The First Berserker: Khazan is a long, grueling, and enriching adventure. It gives you the complete soulslike treatment with intense boss encounters, thrilling combat, and fantastic exploration that rewards you for checking every nook and cranny. And all of this is present from the very first mission of Khazan’s journey.
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Being the first mission, Banished Hero does a fantastic job of introducing the core gameplay elements of the game, with punishing encounters, exhilarating combat, and lots of powerful items you can find by poking around the world and exploring. There’s lots to see and do here, so strap in!
How To Complete Banished Hero
At the mission start, Khazan will be battered and beaten and will be moving extremely slowly, so just hold forward and follow the winding pathway until you see a glowing red light in the distance. As you approach the red light, a cutscene will play, giving you access to the Dual Wield weapon and activating the Blade Nexus, serving as your checkpoint.
Now that you have your weapons continue following the pathway until you run into an Imperial Soldier and take them down. From here, you will reach a path that splits off to the left and right, giving you a decision to make. For now, let’s take the right path!
Right Pathway
Following the right path will lead you to a Yeti, which will be a pretty challenging fight but not impossible by any stretch. The best way to deal with it is by Reflecting its attacks by perfectly guarding them just before they hit you and punishing them after they perform heavy attacks that leave them vulnerable.
With the Yeti defeated, make your way over to the Chest and crack it open to receive a Hunter’s Ring, Gem Dust, and 960 Gold. From here, you can walk forward off the cliffside and land beside the Blade Nexus you activated earlier, allowing you to level your Stats up!
Left Pathway
The left path is the critical route and will lead you to two Imperial Soldiers. One is a swordsman, and the other an archer. Fortunately, a large rock is in the middle of the area, allowing you to use it as cover and deal with the swordsman first. After defeating the swordsman, focus on the archer, then loot the item to receive a Fire Enhancer!
Continuing Onward
Continue onward, and you will see a point where you have to drop down to continue. So, drop into the area below and slowly walk behind the Soldier to one-hit him when you attack. From here, drop even further down to find another Soldier below you and perform a plunging attack to take them out.
Keep following the pathway until you run into a Soldier with a shield in front of a cave, make quick work of him, and then head inside. Once here, you will see a corpse on the ground. Absorb it to receive some Lacrima and Soul Tear Dust. An item will be slightly ahead, and to the left, pick it up to receive a Vitality Sphere.
Just slightly ahead of the Vitality Sphere will be another Blade Nexus, marking a new checkpoint in the level and allowing you to level your Stats even further!
Exploring Heinmach
From the Blade Nexus, take the trail to find two paths: one leading to the left and another to the right. Take the left path to stumble upon a Soldier kneeling in front of an item. Sneak up behind him and swiftly take him down, then loot the item to receive a Concentrated Fire Essence!
Follow The Right Pathway
Taking the right path will lead you to two Soldiers. One will be an archer, and the other will have a sword and shield. Focus on the archer first, then finish the other one off. After you take both Soldiers down, Absorb the corpse to receive a decent chunk of Lacrima and Soul Tear Dust!
Further Into Heinmach
Push forward and enter a sizable cave to find an Imperial Centurion awaiting in the center. This encounter can be challenging, just like the Yeti from earlier, as it requires you to land Reflections by perfectly guarding incoming attacks, which can be tricky to get. This enemy will leave themselves vulnerable after many attacks, allowing you to take that opportunity to attack.
With the Imperial Centurion defeated, you can explore the cave further. To the left of the entrance will be a Chest. Make your way over to it and throw it open to receive an Imperial Soldier’s Dual Wield, Hound Pants, and Gem Dust!
Upper Right Section Of The Cave
If you stand from where the entrance is and look where the Imperial Centurion was standing, you will see a pathway that leads up to the left and another that leads up to the right. Before continuing your journey, take the pathway to the right to find a Tear Summon Stone, an extremely good item, as it recovers the Lacrima from your most recent death!
Upper Left Section Of The Cave
After grabbing your Tear Summon Stone, take the upper left pathway to find a pair of Soldiers. Make quick work of them, and then look to the right to find a small hole that leads into an area below. The hole will be where one of the Soldiers was standing if you’re having trouble locating it.
Drop down into the area below to find a Mysterious Ore. Smash it with your weapon and continue onward. These will be extremely useful later, but you can’t do anything with it at the moment!
Navigating Further Inside
From the Mysterious Ore, drop back down to the central area, then take the pathway back up to where the guards were and follow it the entire way through. Loot the purple item for a Fire Spirit’s Fuel, then proceed up the spiraling walkway. There will be a few Soldiers here, but they shouldn’t be too much trouble.
With the Soldiers taken care of, continue following the pathway until you reach another Blade Nexus, marking yet another checkpoint for you, allowing you to cash in all the Lacrima you’ve accumulated!
Back Into The Cold
After spending your precious Lacrima at the Blade Nexus, continue until you’re finally back outside. You will see a purple item and a Wild Monkey in the distance. As you approach them, the ground beneath you will begin the break, so quickly run across to the other side.
Once here, approach the Monkey to have another one leap up from the cliffside and quickly take them out. Loot the purple item to obtain the Fire Enhancer, which will come in handy a bit later on!
Navigating The Mountainside
Following that, continue making your way to the right to run into another pair of Wild Monkeys and deal with them the same way you did the others. Navigate the pathway around the large hole in the ground until you see an item on the very edge of the cliffside.
Grab the item to obtain Soul Tear Dust, then look down to see a tree trunk. Drop down onto the tree trunk, then look down again to see a Wild Monkey on the ground below. Perform a plunging attack on the Monkey to eliminate it instantly. Beneath this platform will be another one and a few Wild Monkeys.
Perform a plunging attack on one of the Monkeys and then eliminate the other. There will be an item you can loot here, which will give you x2 Fire Resistance Elixir and x3 Stone. From here, continue dropping down until you reach solid ground, and pick up the Soul Tear Dust at the bottom!
Trudging Through The Snow
Once you’re finally on solid ground again, follow the path forward until you see a Yeti walking in the distance. Before engaging with it, take a hard left and follow the elevated pathway that leads back to where you came from. There will be another Mysterious Ore here. Smash it with your weapon.
After this, it’s time to fight the Yeti. This encounter will be handled the same way as the one at the start of the mission, so you’re more than capable of taking it down now. After eliminating the Yeti, head toward the far right side of the arena to find a corpse. Absorb it to receive Lacrima and Soul Tear Dust!
Follow The Left Pathway
From where the corpse was, head to the left and begin walking along the cliffside. You will see a Soldier in the distance. Before reaching him, there will be a small alcove on your left with an item. Swoop in, grab the Water Cleanse Potion and proceed toward the Soldier.
As you approach the Soldier, another one will try to ambush you from the side. Dispatch both Soldiers and continue pushing forward. As you get near the top of the cliffside, an Imperial Knight will be waiting for you and is a very challenging foe. Create distance and charge up your heavy attack to carve off large chunks of its health.
With the Imperial Knight taken care of, proceed to the top of the cliffside and Absorb the body to obtain more Lacrima and Soul Tear Dust. From here, make your way back to the central hub of the area, where you fought the Yeti!
Upper Right Cliffside
Moving along the upper right pathway of the cliffside will have you stumble upon a purple item and Wild Monkey in the distance. However, as you approach the Wild Monkey, two more will drop in, having you fight three Monkeys simultaneously.
Deal with the three Wild Monkeys, loot the purple item to obtain a Fire Spirit’s Fuel, and then continue following the path until you reach another Blade Nexus. Activate it for another checkpoint and cash in the boatload of Lacrima you’ve obtained!
The Final Stretch
Head forward from the Blade Nexus and follow the pathway until you run into a pair of Soldiers. Deal with them and keep on the path until another Soldier stumbles around the corner with most of his health depleted. Finish him off to see that you can either keep going straight ahead or go into the cave on the right. Of course, we’re going into the cave first!
Into The Bear’s Den
Head into the cave on your right and keep walking straight ahead until you run into a Wild Bear. As you likely guessed, this encounter is very difficult, but it shouldn’t be too bad if you’ve taken care of the Yeti and Imperial Knight. The key to victory is landing Reflections and focusing on draining its Stamina Gauge to exhaust it.
With the Wild Bear defeated, head toward the backside of the cave to find a Chest. Open it up to obtain the Imperial Soldier’s Dual Wield, Necklace of Commitment, and Gem Dust. From here, you can exit the cave and follow the critical path!
Almost There
Exit the cave and begin following the critical path to run into even more Soldiers. However, this time, a random Yeti will crash the party and start attacking them. It will likely eviscerate the Soldiers, so quickly run to the right and deal with the archer, as they will focus on you over the Yeti.
After eliminating the archer, focus on the Yeti and take it down like you did the others. From here, follow the narrow pathway up and around until you reach a cart. Interact with the cart to kick it down toward the Blade Nexus, creating a ramp that serves as a shortcut. Spend your accumulated Lacrima and prepare for battle!
Defeat The Yetuga
Finally, your last obstacle will be the Yetuga, the mission’s boss encounter. The Yetuga is an oversized Yeti that deals tremendous damage and has many unique moves. This is a pretty challenging encounter, but if you made it this far, you are more than ready to take it down.
For more information and strategies on how to defeat this beast, we have a complete guide that covers all its attacks and how to deal substantial damage to it!
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