Level Up (A5E) The Berserker Rage HP Cap Makes No Sense
- Thread starter W'rkncacnter
- Start date
W'rkncacnter
Hero
because it's not how anything else in the game works unless otherwise explicitly stated. you generally can't expend a spell slot to extend the duration of a spell, for instance.
i mean...yeah, i guess that's fair.
True, but there’s a specific rule about that: “When two versions of the same spells overlap, the most powerful effect applies.”
W'rkncacnter
Hero
that's not referring to duration, that's referring to literal overlap. like two spirit guardians auras overlapping each other or meteors from a meteor swarm covering the same spot.
lichmaster
Hero
Well, I don't think it's likely that two meteor swarms will ever be cast simultaneously on the same area. Worst case two will be cast back to back from different characters, but they're not happening at the same time (which is different from two spirit guardians), so damage should stack in that case IMO
W'rkncacnter
Hero
one character can drop 2 meteors from the same casting of meteor swarm in the same spot, which is what i was using as an example - although, yeah, that's probably not "two versions", so not a good example on my end
lichmaster
Hero
Ah, yes, that's a possibility and I agree it would qualify as overlapping (a "cheap" way to get more damage on the same area with the same casting of a spell)
steels12
Explorer
I'm gonna be honest, Berserker is a class that feels like it lacks a LOT of polish, but the core ideas are good. My party have both a Berserker and a Bard and we've all been noticing an insane amount of scaling and just general class use imbalances, to the point that last week I actually went through and totally retuned the entire Bard class and have implemented a bunch of custom rules to help alleviate a lot of the pain that comes with barely being able to use Barbarian class features while others are almost game-breaking. Haven't yet gone through full playtesting, but that's to come. Of course, this could totally just be my party's subjective experiences. Thankfully health capping hasn't been an issue, since Berserkers already get a ton of damage mitigation and having to play around with a second "type" of temporary health helps from stacking up too much. I think a lot of the features are well thought-out, but sometimes the implementation... requires a bit of interpretation.
Berserkers are really, really good. But just like 5e, martials have to put their feat selection to good use:
Maybe I’ll write an A5e Berserker guide. The class is pretty bonkers if you ask me.
- Powerful Attacker (GWM) got a big buff in A5e. If you have advantage, you can make a straight roll with +10 damage that doubles on a crit. Excellent stuff.
- Two weapon fighting with a double weapon is terrific for a berserker, and doubles your chances of landing a crit and triggering Furious Critical. Polearm Savant is still great too, although I’d avoid the feat tax given the buff to two-weapon fighting.
- Surgical Combatant lets you use Dangerous Strikes as your basic attack, increasing your crit range.
- Zealous Stance adds an expertise die to melee weapon attack rolls, which isn’t quite as good as on-demand advantage but it stacks. Knock ‘em prone (with, say, leaping strike or knockdown assault, or just the basic maneuver) and go to town.
- Furious criticals are not all created equal. Blinding Maneuver, Terrifying Force, and Relentless Attack are clear standouts.
Maybe I’ll write an A5e Berserker guide. The class is pretty bonkers if you ask me.
