Bersi

**Bersi** is a varl Hero character contracted to protect Ludin, met while Hakon is traveling with Vognir.

## Background

*Of all of Ludin's traveling companions, Bersi is the most likely to stand out, being a literal giant amongst men. Even Ludin seems afraid of him, which might be the primary reason he hasn't been sent away. On the rare occasion it has been whispered that the Varl doesn't even work for the prince, but some other group altogether. What is well known is that he's already saved Ludin's life on more than one occasion.*

Instead of leading the life of a warrior like most of the other varls, Bersi became a sword-for-hire. One of his jobs involved pretending to be a brigand to toughen up apprentice menders and teach them the necessity of using violence. He was also once hired by the Mender Council to find Yngvar, who had disappeared after the end of the Second Great War.

Bersi's last job before becoming Ludin's bodyguard was to toughen up the apprentice mender Hafr. The varl pretended to be a bandit who had abducted him for ransom, and tortured him by keeping him thirsty and starving, before stabbing him in the thigh on the third day. As the young mender was able to free himself from the ropes tying to him a tree without his patterned stick to help him, the varl let him go. An elder mender then offered him a job to accompany Ludin as his bodyguard, so the Mender Council would know about everything that was happening as he met the Varl King Jorundr. Bersi eventually agreed, finding it less bloody than what he did with young menders.

#### Active Ability: Tempest

The Warhawk uses his massive weight to sweep his weapon around himself, hitting multiple adjacent targets, friend or foe, for normal strength damage.
Tempest hits the selected enemy target plus additional units, friend or foe, moving in a clockwise fashion around the Warhawk. After clicking on the enemy target (and before ticking to confirm the action) the units to be hit are highlighted with the purple-filled tiles.
**Rank 1:** hits up to 2 targets
**Rank 2:** hits up to 3 targets
**Rank 3:** hits up to 4 targets
Tempest triggers the Warhawk's passive ability, Heavy Impact, which in turn can cause a chain reaction of destruction if used in close quarters. Keeping the Warhawk out of harm's way until late in the fight will maximize his effectiveness.

#### Second Active Ability: Choice

In the second part of *The Banner Saga*, when Bersi reaches Rank 6, he can choose a second active ability between:
* Sundering Impact (Warmaster), like Hakon
* Forge Ahead (Warleader), like Krumr

## Passive Ability: Heavy Impact

The Warrior hits so hard that any enemies standing adjacent to his target on a strength attack take 1 strength damage from the shockwave.
Hitting a large target like a Varl or Dredge who takes up four tiles can potentially cause an impact across many more victims than hitting a single-square target such as a human.
## Joining the Party

**Saga 1:**  Bersi is Ludin's bodyguard and joins Hakon's caravan along with the Prince, in Chapter 3.

**Saga 2:**  He will be a member of Alette/Rook's caravan from the beginning of Chapter 7. He will later join with the Ravens after the caravan split at Ormsdalr at the end of Chapter 8, despite Ludin continuing with the Skogr caravan.

**Saga 3:** Bersi is present in Iver's party from the start of Chapter 17.

## Possible Death or Departure

**Saga 1:**  Bersi will leave the caravan if you choose to send Ludin away, in Chapter 3. However, he will fight with you (along with Yrsa) in Ridgehorn if you knock-out the senseless Prince for his own welfare. Although if Ludin falls in battle at Ridgehorn so will Bersi.

**Saga 2:**  There is no event leading to his death or departure.

**Saga 3:**

* Bersi will die in chapter 19 if you lose the battle against the warped in Ridgehorn.

* Bersi will die in chapter 21 if you lose the battle against Bolverk.

## Playstyle

* Bersi starts out with average stats but his Tempest ability can give him a lot of kills, earning him fast promotions.
* Investing only on Armor and Strength is suggested.
* Keep him safe from harm until the enemies have been sufficiently broken.
* Typically, he will be your second-choice Warhawk, assuming that Gunnulf occupies the first spot.

## Trivia

* His name loosely translates to "He-Bear".
* Bersi is one of the main characters in the short story *What is Told* by Alex Thomas, and was meant as an introduction to gamers about the lore of *The Banner Saga*.