DNFD/Berserker/Strategy

Introduction

Berserker is an all-rounder character who excels at pressuring opponents,while still being able to successfully play a defensive, neutral-oriented playstyle. He has generally huge buttons, which he can generally hit confirm into a knockdown, before applying okizeme From Japanese "起き攻め". Attacking an opponent about to wake up after they were knocked down, usually with meaty attacks or mix-ups.. It's very easy for him to two touch his opponents, but because of how he works, it's just as easy for his opponents to 2 touch him, especially if the Berserker player fails to properly manage his install A move, usually a super, which changes the properties of the character themself, usually for the better.

As with all characters that uses HP as a resource, there are two main playstyles with Berserker: those who don't hesitate to bring down their HP alongside the opponent's with hopes of 2 touching them, and does who does hesitate, and thus plays a much safer style. Regardless of the path you choose to take, Berserker is an excellent beginner character that thrives off of momentum, and rewards players who can manage to hold it for as long as possible

Notable moves

5MGuardN/AStartup18RecoveryTotal 23Advantage- _{Generally referred to as Frenzy}

This move is the reason you play Berserker. In exchange of red health, Berserker becomes drastically faster (both on the ground and in the air), gains new properties on his other MP Skills and gets better B buttons. While in this state, Berserker also gains access to Blood TwisterGuardMidStartup17RecoveryAdvantage+3, an excellent tool to counter zoning and continuining pressure.

Conversion

While Conversion is a mechanic anybody can use, Berserker gets the most mileage out of it, and using it is a central part of Berserker's gameplan. Fortunately, FrenzyGuardN/AStartup18RecoveryTotal 23Advantage- grants Berserker a basically unlimited access to Conversion, due to the fact that Frenzy turns red health into white health (white health being the only requirement to use Conversion). This opens the door for high/low 50/50 A mix-up where the opponent has a choice between two options, such as strike-throw or high-low. A "true 50/50" is used to describe a mix-up in which the defender must guess and commit to one option, without any way to determine which option the opponent will choose and react accordingly.s or very big but also very safe buttons to just throw out in neutral, just to name a few applications of this mechanic

Frenzy 5MGuardMidStartup17RecoveryAdvantage+3 _{Generally referred to as Blood Twister}

While expensive, Blood Twister is Berserker's main way of skipping neutral. On hit, it causes a wall bounce, allowing Berserker to follow up on hit with a combo. On block, Berserker is at least +3 (+22 with Conversion), so he can continue pressuring the opponent. It's also a very good call-out button against airborne opponents, due to it reaching almost as far as Launcher's 5BGuardAllStartup17Recovery39Advantage-23. However, keep in mind that it's a very expensive option, and thus should be used sparingly

Neutral

Offense

Pressure

Okizeme

meaty

Berserker's 6S is an excellent okizeme tool that can be set up after pretty much every combo, especially those ending after a hard knockdown (AKA every single combo ending in 4SGuardMidStartup25Recovery26Advantage-7). Because it can hit extremely meaty, it can be delayed to beat most reversals on wake up (including Hitman's) if you block it or make it whiff

Delaying 6S doesn't work VS	Crusader, Grappler, Lost Warrior, Swift Master, Troubleshooter

Reversal needs to whiff VS	Dragon Knight, Inquisitor, Striker, Kunoichi

IOH safejump

Every character can do an Instant Overhead (IOH) with the use of Conversion. As Berserker is the primary user of Conversion in this game, he basically always has access to this IOH that also acts as a safe jump A very well-timed jump attack on a character who is rising from a knockdown. Your goal is to attack extremely close to when you land so that, if the character performs an invincible reversal attack, you will land and be able to block. The opponent is then forced to block your jumping attack, since reversaling doesn't work, which will give you some nice pressure and hopefully an opening. against most reversals. It also create a high/low 50/50 A mix-up where the opponent has a choice between two options, such as strike-throw or high-low. A "true 50/50" is used to describe a mix-up in which the defender must guess and commit to one option, without any way to determine which option the opponent will choose and react accordingly. between this move and his 2AGuardLowStartup6Recovery15Advantage-2

Doesn't work VS	Dragon Knight, Grappler, Hitman, Inquisitor, Lost Warrior, Striker

Requires perfect execution VS	Ranger, Vanguard

Common knockdowns & meaties

2BGuardLowStartup16Recovery25Advantage-8 _Counterhit

CH 2B forces a hard knockdown, allowing Berserker to do anything he wants after it

4SGuardMidStartup25Recovery26Advantage-7

4S also grants a hard knockdown, but it is way more common given 4S is Berserker's main combo ender. Leads to the same things than CH 2B, namely a meaty 6S

5SGuardMidStartup18Recovery33Advantage-13 _{Air hit}

Mostly used against Striker, but still a good knockdown regardless. Grants an auto-timed safe jump A very well-timed jump attack on a character who is rising from a knockdown. Your goal is to attack extremely close to when you land so that, if the character performs an invincible reversal attack, you will land and be able to block. The opponent is then forced to block your jumping attack, since reversaling doesn't work, which will give you some nice pressure and hopefully an opening. with either j.BGuardHighStartupRecoveryAdvantage- or j.AGuardHighStartup8RecoveryUntil landing+2Advantage-, and generally allows Berserker to run his usual oki, given it also gives a hard knockdown

Blood TwisterGuardMidStartup17RecoveryAdvantage+3

Hard knockdown from 2/3s of the screen, welcome to DNF Duel. Memes aside, it is extremely expensive (110MP in total), so not the greatest option there is, but it still gives a hard knockdown. Leads to the usual oki

Mixups

Outside of okizeme, Berserker's mixups mainly revolves around strike/throw with 2AGuardLowStartup6Recovery15Advantage-2 and 214MGuardThrow (170)Startup11Recovery23Advantage- (or his regular throwGuardThrowStartup5Recovery22Advantage- for a fast option). Unlike most characters, doing this is pretty rewarding, as landing 214M takes away the opponent's white health while turning yours into red health. It also gives you a hard knockdown, allowing you to set up a 6S and continue to apply pressure.

On okizeme, Berserker's main mixup becomes his signature high/low 50/50 A mix-up where the opponent has a choice between two options, such as strike-throw or high-low. A "true 50/50" is used to describe a mix-up in which the defender must guess and commit to one option, without any way to determine which option the opponent will choose and react accordingly., where he uses Conversion at slightly different heights in the air to either whiff a j.A into 2A to hit low or do a slightly delayed j.A to hit high. Do note that using j.A close enough to the ground can safe jump A very well-timed jump attack on a character who is rising from a knockdown. Your goal is to attack extremely close to when you land so that, if the character performs an invincible reversal attack, you will land and be able to block. The opponent is then forced to block your jumping attack, since reversaling doesn't work, which will give you some nice pressure and hopefully an opening. reversals, although it is really tight in some cases (practically frame perfect against Ranger)

Defense

Abare

Abare optionsIf you don't want to block

2AGuardLowStartup6Recovery15Advantage-2

It's your jab. Use it to mash out of pressure. It has 6f of startup, which is one frame slower than theGuardAllStartup5Recovery13Advantage+1 fastestGuardLowStartup5Recovery21Advantage-10 buttonsGuardLowStartup5Recovery19Advantage-8, so don't expect to be able to mash out on wakeup every time

ThrowGuardThrowStartup5Recovery22Advantage-

Not the best option there is, because of the reward, but it is still Berserker's fastest grounded option. It gets him out of most gaps, but as said before, you usually return to neutral after eating a throw

2M / 623MGuardMidStartup16RecoveryAdvantage-40

Just like every other reversal in this game, Berserker's reversal is a very risky option that can still be used to reset neutral (which can be good or bad, depending on the matchup.). However, it has poor horizontal range, which can make it easy to whiff. As with every other 2M in the game, Berserker is in counter hit state for the whole move's duration, which essentially guarantees your death if you ever miss. Also, opponents can sometimes drop out of the attack's multi hits, so be extra careful when DPing through stuff

4M / 6214MGuardThrow (170)Startup11Recovery23Advantage- _{Friendly reminder that Berserker is not a grappler!}

Only use this if you feel like your opponent will try to bait a reversal. It's way slower than his regular throw (11f versus 5f), but it also gives much better reward, in the form of a hard knockdown, recovering all of Berserker's white health while taking away the opponent's. Whiffing this is very bad, as with all command grabs, so be careful when using it

Anti-Airing

Anti-airs grounded opponents

70 MP Cost

Berserker's reversal is also an excellent anti-air. Due to its gigantic amount of active frames, it can hit people in the air starting the moment they enter their pre jump frames. However, don't forget that this is a 623M / 2M, and thus means you're throwing the round if you ever whiff this

General-purpose anti-airs

2SGuardMidStartup16Recovery37Advantage-17

Berserker's 2S is a quite short ranged anti-air that is also quite slow. However, its vertical reach is huge, and the reward on hit is basically a full combo

5SGuardMidStartup18Recovery33Advantage-13

At around round start distance/mid range, this move becomes a pretty efficient at sniping people in the air. It's also heavily rewarding, as 5S forces a hard knockdown on air hit, allowing you to go for either a safe jump A very well-timed jump attack on a character who is rising from a knockdown. Your goal is to attack extremely close to when you land so that, if the character performs an invincible reversal attack, you will land and be able to block. The opponent is then forced to block your jumping attack, since reversaling doesn't work, which will give you some nice pressure and hopefully an opening. or 6S oki

6SGuardMidStartup15RecoveryAdvantage-5

Berserker's 6S is surprisingly good at dealing with jumping opponents, also thanks to its active frames. In neutral, it functions like a shield that beats everything that's not an M move (it trades with S moves). Of course, that includes jumping attacks. Shooting the crossGuardMidStartupRecoveryAdvantage-5 is also a good call out against people jumping away from you

j.BGuardHighStartupRecoveryAdvantage-

Berserker's j.B reaches pretty far for its speed. Obviously, j.S is better in terms of range, but it's also way slower, making it more suited to jump ins rather than going for air-to-airs. An alternative to j.B as an air-to-air is his j.AGuardHighStartup8RecoveryUntil landing+2Advantage-. On hit, both moves can combo into j.2SGuardMidStartup16Recovery35Advantage-

In Frenzy, j.BGuardHighStartupRecoveryAdvantage- becomes way bigger while still being very fast, thus making it even better as an air button in general