Blazing Through The First Berserker: Khazan (Minor spoilers)
The First Berserker: Khazan is a stylish action game that’s firmly rooted in the Soulslike tradition. That tradition includes sometimes punishing difficulty. But hey, that’s why we love these games, right? However, the developers have emphasized that, no matter how difficult their game is, they want to incentivize the player to keep trying. They’ve added some smart mechanics to the Soulslike formula that will do just that. If that wasn’t enough, here are a few more tips and tricks to help you get started and keep you going.
5. Pump Your Points into Vitality
It’s a good strategy for FromSoftware games, and it works in Khazan, too. Survivability is the name of the early game, so spend all of your points towards making that life bar a little longer. New weapons unlock after the first boss. Then, you can add points to strength and/or stamina. If you feel like you’ve made some poor choices along the way and need to re-spec Khazan, there’s an item for that a little later in the game.
When you’re defeated by a boss, your lacrima (i.e. souls) are waiting for you outside the boss room, plus a little extra for your trouble. It’s a simple mechanic that makes repeated attempts literally rewarding. You never need to run a gauntlet just to reach the boss every time you die. It also allows the developer the luxury of making bosses just a little more difficult. You’re never punished for failure. Other than forgetting to go to work because you obsessively kept playing.
4. Speaking of Weapons
The First Berserker: Khazan doesn’t feature a wide range of weapon types, but it does give you dozens of variations on the basic three. Each weapon category has a multifaceted skill tree, with some devastating special attacks and buffs. Additionally, weapons synergize with armor, especially complete armor sets. You can reset the weapon skill points at will, which encourages experimentation at strategic approaches to bosses. The First Berserker: Khazan expects players to continuously reconfigure, but in reality, you’ll probably enjoy one weapon more than the others.
3. Practice on the Lowlifes
Like in many FromSoft games and their imitators, bosses in The First Berserker: Khazan have a particular set of signature moves and/or elemental damage capabilities. Each area gives you plenty of low-value targets and a few Elite enemies to grind through. Pay special attention to the mini-boss Elites as they are excellent training for the area’s end boss. For example, the first mini-bosses of the game are Yetis, and they have many of the same attacks and weaknesses as the area’s final, fearsome boss.
2. Don’t Worry, Help is Eventually on the Way
Soulslike veterans will feel immediately at home in The First Berserker: Khazan, but they might wonder about some seemingly absent mechanics. Don’t worry, whatever you’re looking for will probably come a little later. The First Berserker: Khazan unlocks new abilities and mechanics at a leisurely pace, which makes sense in terms of the narrative. So, unlocking crafting, weapon upgrades and summonable allies takes some persistence and playtime. Eventually, you will be able to call in some help — and have a choice as to their particular strengths — but they’re not going to beat the boss for you. They work best as a distraction and to draw the boss’s attention away from you so you can heal, buff, and sneak in some powerful attacks.
1. Once Again, Practice the Parry and Dodge
Just about every Soulslike demands that you master its particular dodge, block, and parry mechanics, including The First Berserker: Khazan. Like most games in the genre, The First Berserker: Khazan has a fairly precise parry window, and an especially devastating perfect parry mechanic called Reflection. There’s also a perfect dodge. Sure, it might be possible to brute force your way through the game with a strong weapon and lots of consumables but it would be a slog. Use those first hours to practice blocking, parrying, and dodging on every enemy you can. Upgrade your passive Reflection skill, too, as it will be useful in all situations.
If there are constants across all of The First Berserker: Khazan’s bosses, it’s that they have two phases and they deal elemental damage of one type or another (or multiple types). The biggest secret to the game’s bosses is that in one phase, the boss is weak to dodges, and in the other, perfect parries. Master those moves and some bosses — or at least some phases — become almost easy.
Bonus Tip: Grind and Over-level in the Early Game
Leveling happens pretty fast in the first hours of The First Berserker: Khazan. So, instead of rushing through to the next area or boss, rinse and repeat for a while (enemies respawn when you rest). In addition to practicing those all-important basic moves, new weapons and consumables will continue to drop. You’ll pretty quickly be a few levels over “recommended.” Unless you’re seriously over-leveled the game will still be challenging but less frustrating. And if you get really stuck, you can change to the Easy setting after the first boss (however, you can’t switch back). The Easy setting is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it does make the game a bit more accessible to the less masochistically inclined.