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Berserker PvP Skill Tree Guide
By Positiveputty
An introduction to berserker skills and an optimal look at how to skill yours!
   
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Berserker Introduction - Why play berseker?
Berserkers are a strong pvp class with good options to approach other classes and deal high damage quickly.

Pros:
  • High damage combos
  • Walking Super Armor buff
  • Quick and long range approach options
  • Guard option
  • Mana costs are low enough so that you generally dont need to worry about mana in pvp.

Cons:
  • Long cooldowns on skills
  • Guard doesnt work on magic
  • Air escape option isn't so great compared to other classes
  • Reliant on stun, which can be painful if the stun is resisted

Next I will discuss which skills are useful to max out and why. Note that my build posted is hybrid for dungeoning and PvP, but I will list suggestions to optimize it more for PvP.
Active Skills
For starters, I recommend picking up at least 1 point in every skill (except the level 40 skill 'Crazy Impact' and the team dungeon skill 'Advent of the Predecessor'), as they are generally useful in some way as a Skeleton Build. Do note that every skillup increases the mana cost as well as the damage. While i did list that mana is not *generally* a concern, it can be if you max out a skill and spam it. For that reason, unless you are specifically using the skill as a finisher to a combo (for more damage) or you want more utility from it (such as reduced cooldown or more movement), you should keep the skill at its base level or whatever is necessary as pre-req to another skill.
Underlined and Star'd (* *) skills are what i recommend maxxing.

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Slash - Recommend Rank 1, 10 or Max - an integral skill to juggling and standing combos. The third slash you can get at rank 10 is not particularly useful and upgrading the skill dramatically increases the mana cost, so i dont recommend investing more points in it, but maybe you might like it.

Jump Upper Kick - Recommend Rank 2 (Pre-req) - You need 2 points as a pre-req for 'Butterfly' which is an incredible skill to have. Beyond that, it launches plenty high at rank 2 already, so you dont really need to invest more points into it.

*Fast Evasion* - Recommend Max - Dramatically lowers the cooldown to 2 seconds. Can cancel just about anything to safety with this.

*Destruction* - Recommend Rank 4 or Max - A very strong combo finisher especially alongside 'Extreme Destruction'. I max this to squeeze out more damage at the end of my ideal combo. You defininitely want *at least* 4 points in it so you can pick up 'Wave' and 'Extreme Destruction'.

Double Hit - Recommend Rank 2 (Pre-req) - An OK grab that i never use because 'Double Impress' is just a better grab (longer range) on the same cooldown. Need Rank 2 to get 'Double Impress' though.

Butterfly - Recommend Rank 1 - Extremely high priority approach option with a large y-axis hitbox and also very good for juggling and punishing escapes. No need for more ranks in it however. Do note there are 2 variations in how you use the skill. The "Down+Z" version is generally better in every situation as it extends juggling (and can relaunch downed enemies -- after a double impress notably works well). Depending on where you are hitting, it may sometimes be better to not attempt the 2nd hit and just wait to land and go into High Smash.

*Slide* - Recommend Max - Lowers the cooldown. Very useful with 'Link Sliding' which allows you to quickly roam accross the screen and followup with another skill such as butterfly, rolling attack, crimson screw, etc..

High Smash - Recommend Rank 3 (Pre-req) - Extremely integral skill for juggling. One of the few skills you have that can launch from the ground. Note that there is NO super armor in PvP on this skill so there is no reason to max it, but you do need 3 points for 'Rolling Attack'

Down Kick - Recommend Rank 3 (Pre-req) - Extremely integral for Stun reset. You need 3 points to unlock 'Crazy Down Kick' which allows you to charge Down Kick for a stun. Hits on the ground.

*Weapon Guard* - Recommend Rank 2 or Max - Very useful for punishing others or just saving yoursefl from some damage. Max for cooldown reduction or at least rank 2 to pick up 'Guard Slash'. Note that you CANNOT cancel into *anything* but 'Guard Slash' once you are in guard animation.

Advent of the Predecessor - Recommend NONE - Dungeon only skill.... dont bother

Wave - Recommend Rank 1 - Extremely good poke option. I dont recommend maxing it because it increases the mana cost and you will be spamming this a lot. Easy follow-up with 'Down Spike' if hit from afar or just about anything if hits close.

Shoulder Charge - Recommend Rank 3 (Pre-req) - Strong Super Armor and quick activation. Clunky skill overall however... difficult to use and the 2nd part to it is even clunkier. Still need 3 points as a pre-req to 'Crimson Screw'. The Link option in buffs/passives is certianly optional, but useful if you can get accustomed to the skill as linking often trasnitions the super armor into your next skill a little bit. Its generally your go-to skill at the start of a round. Also useful as escape if 'Slide' is on cooldown.

*Reverse Attack* - Recommend Max - Reduces cooldown with rank. This is your air escape. Use it with caution (so as not to waste the cooldown, as it can be punished) but as often as possible to reduce combo damage on yourself.

Down Spike - Recommend Rank 1 - Extremely strong approach option or follow-up to any knockdown. Will force them to sit on the ground an additional ~3 seconds after hitting giving you plenty of time to charge 'Crazy Down Kick' for a stun. Or you can launch with 'High Smash'.

*Rolling Attack* - Recommend Max - Your best approach option when your Super Armor buff is available. Very strong approach option without it too. Very long cooldown however, so try to make it count. Do note that there is NO super armor on the base skill for PvP. As a hidden bonus, Maxing this out will allow dramatically more freedom in how you move in the y-axis while using it, so you definitely want to rank it up.
Active Skills (Part 2)
Double Impress - Recommend Rank 1 or Max - The better grab available to you. More reach than 'Double Hit' and it looks cooler. Can be used as an approach option but more as a punish to some kind of area of effect skill that was used, such as Shooter's 'Rain Bow' or the Crusader's lightning circle. Can be used as a combo finisher (flowing Downward Crash after it), making it a good option to max.

*Jump Cancel* - Recommend Rank 1 or Max - Ranks reduce cooldown. Can be used to keep yourself safe if 'Fast Evasion' is on cooldown or to cancel other skills into 'Air Slash'

Rider Boom - Recommend Rank 1 - Extremely useful poke option just like 'Wave'. No need to invest more points into it because you arent expecting to use it for damage typically. Can be used in clever ways alongside other skills after 'Fast Evasion' to swing the return of the boomerang. Can follow-up with Down Spike if it hits into a high damage combo. Also can be used in juggle if jump cancel is available and you are against a wall... leaves an active hitbox if you are expecting them to use an air escape.

*Downward Crash* - Recommend Max - At Rank 1, its fairly quesitonable use. Similar to 'Rolling Attack', as a hidden bonus when maxed it allows greater freedom in movement and becomes far more useful as an approach option. This skill hits on the ground and will launch from the ground as well, but it takes a while to travel so its unlikely to launch in general. Very good for Oki.

Guard Slash - Recommend Rank 1 - Very useful counter blow after guarding something. This skill is the only cancel option after guarding something and you can 'Fast Evasion' or 'Jump Cancel' out of 'Guard Slash'. Unfortunately a difficult skill to follow-up with... if you are lucky enough to have it hit. the hitbox swings you forward, so you often swing past what you guarded. Maxing out massively increases the damage, but its fairly situational and it honestly doesnt quite hit the mark most of the time.

Grip Slash - Recommend Rank 1 - Good damage for standing combo... the range can be fairly awkward however. If slash is hitting on the edge, Grip Slash will often not reach its target, leaving you vulnerable. The skill itself doesnt provide enough hitstun to be safe if it doesnt stun as well, so be prepared to Jump Cancel or Fast Evasion if you dont see dizzy. Note that the stun duration is only increased for dungeoning and not for PvP. Can also be used in a juggle if you time it properly to try for a stun.

Crimson Screw - Recommend Rank 1 - Extremely strong approach option, especially alongside 'Slide Linking' and Super Armor buff. Skill does plenty damage as it is, so no need for more ranks.

*Extreme Destruction* - Recommend Rank 1 or Max - Strong finisher to combo. Hits on the ground. A good choice to max if you are also maxing 'Destruction'.

Crazy Impact - Recommend NONE or Rank 1 or 2 (Pre-req)- Unfortunately really clunky, low damage, and high mana. Not very useful. It can be surprising because it is super armored but shoulder charge is generally more useful because there is no startup delay. Better left untouched IMO, but rank 1 if you want the option to use it, or Rank 2 as a pre-req to the ultimate skill.

Air Slash - Recommend Rank 1 or Max - Your follow-up to any jump cancel in a combo, generally. Generally stuffs air escapes quickly or at least delays someone wanting to use one. A fairly large hitbox as well so it can be an interesting approach option. Also very high damage which can be important if you are trying to squeeze out damage before an air escape.

Pierce Fire - Recommend Rank 1 or Max - Long cooldown and fairly awkward use, but its got a MASSIVE hitbox and the damage is very high... and it applies a nice burning damage debuff as well if it hits. You'll want to make sure Down Spike is available to follow-up with before you use it, generally... as it blows your opponent WAYYY away. Its a very interesting poke/approach option. Max it for the poke damage (which alongside the burn, can be very significant). I find the best time to use is when you have Tough Body buff active and are chasing folks into a corner... or as an Oki.
Buff/Passive Skills
This side of the skill tree is a lot more subjective. Yes there are obvious skills to grab such as 'Tough Body', but others are more up to you. I suggest you deal with your Active skill tree first and dump your leftover points into some of the more optional buffs/skills afterwards.
Underlined and Star'd (* *) skills are good options that I recommend maxxing.
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*Human Character* - Recommend NONE or Max - More HP is definitely good, but it doesnt end up being very much as it is not very efficient per point. Still an OK option to max.

*Spirit of Warrior* - Recommend NONE, Rank 1 or Max - More attack and Defense.. solid stats, but not the most efficient per point... note Rank 1 is the most efficient AP investment. Still an OK option to max.

*Link Slash* - Recommend NONE or Max - Allows you to Link any other skill after the 1st slash (only). Useful to have available and only costs 1 point. Do note you can always 'Jump Cancel' or 'Fast Evasion' or 'Weapon Guard' or 'Grip Slash' without this anyways.

*Strong Body* - Recommend NONE, Rank 2 (Pre-req) or Max - More HP, goes up to ~5000 which is definitely good. if you are maxxing remember you need to find time to cast it without getting punished at the start of the match... and then for it to have been useful it needs to expire with you having less HP than the buff provides (otherwise it did nothing) which is the problem with it mainly. Note you need 2 Ranks as a pre-req for Strong Arm if you plan to go that route.

Cavala's Sweeping Hit - Recommend NONE - Dash Attack isnt used very much in general and this doesnt make it much better. It can be an interesting poke/approach option especially at the start of a round, but I don't see a reason to max it.

*Link Sliding* - Recommend Max - Extremely useful to flow into other skills especially with 'Tough Body' super armor buff active. Notably the hail mary Crimson Screw and Rolling Attack when linking them with sliding offscreen to your opponent.

Strong Arm - Recommend NONE or Max - Not entirely useful because combos have a damage cap and the duration is short. it is useful when you can do a high damage finisher in your combo (such as Destruction) with this active... but that is fairly situational because there is very little time between the cast, catching someone, and also combo'ing them. It does add a huge chunk of damage if you can manage to fit it in between your combo (notably after a stun) so it is worth maxing if you can make a routine out of it.

*Heavy Armor Mastery (All 3 parts)* - Recommend NONE or Max - More Defense to reduce damage, but combos have a damage cap already so this just puts more pressure on your opponent to actually finish their combos or do high damage before a break. A good option to max for that reason though... but it is very costly in AP to do so, so make sure you arent losing out on anything important.

Link Down Kick - Recommend NONE or Max - Even the tooltip states it.... not useful for a Berserker in general. You want 'Crazy Down Kick'. HOWEVER it only costs 1 point and sometimes you arent aiming for the stun and you are just aiming to finish someone off with hits on the ground... so its useful there.

*Cry of Warrior* - Recommend Max - Very large PBAoE Stun. Extremely useful with 'Tough Body' super armor buff active when chasing people into a corner or just as a counter to folks running at you. Max to increase stun duration.

*Crazy Down Kick* - Recommend Max - Integral part of your combos. Charge 'Down Kick' to stun. Do note that it is not resetting your damage cap per combo... just forcing them to a standing position while in the dizzy state. Unfortunately puts you at risk when the stun gets resisted, however.

*Link Shoulder Charge* - Recommend None or Max - Useful if you like 'Shoulder Charge' and it only costs 1 point. Can often carry over the super armor of Shoulder Charge into the skill you are linking making for some interesting approach options.

*Exciting* - Recommend NONE or Max - Speeds up your skills for a duration, very useful for catching people. Also adds critical chance which is nice.

*Long Sword Mastery* - Recommend NONE, Rank 1, or Max - More damage... combos have a damage cap, but this will make your finisher hurt a little more, so it is useful like that. Note Rank 1 is the most efficient AP investment.

*Forestallment* - Recommend NONE, Rank 1 or Max - Shorter duration and similar speed buff to 'Exciting'. Speeds up your skills which is useful for catching people. Can stack or rotate with 'Exciting'. Also has a large PBAoE hitbox similar to Cry of Warrior making it useful to catch foiks with the hitstun of it.

*Blood Drive* - Recommend Max - Makes you extremely fast when you get low HP. Defnitely grab this.

******Tough Body****** - Recommend Max - Walking Super armor. A staple skill for the class. A defining skill of the class. Max this to increase duration and use this at every opportunity to put massive pressure on your opponent.

Absolute Cry - Recommend NONE, Rank 1, or Max - More break chance for a low duration. Not very useful because the duration is so low. It is also very random whether or not it is actually doing anything for you. Still an OK option to max so you can try to swing things for you with the random break factor. Note Rank 1 is the most efficient AP investment, but i feel like you should be going all-in if you want to consider using this skill at all.

*Explosion of Fury* - Recommend Max - Makes you extremely fast for 10 seconds. On top of Blood Drive (which is generally active when burst mode is available), this buff makes you scary fast. If 'Tough Body' is available as well, it makes you extremely difficult to deal with for that duration. Note that it can be difficult finding space and time to buff yourself with it that late in the round, but it is well worth it if you can manage.