Lancer NPC - Berserker
Core Detail Overview
Stats
As the name implies, the Berserker is a hyper-offensive melee NPC built to rip and tear, with high Hull, Agility, and Speed; low Systems, Engineering, E-Defense, Heat Cap, and Sensors; slightly below-average HP, and average Armor, Evasion, and Save Target. The vulnerability to tech attacks hurts, especially since that’s the likely way for the PCs to disable the Resistance protecting that HP value. On the plus side, the high Hull, Agility, and Speed help it to otherwise get where it wants to be and resist most forced movement effects that could dislodge it, as well as making it one of the better Size 1 NPCs for Grapple. It’s one of the more imbalanced stat spreads among NPCs, but ultimately, it has numbers in places that make sense for its role.
Base Systems
Chain Axe is the heart of the Berserker. It’s only a Threat 1 melee weapon with average accuracy, but the damage is high, and the Berserker’s other base systems can pretty reliably grant it two extra attacks on the round it engages and at least one extra attack per round after that, which all combines to give it one of the highest damage outputs of any NPC once it gets in (one might mention the chance to overwatch as well, but realistically, this is probably the last NPC that players will provoke overwatch from because it has high damage and only Threat 1). The volume of its attacks also gives it a decent chance to get a critical if it has any sources of Accuracy, so while it isn’t the most reliable source of inflicting Shredded (and that critical hit effect only lasts until the end of the target’s next turn), it does come up more often than might be expected from just the weapon’s stats. If the Berserker has only 1 Structure, that can be the end of the discussion, but if the Berserker has more from a template, it becomes very important to have another weapon (or at least to be an Ultra with the innate ability to restore a destroyed weapon), because there’s otherwise a 50% chance (assuming the Berserker has nothing with the System tag) that the Structure damage roll will destroy the Chain Axe, which is devastating because all of the Berserker’s other abilities to get more attacks specify that they must be used with this weapon. This is the most common way for a Commander, Elite, or Veteran Berserker to go from being a threatening foe to a complete joke.
Stampede Defense is what makes the Berserker much tougher than its HP would suggest by granting it universal Resistance (aside from damage that cannot be reduced, of course). It also has a whole host of effects that disable it, which include options available to all PCs via Grapple, Fragment Signal, or bringing a 1-Structure Berserker past its Heat Cap. Once the PCs understand how this works, the Berserker usually becomes a magnet for tech attacks, especially given that its E-Defense is low enough for even frames with -2 Tech Attack used by pilots with 0 Systems to still have a 65% chance to hit. Despite how bad this may seem, though, players seem to often not want to take advantage of it until the Berserker is on top of them, at which point its high damage output can make it difficult for them to find the time for a tech attack when they are being threatened with Structure damage and the fallout of that. It’s not something I’d count on, but that situation seems to happen more often than it should. Aside from that observation, the main ways to maintain Stampede Defense are making use of breaking line of sight and using Hide to avoid being targeted, having allies or template traits to cleanse or become immune to the effects that disable this, and just accepting that the Berserker is likely going to lose it at some point in a fight, after which it becomes the other NPCs’ responsibility to distract and occupy the PCs until the Berserker can recover (or die).
Aggression is a curious ability that ramps up the Berserker’s offensive potential. The keys to note about this are that it only requires taking damage (not being attacked, so persistent damage effects can trigger it), it is not a reaction (thus not triggering any special defenses against reactions, like Skirmisher 3, though sadly also thus not getting refreshed on each turn for an Ultra), it must use the Chain Axe (as mentioned before), and it is wasted for the round if the Berserker takes damage without anyone adjacent to swing on (further supporting trying to approach without being exposed before engaging). Aside from that, it’s pretty straightforward. Get the Berserker next to at least one PC, keep any NPCs at least one space away, and if the PCs refuse to trigger it, don’t be afraid to tap the Berserker with a little damage to set it off; the extra Chain Axe attack will be more damaging than most hits from another NPC as long as Stampede Defense is active, and it significantly increases the damage potential of AOE attacks like the Ace’s Missile Launcher or the Breacher’s Flechette Shot that typically have lower damage to make up for being able to hit multiple targets. Any round where the Berserker is in melee and Aggression isn’t triggered is a round where something went wrong for the Berserker (unless it’s a Grunt). Note that, because it is technically Structure damage that destroys a mech rather than HP damage, I interpret Aggression as still triggering if the incoming damage exceeds the Berserker’s remaining HP (order of operations being that the Berserker takes damage, triggers Aggression, and then loses its Structure, similar to the timing for Custom Paint Job); interpreting it such that damage that finishes off the Berserker does not trigger Aggression makes it weaker, although even in that case, it’s still a good ability that is important to maximizing what the Berserker can do.
Avalanche Charge is the Berserker’s gap-closer, effectively being a Boost (albeit only in a straight line) that ignores engagement/reactions and ends in a free Chain Axe attack. It can be used to triple the Berserker’s movement in a given turn (standard move > Boost > Avalanche Charge), but since it has a Recharge tag, that is typically best reserved for when the Berserker would end up next to a character it wants to hit (note that, as-written, neither this nor Aggression can be used to attack objects, only characters, so drones can be targeted but deployables typically cannot). Ideally, though, the Berserker wants to use this to attack twice on its turn, since Avalanche Charge and Skirmish are different actions and so avoid the restriction of not being able to use the same action multiple times on a turn. There can be an argument to be more selective about using this against PCs who use forced movement that doesn’t prompt saves (like Supermassive Mod from Caliban 1) for getting out of overwatch, but I find the Berserker is usually best off getting in as many attacks as it can while it can. As usual with the Berserker, Avalanche Charge does not care about friendly fire, so mind the positioning of any other NPCs before charging in too recklessly.
Optional Systems
Juggernaut is a nice upgrade to Avalanche Charge, adding an AOE Prone chance. Having it be a Hull save against the Berserker’s average Save Target makes it unreliable, but if two or three PCs were in the AOE (and hopefully no NPCs), there’s a decent chance at least one of them fails. While the Chain Axe hits hard, it has no special boosts to its hit chance, so getting Accuracy from a Prone target is very welcome for helping it connect. This is also the best ability that the Berserker gets to generally support its allies, and there can be circumstances where it’s worth forgoing following this with a Chain Axe Skirmish to instead Grapple a PC who failed to save against Prone for more long-term pain. That said, one of the Berserker’s main strengths as a unit is being able to pump out a lot of damage in a short window, so if someone else can take care of holding down the target for the Berserker to attack more, that’s usually a better action distribution. Generally, I’m not too fond of this because the Berserker can usually find a quick action to spare on the turn after engaging to Ram if it wants to inflict Prone (which will usually have better odds of working, unless the target has very high Evasion like a Mourning Cloak PC), but a chance to cause Prone in a combined Line/Burst AOE without any extra action cost as a passive bonus for an ability that I want to use frequently is admittedly very good; I just find the other optionals are better at patching up specific weaknesses of the Berserker, while this is improving an existing strong point, and the former approach is a better fit for my tastes.
Harpoon Cannon essentially gives the Berserker a better version of the Blackbeard frame’s Grapple Cable trait masquerading as a weapon, coming with improved accuracy, a little damage, and the ability to overwatch with Threat 3 in case a PC thinks they’re safe to move away just because the Berserker isn’t adjacent. It’s not very useful in melee because the Difficulty from being Engaged will usually give it a lower chance to hit than the generic Grapple action and the damage it inflicts is low enough that the Berserker is usually better off using either Ram or Lock On to grant more Accuracy to the Chain Axe instead, but the pull effect can give it some utility (such as dealing with a PC who thinks that Vanguard 3 and an empty space can protect them from Aggression). While it can be used to pull the Berserker around as well if the target is Size 2+, there are not many practical applications I’ve found for using it that way instead of just using Boost or Avalanche Charge aside from the aforementioned counterplay to Vanguard 3 due to being involuntary movement; there can be some hypothetical situation where the Berserker uses it to get pulled towards an ally that it can’t quite reach with just a move and Boost, but I don’t think I’ve ever had something like that come up in actual play (but in theory, this could be used to escape from a Spread Focus Tesseract zone from Iskander 3). Note that pulling the Berserker to a larger target does not initiate Grapple since the condition for that is the target ending their movement adjacent and there is no movement for the target if they were larger. Aside from the grapple and pull utility, the Harpoon Cannon also has an extra bonus if the Berserker has more than 1 Structure of giving another weapon to destroy instead of the Chain Axe in case of Structure damage. And, while it is pretty silly, there is at least one great use for being able to Barrage with this and the Chain Axe: if there happen to be two Berserkers with Harpoon Cannons on opposite sides of a target that both have Stampede Defense active, they can each Barrage to do a Chain Axe attack on the target and then shoot the Harpoon Cannon at the other Berserker to trigger Aggression, more or less making it a Barrage of two Chain Axe hits in return for a little friendly damage without changing their positions.
Nail Gun is an actual ranged weapon option for the Berserker, dealing decent damage with Threat 3 and a chance to inflict Immobilized on hit (though Agility is often a stat the frontline PCs will invest in). While it isn’t as much damage as the Chain Axe and will still suffer Difficulty from being Engaged, a Barrage with this and the Chain Axe will take some chunks out of anyone it hits, especially if the Berserker gets more Chain Axe attacks in from its other abilities, and Immobilized is a good effect for keeping a PC in melee range (even better if they’re also Prone). The choice between this and Harpoon Cannon is largely a matter of preferring damage or utility, and I favor using the Berserker to wreck faces, so I tend to go with the Nail Gun, though it is admittedly worse for friendly fire Aggression shenanigans because of the higher damage and the risk of disabling Stampede Defense.
Retribution is my favorite Berserker optional system. At its least effective, this grants about 25-30% extra damage to Aggression’s attack. At best, it can do than and then roughly double the damage from the next attack on the Berserker’s turn. Do note, though, that the bonus damage is spent on the next attack, hit or miss, and it doesn’t build up stacks from attacks that don’t inflict damage (and reminder that Heat is not damage, so Fragment Signal will not build Retribution stacks on its own). In actual play, this will rarely build up more than one stack, but more damage is almost always a good thing, especially since it’ll be applied on top of a good base number if the Berserker’s next attack uses the Chain Axe or Nail Gun, so any Armor should be overcome already. One tricky detail with this is that the bonus damage will apply to whatever the next attack is, which means that Grapple or Ram can consume it as well (tech attacks do not benefit from generic bonus damage, so even if you wanted to Invade with the Berserker for some reason, it would not consume Retribution stacks); be mindful not to waste it against high Armor with those. As an aside, I like using the bonus damage value as a guideline for how much friendly fire is acceptable; if the damage that the Berserker would take isn’t more than how much a Retribution stack will add to Aggression, it’s a tempting trade. This also discourages the PCs from using several small hits as a way of trying to get around Aggression, and while a single Barrage from a high-damage PC is often capable of destroying the Berserker in one turn if Stampede Defense is down, that’s more susceptible to being stymied by bad dice luck. Plus, if they decide to not attack the Berserker to avoid building up Retribution, that also works in its favor. This ability works best with templates that grant additional Structure (with the usual caveat that having a way to protect the Chain Axe from being destroyed is important), but even a basic Berserker should benefit from getting to hit harder than normal.
Superhot can feel somewhat redundant with Aggression, but it’s a worthwhile ability on its own. First, as an actual reaction, this can stack with Aggression to add even more off-turn damage, though it can’t be used on the same turn as overwatch or any template reactions. Second, this does not require adjacency, so if a PC is trying to get around Aggression by using a melee weapon with more than Threat 1, Superhot can punish that. Third, while the Berserker’s Save Target is average, prompting an Engineer save is usually good for Burn damage, since a PC likely to fail the save is generally likely to also fail the end-of-turn check against a Burn tick. Having access to Burn damage can open up some other NPC synergies, most notably with the Pyro (who is otherwise fairly unremarkable as an ally for the Berserker), but it can also go well with any that inflict Impaired regularly (such as the Archer or the Hornet, who are both already good Berserker allies). Lastly, since this actually has the System tag, in case of Structure damage, this will reduce the chances of a weapon being destroyed from 50% to 25%. On the down side, this does require taking damage from a melee attack to trigger, so melee attacks that have no damage (like Grapple or Ram) do not trigger it unless they are getting bonus damage. This is the most situational of the Berserker’s abilities, with the main situation it’s good for being countering a PC using the Blackbeard frame and more broadly for countering melee PCs in general. Admittedly, when it works, it can add more to the Berserker’s total damage output than Retribution or the optional weapons (especially in Tiers 2 and 3, since the innate AP and DOT effects on Burn damage help it scale better into higher levels), but I find it’s so common for PC mechs to have no melee damage capability outside of Improvised Attack (which is rarely used except by a Napoleon focused on its core power, and the Berserker’s potential to attack several times is a soft counter to Trueblack Aegis already) that I can’t really count on this to get triggered unless I’m picking it with a specific PC composition in mind.
Templates Overview
Despite being an NPC that lives fast and dies hard, the Berserker does not do well with the minion-type templates. Grunt’s lack of HP negates any benefit from Stampede Defense, and the Berserker being a magnet for tech attacks already will get it cooked for free to dodge Aggression. RPV also negates Stampede Defense because of the permanent Impaired, and Bonus HP does not make up for how much effective HP it loses in that trade (not to mention Vulnerable To Tech makes it even harder for the Berserker to get lucky against tech attacks). It’s honestly kind of impressive just how bad of a fit either of those is.
As a melee NPC with several of its abilities tied directly to its melee weapon, Ship and Vehicle are bad templates for the Berserker.
On the other hand, the Berserker is great with Exotic. Hardened Target helps to patch up the tech weakness a little, but more importantly, Living Chassis both makes the Berserker immune to tech attacks (cutting off the main ways of disabling Stampede Defense) and converts any Heat into Energy damage (meaning any non-damaging PC abilities that would inflict Heat normally will now trigger Aggression and Retribution as well as being reduced by the Resistance from Stampede Defense). Paracausal Weapon is always great on a high-damage NPC (and applying to only one weapon is no issue for the Berserker), Chronotorus is always good to have, and Regenerator can be a nightmare with Stampede Defense being active much more reliably, especially with Living Chassis. Mercenary is also a decent fit, since the Berserker lacks any Accuracy by default, and more critical hits with the Chain Axe means more Shredded, plus Last Word has some natural synergy with Aggression and Retribution (though not Superhot, due to the limit of one reaction per turn). Pirate doesn’t bring much, though; being able to Barrage with Boarding Leash and Chain Axe is good, but the lack of innate Accuracy with the Chain Axe means the Berserker is unlikely to trigger Deadly with Avalanche Charge or Aggression, and any time the Berserker is close enough to an enemy for one of the Pirate full action systems, it’d almost certainly want to use a quick action for Avalanche Charge or Skirmish. Spacer also doesn’t do anything special, though it is worth mentioning that allies using Concussion Gun or Gravity Rifle to move the Berserker won’t trigger Aggression or Retribution (unless they have bonus damage on the hits) because “no damage” is different from “0 damage”.
Bearing in mind the warnings about potentially losing the Chain Axe, Veteran is a strong fit; Veterancy can shore up either Systems or Engineering saves/checks, Hardened Target is an option for some protection from tech attacks, Lightning Reflexes and Feign Death work well with Aggression and Retribution, Insulated helps cover for having low Engineering, Shock Armor and Steel Jaw can be good back-ups for when Stampede Defense goes down (the latter also has fun synergy with allies who have AOE aux weapons, such as the Assault’s Underslung Grenade Launcher, the Breacher’s Flechette Shot, or the Operator’s Nova Missiles), Acrobat and Slippery can help with getting into good position for Aggression, Parting Gift plus a Harpoon Cannon Grapple is a memorable way to die, and the Berserker has good quick actions to use with Limitless, though its terrible Heat Cap can be an issue (possibly unless it’s also an Exotic with Living Chassis, which would make it trigger Aggression and Retribution on overcharging). I’d avoid Deadly and Headshot unless you’re getting Accuracy to attacks from elsewhere, though. Commander is more awkward; while Voice of Authority and Quick March are nice, Military Discipline is a liability with Aggression, Bolster Network is something the Berserker wants to receive rather than hand out, PCs are usually not going to ignore a Berserker in their face to trigger Press The Attack, and Press On costing a quick action makes it tricky to fit in on the Berserker’s turn.
NPCs that regularly have high-impact turns tend to do well with the Elite and Ultra templates, and the Berserker is no exception. Just getting more Chain Axe Skirmishes and chances to use/recharge Avalanche Charge gives good value to the extra turns, and having additional optional systems helps to protect the Chain Axe from being destroyed (plus Juggernaut can let an Ultra Berserker recover it if that does happen, though only after what’s likely to be a mostly-wasted turn). Among the Ultra optional systems, Fortress and Legion are obvious stand-outs to protect against tech attacks, or Silvershielding gives tech attacks with attack rolls a 50% chance to fail if you want to gamble, while Superior Frame can combine with Juggernaut to often either keep up Stampede Defense or restore it at the start of the Berserker’s turn. Supreme Melee is an obvious strong choice, Wolfhound Missile can give the PCs a distraction whenever the Berserker can spare a quick action to deploy it (and the infrequency of that makes it less painful when it refuses to recharge), and Devastator will go off regularly with how frequently the Berserker attacks. Either of the Ultra weapons can also be a nice alternative to the Berserker’s optional weapons; I tend to prefer Hellfire Projector between the two since I think more single-target damage compliments the Berserker better than more AOE, but both are decent, and the Ravager Turret’s Accuracy will make it more likely to trigger Deadly, which is something the Berserker is otherwise unlikely to do.
General Use
Overall, the Berserker is usually at its best when playing pretty much as its name implies, rushing up to its targets and not worrying too much about taking damage because it ain’t got time to bleed. The Chain Axe has among the highest damage per hit of any non-superheavy NPC weapon, and the raw number of attacks it can make in a round amplifies that further. This does commonly make it a high priority target, though, and once the players get the hang of disabling Stampede Defense, it will tend to die pretty quickly. Having some patience while approaching can help, as can allies that can help cover for its weaknesses, but ultimately, there’s only so much that can be done about being tied for the worst E-Defense of all NPCs. Blaze brightly while you can, and accept that all things must end.
There isn’t much I can think of saying about the Berserker’s general play which isn’t either pretty obvious or covered by what I’ve said already. While it doesn’t reach the heights of NPCs like the Ace, Cataphract, Hornet, or Operator, the Berserker is quite mobile, so it can benefit from flanking towards soft targets, but it also has the toughness and damage threat to hold the front as long as Stampede Defense is active. The main thing to be wary of is getting too far ahead of the other NPCs and essentially turning one big encounter into two smaller waves that are easier to handle. It’s naturally a fast-paced NPC that tends to deal with its own problems by making bigger problems for the PCs, but it can still work in more patient compositions/sitreps by hanging back to Hide and/or benefit from ally support abilities before finding an opportunity to crash into someone’s face; using it that way is more of a hit-and-stick style (rather than the hit-and-run of NPCs like the Operator or the Specter), since it lacks any special tools to disengage (unless you want to Harpoon Cannon at a Size 2+ target).
Pretty much, don’t be so amped up to bring the pain that the Berserker ends up isolating itself, and it should otherwise be fine.
The Berserker doesn’t change much of how it plays between different sitreps, since its foundation is pretty much always going to be about getting in and using the Chain Axe as much as it can. It’s slightly better in sitreps where the PCs have to keep moving (like Escort or Extraction), because it has the mobility to chase its target down and keep them stuck with the threat of overwatch. It’s slightly weaker in sitreps where only the final positioning matters (like Gauntlet or Holdout) because it’s very unlikely to still be around when the round timer finishes. If anything, though, I’d say the Berserker is an NPC that is stronger as a reinforcement rather than as part of the initial deployment. Bringing it in as a later complication can subtly give it some cover because players can be reluctant to turn their attention to a brand new unit before finishing off whatever they’re engaged with, and it can usually cover enough distance with its good Speed and Avalanche Charge to not waste much time just trying to reach someone to hit.
Compositions of Note
While the Berserker is fairly straightforward in a vacuum, having a design with very pronounced strengths and weaknesses and limited versatility in between can mean that it often either gets along very well with its allies or clashes terribly. Fortunately, being a magnet for tech attacks that can do a lot of damage if left unchecked is a performance profile that earns it more friends than not.
As a fellow mobile striker with a weakness to tech attacks who can easily avoid adjacency and also happens to have an AOE primary weapon for friendly fire fun, the Ace gets along quite well with the Berserker. Its Missile Launcher being Smart means the two combined can target either Evasion or E-Defense, and Barrel Roll gives it some protection if it somehow ends up targeted by Aggression or Avalanche Charge. The Assassin is also a fine striker ally, with its Threat 2 melee giving it some positioning flexibility to avoid Aggression, its abilities to inflict Prone (Leap or Spinning Kick) or Stunned (Sap) helping make the Chain Axe more likely to hit, and either of the Berserker’s optional weapons inflicting Immobilized or Juggernaut adding an AOE Prone chance to Avalanche Charge enabling Heated Blade. The Avenger can put the players in a tough spot strategically, where they either trigger Revenge by taking out the Berserker or focus on eliminating the Avenger while it’s weak in return for eating an unhealthy amount of Chain Axe attacks. Assault Armor even gives the Avenger some protection against friendly fire, though it’s still better to keep some separation between it and the Berserker when possible. The Ronin doesn’t have any special synergy with the Berserker in its base kit, but Extended Blade lets the pairing do some silly things, because upgrading its attack to Threat 3 means it can focus the same target as the Berserker while always keeping a safety gap (not accounting for map terrain), and the extra splash damage on critical hits from that damages all characters within Threat, meaning it can trigger Aggression and Retribution. Most other strikers are decent allies (with the Assault, Breacher, and Scourer getting better with their AOE optional weapons for friendly fire fun), except for the Specter; because the Berserker wants to stay adjacent to enemies for Aggression, the Specter will rarely benefit from Hunt if the two are working together.
Controllers tend to do well with the Berserker by interfering with how quickly the PCs can take it out. The Archer presents another typically-high-priority NPC to pressure PCs into splitting their attention, causing Impaired frequently means the Berserker may not need as much luck to avoid tech attacks, Blinding Shells can disable threats outside of the Berserker’s reach, and dropping Cover Fire over an engaged Berserker threatens multiple off-turn attacks between the two (note that the Berserker’s own attacks can also trigger Got Your Back, though the Light Machine Gun’s damage is high enough that that’s not something to always make use of). The Hornet is also great for handing out Impaired, and it can stop tech attacks by inflicting Jammed or interrupt them with Umbral Interdiction; less obviously, the Stinger Pistol can often be used to trigger Aggression safely because it does almost no damage and the downside will have no actual effect if the Berserker is Impaired already (which comes up a lot, given that Fragment Signal is the universal counter to Stampede Defense). Just don’t try to use HEX Missiles for friendly fire because Heat is not damage. In a similar vein, the Seeder’s Grav-Grenade Launcher is a usually-safe way to do friendly fire that can also help with positioning via Knockback, Shock Mine can stop/mitigate incoming tech attacks, Stun Mine sets up for big payoff, and Det Spike provides an alternative way to do friendly fire (and/or turn the Berserker into a not-quite-suicide bomber). On top of often being the top-priority NPC whenever it’s on the map, the Witch can shut down long-range hackers or damage-dealers with Blind (especially if it also has Spread Suffering), Predatory Logic can protect the Berserker from dangerous Loading weapons, and Chain provides a way to inflict Jammed (possibly combining nicely with Harpoon Cannon to pull the target and trigger that). The Barricade is the only controller I don’t much like as a partner for the Berserker, because constricting terrain can make it harder to use the Berserker without risking friendly Aggression, but at least its Graviton Lance has a similar trick to the Hornet’s Stinger Pistol where it can hit the Berserker pretty safely if the Berserker is already Slowed for other reasons.
Despite generally working best near their allies and thus risking getting smacked by Aggression, defender NPCs actually have a couple of good fits with the Berserker. The Goliath’s Crush Targeting can divert attention, Drum Shotgun is a fairly safe source of friendly fire (especially as it starts getting more attacks), Crushing Embrace has all of the usual benefits of inflicting Jammed, and Watchful Guardian can give the Berserker some protection while Stampede Defense is down (at the obvious risk of being exposed to Aggression attacks). Similar to the Archer’s Covering Fire, the Sentinel can set up Bodyguard on the Berserker to become a problem with off-turn attacks, which can be triggered by any attack (including tech attacks). This works even better with Eye of Midnight to be able to overwatch every turn and/or Impaler to have a chance to inflict an interrupting Jammed with its overwatch. Beyond that, though, the pairings get spottier. The Pyro’s Flamethrower and Napalm Bomb are dangerous options for friendly fire because the Berserker is not good at handling Burn, plus its various ways of causing Heat and/or Prone to characters around it aren’t safe for allies, and being terribly slow can make it hard for the two to actually move together. The Demolisher has the same issues of low Speed and unfriendly AOE with Seismic Destroyer, though if it can keep up (likely with a Mirage’s help), the two can be a dangerous melee sandwich. The Spite offers little direct protection aside from Crush Targeting; the Berserker is bad at building Heat to take advantage of Imprison, and Feedback Shield is counterproductive, if anything, since it interferes with intentional friendly fire. The Bastion wants adjacency too often to be safe from Aggression, and as powerful as Pause Engine is defensively, becoming immune to damage means the Berserker loses access to Aggression and Retribution, which is usually a bad trade unless you’re trying to stall out the round timer.
Supports are a mixed bag in terms of how much they can help the Berserker, though if nothing else, they do tend to appreciate its high damage output covering for their own lack. On the strong side, the Mirage’s ways to apply Invisible adds a fantastic (if unreliable) layer of defense, and while Warp Sensors/Warp Targeting has no effect on melee or tech attacks, they can at least reduce the Berserker’s exposure to non-Seeking ranged attacks. Multiplicity can also grant protection from any one attack per round, as a backup for when Stampede Defense is down. The Scout provides plenty of Lock On to help with the Berserker’s lack of innate Accuracy, Expose Weakness is even more bonus damage for free, Dataveil is as good as it is with the Mirage, and needing to be close to the PCs to help the Berserker with Cloaking Field can also let the Scout make more use of Rebound Scan and System Flayer than it usually does; Spotter is a bad choice for exposing the Scout to Aggression, though, Marker Rifle disables Stampede Defense, and between the activation delay and dealing high damage, Orbital Strike is usually not a good option for friendly fire. The Support’s base kit doesn’t work well with the Berserker (Sealant Gun disables Stampede Defense in return for clearing Burn, the Berserker doesn’t tend to move enough while fighting to take good advantage of Restock Drone, and Nano-Repair Cloud and Empowered Cloud require adjacency), but Remote Reboot is a good cleanse to restore Stampede Defense, Remote Cloud is more effective healing than usual for an ally with all-damage Resistance, and Latch Drone can benefit the Berserker greatly while freeing up the Support to focus on other allies. In theory, the Priest could be a good ally with Investiture to grant Accuracy on attacks and Dispersal Shield and/or Sanctuary to provide Resistance while Stampede Defense is down, but I find the pairing is usually less than the sum of its parts in practice. Investiture means the Priest is likely to also eat a debuff when the PCs deactivate Stampede Defense, Sanctuary is usually easy to play around because Fragment Signal is a universal tech attack, and Dispersal Shield provides Resistance only to Heat if Stampede Defense is active, making it much less useful. The Aegis can be nice with Defense Net blocking/cleansing Impaired and Slowed while the Berserker acts as an aggressive bodyguard inside the bubble, but clustering NPCs inside of the bubble can make Aggression a big liability, and the Berserker usually doesn’t want to spare quick actions for dragging the Aegis around on sitreps that demand mobility. It’s not the worst partnership, but it’s one that always feels at least a little awkward for me.
Artillery NPCs have a surprisingly good fit with the Berserker. While their typically-good Sensors can be wasted due to often lacking a spare quick action to debuff PCs with Lock On or Impaired, just being able to do good damage while being nowhere near adjacent to the Berserker is a strong base. Aside from that, there are three stand-outs for me. The Operator’s Nova Missiles are arguably a better version of the Ace’s Missile Launcher for triggering Aggression and Retribution; not being Smart makes them a little more likely to get an unlucky miss, but the extra 5 Range adds more targeting flexibility and being an aux weapon means a Veteran Berserker with Steel Jaw only ever takes 1 damage from them. The Rainmaker has a slightly-gentler weapon with Missile Pods that will always deal damage thanks to the Reliable tag (though being a main weapon means no fancy trickery with Steel Jaw); just don’t use it while the Berserker has Lock On; and the Berserker is usually safe to include in Hades Missiles’ or Volley’s targets with its good Agility save. Finally, the Bombard is the ultimate high-risk/high-reward friendly fire partner because of Cluster Munitions. It will hurt more than many of the other options I’ve been pointing out as good choices for friendly fire, but a PC eating a Bombard Cannon hit with extra damage from Cluster Munitions (and potentially Cluster-Seeker Bombs, which can also be a nice way of guaranteeing friendly fire in case the main attack misses the Berserker) and then also being hit by Aggression (possibly with a Retribution stack on top) is a huge pile of single-target damage to take from a single action. Depending on Tier, that’s potentially 18 to 31 total damage (less three instances of Armor), assuming both Cluster-Seeker Bombs and Retribution, going up even more if there are more targets for Cluster Munitions, while the Berserker would take only 3 to 6 damage in return on a Bombard Cannon hit (plus 1-2 more for each extra target) if Stampede Defense is active. Again, it is relatively risky because the Berserker is potentially losing about 25-30% of its HP at minimum, but the damage potential is very spicy.
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