KF2 Berserker Perk Guide: Weapons, Skills and Loadouts

This is a paraphrase of a long community guide written by the Dodo team (last updated for version 1.057). The Berserker is the front-line tank of the team: your job is to kill Zeds before they reach your teammates, take hits for the group and keep yourself alive with parries, healing skills and the EMP grenade. For the perk overview see Berserker and Berserker levels; a shorter build page is KF2 Berserker build.

Perk weapons

The Berserker knife (Lawn Mower Blade).

Knife (tier 0). Not a true perk weapon, but it gets the Berserker bonuses. It is fast and strong enough to decapitate trash Zeds, so it is fine in the early waves; after level 10 (faster melee skills) switch to the Crovel. It cannot parry-stumble. If you changed perk, you keep the old perk's knife; all knives are statistically identical. Stats: light 32, hard 64, bash 15, block and parry reduction 20%.

The Crovel, the starting Berserker weapon.

Crovel (tier 1). A very good starter: it decapitates several trash Zeds per swing and handles medium Zeds in one or two heavy hits. It cannot parry-stumble Scrakes or Fleshpounds. Weight 4, price 200, light 49, hard 86, bash 15, block 40%, parry 50%.

The Katana.

Katana. Originally planned for the cancelled Martial Artist perk, it became a direct upgrade to the Crovel for 600 dosh. Faster and stronger; its bash is a precise stab that passes through a Gorefast's guard. Fleshpounds resist its damage type, so the Crovel is actually better against them, but the Katana can parry-stumble big Zeds. Trick: hold primary fire while switching to the Katana to start an instant hard attack. Weight 3, light 68, hard 90, bash 68, block 40%, parry 50%.

The Nailgun, a firearm among melee tools.

Nailgun. A firearm that fits the perk poorly: no block or parry, long reload. It has high penetration in single mode (decapitates rows of trash Zeds), a 7-nail shotgun mode, and nails ricochet in tight rooms. Useful for low-level Berserkers or with Vampire to regain health by shooting groups. Weight 6, price 600, 30 damage per nail, magazine 42, reserve 336.

The Zweihander sword.

Zweihander. Available to owners of Chivalry: Medieval Warfare or the Deluxe Edition (or when a teammate or the server owner has it). After nerfs it is slow and often lets Zeds hit first, and fills no role the others do not. Weight 6, price 1000, light 85, hard 195, bash 63, block 40%, parry 60%.

The Pulverizer.

Pulverizer. Light attacks can knock down any Zed, and the explosive heavy attack can kill a Fleshpound. The author's tip: empty the magazine and use the hammer without the explosion; it then behaves like a faster Zweihander that decapitates medium Zeds with one headshot. Reload only when a Fleshpound appears, kill it, then empty the magazine again. Weight 6, price 1200, light 70, hard 145 (383 with explosion), bash 20, block 50%, parry 60%.

The Bone Crusher, mace and shield.

Bone Crusher. Considered the best melee weapon: Zweihander-like strength with Pulverizer-like speed. It has the best block reduction in the game (the only weapon where block beats parry), is the only one that partially blocks Husk fireballs and flames, Patriarch minigun and rockets and Hans bullets, and has a strong bash that sends Zeds flying. The left horizontal swing uses the shield, which has more knockdown. It costs some vision. Weight 9, price 1500, light 80, hard 165, bash 175, block 70%, parry 60%.

The Eviscerator.

Eviscerator. A hybrid of firearm and melee weapon: the spinning blade shreds trash, thrown blades decapitate big Zeds, the bash equals a Katana hard attack, and it has the best parry reduction. Fuel and ammo are limited, so keep it for big Zeds and carry another melee weapon for trash. Thrown blades are picked up by simply walking over them. Weight 10, price 1600, bash 90, throwing blade 480, magazine 5, reserve 25, block 60%, parry 70%.

The Berserker EMP grenade.

EMP grenade. Low damage, but it disables Zed special attacks for a moment (a Siren stops screaming, a Husk stops using the flamethrower) and removes the rage of a Fleshpound. Two grenades put a Zed into a short panic, which is not recommended as a way to kill big Zeds. It does not increase damage taken by Zeds. At the time of writing a bug prevented de-raging Fleshpounds. Explosion damage 25, radius 7 m, fuse 0.25 s after landing.

Experience and perk bonuses

You earn XP by killing with Berserker weapons, with a bonus for kills within 2 m of a teammate. Passives: +1% damage per level (25% at 25), +3% damage resistance every 5 levels (15% at 25), night vision on the flashlight key, and Clots cannot grab you.

Skills

Level	Left	Right	Advice
5	Dreadnaught: +75% health	Skirmisher: +20% move, +25% sprint, regenerate 2 HP per second with perk melee	Skirmisher in almost every case
10	Vampire: +20% attack speed, heal 4 HP per perk kill	Butcher: +20% attack speed, +25% damage	Vampire when health is tight (esp. solo), Butcher later for mediums and big Zeds
15	Resistance: +20% all resistance, extra 20% vs poison and sonic	Parry: parry cuts 40% damage, +5% speed, +35% damage for 10 s	Resistance for beginners, Parry for experienced players
20	Smash: hard attacks +50%, head +25%, +200% stumble	Massacre: light +30%, all attacks +5% faster	Smash; Massacre only for solo trash
25	Berserker Rage: heal 25% on Zed Time, nearby Zeds flee	Spartan: act in real time during Zed Time	Spartan with Skirmisher, Rage with Dreadnaught

Spartan also gives near-real-time reloads, great for the Nailgun, Eviscerator and for spamming the Pulverizer heavy attack in Zed Time. Rage heals again every time Zed Time is extended, so a Commando on the team can refill your health.

Recommended loadouts

• The Berserker: Skirmisher, Vampire or Butcher, Resistance or Parry, Smash, Spartan. Pulverizer, Nailgun (with Vampire) or 401 Medic rifle, 101 Medic pistol.
• The Martial Artist: same skills; Katana, Eviscerator, 101 Medic pistol. Weaker on trash, much stronger against big Zeds.
• The Spartan: same skills; Bone Crusher and the 101 Medic pistol. A balance of both, and lighter (10 of 15 weight slots).
• Solo: Skirmisher, Vampire, Resistance or Parry, Massacre, Spartan. Katana and Eviscerator; on Hell on Earth this pair can take a Scrake in one headshot hit.
• Versus the boss: Skirmisher, Butcher, Resistance, Smash, Spartan with the Bone Crusher. Distract the boss up close with attack-parry cycles, stay near cover for bullets and rockets, let Hans drain you rather than a teammate, and throw two EMPs at his feet when he fires or flees. On solo take only the Eviscerator, or add a double-barrel shotgun for its recoil jump.

Tips

• Melee attacks are directional: moving forward gives a vertical swing, strafing gives a horizontal one (about 25% less damage, wider reach).
• Block reduces damage; only a well-timed Parry (green circle and sound) staggers a Zed for 1 to 3 seconds. Attacks that make the weapon glow red cannot be stumbled.
• Press Reload and Parry in sequence to chain parries without the lowering animation, useful against the Fleshpound jump and Hans's rifle bash.
• You cannot block flames, rockets, bullets, screams or bloat spray (the Bone Crusher blocks some of them partially).
• Get close to a Zed to draw its aggro away from the team.
• Berserker speed bonuses need a melee weapon in hand. Do not buy armor unless it is the boss wave; share spare dosh.
• Dropped weapons vanish after 5 minutes; pick up and throw them again to reset the timer, and leave one weak Zed alive to bring them to the trader.
• Call big Zeds (Sc, Fp) and engage together once the team is ready.

Zerkwalling and weapon tests

The author discourages zerkwalling (the whole team sits in a room while the Berserker plugs the entrance) because it removes the teamwork and risk. His offline tests on a 6-player Hell on Earth setup: the Zweihander and Pulverizer both kill all trash in one hit; the Zweihander kills a Scrake slightly faster only if you stand still and land every headshot (4 headshots against 6 without explosion), while the Pulverizer is easier to aim, knocks down and bashes, and is better against Fleshpounds (8 headshots with explosion). Smash beat Massacre in every test with the Eviscerator: for example a Scrake dies in 2 headshots with Smash and 3 with Massacre.

Headshots with hard vertical attacks needed to kill big Zeds:

Weapon	Scrake	Fleshpound
Crovel	8	12
Katana	8	16
Zweihander	4	8
Pulverizer	5	9
Bone Crusher	4	8