Berserker Nerf

[Jiboia_Jin]

I second this notion.

 

[Jiboia_Jin]

I understand what you're trying to say about berserker being nerfed, but its not like the nerfs completely wiped out any viability for berserker to play on higher difficulties. In actuality the nerfs kept those reckless zerk play styles in check, and encourage actual cooperation and coordination with your team. Rather than running off solo and being a liability to your team. Given that zerk received the hemoclobber it made those reckless play styles more worse. As a zerk main myself, sure the nerfs were tough, but as long as you work as a team, time your attacks/blocks, and understand how each enemy should be engaged; then the nerfs would not be bad as it seems.

It took away the fun of being that class, and makes you a glorified body guard if played cooperatively. In fact it’s more or less useless while so many other classes are much better suited. You can’t blame a class on an individuals play style. Anyone can run off doing their own thing and screwing a team. Someone can choose medic and work just to keep themselves alive and be a battle medic instead of a team medic. It’s not the class you’re talking about, it’s the players, as far as keeping them in check? It just makes them useless, which imo is worse.

 

[flashn00b]

It took away the fun of being that class, and makes you a glorified body guard if played cooperatively. In fact it’s more or less useless while so many other classes are much better suited. You can’t blame a class on an individuals play style. Anyone can run off doing their own thing and screwing a team. Someone can choose medic and work just to keep themselves alive and be a battle medic instead of a team medic. It’s not the class you’re talking about, it’s the players, as far as keeping them in check? It just makes them useless, which imo is worse.

Intentional design decision. Nerfs are meant to pressure people who play Berserker into purchasing the Piranha Pistol DLC

 

[Jiboia_Jin]

Intentional design decision. Nerfs are meant to pressure people who play Berserker into purchasing the Piranha Pistol DLC

Idk about that, I’m assuming it was mainly due to player outcry.

 

[flashn00b]

Idk about that, I’m assuming it was mainly due to player outcry.

And the end result is that you'll take a lot of damage even if you time your parries correctly, which will make some players want a weapon that can thin out hordes in preparation for a melee engagement.

 

[Jiboia_Jin]

And the end result is that you'll take a lot of damage even if you time your parries correctly, which will make some players want a weapon that can thin out hordes in preparation for a melee engagement.

I mean yeah it’s a good weapon, but I don’t think they needed an entire class just so people would buy one weapon that honestly isn’t as good as some other ranges options for the class that are free. There was just a lot of people crying that it’s to OP or that people ruin the game with it. Toxic player base.

 

[OnionBubs]

I don’t think they needed an entire class just so people would buy one weapon that honestly isn’t as good as some other ranges options for the class that are free.

This is just a thing flashn00b does. That's something they've been squawking about since the Piranha Pistols were introduced. Their line of reasoning, when you sift through the approximately eight-thousand whineposts about it, roughly follows something like this:

1. A single Piranha pistol is slightly cheaper than the VLAD, so a Berserker player who doesn't get as many kills in Wave 1 could still be able to afford it wave 2 in lieu of the VLAD
   1. A first subnote here is that flashn00b insists getting $750 in Wave 1 is impossible, never mind the fact that I and other players have ended Wave 1 in 6p HoE games with over $900, so there's that
   2. A second subnote is that you can always ask for dosh
2. Because of this, a player who is not good enough at killing things to afford VLAD wave 2 but makes just enough to afford the single PP on Wave 2 will have a much easier time (in Wave 2, which is already very easy) because you are not limited to the Crovel
3. Therefore, because it is a thing you can buy with real world money, it is P2W, and the Berserker is thus dependent on P2W DLC mechanics to simply be playable

What they are missing in this context (and refuse to understand despite having this pointed out, multiple times, in fact) is the following points:

1. Buying the single PP sets you back on money for a loaded VLAD for Wave 3, which is almost mandatory Wave 3 and up because dealing with Scrakes and QPs with just a Crovel can prove unnecessarily difficult and using a single PP for the task is extremely time consuming compared to the alternatives
2. Even in 6P HoE, Wave 2 is not hard enough to warrant spending money on a PP. Most perks are powerful enough when played with appropriate skill that splurging for Tier 2 weapons at the end of Wave 1 is unnecessary because of econ reasons, and that absolutely goes for Berserker as well. The Piranha Pistols fall off quickly enough in higher waves that I would consider it the equivalent of buying the Bullpup or Tommy Gun as Commando on Wave 2 instead of saving for the AK.
3. Their primary argument when the above points are raised is that "Berserker takes too much damage," which outside of parrying individual hits for attack boosts implies the player is not good enough to reliably kill enemies before taking hits, which is a skillset most perks not named Firebug have to deal with to win HoE. Therefore, the answer is to "get hit less."

They don't even vocally complain about any other DLC or even really the HRG weapons (which 9 times out of 10 are waaaaaay more broken); their entire hyperfocus is literally the Piranha Pistols and how the Berserker is basically unplayable without them. Even Berserker itself has far bigger offenders of P2W potential, such as the Frost Fang, but that doesn't matter to them.
A point of order is that flashn00b also considers HoE to be an unbalanced joke difficulty despite proof that many players can and have beat it without that much of an issue, and has repeatedly advocated for on-perk hitscan weapons for Berserker so Berserker can be played like other gun classes but with a built-in life leech for killing things. Let that stand for itself.

 

[Aleflippy]

1. Even in 6P HoE, Wave 2 is not hard enough to warrant spending money on a PP. Most perks are powerful enough when played with appropriate skill that splurging for Tier 2 weapons at the end of Wave 1 is unnecessary because of econ reasons, and that absolutely goes for Berserker as well. The Piranha Pistols fall off quickly enough in higher waves that I would consider it the equivalent of buying the Bullpup or Tommy Gun as Commando on Wave 2 instead of saving for the AK.

And yet, I remember the good ol' days when people usually skipped the AK12 and jumped straight for the SCAR. Of course, you couldn't really count on the Varmint alone to survive that long, so the Bullpup saw some love. Glad to see that the good ol' AK is now favored by way more people, always knew it was bloody sweet !

I obviously fully agree with you (some things however, DON'T change), although I must say that I like "non-gunslinger pistols" usually because they're lightweight and affordable... It ain't the best, but that's comfort. You'll have to pray my single Spitfire from my burning hot hands ! As such, I do run a single piranha pistol once I get my weapon of choice, from time to time. But ever since you mentioned how efficient it was to have good ammo management with the VLAD, I sometimes sacrifice a little more speed for it too.

As for hitscan weapons... Is the Teslauncher not bull**** enough already?


Last words : what's your loadout of choice regarding the Zerk? I must admit it's my least played perk, not because it's weak but just because I don't find it very fun. I tend to run a Pulverizer (with upgrades), either a single Piranha or the Vlad (upgrades only when I can afford them) and a good use of EMP grenades. But I guess other stuff might be more worthwhile than being a FP buster.

 

[OnionBubs]

Glad to see that the good ol' AK is now favored by way more people, always knew it was bloody sweet !

2nd best designed weapon in the game; the first is M14, and that IS a hill I'm prepared to die on.

I sort of kid about the Bullpup because I'm biased from the days when it was basically a Varmint with a dot sight; it's received enough buffs now that it's a competent early game weapon, especially now that it can actually 1-tap Stalkers when it couldn't for a long time.

Last words : what's your loadout of choice regarding the Zerk?

On the offhand chance I play it (I usually don't because I find it pretty meh in this game; if I want an actual melee horde game I'll just play Vermintide 2 because frankly it's actually designed as a melee game first and foremost), I econ with Crovel for a few rounds and end up at one of four endgame loadouts:

1. Static Strikers / VLAD if the team is decent and I can count on them to shoot Zeds while still providing support via EMP
2. Zwei / VLAD if it's a small-size team and I'm going to be doing most of the killing
3. Bone Crusher / VLAD if it's a boss wave because that means I'm on boss duty
4. Frost Fang / VLAD if the team is really bad and I decide I feel like carrying for once in my life; I don't like how cheesy the Frost Fang is but I cannot deny it's exquisitely effective.