That would depend on your definition of effective. Berserkers get 2 notable abilities, 1 discipline and 1 AA line: [5040] Reckless Discipline Classes: BER/56 Skill: Defense Endurance: 0, Upkeep: 62 per tick Target: Self Beneficial: Blockable Reflectable: No Casting: 0s, Recast: 40m, Timer: 2 Duration: 12s (2 ticks), Extendable: Yes, Dispelable: No Hate: 1 1: Increase Chance to Riposte by 10000% [37145] Uncanny Resilience Classes: BER/254 Target: Self Beneficial: Blockable Reflectable: No Casting: 0s Duration: 30s (5 ticks), Extendable: Yes, Dispelable: Yes 1: Absorb Melee Damage: 40%, Max Per Hit: 1700, Total: 46000 Outside of those, it depends on how much support you have in group and if you are "tanking" current content.
Short answer is no, your dps not a tank. Again, it would depend on the content. If you are in a position to decapitate mobs; you will be tanking even if you have a traditional tank. You wear chain but will tank worse than a ranger, monk or cleric merc and your only agro control is the amount of dps or stuns you push to stay on top of the hatelist. It is possible in non standard group well below max level to have a berserker tank, but a tank merc will run circles around you.
Worst class at taking hits pretty much, even casters have more tools to deal with getting hit than a berserker does.
Are you serious? A wizard out tanking a zerker? It's because Arcane Destruction rune, which is used for survivability? A wizard can't tank with that, but survive if he is burning and being hitted. No more tanking tools. But the point is, are you really comparing the worthless ability to tank between two pure dps classes, who are paper? If I want to tank, I choose a tank class. If I want to DPS, I take a DPS class. If I want to heal, I'll play a healer. IMO the answers I'm reading are just nonsense. Just don't pick a class which isn't made for tanking if you want to tank sometimes.
OP is asking which is better at tanking between wizard and berserker, or is he just asking if berserker is good at tanking? If the OP asked the first one, I would understand the comparison, but I don't really think that's the answer he's waiting for. That's what I'm refering to.
Had to compare it to something, and berserkers not tanking as well as a silk wearing caster wound be a resounding "No berserkers do not tank well."
Wizards can't tank, wizards aren't tanks. Berserkers aren't tanks, too. These are two pure dps classes. I find it an absolute nonsense to compare two worthless classes as a tank, and saying that wizards are better at tanking. Come on! Berserkers are bad tanks. Wizards are bad tanks. To the OP: if you wanna tank, pick a tank. Pure dps classes are not good at tanking, even if they tell you that wizards have godly runes like shield of fate, which is an archetype spell. With all our great regular runes... yes, we can stand one or two rounds if we're lucky. Are you telling me that it's tanking? I would never say in a group: hey, we miss a tank, let me be in front. I won't say that to a berserker even. Let's be logical, please.
Yikes, you really can't read very well. No one said wizards are good tanks. Also, no one said their runes were powerful at all. What was stated was that wizards take a hit better than berserkers because they have more tools at their disposal. Staff block and a variety of runes. This was a comparison to show just how bad at tanking berserkers are. I'm done here since most like there will be another stupid response incoming. Edit: Sorry, one person did say wizards tank better. He wasn't stating it as fact though.
While my zerker (4kaa) - with uncanny, early retaliation, reckless available in a pinch can survive over pulls or tough nameds, he does come close to death often. A zerker can "take damage" (not tank) and survive if the incoming dps is slowed, hence shm/bards are their best friends. As I understand (this info may be outdated) their mitigation is equivalent to a shaman's, rogue's, and beastlords, iirc. My zerker has a very very hard time holding aggro (tanking), despite the massive dps. Can't always rely on Scorpion Poison to proc, which leads to dead group-mates. But that's honestly not my fault, they just don't understand how aggro works! If you want a "tanking dps" I'd recommend a monk. Their avoidance is tops! With a host of other emergency tools to take care of dmg spikes (30 second mend, dogde / ripo discs, etc.) they rarely disappoint. But again, an aggro source is required (poison, stun proc, etc.)
Without raid gear, casters are lucky to survive 4-5 rounds from a group mob. And thats with staff block and a healer merc. Berzerkers are way ahead on taking hits in group content than casters are.
To the OP: Do not play a berserker to tank. Play it to kill foes in a hurry, preferably while in a party with a friend who plays a class that can buff your melee offense (e.g. shaman, enchanter, bard). Berserkers get a few self-defense abilities that can help when they're soloing mobs far below their level for some extra exp or quest progress, and their instant-cast stuns generally make it a bit easier for other classes to tank for them (stunned enemy does no damage while stunned!), but they're very much meant to be played in a party. If you want a class that does something similar (heavy bursts of damage) but can still kill foes efficiently when solo, a wizard may indeed be a better choice for you for that reason.
