Heinrich/Armored Berserker

''“ANGEL…. ANGELLL…”''

Otherwise known as the Angel Killer, the Armoured Berserker is a feral humanoid with seemingly no intelligence whatsoever and limitless hate for angels.

Biography
The Armoured Berserker appeared in the Forest of Spirits. His fearsome appearance terrified the forest's inhabitants, the Fairies and Elves. However, he never attacked them. When Luka and his party visit the forest, they hear about the Berserker. Luka suspects the fairies and elves are just prejudiced and that the Berserker is relatively friendly despite his appearance.

It’s not a few moments after Luka acquires Sylph before he starts feeling a tingling sensation. If Ilias was recruited, she comments that it seems like holy magic which went “berserk and degenerated”. The Berserker promptly materialises behind them. His whole vocabulary appears to consist of "ANGEL". He attacks them.

If the Berserker defeats the party, he is about to deliver the final blow to Luka when Nero materialises between them and blocks the attack with his scythe. Neris takes the unconscious Luka and his companions back to the Pocket Castle and leaves Nero to deal with the Armoured Berserker alone. Which Nero does, effortlessly. Before turning into particles, the Berserker screams “WWWOOOOOoooo”, likely shocked by how powerful Nero is. Nero notes that he wasn’t destroyed and that so long as his soul remains, he will go berserk again and again.

If Luka and the others manage to defeat the Berserker, Nero and Neris do not intervene and the party remains in the forest, rather than being transported to the castle. Luka still acquires access to the angel race in this scenario. The Berserker’s defeat also leaves Alice or Ilias visibly confused, considering the large difference in power that should be between him and the party at this point.

Monsterpedia
''“A mysterious swordsman that appears in spiritual locations, like the Forest of Spirits. It is covered in a bizarre substance that has solidified its whole body like armour. It seems to have completely lost its reason, and communicating with it is impossible. Its purpose and identity are unknown, but it appears to relentlessly target angels and wields extraordinary power.”''

Attacks

 * Red Lotus Flame Dance – Physical Attack, Random Enemy, Attack 4 Times, Fire Attribute, Burn 10%
 * シャドウメサイア (Shadow Messiah) – Certain Hit, All Enemies, Dark Attribute
 * 天塵剣 (Heavenly Dust Sword) – Physical Attack, One Enemy, Angel Attribute
 * エンジェルダスト (Angel Dust) – Certain Hit, All Enemies, Angel Attribute

Strategy
Well, you aren’t supposed to beat him, it's as simple as that. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. You need to level up Luka and your primary party members to at least 30 before encountering him. NG+ can help you with this. My strategy is to have someone that can use Song of Energy/Life etc. to regenerate the team’s SP/HP, 1 or 2 healers and someone that can hit really hard using SP skills (an example is Luka with the Hero job maxed out). The Berserker should be easier than Sphinx so you can use the same strategy with her. Just don’t use the Sonic or Bio elements, anything else is fine. Note that his Angel attribute attacks do additional damage to angels, so avoid having Ilias or Promestein in the party.

Trivia

 * The trailer for Part 1 contains a scene in which the Armoured Berserker and Black Alice stand next to each other, suggesting that they might be working together. However, it's unclear which of the possible Black Alices this is.