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The First Berserker: Khazanis finally here, bringing us 2025’s first soulslike with a gorgeous art style, exhilarating combat, and immensely challenging and engaging encounters. If you’re looking for a worthwhile entry in this beloved genre while waiting for FromSoft’s next masterpiece, this will fill that void nicely.
That being said, there are a surprising amount of systems and mechanics at play in this game, which can be a bit too much to take in at times. While this is solid news for build and gameplay variety, the sheer amount of things you must pay attention to at a given time can put your mental stack into overdrive. Luckily, once you have a firm grasp of everything, you will feel like an absolute badass. It will just take some time!
Stamina Is Crucial
If you’re familiar with the soulslike genre, you might be thinking,‘Of course Stamina is crucial,‘but we cannot express how much more crucial it is in The Last Berserker: Khazan, as itdictates pretty much everything you doduring combat. In something like Dark Souls, you can largely neglect Endurance after a while and focus on Vitality, Dexterity, or Strength, but that’s just not feasible here.
Unless you’re a parry master, there will bemany times where you block an attack string, only to be able to get one attack outafterward, as yourStamina Recovery isn’t up to snuff,putting you in avery vulnerable situationwhere blocking the next attack can place you in anexhausted state.
Not only that, butmany Skills require Stamina to use,and not being able to use them to their full potential after blocking leaves lots of damage on the table. Landing aperfect parry won’t drain your Stamina,but that’seasier said than done,so we strongly recommend not neglecting theEndurance or Willpower Statsduring your playthrough!
Exploration Is Key To Success
Like most soulslikes, there aremany areas for you to explorein The First Berserker: Khazan, filled with formidable foes and goodies,rewarding you for going off the beaten path.We strongly urge you tothoroughly check every nook and cranny,as you can get some excellent gear relatively early on that will help you tremendously.
SinceGear is a crucial aspectof this game,you will often get a substantial boost by just poking around, opening Chests, and defeating Elite Enemies.So, instead of gunning straight to the boss of each Mission, stay awhile and explore. You will likelybe much stronger and capableof handling the area’s boss.
Furthermore, youcan only find more Netherworld Energy by exploring,which serves as yourprimary Healing Item.You will only havethree at the start andwill need any extra you can get,especially during the later encounters!
Give Each Weapon Type A Fair Shake
There arethree weapon typesin The First Berserker: Khazan, theDual Wield, Greatsword, and Spear,all containingunique Skillsfor you to unlock, allowing you tobecome more and more proficient with the weaponover time. This also allows you tofine-tune a build to your playstyle:
No matter what your preferred playstyle is, westrongly recommend giving each weapon a fair shake,assome of the Skills available can drastically change the general feel and flowof the weapon, which could end up making the Spear your favorite weapon even if you prefer the more fast-paced action of the Dual Wield!
Don’t Be Afraid To Respec Skills Often
Skillsare the bread and butter of any build, as theyallow you to utilize your preferred weapon to its fullest potential,giving you access tomany potent abilitiesthat can help you turn the tide of battle in your favor. There will likely be moments where you spend your hard-earned Skill Points on a Skill and may not like it or rarely use it.
Fortunately, youcan Forget a Skill at any point at no cost and can even Reset All Skill Pointsif you don’t like your current build at all. So, if youput all your eggs in the Greatsword basket but don’t like how the weapon feels,you can easilyget all your Skill Points back and try out the Spear or Dual Wield weaponsinstead!
You can alsoreset your Stats,which requires a specific item that only resets one Stat at a time. Using aPrimeval Regression Orbwillreturn all the Lacrima you spent on a Statback to you, allowing you toredistribute it as you see fit.It can be beneficial if you feel you over-leveled a specific Stat!
Spend Your Vengeance Points
What areVengeance Points,you may be asking yourself? Well, they are acrucial yet deceivingly hidden currencythat cangive you a pretty substantial boostin combat. See, after youdefeat the Blade Phantom and reach the Crevicefor the first time, you canaccess Khazan’s Memoriesvia theBlade Nexus(Red/Purple Swords).
ViewingKhazan’s Memories will bring you to a mapwith all the locations you’ve been to,showcasing each Mission you have active or completed.While the game doesn’t directly tell you this anywhere,you will earn Vengeance Points for each Mission you complete,which can then be spent within this menu.
Pressing Square/X within the Khazan’s Memories tabwill bring upthree separate Stats you’re able to increasevia Vengeance Points. You can either increaseStamina Damage dealt to enemies,youroverall Damage Output,or yourDamage Multiplier.All are incredibly useful, soensure you upgrade these each time you finish a Mission!
Bosses Can Be Revisited
Unlike most games in the genre,you will be able to revisit any boss in the gameby simplyreloading a Mission, picking the nearest Blade Nexus to their arena, and entering it.While this may seem a bit odd at first, itserves a crucial aspect of the gameand is alsoa tremendous way to farm Lacrimaif you feel like you need to level a few Stats.
Aside from that, you willeventually gain access to a Blacksmithlater in your adventures who canCraft Gear Setsfor you,some requiring specific resources that only drop from certain bosses.So, similar to something of a Monster Hunter, youcan farm these materials by fighting the same boss repeatedlyto get the Gear Set you want!
Gear Sets Can Make A Substantial Difference
Speaking ofGear Sets,they are asolid way to squeeze more power and potential from your weapons and build.Gear Sets willoffer unique perks depending on how many pieces of the Set you have equipped,withsome even offering unique Skillsyou can use during combat.
Some will offer more overall damage when using specific Skills,whileothers will raise certain Stats,allowing you to increase yourStamina Recovery or Max Healthby equipping a set number of Gear from the Set. For example, the Nomad Gear Set has the following bonuses:
While youshouldn’t stress over not having a complete Gear Setequipped at all times, it’sdefinitely worth keeping an eye out for,assome of the bonuses make them worth equipping over other pieces of equipmentthat may seem better at a glance. Youcan also mix Gear Sets for multiple bonuses from different Sets,which can be useful for specific encounters or situations!
Not As Punishing As You May Expect
Despite being a soulslike,The First Berserker: Khazan isn’t as punishing as you may expect.This isn’t to say it isn’t challenging, as it certainly has its fair share of immensely tough and seemingly insurmountable boss encounters, which makes ita godsend that you earn Lacrima for simply fighting a boss.
Yup, you read that right. Youearn the currency used to level up your Stats by fighting the boss.Whether you prevail or fall short,you will always get Lacrima, no matter the outcome. Furthermore,your dropped Lacrima will also always be placed just outside of the boss gate,allowing you toreclaim them without having to use an item or fight the boss.
Thesetwo simple additions make things substantially more manageable,as youdon’t have to worry about losing a large sum of Lacrima and can level up a crucial Statif things aren’t going your way at all. Additionally,there are also A TON of Accessibility Optionsavailable in theSettings,as well as anEasy Difficultythat can be very useful to you if you find things to be too overbearing!
Changing the Difficulty from Normal to Easy will permanently lock you into that Difficulty for the remainder of your playthrough. So, only switch to it if you feel things are a bit overtuned for your tastes!
Spirit Of Advocacy
Another way you’re able to make things a bit more manageable if you find yourself struggling is by using theSpirit of Advocacies.While there is no co-op or online play in The First Berserker: Khazan, you can stillsummon NPCs that will fight alongside youduring boss encounters.
Additionally, youcan also make these summons substantially strongerwith a couple of methods. The first is by using thePhantom Veronika the Advocate,as she willallow the summoned Spirit of Advocacy to deal more damage.you may alsospeak with DaphronainThe Crevicetoupgrade Spirits of AdvocacywithLacrima of Circulation.
Here, you canupgrade the summoned Spirit’s Max Health, Damage, and Stamina,making them a worthy ally for when you’re struggling to take down a formidable foe. While not for everyone, having this option available, along with everything else outlined above, makes things far less punishing for newcomers or players having a difficult time!
