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It isn’t a secret thatThe First Berserker: Khazanhas two distinct types of missions: the primary missions, which are finely crafted, multi-tiered stages that are stuffed with content, and the side missions, which primarily feature repurposed content. The bosses that accompany those side missions tend to be similarly recycled, which is why they haven’t typically been given their own guides.
However, while a number of these encounters are repurposed, they do add different elements. Some of them feature a few unique moves, and many of them start in the advanced form. This guide is here to help you clear each one of these encounters. We’ll tell you what is new, and route you to the appropriate guides if they’ve already been covered elsewhere on the site.
Associated Mission
Stormpass' Phantom of Combat
Keshta is a variation of the Blade Phantom. He’ll use the same moveset, except he’ll start combat in the Blade Phantom’s second form. He doesn’t have any additional attacks. Reference ourBlade Phantom guidefor a complete breakdown of how to defeat Keshta.
Night of Tragedy
The Specter of Bhangau is almost identical to Volbaino. However, while the Specter of Bhangau has all the same moves as Volbaino, he doesn’t leap into the air;Instead, he will disappear and then reappear above you.In general, Bhangau’s ability to teleport makes him a trickier encounter, ashe will be able to close distance at a moment’s notice. If you see him disappear, expect him to reappear above you, or in front of you. Either way, prepare to block.
Outside of this ability to teleport, all of Bhangau’s attacks were already seen in the Volbaino battle. For a complete breakdown of these attacks, and how to counter them, take a look at ourVolbaino guide.
You’ll obtainThe Happy Boy and the Deeritem for defeating the Specter of Bhangau.
Blacksmith’s Heirloom
Bearius is a buffed-up version of the standard Wild Bear miniboss. He’s more resilient, and hits harder, but he is otherwise just another bear. However, just in case you’ve dodged those encounters up to this point, here’s an overview of Bearius’s moveset.
Bearius will wind up for all his attacks. If he rears back, it’ll take him a second before he’s actually swinging on you. His big stomp attack, on the other hand, has a much longer delay. He’ll stand on his hind legs before slamming his paw down. With this attack, you are better off watching his head. Once his head comes down, his paw is about to follow. So,time the Brink Gaurd by watching his headand you should be able to parry this attack.
He also has a big uppercut attack, where he will drag his claws on the ground before swinging them up to the sky. Once those claws tough the ground, prepare to Brink Guard or Brink Dodge. He’ll only hold them there for half a beat. In general,his stomp typically follows a left paw swipe and the uppercut follows a right paw swipe.
If Bearius stands up on his hind legs and stretches his arms out, you are dealing with one of three attacks. It is either a fairly quick body splash, a grab, or his Burst Attack. The burst symbol will appear if it is his bear hug attack and if he starts snaking his head to his left, he is going to snatch you with his jaws for his grab. You can Brink Guard the splat, Brink Dodge the grab, and Counterattack the Burst, or you can look tododge to the side and just get away from him once he’s on his hind legs. Personally, I think you are far better off using your dodge, as it is an option that beats all three attacks.
You do want to dodge to his side and attempt to circle him, as if you dodge away he will sometimes be able to close the distance with these attacks.
The only other attack Bearius will use is a roll to his side. If you are beside Bearius, and instead of turning to face you he stops moving for a second, he’s about to roll over onto his side - crushing you in the process. If you see this happening, just run around to his front or his back, and he’ll completely miss you. He’ll then be pretty vulnerable. In fact,after every big attack, Bearius will be vulnerableand Bearius basically only has big attacks (outside his paw swipes, at least).
In general, while Bearius’s attacks are easy enough to time with a Brink Guard, they do a ton of damage, so parrying him can be fairly dangerous. The dodge, on the other hand, works well against every attack in his arsenal and removes a lot of the danger. You can fight him either way, and if you are using the greatsword, you are probably built around guarding, butthe safest strategy is to dodge heavily in this encounter.
You’ll get theBlacksmith’s Heirloom Hammer, which will allow you tocraft weapons and armor.
Human Xilence
Xaldin is just Viper in his first form again. As is the case with most of these optional bosses, Xaldin starts inthe second phaseof thefirst form. So,he’ll have Viper’s leaping attacks, and he’ll use every version of his spear throw right from the beginningof the battle. He is also highly aggressive the moment the battle begins, which, again, is just like Viper during the second phase of his first form.
However, he doesn’t have any unique attacks and I didn’t notice anything particularly different about his attack patterns. He really is just the second phase of the first form of Viper, but extended across a whole health bar. Reference ourViper guidefor a complete breakdown of all his attacks.
Final Conquest
Xilence is Viper in his second form. There is almost no difference between Xilence and Viper in their second form, except he has a little more health. Xilence doesn’t have any attacks that you didn’t see Viper use in his second form. You can reference ourViper guidefor a complete breakdown of his attacks.
Pavel’s Final Words.
Bringkus is another version of Rangkus. The only change that I can see is that he starts in the second form. So, he’ll have access to the fire-based attacks right from the beginning of the battle, which he’ll use frequently. I’d recommend coming into this battle with fire mitigation in mind for that reason alone.
So, load up on fire resistance potions and cures. It isn’t likely that you will have the Dragonknight armor set yet,you should have the Executioner’s set, which will give you some much-needed fire resistance, making parrying his attacks far more viable - I’d recommend wearing it for this battle. You can reference ourRangkus guidefor a complete breakdown of all the attacks Bringkus will use.
Escaping Linnon Mine
Yeturak is another version of Yetuga, though he starts in the second form. So, you may expect him to snatch giant chunks of earth from the ground, leap into the air, and drive it directly into Khazan early. He’ll also be more aggressive from the onset. You can reference ourYetuga guidefor a complete breakdown of his attacks.
Last Command
Sergei is a bossified version of the Pell Los Guardian Knight. When you face off against him, you won’t likely have faced many of these enemies. They are similar to the lance-wielding Pell Los Fighter, and attack using straight thrusts. However, they also havea shield and can nullify most of your attacks. The Greatsword hits hard enough to punch through, andthe Lance has the The Spiral Thrust attack, which punches through shields.
Sergei primarily attacks with spear thrusts. He can cover quite a bit of space when he lunges toward you, andhe tends to attack in twos. So, after dodging a thrust, prepare to dodge another. He’ll also dash forward and try to backhand you with his shield before slamming the shield into the ground. When he does this it is the perfect opportunity to get some hits in.
While you can absolutely time his attacks and block each spear thrust, the better approach is to dodge to the side. That will let you avoid damage far easier.
Unrequited Love
Gwydo is another version of Maluca. However, he’ll start off in Maluca’ssecondform. So, he’ll begin the battle with his katana in hand. This means you’ll need to contend with hisquick-draw shenanigans from the onset of the battle. He will still switch to the same dual sword style Maluca uses, but he will use the enhanced version of his dual sword attacks. It really is just the second form of Maluca all over again. Check out ourMaluca guidefor more information on how to dismantle Gwydo’s moveset.
Atlante The Precise
The Reaper is a renamed version of the Soul Harvester spirit that Bellerian summons during her boss encounter. The only additional ability the Reaper receives is summoning magic. While the Soul Harvested would summon the Renowned Swordman’s Shadow attack, the reaper can summon most of the spirits that Bellerian was able to summon. Unlike Bellerian,the Reaper does not need to charge up skulls to access these summons. However, despite that being the case, he doesn’t spam them, so you don’t need to be concerned about the battlefield becoming littered with archers and dogs.
I say “most summons” as I never saw The Reaper summon an Undead Assassin, so it seems likely that the Reaper doesn’t have that summon in their repertoire.
Just take these summoned spirits out with large horizontal attacks when they appear, and you should be good.Beyond the Reaper’s summoning abilities, the fight isidenticalto the Soul Harvester. So, for a complete breakdown of how to defeat the Reaper, check out theSoul Harvester section of our Bellerian guide.
Crimson Trace
Mutated Rosha is an enhanced version of the Corrupted Creations. An enemy you’ll encounterbeforeyou fight Rosha, in fact. Like the giant spiders you encounter throughout the game, Rosha can use a web attack that will freeze you in place if it lands.Dodging to the sidewill make it easy enough to dodge this attack.
Rosha will attack withseven vertical swipes, swiping from left to right, before she performs aneighth stomp attackto conclude this combo. The best way to deal with this attack is tosprint away from her, leaving her to whiff attacks. If Rosha raises her arm and starts running toward you, then she’ll bring her hand down in a palm slam attack once she gets in range. Additionally, she can perform a massive leaping attack.
Finally, her Burst Attack is a very linear attack, where she will thrust her arm forward. It makes sense to just dodge this attack to the side. In fact, your approach, in general, should be tododge to the side when Rosha performs most of her attacks, and run away when she engages in her prolonged comboattack.
Surprise, surprise. The Remant of Elamein fights the same as Elamein. Like the other specters you’ve fought, she’ll have access to a teleport move. She’ll also have the ability to use all of her attacks right from the beginning.
If she dodges to the side, she’ll often disappear, thenreappear in front of you performing an overhead slash, a spinning side slash, or a shield bash. She’ll always double these up. So, if she reappears with the overhead slash, prepare for her to perform an additional, bigger overhead slash. She’ll do the same thing with the shield bash and spinning attack. So, if you see her disappear,wait for her to reappear and Brink Guard her attacks.
Keep on her, try to circle to her back, perform guard penetrating attacks, and you’ll take Elamein down quickly enough. Of course, you may want to review ourcomprehensive Elamein boss guide.She really is the same boss, just with those teleport shenanigansI mentioned above.
Charon’s Chain
During Charon’s Chain you will need to engage in a mini-bossrush. This will see you square off against the Jocko, which is a variation of the Yetuga, a Tigron, which is a variation of the Wild Bear, and an alternative form of Aratra. The Netherworld versions ofJocko and Tigron are basically unchangedfrom the standard versions. However, Aratra will be in their second form and will have thatspectral teleportation movethat so many of these bosses get.
The teleport maneuver does change this fight quite a bit, as they will be on your butt far more aggressively, and it gives Aratra the ability to close the distance rather quickly. It also allows Aratra to escape when they are vulnerable.If they perform their lunging attack, they may teleport immediately after, and then follow up with another attack.
So, you won’t always have the opportunity to punish them once they whiff one of their powerful moves. Additionally,Aratra will be applying Venom to their limbs early, and you seemingly can’t break body parts this time around. Netherworld Aratra ends up feeling like a different fight as a result.
For a detailed breakdown of all these encounters, you may read ourCharon’s Chainwalkthrough.
