush from 60ish to 100. I can only guess, but I figure i hit what I was aiming for about 80% of the time.

I've since dropped all ambush ranks and haven't noticed much of a difference, though I really don't aim or berserk all that often.

I'll berserk doing bandits if I'm solo and not near wasp nests, and I still can't resist the urge to berserk in camps on occasion despite the fact that it gets me imploded probably 1 in 10 times.

If you train a lot in MOC, berserk will tear through most things. The biggest trouble with berserk is missing loot (if you care about that) and depending on where you're hunting, undead.. Depending on your level, it can be challenging to find hunting areas that are undead free, and there's nothing worse than starting a berserk only to have a banshee walk in. Except maybe berserking barehanded.

[bremerial]

The biggest trouble with berserk is .... undead.. Depending on your level, it can be challenging to find hunting areas that are undead free, and there's nothing worse than starting a berserk only to have a banshee walk in. Except maybe berserking barehanded.

Amen to that. Most of my deaths have been berserking in a crowd of radicals when a defender comes in. And on the one occasion I did that putting away my claid and using a flail, the bless on the flail ran out mid defender entry.:yes:

But berserk is fun in the extreme. I wouldn't be without that tool in my toolbox.