Berserk
A state of mind which is a harsh reality for soldiers in dangerous conflicts. Derived from the Germanic word "Bear-Clad", it is a rage named after Viking warriors dressed in bear furs, intoxicated by mushrooms and spirits, engaging in frenzied combat. Today, Berserk is sometimes synonymous with blind rage or uncontrolled frenzy, as a soldier mindlessly fires off his weapon, regardless of proximity of friend or foe.
Testing when aliens are at 0 Morale shows that totally demoralized aliens berserk (as opposed to panic) ~36% of the time:
| Descriptions | Min | Ave ± SDs | Max | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count of aliens berserking, out of 16 |
1 | 5.72 ± 1.78 | 10 | Across 118 tests of 16 aliens. 118 x 16 = 1,888 tests. |
| Percent of aliens berserking, out of 16 |
6.25% | 35.75 ± 11.11% | 62.5% | Same numbers as previous line, times 100/16 |
Each test is the number of aliens that berserked (instead of panicked) out of 16 aliens at 0 Morale. There were 118 tests of 16 demoralized aliens (raw N 675/1888). My (MTR) guess is that the true value for this number (X-COM's target value) is 35%.
As you can see, there's a lot of variability. With a rate a little over one third, it's fairly common, too.
Percent berserking may or may not differ if Morale is significantly higher than 0 (but this takes more work to test).