How To Defeat Aratra In The First Berserker: Khazan

There are many boss encounters in The First Berserker: Khazan, all with their own unique gimmicks that can range from extraordinarily challenging to pure chaotic, forcing you to learn how to answer it if you want any chance of surviving. And Aratra is one such battle, as there are several gimmicks you must account for if you want to avoid being bodied by an oversized Spider.

Fortunately, once you learn how to overcome these hurdles, this encounter is easily one of the more manageable and straightforward encounters and will feel like a walk in the park by comparison. It will still be challenging but without the feeling of it being insurmountable!

Aratra Overview

Aratra is the fifth boss encountered in The First Berserker: Khazan, which has many gimmicks and tricks up its sleeve that can make your life immensely difficult if you don’t account for them. And, to make matters worse, the first gimmick is found outside of the boss encounter itself.

You must find and ignite three explosive barrels within the Scoffa Cave, which will cause the debris and rubble to collapse on Spider Nests, simultaneously blocking cave entrances into the boss arena. Not only does this make it so that random Spiders don’t appear during the encounter, but it limits where Aratra can reappear after running away!

Aratra Information

How To Defeat Aratra

After preparing for the encounter by seeking out and destroying all three Spider Nests, you can finally take down Aratra without having tons of Spiders interfering with the battle. There are two phases to the encounter and a small gimmick that will make things substantially more manageable once you figure it out. While this fight can be challenging, it is one of the easier ones, especially after you get the hang of it!

Aratra: Stab Attack

When the encounter begins, the Aratra will likely kick things off with a sharp and swift stab from its front leg, which covers a surprising distance in front of itself. As soon as you see it pull its leg back, guard the instant it shoots forward, allowing you to land a Reflection!

Aratra: Leaping Double Stab

Following that, Aratra is likely going to perform a Leaping Double Stab, using both of its front legs to perform a vicious stab that deals substantial damage. You can tell this move is coming, as Aratra will back up a bit, bending its legs down and compressing them before springing forward.

Wait for the Spider to lunge forward and guard just before it strikes, landing a perfect Reflection, allowing you to follow up with an attack or two afterward!

Aratra: Rapid Stabs

Its Rapid Stabs are next, having Aratra perform three swift stabs with its legs in quick succession, forcing you to Reflect them or risk getting Exhausted or taking massive damage. These attacks will be similar to the first attack, but the speed can be tricky to adapt to.

Reflect the first attack, and the moment you see the leg raise back up, you know the other two are following, allowing you to deal with them the same way. If you don’t see the leg raise up after the first attack, it did a single stab and is going to be doing something else after!

Aratra: Scoop And Slap

From here, the Aratra will likely execute its Scoop and Slap attack, having it extend its front leg forward and behind you before dragging it toward itself, pulling you inward. It will then fling its leg forward, slapping you away from it and dealing considerable damage if both actions hit you.

The moment you see the Aratra place its leg behind you, guard just as it begins pulling its leg toward itself to land a Reflect. Then guard immediately again after it pulls you inward, as it will slap you away. You won’t be able to attack much here, so just focus on Reflecting both actions!

Aratra: Stabbing Barrage

Next, Aratra will go into its Stabbing Barrage, having it perform a series of five attacks in a row. The first four attacks will be with one of its legs, with the last being with both of them. Try Reflecting the first four, as the timing will be very similar to the Rabid Stabs attack from earlier.

The fifth attack will be very similar to the Leaping Double Stab attack, as Aratra will lean back on its hind legs before lunging forward with a devastating stab with both of its front legs. The moment you see it lunge forward, guard to Reflect it, causing the Spider to become temporarily stunned, allowing you to land a barrage of attacks on it!

Aratra: Burst Attack

One of the most potent attacks of Aratra’s is its Burst Attack. As always, you must land a Counterattack to punish this action, allowing you to follow up with several more attacks of your own, as it will be temporarily stunned. To do this, press L1+Circle/LB+B just before the attack lands, dealing massive damage to Aratra and stunning it!

Aratra: One Leg Down

After beating up on the Aratra for a little while, one of its front legs will be cut off, causing it to be slightly less effective. We strongly recommend targeting a specific leg from the start of the encounter to have this happen sooner, as you can speed the encounter up substantially this way!

Aratra: Venom

Lobbing off one of its legs will cause Aratra to slather its remaining leg in a thick coat of Venom, making its subsequent attacks much more dangerous than usual. However, it will lose access to some of its more potent attacks, which can work in your favor. But, as a result, it will also gain a handful of attacks that can be challenging to deal with!

Aratra: Venom Leaping Slam

During this state of the encounter, one of Aratra’s new actions will be its Leaping Slam, having it jump high into the air, landing directly on top of you, covering a tremendous amount of ground and creating a sizable shockwave that can be tough to evade.

Wait for Aratra to leap high into the air, then guard as soon as you see the large Spider about to crash into the ground. Just guarding will also work here, but it will erase a large chunk of your Stamina Gauge. After it lands, you can get in a few hits of your own if you’re close enough!

Aratra: Venom Bite

A common action of Aratra’s in this state is its Venom Bite, having it perform two rapid bites. The Spider will scurry toward you, reel its body back, then lunge forward with two bites back to back. When you see it reel its body back, guard as soon as you see it snap forward, then guard again to Reflect both bites, allowing you to follow up with one or two attacks!

Aratra: Venom Grab

From here, it will likely go for its Venom Grab, having it charge forward with its remaining leg extended outward while its mouth glows with a bright green. If this action hits you, Aratra will grab you, pin you down, and damage you tremendously while drastically increasing your Venom Gauge.

As it begins charging at you, wait for it to reel back and dart toward you. Just as it lurches forward, evade to the left or right of its mouth to avoid being grabbed. If you’re off by even a little bit, you will be caught, and trying to outrun it will almost never work. After evading its grab, you can unload several attacks on it!

Aratra: Venom Webs

Periodically, Aratra will begin drawing in some energy before sprouting out a spray of Venom Webs that cover a decent range in front of itself. As soon as you see it begin pooling in energy, simply run away from it until it sprays its webs, then wait for its next attack!

Aratra: Venom Ball

After a while, Aratra will slather its leg in Venom again, except this time, it will hurl a Venom Ball at you. Wait for the ball of Venom to get close to you, then evade to the left or right to dodge it completely, allowing you to avoid taking damage and Venom build-up!

Aratra: Escaping

Attack Aratra a bit more, and it will eventually scurry away in an attempt to escape the arena. As it begins climbing the wall, throw a Javelin at its backside. Sometimes, it will knock it down, allowing you to land several attacks on it before it runs away!

Aratra – Second Phase: Appendage Regeneration

Now, it is time for the second phase of the encounter, where things get slightly more challenging. Aratra will appear from one of the tunnels near the top of the arena while regenerating the leg you lobbed off in the first phase before leaping back down into the arena!

Aratra – Second Phase: Venom Claws

Like at the end of the first phase, Aratra will slather its claws with Venom, except this time, it will be both of its front legs, which will be troublesome as it will have access to its complete move list from earlier in the encounter. So, be on the lookout for them!

Aratra – Second Phase: Venom Stabs

With its Venom-soaked legs, it will perform a series of Venom Stabs. This move starts with a violent stab from its right leg, followed by three consecutive stabs with its left leg. We strongly recommend Reflecting them, as you can’t risk the Venom build-up or Exhaustion this late in the fight.

After Reflecting the first stab, wait for a brief moment and Reflect the next one, then quickly Reflect the remaining two attacks, as they will come out substantially faster. You can land a few attacks afterward, but do not get too carried away here!

Aratra – Second Phase: Venom Burst Attack

From here, Aratra will perform another Burst Attack, except it is slightly different from the first phase. While the animation is similar, it is much faster, so be prepared to Counterattack the instant you see it move forward. Landing a Counterattack will deal massive damage, while staggering it, allowing you to unleash a barrage of attacks on it!

Aratra – Second Phase: Cutting Off Both Legs

Continue fighting Aratra until you lob off one of its legs. As it’s temporarily stunned, instantly focus on the remaining leg and don’t let up on it. After several hits, you should hack that one off as well, making it impossible for Aratra to escape the arena or perform any of its more annoying actions!

Aratra – Second Phase: No Claws, Exhausted

With both of its legs cut off, Aratra will be close to being Exhausted, so keep unleashing attacks on it until its Stamina Gauge is depleted. From here, you can continue your onslaught, carving large chunks of its health away in seconds. You are now in the driver’s seat, and victory is in range!

Aratra – Second Phase: No Claws, Bite

Since Aratra has no claws and can no longer escape to regenerate them, it only has access to a handful of attacks, with one of them being its Bite. Deal with this the exact same way you did earlier, then prepare for the next attack. Don’t try attacking after this, as it will recover relatively quickly!

Aratra – Second Phase: No Claws, Venom Grab

Another familiar attack Aratra has access to without its front legs is its Venom Grab, having it charge toward you with its bright green mouth. Again, this action is handled exactly the same way, except you must be prepared to attack immediately afterward.

The moment you dodge the grab, run behind Aratra and begin to attack the pustules on its backside. After enough damage, some of the pustules will explode, dealing substantial damage. This is how you will deal the most damage at this point in the encounter!

Aratra – Second Phase: No Claws, Leaping Slam

Finally, its last attack is its Leaping Slam, a move you’re more than familiar with at this point, but this is the last attack it has access to if you successfully cut off both its legs. As it leaps into the air, wait just before it crashes down and guard to Reflect the attack, allowing you to follow up with a few attacks of your own.

From here, it will repeat the same three attacks until it is defeated. If you don’t cut off both legs, Aratra will escape the arena again and reappear with a new leg, and rinse and repeat its entire move catalog again, so you should focus on cutting them off as soon as possible!