The Berserker

[crashmatusow]

Hey guys, relatively new play here, and i have a question about the beserker's role.

Namely...what is it exactly? seems like he puts himself at much more risk for not much gain. Mind, i've only been playing on normal so,.

Ninja edit:

I have:

Medic 4
Sharpshooter 4
Commando 3
Firebug 3
Demolitions 3
Support 2
Beserker 2

having meddled in each perk a little, he just doesn't seem worth whatever godly effort it would take to survive as a zerker. the perk just feels like an excersize in frustation and shaking screens (i am now of the opinion that having motion blur on should be mandatory for the proper playing of the game).

 

[xebo]

You chose the right class to start with. There's a steep learning curve, but it's all worth while at lvl 6. Keep playing, and put survival ahead of everything else.

 

[armando92]

lol a zerk lvl 5 or 6 can deal with 3 scrakes alone with a katana :S

 

[Darkwave]

lol a zerk lvl 5 or 6 can deal with 3 scrakes alone with a katana :S

I have all perks on 6 and definitly , my favorite is Zerker.
Plus , now the stun fails a little , so it isn't that easy to take down Scrakes...
Oh and remember , when a FP comes , you are toasted. ( Let the team handle it and spam slashes on him)

 

[Eureka]

I'm still learning/leveling Berserker myself. Previously, it was tied with Firebug for my least favourite perk. Now, with some practice, I'm having a lot of fun with it. I'm only up to Berserker 3 so I'm sticking with Normal/Hard servers but just today I was in a game on Wyre and I spent most of the time covering one entire flank by myself with a katana and a handcannon. Somehow I managed to outkill everyone else, including level 6 commando and support.

When I play, I try to either hold one flank/chokepoint myself, or else I vary between running out to hit the specimens around corners and such before returning to check up on the team/get healed. I try to walk the line between going solo and ranging around.

If it's more of a run-and-gun scenario, Berserkers seem to work well on point.

 

[Euclix]

Berserkers do well with small choke points such as a single door (as opposed to a double door). They are also very efficient at going off on their own to lessen the horde. Other than that(doing something other than those two tasks), they get in the way and are less effective than other classes.

On a related note, I noticed that on suicidal scrakes are indeed hard to deal with because you can no longer stun lock them. But what I didn't expect is that you can't save the one stun you get for when he's raging.

I tried shooting the scrake with the pistol until he raged then pulling out my axe alt fire to stun him. Sure enough it doesn't work. It seems the best would be to try to stun him just before he rages at 25% health. But that is a bit tough to gauge without being a commando. I guess that stresses the importance of communication.

 

[Mille_W]

...Oh and remember , when a FP comes , you are toasted. ( Let the team handle it and spam slashes on him)

Not necessarily. Not if you know how to melee Fleshpounds. Then it's not that hard.
Unless you ofc rage him.. Or if random zeds join the party.

 

[The_Holy_Diver]

Got 6zerk last week, deff something prestigious if you can play it right. Over all it is my favorite class to play. practive make perfect. Took me 4 months to get 6 playing it once in a while. The last 1.5m damage I knocked it out in a day. Don't give up, if you dont like it no one is forcing you to play it. I have all 6 except commando and bug. I hate both so much. Take you time and enjoi the game.

 

[Darkwave]

Not necessarily. Not if you know how to melee Fleshpounds. Then it's not that hard.
Unless you ofc rage him.. Or if random zeds join the party.

I blame crawlers.

 

[SMIFF]

Kite.

Abuse FP rage mechanics.

Done.

 

[Mille_W]

I blame crawlers.

Always blame crawlers! Creepy thingies.. And blame annoying husks aswell !!

 

[Salad Snake]

To answer OP's question, Berserker is worth playing because even though he might not contribute as much when everyone's alive and shooting everything, he shines when the team starts dying/running out of ammo. With his speed, damage reduction, and his gain in effectiveness when moving & attacking (instead of loss of effectiveness like when using a gun), he's the class with the most maneuverability and survivability. Unlike Medic, Zerker can get a good offensive output going, while still being able to dodge attacks and even tank a little when that fails.


In essence, he is the hardest to play, but has the highest skill ceiling. He is also the most adept at escaping bad situations by far if you make the right decisions. Thus he is also the "thinking man's" perk.

 

[crashmatusow]

Ok thanks for the replies guys.

been trying a few things on normal at west london(its a very generous map for kiting). just hit rank 3 zerker.

Clots,gorefasts,bloats = kite, kill if no big threats present.
stalkers = kill as they show up
crawlers = when they jump, backpedal and step sideways. hit while on the ground. requires a bit of initial kiting to get them strung out.
siren = ambush around a corner. alternatively, spam 9mm/nades.
husk = take advantage of corners to kill the trash in front of him, then ambush around corner or just run up and hit him. he is much easier to dodge when other threats are dead.
scrake = dies to 2(or was it 3?) alt fires of katana to head. probably will have to refine for higher difficulties.
FP = erkk. dies to pipes, to cowardly to try going toe to toe.

 

[crashmatusow]

OK anyhow, been playing with zerker some more. worked out a few strategies, tried a few loadouts

usually go for ax+katana+lar or ax+katana+m79+pipes.

zombie killin', solo practice. west london on normal:

clots, gorefasts, bloats: kite, or kill when no other threats present, or if you have to go through them.
stalkers: kill as they appear.
crawlers: shoot the bas***ds.
sirens, husks: nail from long range with gun, or ambush around corner.
scrakes: backpedal while hitting head with katana alt fire (ax stuns aren't working for me @ l3)
FP: pipes....? havent really tried abusing their rage system.
Patty: Your Squad was wiped out...

Ninja edit: when i play online , i tend to avoid sticking with the squad. they always want to shoot the crap i'm clearly abou to kill, and for some reason they tend to avidly avoid killing sirens/stalkers. a**holes.

 

[Spicy]

Since pipes nearly doubled in price, that 1500 is probably better off going to a teammate, like a demo.

If you do go rambo as a zerker, just don't die. Your team will not stop making fun of you.

 

[crashmatusow]

derp

derp

Since pipes nearly doubled in price, that 1500 is probably better off going to a teammate, like a demo.

i'd totally give it to a demo...or a teammate, if there were any on the server

If you do go rambo as a zerker, just don't die. Your team will not stop making fun of you.

considering that i die more often with the group owing to people standing in the way/not killing sirens|stalkers/ not healing me/ raging crap when nobodies ready....

 

[Salad Snake]

For the FP, you can alt-fire with an axe to deal just under the damage limit before enraging him. Count to 2 (one-onethousand two-onethousane...) and do it again. While doing this, make sure you break line-of-sight once every 10 seconds or so or he will auto-rage at you.

 

[Mille_W]

....While doing this, make sure you break line-of-sight once every 10 seconds or so or he will auto-rage at you.

I truly hate that. When he auto-rages.

 

[Aze]

For the FP, you can alt-fire with an axe to deal just under the damage limit before enraging him. Count to 2 (one-onethousand two-onethousane...) and do it again. While doing this, make sure you break line-of-sight once every 10 seconds or so or he will auto-rage at you.

Either break line-of-sight

OR

Trigger his attack by being close enough, and then QUICKLY back away from the Fleshpound, so he misses the attack (Sometimes you might get hurt, but it doesnt hurt NEARLY as bad as a raged hit). This will also reset his auto-rage timer

If you learn to do the latter, i promise you, when you get a hang of how to kite all enemies including FPs, you can solo everything with "ease" ^^

Also: A little trick, if you DO rage the fleshpound (attacking it too quickly or he autorages, whatever the reason) run to a door quickly, shut the door between you and the Fleshie and weld it a little bit (even 1% is enough). When he comes raging and smashes the door in, that will count as an attack obviously, so he calms down again! This trick has saved my life quite often from bad situations.

EDIT: When you end up solo on higher difficulties and you know how to kite and deal with Fleshies etc, Fleshpounds are not your biggest problem. Imo, the HUSKS are your biggest pain in the ***. Grrr i hate them >:[

 

[crashmatusow]

EDIT: When you end up solo on higher difficulties and you know how to kite and deal with Fleshies etc, Fleshpounds are not your biggest problem. Imo, the HUSKS are your biggest pain in the ***. Grrr i hate them >:[

agreed. HOLY PERFECT INCENDIARY GRENADE SNIPER BATMAN!