RaiderZ Defender/Berserker Hybrid Build Guide

RaiderZ Defender/Berserker Hybrid Build Guide by lokit13

I know that this hyrbid class gets hated on alot because of they have no “weapon synergy’ within the hyrbidization. However, with the weapon switch this concept isn’t that hard to work around.

Before we start let’s try to keep this thread to a flame minimum? Lets try to cut out the “Def/Zerk don’t work noob” comments out of this.

So from what I’ve gathered so far the following are pros of this hybridization:

-Versatility
simply by switching the weapons you can instantly change your role on the team from dps to tank or vice versa. Since each party has 5 slots and there’s only 4 ways to “pure build’ a class, you don’t have to worry so much about not doing your job right since another party member cna pick up for the slack of your weakened dps or weakened tanking

-Easy Early Levels/ Solo training
Starting off at the early levels most of the leveling process is easy in general but having the extra damage you deal as a zerk when fighting mobs and the impenetrable blocking of a defender when fighting bosses, life becomes much much easier.

-PVP versatility
I personally don’t pvp much so this isn’t my forte but from what I’ve seen defenders usually have a little trouble when it comes to being kited which can be helped when swapping to zerk for the charging strike to close gap and then switch back to defender if you want to drag the fight longer.

-Street Cred
You’re Defender + Zerk Hyrbid… nuff said

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Now the issues which they face are pretty obvious.

1) Within closed beta limited to only 30points which are limiting since getting bastion (Must have imo) is a 21 point investment to begin with.

2) Because you need weapon swaps it also means you’ll be spending alot of your points in the passive masteries of the two classes which means you don’t have as fun actives to play with (also really hard to manage when you’re stuck to only 30 points)

3) Defs and Zerks have an obvious play-style contradiction since one is meant to stand and take a beating while Zerks want to dish the damage but be evasive at the same time. It takes a bit of skill and discipline to be able to jump between play styles at a whim (can also be seen as a Pro though if you like that kind of gaming experience)

4) Expensive. When it comes to gear alone you’ll be forced to farm almost double because your weapon set will require 2 boss drop only mats (1 for shield, 1 for weapon of choice), and then after your 2hander will also require 2 boss drop only mats. Armor wise might also have the same issue but majority of the time i’d assume you’re aiming for plate for the def even as a zerker but that’s personal choice. The fact you can’t change armor with 1 button though means you’re usually only making 1 set to use.

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From what i can see so far the major skills you want to reach on the defender tree are the following:

1) Penetrating Strike (10 points to unlock)
I seems viable to pop PS and then switch back to zerk to do that extra damage since you lower their armor

2) Bastion (15 point to unlock)
Crucial when PVE to block that 1 charge skill to save your life. You can see it coming if you know the mannerisms of the boss that you can switch weps (about 1.2 – 1.5seconds) to make it worth your while

3) Resilience (20 point to unlock)
In closed beta I wouldn’t suggest reaching this far down the def skill tree because it’s really taxing on your 30 point limit. However in OB that’s a different question because even with 1 point this skill would be amazing to hep avoid the stamina drain which comes from hybriding 2 stam classes

4) Shield Smash (20 point to unlock)
Same reasoning as Resilience, however this generates aggro which seems pretty big imo

I’m going to leave out the tier 5 skills because it’s pretty obvious that you can’t reach 26 points in and then put 4 into zerk and expect any payout but might changed depending on OB level cap.

I have no experience with Zerkers so i can’t comment on their must haves
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So now that we have the basics lets get into the discussion!

Atm I’m training as a pure defender and I’m contemplating if i should even go this hybrid in Closed Beta with the level cap being so low since it’s really hard to hit the bread and butters to optimize this path.

Is anybody trying the Def/Zerk hyrbid atm? And if so how are you skilling your points? and comments on how it’s going so far?

Do you think that “Fortifying shout” from the def tree is worth the investment?
15% bonus on stamina regeneration seems to be really big plus when running 2 stamina intensive classes (or atleast on paper it does).

CBT build 1 – 16 Def/14 Zerk
This build allows you to get Bastion from the Defender tree and essentially means that you can take on any boss without having to worry about charge attacks. This is heavy Defender preference is more of a personal deal for those who either have a party of sufficient dps and want to focus more on the tanking side, or those who just prefer to fight most bosses with the ability to stay blocking.

Defender
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2…x/2fd01c72.png
Zerker
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2…x/df650ab0.png

CBT build 2 – 13 Def/17 Zerk
This build maximizes the efficiency of your Zerk tree by getting he enrage duration bonus on tier 3 mastery. The 3 points near the end of the Def tree in this case highlight the most cruicial skills, 1) being the stun, 2) being piercing strike (only debuff that reduces by armor %), and 3) stamina shout because this hybrid is very stamina intensive. This build would requires you to do most of the boss fighting in Zerk form optimizing your potential damage which is usually encouraged since there aren’t many bosses where even a pure Defender can “hold aggro” since they mostly attack at will and have random targets. This play style assumes you are adept to playing zerker though since it is a lot harder to dodge skills than it is to block them. However the points into Defender can be used to manage the mobs pre-boss fight or even under certain situations there are bosses that are just easier to deal with as a defender (ie. Cata boss imo).

Defender
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2…x/49520a4f.png
Zerker
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2…x/cb50e5c2.png

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The builds provided are simply skeleton builds created through theory crafting and based on personal experience so if you have certain preferences to different skills or skill distributions please adjust accordingly and post a reply to extend the discussion = )

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“Open Beta has 35 Skill points!”
So judging by rumors the 35 skill point cap seems to be the general consensus due to the preset tht was given by the Korea skill simulator. Sooo what to do with those 5 points? Well here are my suggested options!

If you went CBT Build 1…

1) Defender Biased
– 1 Point into Slam (level 1 Slam)
Overall it replaced the use of Massive Strike
– 1 point into Chaos Strike (Level 1 CS)
Chain combo with piercing is really safe way to poke out damage without risking much aggressive return
– 1 point into Piercing Strike (level 2 PS)
Ups the armor reduction on the debuff which is universally good! Maxing this skill is awesome IMO
– 1 point into “Rapid Assault”/”Fortifying Shout”/Preference
This one point is simply to get you to the next tier. I prefer CA because of the extra .5 seconds of stun being a big part of pvp, but stamina shout for those who aren’t the best at managing their skill rotations. Or lastly it could be purely preference on which your favorite skill is!
– 1 point into Shield slam
This skill is the only aggro generator in the defender’s arsenal and is definitely worth the 5 point investment if you feel you are more likely to play the Defender role than the Zerker one.

Zerker Biased
– 1 point into Crush (Level 3 Crush)
Lvl 3 crush can not be blocked. nuff said
– 1 point into Nocturne/Preference (level 2 Nocturne)
+60% damage and also mainly just cause nocturne is badass! Favorite skill XD even if it’s kinda slow, but if you really don’t like nocturne this point can also go into w.e skill of preference
– 1 point into Crush (Level 4 Crush) or Upward Slash
This is dependant on your control of the skill. I personally haven’t mastered so I prefer to just up my dsp mainly also cause I’m pve oriented so using crush is one of my man skills
– 2 points into Neutralize (Max level Neutralize) or 1 upward slash, 1 neutralize (lvl 2 neutralize)
This is one of my favorite skills because it makes mobbing safe if you simply run around in a circle and kite the mob with a quick neutralize into evasion slash combo and then rinse and repeat so uping it’s damage will provide a bigger hit. However you can also split these points into getting 1 point into upward slash and 1 point into neutralize if you really are fond of the skill.