This high-risk, high-reward Giant-Crusher berserker build combines the massive blood loss buildup of a bleed build, the big damage of a roar build, and the tankiness of an Endure build to give you the strongest and tankiest roar-bleed build possible with 99 STR. This results in a berserker playstyle where you become an unstoppable force of mass bonkage as you trade, dealing thousands of physical damage and inflicting hundreds of bleed buildup per bonk.
Stats:
RL 200
60 VIG
27 END
99 STR
60 ARC
Class:
Hero (best stat-wise)
Talismans:
Axe Talisman (10% charged attacks)
Two-Handed Swordman (15% two-handed attacks)
Roar Medallion (15% roar damage)
Lord of Blood's Exultation (20% damage when bleed occurs for 30 seconds)
Weapon:
Giant-Crusher (left-hand)
Ash of War: Braggart's Roar
Affinity: Blood
Highland Axe (right-hand)
Passive: 10% roar damage
Physick:
Spiked Cracked Tear (15% charged attack damage)
Bloodsucking Cracked Tear (20% damage but 1% HP loss per second)
Consumable:
Bloodboil Aromatic (30% physical damage, 20% stamina, and +5/s stamina but -20% damage negation for 60 seconds)
Pickled Turtle Neck (10/s stamina for 60 seconds)
Great Rune:
Radahn's (15% increase to HP/FP/Stamina)
Summon:
Stormhawk Deenh (20% physical/stamina/stance damage for 60 seconds)
Strongest Bleed Build:
I call this the strongest because you have 99 STR, whereas most other bleed builds that claim to be the strongest focus on DEX and fast multi-hit attacks to stack successive damage buffs. This build instead relies on tanking the boss's attacks and trading their attacks as you hit them as hard as you can with your first hit, so it instantly bleeds, and then hitting them harder with your second.
Left-Hand Weapon Buff and Right Hand Active Skill:
I use the Giant-Crusher in my left hand so I can use Endure with the weapon in my right hand without removing the weapon buff of Braggart's War from my left-hand weapon. I can then combo them togther to cast Endure to gain its defenses as I then two-hand my left-hand weapon, which still has its Braggart's Roar weapon buff, to do an uninterrupted high-defense buffed altered charged attack, letting you safely trade with bosses.
Endure Buff:
With Endure, you gain massive amounts of poise so you can't be interrupted out of your altered charged attack. Also, you gain a large boost to your damage negation, which helps counter Bloodboil Aromatic's reduced damage negation debuff.
Status Multiplier:
Braggart's Roar has a status multiplier for its altered attack. The value depends on the weapon type, ranging from 1.5x to 3.0x. For the Giant-Crusher, you gain access to the full 3.0x multiplier. Colossal Hammers have the highest bleed buildup of any weapon type; with 60 ARC, you will inflict a ridiculous 496 bleed per bonk. This is enough to instantly pop bleed on most bosses with your first bonk.
Stackable Damage:
The meat of your damage comes from the various damage buffs you have stacking with each other. This is because the altered heavy attack of Braggart's Roar is treated as both a roar attack and a charged attack. Slap on Blood Affinity, and you can also take full advantage of the buffs you normally get from a Bleed Build from items like the Lord of Blood's Exultation. The Bloodsucking Tear, Bloodboil Aromatic, and Stormhawk Deenh's buff further help boost your physical damage ceiling while further fitting the Berserker theme of this build.
Stance Breaking:
A charged heavy attack of Giant-Crusher normally does 42 stance damage. When you two-hand it, it increases by 10%. This is further increased by 20% with Deenh's buff. Lastly, the running animation of Braggart's Roar deals 3 stance damage. This is because the running animation can hit enemies 3 times, with each hit dealing 1 stance damage. This results in a total of 58 possible stance damage with each altered charged attack.
Highland Axe Passive:
When equipped, the Highland Axe provides a passive 10% roar damage. This effect even applies if you are two-handing your left-hand weapon. For its Ash of War, you will need Endure so you can cast to perform an uninterrupted two-handed altered charged attack with your left-hand weapon.
Deenh Aura Buff:
Stormhawk Deenh is a big part of this build because Deenh casts an aura buff that increases your physical and stance damage by 20% for 60 seconds.
Conclusion:
This berserker build is very simple, with you trading hits with your altered charged attacks until whatever you are bonking is dead. Using Endure in your right hand will let you mix in the buff of its high damage negation and poise during your long altered charged attack animation, turning you into an unstoppable force of mass bonkage. The instant bleed pops that come with each bonk add extra flavor to the already big physical damage you are dealing. If the boss is still standing, they are already close to having their stance broken, so you can finish them off with a critical hit or use that opening to deliver another bloody bonk.
