Guide to Low-AC Warriors
(Bersekers)

Props:
This guide uses several (slightly edited / modified) snippets from a couple of posts taken from Blizzard's Diablo Strategy and Tactics Forum. Among the contributors are: Gothmog - Captain of Balrog, Da O'Toth, Hal, Obsessed@venger, Nystul, Puffin, and probably others whose name I forgot. =| The formulas used for the calculations were taken from Jarulf's Guide, version 1.31.

Note:
I'm talking only about mid- to high-level Warriors in HELL difficulty here, i.e. about clvl 30 to 50. But be warned - playing a Berserker needs SKILL, and while of all possible class / style combos it's IMHO the most FUN way to play the game there are probably more efficient ways to play a Warrior...

Why Low-AC (or No-AC)?

• It's hard to get good ToHit, good Dex AND good AC at once. ToHit has the highest priority. Good Dex can compensate the loss of AC. Due to AutoHit, when doing ONE on ONE, perfect blocking can make a char INVINCIBLE against melee monsters - while AC, no matter how high you get, can't.
• It's hard to get good Resistance without sacrificing other benefits. When facing ranged attacks, AC hardly matters. (Note: when fighting against archers, AC does, but they are easy prey to Chain Lightning. And they don't appear in hell/hell!) All ranged attackers in hell/hell use SPELL attacks, and in that case only Resistance matters.
  A 'typical' Warrior (high AC armor, high AC shield) needs at least TWO Resistance jewels. Low-AC Warriors need ONE Resistance jewel (using an Obsidian or Emerald shield). No-AC Warriors need NO Resistance jewels (using Resistance shield and armor). By freeing up the prefixes on jewels from Resistance, one can go for Mana adder prefixes. And that means A LOT for a Warrior.
• Good offense = good defense. If you can kill fast and keep monsters in stun lock, the need for defense lessens.
• Low-AC/No-AC playing style adds challenge and fun. And a Low-AC/No-AC Warrior usually can get the job done FASTER than a High-AC/Low-Mana Warrior.

So what is a "Low-AC" Warrior (AKA "Berserker")?

The monsters with the lowest ToHit in hell/hell are Lava Maws. To get any benefit at all from your AC you need more than 30 + 185 + 2*(55-clvl) - 100 = 225 - 2*clvl i.e. 165 AC for a clvl 30 char and 125 AC for a clvl 50 char. Any char with less (or equal) than this AC is virtually 'naked' when playing in hell/hell.

The highest useful AC occurs when fighting Blood Knights on dlvl 13, and is 30 + 250 + 2*(60-clvl) - 15 = 385 - 2*clvl i.e. 325 AC for a clvl 30 char and 285 AC for a clvl 50 char. This is kinda 'MAX AC', i.e. having more than this AC gives a char NO additional benefits. (Note: this does not apply for PvP - i.e. duels etc.)

So if your AC is 225-2*clvl (or below) then you are a "NO AC" char (in hell/hell at least), and I define "Low AC" as having an AC not higher than 225 + 50 - 2*clvl = 275 - 2*clvl i.e. 215 AC for a clvl 30 char and 175 AC for a clvl 50 char. (Note that even the monsters with the lowest ToHit in hell/hell (Lava Maws) have a probability of 50+% to hit you with such a low AC.)

Low-AC Warrior is actually a somewhat rare playing style - akin to a BNM (Beyond Naked Mage) who also just laughs if you ask him about his AC rating. How can that be you ask? A mage can kill critters from a distance with his spells, but many still prefer a 'tank' setup, and some people might even tell you that even CAT and archer Rogues who can kill from a distance with their pointy arrows should have high AC... )

Now imagine a Warrior fighting mano-a-mano only with an AC so low that EVERY blow he cannot block will hurt him...

He will get SLAUGHTERED, right?

Well - WRONG! Our dexterity and tactics is our armor, not some heavy plate... Well, a shield is also a major asset for us, hehe! Combined with high Dexterity it allows us to BLOCK single attacks, so we don't even get scratched... At least as long as we're fighting only one or two opponents at the same time... This is the true secret of a Berserker, anything else is just a reasoning of this!

Low-AC Warrior is IMHO actually a very good 'standard' tactic for a many hell/hell monster combos. From my experience the 'dangerous' critters are Drakes, Storms, and Dogs. Hell/16 is actually very easy with a low-AC setup.

I do NOT see low-AC Warrior as a variant, but as the 'natural' playing style for those unlucky chars who just can't find good high-AC gear, and of course as a challenging and efficient way to play a Warrior for skilled gamers.

• ToHit. Remember, the critter must DIE before its comrades have time to swarm you! You can't kill what you can't hit, so this is #1. The maximum 'useful' ToHit in hell/hell is 165+100-5 - (50 + Dex/2 + clvl + 20) = 190 - (Dex/2 + clvl) When looking at the ToHit in the char stats window this is equivalent to 240 - clvl i.e. 210% for a clvl 30 and 190% for a clvl 50cc Warrior.
  (Note: Rogues and Sorcerers need 20% more ToHit if the monsters they are fighting are NOT Stone Cursed.)
• Dexterity. Enough for 'perfect' blocking if possible. That's 100 + 2*(60-clvl) = 220 - 2*clvl i.e. 160 Dex for a clvl 30 and 'only' 120 Dex for a clvl 50 when fighting Blood Knights in h/h.
• Resistance. There are those pesky spell casting critters - you should have close to MAX (i.e. 75%) Magic and Fire resistance and at least some Lightning resistance.
• Damage. You need a minimum Damage of 63 to stunlock Blood Knights in h/h - usually not a problem as a clvl 30+ Warrior with maxed (or close to maxed) Strength already has a higher base Damage even when fighting with his bare fists. However, the critters must die fast, do you remember? So the more Damage the better...
• Hitpoints. You should be able to survive a hit or three - sh!t does happen, right? So I recommend about 400 HP - but you can make do with less.
• Spells.. Huh? Yep - Teleport for Telekill and for strategical repositioning. Stone Curse to slow down the advance of the evil critters. Healing to cure injuries during a combat break. Town Portal to speed up restocking supplies. Golem to act as a decoy if many Advocates are around. The 'optimum' (minimum Mana cost and maximum duration) spell level for Teleport and Stonecurse is slvl 8, and for Townportal it's slvl 7. A higher spell level here doesn't hurt, but gives you no additional benefit either. For Healing and Golem any increase in spell level helps, but those spells aren't that important anyways. Yep, you should have visited some Enchanted Shrines before attempting to learn the way of the Berserker.
• Mana.. You need to be able to cast some spells and don't want to walk the long way to Adria every couple of minutes, right?
The more the better, of course.
• AC. LOL!!! You're kidding me, right? But anyways, if you can't get your AC significantly above 215 AC for a clvl 30 char or 175 AC for a clvl 50 char then you should sincerely consider to play Berserker style...

So which equipment do I need, you ask?

• Shield. No blocking without a shield. Go for resistances as a prefix and Hitpoints as a suffix. Emerald/Tiger is best - but Obsidian/Tiger can be just as good and can be bought from Griz. You don't have to look for base AC - even a buckler is sufficient, but you might want to visit some Hidden Shrines to increase its Durability then...
• Sword. Most probably you need ToHit - with good +all (or +Dexterity) stuff a King's Bastard Sword of Speed or Haste is best, otherwise you'll probably need to bug Wirt to sell you a Strange blade (or dagger or...) of Haste... Note that the only critters on the hell levels (dlvl 13 to 16) which are NOT demons are Lava Maws - they're animals. But against them blunt weapons (maces, flails, clubs, hammers, etc.) will do only HALF the damage shown in your char stats window - so it's highly recommended to get an 'edged' weapon.
• Shirt. Again, AC is irrelevant. Many Berserker think that any kind of Mail looks best... Prefix should be for resistance, suffix depends from which stat boost you need most (i.e depends from your other gear). If all stats are sufficiently high go for Stars, Harmony or Sorcery, otherwise you'll most likely need Dexterity (Precision). If you can't get any of these then maybe something that adds Hitpoints (Tiger or Lion - even Obs/Mammoth should be possible to buy from Wirt for a clvl 18 to 24, although I didn't check with his price limit).
• Hat. Lotsa choices here. Helm of Sprits seems to be best for a No-AC Warrior. Royal Circlet is also very good (most Mana you can get from a helmet). If you can't get these look at the prefix / suffix recommendations for Shirts. Maybe keep an identified Gotterdamerung in your backpack for all-melee levels.
• Jewels. Three Dragon's/Zodiacs are best. 'Nuff said. What, you don't have a complete set? (j/k) Well, Drake/Heavens and even plain Zodiacs ain't that bad at all... Or Perfection jewels if you can't get your Dexterity high enough without, preferably with a +Mana prefix...

Yeah, but... what about Civerb's Cudgel???

That's a toughie. No ToHit bonus (actually a penalty). You need Gold jewels and even more Dexterity to get ToHit sufficiently high. Three perfect Gold/Heavens would be great (good luck on ever finding these - you'll need it, hehe!). Also you might need Precision as a suffix for helm and / or armor. However, due to the slow swing speed you won't be able to stunlock mage type monsters... But against demons it will TRIPLE the damage shown in your char stats window! SIX times the damage if you score a critical hit! WooHoo!!! This combo would have the highest damage per second of all possible melee setups - demons would die after at most two or three hits... Unfortunately, I wasn't able to test this setup myself yet - still killing all Lawa Maws and Gold Vipers on sight to find those super-rare Gold/Heavens and Gold/Perfection shinys... However, here is a report that was posted by Obsessed@venger:

"For very high level Berserker (level 42-50, I'd say), the CC is a very viable weapon vs all melee and even mages. At that clvl, according to my own experience, I am able to kill mages with one single whack of the CC - stun[lock] is not needed. Obsessed@venger is level 48 and uses HOS, 2 very good Gold/Stars rings, nearly perfect Gold/Perfection ammy, BFPoPrecision, OSOT. No he does not have full resists, but by taking small groups of monsters, he can suck back most of his health. Also drinking a pot at a key moment!
On levels with all witches and mixed monsters, then I do not use HOS. For near full resists on "mage levels" you just have to substitute the BFPoPrecision with an Obs shirt of the Stars or Precision. In my case, my Obs armor of Precision gives me max resist all."

So, what about strategy and tactics for a Berserker?

The trick here is: NEVER STOP MOVING, NEVER GET SWAMPED. Don't sit around like a duck and wait until they get you!

You can only swing at one monsters at one time, why let 4 or 5 get near you? Your shield is your main (sometimes the only) defense, but if there are 4 Azure Drakes attacking you at the same time, even the "perfect blocking" won't save you.

When facing hordes of strong melees, the most important thing is to retreat a bit and find a wall or "virtual doorway", then use the "sliding" technique mentioned by Gore. (Check Bolty's and Gore's high lvl Warrior guides for even more information).

This picture shows the sliding technique. The Warrior uses the wall to his advantage and only swings at the monster at position 2. If you are getting surrounded, retreat one step or two and do it over again. Only swing at monster 1 when position 2 is empty.

Stone Curse, though not really necessary here, can be used to create a "statue virtual doorway" (Gothmog forged this word). In this case, if you Stone Curse monster 2, the monsters will keep showing at position 1, this time you can keep killing monsters at 1 until monster 2 comes back to life.

Also note that one can virtually execute a "static slide" or "ambush" type maneuver by taking monsters at a corner or behind a wall. Same principle as the 'normal' sliding maneuver, but because you force monsters to move an increased number of spaces - you can usually finish them off fast enough without moving yourself, so that you are only facing two at a time. Though for this to work, you have to string them out a little first. Also, with careful maneuvering vs. 2 monsters, one could use a monster (probably only works with knights) as a "shield" by constantly circling it, thus neutralizing the other monster.

To limit the number of melee attackers you can also retreat into a corner - or even better a corner with a spike or another obstacle near it. Sometimes you can also find an 'arrangement' of a couple of barrels which fit the same purpose. Remember:

• If monsters' attacking speed is not that fast (such as Knights), then 3 of them around you won't be a problem. That's why Blood Knights are never feared by a high lvl Warrior.
• For fast attack monsters (such as Lava Maws) - if 3 are around you = block lock, but not a hopeless one. With a Speed / Haste sword one can launch a 'lucky punch', thus stun one critter out of the 3 and save the day. (Hint: for a dog pack, you want to give them a highly charged greeting (Chain Lightning) first.)
• 4 monsters around you = sure death. But if a Low-AC/No-AC Warrior lets that many critters get close, he asks for it.

Now witches and mages don't come after you, so you have to chase them. Here the preferred tactic is Telekill: place your mouse cursor over the critter you want to kill and cast Teleport. You'll land to the lower left of that monster - if that position isn't occupied by some obstacle at least. While the casting animation runs you can already press the shift key, move the mouse cursor to the upper right from where you cast Teleport and start left-clicking - you'll arrive at your destination swinging at the critter you have targeted.

But a Berserker can make good use of offensive spells as well:

• Chain Lightning. CL is a low AC Warrior's best friend. Dogs in hell can cause some real trouble, while CL can mow the mobs down so easily. Now about chain's lvl, I know it's kinda hard to control when a char has to rely on extensive enchanted shrine hunt to raise spell lvl - many try to keep it below slvl 12, while I myself prefer it at the highest slvl I can get.
• Fireball. You might find a no-low AC Warrior uses this one more often than ordinary "tank" fighters. Please note that Fireballs require a decent magic stat to connect, but one can get a much higher hitting chance if he/she throws Fireballs at certain angles. A slvl 15 Fireball is preferred.
• Scout spells: such as Guardian, Flame Wave, Charged Bolt (note that while mages can use CB as main OFFENSIVE spell, Rogues and Warriors prolly can only use it for strategic purpose), Elemental. Higher spell levels will help, but are not necessary.

Finally some remarks about some of the defensive spells:

• Stone Curse. Over-use of Stone Curse is wasteful, as you don't usually get in more than a few of Stone-Curses per Mana ball, so it's important to use it correctly.
  When a group of melee monsters starts your way, try to Stone Curse the ones in the 'middle' of the pack from you. This way, you get to take care of the ones closest first, then the ones at the back who have had to walk around their statue-fellows, giving you enough time to dispatch them before the others return to life. This is better than stoning the closest ones to you since you'd otherwise have to walk up to meet the others behind the stoned monsters. Exception is if you've let them too close already (which shouldn't be the case with a low-ac Warrior :) ), in which case you should stone the ones next to you and create the afore-mentioned 'virtual corridor'.
  Don't use Stone Curse on ranged attackers (Advocates and Soulies etc.) since it's too expensive - they come out of it too soon by the time you walk up to hit them, unless you teleport - in which case, why not telekill?
• Mana Shield ? Nah - not really! While I think that a mid- to high-AC Warrior can really benefit from a Mana Shield (especially if he wields a Dreamflange, hehe!) I don't like it on a low-AC Warrior: if you're losing HP fast you've made a major tactical mistake (i.e. you got swamped) and are most likely going to die anyways. Also, a Warrior gets a 'double' bonus to Hitpoints from casting Healing and drinking small yellow (and red) potions. A 'full blue' and Healing can be equivalent to about 1000 to 2000 Hitpoints, i.e. it's much more efficient than Mana Shield. But the important point when playing a low-AC Warrior is to AVOID to get hit.

-Fin
© Copyright 1999 Finnan Haddie

"Warriors need Perfection!"
--Sourceror

Addendum: a frequently asked question...

The Emperor! asked:

Out of curiosity, why did you decide on the name Berserkers of Low-AC Warriors? Hearing "Berserker", one would think of someone who charges into hords of monsters, but instead it is really the exact opposite, someone who is very careful and uses tactics to avoid finding themselves in a melee crowd ?

Finnan answered:

It's a combination of etymology and "tongue-in-cheek".

"Berserker" comes from Old Norse "berserkr", from bjorn = bear and serkr = shirt. So a "true" Berserker is someone without heavy armor, someone who only wears a shirt made out of a bear pelt... Low-AC warriors have no need for a heavy plate, they can equally well wear mail or leather - an Obsidian bear skin of the Stars if you like...

Now, today "Berserker" is often used for someone who mindlessly "charges into hords of monsters"... Well, if you do this (mindlessly!) with a low-AC setup in Diablo then you're dead meat... (and even a GPOW wouldn't save an unskilled player here)

However, if you've ever seen an (experienced!) high-level low-AC Berserker stomp through hell/hell then you'd know why I really think Berserker is an appropriate name for this playing style... Yes he can charge "into hordes of monsters" (Teleport is a key asset here) and emerge unscratched - if he uses his brain and is skilled enough...