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Tactics Rate/Advise my refined Berserker strategy for 1016

I can kill scrakes with a katana much easier, on any difficulty setting, than with the fire-axe, except HoE. I do not play HoE yet and will not until at least level 5. Have not tested this with FP, but I'm quite sure the Katana has better DPS and the alt fire of the axe would only be better when versing individual specimens, which is unlikely on most maps.

The tactics I posted are meant to deal with as much of a variety of specimens as possible, so I'm not sure how you think the Fire-Axe can "solve the problems of my tactics" by replacing an M-79 against FPs or AK-47 against a group of 8 crawlers. Good luck axing those crawlers!

If I might interject, I think I can elaborate on the points ghost was making. Note, though, that all of these are with respect to HoE.

The only way to stun a scrake in HoE is with alt fire axe. Therefore, it is the preferred tool for the job.

DPS of axe/katana vs a FP doesn't really matter. You either alt fire HS the FP 1 time with the axe, or take two primary swipes at his head with the katana. The axe lets you get in and get out quickly. The katana forces you to stay in his mele-zone a bit longer, which opens you up to making mistakes. That being said, katana can deal with adds better. It's personal preference.

I do not use assault rifles, or any weapons but the xbow, against crawlers for good reasons.
  1. You can take out crawlers just fine with katana, knife, or more awkwardly an axe without getting hit
  2. Holding a gun slows you down big time
  3. Reloading your weapon WILL get you hit

I believe the three preferred loadouts for berserker atm are:
  1. katana+axe+LAR
  2. katana+xbow+(dropped)axe
  3. axe+xbow+knife

All of these allow you to handle every specimen in the game. 1 has trouble kiting large groups because of LAR's inability to nail husks through a bunch of meat shields; 2 forces you to put off scrakes for last; 3 limits your ability to hack through groups, though I haven't yet relied on knife for primary clot/gorefast work outside of wave 1.

In fact, I'd like to hear more from ghost on the effectiveness of knife as your main crowd control. Here's what's keeping me up at night: I'm running away from a group of zeds, when another medium sized group of clots/GF's blocks my escape. Katana would let me hack through them quickly. Axe is too slow, and atm my knifing skills aren't stellar without backpeddeling. It seems like I'd take a lot of unnecessary damage in this situation with only the knife to clear my path. Thoughts?
 
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Thanks for all of the advice. And I figured there must have been some physical resistance if people were saying that the fire axe doesn't rage the FPs.


I will have to try some more experimenting with the tips given and see where that lands me. Once I get some more playing time in, I should more effectively be able to provide feedback from all the great advice.
 
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So the axe is the only weapon that "stuns" scrakes and FPs now? I'm pretty sure Katana does, or did, and I'm sure chainsaw didn't. I don't know why, but for me the Katana kills FPs easier and with less damage taken than with the chainsaw. I will test these Axe combos and drop a few around the map because it seems like the favorite weapon of many berserkers posting here. I still prefer katana, scar, machete (give to new guys) and m79, plus a dropped axe nearby. It's not perfect but gives me a good variety of weapons to kill with.

The knife really didn't need a damage reduction IMO, the weight reduction for Machete was enough. The machete is good but won't always 1 hit a gorefest, although sometimes (rarely) I choose the Machete over the fire axe in early waves.

Also want to mention since the Chainsaw buff I have been using it a lot more, more than the Katana in tight maps like doom or biolab. I must say it is giving me the fastest exp out of all the melee weapons, and I've found if you tap primary really fast half way through the alt strike, it does more damage in less time.

Did anyone else notice that the Katana is only auto-fire on primary attack? The alt attack is still one attack per click, unlike every other melee alt attack. Not that it really matters, just saying.
 
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@Xebo
Unfortunately I don't have any footage of me using the knife much since I mostly run with friends on Hell on Earth. I do have footage of axe and crossbow though.

YouTube - Killing Floor - Axe and Crossbow Loadout on H.o.E

Bullet is running axe / katana / lar, DM is using axe / katana / m79, and I forget what Micro$oft Gate$ is using. Trystan joins as a commando for wave 8 but he picked the wrong perk.

YouTube - Killing Floor - 1016 Beta Patch 3 - Wave 7 + Patriarch as Berserker on Bedlam

FF to the 3:00 mark to see what Xebo is talking about with regards to bringing down a pound with a katana.

One thing I will say is bring down a fleshpound with melee is easy enough when it's 1v1. Learning the timing is fairly straight forward. It's creating the 1v1 situation that is the hard part. If you're playing on a full 6 man game on H.o.E, you need 9 alt fire head shots to bring him down. During that time, all sorts of things can happen such as you run out of space or a pack of crawlers decide to spawn on you. How you react to this sudden surprise is something you'll have to learn. Also, ping affects berserkers a lot. It might look like you dodged the pound's attack but if the game doesn't say so, then you didn't dodge it. These are all sorts of nuances that you just have to adjust to that you can't get from practicing solo.
 
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