KF2 Advanced Berserker Guide: Skills, Combos and Weapons
An advanced Berserker guide from a Steam community author for Killing Floor 2 on Suicidal and Hell on Earth. Its thesis: Berserker is seen as an easy class, but it has one of the highest skill ceilings in the game, and the gap between a "decent" and a "masterful" Berserker is huge. After recent nerfs you can no longer mash Katana +3 through everything on Suicidal or higher. Compare with the Berserker perk page, the parry lock guide and the solo Hell on Earth guide. The numbers below reflect the game version at the time of writing and may have changed.
What a Berserker is for
- A wall that keeps trash and big ZEDs off the backline.
- A crowd-control specialist on par with the Firebug.
- A backup big-ZED killer when everyone else is dead or out of ammo.
The Berserker is the vanguard: first in, last out. If the Berserker has to back up, the whole team probably does too.
Beginner section: skills
Skill selection screen used as the base for the guide.
Recent patches nerfed Berserker's defensive skills and base resistances, so higher difficulties are much harder.
- Dreadnought vs Skirmisher. Dreadnought gives 200 max HP and Skirmisher now heals only 1 HP per second (was 2), so Dreadnought is more attractive. Pick Skirmisher on big maps where you kite; pick Dreadnought for teams with medics (or Supports/Commandos with med guns) and when you plan to hold an area.
- Vampire vs Butcher. After the nerfs, Butcher almost requires Dreadnought and a medic babysitting you. Vampire heals 3 HP per hit (was 4) but keeps you in the fight much longer, and the damage difference is small with a top melee weapon such as the Zweihander or Bone Crusher; heavy hits with Parry and Smash still one-shot most trash. Vampire also heals from ranged perk weapons.
- Even if you parry everything, you will not live long without healing.
Starting out
Berserker power spikes at levels 15 and 20, when you get Parry (big jump in tankiness and damage) and Smash (another damage jump). Below level 15, avoid Hell on Earth servers; play on Suicidal or lower. While there, practice parrying weak trash like Clots and Slashers to learn the timing.
Two ZEDs are especially dangerous for Berserkers:
- Bloats. Their bile does a lot of damage on Suicidal and Hell on Earth and covers the screen. Do not engage a group with a Bloat behind it; kill it first or hit and retreat so that the ZEDs in front aggro onto it. Rush it with heavy hits to the head; most weapons stumble it, and with Smash the top melee weapons one-hit-kill it with a horizontal swing (mid-tier weapons like the Fire Axe and Pulverizer need a forward heavy).
- Husks. On Suicidal and Hell on Earth they use a flamethrower attack that can kill any perk in a couple of seconds, and when badly damaged they self-destruct. The explosion has a base damage of 190 (285 on Hell on Earth with the 1.5x multiplier), which is lethal to nearly everyone; only a Dreadnought Berserker with the Parry bonus survives it on Hell on Earth. Kill Husks fast, from range if possible.
Animation cancelling
Nearly every weapon has an animation cancel that shortens reload or attack time. For melee, there is a moment when the weapon actually hits and then a cooldown before the next swing. Cancel the animation right as the weapon connects, using the reload or bash button, and you skip that cooldown. This can raise your heavy-attack rate by up to 50 percent, and it is a cornerstone of good Berserker play, both for clearing trash with high-tier weapons and for taking down big ZEDs.
Takedown combos (advanced)
The author made a video overview of all Fleshpound and Scrake takedowns (all done with Butcher, Parry and Smash unless stated). Berserker has the hardest takedown combos in the game (apart from the Eviscerator) with small margins for error, but they are self-contained: if you fail, wait for the next parry and try again. Most also work with Vampire if you add an extra bash or heavy.
Video cover: Berzerker - All FP/SC Takedowns - Weapon Overview (YouTube).
Melee locking. Some melee weapons can interrupt a raged Fleshpound's melee attack (usually its stab or bash). During the interrupt the Fleshpound can still move but cannot attack for about a second. The mechanics are not fully understood; it seems to need at least two head hits on the raged Fleshpound, and most weapons can lock only once, some never.
Classic Zweihander Fleshpound combo (works with most melee weapons, with varying damage): 2x forward heavy, right heavy, stab/bash (melee lock), 2x forward heavy. Done properly, the Fleshpound needs just one more stab, bash or light attack, or a heavy if the weapon is weak.
Weapon effectiveness is rated on three things: reliable Scrake takedowns, reliable Fleshpound takedowns and trash clearing. Scrake takedowns matter most: they can take as little as 2 seconds with top weapons. Fleshpound takedowns are slow for every Berserker weapon except the Vlad Nailgun, so in a team only attempt them when the Fleshpound is isolated and the team has no better answer.
Melee weapon overview
| Weapon | Notes | Scrakes | Fleshpounds | Trash |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crovel | Solid; kills both when fully upgraded without taking damage; can melee lock a Fleshpound more than once. Short 1.5 m range and cannot parry-stumble large ZEDs | High | Very high | Medium |
| Katana | Below average, good for beginners; second-lowest stumble power so no good Scrake combo. Can melee lock repeatedly but with a very tight window | Low | Medium | Medium |
| Zweihander | The bread and butter; second-highest heavy damage and range, intuitive hitbox. Scrake combo about 2 seconds, Fleshpound in one combo, several melee locks. Practice with this first | Very high | Very high | Very high |
| Pulverizer | Unremarkable but fine; slightly stronger than Hemoclobber, decent Scrake combo, good against Fleshpounds | Medium | High | Medium |
| Battleaxe | Very expensive, huge heavy damage: kills Scrakes in 2 headshots and most weaker ZEDs with one horizontal swing. Too slow for a Fleshpound combo; take Butcher over Vampire to one-shot Gorefiends. Slow draw makes mid-fight healing risky | Very high | Medium | Medium-high |
The guide also covers other melee weapons (Fire Axe, Static Strikers, Bone Crusher and the Ion Thruster DLC). The Ion Thruster is described as a stronger Katana that falls short of the true top tier: it lacks the damage for a clean Scrake combo, its burn makes ZEDs flail so headshots miss, and it needs 7 headshots plus three perfect engagements for a Fleshpound, the worst of any melee weapon, though its 2.4 m range makes it good against trash.
Ranged weapons
- VLAD-1000 Nailgun. After the Grim Treatments buff it kills Scrakes in 4 headshots and Fleshpounds in 5 unupgraded (3 and 4 with the first upgrade; later upgrades only widen your margin of error). It works with Skirmisher movement and with Vampire healing, making it very effective and faster than melee.
- Eviscerator. Kills Scrakes in 3 headshots with all damage buffs, but cannot kill a Fleshpound before it finishes the rage animation, cannot melee lock, and is weak against trash. A lazy choice.
- Piranha Pistols (DLC). The guide calls them a strictly better Eviscerator: weight 6 and $1200 versus 9 and $1500, similar total damage (8970 versus 9000) but about double the DPS (about 604 versus 300). They decap Scrakes with just Smash and, at +2 with Parry and Smash, can kill a Fleshpound in one clip if all 12 shots are headshots (11 of 12 with Butcher, Parry and Smash). Reserve them for big ZEDs, since ammo is limited and the reload is slow. Ranked above the Nailgun in most cases.
Recommended loadouts
- All-rounder: Zweihander plus VLAD-1000 Nailgun ($2050, 3 weight left). Classic Skirmisher loadout, cheap and usable until the boss; spend the leftover weight on a Med SMG or upgrade the Nailgun.
- Support Zerker: Static Strikers or Bone Crusher plus Freezethrower ($2600, 0 weight left). Good as a Dreadnought at a chokepoint. Static Strikers' EMP trivializes Scrakes and controls Husks and EDARs; Bone Crusher is better on trash and can knock down big ZEDs with leg bashes. The Freezethrower freezes big ZEDs for teammates.
- Ranged Berserker: VLAD-1000 Nailgun +2 and HRG Tesla Launcher with an optional Med Pistol.
