fallen · Defender · Plate
Berserker
The red axe of the gilded city. Defender in plate.
“If one is avenged sevenfold, I will be avenged seventy and sevenfold.”
The calling
In the fighting pits beneath the gilded city there is an old song, nearly as old as the city's walls. It was first sung by a man who killed another for wounding him, and who stood before his household and swore that any hand raised against him would be repaid seventy and seven times. The Berserkers learn that song before they learn to hold an axe. By the time they are grown, it is the only song they hear.
A Berserker is what happens when pain is never allowed to heal. Every wound is remembered. Every blow received is a debt, and the Berserker collects with interest. They wear heavy plate not to stay safe but to stay standing long enough to repay everyone. When the rage takes them, their arms move faster than a man's should, their axe bites deeper, and their own blood seems only to feed the fire.
It is a terrible power, and a real one. It is also a hunger that eats the one who carries it. The old Berserkers of the pits are not wise or happy men. They are simply still alive, which in the gilded city passes for the same thing. Some, late in life, begin to wonder what it would be like to put the axe down. A few have tried.
In battle
You do not hold the enemy by standing still and enduring. You hold them by hurting them so badly they cannot look away. Every blow you land draws their hatred, and every blow they land on you might send you into a berserk fury. You wade into the thick of a pack, cut through a whole ring of foes at once, and let your rage carry you through damage that would drop any other defender.
Where the Sentry is a wall, the Berserker is a landslide of iron. Fights end faster with one in front. The question is only what is left standing when they do.
Strengths
- The most damage of any defender in the world, and the best attacks against many foes at once.
- Holds the enemy's anger with damage. The harder you hit, the tighter the hold.
- Heals when struck. In a long, brutal fight, pain itself mends you.
- Refuses to fall. Once in a long while, the blow that should have ended you sends you berserk instead.
Weaknesses
- Fewer ways to protect others. The Berserker guards one ally at a time and cannot lend its defense to a whole company the way a Sentry can.
- Rage must be earned. Several of its best gifts work only while berserk, and a slow start means a weak start.
- Fewer taunts. If its damage falters, its hold on the enemy falters with it.
- It costs. The fury burns through power, and a Berserker who fights carelessly empties fast.
Gifts of the calling
- Seventy and Sevenfoldfrom the first day
- every hit you land draws extra hatred, and when you are struck, you may strike back on the instant.
- Rend
- a savage opening blow for heavy damage.
- Blood Up
- landing hits, taking hits and every kill can send you berserk, faster and deadlier for ten seconds.
- Jeer
- a cutting insult that seizes one enemy's attention and breaks its casting.
- Clamor
- a challenge bellowed at every enemy in the fight, usable even while stunned.
- Reaping Cut
- cut through as many as eight foes around you and knock them off their feet.
- Pain Feeds
- the blows that land on you have a chance to heal you. The harder the fight, the more you mend.
- Refuse to Fall
- once in a great while, a killing blow leaves you on your feet, half healed and berserk.
- Lay About
- for half a minute, each of your next ten strikes also hits every enemy near your target.
The attributes you need
| Attribute | What it does |
|---|---|
| StrengthMain | Every axe stroke and physical gift lands harder. It is the well your power draws from, and the strength to carry plate. |
| Stamina | More health, and so more pain you can turn into fury before you fall. |
| Agility | Together with your Defense skill, a better chance to dodge blows outright. |
Choose the Berserker if
You want to be the most dangerous thing in the fight and still be the one the enemy is trying to kill. You like big numbers, many foes, and the roar of a battle turning in your favor. Just remember that every song of vengeance ends the same way, and that even here, at the bottom of the pits, the road home has never been closed.
The gate is not yet open
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