Berserk



The berserk pack is a powerup that looks like a black medikit. Picking one up boosts the player's health to 100% (unless it was already 100% or more) and temporarily fills his vision with a red haze.

The berserk pack increases the strength of the player's punch attack tenfold until the level ends (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 effective 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 more careful aim than the chainsaw. Indeed, the berserk fist is effective against less types of monsters than the chainsaw; for instance it is not that good to use against Cacodemons.

Due to its power, the berserk punch is best used in open areas for hit-and-run situations, running up to the foe to throw a punch and then quickly retreating, essentially similar tactics to the shotgun such as circle-strafing.

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

Most levels of Doom/Ultimate Doom and Doom II include a berserk pack (excepting Knee-Deep in the Dead). It can also be obtained with the cheat code idbeholds.

Berserk packs are included in the items percentage displayed at the end of each level.

Appearance statistics
The IWADs contain the following numbers of berserk packs:

Doom RPG
In Doom RPG, the berserk powerup is called a berserker and looks like a red soul sphere. 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.