The First Berserker: Khazan – How To Get & Use Skill Points

Skill Points are one of the main ways to enhance your combat capabilities in The First Berserker: Khazan. While most soulslikes stick to traditional stat upgrades, this game mixes things up by introducing a full-blown skill tree system. It leans a bit more into the action-RPG side of things, but it works incredibly well within its aggressive, fast-paced combat.

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The First Berserker: Khazan – How Agility Works

The Agility stat in The First Berserker might seem like a mystery at first. Here’s a rundown on how it works and affects your build.

Investing in the right skills early makes all the difference in this game. But before you figure out the best skills for your weapon, you’ll have to understand how this system works. That’s where this guide comes in!

How To Earn Skill Points In The First Berserker: Khazan

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Earning Skill Points in The First Berserker: Khazan is pretty straightforward. All you have to do is fight. Every time you deal damage, Brink Guard enemy attacks, or defeat enemies, you’ll be gaining Skill Points slowly.

To see your progress, bring up the in-game menu and head into the Skill Tree section. The bar at the top left of the Skill Points screen shows your current progress. Once the bar fills up, you’ll gain a Skill Point that you can invest in one of the four skill trees:

You’ll also get a notification each time you gain a Skill Point.

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The system is designed to feel seamless. You’re always working toward your next unlock just by playing the game. However, progress can temporarily pause due to Mastery Caps, which stop Skill Point progression until specific missions are cleared.

Here’s a breakdown of each Mastery Cap and how to unlock it:

While you’re capped, you can still earn Lacrima and upgrade your stats, but Skill Point gain will be locked until you push the story forward.

How To Use Skill Points In The First Berserker: Khazan

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Once you’ve earned a Skill Point, head to the Skill Tree menu and pick the skill you want to invest in. Weapon-specific sections like Dual Wield, Spear, or Greatsword only apply when you’re using that weapon type, while the Common Skill Tree provides passive boosts that are active regardless of your weapon.

Some skills have prerequisites, meaning you’ll need to invest in earlier skills on the branch before unlocking higher-tier ones. It’s worth experimenting with different combinations to find a setup that suits your playstyle.

The First Berserker Khazan Viper Dragonkin Boss Phase One Cutscene

The First Berserker: Khazan’s Optional Bosses Are a Double-Edged Sword

Despite having some great rewards players won’t want to miss out on, the optional missions in The First Berserker: Khazan can be rather underwhelming.

How To Manage Skills In The First Berserker: Khazan

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The Skill Tree in The First Berserker: Khazan contains three types of skills:

Passive Skills: Trigger automatically through actions like dodges or Brink Guards. Once unlocked, they remain active.
Active Skills: Modify your standard attacks and don’t cost any Spirit to use.
Spirit Skills: Powerful abilities that consume Spirit to activate. You gain Spirit by attacking, dodging, or blocking.

To equip your skills, go into the Skill Tree menu and press V on the Keyboard or Back/Touchpad on controllers. This brings up the Skill Management menu, where you can slot your unlocked skills.

Passive Skills are equipped automatically, but Active and Spirit Skills must be manually slotted into their respective slots. The game gives you six slots for Spirit Skills, so make sure to rotate them based on your loadout.

How To Reset Skills In The First Berserker: Khazan

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The skill system in The First Berserker: Khazan is designed to encourage experimentation. You won’t be punished for testing out different paths. If a skill doesn’t work for your playstyle, you can easily reset it. Unlike stat respecs, resetting skills doesn’t require you to spend any additional resources.

To reset a skill, head to the Skill Tree menu and select the one you want to refund. Press R on the PC (Y/Triangle on the controller) to remove that skill and regain your Skill Point. You can also press CTRL or hold L3/LS on controllers to reset all invested skills in one go. This is especially helpful when switching to a completely different weapon type.

Skill Points may seem like a small part of the progression. The weapon and armor upgrades will seem to impact your build more than skill points, at least in the early stage. However, as you keep unlocking new skills and abilities, you’ll soon realize that this is the main way to increase your damage output in The First Berserker: Khazan.