Im still playing as berserker(lvl 6) for the early waves in hard(up to wave 3-4) and my tactic involves using the knife to clear out wave 1 & and then sell the chainsaw to grab the katana n clear out Husk, Crawlers and everything with it until i get enough money to buy the top tier weapons for the other perks(I play demo now). Chainsaws are a no-no for me now though unfortunately, got to agree with the OP about how useless the chainsaw is...in fact for some reason i kill faster aiming at the body of clots with chainsaw instead of decapping em. Katanas are still daym useful though..can easily decap a Husk with 1 alt fire with it( if its not surrounded by other specimens that is)
Uhm, Chainsaw?
- Thread starter Jabau
- Start date
Bottom-line: Beserker no longer adds to gameplay. The two top tier weapons which shouldn't have any difference in use except in weight, power per hit, and playstyle, are now worse than your second tier fireaxe, and first tier machete and knife.
The katana can no longer storm crowds of enemies with holding the mouse button and aiming correctly. It has become a second tier because it only has power like the fireaxe. The speed, which made it a dooming weapon, like a third tier, is missing.
The chainsaw is no longer good at attacking any kind of enemy. The average fleshpound takes almost twice the exposure it used to before death. All low level enemies run around and make for annoying delay and wasting precious time and ammo. It has become barely a second and a half tier, it's almost a useless weapon except at lower levels.
What used to be a slower choice that had more power for its speed, is now just a katana, with useless power. You hold the button down and nothing really happens.
In my opinion, the solution isn't simple if you want correct balance. Because enemies can storm you easily, the katana should still have the option to do the hold and swing method. Only, when the button is held, rather than being tapped once every second, the swings gradually get weaker and/or slower. Making spam impossible and for skill to be required.
The same can be done to the chainsaw's powerful alternate fire, only each swing gets much slower and much weaker when held because of added weight. But the chainsaw has the advantage of being stronger in spam procedure, due to no extra stamina needed for holding down the gears in regular attack mode.
Thus the chainsaw is for the man who is going to focus on the big enemies, but needs his spam to take out all the small enemies with ease. He can also stand doorway and keep guard, generally at higher levels, thus ending an extra path made by a broken door.
The katana is the crowd control man, and can also handle larger enemies. Only due to the third tier rank of the katana, more skill is required to be an all around ninja. He is useful in eating up quickly all the enemies because of the extra length due to using a sword and the extra speed given due to it being A ****ING KATANA.
The other more simple solution would to just given the chainsaw back its power, as I can and have seen many users use the katana with ample skill and prowess to last in a situation. Scrake still gets owned pretty badly, fleshpound is easy to take out. Only, your beserker isn't really needed now at hard mode, only suicidal and such.
The katana can no longer storm crowds of enemies with holding the mouse button and aiming correctly. It has become a second tier because it only has power like the fireaxe. The speed, which made it a dooming weapon, like a third tier, is missing.
The chainsaw is no longer good at attacking any kind of enemy. The average fleshpound takes almost twice the exposure it used to before death. All low level enemies run around and make for annoying delay and wasting precious time and ammo. It has become barely a second and a half tier, it's almost a useless weapon except at lower levels.
What used to be a slower choice that had more power for its speed, is now just a katana, with useless power. You hold the button down and nothing really happens.
In my opinion, the solution isn't simple if you want correct balance. Because enemies can storm you easily, the katana should still have the option to do the hold and swing method. Only, when the button is held, rather than being tapped once every second, the swings gradually get weaker and/or slower. Making spam impossible and for skill to be required.
The same can be done to the chainsaw's powerful alternate fire, only each swing gets much slower and much weaker when held because of added weight. But the chainsaw has the advantage of being stronger in spam procedure, due to no extra stamina needed for holding down the gears in regular attack mode.
Thus the chainsaw is for the man who is going to focus on the big enemies, but needs his spam to take out all the small enemies with ease. He can also stand doorway and keep guard, generally at higher levels, thus ending an extra path made by a broken door.
The katana is the crowd control man, and can also handle larger enemies. Only due to the third tier rank of the katana, more skill is required to be an all around ninja. He is useful in eating up quickly all the enemies because of the extra length due to using a sword and the extra speed given due to it being A ****ING KATANA.
The other more simple solution would to just given the chainsaw back its power, as I can and have seen many users use the katana with ample skill and prowess to last in a situation. Scrake still gets owned pretty badly, fleshpound is easy to take out. Only, your beserker isn't really needed now at hard mode, only suicidal and such.
After playing an extended amount of time on my r6 berserker, the chainsaw utterly blows now. 
Not putting down zed for good with a decapitation...WTF!?!? When I saw a gorefast in half, it should hit the ground like a sack of wet noodles!
And what's with the specimens in general now after the patch? I can be cramming my chainsaw/katana/whatever down into their eye sockets and they still damage me- EVEN THOUGH THEY PLAY NO ATTACK ANIMATION. So it's now dang near impossible to engage in melee with anything without automatically taking damage unless you back up while attacking because the low-tier specimens appear to not be stunned anymore. Wasn't the whole point of zerker to be a "hold the line" kinda perk? You can't even do it anymore because you can't stun anything- slashed to ribbons in seconds on suicidal.
This perk totally got the shaft with this patch! I don't really care about shiny new toys for zerker- but I want the class to be effective with its top-tier weapons. What in the f! Berserker's should be doing wtf-facemeltingly-awesome damage in melee because of the insanely increased risk of having to be close.
TWI, I am SO unhappy with your reinterpretation of the Berserker perk and their top-tier weapons... and 25% resistance? Yea that doesn't do diddly on suicidal.
What is the point of this class now? I can't hold a doorway anymore- zeds damage me even though they appear to be stunned and are playing no attack anim so I can't hold them at the gate, even after I decapitate them, they're still up and still hurting me, my 25% damage reduction maybe let's me live 3 or so hits longer than anyone else (so 3 gorefasts hit me at the same time and I'm dead because I have no way to deal with getting mobbed, since chainsaw primary fire doesn't stun specimens like it did before), and to top it off my situational awareness completely goes to hell as my screen jerks around like a massive earthquake is happening and I can no longer see anything.
So, so, so unhappy with you right now.
Not putting down zed for good with a decapitation...WTF!?!? When I saw a gorefast in half, it should hit the ground like a sack of wet noodles!And what's with the specimens in general now after the patch? I can be cramming my chainsaw/katana/whatever down into their eye sockets and they still damage me- EVEN THOUGH THEY PLAY NO ATTACK ANIMATION. So it's now dang near impossible to engage in melee with anything without automatically taking damage unless you back up while attacking because the low-tier specimens appear to not be stunned anymore. Wasn't the whole point of zerker to be a "hold the line" kinda perk? You can't even do it anymore because you can't stun anything- slashed to ribbons in seconds on suicidal.
This perk totally got the shaft with this patch! I don't really care about shiny new toys for zerker- but I want the class to be effective with its top-tier weapons. What in the f! Berserker's should be doing wtf-facemeltingly-awesome damage in melee because of the insanely increased risk of having to be close.
TWI, I am SO unhappy with your reinterpretation of the Berserker perk and their top-tier weapons... and 25% resistance? Yea that doesn't do diddly on suicidal.
What is the point of this class now? I can't hold a doorway anymore- zeds damage me even though they appear to be stunned and are playing no attack anim so I can't hold them at the gate, even after I decapitate them, they're still up and still hurting me, my 25% damage reduction maybe let's me live 3 or so hits longer than anyone else (so 3 gorefasts hit me at the same time and I'm dead because I have no way to deal with getting mobbed, since chainsaw primary fire doesn't stun specimens like it did before), and to top it off my situational awareness completely goes to hell as my screen jerks around like a massive earthquake is happening and I can no longer see anything.
So, so, so unhappy with you right now.
Last edited:
...and this, too. The perk isn't powerful enough or durable enough to be anything but a liability. I personally think it's bitter irony that medics have a whopping 50% resist all with combat armor on (is it even more with rank 6 now?), while the zerker caps out at 25%.
Well, it's good to know there was actually a change. I heard about the patch and began playing and noticed I kept dying a lot as a berserker, even pre wave 7. I just thought I was sucking.
I think the answer to the problem that is the Berserker is to reinstate the chainsaw as berserker's top weapon. In order to do that however, it should have the same limitations, or similar, as other powerful weapons. That limitation being ammo.
I think it would be an interesting addition if the chainsaw regained its former power, but to counteract the spammy nature of it, some sort of gas system could be implemented, or a chain-breaking system. (IE: after dealing x amount of damage, there's a y% chance the chain will break, rendering the berserker highly vulnerable until he can refit a new chain.)
Alternatively, the chainsaw could be slowed down, but given a large increase in damage. (I don't know if you've tried chainsawing through a bunch of meat puppets before, but it actually is a slow process. You'd have to take at least a few seconds to get through one body.) Instead of being an insta-decap against clots and the like, chainsaw could be slow and vulnerable against groups, but deal a massive amount of stun and damage to any single target. (Imagine how difficult it is for a zed to concentrate on attacking when a chainsaw is lodged, spinning in its innards.)
I think there needs to be more done than this, however. The axe and the machete have really lost their place in the game. The whole situation with the melee weapons is a bit messy.
This said, I still enjoy playing my berserker. I just can't enjoy him on higher waves, or on suicidal. I also think TWI changed the sounds for the chain-saw on zed collision. It sounds beautiful now... I hear snaps and thuds as the chain rends through the flesh, and I really get this nice sensation that I'm truly disemboweling my enemies. This delights the 'zerker in me. :3
I think the answer to the problem that is the Berserker is to reinstate the chainsaw as berserker's top weapon. In order to do that however, it should have the same limitations, or similar, as other powerful weapons. That limitation being ammo.
I think it would be an interesting addition if the chainsaw regained its former power, but to counteract the spammy nature of it, some sort of gas system could be implemented, or a chain-breaking system. (IE: after dealing x amount of damage, there's a y% chance the chain will break, rendering the berserker highly vulnerable until he can refit a new chain.)
Alternatively, the chainsaw could be slowed down, but given a large increase in damage. (I don't know if you've tried chainsawing through a bunch of meat puppets before, but it actually is a slow process. You'd have to take at least a few seconds to get through one body.) Instead of being an insta-decap against clots and the like, chainsaw could be slow and vulnerable against groups, but deal a massive amount of stun and damage to any single target. (Imagine how difficult it is for a zed to concentrate on attacking when a chainsaw is lodged, spinning in its innards.)
I think there needs to be more done than this, however. The axe and the machete have really lost their place in the game. The whole situation with the melee weapons is a bit messy.
This said, I still enjoy playing my berserker. I just can't enjoy him on higher waves, or on suicidal. I also think TWI changed the sounds for the chain-saw on zed collision. It sounds beautiful now... I hear snaps and thuds as the chain rends through the flesh, and I really get this nice sensation that I'm truly disemboweling my enemies. This delights the 'zerker in me. :3
I forgot to even TOUCH this...oh geeze...
Yeah, the smaller specs now have stun resistance in a big way. And they seriously can hit you without playing the attack animation (Thus giving you time to dodge. Yes, non-zerkers, the Zerker does require skills like this...). It's absolute cheese, as the SECOND you tap off a Gorefast's head on Suicidal, it can and WILL smack you. Yeah, you shrug off 25% of the damage, but that still amounts to trading blows with an enemy and it's bad for your survival...
Not for me, at least. The Chainsaw's reach is enough to hit them and interrupt their attack before it connects. At least...it was. Now, of course, they'll hit you anyway without doing the animation...
Alt-Fire is no longer auto, either, which means you have to mash the buttons for Chainsaw alt-fire too now... And alt-fire's slower attack rate means that against a group, you'll actually be WORSE off as you have a longer period of vulnerability. At least you used to. Now it's the ONLY way to use the chainsaw, as the primary is a joke...
Then mash that button like your life depends on it.....
A little effort never hurt anyone.
You fail to realize what fun in a game means.
You fail to realize what realistic circumstance means.
What I question the most in this nerfing is why a human can't continually swing a melee weapon. It's like adding a semi-automatic trigger to a weapon that doesn't fire bullets. Who in the world needs to stop and think about swinging a weapon each time?
Where in the **** is the sensibility? Sure, it makes all the other third tier weapons more played because the zerker, the class of ultimate destruction is no longer fun or useful, or anything.
What happened to my two zerkers sitting in front of me mowing down everything small then backing up and letting the fireline come forward to take out fleshpounds or backing up to ready himself for the scrake.
Now we see no zerkers at all who don't die within an instant.
Who the **** whined enough to get the katana and chainsaw nerfed so badly that now all the other lvl 6 classes are more optimal at close range than what should be the ultimate close range class.
It used to be, that your chainsaw took skill because the only real sure-fire tactic to save yourself from hordes was the doorway tactic, and it was good, because generally that zerker was high level and could take a fleshpounder. If he needed to, he could alt-fire and swoop any heads.
It used to be, that your katana would swing effortlessly and forever, lobbing heads off left and right. You'd still need to aim the katana towards heads, you'd still need to run away when encircled.
But these two weapons were third tier, and made you believe they were third tier before this update.
Now all they do is act as my step between selling it and buying another weapon with another more useful perk.
That must hurt :/
Now you going to have clots hugging you all thu the waves :/
I support this thread, I just replied to a thread similar to this in the general section on the same issue. If they fix this specific issue quickly, it'd be nice.
Sammers, you're just plain wrong in the direction you're going.
Play the class for yourself.
When the only zeds berserkers can really deal with at all are clots and gorefasts- something is wrong. Sirens, crawlers, and even bloats to a lesser extent were all difficult for zerkers to deal with with a good top-tier selection... and now we've got the husk on top of that- which, by the way, is even worse than any of them because in addition to dropping visibility to sh** they actually hurt you significantly, unlike the bloats. Additionally, it's dang near impossible to decapitate Fleshpounds anymore and thanks to the weapon nerfs they're going to mash berserkers into fine paste like it's going out of style. Of course, if a medic were healing you...well, it still would matter because Fleshpounders- I've discovered thanks to highly stringent and scientific testing under controlled circumstances- deal 1 trillion billion million damage per hit when they feel like it.
...and then there's the "omg click to attack" issue, which is really only a front for the real problem: clicking 9,001 times per second won't turn a floppy dead chicken into a viable melee weapon. The weapons make the weapons suck, not having to click for each attack.
There you have it: there's 5 anti-berserker specimens in the game now and berserkers got nerf-bombed. Where is the justice?
Play the class for yourself.
When the only zeds berserkers can really deal with at all are clots and gorefasts- something is wrong. Sirens, crawlers, and even bloats to a lesser extent were all difficult for zerkers to deal with with a good top-tier selection... and now we've got the husk on top of that- which, by the way, is even worse than any of them because in addition to dropping visibility to sh** they actually hurt you significantly, unlike the bloats. Additionally, it's dang near impossible to decapitate Fleshpounds anymore and thanks to the weapon nerfs they're going to mash berserkers into fine paste like it's going out of style. Of course, if a medic were healing you...well, it still would matter because Fleshpounders- I've discovered thanks to highly stringent and scientific testing under controlled circumstances- deal 1 trillion billion million damage per hit when they feel like it.
...and then there's the "omg click to attack" issue, which is really only a front for the real problem: clicking 9,001 times per second won't turn a floppy dead chicken into a viable melee weapon. The weapons make the weapons suck, not having to click for each attack.
There you have it: there's 5 anti-berserker specimens in the game now and berserkers got nerf-bombed. Where is the justice?
Last edited:
The chainsaw may not be as good as you guys are used to, but it's a definite tactical decision when you're a lower level beserker.
Only got the game at the free weekend, and i enjoy playing as a zerker, but before reaching level 3 there was a serious decision to make between using a katana or a chainsaw when running into a Scrake. You see, at any zerker level, if you have a chainsaw, you can middle mouse the scrake and he'll become stunned, whereas with the katana, he receives no stunning and quickly tears your face off.
So you either choose the katana for speed, or the chainsaw for dealing with heavier enemies like scrakes and husks.
Only got the game at the free weekend, and i enjoy playing as a zerker, but before reaching level 3 there was a serious decision to make between using a katana or a chainsaw when running into a Scrake. You see, at any zerker level, if you have a chainsaw, you can middle mouse the scrake and he'll become stunned, whereas with the katana, he receives no stunning and quickly tears your face off.
So you either choose the katana for speed, or the chainsaw for dealing with heavier enemies like scrakes and husks.
Was playing normal solo in offline mode today with a level 0 zerker with a chainsaw. From what I noticed, it took roughly half a second longer to kill a clot with primary fire, than from before the update.
I don't have an issue with the katana speed, just the click-spamming. It gets annoying very fast.
And I was so into melee and the berserker perk ;(
I don't have an issue with the katana speed, just the click-spamming. It gets annoying very fast.
And I was so into melee and the berserker perk ;(
I noticed something today, guys.
I was solo-ing around on hard with my r6 berserker with a Katana or Chainsaw/Crossbow.
As my r6 berserker I one-shotted a scrake in the face with the crossbow.
IT TOOK 2 POWER (alt) ATTACKS TO THE HEAD FROM MY KATANA OR CHAINSAW TO DROP A SCRAKE.
So... my Katana/Chainsaw-to-the-face that's supposedly doing +100% more damage because of my rank 6 perk does not match the unmodified headshot damage from the crossbow. What in the flaming hells?
Edit: I had to go back and verify it again because I honestly could not believe this.... This absolutely has to be a bug!!! Sure enough, as my berserker- one 1 x-bow bolt to the head = dead scrake on hard, but it takes 2 katana power-attacks to the head to drop one!!!!!!!
I was solo-ing around on hard with my r6 berserker with a Katana or Chainsaw/Crossbow.
As my r6 berserker I one-shotted a scrake in the face with the crossbow.
IT TOOK 2 POWER (alt) ATTACKS TO THE HEAD FROM MY KATANA OR CHAINSAW TO DROP A SCRAKE.
So... my Katana/Chainsaw-to-the-face that's supposedly doing +100% more damage because of my rank 6 perk does not match the unmodified headshot damage from the crossbow. What in the flaming hells?
Edit: I had to go back and verify it again because I honestly could not believe this.... This absolutely has to be a bug!!! Sure enough, as my berserker- one 1 x-bow bolt to the head = dead scrake on hard, but it takes 2 katana power-attacks to the head to drop one!!!!!!!
Last edited:
That seems right to me. Crossbow, now, is basically stronger than any Perk Effects + Weapon in the game(with exception to Demo I'd say). Infact, that is the only way a Berserker can kill a Fleshpound, by Crossbowing it first(3 headshots or 2 headshots + katana works on 6man suicidal). That is also a huge fear for me, if they fix the Chainsaw(as you can't have Chainsaw+Crossbow). Logic says that if you shove a Chainsaw into somethings face, then that something should no longer have a face.. but with the FP decap gone, it's gonna have no chance.
Now that they've nerfed the Katana somewhat, the Katana itself is absolutely fine in my opinion, but the Katana + Crossbow setup is still one of the strongest. Simply because the Crossbow is massively overpowered.
Last edited:
Hell, I'd be more OK with crossbow headshots being really powerful if it weren't the case that- for some sanity-shattering reason- melee headshots do not get any kind of bonus damage for being headshots against scrakes and fleshpounds, and possibly other things I haven't tested yet.
Of course, the crossbow never seems to have made any sense with it's unstoppable-force gravity-defying infinite-range bolt that pierces through the heads of 50 clots in a line then travels out to infinity, becoming one with the cosmos. It should be a solid weapon, but that's just silly!
Of course, the crossbow never seems to have made any sense with it's unstoppable-force gravity-defying infinite-range bolt that pierces through the heads of 50 clots in a line then travels out to infinity, becoming one with the cosmos. It should be a solid weapon, but that's just silly!
Defo needs nerfing does that Xbow.
I was playing level 2 zerker on Hard before though, with the chainsaw.
It does suck against gorefasts, my knifes primary attack almost garuntees a decap.
yet as a medic I manage to 4shot a fleshpound from the hip while running away.
On hard.
I was playing level 2 zerker on Hard before though, with the chainsaw.
It does suck against gorefasts, my knifes primary attack almost garuntees a decap.
yet as a medic I manage to 4shot a fleshpound from the hip while running away.
On hard.