Berserk



The berserk powerup (called berserk pack in the manuals) is an item that looks like a dark gray medikit. Picking one up boosts the player's health to 100 percent (unless it was already 100 or more) and temporarily fills the screen with a red haze.

The berserk pack increases the strength of the player's punch attack tenfold until the level ends (and not only until the red haze disappears), making it powerful enough to smash humanoids to a pulp, or even kill a demon with a single blow. When a berserk pack is collected, the player's current weapon will switch to the fist.

A berserk punch is somewhat more damaging than the chainsaw, since it kills quicker and doesn't "latch" on an enemy. The berserk fist does have the disadvantage of not doing continuous damage, which leaves the player open to counterattacks, and requires relatively careful aim. This makes the berserk fist less efficient than the chainsaw against some monsters; for instance it is not very safe to use against cacodemons.

Due to its power, the berserk punch is best used for hit-and-run situations, running up to the foe to throw a punch and then quickly retreating or dodging. Since punching requires good movement skills to avoid attacks from enemies that are very close, newer or slower players tend to save this powerup for healing purposes, while more proficient ones often pick it up earlier to save weapon ammo.

In Vanilla Doom, player who has the chainsaw cannot use his fists unless he has also obtained a berserk pack.

Most levels of Doom, The Ultimate Doom and Doom II include a berserk powerup (excepting Knee-Deep in the Dead, because it is one of the various items excluded in the unregistered version). Its powers can also be obtained with the cheat code idbeholds.

This item is included in the items percentage displayed at the end of each level.

Appearance statistics
The IWADs contain the following numbers of berserks per skill level:

Doom RPG
In Doom RPG, the berserk powerup is called a berserker and looks like a red supercharge. Unlike the original, it increases the damage done by all weapons by a factor of 3, and does not heal the player. The increased damage lasts for 30 turns.