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Tactics Skunkees Definitive Berserker guide

It wasn't last time I checked. I could be wrong. Oh well. Shows how much I've been playing Berserker lately. I find it hard to justify being one when it serves almost no distinct role.

I can be a medic and tank for the team better than a Zerker due to crazy, cheap armor and being able to heal myself 50 HP per heal (Plus heal teammates crazy fast!) and get a FASTER movespeed while using ANY weapon!

Or be a Sharpshooter and deal with Scrakes/FPs faster than I could ever dream of as a Zerker...(Not to mention sweeping everything else!).

Or be a Demoman and smack down groups instantly and bomb FPs.

Or I could be a Zerker who does almost nothing but take damage and desperately clickspam to try and take out Scrakes. It really, really shows how ham-fisted of a nerf taking away the Katana auto-attack really was!

I think you're making it out to be a lot worse than it really is. Don't get me wrong, there is a definite issue with the Berserker perk as a whole now but the only valid complaint I've seen from you has been about the chainsaw damage.

Berserkers don't take hits any harder than a medic does since medic's damage resistance is only in the form of armor and Berserker's 25% is constant. If medics have no armor, they get instagibbed by a fleshpound on hard/suicidal. Also, if the medic is busy healing himself instead of his teammates, the teammates are probably going to die as a result of that.

There are a few things that were totally un-necessary such as the chainsaw nerf. But the Katana auto attack was pretty cheesy before. I'm actually glad they took away the auto attack because now it encourages you to pick and choose your swings, waiting for the right moment, rather than just W+Mouse 1'ing everything. Power strikes are actually a bit more important to use now, I've found.

I still say the best solution would be to revamp how the other Berserker weapons work. I've found that other perks' weaponry (save for the new uberguns) is more sidegrade oriented. For example, the crossbow may have huge damage and high penetration, but you only get one shot before you reload. The Lever Action on the other hand, allows you to take out several specimens individually with a faster firing rate.

I want to see that happen with the Berserker. It would be awesome if there were situations you would want the fire axe instead of the katana, or the machete instead of the chainsaw. As it is now, all non katana weapons are just placeholders until you can afford one.
 
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There are a few things that were totally un-necessary such as the chainsaw nerf. But the Katana auto attack was pretty cheesy before. I'm actually glad they took away the auto attack because now it encourages you to pick and choose your swings, waiting for the right moment, rather than just W+Mouse 1'ing everything. Power strikes are actually a bit more important to use now, I've found.

Almost all the berserks I see when they get in a group aren't timing swings one bit. They're just mashing Mouse 1 as fast as possible... I know it was SUPPOSED to make you time the swings, but it really doesn't make you have to one bit if you can spam click.

And if you can setup an autofire key, you can have it just like it used to be...
 
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Almost all the berserks I see when they get in a group aren't timing swings one bit. They're just mashing Mouse 1 as fast as possible... I know it was SUPPOSED to make you time the swings, but it really doesn't make you have to one bit if you can spam click.

And if you can setup an autofire key, you can have it just like it used to be...

They're bad players in general. Bad players playing a perk wrong =\= the perk or the weapon being broken. And if you can set up an auto fire key, then why are you posting in multiple topics complaining about the "nerf" of the katana?

I think you'll get a bit more notice from the developers if you provide more constructive feedback rather than RANDOMLY capitalizing WORDS to provide EMPHASIS and making moot point complaints like the removal of autoattack. Melee weapons are not fully automatic weapons like the Bullpup/SCAR/AK-47 and other than the chainsaw and the knife (knife for convenience sake, as it attacks very fast at ranks 5 and 6 and that does get a little tedious when clicking), I think they should all be one click=one swing. Your heart's in the right place, I just think you're trying to get your points across in a non-constructive manner.

I'm surprised more people aren't as concerned about the "lesser" berserker weapons such as the fire axe and machete having a use. Even before this patch, those weapons rarely (if ever) saw use during waves other than 2-3 at best. I'd be a happy camper if those weapons were given a function, much like the sharpshooter or commando guns (bullpup for the trash, AK/SCAR for the big boys; 9mm/Handcannon/LAR for the trash-moderates, and Crossbow/M14EBR for the Big Un's).

Berserker is a bit of a dark horse when it comes to balancing out the perk in the sense that your weapon never runs out of ammo and most Berserkers find a weapon they like and stick with it. That's why I'm in favor of giving each weapon besides the Knife and Katana some type of bonus ability that might encourage you to use them instead of the aforementioned 2. It wouldn't require any man hours spent on developing and modeling new weapons, and the old weapons could just be re-coded to have various effects such as stuns/bleeds/cleaves.
 
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What did the stun come from? Certain damage amount? I was playing alone and whenever I did an alt-swing on a Husk with a fire axe it drooped and did nothing.

The stun is specimen specific. When Husks, Scrakes, Gorefasts, and Clots take a certain amount of non lethal melee damage, they get dazed for a second or three. It's especially noticeable on the Scrakes since they have a large health pool, and Husks are quite noticeable as well since they actually hang their head down and cower.
 
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The stun is specimen specific. When Husks, Scrakes, Gorefasts, and Clots take a certain amount of non lethal melee damage, they get dazed for a second or three. It's especially noticeable on the Scrakes since they have a large health pool, and Husks are quite noticeable as well since they actually hang their head down and cower.

It used to be our niche: rapid attacks that would decap and stun with the chainsaw. Without heads, they'd bleed out before the stun wears off! Not the case anymore, as the Chainsaw no longer does enough damage to stun and they'll immediately hit you after the decap.

Stunning Husks and Scrakes is still viable, but less useful, as most of the time you'll have a Sharpshooter popping their head, a Support turning them into hamburger, or a Demoman nuking them before they're ever in range. Of course this is true with almost any enemy, but Scrakes used to be our bread and butter and seeing them dealt with far easier by other perks really hurts the Zerker's overall role. Not to mention that you have to clickspam the entire time you're attacking one, usually around 5 seconds, when if you switch to another perk, you can usually down 'em in about a second flat...

Zerkers have no way to take down groups like the Demo/Firebug can, Sharpshooters/Supports are far better at pure damage, and Commandos/M-14 Sharpshooters can do ranged sweeping far better than you ever could with melee.

To top it off, Medics move faster and are generally better at tanking. Armor for them has 50% damage resistance, where you only have 25% overall, plus, once the armor is gone, they can heal themselves for 50 points of damage each heal at an obscenely fast recharge rate...and still heal others with the heal-darts... All the while being nearly immune to Bloat vomit and Fire, as Fire and vomit already do about 1/3 damage to armor...minus 50% for a medic and it does damage in the single digits even on hard!)

In short, I love playing Berserker, but aside from the fun factor, I have a hard time justifying it, seeing as most perks are significantly better at everything than a Zerker...
 
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i never played the zerker prior to the "nerf" so i cant compare... however, i find the role challenging and have been working hard to get the perk up to level 5.. not there yet, but close......what i have found the hardest is to find the right niche within the group you are playing with and try to support the team....i dont run off on my own because i know i will die.....I like the perk and play it almost exclusively....I think the zerkers that cry the loudest are the ones that used to run off by themselves to do thier own thing....call me a noob if you wish, but I like the perk....
 
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Well, I play berserker sometimes just because of the increased melee damage and attack speed, but to be honest they are both pretty much useless. No matter what perk you have, you can kill most enemies with just one hit. The only good thing about berserker is the ability of killing scrakes with ~3 hits depending on the difficulty and perk level, but since any perk can also stun the scrake with katana, it doesnt rly matter how fast you kill it... Unless there is 20 other zeds around him.

They should give a movement penalty for every other perk while using katana/axe (by that I mean, move as slowly as when using a ranged weapon), and remove the stun ability if you arent a berserker. Would give some reason to be berserker instead of a medic+katana..
 
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i never played the zerker prior to the "nerf" so i cant compare... however, i find the role challenging and have been working hard to get the perk up to level 5.. not there yet, but close......what i have found the hardest is to find the right niche within the group you are playing with and try to support the team....i dont run off on my own because i know i will die.....I like the perk and play it almost exclusively....I think the zerkers that cry the loudest are the ones that used to run off by themselves to do thier own thing....call me a noob if you wish, but I like the perk....

I'm a former zerker and I never went rambo. The big problem is that the Chainsaw, your premium weapon for 'Hold the line' scenarios sucks. One of the major reasons is that "Stunned" enemies are still attacking: [url]http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=38981[/URL]

A Zerker playing as a team was an INVALUABLE asset, with his ability to Scrake stun, tank groups when needed, and overall smack down guys that breach the firing perimeter. Now, with everyone having god-weapons that outperform you at range, EVERYONE ELSE can do without you, thus leaving the team-centred Zerker without a real niche.

The nerfing of the top tier melee weapons damage overall (Look at the power bars in the trader menu. They used to be full...) and the removal of the Katana's auto-attack were just adding insult to injury. It's not an unplayable class and it can still be fun, but it's just an underpowered class.

As many people will tell you, a Level 4/5 Medic with a Katana can more or less do a Zerker's job as well as he can with the addition of uber-healing and being able to move fast with guns...

Now, it's true that without armor, medics take full damage, but armor takes less damage than health to begin with. Now, add-in the fact that armor will only take HALF damage at Level 5 and even less at Level 6 (75% better, isn't it?! Thus armor only takes 25% damage!)

Berserker's damage resist may work without armor, but it tops out at 25%, thus making your tanking potential STILL pretty negligable compared to the almighty medic...
 
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Sorry to double post, but I'd like to bump the thread whilst adding on to it.

I've discovered through experimentation, Skunkee, that if you crouch and primary fire the chainsaw aiming up when the crawlers jump on you, they will insta-die in the air.

Well, I'm lvl 6, but I bet it works universally with a de-cap.
 
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So...how about all that Berserking? Are any of us still out there? And are any of us out there playing Berserker anymore?

I haven't seen a Berserker past Wave 3-4 in weeks. The class is dead...
Beserker is my favorite perk but now I have to play SS with an M-14 on suicidal. FPs do way too much damage to a beserker. Beserkers def need a much bigger reduction to damage taken to be useful on suicidal. Way too squishy nowadays and with the way zeds always try to jump behind you, you get blocked in too easily and you're dead before you can blink.
 
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Skunkee, I love your guide! The 'Crawler Dance' incited an audible laugh from me, in case it matters to you.


Thank you, I'm glad it was helpful.

Sorry to double post, but I'd like to bump the thread whilst adding on to it.

I've discovered through experimentation, Skunkee, that if you crouch and primary fire the chainsaw aiming up when the crawlers jump on you, they will insta-die in the air.

Well, I'm lvl 6, but I bet it works universally with a de-cap.

I've done this as well, but most of the time you'll take a hit before the crawler dies. I've found that the dance method is the safest bet if you have the room to move. Tight quarters -> Break out the winchester/shotgun/whatever.
 
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Tried a new setup: The Support Zerker

NOTE: This build is pretty much impossibly expensive without teammates buying you items. You CAN (Since we don't need no stinkin' bullets) afford it eventually, but you're talking upwards of $3,500, so it's late-game at best. Talk to your teammates!

The basis is that you can't do solid melee the entire round and contribute properly these days. So...we're gonna become a hybrid: Capable of being a melee beast, but able to do a ton more!

Equipment:
1kg - Knife/9mm. Your standard fallback weapons.
3 kg - Katana. Primary melee. Never leave home without it.
4 kg - M-79. Grenade pistol. Use this for groups of Clots/Crawlers at range or for "Unsurrounding" a distant teammate. Can also be used to 'Stun' distant Gorefasts so you can run up with a Katana and kill with a bit of impugnity.
3 kg - MP7 Medic Gun. NOT for fighting. At all. But for healing. We're supporting, afterall. Be prepared to heal.
4 kg - Handcannon (Optional) If you want a standard shooter without falling back to the craptastic 9mm, you can fit this in too. I tend to leave this out: Too expensive and if you die, it's yet another gun you lose. But a handcannon (Or two) can be useful.

Basically, you do 3 main things:
-Hold the line/Rampage with the katana
-Nuke groups of weaklings with the M-79
-Heal teammates with the MP7.

This keeps you from becoming 100% obselete because of godly commandos/sharpshooters. You can nuke groups and go up-close faster than them, plus the healing keeps the team together. And when push comes to shove, you can SHOVE with the Katana. Not a perfect build by any means, but if nothing else, it can help you pull your weight.

Also, an amazingly effective way to level Medic AND Demoman at once without dying...
 
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Equipment:
1kg - Knife/9mm. Your standard fallback weapons.
3 kg - Katana. Primary melee. Never leave home without it.
4 kg - M-79. Grenade pistol. Use this for groups of Clots/Crawlers at range or for "Unsurrounding" a distant teammate. Can also be used to 'Stun' distant Gorefasts so you can run up with a Katana and kill with a bit of impugnity.

I have used this build, lvl6 zerker with katana/m-79. On suicidal it's a bit of a challenge because it takes like 3 nades to kill a gorefast but it's fun....till the FPs come out to play....
 
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