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"Infantry. Good against whatever it can reach. "
In-game description

The Berserk (named Ulfsark before Retold) is a lightly armored infantry unit in Age of Mythology. They wear animal skins on their heads and form the backbone of the Norse army.

Like other basic infantry units Berserks are a soft counter against cavalry and as such are supposed to be cost-effective against most cavalry units. Heavier cavalry such as War Elephants and Jarls require hard counter units to be cost-effectively defeated.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strong vs.
File:Grk-h-hippeus.png Hippeus • File:Grk-h-prodromos.png Prodromos • Spearman • Jarl • War Elephant • Berserk • Camel Rider • Huskarl • Hersir • Raiding Cavalry

Weak vs.
File:Grk-h-toxotes.png Toxotes • File:Grk-h-hypaspist.png Hypaspist • Cheiroballista • Chariot Archer • Throwing Axeman • Axeman

Technologies

General Technologies

Offense
Image	Name	Description
File:Shared-t-copper-weapons.png	Copper Weapons	+10% damage
File:Shared-t-bronze-weapons.png	Bronze Weapons	+10% damage
File:Shared-t-iron-weapons.png	Iron Weapons	+10% damage

Defense
Image	Name	Description
File:Shared-t-copper-armor.png	Copper Armor	-15% Hack Vulnerability
File:Shared-t-bronze-armor.png	Bronze Armor	-15% Hack Vulnerability
File:Shared-t-iron-armor.png	Iron Armor	-15% Hack Vulnerability
File:Shared-t-copper-shields.png	Copper Shields	-15% Pierce Vulnerability
File:Shared-t-bronze-shields.png	Bronze Shields	-15% Pierce Vulnerability
File:Shared-t-iron-shields.png	Iron Shields	-15% Pierce Vulnerability

Utility
Image	Name	Description
File:Grk-t-levy-infantry.png	Levy Infantry	-20% training time
File:Grk-t-conscript-infantry.png	Conscript Infantry	-20% training time

Myth Technologies

Image	Name	God	Description
File:Grk-t-phobos-spear-of-panic.png	Phobos' Spear of Panic	Ares	+1 divine damage
File:Grk-t-sarissa.png	Sarissa	Athena	+10% hack damage, +1 attack range
File:Grk-t-aegis-shield.png	Aegis Shield	Athena	-15% pierce vulnerability
File:Grk-t-oracle.png	Oracle	Apollo	+4 Line of Sight
File:Grk-t-dionysia.png	Dionysia	Dionysus	+5% hit points

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
File:Infobox-age2.png Classical Age	File:Shared-t-medium-infantry.png Medium Infantry	File:Infobox-food.png 150, File:Infobox-gold.png 150, File:Infobox-time.png 20 seconds	Upgrades Hoplites to Medium: +10% hit points, +10% damage, +1 Line of Sight
File:Infobox-age3.png Heroic Age	File:Shared-t-heavy-infantry.png Heavy Infantry	File:Infobox-food.png 300, File:Infobox-gold.png 300, File:Infobox-time.png 30 seconds	Upgrades Hoplites to Medium: +15% hit points, +20% damage, +1 Line of Sight); requires Medium Infantry
File:Infobox-age4.png Mythic Age	File:Shared-t-champion-infantry.png Champion Infantry	File:Infobox-food.png 500, File:Infobox-gold.png 400, File:Infobox-time.png 40 seconds	Upgrades Hoplites to Medium: +20% hit points, +30% damage, +1 Line of Sight); requires Heavy Infantry

Relic Bonuses

Image	Name	Description
	Armor of Achilles	-5% hack vulnerability
	Canopic Jar of Imsety	+25% training speed
	Gaia's Book of Knowledge	+3.0 attack multiplier vs. Titans
	Pelt of Argus	+6 Line of Sight
	Thundercloud Shawl	-5% pierce vulnerability
	Gungnir, Odin's Spear	+5% attack

Gameplay

Berserks are critical in the early stages of the game, especially the Archaic Age since they are the primary Norse builders and scout units. Norse players start with one Berserk. To lose this initial Berserk early is dangerous, as the player must spend more time and resources to replace it. Berserks are well-rounded units: they're good against cavalry and fair against infantry.

Berserks are powerful in melee combat but will lose to counter-infantry so it is best to use them together with Throwing Axemen and/or Raiding Cavalry. They are more lightly armored than their counterparts, the Hoplite, Spearman, and Murmillo, but have a higher attack. With the right upgrades and gods, the Berserk's attack can be boosted to a maximum of 16 (compared to 14 for both the Murmillo and Hoplite). As infantry units, they are weak against ranged units.

If Thor is chosen as the major god, a Dwarven Armory can be built to research technology beyond iron. With Forseti, Bragi, and Tyr as minor gods, many improvements beneficial to Berserks become available. With all those upgrades, Berserks will have a very high attack, high hit points, decent armor, fast speed and high rate of attack while still being cheap and fast to produce and being able to build. Likewise, Freyr grants access to Ullr, Bragi, and Vidar as minor gods. Out of these minor gods, Vidar provides the most upgrades to Berserks, with a total of three counting towards a maximum of six total upgrades provided by Freyr and the three aforementioned minor gods.

Norse Gatherers and Dwarves can be turned into Berserks at any time, resources permitting. This can be useful in two ways. Firstly, in an emergency to defend a Norse base, as converting workers to Berserks is instantaneous, while training them from the Longhouse or Town Center takes time. Secondly, this can be exploited in the late game when there is a surplus of workers and resources, and population space becomes more important, similar to the Ragnarok god power.

In Retold, the Hamask technology enables Berserks to gain increasingly high boosts to their attack and speed as they lose health, encouraging their use as relatively expendable mass units and turning their low armor into a blessing in disguise.

History

"Viking warriors who wore bear skins into battle were known as Berserks. They were similar to Ulfhednar (wolfish warriors in their renowned tendency to enter battle frenzy. Berserks fought on foot, armed mainly with axes and swords. They generally wore minimal armor, preferring freedom of movement to heavier protection, for their raging state caused them to be unaffected by most wounds."
In-game compendium

Gallery

Trivia

Champion Berserks are equipped with kite shields. However, this is anachronistic, as kite shields were used from the 10th century on. Also, wielding both a kite shield and a two-handed axe would be unwieldy.
Though male Berserks fight bare-chested in-game, their real-life counterparts historically wore mails (see gallery).
The various upgrades of the Berserk wear different animal pelts on their head and back.
- In the original game, the Berserk wears a brown wolf pelt, a snow wolf pelt, a brown bear pelt, and a golden bear pelt.
- In Retold, the Berserk wears a young deer pelt, a wolf pelt, a white boar pelt, and a brown bear pelt.
Ulfsark literally translates to "wolf-shirt", and Berserk to "bear-shirt".
There are several historical references and ancient artistic depictions of Norse and Germanic warriors wearing wolf and bear skins. References to boar and hog warriors are much less common, and seem to refer to warriors wearing boar-shaped helmets instead of boar skins as in the game.

Video

List of Units

@@ Line 110: / Line 110: @@
 }}
-{{Quote|Infantry. Good against cavalry.|In-game description}}
+{{Quote|Infantry. Good against whatever it can reach.	|In-game description}}
-The Hoplite is a Greek infantry unit trained at the [[Military Academy]] from the [[Classical Age]]. Hoplites are the standard infantry for the Greeks and usually form the backbone of their army.
+The Berserk (named Ulfsark before Retold) is a lightly armored infantry unit in Age of Mythology. They wear animal skins on their heads and form the backbone of the Norse army.
+Like other basic infantry units Berserks are a soft counter against cavalry and as such are supposed to be cost-effective against most cavalry units. Heavier cavalry such as War Elephants and Jarls require hard counter units to be cost-effectively defeated.
-Like other basic infantry units, Hoplites are a soft counter against cavalry and as such supposed to be cost-effective against most cavalry units. Heavier cavalry such as [[War Elephant|War Elephants]] and [[Jarl|Jarls]] require hard counter units to be cost-effectively defeated.
 ==Strengths and Weaknesses==
 {| class="wikitable"
@@ Line 220: / Line 222: @@
 ==Gameplay==
+Berserks are critical in the early stages of the game, especially the Archaic Age since they are the primary Norse builders and scout units. Norse players start with one Berserk. To lose this initial Berserk early is dangerous, as the player must spend more time and resources to replace it. Berserks are well-rounded units: they're good against cavalry and fair against infantry.
-Hoplites are best used to counter cavalry units. However, in a skirmish, most cavalry units will simply be able to run away from them. Hoplites are quite versatile as they can defeat most other infantry units. However, like all infantry they are vulnerable to counter-infantry and ranged soldiers (except for Turmae).
+Berserks are powerful in melee combat but will lose to counter-infantry so it is best to use them together with Throwing Axemen and/or Raiding Cavalry. They are more lightly armored than their counterparts, the Hoplite, Spearman, and Murmillo, but have a higher attack. With the right upgrades and gods, the Berserk's attack can be boosted to a maximum of 16 (compared to 14 for both the Murmillo and Hoplite). As infantry units, they are weak against ranged units.
-Hoplites are well armored, and, of the four standard infantry units, they have the most hit points - far more than the [[Spearman]] and [[Berserk]]. However, they are also the most expensive, slowest, and have the longest training time. This makes rushing with them more difficult, except for Zeus players, whose Hoplites move faster and do extra damage to buildings.
+If Thor is chosen as the major god, a Dwarven Armory can be built to research technology beyond iron. With Forseti, Bragi, and Tyr as minor gods, many improvements beneficial to Berserks become available. With all those upgrades, Berserks will have a very high attack, high hit points, decent armor, fast speed and high rate of attack while still being cheap and fast to produce and being able to build. Likewise, Freyr grants access to Ullr, Bragi, and Vidar as minor gods. Out of these minor gods, Vidar provides the most upgrades to Berserks, with a total of three counting towards a maximum of six total upgrades provided by Freyr and the three aforementioned minor gods.
+Norse Gatherers and Dwarves can be turned into Berserks at any time, resources permitting. This can be useful in two ways. Firstly, in an emergency to defend a Norse base, as converting workers to Berserks is instantaneous, while training them from the Longhouse or Town Center takes time. Secondly, this can be exploited in the late game when there is a surplus of workers and resources, and population space becomes more important, similar to the Ragnarok god power.
+In Retold, the Hamask technology enables Berserks to gain increasingly high boosts to their attack and speed as they lose health, encouraging their use as relatively expendable mass units and turning their low armor into a blessing in disguise.
 ==History==
+{{Quote|Viking warriors who wore bear skins into battle were known as Berserks. They were similar to Ulfhednar (wolfish warriors in their renowned tendency to enter battle frenzy. Berserks fought on foot, armed mainly with axes and swords. They generally wore minimal armor, preferring freedom of movement to heavier protection, for their raging state caused them to be unaffected by most wounds.|In-game compendium}}
-{{Quote|The predominate Greek soldier of antiquity was the Hoplite, named after the great round shield he carried into battle. Hoplites wore helmets, leg armor, and chest armor, and carried a great long spear. They fought in dense columns with the spear points from several ranks projecting out from the formation. They thus presented a formidable block bristling with spears held above the shoulder. In battle they would close with the enemy as a pushing wall of shields, stabbing with their spears over the shields. Men behind would push those in front and stab over them. This fighting was face-to-face and terrifying, requiring high skill and discipline. Battles were usually short but deadly. Before the rise of the Hoplite, most army fighting had been more long-range archery and posturing. The Greeks made war personal and intense, and Hoplites dominated ancient battlefields for centuries.|In-game compendium}}
 ==Gallery==
 ==Trivia==
+* Champion Berserks are equipped with kite shields. However, this is anachronistic, as kite shields were used from the 10th century on. Also, wielding both a kite shield and a two-handed axe would be unwieldy.
-* The Hoplite went through a few design changes throughout the development. Originally, they would wear linothorax armor in their Champion upgrade.
+* Though male Berserks fight bare-chested in-game, their real-life counterparts historically wore mails (see gallery).
-* Hoplites were also to use square shields, inspired by the Mycenaeans tower shields, some months before release. However, Ensemble Studios decided to revert back to them using Hoplon-type shields, most likely because they were more distinctive.
+* The various upgrades of the Berserk wear different animal pelts on their head and back.
-==Video==
+** In the original game, the Berserk wears a brown wolf pelt, a snow wolf pelt, a brown bear pelt, and a golden bear pelt.
-==List of Heroes==
+** In Retold, the Berserk wears a young deer pelt, a wolf pelt, a white boar pelt, and a brown bear pelt.
-{{Navplate
+* Ulfsark literally translates to "wolf-shirt", and Berserk to "bear-shirt".
-|id=allregunits
+* There are several historical references and ancient artistic depictions of Norse and Germanic warriors wearing wolf and bear skins. References to boar and hog warriors are much less common, and seem to refer to warriors wearing boar-shaped helmets instead of boar skins as in the game.
-|subtitle=List of
-|title= Units
-|header1 = [[File:Icon Greek.png|55px]] [[Greeks]]
-|label2 =
-|list2 =
-|label3 = Non-Military
-|list3 = [[Villager Greek|Villager]] ● [[Kataskopos]]
-|label4 = [[Infantry]]
-|list4 = [[Hoplite]] ● [[Hypaspist]] ● [[Myrmidon]] ● [[Militia]]
-|label5 = [[Ranged Soldier|Ranged Soldiers]]
-|list5 = [[Toxotes]] ● [[Peltast]] ● [[Gastraphetoros]]
-|label6 = [[Cavalry]]
-|list6 = [[Hippeus]] ● [[Prodromos]] ● [[Hetairos]]
-|label7 = [[Siege Weapons]]
-|list7 = [[Petrobolos]] ● [[Helepolis]]
-|label8 = [[Ship|Ships]]
-|list8 = [[Trireme]] ● [[Pentekonter]] ● [[Juggernaut]]
-|label9 = [[Heroes]]
-|list9 = [[The Argo]]
-|label10 = [[Myth Unit]]
-|list10 = [[Pegasus]] ● [[Hippocampus]] ● [[Centaur]] ● [[Minotaur]]  [[Cyclops]] ● [[Nemean Lion]] ● [[Hydra]] ● [[Scylla]]  [[Manticore]] ● [[Colossus]] ● [[Medusa]] ● [[Carcinos]]  [[Shade of Hades]] ● [[Chimera]]
+==Video==
-|header11 = [[File:Icon Egyptian.png|55px]] [[Egyptians]]
-|label12 = Non-Military
-|list12 = [[Laborer]]
-|label13 = [[Infantry]]
-|list13 = [[Spearman]] ● [[Axeman]] ● [[Mercenary]]
-|label14 = [[Ranged Soldier|Ranged Soldiers]]
-|list14 = [[Slinger]] ● [[Chariot Archer]]
-|label15 = [[Cavalry]]
-|list15 = [[Camel Rider]]  ● [[War Elephant]] ● [[Mercenary Cavalry]]
-|label16 = [[Siege Weapons]]
-|list16 = [[Catapult]] ● [[Siege Tower]]
-|label17 = [[Ship|Ships]]
-|list17 = [[Kebenit]] ● [[Ramming Galley]] ● [[War Barge]] ● [[Lost Ship]]
-|label18 = [[Heroes]]
-|list18 = [[Pharaoh]]
-|label19 = [[Myth Unit]]
-|list19 = [[Anubite]] ● [[Serpent]] ● [[Sea Snake]] ● [[Sphinx]]  [[Wadjet]] ● [[Petsuchos]] ● [[Roc]] ● [[Scarab]]  [[Leviathan]] ● [[Scorpion Man]] ● [[Minion]] ● [[Phoenix]]  [[Phoenix Egg]] ● [[War Turtle]] ● [[Avenger]] ● [[Mummy]]
-|label20 = [[Animal of Set|Animals of Set]]
-|list20 = [[Baboon of Set]] ● [[Gazelle of Set]] ● [[Hyena of Set]] ● [[Giraffe of Set]]  [[Crocodile of Set]] ● [[Hippopotamus of Set]] ● [[Rhinoceros of Set]] ● [[Elephant of Set]]  [[Monkey of Set]] ● [[Arctic Wolf of Set]] ● [[Aurochs of Set]] ● [[Bear of Set]]  [[Boar of Set]] ● [[Caribou of Set]] ● [[Crowned Crane of Set]] ● [[Deer of Set]]  [[Elk of Set]] ● [[Lion of Set]] ● [[Polar Bear of Set]] ● [[Walrus of Set]]  [[Water Buffalo of Set]] ● [[Wolf of Set]] ● [[Zebra of Set]]
-|header21 = [[File:Icon Norse.png|55px]] [[Norse]]
-|label22 = Non-Military
-|list22 = [[Gatherer]] ● [[Dwarf]]● [[Ox Cart]]
-|label23 = [[Infantry]]
-|list23 = [[Berserk]] ● [[Throwing Axeman]] ● [[Huskarl]] ● [[Hirdman]]
-|label24 = [[Ranged Soldier|Ranged Soldiers]]
-|list24 = ●
-|label25 = [[Cavalry]]
-|list25 = [[Raiding Cavalry]] ● [[Jarl]]
-|label26 = [[Siege Weapons]]
-|list26 = [[Portable Ram]] ● [[Ballista]]
-|label27 = [[Ship|Ships]]
-|list27 = [[Longboat]] ● [[Dreki]] ● [[Dragon Ship]]
-|label28 = [[Heroes]]
-|list28 = [[Hero of Ragnarok]]
-|label29 = [[Myth Unit]]
-|list29 = [[Raven]] ● [[Troll]] ● [[Valkyrie]] ● [[Einheri]]  [[Kraken]] ● [[Mountain Giant]] ● [[Walking Woods]] ● [[Frost Giant]]  [[Battle Boar]] ● [[Jormun Elver]] ● [[Fimbulwinter Wolf]] ● [[Fenris Wolf Brood]]  [[Fire Giant]] ● [[Nidhogg]] ● [[Draugr]] ● [[Rock Giant]]  [[Fafnir]]
+==List of Units==
-|header30 = [[File:Icon Atlantean.png|55px]] [[Atlanteans]]
+{{Units}}
-|label31 = Non-Military
-|list31 = [[Citizen]] ● [[Oracle]]
-|label32 = [[Infantry]]
-|list32 = [[Murmillo]] ● [[Katapeltes]] ● [[Destroyer]] ● [[Fanatic]]
-|label33 = [[Ranged Soldier|Ranged Soldiers]]
-|list33 = [[Arcus]] ● [[Turma]]
-|label34 = [[Cavalry]]
-|list34 = [[Contarius]]
-|label35 = [[Siege Weapons]]
-|list35 = [[Cheiroballista]] ● [[Fire Siphon]]
-|label36 = [[Ship|Ships]]
-|list36 = [[Bireme]] ● [[Fire Ship]] ● [[Siege Bireme]]
-|label37 = [[Heroes]]
-|list37 =
-|label38 = [[Myth Unit|Myth Units]]
-|list38 = [[Automaton]] ● [[Promethean]] ● [[Promethean Offspring]] ● [[Caladria]]  [[Servant]] ● [[Carnivora]] ● [[Nereid]] ● [[Satyr]]  [[Stymphalian Bird]] ● [[Dryad]] ● [[Behemoth]] ● [[Centimanus]]  [[Man O' War]] ● [[Argus]] ● [[Lampades]] ● [[Tartarian Spawn]]  [[Spider Egg]]
-}}