Berserker vs Spellbreaker in pve - pros n cons?

[Terimac.5871]

Hey,

 

So i finally have enough points to unlock either zerker or SB. I've tried both specs in heart of the mists, but i'd like to hear your thoughts as well :)

 

And as a side question, besides their effectiveness in pve, which one has the biggest fun factor?

[Oglaf.1074]

Depends on what you qualify as PvE. Spellbreaker is fun enough to mess about in open world and stuff, but as a PvP centric spec it aint ever going to be raid viable or anything.

[Aninika.6819]

SB is waaaaaay more fun; I actually play my warrior now because of it. Not the best dps but not horrible either (I mean it will definitely not find a place in raids). Zerker is boring imo.

[Red Haired Savage.5430]

For pure damage berserker is better. For group support both are fairly easy to do their role that everyone wants them to do (Phalanx Strength), SB is probably a little easier to do the PS build on, but it doesn't have the power that a berserker has. In open PvE SB probably has a little more survivability, you can proc adrenal health and cleansing ire allot more often with SB than with berserker. As far as a fun factor I enjoy SB allot more than my berserker (but then again I dislike my condi builds).

[MaxwellM.2075]

Yeah no one will let us raid with SB but you could run SBPS and do moderate damage reliability with it if they’d let you.

[Purecura.1795]

Then im not gonna raid.... I should be able to play what I want in a raid setting

[Darkhydrox.8560]

> @Purecura.1795 said:

> Then im not gonna raid.... I should be able to play what I want in a raid setting

 

You can. Just not with folks who only want meta. Find a guild that isn't so rigid about those things.

[tongpo.3184]

Its not much of a thought really. Spellbreakers are unplayable in high end pve. Period. They have one of the lowest dps's and offers nothing to the group. Its a pure pvp spec and it was intended to be that way. You would need to be playing with pretty geared and experienced friends that don't mind dragging your butt through high fractals or raids, but no serious guild or group will take a Spellbreaker as they are beyond useless. The only thing that a Spellbreaker brings; a Chrono can do it while providing better buffs and better dps. Spellbreakers are a menace in pvp though.

 

Berserker's are still required for most raid comps. However, you will be locked into playing condi - longbow into a torch off hand swap. Until they revert or buff back some power changes, Berserkers don't feel very berserkery or warriory in pve. I am not even sure how to describe it. Assume this is the movie Braveheart. You would be one of the archer dudes that lights the battle field on fire, whereas being a Warrior, you would assume you were William Wallace charging up the middle. But nope, you are the nameless fire arrow guy in the back.

[tongpo.3184]

> @Purecura.1795 said:

> Then im not gonna raid.... I should be able to play what I want in a raid setting

 

Thats the exact opposite mentality for a raid and you should never raid (nor will you ever be invited to one anyways). Raiding isn't a solo activity, its focused around teamwork. Teamwork involves playing the correct spec, playing that spec correctly, having consumables, and reading up on boss mechanics. When you don't optimize or prepare, you bring weight down your group and they have to compensate for you.

 

For low level fractals and dungeon, pvp, wvw, etc... you can do whatever you want because it doesn't really matter. But optimizing does matter in a raid. Don't expect others compensate for your unwillingness to cooperate in a team setting.

[Oldirtbeard.9834]

For low level Fractals, Open World, and Dungeons what does a better job at utility for PS Berserker or Spell Breaker and if SB what weapons do you recommend Dagger a 2 and Great Sword?

[starlinvf.1358]

> @tongpo.3184 said:

> Its not much of a thought really. Spellbreakers are unplayable in high end pve. Period. They have one of the lowest dps's and offers nothing to the group. Its a pure pvp spec and it was intended to be that way. You would need to be playing with pretty geared and experienced friends that don't mind dragging your butt through high fractals or raids, but no serious guild or group will take a Spellbreaker as they are beyond useless. The only thing that a Spellbreaker brings; a Chrono can do it while providing better buffs and better dps. Spellbreakers are a menace in pvp though.

>

> Berserker's are still required for most raid comps. However, you will be locked into playing condi - longbow into a torch off hand swap. Until they revert or buff back some power changes, Berserkers don't feel very berserkery or warriory in pve. I am not even sure how to describe it. Assume this is the movie Braveheart. You would be one of the archer dudes that lights the battle field on fire, whereas being a Warrior, you would assume you were William Wallace charging up the middle. But nope, you are the nameless fire arrow guy in the back.

 

And watch as that line thought turn 180 when Boon strip gets added as a mandatory mechanic for a Wing. Suddenly SB and Scourge have a clear role the way ChronoTank and Druid (other non-DPS specs) found their way into the Meta. Or have you forgotten the Revenant/Facet of Nature time line already?

[Mikeskies.1536]

> @starlinvf.1358 said:

> > @tongpo.3184 said:

> > Its not much of a thought really. Spellbreakers are unplayable in high end pve. Period. They have one of the lowest dps's and offers nothing to the group. Its a pure pvp spec and it was intended to be that way. You would need to be playing with pretty geared and experienced friends that don't mind dragging your butt through high fractals or raids, but no serious guild or group will take a Spellbreaker as they are beyond useless. The only thing that a Spellbreaker brings; a Chrono can do it while providing better buffs and better dps. Spellbreakers are a menace in pvp though.

> >

> > Berserker's are still required for most raid comps. However, you will be locked into playing condi - longbow into a torch off hand swap. Until they revert or buff back some power changes, Berserkers don't feel very berserkery or warriory in pve. I am not even sure how to describe it. Assume this is the movie Braveheart. You would be one of the archer dudes that lights the battle field on fire, whereas being a Warrior, you would assume you were William Wallace charging up the middle. But nope, you are the nameless fire arrow guy in the back.

>

> And watch as that line thought turn 180 when Boon strip gets added as a mandatory mechanic for a Wing. Suddenly SB and Scourge have a clear role the way ChronoTank and Druid (other non-DPS specs) found their way into the Meta. Or have you forgotten the Revenant/Facet of Nature time line already?

 

But Chronomancers already remove boons on Sword autoattack.

[starlinvf.1358]

> @Mikeskies.1536 said:

> > @starlinvf.1358 said:

> > > @tongpo.3184 said:

> > > Its not much of a thought really. Spellbreakers are unplayable in high end pve. Period. They have one of the lowest dps's and offers nothing to the group. Its a pure pvp spec and it was intended to be that way. You would need to be playing with pretty geared and experienced friends that don't mind dragging your butt through high fractals or raids, but no serious guild or group will take a Spellbreaker as they are beyond useless. The only thing that a Spellbreaker brings; a Chrono can do it while providing better buffs and better dps. Spellbreakers are a menace in pvp though.

> > >

> > > Berserker's are still required for most raid comps. However, you will be locked into playing condi - longbow into a torch off hand swap. Until they revert or buff back some power changes, Berserkers don't feel very berserkery or warriory in pve. I am not even sure how to describe it. Assume this is the movie Braveheart. You would be one of the archer dudes that lights the battle field on fire, whereas being a Warrior, you would assume you were William Wallace charging up the middle. But nope, you are the nameless fire arrow guy in the back.

> >

> > And watch as that line thought turn 180 when Boon strip gets added as a mandatory mechanic for a Wing. Suddenly SB and Scourge have a clear role the way ChronoTank and Druid (other non-DPS specs) found their way into the Meta. Or have you forgotten the Revenant/Facet of Nature time line already?

>

> But Chronomancers already remove boons on Sword autoattack.

 

Which is fine at the rate boons stack for HOT Raids. If you look at the Especs themselves, their theory is a massive overcompensation to combat a meta in WvW game mode. However, the Raid team also likes to dismantle the meta everytime they add a new wing.... but certain constants were created due to functional gaps in the Roles that could be supported. HOT Raids were designed with their Especs in mind; which is why only a few builds using pure Core managed to make it into the meta.... and mostly due to a side effect of something basic being over tuned (like burning). Now we have a new expansion, and a new set of Roles to design raids around. The Logical direction here is to design encounters which utilize the strengths of the new Especs, thus justifying their addition with the expansion. This is even more important now, because HOT isn't a per-requsite to POF.... so it can't be expected for all players to have HOT Especs in their arsenal.

 

So it now boils down to what their design doctrine for POF raids is going to be. HOT raids were largely DPS focused, as many of the Especs were DPS oriented (and if you look at the 3 Support Especs, all of them have group DPS buffs). We figured out how to Cheese the Raids with over the top DPS; and as the Wings progressed, more effort was put into dividing attention so its not a pure "Stack and Whack". With POF's Especs, many of the roles are shuffled, and 2 new roles were created for Boon Corruption and Group Condition buffing. Theres also isn't a dedicated tank in this line up; and I can only speculate as to why.....

[Aceofsppades.6873]

> @starlinvf.1358 said:

> > @tongpo.3184 said:

> > Its not much of a thought really. Spellbreakers are unplayable in high end pve. Period. They have one of the lowest dps's and offers nothing to the group. Its a pure pvp spec and it was intended to be that way. You would need to be playing with pretty geared and experienced friends that don't mind dragging your butt through high fractals or raids, but no serious guild or group will take a Spellbreaker as they are beyond useless. The only thing that a Spellbreaker brings; a Chrono can do it while providing better buffs and better dps. Spellbreakers are a menace in pvp though.

> >

> > Berserker's are still required for most raid comps. However, you will be locked into playing condi - longbow into a torch off hand swap. Until they revert or buff back some power changes, Berserkers don't feel very berserkery or warriory in pve. I am not even sure how to describe it. Assume this is the movie Braveheart. You would be one of the archer dudes that lights the battle field on fire, whereas being a Warrior, you would assume you were William Wallace charging up the middle. But nope, you are the nameless fire arrow guy in the back.

>

> And watch as that line thought turn 180 when Boon strip gets added as a mandatory mechanic for a Wing. Suddenly SB and Scourge have a clear role the way ChronoTank and Druid (other non-DPS specs) found their way into the Meta. Or have you forgotten the Revenant/Facet of Nature time line already?

 

As things are right now scourge is much better than spellbreaker for boonstrip in pve.