Like, Cyberdecks are related to brain-related cyberware and require computing knowledge to use their installed programs, Sandevistan is a synthetic spine (as show in Edgerunners when David installed it) that gives you superspeed on demand, hell Kerenzikov is not even an OS and yet because it was a thing in the OG TTRPG it also has a description: that it is similar to Sandevistan but it's on all the time and instead of superspeed it improves reflexes. But Berserk, being a Cyberpunk 2077 addition, doesn't have a whole lot of descriptions surrounding it besides "it significantly enhances the user's physical capabilities" and then describing it's in-game properties (a few Berserks mention using nano-technology in the wiki, but they don't explain how it makes someone survive 1000 LMG rounds for 12s, for instance. Celular regen, perhaps? But I thought Chitin already did that, so what does Berserk actually do?). So my question is, how does the Cyberpunk universe explain how Berserk gives the user temporary invincibility besides "user is stronger when active"?

22 Comments

  1. beetboxbento

    Sandevistan isn’t a spinal implant. David’s was and it was different.

    You can’t fully fit gameplay elements into actual lore The berserk mods are similar to health items, in that they keep you going, but lore wise would never actually protect you or heal you from the kind of lethal injuries that V receives.

  2. Fluid_Jellyfish9620

    by making your love hit like a truck

  3. ErectLurantis

    I imagine it just pumps a shit ton of adrenaline into your body

  4. Mykytagnosis

    It makes you see red.

    The rest is Placebo.

  5. Plane-Education4750

    I’d argue it doesn’t need an explanation outside of “science-y bullshit make strong.” Fallout doesn’t explain how stimpacks work, and they even made it into the show

  6. Farouche_33

    It injects every Ritual fm songs in your brain all at once

  7. Unlimitles

    I think it’s regulating Adrenals and boosting them as needed.

    So that effect comes from this.

    Think of Tony Montana all Hopped up on Cocaine, a berserk user is probably feeling just like that, able to take tons of shots because the adrenaline pumping is making him not feel it.

    I think the berserk aspect of this is that as you keep getting adrenaline pumped into you while you are being shot to death, your mind still knows what’s going on, and it’s causing you to both panic and retaliate, making you look berserk in the process, on top of the adrenaline pushing you to the limits while it’s active.

    on berserk, you probably look like a cyberpsycho without the Cyberpsychosis

  8. GabrielBischoff

    It goes Ding when there’s stuff.

  9. Kami_Slayer2

    It pretty much makes you immune to pain and triggers your fight or flight response. Pumping you full of adrenaline.

    You can pretty much keep fighting unless you physically cant anymore. You can fight through critical injuries that would debiletate someone normal.

    Doesnt make you unkillable like ingame tho

  10. I believe it’s supposed to massively spike adrenaline, sorta like when a small woman lifts a car to save her child or shit like that.

    Also probably some drug cocktail similar to what Viking bererkers would do

  11. SyntheticDreams2099

    It streams images of political raigbait directly to your brain.

  12. Johnny_Boi_Silver

    basically just picture yourself in a street fight… you’re winning, you’ve got him cornered, he’s bleeding like crazy, and then he starts laughing like a maniac……….

  13. DeftestY

    President Armstrong says its nanobots. It’s honestly the only thing that makes sense.

  14. BoldlyGettingThere

    It works great. Thanks for asking.

  15. YoloMan006

    A shit ton of adrenaline, some of that Max Doc juice and pure faith

  16. Dendargon

    There are three experimental augmentation in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided very similar to the three S.O. of 2077: Remote Hacking (Cyberdeck), Focus Enhancement (Sandevistan) and Titan (Bersek). So if it works for the D.E. universe maybe its valid for 2077:

    *A neodymium skin underlay matrix built of nano-meshed rare earth magnets and powered with hook-ins to the* [*Biocell*](https://deusex.fandom.com/wiki/Biocell) *electrical system, the TITAN skin augmentation can be activated at will and then dissipated instantaneously.The neodymium underlay is installed with a few thousand ampoules of dimorphic magnetorheological fluid (a carbonyl iron mix with a prismatic foam nano-structure). When activated, the fluid is ejected from tiny nozzles installed throughout the skin. Simultaneously, the neodymium underlay electrifies, causing the fluid to solidify and seal the user inside an iron shell, effectively protecting them from all physical damage.Its high energy consumption can be somewhat reduced by further upgrades.*Negate incoming damage for a short period of time.

    [https://deusex.fandom.com/wiki/Titan](https://deusex.fandom.com/wiki/Titan)

  17. digitalbladesreddit

    We are questioning the existence of combat drugs vs the existence of something that actually makes you faster like a super hero like the flash … You fail to entertain me. No it was not shown in the Anime, yet it exists in the game. Don’t try to explain how Second Life works in the game. I am guessing your soul gets replaced by a copy every time.

  18. once-was-hill-folk

    Probably delivers something like the Berserker combat drug and/or CyberSteroids from Chromebook 3.

  19. Corgi_SBS

    Alright, so to begin, allow me to clarify that how the Berserk Cyberware works in lore and on the tabletop mechanically are not the same as its gameplay function in 2077 itself. 2077 prioritizes fun gameplay over 100% accuracy, which is not a criticism (in fact I prefer it that way), but that does mean some elements of the video game aren’t 1:1 with its lore.

    As for how Berserk works, let’s start with its official description in the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission Kit, the starter kit expansion for Cyberpunk Red (the current incarnation for the tabletop game that inspired 2077) that adds in some 2070s items, including Berserk. On page 34 of the CEMK Rule Book, the listing for the Berserk Implant says:

    >Hormone regulation implant designed to improve the user’s fight or flight response.

    That’s all it says in terms of flavor text, however as for what it really *does* on the tabletop, the Berserk Implant essentially allows a user to temporarily (60 seconds) ignore any and all effects or penalties from being Seriously Wounded (at less than 1/2 max HP) and Mortally Wounded (At or below 0 HP, has to make Death Saves each turn to see if they die or not), except for Death Saves. To summarize that for those not used to Red’s mechanics, it lets you rampage and push your body past its wounds and injuries for a short time, but doesn’t actually make you invulnerable.

    However, this is not the end of the story. Berserk is almost certainly based on an actual street drug in both Cyberpunk 2020 (the first iteration of the TTRPG) and Cyberpunk Red, that being Berserker. Berserker works slightly different in both games, but they function extremely similarly to how the Berserk Implant works mechanically, so I think it’s fair to at least presume that the 2070s Berserk is a more perfected way of using Berserker or at least achieving the same outcome.

    As for what Berserker is described as doing, in Cyberpunk 2020 it’s a Militech Combat Drug that, in Chromebook #3 on page 17, is stated to:

    >It’s just as bad as it sounds, this drug heightens the user’s aggression, and makes him apathetic about his own safety.

    In 2020 it also had other effects such as causing slight Humanity Loss and damage from overstressing the body, but I don’t have the space to explain 2020’s mechanics in depth so we’re going to move on from that. In Cyberpunk Red (Specifically, the free Hornet’s Phamacy DLC on page 2), Berserker is described with:

    >“Plan to walk into a fight you’re not ready for? Take some Berserker and at least your body won’t give out on you. I’ve seen a Solo on Berserker shrug off a rifle shot that blew off her leg, and proceed to strangle the shooter to death with her bare hands.”

    Sadly, the World of 2077 and Collector’s Edition Art Book don’t have any information on the Berserk in 2077 itself, and I don’t know of any other exact mention of it in official 2077-related media, so I don’t have much more info on how that version of it works in specific.

    That said, with all of the above information, I think it’s fair to make the extrapolation that Berserk uses either an injected substance or control of existing substances in the human body to induce a state of incredible pain tolerance and resistance, allowing a wounded cyber-soldier to remain standing despite grievous injuries. It doesn’t truly make you invulnerable, but it gives you the chance to get back on your feet and stay in the fight until a medic finds you or you die trying. At least, that’s my take on it based on the lore and facts presented.

    I don’t necessarily agree with everyone else in this thread that it’s just providing pure adrenaline, as that’s not really how adrenaline entirely works and, looking at it from a cyberpunk angle, I think the megacorps can do better than *just* adrenaline being pumped into your brain, don’t you?

    Anyway, hope that helps!

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