The best Berserk in Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 lets you Hulk out

V's Cyberware choices lie at the core of Cyberpunk 2077's gameplay, and no single Cyberware choice is more foundational than the Operating System. Picking an Operating System from one of the four available essentially determines V's "core" power. The Berserk is one of those core powers, and in many ways is the simplest to work with, a fitting tribute to its namesake. In pursuit of finding the best Berserk in Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 (and beyond), here's a quick guide to picking the one for you.

What's a Berserk and how does it work in Cyberpunk 2077 2.0?

Prior CD Projekt Red's game-changing 2.0 update, the Berserk was a Cyberware module that temporarily activates a large suite of temporary buffs for V, improving damage output, ranged weapon performance, a form health restoration based on kills, and a stamina bonus. However, the update has completely revamped the Berserk's gameplay mechanics, heavily specializing it towards a specific set of builds and making its effects extremely noticeable, solidifying it as a third pillar in the lineup of Operating System abilities to center a build around.

Where a Cyberdeck enables the use of Quickhacks and related abilities and the Sandevistan slows down time, the Berserk activates nothing less than a mode of play that turns V into someone akin to The Incredible Hulk: An unstoppable, invincible rage-fueled melee powerhouse.

All Berserk models in Cyberpunk 2077 activate a form of temporary invincibility, preventing V's health from dropping below a certain threshold. They also immediately lock out the use of ranged weapons, grenades, and items for the duration of the Berserk effect, leaving V with no recourse but to use melee weapons and any melee-based Cyberware they have equipped (such as Mantis Blades, Monowire, or Gorilla Arms).

This is a far cry from the original version of Berserk, which did not lock out the use of any weapons.

As such, the new, Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 Berserk is for pure, tanky melee builds that spend their time in the thick of a fight, utterly invincible and unkillable for brief periods. No other combat styles need apply.

Which Cyberpunk 2077 Berserk Builds Work Best?

The short answer is melee, and all melee. Unllike the earlier versions, Berserk effects are now exclusive to melee attacks. For a character using Berserk, ranged weapons and grenades are tools of last resort, used mainly to tackle pesky threats like faraway snipers and netrunners, or to plink at enemies while Berserk recharges.

Berserk builds should heavily favor Attribute scores and Perks that favor mobility, melee damage, and close-range survivability. Maxing out Reflexes, Body, and Technical Ability will get you the best results from a Berserk build, with the remaining points fed into Cool to boost the occasional use of longer-range weapons or stealth movement. Cyberware to reduce ability cooldowns, Integumentary system upgrades to improve your survivability, and automated healing cyberware will keep you sturdy whenever Berserk is recharging. Other cyberware that improves melee attacks are also welcome.

Here's a sample Attribute and Perk arrangement at the maximum level (including Perks from Phantom Liberty) to give you an idea of what you can go for, with some quick recommendations listed below. Check out our full build guide for more tips, and our master Cyberware list for more info about other Cyberware options.

• Preferred Perks:
  • Reflexes: Dash, Air Dash, Stuntjock (for opening fights by jumping out of a car), Flash and Thunderclap, Mad Dash, Mean Streak, Tailwind, Aerodynamic
  • Body: Savage Sling, Quake, Adrenaline Rush, Pain to Gain, Ripple Effect, Juggernaut, Bloodlust, Epicenter, Dorph-head
  • Technical Ability: Edgerunner, License to Chrome, Cyborg, Ambidextrous, Extended Warranty, Built Different, Renaissance Punk, Chrome Constitution, Driver Update, Ticking Time Bomb, Health Freak
• Preferred Cyberwear:
  • Chitin, Newton Module (or Axolotl), Proxishield, Heal-on-Kill, Microrotors, Dense Marrow, Optical Camo, Cellular Adapter, Carapace, Blood Pump, Biomonitor, Kiroshi "Cockatrice" Optics, Mechatronic Core, Quantum Tuner, Reinforced Tendons, Fortified Ankles, Stabber (for blade-based builds), Adrenaline Converter, Adreno-trigger, NeoFiber, Para Bellum, Epimorphic Skeleton, Bionic joints, Spring Joints, Scar Coalescer (if you don't use the Militech Berserk)
• Preferred weapons:
  • Heavy blunt weapons like hammers, Gorilla Arms, Projectile Launch System (if you don't want to use Gorilla Arms), Mantis Blades (for blades-based builds), shotguns. You can also adjust your perk selection to favor SMGs and Assault Rifles for better performance at range.

Playstyle tips for using a Berserk

An optimized Berserk build will rarely need to use a ranged weapon, since closing the distance to any sniper in range to engage is trivial, thanks to moves like Air Dash. However, sometimes stealth is called for in some gigs, so you may wish to reallocate points occasionally into Cool to help V sneak around, using takedowns, thrown knives, and silenced weapons to eliminate the opposition.

With Phantom Liberty and the Relic perks, Optical Camo is a surprisingly effective Cyberware choice, allowing you to disengage from combat and find a place to wait out a Berserk cooldown during longer battles. Players that favor high attack speed and hit-and-run play may wish to spec away from blunt weapons and stand-up melee and go for blades, and even submachine guns and assault rifles. The Berserk is a fairly flexible bit of Cyberware so long as you favor melee attacks, so even a ninja-like blade-and-SMG acrobatic build can benefit from the occasional bout of Berserker fury.

What's the Best Berserk in Cyberpunk 2077?

Unlike the Cyberdeck Operating Systems, the selection of Berserk Cyberware in Cyberpunk 2077 as of the 2.0 update is arranged in a fairly linear fashion. While Cyberware upgrades can improve their capabilities, the earliest available Berserks are mostly inferior to the ones that show up as players rise through the ranks.

As such, the best Berserk in Cyberpunk 2077 for most purposes is the Militech Berserk model. Some more specialized builds may prefer the Zetatech or Biodyne Berserk models, but the Iconic Militech Berserk outclasses all the others in some fairly clear ways.

In the next section, we'll go over each model and describe what they're best at. The Tier 5 stats of each model will be listed in the guide.

Moore Tech Berserk

• Starting Tier: Tier 2 (Level 10)
• Tier 5 Stats
  • Cyberware Capacity Cost: 12
  • Effect: When active, health cannot drop below 25%
  • Cannot use items
  • Melee weapons (and melee arm cyberware) only
  • -100% Stamina cost
  • When Berserk ends: +25% Health for each enemy neutralized
  • Duration: 11 seconds
  • Cooldown: 45 seconds

The Moore Tech Berserk is the most afforable and capacity-light of the Berserk models, but it's also fairly barebones in its functionality, doing the absolute minimum of what Berserks can do, which is make V functionally immortal and melee-exclusive for a few seconds. However, without a boost to damage output or resistance, the Moore Tech Berserk is pretty much just a "don't die" button useful for players that are otherwise heavily loaded on Cyberware in other categories.

Biodyne Berserk

• Starting Tier: Tier 2 (Level 10)
• Tier 5 Stats
  • Cyberware Capacity Cost: 20
  • Effect: When active, health cannot drop below 25%
  • Cannot use items
  • Melee weapons (and melee arm cyberware) only
  • +30% attack speed
  • -100% Stamina cost
  • +20% Crit Chance
  • +100% Crit Damage
  • When Berserk ends: +25% Health for each enemy neutralized
  • Duration: 11 seconds
  • Cooldown: 45 seconds

The Biodyne Berserk appears concurrently with the Moore Tech model, and for a small increase in Cyberware capacity, players can net a major increase in attack speed and critical chance and damage. It's a perfect Berserk for melee builds based on using Arm cyberware or fast-attacking weapons like the katana or machete. 

Zetatech Berserk

• Starting Tier: Tier 3 (Level 20)
• Tier 5 Stats
  • Cyberware Capacity Cost: 16
  • Effect: When active, health cannot drop below 25%
  • Cannot use items
  • Melee weapons (and melee arm cyberware) only
  • +20% attack speed
  • -100% Stamina cost
  • While in midair with a Blunt weapon, can use Superhero Landing move.
  • When Berserk ends: +25% Health for each enemy neutralized
  • Duration: 11 seconds
  • Cooldown: 35 seconds

The Zetatech Berserk has a shorter cooldown shorter cooldown and unlocks the Superhero Landing move. However, this move can simply be unlocked by a Perk choice that you may already have with enough Body Attribute investment and Blunt weapon Perks. It's a bit situational compared to the Biodyne, and inferior compared to the Militech.

Militech Berserk

• Starting Tier: Tier 4 (Level 30)
• Tier 5 Stats
  • Cyberware Capacity Cost: 35
  • Effect: Invulnerable to damage (health cannot drop at all)
  • Cannot use items
  • Melee weapons (and melee arm cyberware) only
  • +30% attack speed
  • -100% Stamina cost
  • +20% movement speed
  • Increased damage at low health (up to +50% at less than 20% health)
  • When Berserk ends: +25% Health for each enemy neutralized
  • Duration: 12 seconds
  • Cooldown: 35 seconds

This is the king of Berserk hardware in Cyberpunk 2077. It costs almost twice as much Cyberware capacity as the next best Berserk, but has the great benefit of total invulnerability and a longer duration than any other Berserk OS. It also greatly increases your attack speed, movement speed, and damage output at low health, meaning that activating it when you're in a pinch will make you even deadlier. Unless you're sorely lacking for available capacity and can't afford to give any other Cyberware up, any Berserk users should aim to get the Militech Berserk in their OS slot as soon as they can find or afford to.

Cyberpunk 2077 is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Check out more of RPG Site's guides to the game, and our official review of Phantom Liberty.