Best Skills For Dual Blades In The First Berserker: Khazan

Summary

The First Berserker: Khazan offers players a unique identity with an anime art style and deep combat encounters.
Players can choose from three weapon categories with unique movesets and skill trees, allowing for diverse playstyles.
Investing in specific skills like Whirlwind, Blowback, and Gale can significantly enhance damage output and combat effectiveness.

The First Berserker: Khazan has only just released, but it's already gaining a reputation as a Soulslike with its own style and some deep, challenging combat encounters. The anime art style and random loot system puts the game in a bracket of its own, with elements of other action RPGs, like the Souls games and Nioh, blending together to give the game a unique identity.

There is a lot of random loot, but only three overall weapon categories: Dual Wield, Greatswords, and Spears. Each type of weapon has its own moveset and some pretty in-depth skill trees, so players aren't too limited in their choice of playstyle. Yet, with five skill trees for each weapon type, players will need to make some tough choices about how they want to invest their skill points.

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By Ollie Tuscarny

Players can respec in The First Berserker: Khazan, but it's quite limited until the end of the game and the New Game Plus. That means it can be useful to know what skills are going to help with getting through the campaign. With that in mind, these are some of the best skills to invest in for Dual Blades.

9 Blazing Assault

Longer combos

The First Berserker Khazan dual blades attacking-1

Effect: Enables a fifth swift attack
Requirements: N/A
Skill Tree: Dual Wield > Swift Attack

Blazing Assault is the most basic skill in the Swift Attack tree, so any player that wants to get either Whirlwind or Howling Blade will have to invest in this first. This enables longer combos for the players' swift attacks, so it's a useful skill, given the Dual Wield blades' relatively fast attack speed.

8 Whirlwind

Spinning Slash

The First Berserker Khazan dual blades whirlwind rising

Effect: Leaping attack with a spinning slash, which can be followed up with a downward slash
Requirements: Mastery level 2
Skill Tree: Dual Wield > Swift Attack

Whirlwind is one of the early skills that Dual Wield players should prioritize purchasing. This move lets players use a potent blow after a swift attack or dodge attack to perform a leaping, spinning strike. This can be chained into a downward slash with another press of the potent blow (heavy attack) button.

This move deals decent damage, but it can be further augmented with an additional follow-up, faster attack speed, and additional effects against large enemies, with the linked skills in the Swift Attack skill tree.

7 Blowback

Brink Guard Damage

The First Berserker Khazan dual blades skill tree

Effect: Deals damage to enemies on a successful brink guard
Requirements: N/A
Skill Tree: Dual Wield > Guard

The Dual Wield weapons in The First Berserker: Khazan have synergies both for swift dodging and for perfect guarding, or brink guarding as it's called in the game. Blowback is a basic but powerful skill in the Dual Wield Guard skill tree that deals damage to enemies when players successfully brink guard.

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By Dominic O'Leary

This gets even more powerful with the linked skill Blowback: Vengeance, which lets players swiftly counterattack and can be used to execute Whirlwind or Howling Blade quickly.

6 Gale

Stacking Damage

The First Berserker Khazan dual blades Gale attacking injured enemy

Effect: Charged potent blows inflict injured status on enemies
Requirements: Mastery level 2
Skill Tree: Dual Wield > Potent Blow

Gale is an important move for Dual Wield weapons that can deal incredible damage when used effectively. Gale causes charged potent blows to inflict a status effect called "Injured" on enemies. When players hit an injured enemy, they gain a stack of vigor, which buffs the player's damage. Vigor can stack up to ten times, which makes the damage buff quite significant.

The linked skills Gale: Scar and Gale: Smash can make this even more effective by allowing the player to detonate accumulated stacks of vigor on enemies for massive damage. This can be particularly useful against larger enemies and in longer boss fights.

5 Ruthless

Escalating Attacks

The First Berserker Khazan dual blades ruthless flurry

Effect: A flurry of quick slashes that can be extended with follow-up inputs
Requirements: Mastery level 2
Skill Tree: Dual Wield > Frenzy

Ruthless is an extended flurry of blows that can quickly decimate enemy health bars. The move costs one spirit to initiate, but it can be continued until the player runs out of stamina or stops attacking.

Either way, stopping the flurry executes a final attack; if the move has reached maximum attack speed, this final attack deals increased damage. This move can output a lot of damage quickly, and the linked skill Ruthless: Strength means players can't be interrupted during the flurry, making it even more effective.

4 Deftness

Gap-Closing Dodge

The First Berserker Khazan dual blades deftness

Effect: Dodging forward while attacking chains into a dodge attack
Requirements: Mastery level 2
Skill Tree: Dual Wield > Penetrate

Deftness is a skill that greatly increases mobility in combat. With this skill, players can dodge forward while in the middle of an attack to chain into a dodge attack, which dodges forward while attacking.

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By Ewan Lewis

The dodge has normal dodge invincibility frames, so it can be very useful for avoiding damage while committing to light attack combos. The linked skill, Deftness: Lighfoot, increases the dodge range, and the skill also works with the additional invincibility frames from the Disciplined Action skills in the same tree.

3 Wind Piercer

Axe Throw

The First Berserker Khazan dual blades wind piercer follow up

Effect: Throw an axe at an enemy, then quickly dash to its location to follow-up
Requirements: Mastery level 10
Skill Tree: Dual Wield > Frenzy

Wind Piercer is an active skill from the Frenzy tree that costs two spirit to activate. The skill lets players throw an axe at an enemy, which spins and deals continuous damage, then the player rushes to the axe's location to deliver a follow-up attack if the first attack hits.

Despite the relatively high spirit cost, Wind Piercer can deal significant damage, especially when upgraded with the linked skill Wind Piercer: Persistence, which makes the axe spin for longer and deal more damage. The continuous damage from the axe spin is great for building up elemental status effects.

2 Flash Cutter

Dashing Counter Attack

The First Berserker Khazan dual blades flash cutter charging

Effect: Dash toward the enemy and attack, nullifying incoming damage
Requirements: Mastery level 10
Skill Tree: Dual Wield > Guard

Flash Cutter is an essential active skill for Dual Wield weapons, found in the Guard skill tree. Players hold down the assigned button to charge the skill. The skill is executed when the button is released. When the skill activates, it nullifies incoming damage while rushing toward an enemy to attack.

That means the skill can be held and used as an on-demand counterattack that avoids damage as long as the player has a spirit point. This is powerful on its own, but the linked skills can also help break enemy stances and deliver a stronger counterattack, as well as restore spirit when defeating an enemy.

1 Phantom: Sword Dance

Phantom Attacks

The First Berserker Khazan dual blades phantom sword dance-1

Effect: Buffs Whirlwind or Howling Blade with phantom attacks for 40 seconds
Requirements: Mastery level 18
Skill Tree: Dual Wield > Swift Attack

Phantom: Sword Dance is a latter skill in the Swift Attack tree that every Dual Wield player should invest in. Activating this skill buffs the player for 40 seconds. While active, a phantom will attack enemies whenever the player performs a Whirlwind or Howling Blade attack, adding extra damage.

Since players will always be using one of either Whirlwind or Howling Blade as part of their attack chains, this is a very useful DPS buff. The move can be augmented further with linked skills that allow phantoms to assist with other moves too, like when brink guarding or performing a brutal attack.

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