KF2 Berserker Complete Guide: Skills, Parry, Weapons and Stats

This is a long community reference for the Berserker, the close-quarters specialist of Killing Floor 2. It covers the perk's strengths and weaknesses, parrying, every skill, the melee weapon lineup with stats, and how to handle each kind of zed. The author notes it is unfinished and based on personal experience plus the KF2 wiki. For shorter Berserker guides see Berserker perk guide and Berserker advanced guide.

Overview

The Berserker takes less damage and deals more of it when face-to-face with zeds. It can fight Scrakes and Fleshpounds toe-to-toe while cutting through hordes of small zeds. By default the perk has:

• 3% passive damage resistance to all attacks per 5 levels, capped at 15% at level 25.
• 1% perk weapon damage per level, capped at 25%.
• Bonus XP for killing a zed within 2 meters of a teammate with a perk weapon.
• Good DPS, no ammo worries and zeds like Clots cannot grab a Berserker.

Weaknesses: a low-level Berserker does not benefit from skill bonuses, so higher difficulties are hard; you can be surrounded easily; and you must parry to survive.

General tips

Directional swings

Melee attacks follow your movement. Moving forward or backward while attacking gives an overhead swing; moving sideways gives a horizontal slash. Horizontal strikes do between 50% and 75% of the base damage depending on the angle between you and the zed. Try it solo to see it.

Parrying

Parrying is probably the most important skill. Press the alt-fire button (default middle mouse) right when the zed's attack is about to hit.

• Rebind alt-fire or unbind next/previous weapon, so you do not switch weapons mid-parry (alt-fire shares the mouse wheel by default).
• Watch the enemy's weapon, or its arms if it has none. When it is about to reach out and strike, press block.
• A big green shield particle means you completed a parry.
• Each zed has fixed animations; learning the timing makes parrying second nature.
• A glitch called "rapid parrying" lets you mash reload with the parry key. New players can use it until their timing improves.

Parry stumble

A parried zed enters parry stumble: a slight knockback and stagger that leaves it open to a riposte. This works only if your weapon's parry strength is higher than or equal to the zed's parry resistance; a Katana is usually enough for all zeds. Red attacks can still be parried and you take less damage, but you cannot parry-stumble a zed that is executing a red attack.

Teamplay

You are the team's tank: stand where teammates can support you at choke points and block zeds from reaching them. With Spartan you become a high-DPS zed-time warrior, "a reverse Gunslinger". You gain extra XP for kills near a teammate, so take a hit or two for them. When a big zed appears, draw its attention and keep moving, remembering you can sprint backwards. Because ammo is never your concern, you are also the team's cash cow: share spare dosh during trader time. If you are not confident against a big zed, alert the team by voice or by typing sc (Scrake), fp (Fleshpound) or qp (Quarter Pound). Assists still give full XP and dosh.

What to buy

• Keep the Crovel through wave 2, then sell it for a tier 2 Katana or a tier 3 weapon. The author prefers the Zweihander because Scrakes can appear as early as wave 3 or 4.
• Later stay with it or save for a Bone Crusher or Eviscerator (the Eviscerator pairs only with a Katana).
• Make room for the HMTech-101 medic pistol: 200 dosh, about one block of weight, healing 15 per dart. A living teammate is a good teammate.
• Once you have the best gear, buy only armor and drop dosh for the team.

Swing cancelling

Like parry or reload cancelling, swing cancelling removes the delay between swings, allowing significantly faster attacks. See video guides from the Berserker community for details.

Skills

The tree has two sides: left is survivability, right is agile damage. Skills are not permanent; you can change them, but changes take effect only when a wave ends.

Level 5: Survival

Dreadnaught icon.

• Dreadnaught: +75% total health (175 HP). Great for holding choke points with a good medic. You only move at base speed and are limited by melee range against Husks and E.D.A.R.s.

Skirmisher icon.

• Skirmisher: move 20% faster and sprint 25% faster with a perk melee weapon, and regenerate 2 HP per second. Suited to kiting, solo play and teams without a medic. 2 HP per second does not make you tanky.

Level 10: Combat

At this tier all choices make melee attacks 20% faster.

Vampire icon.

• Vampire: heal 4 HP for each zed killed with a perk weapon. Helpful with no healers and for beginners.

Butcher icon.

• Butcher: 25% more damage with perk melee weapons. Good for tanky mid-sized zeds, best once you have mastered the basics.

Level 15: Close Combat

All choices here make bloat poison go away 20% faster.

Resistance icon.

• Resistance: 20% resistance to all damage plus 20% extra to poison and sonic (40% total), which cannot be parried. A safeguard if you struggle to parry.

Parry icon.

• Parry: parrying with a perk melee weapon reduces incoming damage by 40% and adds 5% melee attack speed and 35% melee damage for 10 seconds. It stacks with passive resistance (a level 25 Berserker reaches 55%) and each parry resets the timer. The skill changes colour saturation and adds a ringing sound some find annoying.

Level 20: Power

Smash icon.

• Smash: hard attacks do 50% more damage, 25% more on head hits, and 200% more stumble power for perk weapons. Strongly recommended with tier 3+ weapons.

Massacre icon.

• Massacre: light attacks do 30% more damage and are 5% faster. For fast weapons (Knife, Crovel, Katana) in early waves; the Eviscerator does not benefit because neither of its attacks is light or heavy.

Level 25: Advanced Training

Berserker Rage icon.

• Berserker Rage: entering zed time heals 25% health (scaling with Dreadnaught, and with Commando extensions), and zeds within 6.5 m flee up to 25 m. Practical mainly on hold-out maps like The Descent, Power Core or Nightmare.

Spartan icon.

• Spartan: during zed time you attack with perk weapons and move in real time (off-perk weapons are still slowed). Use it to kill ranged and slow targets (Husks, E.D.A.R.s, Sirens, Bloats) and big zeds. Do not stray far from your team.

Weapons

The arsenal is mostly melee with a few ranged oddities. Technical numbers below are the guide's unupgraded values before skill bonuses.

Lawn Mower Blade.

Lawn Mower Blade (knife reskin)

Your last line of defence and not recommended: fastest swing of all, lowest DPS, zero weight. Its heavy attack with Parry and Smash can kill Bloats and Rioters in a single hit, and the stab pushes small zeds back. Light 32, heavy 64, stab 15; range 1.25 m; parry strength 1, 20% reduction.

EMP grenade.

EMP grenade

Unique to the Berserker. It prevents special attacks while in effect:

• Clots cannot grab; Bloats cannot puke; Gorefasts and Gorefiends cannot heavy attack.
• Crawlers cannot attack at all; Stalkers decloak; Sirens cannot scream.
• Husks cannot use flamethrower attacks; Scrakes calm down; Quarter Pounds and Fleshpounds cannot be enraged (only while still calm).
• All affected zeds are also slowed slightly. It does not make them take more damage, so do not waste it.

Damage 25, radius 7 m, linear falloff, fuse 0.25 s.

Crovel Survival Tool.

Crovel Survival Tool (starting weapon)

Half shovel, half crowbar. Fast swing for cutting through Clots; with Parry and Smash it can smash Bloats, Gorefiends and Rioters with one head blow. Keep it for the first two waves, then sell. Primary up to 49, secondary 86, stab 15; range 1.25 m; parry strength 3, 50% reduction.

Katana.

Katana (tier 2)

Decapitates most medium zeds in one swing and can parry-stumble big zeds. Longer reach (1.9 m) than the Crovel. Low damage per swing, so it is mainly for pairing with the Eviscerator and not for big zeds. Primary 68, secondary 90, draw 90, stab 68; parry strength 4, 50% reduction.

Road Redeemer

A chain-and-bolt baseball bat, a promotional weapon for owners of Road Redemption. The source left this entry under construction.

VLAD-1000 Nailgun.

VLAD-1000 Nailgun (tier 2)

Also a Support multi-perk weapon. A cluster mode fires 8 nails (25 each, up to about 200 per shot, about 1050 per full magazine unupgraded); the alt fire shoots single nails. Nails ricochet and can be dodged by Crawlers and Stalkers on higher difficulties. Best ranged trash killer for low-level Berserkers and a safe way to remove Bloats and Husks. It benefits from Butcher and Parry. It deals Shotgun-type damage and Fleshpounds have only 25% resistance to shotguns versus 40-50% to melee. Tier 3 plus Smash can remove a Fleshpound head with 40 nails (about 1800 damage). With Spartan it shoots and reloads in real time during zed time.

Zweihander.

Zweihander (tier 3)

Available with the Deluxe edition or Chivalry: Medieval Warfare ownership. Highest damage per swing, 2.4 m reach, about 720 damage in a single head swing with the right skills; slow without swing cancelling. The Scrake remover. Primary 85, secondary 195, stab 63; parry strength 5, 60% reduction; stumble power 250 (primary).

Pulverizer.

Pulverizer (tier 3)

Pump-action hammer-shotgun hybrid. The heavy attack adds an explosion (up to 383) on top of the blunt hit while it has ammo. Great knockdown. Built to be the Fleshpound remover: save ammo until one shows up, or empty it right away and load it when Fleshpounds arrive. Never use the explosive attack against Scrakes (they resist explosions). Primary 70, secondary 145 (no ammo), bash 68; range 1.7 m.

Eviscerator.

Eviscerator (tier 4)

A saw/crossbow hybrid with a laser sight. Fires reusable ricocheting sawblades (up to 5 bounces), and the alt fire is a fuel-powered circular saw. It can parry and block even as a ranged weapon. The projectile damage was nerfed from 480 to 300, which weakens it versus big zeds, yet it can still kill Scrakes and Fleshpounds with good parrying and headshots, and it is a lifesaver against the Abomination boss. Melee 29 per tick, projectile 300, stab 90.

Static Strikers.

Static Strikers (tier 4)

Hydraulic gauntlets with a mini EMP generator. Fast light attacks; the heavy attack releases an EMP burst much smaller than the grenade's, so it will not stunlock a Scrake or Fleshpound but is a good emergency tool, particularly against charging Scrakes. Primary 95, secondary 175, bash 100; EMP power 45; parry strength 5, 60% reduction.

Bone Crusher.

Bone Crusher (tier 4)

A manhole-cover shield plus a bat mace. Second-highest damage per swing (up to about 400), fast attack rate, blocking reduces as much damage as parrying, and it can block ranged attacks (except E.D.A.R.s): Husk fireballs and flamethrower, Patriarch minigun and missiles, Hans' MKb42. Use the shield bash often (stumble power 550). Primary 80, secondary 165, bash 175; parry strength 6, 70% reduction. A strong all-rounder for survival and learning.

Zed disposal tactics

• Clots (Cysts, Slashers, Alpha Clots, Rioters): mow the cannon fodder down fast; they cannot grab you, so free teammates caught by Clots. Rioters wear armor, rally nearby zeds into a rage and are best hit on the legs or back. From level 15, a Crovel hit after a parry can kill one.
• Crawlers and Stalkers: dangerous in groups and in odd spawn places. Break free by jumping, smashing or throwing an EMP at your feet. Use fast attacks (Crovel or Katana light attack, Zweihander stab). Parry Crawlers when they begin their jump.
• Bloats: their bile is unblockable and they lay mines. Without level 15 resistance, bile hits for 30-40 on high difficulties. Bash them (V by default) to stumble, then hit the head.
• Gorefasts and Gorefiends: strike before they swing; parry to stumble and riposte. A parry can now interrupt the Gorefiend's whirlwind.
• Sirens: unblockable AoE that ignores armor and destroys grenades. Bash then heavy hit the head; do not fight several at once; throw an EMP from a safe distance, but not during their scream.
• Husks: hit the fuel tank on their back; bash first, then slice. If one tries to suicide, bash again and finish it. Throw an EMP at clusters, or shoot with the Nailgun from safety.
• E.D.A.R.s, Scrakes, Quarter Pounds and Fleshpounds, perk harmonization and boss strategies were left as under construction in the source.

Zed time tactics

• Berserker Rage: zeds flee, so zed time becomes chill time. Mostly useful on hold-out maps.
• Spartan: switch from killing the nearest zed to high-value targets, especially slow, ranged and unblockable ones (Husks, E.D.A.R.s, Sirens, Bloats) and big zeds. Reload the Nailgun or Eviscerator in real time.
• With a Sharpshooter on the team, keep the Nailgun loaded and use it on a Fleshpound in zed time: at tier 3 it can kill with 2 nails to spare.
• With a good Commando extending zed time (up to 5 times the length), freestyle.

Perk numbers at a glance

Skill	Effect
Berserker Rage	+25% health per zed-time chain, nearby zeds flee
Butcher	+20% damage in the table, 25% in the skill description; melee duration -20%
Dreadnaught	health x1.75
Massacre	+30% light-attack damage, light attacks -5% duration
Parry	-40% damage taken for 10 s, +35% damage, -5% duration
Resistance	-20% damage, extra -20% sonic and toxic
Skirmisher	walk x1.2, sprint x1.25, 2 HP every 1 s
Smash	+50% hard attack damage, +25% headshot damage, stumble x3
Spartan	attacks and movement ignore slow-mo
Vampire	+4 HP per kill, melee duration -20%

The source lists Butcher both as 20% and 25%.