The First Berserker: Khazan Guide | Best Greatsword Build and Ways To Play

Starting out with the Greatsword? Here are a few tips and tricks on the best way to play the Greatsword in The First Berserker: Khazan

Game Guide by Ornstein on Mar 28, 2025

In this guide, you will learn why the Greatsword is a phenomenal weapon in The First Berserker: Khazan, even if it initially feels slow. With the right skills, it becomes an aggressive, stagger-capable delight. You will learn about the basic skills, the whole skill tree, and the different Greatsword sets that can help you do better.

If you follow these suggestions and tips, you will learn how to chain moves, keep track of your spirit and stamina, and finally become a Greatsword master.

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Core Skills

From the start, you will focus on a few important skills. First, get Savage Momentum, which will take the place of your Swift Attacks and be your main way to start the game. You will use regular light attacks only when facing minor enemies.

Next, Phantom Knights Veil not only deals with respectable damage but also grants you a buff that turns your charged attacks into energy waves, staggering foes, and letting you quickly chain moves.

Heavy Pressure is crucial for linking your moves, as it enhances your heavy and charged attacks, creating a cycle of initiating moves with Savage Momentum, followed by potent blows. Combat Cadence is your core engagement move that works with Savage Momentum to provide a strong double-dodge opener.

Lastly, Furious Swipe is your free, powerful engagement tool that can chain into your full combo. These core skills will form the foundation of your aggressive combat style.

Main Combo Techniques

You have to wait until your energy meter is full, which is about five units, before you can use anything. You could first dodge. Then, press the right button to deal damage. Last, you could really push. If you need to avoid an attack, you can start with a Furious Swipe instead. Your goal is to deliver a potent blow after each skill, even if it uses a lot of spirit.

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With practice, you will seamlessly chain moves such as a dodge into Combat Cadence into Savage Momentum, then into Mortal Blow. Heavy Pressure makes it easier to move, which lets you do these combos faster and stay on the offense while regaining spirit as needed.

Skill Tree Overview

As you move through the skill tree, you can see how each branch helps you play aggressively. Savage Momentum is still very important because it has a wide effect and works well with Heavy Pressure.

Manifest Power lets you use heavy attacks from farther away, which is important because the Greatsword isn't very mobile. The heat of Battle provides a passive boost that lets you withstand attacks while dealing extra damage. Overwhelm increases charging speed and damage after your chain moves, although you might only see its benefits later in the game.

Mortal Blow, a strong offensive move, becomes much more powerful once upgraded to Bloodshed. Giant Hunt is a reliable ability against bosses, and its upgrade, Giant Hunt Leap, adds forward Momentum to your attacks.

Defensive options like Ghost Arm Block help you execute a Brink Guard while charging up your moves, and Indominable allows you to shrug off damage while regaining spirit. Upgraded abilities such as Breakthrough Limit and Helm Break turn simple moves into devastating re-engagement options.

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Passives like Dodge Stamina and Defense Stamina provide incremental improvements, but your focus should remain on your core offensive and defensive skills.

Furious Swipe and its upgrade, Furious Swipe Pursuit, and Armor Breaker provide effective counterattacks. Heartpiercer speeds up your charged strikes and stops boss moves in their tracks.

When you combine these moves with your Brink Guard, they make a strong counterplay system that makes you much more powerful in battle.

Set Bonuses

Locked skills in your tree are amplified by set bonuses you unlock as you progress. For instance, Limit Break Apex can further charge your heavy attack, while Phantom Thanatos Wave increases the energy waves from Phantom Knights Veil.

Later in the game, you will acquire sets like the Flesh Ripper set, which boosts your charge damage and stamina efficiency by 15% and, upon reaching Epic rarity, enhances your Phantom Thanatos Wave. You will notice a significant difference in heavy attack damage and extra hits compared to unmodified attacks.

Another option is the Crimson Fiend set, built around Mortal Blow. This set provides stamina recovery and an extra 10% damage on all charged attacks. It enhances Mortal Blow by an additional 20%, culminating in a murderous upgrade that lets you chain quick-charged attacks.

If you prefer a defensive approach, the Chaos Ridden set offers static health regeneration during Brink Guard, increased spirit accumulation, and culminates in Volcanic Wrath—a decisive multi-hit spirit dump move.

Other sets like The Fugitive Mage set, which focuses on counterattacks, and the Spider set, which boosts Ghost Arm Block. You could use the neglected Greatsword set from the Ashen Wolf set early on because it lowers the cost of dodge stamina and speeds up health recovery, but later choices may be better.

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Jar and Auxiliary Sets

Later, you will collect jars that reduce set requirements and enhance set bonuses. Once you reach the Epic and Legendary tiers, a jar will allow you to receive full set bonuses with fewer pieces, plus a ring and necklace can add additional benefits.

For auxiliary sets, you have two primary choices: the Defector set, which boosts spirit accumulation on every Brink Guard and charged attack, and the Bishop set, which increases stamina damage by 10% on Brink Dodge and adds a 15% flat damage bonus when using Furious Swipe. Choose between extra spirit recovery or a direct damage boost based on your preferred playstyle.

Stats and Progression

Your success with the Greatsword also depends on wisely investing in your stats. There are two soft caps to consider: one at 30 and another at 60. You should prioritize leveling strength, endurance, and vitality equally; investing in willpower or proficiency yields minimal returns unless you use specific weapons that scale with those stats.

Focus on getting your primary stats to around 30 first, then continue raising them until they reach 60. After reaching these caps, additional strength points will likely yield the best increase in raw damage.

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Note that the bonus from Jar Helm contributes to raw damage without affecting your weight threshold, so always balance your stat progression to maximize both offense and defense.

Final Notes

With this guide, you can master the Greatsword as a Berserker Khazan. You have learned which core skills to prioritize—Savage Momentum, Phantom Knights Veil, Heavy Pressure, Combat Cadence, and Furious Swipe—and how to combine them into fluid, potent combos.

The skill tree overview has shown you the value of each ability and how to enhance them with the right upgrades.

Bonuses from various Greatsword sets offer additional benefits, whether you prefer the raw power of the Flesh Ripper set, the fast offense of the Crimson Fiend set, or the defensive stability of the Chaos Ridden set.

Auxiliary sets like the Defector and Bishop sets allow you to tailor your build further while your stat progression maximizes your damage and survivability.

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