- "Are you kidding me? Berserker!"
- —Sgt. Marcus Fenix upon spotting a Berserker on the Tyro Pillar
Berserkers are female Locust Drones.[1] Blind but powerful, Berserkers were known for their highly developed sense of hearing and smell, near indestructible bodies, and extremely aggressive behavior.
History
Berserkers are female Locust. Even though they are blind, they use their sense of smell and hearing to find their target(s). Berserkers can only be killed once their extremely tough skin is heated or set ablaze, allowing significantly more damage to be done to them. They're also fast enough to catch a speeding train.
Locust War
Destruction of Halvo Bay
- "Berserker! Somebody get a Scorcher and torch that thing!"
- — Damon Baird after a Berserker managed to enter Kurt Elliott's mansion
During the Destruction of Halvo Bay, a Berserker engaged Kilo Squad as they tried to get the launch codes to the Lightmass Missile. Armed with Scorchers they took from some Flame Boomers and aided by Flame Sentinels, Kilo was able to kill the Berserker.
Zeta-Six being confronted by a Berserker in the school gymnasium.
Evacuation of Ilima
- "Well, she was almost as tough as my ex."
- —Michael Barrick after killing the Berserker
During the Evacuation of Ilima, a Berserker was sent to Ilima High School, where it slaughtered hundreds of civilians waiting to be evacuated. She was later discovered by Zeta-Six, who had been sent to investigate the school. They battled the Berserker, making a quick escape by using the bleachers since they did not have anything to weaken the Berserker's armor.
After exiting the school, the Berserker had also caught up with them, but was unaware of where they were. She later heard a car alarm, and charged at the car that emitted the alarm, exploding the car and burning her skin. Zeta-Six later took advantage of her blindness to trick her into running into the cars, and after a long battle, was finally killed. [3]
Lightmass Offensive
A Berserker on the Tyro Pillar.
At least three Berserkers took part in the Lightmass Offensive, all deployed against Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago. The first one was in the fallen city of Ephyra, unleashed in the Tomb of the Unknowns after a massive firefight with Locust General RAAM in the streets. While safe from the outside Locust, the Berserker began hunting the remains of Alpha Squad and Delta Squad, killing the Drones that had her chained and beginning a rampage through the Tomb, killing Gyules. This forced Marcus and Dom to lure the Berserker outside of their refuge and use the Hammer of Dawn against it. She passed through a wall towards Marcus and Dom and began stalking them, however the Gears were able to use her brute strength to lure her outside of the Tomb. After several doors were brought down by the Berserker, they finally lured her outside with just a few minutes to burn her with the Hammer of Dawn. After several Hammer strikes, the Berserker was slain.
A second Berserker was encountered on the way to the Fenix Estate at the conservatory Marcus and Dom passed through. At first they tried to evade her but as she destroyed two walls and continued to follow the Gears, they were forced to fight her; she was tricked into smashing the support pillars of the ceiling to allow Marcus to drop the Hammer of Dawn on it before time ran out.
The final Berserker was fought on the Tyro Pillar, who ran fast enough to catch up to it and jump onto the train. Given the speed of the Pillar and Nemacyst preventing the use of the Hammer of Dawn, Marcus and Dom improvised, cutting off the last segment of the train when the Berserker was on it, crushing her instantly.
Mission to Montevado
After the Riftworm sunk Montevado, the entire city fell to the Locust. Delta-One, comprised of Marcus Fenix, Dominic Santiago, and Jace Stratton, survived through the night at the sacrifice of Michael Barrick. While trying to climb out of the sunken city, Jace lost his footing and fell into the darkness, much to Dom's alarm. When Jace awoke, he found himself atop a small, rocky cliffside. Seconds later, a Berserker emerged from a nearby cave, threatening Jace's life. When all hope seemed lost after Jace provoked the Berserker, Marcus came down on a ladder, shouting to Jace to take his hand. Jace leapt to Marcus, who took hold of his hand and pulled him up quickly. The charging Berserker ran off the cliff and fell to its death.[4]
Battle of Port Farrall
During the Battle of Port Farrall, a Berserker was in the food center and Dom engaged the Berserker in a suicidal attack, hoping to hit her in the underbelly. He was stopped by Marcus, while a Centaur tank attacked and killed the Berserker.
Lambent Pandemic
Berserkers were never encountered during the Lambent Pandemic (apart from the Lambent Berserker). It is possible that the flooding of the Hollows killed most of the Berserkers, and the remaining were kept hidden. Regardless, Berserkers, like the rest of the Locust Horde, died when the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon was activated.
Lambent Berserker
A Lambent Berserker.
- Main article: Lambent Berserker
Eighteen months after the Flooding of the Hollows, the Lambent swarm ravaged the surface of Sera, bringing their Imulsion-fueled plague wherever they went. At least one Berserker was infected by Imulsion, turning it into a monstrosity of destruction.
Lambent Berserkers are bigger, tougher, and even more aggressive than normal Berserkers. Black and golden, Lambent Berserkers were nearly indestructible to all forms of weaponry, shrugging off a direct Hammer of Dawn strike. The only way to injure a Lambent Berserker was to attack its glowing, Imulsion-filled heart, which was only vulnerable when the Lambent Berserker charged, leapt, or burnt.
Multiplayer
Beast Mode
In Gears of War 3, the Berserker is playable in Beast Mode, on the last tier and costs $5625 in order to use. Cliff Bleszinski commented that players will enjoy its brute strength, but it will have the drawback of terrible eyesight. The Lambent Berserker is not playable in Beast Mode though; only the Locust Berserker can be used.
Much like in Horde Mode, Berserkers will take damage from all sources of weapons, although their hard skin ensures that bullets and explosives will deal very little damage. However, as you progress through the waves, enemies will begin to have incendiary weapons, either Scorchers or incendiary sentries which will allow enemies to deal full damage to you.
Berserkers have two attacks; their trademark charge and a stomp attack. The Berserker charges when the player sprints, and will destroy everything in its path. It instantly kills any Stranded, or COG Gear that it contacts with, while it downs Heros and the Onyx Guard. The stomp attack is used to finish off incapacitated units near the Berserker.
Given its high cost and the limited money in Beast Mode, Berserkers should only be used to deal with heavy threats such as Silverbacks and destroy fortifications for fellow allies to get through.
Horde 2.0
Berserkers appear in the randomized boss waves of Horde 2.0. They usually appear in groups of two, but sometimes three will appear on higher waves.
Like the Lambent Berserker, attacks that are dealt on the Berserker are reduced to 10% of the original damage. The only exception to this is by burning her hard skin with weapons such as Incendiary Grenades, the Hammer of Dawn, or the Scorcher flamethrower, and then attacking her with any weapon you want. Unlike the Berserkers of Gears of War, the Berserkers have a new attack in Gears of War 3; stomping. If they down a player, they will most likely use this attack, killing any downed player in the process.
If Mutators are enabled and Super Reload is turned on, it is possible to gun down a Berserker from range using an assault rifle, a shotgun (at closer range), and even a pistol. It takes about half of a Super Reloaded clip from the Lancer to kill one Berserker on Casual difficulty. The Gnasher Shotgun can do it in about 8 shells (based upon the range at which you are firing from), and the Sawed-off Shotgun can do it in about 2-4.
Regardless, the Instant-Gib mutator is capable of killing a Berserker in one hit regardless of the active poisons that are in effect. However, it is ill-advised to do this alone, as you will most likely get killed despite their large size.
Berserkers, like their Lambent cousins, provide a rather difficult boss wave because they instantly destroy any fortifications (and down any player) that they hit, providing a sizable distraction from the other enemies in the wave. Like any other boss wave, it's usually best to kill everything else first and save the Berserkers for last. You should also try to stay away from your base as much as possible, unless you have experienced players who have dealt with Berserkers before.
Incendiary sentries help with dealing with Berserkers, as they will ignite the Berserker on fire, stunning them for several seconds for players to quickly rack up damage. However, given the nature of sentries, this should not be relied on constantly.
Behind the scenes
A computer-generated pre-visualization model of the Berserker.
- By killing a Berserker on Hardcore difficulty in Gears of War, you get the achievement "My Love for You Is Like a Truck", which is a reference to the 1994 comedy film, Clerks.
- On Gears of War's "Top 5 Deadliest Locust", the Berserker scored number two on the list behind General RAAM.[1]
- In one of Jace Stratton's flashbacks in Gears of War: Hollow Issue Six, a Berserker was shown being killed by small arms fire.[4]
- For unknown reasons, the Berserkers do not appear in any game mode of Gears of War 2. Berserkers do not appear at all in Gears of War 3's Campaign mode.
Appearances
- RAAM's Shadow
- Gears of War (First appearance)
- Gears of War 3
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gears of War: Destroyed Beauty
- ↑ Gears of War 3 Beast Mode interview
- ↑ RAAM's Shadow: Hide and Seek
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Gears of War: Hollow