I am very interested in the continuation of this thread. Do go on, good sir.

As for the 9th Berserk hit, there is more to it than simply a 9th hit with +50% damage. It could be one of the 6 big Warrior hits (Inner Beast, Steel Cyclone, Fracture, Butcher Block, Storm's Eye, or Overpower). It also places the GCD cool down within the 5 second Pacification, reducing the effective time of Pacification. Whereas, with 8 it actually increases the Pacification duration.