A new Essential Fighter: the Berserker

[Thorvald_Grimbjorn]

Hi there! Please, feel free to critique! All comments are much appreciated.

BERSERKER

CLASS TRAITS:
Role: Striker.
Power Source: Martial/Primal.

Armor Proficiencies: Cloth, Leather, Hide, Chainmail.
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple Melee, Military Melee, Simple Ranged.
Bonus to Defense: +2 Fortitude.

Hit Points at 1st Level: 17 + Constitution score.
Hit Points per Level Gained: 7.
Healing Surges per Day: 9 + Constitution modifier.

Class Skills: Athletics (STR), Endurance (CON), Heal (WIS), Intimidate (CHA), Religion (INT), Streetwise (CHA).
Trained Skills: Three trained Skills at 1st level.

Class Features: Battle Reaver, Warrior's Madness, Weapon Talent, Fighter Stances, Extra Fighter Stance [7th level], Power Strike, Improved Power Strike [3rd level], Weapon Specialization [7th level], Battle Rage.

BERSERKER CLASS FEATURES:

Battle Reaver: Once per turn when you hit with a melee basic attack, one enemy adjacent to you takes 1d6 damage (or 1d10 damage if you are wielding a two-handed weapon). This damage increases to 2d6 at 11th level (or 2d10) and 3d6 at 21st level (or 3d10).

Warrior's Madness: You gain a +2 bonus to Will against attacks with the Charm or Fear keyword. This bonus increases to +4 at 11th level and +6 at 21st level. In addition, you gain a +5 bonus on saving throws against attacks with the Charm or Fear keyword.

Weapon Talent: As Knight/Slayer class feature.

Fighter Stances: You gain two of the following powers of your choice: Battle Wrath (as Knight/Slayer's Fighter Stance), Berserker's Charge (as Slayer's Fighter Stance), Claws of the Wolf, Eagle's Flight, Poised Assault (as Knight/Slayer's Fighter Stance), Raging Bear, Serpent's Lunge, Unfettered Fury (as Slayer's Fighter Stance).

Claws of the Wolf (Fighter Utility) - At-Will; Martial, Stance; Minor Action; Personal.
Effect: Until the stance ends, whenever you attack an enemy against whom you have combat advantage with a melee basic attack you gain a bonus to the attack roll equal to half your Dexterity modifier.

Eagle's Flight (Fighter Utility) - At-Will; Martial, Stance; Minor Action; Personal.
Effect: Until the stance ends, you gain a power bonus to AC equal to your Charisma modifier against all opportunity attacks provoked by moving.

Raging Bear (Fighter Utility) - At-Will; Martial, Stance; Minor Action; Personal.
Effect: Until the stance ends, whenever you hit an enemy with a melee basic attack you gain a power bonus to the damage roll equal to your Constitution modifier, but you also grant combat advantage to all enemies.

Serpent's Lunge (Fighter Utility) - At-Will; Martial, Stance; Minor Action; Personal.
Effect: Until the stance ends, whenever you shift before making a melee basic attack, you gain a power bonus to the attack roll equal to half your Wisdom modifier.

Extra Fighter Stance: As Knight/Slayer class feature.

Power Strike: As Knight/Slayer class feature.

Improved Power Strike: As Knight/Slayer class feature.

Weapon Specialization: You gain one of the following benefits of your choice: Bear, Eagle, Serpent, Wolf.
Crushing Paw - Benefit: When you use Power Strike with an axe or hammer, you can push each enemy adjacent to you 2 squares.
Fang Strike - Benefit: When you use Power Strike with a heavy or light blade, the target grants combat advantage to you and your allies until the end of your next turn.
Lunging Spear - Benefit: When you use Power Strike with a spear or staff, the target takes a -2 penalty to AC and Reflexes until the start of your next turn.
Soaring Blade - Benefit: When you use Power Strike with a heavy or light blade, all allies within 5 squares of you recover 5 Hit Points.

Battle Rage - You gain the Battle Rage power.
Battle Rage (Fighter Utility) - Daily; Primal, Rage; Minor Action; Personal.
Effect: Until the rage ends, you deal an extra 1[W] damage with your melee basic attacks.
In addition, you can make saving throws at the start of your turn against the dazed, dominated and stunned conditions, as long as they are against effects that a save can end. On a save, the effects immediately end, preventing them from affecting you in your current turn.
If you fail your saving throws, you can still make saving throws against the effects at the end of your turn.
Special: You gain one more use of Battle Rage per day at 5th level, and one more use at 9th level.


So? What do you guys think?

 

[Thorvald_Grimbjorn]

Hello again! Sorry for posting again so soon, but I had some ideas on alternate effects for some of the new Fighter Stances. Also, I was worried about the Berserker's damage output (that is, would he be comparable as a Striker to the Barbarian?), and so revised Battle Rage accordingly.

Fighter Stances:

Raging Bear (Fighter Utility) - At-Will; Martial, Stance; Minor Action; Personal.
Effect: Until the stance ends, whenever an effect forces you to move - through a push, pull or slide -, you can immediately make a saving throw to avoid being moved. You gain a power bonus to the saving throw equal to your Constitution modifier.

Serpent's Lunge (Fighter Utility) - At-Will; Martial, Stance; Minor Action; Personal.
Effect: Until the stance ends, you gain a power bonus to Initiative equal to your Wisdom modifier.

Battle Rage - You gain the Battle Rage power.
Battle Rage (Fighter Utility) - Daily; Primal, Rage; Minor Action; Personal.
Effect: Until the rage ends, you deal an extra 1[W] damage with your melee basic attacks. This extra damage increases to 2[W] at 15th level.
In addition, you can make saving throws at the start of your turn against the dazed, dominated and stunned conditions, as long as they are against effects that a save can end. On a save, the effects immediately end, preventing them from affecting you in your current turn.
If you fail your saving throws, you can still make saving throws against the effects at the end of your turn.
Special: You gain one more use of Battle Rage per day at 5th level, and one more use at 9th level.

 

[Thorvald_Grimbjorn]

Hum... I wanted to differentiate the Berserker from the Slayer in the following characteristics:

1) Lower AC, higher Hit Points.
2) Less emphasis on using weapons (notice how the Slayer's abilities always specify "with a weapon", while the Berserker's don't?), but a greater focus on melee attacks, instead of attacks in general.
3) The Berserker is slightly better at fighting many enemies, since his Striker feature's damage can be applied to any adjacent enemy, not just one. Perhaps it could increase in number of targets, much like the Monk's Flurry of Blows?
4) Totemic abilities. This one, I confess I'm not sure how to implement. I'm thinking of simply adding Primal Utility powers to the Berserker's list of class powers, but how would I make them unpoachable by other Fighters?
I was also considering changing the Berserker's Stances to Aspects, similar to the Hunter's/Scout's Aspects.

 

[Thorvald_Grimbjorn]

Perhaps something like this?

Weapon Proficiencies: Simple Melee, Military Melee. (Removed Simple Ranged)
Class Skills: Athletics (STR), Endurance (CON), Heal (WIS), Intimidate (CHA), Religion (INT). (Removed Streetwise)

Battle Reaver: Once per turn when you hit with a melee basic attack, one enemy (two at 11th level, three at 21st level) adjacent to you takes 1d6 damage (or 1d10 damage if you are wielding a two-handed weapon). This damage increases to 2d6 at 11th level (or 2d10) and 3d6 at 21st level (or 3d10).

Aspects of the Wild: You gain two of the following powers of your choice: Aspect of the Hunting Wolf, Aspect of the Lunging Serpent, Aspect of the Majestic Eagle, Aspect of the Raging Bear.

Aspect of the Hunting Wolf (Fighter Utility) - At-Will; Primal, Stance; Minor Action; Personal.
Effect: Until the stance ends, you gain the following benefits: you gain a +2 power bonus to Stealth checks; you gain a +5 power bonus to Perception checks to find tracks; whenever you attack an enemy against whom you have combat advantage with a melee basic attack, you gain a bonus to the attack and damage rolls equal to half your Dexterity modifier.

Aspect of the Lunging Serpent (Fighter Utility) - At-Will; Primal, Stance; Minor Action; Personal.
Effect: Until the stance ends, you gain the following benefits: when you shift, you can shift 2 squares; whenever you shift before making a melee basic attack, you gain a +1 power bonus to the attack roll; you gain a power bonus to Initiative equal to your Wisdom modifier.

Aspect of the Majestic Eagle (Fighter Utility) - At-Will; Primal, Stance; Minor Action; Personal.
Effect: Until the stance ends, you gain the following benefits: you gain a +2 power bonus to Speed; you gain a +5 power bonus to Athletics checks to jump; you gain a power bonus to AC equal to your Charisma modifier against all opportunity attacks provoked by moving.

Aspect of the Raging Bear (Fighter Utility) - At-Will; Primal, Stance; Minor Action; Personal.
Effect: Until the stance ends, you gain the following benefits: you gain a +2 power bonus to Endurance checks; whenever an effect forces you to move - through a push, pull or slide -, you can immediately make a saving throw to avoid being moved; you gain a power bonus to all saving throws against forced movement equal to your Constitution modifier.

 

[FireLance]

Some quick comments:

1. Given the primal flavor of the class, I would drop Religion as a class skill in favor of Nature.

2. I think the aspects suit the concept better than the stances. However, aspect of the hunting wolf may be a little too good as it provides an attack bonus when the character is already attacking with combat advantage. Maybe you could consider giving it just a flat +2 damage bonus, increasing to +3 at 11th level and +4 at 21st level. On the other hand, I think aspect of the raging bear could do with a power-up, and the immovability advantages don't really fit with the name. Maybe you could consider adding a damage bonus or some push or slide effect.

3. For Battle Reaver, I would drop increasing the number of targets as the levels increase. The base extra damage is already quite competitive with the slayer's, and it gets daily attack powers, which the slayer does not.

4. If the class gets all the abilities at 1st level, it seems rather front-loaded. It would be a better idea to stagger the benefits over various levels. It also makes it easier to compare level for level with the slayer and the barbarian.

5. You might also consider having alternate effects with your weapon specialization feature, in order to distinguish them more. Some possibilities include: ongoing damage, slow/immobilize, imposing a penalty to attack rolls, or granting temporary hit points (you can possibly get away with actual healing due to the part-primal nature of the class, but temporary hit points would still be less jarring for some players).

 

[Thorvald_Grimbjorn]

First of all, many thanks for the comments!

(...)On the other hand, I think aspect of the raging bear could do with a power-up, and the immovability advantages don't really fit with the name. Maybe you could consider adding a damage bonus or some push or slide effect.

Well, the idea behind a "raging bear" is that YOU SIMPLY CAN'T STOP the monster! :-D But perhaps it could be changed to this:

Aspect of the Raging Bear (Fighter Utility) - At-Will; Primal, Stance; Minor Action; Personal.
Effect: Until the stance ends, you gain the following benefits: you gain a +2 power bonus to Endurance checks; whenever an effect forces you to move through a push, pull or slide, you can move 1 square less than the effect specifies; whenever you hit an enemy with a melee basic attack, you gain 3 temporary Hit Points (6 at 11th level, 9 at 21st level).

Better?

3. For Battle Reaver, I would drop increasing the number of targets as the levels increase. The base extra damage is already quite competitive with the slayer's, and it gets daily attack powers, which the slayer does not.

Hmmm... I kinda like the image of a surrounded Berserker savagely tearing his enemies apart. Perhaps if I lowered Battle Reaver's extra damage to a fixed 1d6/1d8 per tier?

4. If the class gets all the abilities at 1st level, it seems rather front-loaded.

Aren't the Slayer and the Knight also frontloaded classes? I mean, they do get a few extra minor benefits, but for the most part, they simply improve upon features they already gained at first level.

 

[Thorvald_Grimbjorn]

Brainstorming some new ideas:

Battle Reaver: Once per turn when you hit with a melee basic attack, two enemies (three at 11th level, four at 21st level) adjacent to you other than the target take 2d6 damage (or 2d8 damage if you are wielding a two-handed weapon).

(Would this lower the Berserker's single-target damage too much - enough that it will hurt his performance as a Striker?)

And another one:

Animistic Totem (level 1 feature): Choose one of the following: Bear, Eagle, Serpent, Wolf.
Bear: When you use Power Strike with an axe or hammer, you push the target 3 squares and he takes extra damage equal to your Constitution modifier.

Eagle: When you use Power Strike with a heavy or light blade, the target takes extra damage equal to your Dexterity modifier and you shift 2 squares.

Serpent: When you use Power Strike with a spear or staff, the target is immobilized until the end of your next round and takes extra damage equal to your Wisdom modifier.

Wolf: When you use Power Strike with a heavy or light blade, the target takes extra damage equal to your Dexterity modifier and ongoing 3 damage (save ends). The ongoing damage increases to 6 at 11th level, and 9 at 21st level.

(In this case, instead of Weapon Specialization, the Berserker would gain another use of Power Strike at level 7.)