Post by contributor on Sept 17, 2016 15:23:00 GMT -5
I know this is an older update now, but just wanted to give feedback as I just completed an Ironman run focused on Berserkers. I absolutely love the new upgrades and they made Zerkers way more fun to play than before. At high levels they were almost overpowered with the right build, but not quite. It was amazing to watch one tank three Narvs at a time, two of which were the melee type. But with 72% auto-block and him hitting with the -AP attack it was very doable. They do need a Paladin nearby as they can still take big hits, but I never lost my shield Zerker in a single turn.
I used two of them. The first one was rocking a shield and he was my front liner. I would say that, built right they are as effective as a good OW soldier or Neptune. In some ways they're better, because you never have that "o crap" moment when somebody makes it through OW and lands a big hit on your gunner. With Zerkers they're supposed to come in close. My second was a dual-axe zerker, who unfortunately didn't get deployed as much as I would have liked, but he still saw some good action. I actually started him as a grenadier Zerk, but wasn't super happy with that. He ran out of grenades way too fast and resupply wasn't a consistent enough option. With dual axes he was usable all the time. He wasn't as durable as the shield bearer, so he always came in to clean up, which he was very good at it. I'm looking forward to leveling him up a bit more with the Stratos campaign. I have to say that with my Zerks Goliaths and Uber Goliaths became much less of an issue. They often got taken down in one turn, or being crippled with -AP and -accuracy went down on their turn. They never survived a second turn next to Zerk.
Having to bring in a Paladin and Zerks, definitely hurts the budget and favors a slower play style. I think I did at least one mission without any OW. I can't say that I actually missed it that much. Most levels I only had one OW soldier, though I do deploy a lot of turrets. I'm still trying to decide which is more powerful, an OW turret with a crippling/headshot scout standing behind it, or an OW turret with a Zerk standing in front of it. Either way it makes an almost impenetrable wall, even to Narvs.
I used two of them. The first one was rocking a shield and he was my front liner. I would say that, built right they are as effective as a good OW soldier or Neptune. In some ways they're better, because you never have that "o crap" moment when somebody makes it through OW and lands a big hit on your gunner. With Zerkers they're supposed to come in close. My second was a dual-axe zerker, who unfortunately didn't get deployed as much as I would have liked, but he still saw some good action. I actually started him as a grenadier Zerk, but wasn't super happy with that. He ran out of grenades way too fast and resupply wasn't a consistent enough option. With dual axes he was usable all the time. He wasn't as durable as the shield bearer, so he always came in to clean up, which he was very good at it. I'm looking forward to leveling him up a bit more with the Stratos campaign. I have to say that with my Zerks Goliaths and Uber Goliaths became much less of an issue. They often got taken down in one turn, or being crippled with -AP and -accuracy went down on their turn. They never survived a second turn next to Zerk.
Having to bring in a Paladin and Zerks, definitely hurts the budget and favors a slower play style. I think I did at least one mission without any OW. I can't say that I actually missed it that much. Most levels I only had one OW soldier, though I do deploy a lot of turrets. I'm still trying to decide which is more powerful, an OW turret with a crippling/headshot scout standing behind it, or an OW turret with a Zerk standing in front of it. Either way it makes an almost impenetrable wall, even to Narvs.
