Berserker/Fury tempest build

[foxinspace]

Hi all,

Recently I decided to give Tempest a try. I never played a barb MC and for this playthrough I was hoping to make a sturdy caster that would hold his own in melee in addition to being a stellar nuker.

Here are the abilities that I plan to pick up as I level: 

PLI. Frenzy, Sunbeam, Blooded, Nature's mark (+dancing bolts) 

PLII. Barbaric blow, Insect Swarm, Taste of the hunt, Thick skinned (+Burst of summer flame)

PLIII.  Bloodlust, Infestation of maggots, One stands alone, two-handed style (+Returning storm)

PLIV. Blood frenzy, Heart of the Storm, Savage defiance, Unflinching/Spirit of decay (+Hail storm)

PLV. Barbaric smash, Plague of insects, Rapid casting, Nature's terror (+ Relentless storm)

PLVI. Improved critical, Venombloom, Brute force, Embrace of the earth talon (+Sunlance)

PLVII. Blood storm, Rusted Armor, Blood thirst (+weather the storm)

 

I will use darryn's voulge soulbound to druid for + PL to storm spells until the SSS DLC, where I will probably switch to slayer's claw + (griffin's blade?) and keep the voulge for casting storms. I plan to wear devil of caroc's breastplate to get rid of berserker's confusion and heaven's cacophony for +2 int and avenging storm.

 

I was wondering if you think the selection of abilities looks okay for this build? I have some doubts about the following:

 

1) Could accurate carnage be worth taking? +5 accuracy doesn't sound like a lot, so I decided to take thick skinned for extra sturdiness

2) I can't take stalwart defiance for this char (since blood thirst is too good at this PL), so savage defiance seems a bit like a waste of resources. Is it worth it as a "panic button" for a berserker, despite its high cost?

3) Not sure if any elemental + PEN abilities, apart from heart of the storm are worth it. I have been thinking about spirit of decay, which should affect infestation of maggots / rusted armor / taste of the hunt, but perhaps unflinching is a better pick for extra sturdiness?

4) Do you have any gear suggestions that would fit the build? Is there a better armor I could use, in case I get modwyr with slayer's claw - so I no longer need DoC's resistance?  

Thanks a lot for any information and/or input on the build!

 

 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by foxinspace

[Boeroer]

3 hours ago, foxinspace said:

1) Could accurate carnage be worth taking?

I wouldn't take it if ability points are streched thin already.

3 hours ago, foxinspace said:

2) I can't take stalwart defiance for this char (since blood thirst is too good at this PL), so savage defiance seems a bit like a waste of resources. Is it worth it as a "panic button" for a berserker, despite its high cost?

 The problem is that Berserker/Fury has no means of healing besides Savage/Stalwart Defiance. So you'd have to rely solely on party members and/or consumables and/or items (you already have Devil of Caroc which can heal a bit on crits - also check out pets like Abraham who give health on kill). You'll have up to +4 PEN for elemental spells - do you really think you need Rusted Armor? I personally would pick Stalwart Defiance over Rusted Armor.

3 hours ago, foxinspace said:

3) Not sure if any elemental + PEN abilities, apart from heart of the storm are worth it. I have been thinking about spirit of decay, which should affect infestation of maggots / rusted armor / taste of the hunt, but perhaps unflinching is a better pick for extra sturdiness?

Infestation of Maggots does raw damage. Raw damage goes right through armor, it doesn't need PEN. Spirit of Decay will show in the combat log and will add +1 PEN to zero PEN - but it won't do anything because PEN/AR don't get checked with raw damage. 

Rusted Armor does no damage - hence it has no PEN value that could be boosted. PEN is only applied to damaging attacks (unless they do raw damage).

Taste of the Hunt: yes, it works with Spirit of Decay - no matter which type of weapon you have equipped Spirit of Decay will always add +1 PEN to it. If you use Taste of the Hunt with Firebrand and have Scion of Flame as well you will even get +2 PEN. Not +3 because the Fury passive for +1 PEN to elemental spells doesn't work with Firebrand (the weapon lacks the "elemental" keyword).

The only Druid spells that Spirit of Decay is good for: Touch of Rot (very good spell, scales so nicely with Power Level), Taste of the Hunt, Autum's Decay, Rot Skulls (only the AoE corrode damage, not the initial crush damage) - I think it's not worth taking. You could think of Scion of Flame (bc. you'll have some "auto-pick" fire spells). But I personally would skip it. Heart of the Storm is good if your preferred spells are shocking spells. 

---

Unflinching is very good, especially for a Berserker who constantly drops below 50% health an gets healed back up. Once you drop below 50% health the resistances of Unflinching will get removed - and if you regain health over 50% they get added again - removing one layer of affliction. Drop under 50% again and heal back up: next layer removed. And so on. 

---

I would check out Bloody Slaughter - it also works with spells and is quite good in combination with Blood Thirst and Barbaric Smash (to make it much more likely to kill with it which gives you the Rage refund).

---

Leap is an excellent ability because
a) you can use it out of combat which makes it essentially free to use as long as you don't trigger combat with it - and out of combat it makes some tasks (avoiding traps, stealing, sneaking, reaching certain spaces that otherwise would be unaccessible etc.) so much easier and
b) you can cancel it mid-air. Then it will not cost anything - but you will still land where you aimed. Thus you can move with no Rage cost (but you need to have at least 2 Rage - or the ability button will be greyed out).

---

You could think about Spirit Frenzy (NOT Spirit Tornado) : it works with all your spells that do an attack roll on enemies and will stagger them - also Carnage (Spirit Tornado only works with your weapon hits - it's maybe a bug). You will spare an ability point by not upgrading further in comparison to Blood Storm.
Staggered enemies will have -10 Fortitude defense - which will synergize with Brute Force and spells that target Fortitude in the first place (which are some). If you add a sickening or weakening spell then the enemies' fortitude will be lowered by 20 points already - again: good synergy with Brute Force.
Blood Storm is also good though since it spares you Rage (bc. it prolongs Frenzy on kill) and the raw DoT also works on spell-crits (which is nice). 

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by Boeroer

[foxinspace]

Wow, thanks a lot, as always, for so many useful insights, @Boeroer! 
 

7 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

The problem is that Berserker/Fury has no means of healing besides Savage/Stalwart Defiance. So you'd have to rely solely on party members and/or consumables and/or items (you already have Devil of Caroc which can heal a bit on crits - also check out pets like Abraham who give health on kill). You'll have up tp +4 PEN for elemental spells - do you really think you need Rusted Armor? I personally would pick Stalwart Defiance over Rusted Armor.

I put some hp-restoring gear on this character to mitigate berserker's hp loss (trollhide belt, three trolls stitched, maybe will consider a voidward ring later), but with Tekehu in party so far it feels pretty safe. Taste of the hunt helps a lot! Thanks for the tip on health-on-kill stuff, I also have Xoti in this party, and will have her learn triumph of the crusaders as well. I really don't want to pick Rusted Armor, but I wil be forced to pick something on the druid side at level 19. Maybe if I drop Blood storm, as you suggest later, I can get stalwart instead. Perhaps with the DoC armor I should have enough rage points, so Blood storm is not really needed... On the other hand, if I DO get blood storm, I will have more rage to use for Savage defiance... 

11 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

The only Druid spells that Spirit of Decay is good for: Touch of Rot (very good spell, scales so nicely with Power Level), Taste of the Hunt, Autum's Decay, Rot Skulls (only the AoE corrode damage, not the initial crush damage) - I think it's not worth taking. You could think of Scion of Flame (bc. you'll have some "auto-pick" fire spells). But I personally would skip it. Heart of the Storm is good if your preferred spells are shocking spells. 

Ah, too bad that it won't work with infestation of maggots. In any case, raw damage is probably even better. I was thinking about scion of flame, but decided to skip it in favor of unflinching. It's very interesting that you can intentionally drop HP to activate unflinching when you need to clear afflictions. Too bad it's a bit difficult to estimate HP with a berserker... I guess taking human and checking when "blooded" bonus activates could be an option, but I went with pale elf for RP purposes.

I also considered bloody slaughter, and at the time it seemed like it's getting more advantage in a situation that is already in your favour. But there is a nice synergy with Barbaric Smash, as you mentioned. Should also make me use this ability more often, so far I'm not very fond of barbaric blow on this build. If only there was room to fit bloody slaughter - I just really love the maggots spell and don't want to give it up on this PL.

22 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

Leap is an excellent ability

I had leap on seraphen before (I always build him as a SC barb for some reason) and loved it, but it seemed like the AOE debuff is to short to matter. Leap-cancelling to save rage points sounds amazing though! Maybe I should just ditch barbaric blow/smash for it... HMMM...

 

 

[Boeroer]

36 minutes ago, foxinspace said:

I really don't want to pick Rusted Armor, but I wil be forced to pick something on the druid side at level 19.

Ah right - sorry. I somehow didn't think about that.

If Tekehu is healing you up nicely and you stack some regeneration gear I guess you won't need Savage Defiance that much. I think it's safe to not take it. 

39 minutes ago, foxinspace said:

Too bad it's a bit difficult to estimate HP with a berserker... I guess taking human and checking when "blooded" bonus activates could be an option, but I went with pale elf for RP purposes.

 No problem, you took Barbarian's "Blooded" which works as an health indicator just as well.

41 minutes ago, foxinspace said:

I also considered bloody slaughter, and at the time it seemed like it's getting more advantage in a situation that is already in your favour.

In general that is true. But in synergy with Blood Thirst it can make a difference if a spell like Relentless Storm kills an enemy on the fourth strike or already on the third. It also has an impact if you get the refund from Barbaric Smash or not. And even against tough nuts it can be good: some of them have still a lot of health left when they are near death. More crit conversion and higher damage can't hurt then. It's not gamechanging though so it wouldn't matter much if you wouldn't take it. To me it's just a passive that adds a bit of fun (bc. bigger numbers on crits can be fun ;)).

46 minutes ago, foxinspace said:

I had leap on seraphen before (I always build him as a SC barb for some reason) and loved it, but it seemed like the AOE debuff is to short to matter. Leap-cancelling to save rage points sounds amazing though! Maybe I should just ditch barbaric blow/smash for it... HMMM...

I wouldn't drop Barbaric Smash. It's an awseome "finishing move", especially for a dual weapon setup. You can do the same cancel-trick with Bounding Boots. That would spare you an ability point. You can cancel that Leap from the boots, too. The 2 per-rest uses will not get lowered if you time it right (pause/unpause/pause etc. quickly while the char is in the air and do that until the green character circle appears at the target location - before landing. Then hit the x-button. THe combat log will say that you canceled Leap but your char will still land there but the Daze effect etc. will not get triggered - you will still be stealthed if you were before by the way). 

[foxinspace]

3 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

If Tekehu is healing you up nicely and you stack some regeneration gear I guess you won't need Savage Defiance that much. I think it's safe to not take it. 

 I was rolling a helwalker/blood mage not so long ago, so my Tekehu is used to keeping my MCs alive... Compared to that character, my Tempest is a picture of health!

6 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

 No problem, you took Barbarian's "Blooded" which works as an health indicator just as well.

Ahhh, indeed - it also should show up! Thanks for the tip, I somehow completely forgot...

I was also wondering, do you have any tips for the PLVII druid spell? Rusted armor is probably an overkill, but I don't really have much experience with the rest ot the spells on this level. Is the tentacle  vine any good?

[Boeroer]

If it has to be a summon then instead of the Vine I would pick the Oozes (Call to the Primordials). The collection of Oozes is random, but one of them can cast Plague of Insects without limit.

But I think for your character Rusted Armor is the best pick. 

Edited August 31, 2021 by Boeroer

[foxinspace]

56 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

If it has to be a summon then instead of the Vine I would pick the Oozes (Call the the Primordials). The collection of Oozes is random, but one of them can cast Plague of Insects without limit.

But I think for your character Rusted Armor is the best pick. 

I never even considered the oozes! If you can control them, as you do chanter summons, it might be worth getting if not for this character, then for Tekehu... Actually now I'm considering adding Fassina to the party for once as a Sorcerer and drown the enemies in oozes, maggots, and bees, while they are constantly being stunned by lightning 

Edited August 31, 2021 by foxinspace

[dgray62]

If I remember correctly, watershapers can't cast beast spells, so Teheku won't be able to pick up this spell. But Fassina could get it. She' a great addition as a sorcerer IMO.

Edited August 31, 2021 by dgray62
Corrected mistake

[foxinspace]

17 minutes ago, dgray62 said:

If I remember correctly, storm shapers can't cast beast spells, so Teheku won't be able to pick up this spell. But Fassina could get it. She' a great addition as a sorcerer IMO.

Ah, that makes sense. I mostly used Tekehu as the party Druid in all my past games. Will get this spell on Fassina!

[Boeroer]

Stormspeaker + Watershaper = Stormshaper... or maybe...

 

 

[Not So Clever Hound]

1 hour ago, foxinspace said:

as a Sorcerer and drown the enemies in oozes, maggots, and bees, while they are constantly being stunned by lightning 

That's the spirit! Never, ever underestimate the potential of critters and bad weather.  Even if you get some Grazes and Underpenetration sometimes, it hardly matters when there are dozens of ticks that are damaging and stunning and hobbling and weakening and frightening and blinding and....

[dgray62]

50 minutes ago, Not So Clever Hound said:

That's the spirit! Never, ever underestimate the potential of critters and bad weather.  Even if you get some Grazes and Underpenetration sometimes, it hardly matters when there are dozens of ticks that are damaging and stunning and hobbling and weakening and frightening and blinding and....

Especially if she casts combusting wounds before you unleash the beast fury.......

[dgray62]

1 hour ago, Boeroer said:

Stormspeaker + Watershaper = Stormshaper... or maybe...

 

 

Oops, I'll correct that!

[Not So Clever Hound]

21 minutes ago, dgray62 said:

Especially if she casts combusting wounds before you unleash the beast fury.......

You know, one thing I've been thinking about regarding Combusting Wounds and Infestation of Maggots is that in real life, putting maggots on a bad wound (to eat away the necrosis) or cauterizing it are old-school ways to prevent the worst infections. So a Sorcerer is actually nice to the enemy: if they can walk from the avalanche of pulsing, ticking, DoT, burst AoE spells that a Sorcerer can unleash upon them - then at least they've got very clean wounds. You're welcome.  

Edited August 31, 2021 by Not So Clever Hound

[thelee]

6 hours ago, Boeroer said:

b) you can cancel it mid-air. Then it will not cost anything - but you will still land where you aimed. Thus you can move with no Rage cost (but you need to have at least 2 Rage - or the ability button will be greyed out).

for some reason i only ever understood you talking about this as the out-of-combat effect being free. having it spelled out (again?) is wow!

 

even aside from the cheese option, leap (ability or boots) is a really strong ability just for the instant mobility and range, esp for a fury who has lots of spells they want to use that are centered on yourself instead of targeted (relentless, returning storm; nature's terror) or super close range (venombloom). i never really used leap much before, but after struggling with some range issues on a similar build, i equipped bounding boots at low-level and then never ever took it off ever again.

[thelee]

oh, speaking of similar builds

6 hours ago, Boeroer said:

You could think about Spirit Frenzy (NOT Spirit Tornado) : it works with all your spells that do an attack roll on enemies and will stagger them - also Carnage (Spirit Tornado only works with your weapon hits - it's maybe a bug).

this is kind of an anti-recommendation for a tempest[fury] IMO. the staggered will constantly be overidden by a short-duration stun from relentless or returning storm, instead of it being temporarily suppressed and outlasting the stun.

i got extremely frustrated by this dynamic in a party wiht a fury+spirit frenzy and also (worst of all) a cipher with mind plague (the long daze effect would get erased by the stun). so frustrated i abandoned the party mid-way through.

edit: it was also frustrating enough that in my current new party planning where i've been contemplating re-visiting tempest, i pick up blood frenzy instead.

Edited August 31, 2021 by thelee

[dgray62]

Given this problem, it's probably best when doing a tempest to go with ancient or shifter, focusing on the decay, beast and plant spells for DOT, and ignore the lightning spells. If you really want to do a lightning fury tempest, I agree that the blood frenzy path would be better.

[Boeroer]

But with a Ancient or Shifter using raw dmg DoTs mostly - why pick a Berserker then? The +2 PEN from Tenacious are wasted when you cast raw dmg stuff but you'll have to deal with the concealed health and self dmg. It's another thing of course if you want to combine casting with melee (like casting Plague of Insects first and then shift an go into melee and profit from "kills far away" the Plague does for you). 

When using an Ancient Warlock for casting raw dmg spells mostly I think I would try a Corpse Eater. Not only because it's thematically fitting but also because 2 Rage for Frenzy isn't that bad once you can pick Blood Storm. What's really bad about Corpse Eater is that Barbaric Smash costs 3 but only refunds 2 on kill (should be modded to a refund of 3). So I guess I wouldn't use that much unless I fight kith/wilder but concentrate on passives mostly.

Furyshaper would be cool if Sporelings and Wards weren't mutually exclusive. But maybe first one could use Sporelings (they are way better than the Frenzy ward in the early game imo) and later switch to Fear Ward (when Sporelings lost most of their appeal)?

By the way I never tried to cast Wild Growth on a Ward... I mean I don't suspect that it's working but you never know...

Edited September 1, 2021 by Boeroer

[foxinspace]

Now I’m wondering - would berserker/wizard be an even better nuker? Wizard has self-buffs (also to get int inspirations) and more spells that would benefit from +PEN. Blood mage is an obvious choice, but I’m thinking evoker for +2 PL and echo

[dgray62]

11 hours ago, Boeroer said:

But with a Ancient or Shifter using raw dmg DoTs mostly - why pick a Berserker then? The +2 PEN from Tenacious are wasted when you cast raw dmg stuff but you'll have to deal with the concealed health and self dmg. It's another thing of course if you want to combine casting with melee (like casting Plague of Insects first and then shift an go into melee and profit from "kills far away" the Plague does for you). 

When using an Ancient Warlock for casting raw dmg spells mostly I think I would try a Corpse Eater. Not only because it's thematically fitting but also because 2 Rage for Frenzy isn't that bad once you can pick Blood Storm. What's really bad about Corpse Eater is that Barbaric Smash costs 3 but only refunds 2 on kill (should be modded to a refund of 3). So I guess I wouldn't use that much unless I fight kith/wilder but concentrate on passives mostly.

Furyshaper would be cool if Sporelings and Wards weren't mutually exclusive. But maybe first one could use Sporelings (they are way better than the Frenzy ward in the early game imo) and later switch to Fear Ward (when Sporelings lost most of their appeal)?

By the way I never tried to cast Wild Growth on a Ward... I mean I don't suspect that it's working but you never know...

Following in this vein, I would recommend a Corpse Eater/shifter if you are playing with the Balance Polishing mod. The buffs to forbidden food in this mod are great for Corpse Eaters, and it thematically fits very nicely. Shifter also has the best automatically learned spells IMO. Too bad you have to cast them before you shift.

[Haplok]

12 hours ago, foxinspace said:

Now I’m wondering - would berserker/wizard be an even better nuker? Wizard has self-buffs (also to get int inspirations) and more spells that would benefit from +PEN. Blood mage is an obvious choice, but I’m thinking evoker for +2 PL and echo

The best nuker would have to use the Deltro's Cage Helmet IMO.

Being an Assassin for +25 Accuracy, +4 PEN and +50% crit damage from stealth wouldn't hurt either (although I guess the mentioned Berserker could work too - far less Accuracy and crit chance, though).

In that context, the echo might sometimes be suicidal.

Edited September 2, 2021 by Haplok