3.25 - (Semi) Starter Skill Speedrun - Heavy Strike Berserker - 3h16m53s

#pathofexile #speedrun

Heavy strike mostly used to kill Hillock and then never again, but what if that wasn't this case? This is a speedrun that focuses on trying to use Heavy Strike as a core component of the run. Unlike the other two starter skill speedrun videos I have out, I only consider this a semi starter skill speedrun as I wasn't able to get Heavy Strike clear going until towards A5 (had Heavy Strike for single going relatively early into run). Reflecting on that, I was too set on getting the clear going in the way I wanted to (looking for 4L for melee splash or having tribal fury), didn't get either until around A5 and I failed to handle the socket pressure I was facing with my gear setup well in course of run. I only had a 2L for clear with frost blades and added fire until the swap to Heavy Strike clear in A5 after getting tribal fury (on a 3L still). There are definitely somethings I would change about this run if I were to do it again such as doing a more rage focused pathing at first and just running two heavy strikes once I got ancestral cry in A2. Run was done as part of Wraeclast Rally 3.25.

Livestreams ► https://www.twitch.tv/balaar_

Damage felt pretty solid all the way through because you know zerker doing zerker things and heavy strike has good damage effectiveness. However, heavy strike definitely has it quirks with the knock back. Can sometimes be good, sometimes its really annoying to play with. I've always been a fan of the skill, but it has struggled to have a good place in the game for a long time. This is especially true with the removal of ancestral protector as good attack speed scaling for strikes is a bit more scarce to come by now which feels pretty essential to strike skills for smoothness/QoL of gameplay. Outside of the lack of adaptability to get clear going with heavy sooner/being too set in my original plan of how I envisioned run, I was really happy with how the run turned out and had a blast blasting.

PoB of Character Tree/Gear at End of Run: https://pobb.in/8LzsMTo0YKyc

Table of Contents: 0:00 - Act 1 21:50 - Act 2 41:26 - Act 3 and Normal Lab 1:08:00 - Act 4 1:27:35 - Act 5 1:45:13 - Act 6 2:08:56 - Act 7 and Cruel Lab 2:30:06 - Act 8 2:48:07 - Act 9 3:03:11 - Act 10 and Merc Lab