Summary
- The First Berserker: Khazan offers a fresh take on the Soulslike genre with three distinct weapon classes.
- Players can beat tough bosses with any weapon type, but personal preference and playstyle can influence weapon choice.
- The spear offers long-range attacks and stamina damage, while the greatsword provides high single-hit damage and fluid combos.
The First Berserker: Khazan has burst into the gaming world with a new take on the Soulslike genre that includes many elements and key components that make the genre so widely loved and respected. It also introduces plenty of new elements to make the whole experience feel fresh and unique. One of the new approaches taken is related to weaponry, where, rather than overwhelming players with hundreds of different weapon types and classes, the armaments are split into three categories, with each containing a wide range of options, from buffs to specific bonuses.
8 Beginner Tips & Tricks For The First Berserker: Khazan
The hardcore action game The First Berserker: Khazan can be daunting for newcomers, but these tips should help them get started on the right foot.
The way the developers have designed the gameplay, skill tree, and the weapons themselves makes any of the three choices perfectly viable for an entire playthrough. Players will have no trouble beating even the hardest bosses with any weapon type they choose and are freely able to swap between each thanks to the ability to respec and restat skills. With that being said, however, one's choice of weapon type does come down to personal preference and the specific style the player is looking for. There are certainly some aspects of each that outshine the others in specific ways, and with so many abilities and combinations possible, it is hard to decide which one is stronger than the other as a whole. While it is true that there are certain situations where a player might favor one over another, it is clear in just a single playthrough that each has its rightful place in the lineup, but there are many times when players will want to use one over another.
3 Dual Wield
A Great Starting Choice For A Budding Berserker
- Pros: Fast, Sustained Damage, Chain Attacks
- Cons: Short Range, Lower Single-Hit Damage
- Best Skills: Gale, Flash Cutter, Whirlwind
This is the very first weapon type that The First Berserker: Khazan players can access, and it's certainly a powerful one at that. The dual wield weapon class offers a fast-paced, aggressive playstyle that involves sticking to a target and brushing off oncoming attacks to dish out ridiculous combos and inputs to shred through any enemy who gets in the way. It is an incredibly effective weapon against most regular enemies, as even without using skills or spirit charges, players can stun-lock smaller foes incredibly easily with fast hits and constant damage output. It pretty much takes the hack-n-slash formula and pushes it to the limit, letting players unlock a bunch of skills that allow for additional insanity like Frenzy. The rest of the skill tree is equally fun and exciting, offering several options for both impressive mobility and reliable sustained DPS for dealing with larger foes once they have been staggered.
Best Early Weapons In The First Berserker: Khazan, Ranked
Early on in the game, these are the best weapons to use in The First Berserker: Khazan.
The biggest drawback is the weapon's reach. The other two options for weaponry offer some great distanced attacks, which makes dealing with single enemies from afar incredibly easy and helps with spacing larger groups as well. With the dual wield weapon, however, players need to get much closer when compared with the other options, and closing the gap isn't always an easy task, especially when there's an onslaught of arrows and explosions heading towards them.
Thankfully, there are some later unlocks in the Penetrate Tree that allow for some added options when it comes to mobility and attacks in between, like Aggressive Action, which allows the player to use a potent blow during a dodge, letting them mix up the flow of combat with some heavy hits in between evasion. Overall, the dual wield class is by no means weak, and players will have no trouble picking it up and bringing it to battle against even the toughest enemies, but it for sure struggles in certain scenarios where the greatsword and spear can really shine.
2 Spear
Poking From Afar
- Pros: Long-Range Attacks, High Stamina Damage, Easy Skillset
- Cons: Proficiency and Willpower Scaling So Lower Overall Damage, High Level Required For The Best Skills
- Best Skills: Moonlight, Quick Slash, Breakdown
Out of the three choices available, the spear is, in a lot of ways, the jack-of-all-trades when it comes to speed, mobility, reach, and crowd-control, taking a lot of the good parts of each weapon and fusing them into one piece. It is fair to say that, traditionally, spears are often neglected when it comes to Soulslikes, as other weapon classes, like giant swords or lightning-fast daggers, are often seen as more fun, flashy, or just straight-up better. But in Khazan, they are an incredibly powerful option, offering multiple approaches when it comes to tackling the hard bosses found throughout the game.
The biggest draw for the spear is the stamina damage. Breaking an enemy's posture quickly is very important for dealing significant damage to their health bar, and the spear is by far the best at doing this. Many of the skills change depending on the circumstance (whether the stance has been broken, for instance), which opens up a lot of variety in the combat and keeps it feeling rewarding and engaging throughout.
Despite being versatile and powerful, the spear class does have a significant downside that has nothing to do with the gameplay of the weapon. The main scaling for the class is willpower and proficiency, which means that, although the player will be shredding through stamina bars like there's no tomorrow, at the same time, the actual damage output afterward and the small chips throughout a long fight will be measurably lower than the other options. This can be frustrating and mean breaking the posture bar an extra time. Even with this downside, the spear is a great choice and is very easy to learn and use in any situation. It also has some incredibly fun options when it comes to skill-point usage further down the skill tree.
1 Greatsword
As Close To The Berserk Fantasy As It Gets
- Pros: High Single-Hit Damage, Fluid Combo Potential, Defensive + Offensive Skills Combined
- Cons: Slow Attacks, More Punishing On Missed Abilities
- Best Skills: Armor Breaker, Avenger, Phantom: Night's Veil
Removing all the gameplay elements and just looking purely at how the weapon feels to use, the greatsword is by far the most enjoyable and satisfying of the three weapon types, with every move feeling like a carefully calculated action. The mistakes can be severe, but once the player has had some time to adapt to how the weapon plays and how the skills function with it, fighting bosses and larger enemies can feel like cinematic spectacles straight out of a cutscene, with each challenge and foe that crosses paths with the sword being sliced in two in just a few swipes. It almost feels as though the game was designed with the greatsword in mind as the sole weapon choice, as every single skill feels meaningful and purposeful, delivering absurd damage output and some serious DPS that is hard to match with the other weapons.
8 Best Adventure Soulslike Games, Ranked
These great soulslike (and soulslike-adjacent games) emphasize the spirit of adventure through their thrilling combat and enticing narratives.
Soulslikes like Khazan and Sekiro often feel like rhythm games. The inputs are precise and not overly spammy. The decision-making is also quick and requires perfect execution. The greatsword delivers these things perfectly and goes above and beyond with the skill expression and satisfying gameplay. The skill tree is enough to draw anyone to it, with skills like Armor Breaker and the rest of that tree allowing the player to weave in powerful hits between each block, keeping the fight going on the offensive whilst maintaining a defensive stance.
Of course, like any weapon in the game, it does have downsides that can make it feel weaker at times. Slower attacks are the biggest aspect that needs to be learned and managed when figuring out the greatsword moveset, but there are some handy tools like the ghost arm that all but mitigate this weakness and allow the player to show off their knowledge and prowess of the enormous blades. Though it can be nice to swap between weapons and try new things, it is almost a guarantee that if a player swaps to the greatsword for a test run, they will wonder why they didn't change sooner and will likely never go back.
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 81 /100 Critics Rec: 83%
- Released
- March 27, 2025
- Developer(s)
- Neople
- Publisher(s)
- Nexon
