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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Weathercock" data-source="post: 6743201" data-attributes="member: 6802523">At 5e's launch, Berserker was already a pretty underwhelming archetype compared to its Totem Warrior counterpart. Now that Battlerager has been released and Totem Warrior got buffed, the poor Berserker doesn't have much of anything, especially with the new features that both archetypes now introduce that would make some of what Berserker offers redundant to boot.As someone who's strongly considering playing a Barbarian that isn't a flower child or a dwarf, I'm kind of at a loss here, and I'm wondering what could be done about it.As it stands, looking at the numbers, it's not unreasonable for a Totem Warrior who makes good use of polearm mastery and its easy access to reaction attacks to outdo the damage of a Berserker until late game, the one thing that the Berserker is supposed to be good at, all while doing far more with no associated side effects.Barbarian raging, reckless attack DPR with great weapon mastery (Halberd), polearm mastery, reaction includedLevel 5 v AC 13: 57.4 (Str +3) <-- 159.3 per 3 rounds, 388.9 per 7 rounds (1 turn setup)Level 11 v AC 15: 64.9 (Str +4) <-- 180.2 per 3 rounds, 439.8 per 7 rounds (1 turn setup)Level 20 v AC 19: 80.4 (Str +7) <-- 219.3 per 3 rounds, 540.9 per 7 rounds (1 turn setup)Barbarian (Berserker) raging, frenzy, reckless attack DPR with great weapon masteryLevel 5 v AC 13: 52.8 (Str +4) <-- 140.7 per 3 rounds, 351.7 per 7 rounds (1 turn setup) (Greatsword)Level 11 v AC 15: 61.8 (Str +5) <-- 164.4 per 3 rounds, 411.4 per 7 rounds (1 turn setup) (Greataxe)Level 14 v AC 18: 70.3 (Str +5) <-- 193.3 per 3 rounds, 474.5 per 7 rounds (1 turn setup) (Retaliation) (Greataxe)Level 20 v AC 19: 69.4 (Str +7) <-- 185.1 per 3 rounds, 462.6 per 7 rounds (1 turn setup) (Greataxe)Level 20 v AC 19: 92.6 (Str +7) <-- 254.6 per 3 rounds, 625.0 per 7 rounds (1 turn setup) (Retaliation) (Greataxe)(Berserker could try to compensate early game by investing in polearm mastery as well, but doing so ends up causing a later game drop in damage, as you'd eventually want to switch to a greataxe to keep up in damage anyway).The more I look at the numbers, the easier it becomes to see that Frenzy itself only provides a heaping dose of raw power at levels 3 and 4. Past that, its value drops at a rock, going from a powerful ability with a prohibitive after effect to prevent abuse, to an overall weak ability with a prohibitive after effect to discourage its use almost entirely. With that in mind, Frenzy, and the Berserker in general, would be a lot better if the ability were rebalanced to be acquired after the big extra attack threshold, switching its position with Mindless Rage. At that point, you could restructure Frenzy and its heavy cost entirely (hell, you could even consider just getting rid of the exhaustion entirely). It still wouldn't be quite as good as a Totem Barbarian, especially out of battle, but it could move beyond its current party role of being a trap.And the more I look into Berserker, the more colossally flawed it appears to be. Short of just reflavouring Totem Warrior to simply be a better Berserker, has anyone ever done anything to create a properly berserk Berserker?</blockquote>

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