Berserk is a manga series written and illustrated by Kentaro Miura. The story sets in a medieval Europe-inspired dark fantasy world. The story centers on the characters of Guts, a lone mercenary, and Griffith, the leader of a mercenary band called the "Band of the Hawk". Themes of isolation, camaraderie, and the question of whether humanity is fundamentally good or evil pervade the story, as it explores both the best and worst of human nature. Both the manga and anime are noted for their use of graphic violence and sexual content.

The main character (Guts) is a very badass swordsman, even among other badass swordmen characters from other medieval-based or fantasy stories. He is a battle-hardened tall, muscular, tough guy. He mostly wields big swords, especially his main weapon "Dragon Slayer" which weighs approximately about 400 pounds. It's a bit difficult to completely describe his badass-ness (you have to read the story by yourself to be able to completely grasp it). To put it short, he did a lot of amazing feats in combat by relying only on his brute strength, fast instinct, and excellent combat skills, without any magic or supernatural powers at all. He was once offered a magically enchanted weapon by a magician as preparation to face a massive demon raid, but he refused and instead decided to stick with his trusted Dragon Slayer. He is ruthless to his enemies, and seemingly very cold to people (although it does make sense why he acted like that; the story explains it). He doesn't rely on "plot armor" (like many other MCs from other stories) to keep his life from being taken. He's simply a normal human (not a supernaturally or divinely gifted) with an above-average physical feat and an excellent expertise in combat.

The main enemies in Berserk are the so-called God Hands (the most powerful of demonkind with godly powers) and their underlings called the 'Apostles' whom were hunted by Guts.

Apostles themselves are very powerful and overwhelming already (let alone the God Hands), and Guts was often overwhelmed by their strengths and powers in fights. At some point in the story, Guts was beaten up so badly by a powerful Apostle, almost dying without being able to retaliate at all. He was then introduced to Berserker Armor which he quickly decided to wear in the fight. He was then instantly able to retaliate and even overwhelmed the Apostle, which was the exact contrast with his condition before using the armor. But it turns out that there is a cost he had to pay in order to utilize the power of the armor. He almost lost his sanity and lost some parts of his senses. It was indeed the nature of the armor. But he decided to keep using it, because it gave him hope to continue his revenge and bring his own justice to his enemies.

This manga/series is not afraid of showing a lot of explicit adult/mature contents (especially gores and some sexual contents), almost like Goblin Slayer (if you know about it, you should know about its "controversial" sexual content). So of course, it's not for everyone, especially not for those who have a faint heart. But let me tell you a brief of my experience with it (Warning: contains spoiler of the story).


If you want to learn more about Berserk, you can read its Wikipedia and its Fandom Wiki. You can also read the manga directly or watch the anime. There are at least 2 versions of the anime. One was made in 1997 and another was made in 2016. If you ask me, I prefer to watch the 1997 one because it feels more natural, while the 2016 series used CGI and cut several scenes from the original story so it's a bit unnatural for me. But you should be able to enjoy the story from both of them, though I'll always recommend you to read the manga first because it's the "full version" of the story and you won't miss anything by reading the manga.

Videos:

Berserker Armor is a suit of highly durable body armor forged by dwarves (in Berserk). Wearers of the armor are aptly named Berserkers, due to the superhuman strength and inhuman ferocity they are bestowed. At an unknown point in time, the armor was forged by a dwarf blacksmith who imbued it with an ominous od that aligns with its wearer, who is driven by violent emotions and forgets about pain and fear.

The primary function of the armor, by way of its od, is to suppress the physiological and subconscious systems of the human body which would normally prevent a person from exerting enough force to injure themselves. The result is a significant augmentation of the wearer's physicality, increasing strength and speed to previously unimaginable levels. The armor does this by eliminating the distress caused by pain; the wearer can still feel pain as a sensation, but the mind does not interpret the pain as being a problem, allowing for it to simply be ignored. It also invokes a tremendous bloodlust in the wearer, amplifying negative emotions like hate, fear, and anger that enable the wearer to fight harder. The armor also temporarily repairs debilitating injuries in the heat of battle. For instance, a broken arm will be pieced together by the armor injecting thin spines from itself into the broken bones, returning them to their proper places and restoring the limb's functionality. In addition, the activated armor can enhance the wearer's night vision. It can also repair itself if damaged.

The armor's power comes with significant drawbacks, the most important of which is associated with the od that gives the armor its power. If the wearer does not actively check their negative emotions, the od can consume the wearer's psyche, turning them into a feral, bloodthirsty monster that can no longer differentiate between friend and foe. If this state is entered repeatedly, the wearer's senses will begin to deteriorate until they are lost completely. It can also cause chronic mental deterioration, providing a hotbed for its wearer's inner darkness to fester. In Guts' case, the only currently reliable way to keep him stable while using the armor to its full effect is to reinforce his mind and spirit with a powerful magical presence.

The armor's ability to suppress pain allows the wearer to harm themselves through overexertion. In the same vein, the armor's reinforcement of broken bones or other debilitating injuries can lead to death through blood loss.

Upon inducing a berserker rage, the armor's helm takes on a distinct appearance. In Guts' case, the helmet and bevor are shaped like the Beast of Darkness; able to function as a mouth capable of biting enemies. When the armor is active, the helm's eye sockets glow red and Guts' face is completely obstructed; if in control of himself, however, the swordsman's face is partially visible and the helm's eye sockets stop emitting their red glow, instead showing his real eye.

Reference: Berserker Armor Wiki

Video explanation:

Enhance Endurance
It consists of several attributes:

Armor Rating
Your Armor Rating will be increased based on the relevant skill of the armor. It means that if you are using the Heavy Armor version, your Armor Rating will be increased based on your Heavy Armor skill. The same with the Light Armor version of the armor. Details on how to switch between the Heavy Armor version and the Light Armor version are explained further down below under Obtaining the Armor section.

The exact increase of your Armor Rating is 0.5% per level of Heavy Armor or Light Armor respectively, up to 50% increase at 100 skill level or higher.

Basic Resistances (Magic, Poison, Disease)
The armor provides basic resistance against magic, poisons, and diseases by 20% each. The amount is not too much because it's supposed to simulate the enhancements of your basic resistance of your body against hostile effects.

You can combine it with your inherent racial resistances (if any) or additional resistances from perks and enchantments (as long as you put the enchantments in any armor slots other than Head, Chest, Gloves, and Boots, because they are already occupied by the complete set of the armor).

Health, Magicka, and Stamina Regeneration
Your Health, Magicka, and Stamina will regenerate 100% faster. There is also a hidden additional regeneration for your Magicka and Stamina by 5% of your total Magicka and Stamina per second (which isn't being shown in your Active Effects panel to reduce cluttering).

Self-Repair
The armor temporarily repairs your body from injuries. This particular effect will only be useful when you are using Wounds or Wildcat mod which introduces injuries to the game.*

There is also a hidden additional regeneration for your Health by 15% of your total Health per second (which isn't being shown in your Active Effects panel to reduce cluttering). So, unless you get hit with a killing blow, you will still be able to survive any grave injuries even without using potions.

* These two are the currently supported injury mods. I can consider to support any other injury mods if there is enough demand for it.


Enhance Speed
It consists of several attributes:

Attack Speed
Your attack speed will be increased based on the relevant skill of the weapon. It means that if you are using a One-Handed weapon, your attack speed will be increased based on your One-Handed skill. The same goes to Two-Handed weapons with Two-Handed skill, ranged weapons with Archery skill, and unarmed weapon with Heavy Armor*/Light Armor**/Hand to Hand*** skill.

The exact increase of your attack speed is 10% per 10 level of each respective skill of the weapon, up to 100% increase at 100 skill level or higher. In case if you think the attack speed boost is too OP, you can disable it in the MCM menu (Attack Speed Boost option, under Others tab).

* If you are using vanilla perks or perk overhaul mods which don't separate unarmed perks from Heavy Armor perk tree, your unarmed attack speed will scale with Heavy Armor skill.
** If you are using Vokrii, Ordinator, or Vokriinator which moves unarmed perks to Light Armor perk tree, your unarmed attack speed will scale with Light Armor skill.
*** If you are using Hand to Hand - An Adamant Addon which moves unarmed perks to Lockpicking (which is renamed to Hand to Hand) perk tree, your unarmed attack speed will scale with Hand to Hand skill.

Movement Speed
Your movement speed will be increased based on your race and your Light Armor skill. Each race provides a specific amount of boost to movement speed, so they will be unique from each other in terms of movement speed. The amount of boost for each race are largely based on the Speed attribute for each race from the previous Elder Scrolls games. The details are as follows:

• 5% movement speed boost: Orc race
• 10% movement speed boost: Altmer (High Elf) race, Breton race, Imperial race, Custom race (if you use any)
• 15% movement speed boost: Nord race, Redguard race
• 20% movement speed boost: Argonian race
• 25% movement speed boost: Bosmer (Wood Elf) race, Dunmer (Dark Elf) race, Khajiit race
  

If you are a vampire or a werewolf, you will get additional increase in movement speed by 10% which is added on top of the existing race-based movement speed boosts mentioned above.

As for your Light Armor skill, the exact increase of your movement speed is 5% per 10 level of Light Armor skill, up to 50% increase at 100 skill level or higher.

The race-based movement speed boost and the skill-based movement speed boost stack to each other, providing a further increase in movement speed which is unique to your race and Light Armor skill. In case if you think the total movement speed boost is too OP, you can disable the skill-based movement speed boost in the MCM menu (Movement Speed Boost option, under Others tab), allowing you to only gain the race-based movement speed boost.

Jump Height
The increase of your jump height follows the same rules with the movement speed boost above, just with different values. The details are as follows:

• 12.5% jump height boost: Breton race, Imperial race, Orc race
• 25% jump height boost: Altmer (High Elf) race, Dunmer (Dark Elf) race, Nord race, Redguard race, Custom race (if you use any)
• 37.5% jump height boost: Argonian race
• 50% jump height boost: Bosmer (Wood Elf) race, Khajiit race
  

As for your Light Armor skill, the exact increase of your jump height is 10% per 10 level of Light Armor skill, up to 100% increase at 100 skill level or higher.

The race-based jump height boost and the skill-based jump height boost stack to each other, providing a further increase in jumping height which is unique to your race and Light Armor skill.

Water-Sprinting
You can sprint on the surface of water. You cannot sprint on the water if you're already in the water (eg. if you are swimming or drowning). If you sprint on the water then stop in the middle or switch to running or walking, you will fall into the water and swim like usual.


Enhance Strength
It consists of several attributes:

Weapon and Unarmed Damage
Your weapon and unarmed damage will be increased based on your race and the relevant skill of the weapon. Each race provides a specific amount of increase to weapon and unarmed damage, so they will be unique from each other in terms of the damage. The amount of increase for each race are largely based on the Strength attribute for each race from the previous Elder Scrolls games. The details are as follows:

• 10% weapon and unarmed damage boost: Altmer (High Elf) race, Bosmer (Wood Elf) race
• 15% weapon and unarmed damage boost: Breton race, Khajiit race
• 20% weapon and unarmed damage boost: Argonian race, Dunmer (Dark Elf) race, Imperial race, Custom race (if you use any)
• 25% weapon and unarmed damage boost: Orc race, Redguard race
• 30% weapon and unarmed damage boost: Nord race
  

If you are a Bosmer and you are using a bow, you will get 30% increase in weapon and unarmed damage instead of 10% increase for Bosmer race mentioned above. In addition, if you are a vampire or a werewolf, you will get additional increase in weapon and unarmed damage by 20% which is added on top of the existing race-based weapon and unarmed damage boosts mentioned above.

As for the relevant skill of the weapon, it means that if you are using a One-Handed weapon, your weapon damage will be increased based on your One-Handed skill. The same goes to Two-Handed weapons with Two-Handed skill, ranged weapons with Archery skill, and unarmed weapon with Heavy Armor*/Light Armor**/Hand to Hand*** skill.

The exact increase of your weapon and unarmed damage is 0.5% per level of One-Handed, Two-Handed, Archery, or Heavy Armor*/Light Armor**/Hand to Hand*** respectively, up to 50% increase at 100 skill level or higher.

The race-based weapon and unarmed damage boost and the skill-based weapon and unarmed damage boost stack to each other, providing a further increase in physical damage which is unique to your race and the respective skill of the weapon.

* If you are using vanilla perks or perk overhaul mods which don't separate unarmed perks from Heavy Armor perk tree, your unarmed damage will scale with Heavy Armor skill.
** If you are using Vokrii, Ordinator, or Vokriinator which moves unarmed perks to Light Armor perk tree, your unarmed damage will scale with Light Armor skill.
*** If you are using Hand to Hand - An Adamant Addon which moves unarmed perks to Lockpicking (which is renamed to Hand to Hand) perk tree, your unarmed damage will scale with Hand to Hand skill.

Stagger Resistance
Your Stagger Resistance will be increased based on your race and and your Heavy Armor skill. Each race provides a specific amount of increase to Stagger Resistance, so they will be unique from each other in terms of Stagger Resistance. The amount of increase for each race are largely based on the Strength attribute for each race from the previous Elder Scrolls games. The details are as follows:

• 5% Stagger Resistance boost: Altmer (High Elf) race, Bosmer (Wood Elf) race
• 10% Stagger Resistance boost: Breton race, Khajiit race
• 15% Stagger Resistance boost: Argonian race, Dunmer (Dark Elf) race, Imperial race, Custom race (if you use any)
• 20% Stagger Resistance boost: Orc race, Redguard race
• 25% Stagger Resistance boost: Nord race
  

As for your Heavy Armor skill, the exact increase of your Stagger Resistance is 5% per 10 level of Heavy Armor skill, up to 50% increase at 100 skill level or higher.

The race-based Stagger Resistance boost and the skill-based Stagger Resistance boost stack to each other, providing a further increase in Stagger Resistance which is unique to your race and Heavy Armor skill.

Knockdown Resistance
The increase of your Knockdown Resistance follows the same rules with the Stagger Resistance boost above, with the exact same values. The way the Knockdown Resistance work is by reducing the chance for your character to be knocked down from any knockdown attacks (both from vanilla game or mods which introduces new knockdown attacks, providing you have the relevant patch for them) by blocking the attacks.

For example, some of Werewolf's power attacks cause knockdown to its target. When you are transformed, if you block during the attacks, you will have a chance to resist it. The chance is calculated from the sum of the race-based Knockdown Resistance and the skill-based Knockdown Resistance for your character.

Similar scenario also work for knockdown attacks from mods, such as SkyTEST's Mammoth's attacks. If you have the relevant patch, when you are transformed, if you block the Mammoth's attacks you will have a chance to not be knocked down by it.

Carry Weight
Your carry weight will be increased by 25%. So, for example, if your carry weight is 100, then it will be increased to 125 after transforming.

The percentage multiplier is customizable in Berserk_CWScaleMult global variable (FormID: XX00FC74, with XX as your load order number for this mod). By default, it is set to 0.25 (which is 25%). You can change the number to any percentage you desire by editing it using TES5Edit, or using console command in the game by typing: set Berserk_CWScaleMult x.xx  (with x.xx represents your desired percentage; for example, set to 0.5 for 50%, or 1.0 for 100%).

Disarm Immunity
You cannot be disarmed while in transformation. This covers all vanilla game's disarm effects and any disarm effects from mods which have been patched (providing you have installed the relevant patch for them).


Enhance Abilities
It consists of several attributes:

Spell and Shout Effectiveness
Your spells and shouts will be more effective based on your race. By "more effective", it means that both the magnitude and the duration of the spell/shout will be increased. Each race provides a specific amount of increase to spell and shout effectiveness, so they will be unique from each other in terms of the effectiveness. The amount of increase for each race are largely based on the Intelligence and Willpower attributes for each race from the previous Elder Scrolls games, with my personal tweaks based on the Lore for each race. The details are as follows:

• 5% spell and shout effectiveness boost: Nord race, Redguard race
• 10% spell and shout effectiveness boost: Orc race
• 15% spell and shout effectiveness boost: Argonian race, Bosmer (Wood Elf) race, Imperial race, Khajiit race, Custom race (if you use any)
• 20% spell and shout effectiveness boost: Dunmer (Dark Elf) race
• 25% spell and shout effectiveness boost: Breton race
• 30% spell and shout effectiveness boost: Altmer (High Elf) race
  

Defense Technique
You will obtain a defense technique based on the relevant skill of the armor when you have reached 75 or more in the skill. It means that if you are using the Heavy Armor version, you will obtain Reflect Blows when you have 75 or more Heavy Armor skill. The same with the Light Armor version of the armor, in which you will obtain Avoid Damage instead. Details on how to switch between the Heavy Armor version and the Light Armor version are explained further down below under Obtaining the Armor section.

The Reflect Blows (in this mod) isn't the same with vanilla game's Reflect Blows. This mod's Reflect Blows works by reflecting incoming melee damage back to the attacker, with 10% chance to deal additional damage equal to between 1% and 5% of your Armor Rating (chosen at random). There is also an additional 50% chance to double the damage, or cause damage equal to 10% of the attacker's maximum Health if their maximum Health is greater than your Armor Rating. This allows the damage caused by the Reflect Blows to scale with your Armor Rating, effectively keeping it relevant in the higher levels (as your Armor Rating increases).

As for the Avoid Damage, it works similar with vanilla game's Deft Movement perk, with addition that it also works against incoming spell damage. It is simply a better and more effective alternative than vanilla game's Deft Movement perk.

Both of them have 10% chance to be triggered.

Explosive Jump
You will obtain Explosive Jump which can be performed by pressing and holding Sneak button, or alternatively Sprint button if enabled in the MCM menu (Sprinter option, under Explosive Jump tab). After holding the specific button for 1 second or more (depends on the settings put in the Hold Delay, Ramp-Up Delay I to Ramp-Ip Delay IV, and Effect Duration options in the MCM menu), your character will be able to jump a lot higher and further, with the amount of jump height and length bonus based on the Stage 1 to Stage 5 options in the MCM menu. It will consume Stamina (and/or Magicka too if configured) with the amount based on Stamina Cost and Magicka Cost options in the MCM menu. You can also set a visual effect to play when holding the button (configured under Visual Effect option).

It may sound complicated, but I'm sure you will easily understand on how it works after checking the options in the MCM menu under Explosive Jump tab and trying it yourself in the game. Note that you will not find Explosive Jump under Active Effects panel because I set it to hidden to reduce cluttering, but it is indeed active while you are in transformation.

Weapon Arts
You will obtain Weapon Arts based on your Stamina and One-Handed or Two-Handed skill. The rules are as follows:

• If your Stamina is is 200 or higher, and your One-Handed or Two-Handed skill is 50 or higher, Berserk Style will be added.
• If your Stamina is is 300 or higher, and your One-Handed or Two-Handed skill is 75 or higher, Berserk Style and Whirlwind Slam will be added.
• If your Stamina is is 400 or higher, and your One-Handed or Two-Handed skill is 100 or higher, Berserk Style, Whirlwind Slam, and Mortal Chain Cut will be added.
• If your Stamina is is 500 or higher, and your One-Handed or Two-Handed skill is 100 or higher, Berserk Style, Whirlwind Slam, Mortal Chain Cut, and Tempest Strike will be added.
  

Berserk Style: A style to enhance power attacks, making them capable to slash multiple enemies and decapitate them if their Health is low. (Toggleable)

Whirlwind Slam: A powerful weapon slam exerting a whirlwind which blows targets ahead. The whirlwind's strength scales with your Stamina and One-Handed or Two-Handed skill (the higher one).

Mortal Chain Cut: A chain of cuts to a single target in lightning speed. The damage dealt scales with your One-Handed or Two-Handed skill (the higher one).

Tempest Strike: A wide-area barrage of attacks which is capable to hit multiple targets. The damage dealt scales with your One-Handed or Two-Handed skill (the higher one).

To perform these Weapon Arts, you must equip a melee weapon and not riding a mount.


Other Enhancements
There are several other attributes which are also enhanced, but not being shown in the Active Effects panel to avoid cluttering:

Skill Fortification
All of your skills are increased by 10 points each.

Skill Learning Speed
You can learn all skills 10% faster.

Armor Unburdening
Your armor weighs nothing and doesn’t slow you down.

After Lose Control is triggered, there will be some checks to be done:

• Whether there is an important quest which is being tracked in your Quest Menu. This check is to avoid breaking the important quest as a result of your character losing control and assaulting the NPCs involved in the quest. You can check and edit the list of important quests in UnsafeQuestList form list (FormID: XX00FC41, with XX as your load order number for this mod) using TES5Edit.
• Whether you are in a brawling quest (ie. a quest which asks you to defeat an NPC in a fist fight). The same reason with above.
  

If the above checks are passed, the chance to Lose Control will then be calculated. The calculation begins from the base chance to Lose Control which is taken from the Negative Emotions Percentage, which is calculated by comparing your character's accumulated negative emotions (shown as Negative Emotions Score in the MCM menu) with the Negative Emotions Threshold (which is configurable under Negative Emotions section in the MCM menu). After that, several other factors which also affect the chance to Lose Control are included in the calculation to ultimately conclude the true chance to Lose Control.

About Negative Emotions
Your character's negative emotions are accumulated from many deeds (ie. actions and choices) you have done in the game. These deeds can be grouped into two categories: positive deeds and negative deeds. Positive deeds reduce your character's negative emotions, while negative deeds increase it instead. They represent the "good side" and the "bad side" of your character. If you do more positive deeds, your character will tend to be a good person, which in turn makes them more capable to resist their negative emotions. On the contrary, if you do more negative deeds, your character will tend to be a bad person, which in turn makes them more likely to succumb to their negative emotions.

List of positive deeds:
List of negative deeds:
In the MCM menu under Lose Control tab, you will find that each of these deeds has a configurable value. When Lose Control is triggered, these values will be accumulated to be included in the calculation. You can configure these values to suit your playstyles or your role-playing needs.

Other Lose Control Factors
There are several other factors which also affect the chance to Lose Control:

• Being a vampire: reduces the base chance by 20% due to their affinity to Illusion (mind manipulation) magic.
• Being a werewolf: increases the base chance by 35% due to their wild/beasty nature.
• Having Wabbajack in your inventory: increases the base chance by 50% due to its chaotic nature.
• Having a follower or more: reduces the base chance based on the amount of followers you currently have (up to 30% reduction).
• Achieved the Partial Control: reduces the base chance by 25%.
  

Full Control Requirements
I tried to make the Full Control requirements as logical as possible, so you simply need to think about the nature of the armor and how to logically avoid being influenced by it, then try to relate it to the game. I have provided the following 'episodic' spoilers if you want to (either partially or fully) spill yourself:

Additional Features
There are two additional features related with Lose Control mechanism:

• There is a lesser power Berserker Armor: Lose Control which you can get by ticking Get Lose Control Spell option in the MCM menu (under Lose Control tab). You can use this lesser power to manually trigger Lose Control anytime without the need to follow the conditions to trigger Lose Control (but you will still have to pass the important quest check, so make sure you have untracked any important quests you have in your Quest Menu first before using this lesser power).
• If the Negative Emotions Percentage is reaching or surpassing 100%, when you are in a transformation you will get the Raging Insanity effect which grants you a chance to avoid death upon being hit with a killing blow (as a courtesy of the Too Angry Too Die meme
  
  ).
  

Damage Attributes

• Drains 50% of your Health.
• Reduces Health, Stamina, and Magicka Regeneration by 100%.
  

Debilitated: You're totally worn out. For <duration> seconds, you will take damage whenever you move.

• This effect simulates your totally worn out body which is very weak and fragile that even a single movement will be painful.
• Riding a mount is excluded. You can ride a mount (and move anywhere) without taking damage.
  

Deteriorated Body: Prolonged use of the armor deteriorates your body. For <duration> seconds, food and potions are 40% less effective, your Carry Weight is reduced by X, you move 25% slower, your vision is periodically blurred, and you are randomly staggered and tripped when moving.

• This effect only happens after finishing the Dangerous Transformation or Lose Control.
• The vision blur is applied periodically (every several seconds), not at all times, until the end of the duration.
• The decrease in food and potion effectiveness (40%) can be reduced by finishing A Night To Remember quest or by reaching 50 or higher in Illusion skill.
  

• The amount of X (reduced Carry Weight) is calculated based on the duration of the Aftermath Effects. The longer the duration, the higher the X.
  

Critical: You are in a critical condition. (damages your Health by X)

• This effect only happens after finishing the Dangerous Transformation or Lose Control while the Negative Emotions Percentage is reaching or surpassing 100%.
  

• The amount of X is calculated based on the duration of the Aftermath Effects. The longer the duration, the higher the X.
• This effect can kill you if your Health is lower than the X.
  

Mitigating the Aftermath Effects
The duration of the Aftermath Effects decreases as your Magicka and/or Illusion skill increase. When you have achieved Full Control, the duration will further be reduced by 25%. You can also reduce the overall severity of Aftermath Effects (roughly by half) by achieving Partial Control.

Magicka represents one's mind and concentration capability, while Illusion skill represents one's capability to control minds. They are great adversaries of the perilous nature of the armor.

You need to go to where the armor and the boss are located at. It can be accessed by either:

• Entering a portal which can be opened by reading a note located inside a cave in Skyrim.
• Using Berserker Armor: Enter Boss Place lesser power which you can get by ticking Get Enter Boss Place Spell option in the MCM menu (under Others tab).
  

Once you enter the place, you will find that the armor is placed behind some iron bars and is guarded by a boss. To open the iron bars, you need to defeat the boss.

The location of the note to open the portal is inside an end of a cave which you will visit during a Companions quest. It is placed on top of an enchanting table. The name of the cave is Glenmoril Coven. So if you want to role-play to get the armor in a natural way, just do the Companions questline. Or you can also go there directly (without doing Companions questline).

About the boss, I don't want to spoiler him, but I'll let you know that he's quite tough. And by 'tough', I REALLY meant it. He's REALLY tough! So prepare to get beaten up if you're not truly well-prepared. Note that you cannot go out from the boss place until you defeat him. So try not to enter the place if you feel not ready to fight him yet. Always save your game before entering the place, so that you can reload the save if you end up realizing that you're not capable to beat him yet.

If you feel like you have tried your best but still can't defeat the boss, you can use either the Modded or the Vanilla boss difficulty option (in the MCM menu, under Others tab) which will make him easier to fight.

After successfully defeating the boss, you will get a bonus ability: Zodd Killer, which grants you the following effects based on your chosen boss difficulty option:
Hardcore and Modded

• Buy items 15% cheaper.
• Intimidation attempts are 3x as likely to succeed.
• Attacks have 20% chance of a critical strike that deals two times critical damage.
• Upon entering combat, 15% chance to instill fear to nearby weaker enemies, causing them to flee for 30 seconds.
• Upon entering combat, 20% chance to inspire nearby allies, preventing them from fleeing and increasing their proficiency in combat (Health/Stamina/Magicka +100 points and Melee/Destruction damage +20%) for 30 seconds.
  

Vanilla

• Buy items 10% cheaper.
• Intimidation attempts are 2x as likely to succeed.
• Attacks have 15% chance of a critical strike that deals two times critical damage.
• Upon entering combat, 10% chance to instill fear to nearby weaker enemies, causing them to flee for 30 seconds.
• Upon entering combat, 15% chance to inspire nearby allies, preventing them from fleeing and increasing their proficiency in combat (Health/Stamina/Magicka +100 points and Melee/Destruction damage +20%) for 30 seconds.
  

In addition, if you defeated the boss in Hardcore difficulty option, you will get additional (hidden) effects:

• 10% chance for time to slow down when being attacked at 10% Health or less.
• 10% chance for incoming melee attacks to miss when moving.
  

This bonus ability will not be given to those who obtain the armor via the Instant Way.

If you want to instantly obtain the armor, use Get the Armor option in the MCM menu (under Others tab).

This option is especially provided for those who have played the mod multiple times and hence it may become boring for them to fight the boss again in a new playthrough. It is also useful to those who want to directly test the armor to check the features.

Additionally, it is also to help those who otherwise will recklessly use AddItem mods or console command to get the armor parts, even if I have put a clear warning to not use them at all. Please just use this option to avoid breaking the armor's mechanisms as a result of using these AddItem things.

Note that by using this option, you can no longer obtain the armor via the Immersive Way. In other words, you cannot get the bonus ability which is obtained after defeating the boss. And this option is not free; you have to choose to spend either: 20,000 Gold, 6 Dragon Souls, or 3 Perk Points in exchange for the armor. I made it like this, to make it somewhat balanced but still more convenient than fighting the boss.

The replica is provided for those who like the armor model and want to wear it without having the dozens of feature from the original armor. So if you only want the armor set without caring about any of these features, just craft the replica in any Smithing Forge.

To craft the Heavy Armor version, you need to have Ebony Smithing perk. It benefits from Ebony Smithing perk for the tempering.
As for the Light Armor version, you need to have Glass Smithing perk. It benefits from Glass Smithing perk for the tempering.

Both of them require Ebony Ingots as their main material.

Zodd's Blade
Stats:

• Weight: 48
• Base Damage: 33
• Speed: 0.5
• Reach: 1.5
• Stagger: 1.45
• Critical Damage: 16
  

Crafting materials:

• 4 Iron Ingots
• 6 Orichalcum Ingots
• 2 Leather Strips
  

Unique effects (non-enchantments):

• Has 20% chance to stagger the target on each hit (double chance if power attacks)
• Blocks 20% more damage
  

Dragon Slayer
Stats:

• Weight: 58 (Base) / 60 (Supernatural)
• Base Damage: 40
• Speed: 0.5
• Reach: 1.6
• Stagger: 1.45
• Critical Damage: 20
  

Crafting materials (Base Dragon Slayer):

• 4 Quicksilver Ingots
• 10 Steel Ingots
• 2 Leather Strips
• 1 Linen Wraps
  

Unique effects (non-enchantments) for (Base) Dragon Slayer:

• Has 20% chance to stagger the target on each hit (double chance if power attacks)
• Blocks 20% more damage
  

A Supernatural version of the Dragon Slayer is also available to craft. Infused with some rare magical properties, this version of Dragon Slayer is especially effective against supernatural targets (Undead, Werebeasts, Ghosts, Daedra). You can only craft it in the Atronach Forge or Skyforge.

Crafting materials (Supernatural Dragon Slayer):

• 1 (Base) Dragon Slayer
• 1 Daedra Heart
• 1 Ectoplasm
• 1 Hagraven Claw
• 2 Silver Ingots
• 1 Filled Black Soul Gem
  

If you choose to craft it at Skyforge, you will need additional crafting requirements: Daedric Smithing perk, Arcane Smithing perk, and 100 Smithing skill. If you have Honed Metal installed, you can ask Eorlund Gray-Mane to craft it for you, but you need to provide the required materials.

Unique effects (non-enchantments) for Supernatural Dragon Slayer:

• Has 20% chance to stagger the target on each hit (double chance if power attacks)
• Blocks 20% more damage
• Ignores Armor Rating and Magic Resistance against supernatural targets
• Has 10% increased critical hit chance against supernatural targets
• Blocks up to 50 points of incoming spell damage (based on Block skill)
  

In order for these unique effects to properly work, you may need to use Scrambled Bugs with "PerkEntryPoints" option enabled, especially if you also have other mods which utilize "Apply Combat Hit Spell" perk entry point.

This mod edits the following records:
1. Dialogue Topics:2. FormID Lists:3. Magic Effects:4. Spells:5. Perks:6. Quests:
> Companions' radiant quests:> Dark Brotherhood's radiant quests:> Thieves Guild's rejoining quest:> Favor quests:> Favor job quests:> World Interactions quests:
Any mods editing the same records will conflict and need to be patched. Don't worry though, they may seem many but actually they are not. Most of these records aren't touched by other mods. The remaining ones which are also edited by some popular mods have been resolved by the provided patches (as you can find in Available Patches section).
To check for conflicts, simply open all of your plugins (esm/esp/esl) using TES5Edit then check all records edited by Berserker Armor.esp. The conflicting mods will be shown with red colors there.

Another potential conflict is death alternative mods, in which when you are in Lose Control and you turn on the Wake Up in Cave option (in the MCM menu, under Lose Control tab), glitch may happen. Generally, if you got a glitch with it, just turn off your death alternative mod (most death alternative mods have MCM menu or option to turn on and off the feature) and just use the one available in this mod (ie. either Wake Up in Cave or You Die option) when you are in Lose Control. Or just don't use the Wake Up in Cave option and use You Die option instead. But this is just based on my experience. Yours might be different from me, so just test it first but don't forget to save the game before testing it.

I also found that some features from this mod which make the player to play some idles (for example: Berserker Armor: Whirlwind Slam lesser power) may cause a glitch if being used along with some animation-related mod(s). This is so far just a guessed conclusion based on my observations (concluded from my own and other people's testing), because I'm currently having no exact clue on what's the culprit. Anyway, if you get a glitch when using such features, try to take a look at what animation mods you're using. FYI, I have tried this mod along with Nemesis, Ultimate Combat/TK Dodge, Animated Armoury, Dual Wield Parrying, XPMSE, Nemesis PCEA, Dynamic Animation Replacer, to name a few, and I got no glitch. But a BETA tester of this mod found that he got a glitch when using CGO (Combat Gameplay Overhaul) so he decided not to use it. Your experience may vary, so it's best for you to test it first in your game before deciding to remove similar mods from your load order.

Another thing which is also worth noting is that you better NOT use Vampire Lord or Beast Form (ie. vanilla game's Werewolf transformation) powers when you're in a transformation from the armor. Vampire Lord and Beast Form unequip all of your equipments, so it may cause issue if they unequip the armor set which is supposed to not be unequipped (due to the armor's transformation), resulting in a possibly messed up situation. The armor's transformation is supposed to be a power-up which is great enough for your character, so -for a balance and a technical reason- it is better not to use any other transformations when you have relied on the armor.

>> Adamant
This patch solves a conflicting spell record.

>> ADXP I MCO Berserker Guts Animation
This patch makes all animations and skills from that mod applicable to the armor in my mod when in transformation. It also removes any buffs from that mod (to only use my mod's enhancements). This patch still needs to be tested.

>> Berserk Races
This patch makes the new races added by the mod to be treated by the same with vanilla races in terms of the armor's enhancements.

>> Better Vampires
This patch solves the conflicting record of cannibalism perk.

>> Complete Alchemy and Cooking Overhaul (CACO)
This patch solves a conflicting quest record.

>> Flower Girls
This patch solves the conflicting records for some quests.

>> Growl
This patch makes Growl's knowback and disarm/stun effects resistable by Knockdown Resistance and Disarm Immunity.

>> Immersive World Encounters (IWE)
This patch solves some conflicting world events/interactions (quest) records.

>> Left Hand Rings Modified SE (LHRM)
This patch solves the conflicting Cannibalism perk.

>> Manbeast
This patch makes Manbeast's knockback effect resistable by Knockdown Resistance.

>> Moonlight Tales Special Edition
Similar with Growl patch, but for Moonlight Tales SE.

>> Oblivion
This patch solves the conflicting form list records.

>> Quest Conflict Fixes
This patch solves a conflicting quest record.

>> Reliquary of Myth (RoM)
This patch solves the conflicting record on cannibalism perk. Obviously this is not compatible with Better Vampires patch due to both editing the same record. So just let the one you want to keep overwrites the one you don't want to keep. I'll consider to make a new patch later which covers all changes from both RoM patch(es) and Better Vampires patch.

>> Skyrim Unbound Reborn
This patch solves a conflicting quest record.

>> SkyTEST SE
This patch makes some animal knockdown effects added by SkyTEST are resistable by Knockdown Resistance.

>> SkyTEST Redux
Same with SkyTEST SE, but for SkyTEST Redux.

>> Thunderchild
This patch solves the conflicting spells and magic effects related with disarm and knockdown (eg. Unrelenting Force, Disarm shout).

>> USSEP
This patch solves conflicting quest records.

>> Wintersun
This patch solves conflicting Gift of Charity's magic effect and spell records.

>> Your Choices Matter SSE
This patch solves conflicting quest records.

>> Zim's Immersive Artifacts (ZIA)
This patch makes ZIA's new cannibalism perk to affect 'Feed as Cannibal' negative deed.

1. Wounds by IronDusk33
2. Wildcat by EnaiSiaion
3. Vokrii and Ordinator by EnaiSiaion
4. Vokriinator by corpseletter
5. Hand to Hand by SimonMagus
6. Magic Student (WIChangeLocation04) Quest Fix by wSkeever

1. Make a custom race be treated the same with vanilla races in terms of the armor's enhancements.


2. Make a knockdown effect (from mods) resistable by Knockdown Resistance


3. Make a disarm effect (from mods) to be affected by Disarm Immunity

• If your character is currently in any transformation (including Lose Control), you need to wait until they regains the control back or until the transformation ends, then further wait until the Aftermath Effects end.
• If your character is currently under the effect of Aftermath Effects, then simply wait until it finishes.
• If you're equipping a unique weapon (ie. Dragon Slayer or Zodd's Blade), unequip it.
• Unequip the armor set (all parts), then drop the armor set and the unique weapons out of your inventory.
• Make sure your character is not in combat and in a relatively safe place (where no sudden enemy will pop up), then save the game in a new save (don't overwrite your existing saves). Exit the game and install the new version (replace the old version).
  

IMPORTANT: Updating to Version 3.0.0
If you ask me about updating to version 3.0.0 (from a prior version), I'll answer: you can't. Or at least, it is not safe and may cause issue in your game. So I will always recommend you to install version 3.0.0 in a new game or a clean save which doesn't have a prior version installed.

But if you insist, you can try to update to version 3.0.0. It may work, but you're on your own. I mean, I can't provide a proper support should you encounter any related issues. Just make sure that you have followed the standard updating procedures (ie. the 5 steps mentioned above), then follow the following additional steps:

• If you have a Dragon Slayer or Zodd's Blade, remove or delete them (you cannot use them anymore because they receive significant changes in version 3.0.0).
• Make sure you don't have a messed up movement speed (eg. no overly slow movement speed, which is probably a bug caused by the interaction between the older version of this mod and some certain unknown mods).
• Clean your save files (which have a prior version installed) using FallrimTools (or any other good save-cleaner tool out there).
• Install version 3.0.0.
  

Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch (USSEP), to fix many bugs and issues in vanilla game. The mod has been developed with it installed. Some fixes have been forwarded to the mod, but the ones which can't be forwarded without making it a requirement are covered via the USSEP patch.

Scrambled Bugs, to avoid the horrendous Ability condition bug which can cause Ability effects to stop re-checking their conditions once they've been applied to an actor for some amounts of time. The main monitor ability of the mod has been applied in a way to avoid this bug from happening, but some other abilities have not (not applicable). Its "PerkEntryPoints" option is also worth to be used because my mod utilizes "Apply Combat Hit Spell" perk entry point which is also used by many popular mods out there.

Equip Enchantment Fix, to fix engine bugs where item enchantments don't apply when equipped or stop working while the item is still equipped. My mod uses several instances of EquipItem papyrus function which is prone to not applying item enchantments to the subject. This mod fixes this issue.

Unarmed Weapon Speed Scaling, to apply unarmed attack speed enhancement to unarmed power attacks. Without this mod, your unarmed power attacks will not be affected by the unarmed attack speed enhancement.

Ordinator, Vokrii, or Adamant, which equips unarmed weapon when you are unarmed, so the unarmed attack speed enhancement can work. Vanilla game doesn't equip unarmed weapon when you're unarmed, so any unarmed attack speed buff won't work.

Better Jumping SE, to have a better jumping momentum and to allow jump while sprinting. This is especially useful for the Explosive Jump feature which has an option to trigger the powered jump using Sprint key (so you can immediately jump after holding the Sprint key).

Cobb Encumbrance, Progressive Encumbrance, or any similar mod, because I initially wanted to add a slow effect which is applied to your character when you're equipping the Dragon Slayer or Zodd's Blade to simulate their massive weight, but then I realized there are already mods who has done it better while also have more features, so I dropped the idea and recommend you to use any of these mods instead.
 
moreHUD Inventory Edition, to have a wide inventory description panel so that you can read the long description of the effects, because the description of several effects in my mod are rather long.

Wider MCM Menu for SkyUI, for the same reason with moreHUD Inventory Edition but for the MCM menu, because some option names and option descriptions in the MCM menu are rather long.

FileAccess Interface for Skyrim SE Scripts (FISSES), to save and load your MCM option settings so that you don't have to manually set all of the options whenever you start a new game.

MCM Recorder, alternative of FISSES, though I've never tested it.

Dynamic Animation Replacer + EVG Conditional Idles, to have immersive headache, injured, and fatigued animations when suffering the Aftermath Effects.

Special Credits

Kentaro Miura, the author of Berserk, one hell of a badass masterpiece manga!!

Bethesda, the creator of Skyrim which we all can mod as we like.

Bagserk, the original creator of SK's Berserker Armor who gave me permission to use and modify his mods.


Contributors

anglevet, for his fix to the SE's BDOR helmet and armor meshes.

Ecatombe, for his fix to the LE's BDOR helmet and cuirass meshes and his improvement by adding cool gadgets (similar with Black Swordsman Armor's gadgets). It's all thanks to him that most of the LE's BDOR meshes-related issues regarding the armor were solved!

Kaneyo46, for his massive helps in Beta-testing the mod. Without his tests and reports, it would've been too tedious to debug the mod, and it wouldn't have been possible for the mod to be released this early.

ReDragon2013, a very helpful person, who helped me a lot in editing and optimizing the scripts (i also learnt a lot about Papyrus scripting from his helps; this guy is super helpful!)

IsharaMeradin, who gave me some guidances in the writings of some scripts.


Mod Authors

184Gesu, the author of Colorful Magic in which the Mini Agito model is used for one of the boss' swords.

AceComoMontana a.k.a. Kumakare for his Berserk Dragonslayer Sword and clang which its sound is used in the Clang sound option for the Dragon Slayer.

Alex9ndre, the author of Vigor Combat and Injuries, which the NPC combat AI was taken from his mod.

audiogarden21, the author of Reflect Blows Blows, which I took to improve the Reflect Blows effect.

CalvinShark a.k.a. JayMercer, the author of Reshaped Ebony Helmet which is used as the default helmet model.

Daedalus-AI a.k.a. AzarelHrafin, the author of Powers of the Dragoon which Whirlwind Slam were inspired from Tempest Strike from that mod (i learnt from the script and the method).

elysees, the author of BerserkStyle Blade Kustom and Mortal Chain Cut which were included in my mod as a combat abilites obtained from utilizing the armor.

GarrusTheLoneWolf, the author of Crescent Axe which the models are used for the boss' axes.

JJ a.k.a. OmecaOne, for his edits to BerserkStyle Blade Kustom by elysees to make it usable for all melee weapon types.

NPR a.k.a. KURESE, the author of Monster Hunter Series Weapons in which the Agito model is used for one of the boss' swords.

Phate3, the author of Berserk Dragonslayer which is included in the mod with some edits as stated in the description.

powerofthree, the author of powerofthree's Tweaks, which makes the jump height applicable via an actor value.

Sankese, the author of BERSERK, which is used as the model of the armor.

skeletonk, the original creator of Berserker Armor model for Oblivion in which Bagserk converted it to Skyrim.

stonedsquirrel, the author of Pounce n Dash Jump Height and Speed Charger which is used for Explosive Jump feature.

testiger2, the author of Ebony Replacer Revival SSE which is used as the default armor model.

ubuntufreakdragon, the author of Moonlight Tales Essentials Overhauled which gave me permission to use his mod's lose control functionality.

Zenl, the author of Berserk Black Swordsman Armor which its cuirass textures are used for the gadgets on the cuirass part of the armor.