Berserking

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One thing I don't "get" about Berserk is the immunities it gives you, or rather WHY it gives you these immunities. Now, I can understand why Berserk makes you immune to most mind-affecting spells, but why Imrisonment, Maze and Level Drain? Why do these affects no longer have any influence on you when you're in a bloodthirsty rage?

Also, what's better: the Barbarian rage or Berserk?

 

I am guessing it does that because those last three things would be most likely based on someones mind. Level drain takes your experience away until you are restored and and imprisonment and maze probably has something to do with a persons willpower as Will in other D&D games give you a chance to save against spells. That's what I think anyways.

 

Well, I can't answer your first question, but I can definitely answer your second question. In comparing the berserker rage to the barbarian rage, unless you happen to have made a barbarian with unusually low strength and constitution scores, the barbarian's rage is far superior.

The berserker rage gives +2 to hit and +2 to damage. A rather modest bonus. The reason to go berserk is more for the immunities than for the bonus.

OTOH, the barbarian rage +4 to strength and +4 to constitution. Unless your strength is 14 or less, an enhancement of +4 strength will confer more than +2 to hit and +2 to damage. In fact, if you're playing a barbarian with an 18 or 19 in strength, the bonus of going up to 22 or 23 is WAY MORE than +2 to hit and +2 to damage.

And that doesn't touch on the bonus to constitution. Again, unless you started with a low constitution, the +4 is going to give you a huge boost to hitpoints, and also regenerative powers for the duration of the rage if you happened to start with a constitution of 16 or more.

No one makes barbarians or berserkers with low strength and/or constitution, so barbarian rage is better, hands down.

 

And then there was Kangaxx

 

Why? Because it doesn't. Well, it does in BG2, but not in PnP. PnP immunities are very specific, listing the exact spells and their effects (or lack of them), and those three spells aren't in there. I suspect it was added to the list to counter the enemies within the game, as a sort of balance. (Though making the classes/kits more powerful to compensate for being ridiculous with the enemies is a step in the wrong direction IMHO.)

 

Actually, now that I think on this a little more, if you cast Draw Upon Holy Might from your innate abilities and THEN use the barbarian rage, you could raise your strength and constitution to ridiculous levels. Maxing it out at 25 for each stat is very conceivable.

 

Doesn't Berserker Rage have double the duration of the Barbarian's Rage ( 10 rounds vs. 5 rounds IIRC ) ?