KF2 Berserker Guide: Perk Picks and Weapons (Beta Humor)

This is a joking, opinionated guide written during the 2016 beta, so some numbers have since changed. The core message is serious, though: the Berserker is the team's front line, loves having a Field Medic behind him, and must learn to parry. Reader comments were split, with some calling it a blog rather than a guide and others enjoying the banter.

What the Berserker does

The Berserker is the player who looks at flamethrowers, rifles and grenade launchers and chooses a sledgehammer instead. If you play it well, the team loves you. Your job depends on your team:

• No medic: kill small Zeds until a large one shows up, hit it once or twice to get its attention and run.
• With a medic: do the same, but when a big Zed arrives you play linebacker and make sure it never reaches the back line.

Stay in line of sight of your medic, and protect the medic: if a Clot reaches them, drop everything and kill it, even by throwing something at it.

Perk choices

• Base stats: damage grows every level and damage resistance every few levels. The big deal is that Clots cannot grab you.
• Level 5: Dreadnaught if you have a medic (extra health, buffed to 75 in the beta), Skirmisher if you do not (faster movement and 2 health per second regeneration, like a tiny medic following you).
• Level 10: Vampire is the strong pick, buffed several times and better than Butcher for self sustain. Take Butcher only if you truly trust your medic.
• Level 15: Resistance (20 percent resistance to everything, extra against poison and sonic) or Parry. The author uses Resistance in the first waves, then Parry to remind himself to parry big Zeds, then Resistance again if the boss is Hans so he can ignore the poison cloud. In the beta, Parry was buffed to also give 40 percent damage resistance, which makes it better than Resistance if you parry well.
• Level 20: Smash was nerfed, so it is no longer an obvious choice. Smash helps you survive against big Zeds, while Massacre suits lone-wolf play.
• Level 25: the author suggests Spartan, though Rage is very fun.

Weapons

The HMTech-101 medic pistol, found in the Medic tab and called the Berserker's best tool by the author.

• HMTech-101 medic pistol: cheap, nearly weightless, deals little damage, but pressing the block key fires a homing dart that heals allies. You can fire two before putting it away. The author treats it as the Berserker's best weapon.
• Knife (lawnmower blade): swings extremely fast but does almost no damage; use it as a toothpick.
• Crovel: the starter weapon. It carries you until Scrakes appear, so many players stop shopping and scavenge other classes' tier 1 weapons instead. Its overhead attack can catch on the hook on the end.
• Pulverizer: the Berserker's "bread and butter". Its light attack does about what a Crovel heavy attack does, but it is the first melee weapon that uses ammo. A later patch made its light attack fling small Zeds around, as a commenter noted.

The Pulverizer.

• Zweihander: considered the best Berserker weapon after the medic pistol. It has huge stab range, a heavy attack that can cut through a whole horde and one-shots Husks even on higher difficulties, and is cheaper than the Pulverizer. It requires owning another game (a pre-order or bonus item), which the author jokes makes the game "pay to win".

The Zweihander.

• Eviscerator (buzz-saw gun): two ammo types, reclaimable saws, but heavy and expensive, and a heavy attack that deals no damage in the author's opinion. He would buy other options first.

An illustration used for the buzz-saw gun.

• VLAD-1000 Nailgun: good for faster levelling or for dealing with Stalkers, otherwise not necessary.

An illustration used for the nail gun.

• Katana: feels like a faster, lighter Crovel; not worth buying, but worth keeping if you find one so you can sell the Crovel and carry other items.
• Other classes' weapons: since a Berserker spends little on ammo, spend leftover dosh on an M79 for distant hordes, or on medic SMG and assault rifle for crowd control and healing. A trick with a friend: carry a spare of their low ammo weapon (such as a SCAR or RPG) and swap when they run out. Alternatively buy your favourite Berserker weapon and give the rest of your dosh to teammates.

Playing the class

Be your team's front line: kill small Zeds until a big one appears, then step in. Do not disregard your safety; know when you are low (around 30 health is the author's line), stay in the medic's sight and keep an eye on your own health bar, because medics cannot heal infinitely fast. Above all, learn to parry, which is what separates good Berserkers from mediocre ones. If you have dosh left over after your favourite weapon, spend it on the team.

For serious Berserker advice see Berserker perk guide with parry and weapons.