Berserker's Roll?

[xebo]

I'm currently leveling up a berserker, and having a great time doing it. There are so far a few questions/comments I have regarding how to properly play one.

From what I've read here, chainsaw sucks. From my limited experience with it, I agree. I therefor usually opt for katana + xbow. The katana really helps me out maneuver everything while killing, and the xbow allows me to take out husks, sirens, and those wonderfully single-file lines of crawlers. All in all, ramboing is a total thrill as a berserker.

There is, however, one area where I experience quite a bit of frustration. When I'm playing on a map that demands turtling, like offices or biotics lab, I can't run around things, and often can't even back up to kill crawlers. The whole dynamic of playing as part of a larger group, rather than ramboing freely on my own, is lost to me. My movement is severely restricted, and the specimen's movement is much more erratic.

What's the best way to play in these turtley situations? What should be done when, on a previously mentioned, cramped map, your team whipes?

 

[Johnny Darko]

Berserker at the moment is pretty bad for cramped maps. The Chainsaw used to help him out in these situations but not any more.

 

[ShyMiningStar]

I therefor usually opt for katana + xbow. The katana really helps me out maneuver everything while killing, and the xbow allows me to take out husks, sirens, and those wonderfully single-file lines of crawlers. All in all, ramboing is a total thrill as a berserker.

Yes Nice ramboing is fun : )

There is, however, one area where I experience quite a bit of frustration. When I'm playing on a map that demands turtling, like offices or biotics lab, I can't run around things, and often can't even back up to kill crawlers. The whole dynamic of playing as part of a larger group, rather than ramboing freely on my own, is lost to me. My movement is severely restricted, and the specimen's movement is much more erratic.

So true... It's normal that 1 perk can't be good at every single map, I often change the server or pick a diffrent perk.

What's the best way to play in these turtley situations? What should be done when, on a previously mentioned, cramped map, your team whipes?

Well main thing I would say is to make the whole crowd run behind you and use your xbow to the max and the katana only when they get close because if you run towards them (because you think you can kill them) by that time you mostly get trapped. The tricky thing here is to know when (and where) to run and when to shoot.

As berserker you could wait behind doors and let them step in one by one.

 

[Sammers]

I still use the Chainsaw, because it is badass.

 

[comaryu]

Maps like offices and biolabs aren't very zerk friendly coz of limited kiting room and a crap load of corners which can lead ya to your own doom when u get zergged in by zeds, but doesn't mean its impossible to play as a zerk there

Try kiting in a forward manner making use of side steps instead kiting backwards, the key in these kinda maps, as a zerker in my opinion, is enviroment awareness, if u can kite forward,backward and make use of sidesteps its all about knowing where the spawns are, knowing where the chokepoints are and of course knowing where and how to effeciently get to where your teammates are when an oh crap situation arises ( when 3 fps pop up kinda situation )

In maps like offices where there's limited amount of room to kite i carry something like scar or shotties to take groups of crawlers faster than using an xbow which has slow reloading speed and only kills in a linear manner whch of course in those kinda maps is bad if they aren't lined up

husks and sirens shouldn't be a problem if you're moving around constantly which you should since you're a zerker, you'l probably encounter them at short or middle ranges making shotties or battlerifles effective since ya can hip-spam them and keep crawlers at bay.

And if you're still keen on the katana+ xbow combo, spam the xbow, u can always pick up the bolts you shoot so ammo shouldn't be a problem.

Otherwise, solo closer to where your teammates are, so, if **** happens, u can always run back OR jus have sum1 duo with you to take out the trash while you both roam around the map

 

[9_6]

Berserker at the moment is pretty bad for cramped maps. The Chainsaw used to help him out in these situations but not any more.

The chainsaw wasn't really THAT great...

 

[Johnny Darko]

The chainsaw wasn't really THAT great...

It was a better defensive weapon than the Katana is, that's for sure.

 

[9_6]

It was a better defensive weapon than the Katana is, that's for sure.

Well maybe it was never that great because defensive + berserker does not compute for me.
I tend to take the name quite literal.

 

[Nubbers]

Let's use Biotics Lab as the standard for a cramped map.

I assume that when you refer to turtling, you are doing so in the U room. In that case, I have a different location for you to try. There is a caveat, though: while this does give you more options, it is by necessity more challenging.

Park yourself right at the spawn point. You have three egresses, which means that if one gets clogged, you have two choices; and even if two get overwhelmed, you have a third to backtrack down. Of course, this means you have three potential flanks to monitor. But if you have been playing berserker for any amount of time, constantly swiveling your 'head' should be second nature. Of course, with five other teammates probably holed up in the U room, chances are you won't be overwhelmed all that often anyway.

Long story short, you have to find those places in each level that provides maximum freedom of movement.

 

[-[SiN]-bswearer]

Well maybe it was never that great because defensive + berserker does not compute for me.
I tend to take the name quite literal.

going "berserk" doesn't specifically mean running around on your own as a rambo. it's not the design of the perk (or any perk for that matter) to play as an individual, apart from the rest of the team.

berserk
–adjective
violently or destructively frenzied; wild; crazed; deranged: He suddenly went berserk.

note, there's no mention of running around in that description. the zerker can still be in a violent or destructive frenzy while still remaining close to his team mates.


regarding the effectiveness and role of the berserker, sorry but you must have not been playing the same game we all did before the levelup/heay metal updates......before those updates, the chainsaw was the MOST powerful weapon in the game, argueably even overpowered. it wasn't that expensive, didn't require ammo, never ran out of "gas", could provide a steady stream of attack, was the pivitol weapon for stunning scrakes, and was the ONLY weapon that could routinely take down FPs.

zerkers used to do exactly what they were designed to do, which was sit at the front lines of the group and provide close quarters support with the continuous "fire" of the chainsaw. remember that the zerker was the Anti-FP role back then since he was relied upon to get the FP decap with his chainsaw. he could sit in the front, saw away at the masses, stun the scrakes when they showed up, and decap the FPs when they got close. that is how the perk SHOULD be played.


the problem is that certain things in the game have changed which don't allow the zerker to excel in what they were formally used for.

• most devastating change was the chainsaw primary fire nerfed to almost being useless, also the removal of the ability for the saw to get the all important FP decap.
• katana was added.....light, quicker, attack just as powerful as the saw (and more powerful after levelup update)
• other perks got boosts that allow them to prevent the masses of zeds from getting as close to the team as they used to, meaning less zeds getting to the zerkers and reducing their ammount of kills

because of all this, most zerkers got selfish and realized the best way to get kills/money (which they don't need since they don't need ammo for their perk weapons), was to rambo around on their own with the katana. they also realized that after they got enough money, they could buy a crossbow to use against priority targets so that they could continue to rambo. back in the day, they didn't need to buy a crossbow because they could handle Scrakes/FP on their own using the chainsaw.


i honestly hope that the proper zerker role will be brought back with the next balance update. in order to do that:

• chainsaw stats need to be reverted back to what they used to be
• chainsaw FP decap needs to be brought back
• more zeds need to be able to reach the group....this can be achieved through weapon/perk "nerfs" and/or zeds become more powerful, harder to kill, faster etc....

if these changes are made, zerkers will go back to sticking with the team and using his melee weapons against all the zeds including the "big guys" thereby eliminating things like the need for them to rambo or to have to buy a crossbow to worry about priority targets.

 

[9_6]

going "berserk" doesn't specifically mean running around on your own as a rambo. it's not the design of the perk (or any perk for that matter) to play as an individual, apart from the rest of the team.

Going "berserk" means angrily running towards the enemy and knocking their nasal bone into their cerebellum imo.
It does not mean idly standing around, holding a chainsaw (that slows you down to a ridiculous crawl) in front of you.
My preference.

Also that's funny that you say that but going rambo is exactly what the berserker is really good at right now, having a high movespeed and damage resistance and all... their survivability which is only rivaled by medics doesn't exactly help with not seeing them as rambos either...
If you stick with the team, you have nothing to do since nothing gets really close enough to you (unless your team sucks or they "allow" some enemies to close in just for you).
Like it or not, the berserker is as close to a rambo perk as it gets.

Especially right now as there's nothing for a berserker to do that other perks can't do better.

regarding the effectiveness and role of the berserker, sorry but you must have not been playing the same game we all did before the levelup/heay metal updates......before those updates, the chainsaw was the MOST powerful weapon in the game, argueably even overpowered. it wasn't that expensive, didn't require ammo, never ran out of "gas", could provide a steady stream of attack, was the pivitol weapon for stunning scrakes, and was the ONLY weapon that could routinely take down FPs.

You know, all that was solely based on glitches.
Everyone was able to 1-shot pounds with a 9mm and the broken hitboxes made "normal" headshots on pounds and scrakes impossible (unless you aimed 3 pixels above the right shoulder instead of at the head... yeah) so the only other option you had to deal with scrakes was to stun them.

As for the chainsaw having been overpowered... that's... just... wrong.
Was there anyone crying for a chainsaw nerf that does not involve hit detection glitches like people are whining because of the m14 right now?

Why are so many peope saying berserkers used to be immortal gods of death?
At no point has that ever been the case.
Maybe they just assume it since it got the nerfbat and since it got nerfed, that means it must have been OP before.

 

[Vaecrius]

Maybe it's just that I don't play on Suicidal or something but I thought berserker was great for camping on Offices... my favourite is being down at the water cooler hallway with the rest of the team on the floor above, a commando backing me up from the stairwell behind me and the medic occasionally running in to make sure we're not dead yet. Just enough power to keep things interesting but not overwhelming, commando keeps the crawlers off me while I keep the gfs and scrakes (and occasional pounder) off the commando, while we're close enough to the others that we can call down a big gun or two to deal with the pounder if I don't have an xbow ready. It's a bit scary if anyone weldpipes the cubicle door and you know you'll be rushed by a concentrated burst of guys emerging from a cloud of smoke, but... well, that's what the commando's for.

 

[_Duke_]

The best thing you could do, provided your team actually covers & heals you, is to hug the corner of a doorway and crouch.
Slash the ankles of whatever walks by and be a tank/meatshield for the team.

You can still do headslashes if you look up and aim it a little (Even for a Scrake), though it's hard to do consistently.

 

[-[SiN]-bswearer]

Going "berserk" means angrily running towards the enemy and knocking their nasal bone into their cerebellum imo.
It does not mean idly standing around, holding a chainsaw (that slows you down to a ridiculous crawl) in front of you.
My preference.

firstly, there is no mention of "running" in the actual definition of the term. secondly you can angrily run towards the enemey.....while still staying within a close radius to your team mates.

Like it or not, the berserker is as close to a rambo perk as it gets.

just because that's the way it is now, doesn't mean that's how it's always been.

You know, all that was solely based on glitches.

false, TW confirmed a FP decap with the chainsaw was an intended feature. however they did acknowledge that being able to go that with other weapons like the knife/9mm etc... was a bug. if you want me to find the quote i'll be happy to go start digging

As for the chainsaw having been overpowered... that's... just... wrong.

no...it's....not

here's a simple thought, if the chainsaw was balanced then why was it nerfed? people considered the saw overpowered because it was the only weapon that could (easily, routinely) kill FPs. people considered the zerker overpowered because of that ability, the chainsaw's lack of gas (ammo), and then eventually the addition of the windmill katanas.

Why are so many peope saying berserkers used to be immortal gods of death?
At no point has that ever been the case.
Maybe they just assume it since it got the nerfbat and since it got nerfed, that means it must have been OP before.

when you joined these forums last september......did you wait to play the game until november after the big updates? anyone who actually played the game and used that class before those updates remembers how godly the chainsaw and the zerker class was from May-November of 2009. so either:

A.) you never played it during that time
B.) you're trolling

 

[9_6]

firstly, there is no mention of "running" in the actual definition of the term. secondly you can angrily run towards the enemey.....while still staying within a close radius to your team mates.

That's fine but simply not my preference then.
Like I said, I like my mobility thus I never liked the chainsaw.
This is about the berserkers roll and this is my idea of it.
It's not equal to yours but that's okay.

no...it's....not

here's a simple thought, if the chainsaw was balanced then why was it nerfed? people considered the saw overpowered because it was the only weapon that could (easily, routinely) kill FPs. people considered the zerker overpowered because of that ability, the chainsaw's lack of gas (ammo), and then eventually the addition of the windmill katanas.

Like I said, based on glitches.
Say what you want but if they fix a funky behaviour like the possibility to instantly decap the strongest enemy in the game with the weakest weapon, that was a glitch.
Without that glitch, the saw was alright but they took it further by nerfing its headshot damage by 75% so it doesn't drop what it decaps anymore so you get hugged by headless stuff.
Without that glitch, the saw was anything but "overpowered".

And just for the record, I was way better at routinely popping fleshpound heads with the 9mm then I was with the saw.
Maybe that says more about me then about it but that shows that it wasn't anything chainsaw-exclusive at all.
In fact, the bullpup was incredibly good at this too, iirc.

That leaves only scrakes as a berserker-exclusive job to do but I kinda thought everyone was fine with the idea of scrakes being the domain of the berserker (even though it is debatable that this is just based on another glitch, we'll see).

when you joined these forums last september......did you wait to play the game until november after the big updates? anyone who actually played the game and used that class before those updates remembers how godly the chainsaw and the zerker class was from May-November of 2009. so either:

A.) you never played it during that time
B.) you're trolling

I still remember that time and I also remember that not nearly everyone was a berserker to the extent that there are sharpshooters right now.
If it was so overpowered, why didn't everyone roll berserker?
Oh right because it took SKILL to be good. You know, being aware of your surroundings etc.

 

[Deadbolt]

Maybe it's just that I don't play on Suicidal or something but I thought berserker was great for camping on Offices... my favourite is being down at the water cooler hallway with the rest of the team on the floor above, a commando backing me up from the stairwell behind me and the medic occasionally running in to make sure we're not dead yet. Just enough power to keep things interesting but not overwhelming, commando keeps the crawlers off me while I keep the gfs and scrakes (and occasional pounder) off the commando, while we're close enough to the others that we can call down a big gun or two to deal with the pounder if I don't have an xbow ready. It's a bit scary if anyone weldpipes the cubicle door and you know you'll be rushed by a concentrated burst of guys emerging from a cloud of smoke, but... well, that's what the commando's for.

i think it is because u don't play on suicidal. the spot ur talking about it borderline impossible on suicidal without a great team with good coordination.

 

[-[SiN]-bswearer]

@ 9_6

son, you need to brush up on your KF history because you seem to "mis-remember" a lot of things from just about a year ago:

[URL="http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=35129"][URL="http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=35129"][url]http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=35129[/URL][/URL][/URL]

in the end of that thread you can see when people starting posting about the Official TW statement regarding the chainsaw FP decap being intended gameplay.......there was originally a 15+ page thread in the "Bug Reports" forum that questioned whether or not this was a "bug" or intended gameplay. in that thread a TW Dev, it was either Ramm or Xienen if i remember right, confirmed that it was indeed intended gameplay for zerkers to get a FP decap with the chainsaw. the problem is that this thread "disappeard" after it got locked due to people flaming each other mostly with the "i told you so" comments after TW confirmed it was intended gameplay. a shame it "disappeared" and to my knowledge nobody ever got a screenshot or made a quote of it.

as for the chainsaw being overused/overpowered, just reflect upon these threads where people discussed the pre/post "chainsaw nerf":

[URL="http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=33729"][URL="http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=33729"][url]http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=33729[/URL][/URL][/URL]
[URL="http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=37681"][URL="http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=37681"][url]http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=37681[/URL][/URL][/URL]
[URL="http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=37187"][URL="http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=37187"][url]http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=37187[/URL][/URL][/URL]
[URL="http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=37936"][URL="http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=37936"][url]http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=37936[/URL][/URL][/URL]
[URL="http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=37438"][URL="http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=37438"][url]http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=37438[/URL][/URL][/URL]
[URL="http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=35892"][URL="http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=35892"][url]http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=35892[/URL][/URL]
[URL="http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=35892"][url]http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=35892[/URL][/URL]
[URL="http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=37557"][url]http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=37557[/URL][/URL]

sorry, you can't deny history.....[/URL]

 

[9_6]

I'm not really sure how that contradicts anything I said.
Read again how I said the chainsaw was only regarded as "too strong" because of the decap thing which was not even purely limited to the chainsaw and because of the glitched head hitboxes (wanna tell me those were intended too now?) which made it the only effective option to deal with scrakes.

I also like how that dude in that thread said the zerker nerf was justified because "You only needed to carry a single weapon (besides the 9mm) and only needed to click repeatedly to do damage".
It gets even more hilarious if you read his whole ginormous list of nonsense.
Just look at those threads.

Most of them are even about "why the hell was the berserker nerfed?" instead of "zerker is OP, nerf naow!" with a blatant troll like the one I quoted sprinkled in who obviously has no clue about anything simply because the katana did *NOT* get nerfed in any way, it was only made more annoying to use for no reason while the chainsaw was widely regarded as a *sidegrade* to the katana (I see it more as an upgrade though, cause, you know, I can actually move and it has the same dps the saw has/had).

Now, with light shining upon that fact, tell me, is the katana OP right now? Does anyone cry because of the katana?
And I see if those are the only threads you could come up with, that only proves my point cause I could show you dozens of threads about the m14/SS right now simply by making you take a look at the forums.

 

[Nanostrike]

The Berserker's current role is to fail, die, and pick another class.

They do the same or better damage from a distance, particularly the Sharpshooters, who can safely 1-shot things you'd get shredded by. You'd have better luck being a Support or Commando and shooting from point-blank range than you would as a Berserker these days.

 

[-[SiN]-bswearer]

9_6, you keep believing what you want. those who played the game back then remember how much of a beast it was. more importantly TW remembers why they decided to nerf the chainsaw to uselessness and that's really all that matters. i could go through your "arguements" if you wish to call them that, and show where your conclusions are exaggerated or simply incorrect, but it's not worth the time.

simply put, the berserker used to be godlike and never needed to rambo in order to be "good".....due to the chainsaw getting butchered, other classes get buffed, and a formerly "intended feature" (remember chainsaw was confirmed, other weapons it was acknowledged as a bug) being removed, the current berserker is useless in defensive teamplay. that forces players to rambo so that they feel like they're doing something and more often than not, they aren't even using the zerker perk but the medic perk which is much more effective. it's a problem and it needs to be addressed.