Berserker NPC Stat Block 5e: Reckless Axes and Bloodied Frenzy

This page is about the Berserker NPC stat block, the raider or pit fighter you put in front of a party. It is not the barbarian class or its Path of the Berserker subclass. The berserker is a CR 2 Medium Humanoid (450 XP) with AC 13 from hide armor, a huge 67 hit points, and one greataxe attack at +5 for 9 damage. In 2014 its trait is Reckless: Advantage on its attacks in exchange for giving everyone Advantage against it. The 2024 berserker swaps that for Bloodied Frenzy, Advantage on attacks and saving throws once it drops to half hit points.

Table of Contents

• •Berserker Stat Block (2014)
• •The Berserker in the 2024 Rules
• •How Berserkers Fight
• •How Many Berserkers for a Level 2 to 5 Party?
• •How Players Beat Berserkers
• •Berserker Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Berserker Stat Block (2014)

The shape of this block is unusual for CR 2. Hit points are high (67, almost double a ghast's 36), while offense and defense are low: one attack per turn and an AC most level 1 characters can hit. A berserker is a long fight, not a deadly one, unless there are several of them.

Reckless is a choice the berserker makes at the start of each turn. Taking it means Advantage on every melee weapon attack that turn, and every attack roll against it has Advantage until its next turn. It's close to the barbarian's Reckless Attack but not the same. The barbarian decides when it makes its first attack and gets Advantage only on Strength-based attacks (2014: melee weapon attacks using Strength that turn; 2024: attack rolls using Strength until the start of its next turn). The berserker decides at the start of its turn, and the bonus covers all its melee weapon attacks.

The Berserker in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 change flips the fight's rhythm. The 2014 berserker is most dangerous at the start, when it swings with Advantage and is easiest to hit. The 2024 berserker starts out as a plain axe-swinger and gets dangerous at the end: once it's Bloodied (half its hit points or fewer, so 33 or less), it hits more often and shrugs off spells. It also never hands the party free Advantage.

How Berserkers Fight

The damage math. Against AC 16, the greataxe at +5 needs an 11.

Those averages include critical hits (the extra 1d12 matters on a greataxe). One berserker is a nuisance for a level 3 party. Three berserkers all swinging with Advantage put out about 23 damage a round, and they'll focus on whoever is closest.

When to go Reckless (2014). Play the berserker as someone who always takes the deal, which is the point of the creature. But a smart DM can make it a real choice: a berserker fighting alone against three melee characters is giving all three of them Advantage. A berserker charging the wizard while the fighters are far away loses almost nothing. A good rule of thumb: Reckless when no more than one enemy can reach it before its next turn.

The cost in numbers: a level 3 fighter with +5 to hit against AC 13 hits 65% of the time. With Advantage that's about 88%. Against a single Reckless berserker, a party of four with that accuracy gains roughly one extra hit per round.

Bloodied Frenzy (2024). The 2024 berserker wants to be hurt. It charges the toughest-looking character and doesn't retreat. Once Bloodied, its saving throws all have Advantage, so a Hold Person that would land 60% of the time against a fresh berserker (Wisdom +0 against DC 13) only lands about 36% of the time against a bloodied one. Cast control spells early.

Movement. Berserkers have 30 feet of speed and no ranged attack. They can't do anything about an archer on a wall. Give them a way to reach the backline (a ladder, a breach, a second door) or the fight becomes target practice.

How Many Berserkers for a Level 2 to 5 Party?

The 2024 XP budget (SRD 5.2.1) for four characters:

The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator) rate two berserkers as 900 XP × 1.5 = 1,350 effective XP: Hard for four level 3 characters. That matches play: two berserkers will drop a character or two but rarely the party.

Berserkers pair well with ranged support. An orc war band or a bandit captain with archers behind a berserker line forces the party to choose between the axes in their face and the arrows behind them.

How Players Beat Berserkers

• •Stay out of reach. No ranged attack, no special movement, speed 30. Difficult terrain, a held door, or a restraining Entangle keeps its axe away from the backline.
• •Control it, early. It's a Humanoid in both editions, so Hold Person, Command and Charm Person all work. Its weakest saves are Intelligence and Charisma (−1), then Wisdom (+0). Against the 2024 berserker, land control before it's Bloodied.
• •Punish Reckless. Against a 2014 berserker that went Reckless, everyone gets Advantage. That's the turn for a rogue's Sneak Attack (Advantage enables it with no ally needed) and for everyone's biggest attacks.
• •Finish it once it's Bloodied (2024). Bloodied Frenzy only switches on at 33 hit points or fewer. Once the berserker crosses that line, put every attack into it so it spends as few turns as possible swinging with Advantage, rather than splitting damage across enemies.
• •Don't trade blows with weak characters. 67 hit points means a long fight. Put the highest-AC character in front of it and let everyone else work from range.

Berserker Encounter Ideas

The champion's challenge. A clan of raiders offers single combat: their berserker against the party's best fighter, and the winner's side takes the disputed ford. It's a good duel for a level 3 fighter, and the clan honors the result, which makes the following scene (a sore loser, a revenge raid) easy to run.

The fighting pit. Underground arena, sand floor, a berserker as the house champion. Gamblers on the balcony throw things. The party learns the berserker is a debtor fighting to pay off a loan, and the owner has drugged its water to make it reckless.

The shield wall breaks. The party defends a stockade with a few guards. The raiders' plan is simple: two berserkers hit the gate while archers keep heads down. If the gate holds three rounds, the raiders pull back. Each round the party has to choose: shoot archers or brace the gate.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a berserker in 5e?

The berserker is CR 2 (450 XP) in both the 2014 and 2024 rules, with AC 13 and 67 hit points.

Is the berserker NPC the same as a barbarian?

No. The berserker is an NPC stat block. The barbarian is a player class, and the Path of the Berserker is a barbarian subclass. The berserker NPC has no Rage. The 2014 berserker's Reckless trait works like a simplified Reckless Attack, and the 2024 berserker doesn't have it at all.

What does Reckless do?

At the start of its turn, the 2014 berserker can gain Advantage on all its melee weapon attacks that turn, but attack rolls against it have Advantage until the start of its next turn.

What changed for the berserker in 2024?

Its stats, attack and CR are the same. Reckless is replaced by Bloodied Frenzy: while it has 33 hit points or fewer, the berserker has Advantage on attack rolls and saving throws, and it no longer gives enemies Advantage.

How many attacks does a berserker get?

One. Neither edition gives it Multiattack. Its damage comes from the greataxe's d12 and from attacking with Advantage.

Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.