In the last article, I argued the pitfalls of calling this game "next generation", but hearing that this game will attempt to incorporate collision detection in weapons does sound incredibly ambitious. This, as far as I know, has never been attempted in an MMO setting. Hopefully this feature isn't hindered by lag, since if you're lagging, the enemy is not going to remain in the space you think they will be when you started your swing!
I hope they've given the berserker abilities that allow them to get enemies/players out of their face if they are too close. I can see a slayer running right into a berserker's face and attacking so close that the berserker doesn't have any attacks they could do since he would not be able to move away fast enough to get an enemy/player into the correct position. If this proves to be a problem, I could see a lot more people switching to warrior instead, since I doubt swords will have any place that won't do any damage on them like an axe does.
Also, don't confuse "the axe does the most damage" with "the axe does the most dps" :)
Exclusive Interview and Screens of The Berserker
An exclusive interview and never-before-seen screenshots of TERA's most terrifying class: The Berserker.
MisterBones: Wow, so an enemy could be too close to you and you wouldn't be able to hit him because you'd be hitting him with the hilt of the axe.
Brian: Exactly.
Scott: And it's not just the Berserker too, some of the spell casting classes have that same problem. Or that same "challenge," because we don't have problems around here.
MisterBones: (Laughs) That's good. You know, actually, I was going to ask you about the challenge of playing the Berserker class as opposed to playing the other melee classes, or playing the ranged classes. Is it easier to play as a melee class than a ranged class?
Scott: I wouldn't say that it is. I'd say that there are different challenges for both. I've taken Archers all the way through the game, I've taken Warriors all the way through the game and I've taken Berserkers through the game.
I don't know if you were paying attention to our Facebook pictures that Evan was posting, but he was posting the leaderboard of us playing here in the office. And my Berserker character was the one gaining all the levels. And then I stopped gaining levels, because I came up against monsters that I couldn't fight on my own. Or I couldn't fight them fast, on my own. It just took a while to get through those things.
With an Archer, those monsters were really easy. Because I was always moving, I was always on the periphery of that monster's attack range and my damage over time was more than his ability to catch me.
Brian: There are just so many more factors than just looking at a monster and seeing its level. You know, what are their attacks, what are they doing, what is their size compared to your size? You're going to really have to explore the world and find the monsters that are right for the type of hunting that you're going to be doing. I mean, sure, monsters may be more difficult for parties but at the same time there just may be things that are better suited for your class and your play style.
And not everyone is going to play this class the same way too. There's a lot of differentiation in play styles. One Warrior is very different than another Warrior, just based off of the human action of it all.
MisterBones: And you said in the beginning that the Berserker may not be the best class, but it's the most fun to play. Something about always having to move around. Why is that?
Scott: It's the most fun class to play, for me. Because it's about positioning and it shows off my skill as a player.
Brian: It's a very patient class, though, too right? [When we talk about] moving around [we mean] you have to position yourself. I don't think of moving around like you're all dodgy-twisty. It's more like you got to be in the right spot when you swing that axe or you're going to get a lot of dirt on that axe.
MisterBones: Ah, I see, but the axe does the most damage.
Scott: It is the most damaging weapon in the game.
Go here for part two of ZAM's exclusive look at TERA's Berserker Class!