How To Perform a Brink Guard in The First Berserker Khazan

The First Berserker: Khazan is a rich action title with several mechanics for players to master. It proudly wears its inspirations on its sleeve, drawing heavily from other action RPGs and Soulslikes to deliver a polished combat experience.

One of the mechanics you’ll need to learn early on is the Brink Guard, or Perfect Guard, which serves both defensive and offensive roles. Performing a Brink Guard is very satisfying, but it can be a bit tricky to understand early on. Here is how the Brink Guard works and how you can master it with my tips.

Brink Guard in the First Berserker Khazan

The Brink Guard is tied to the same button as the regular Guard (LB/L1/Shift) right before an attack comes in contact with Khazan. Think of this as a traditional parry/deflect in most action games, similar to something like Sekiro, even if it has a different outcome.

Here are the qualities of a Brink Guard:

• You’ll hear a louder sound effect than a regular guard.
• There is a visible red/pink flash when the perfect guard connects with the enemy attack.
• Stamina regeneration is much faster and almost instantly fills the bar.
• Even if you have low stamina, a successful perfect guard does not lead to an exhaustion state.

You can also chain Brink Guards if you master the timing of incoming attacks. This is especially useful because perfect guards have a direct impact on the enemy’s stamina.

Brink Guard Tips

Performing Brink Guards is the backbone of Khazan’s combat, and it’s something you should spend some time perfecting early on. Dodging isn’t as effective as it first appears unless you want to really drag out fights, which I don’t recommend. Here are a few tips to improve your chances of pulling it off:

• Observe the enemy attack animations: This is one of the best parts about The First Berserker: Khazan. Almost every single attack in the game has a very detailed animation, and you can see when it’s about to end. Perform the Brink Guard as soon as the attack is about to come in contact with Khazan.
• Practice against weaker enemies: While most enemies will have different movesets, if you spend some time learning the Brink Guard against regular enemies, you’ll better understand the overall timing. You’ll become more comfortable with tapping instead of holding, and feel confident in using the Brink Guard instead of a regular guard.
• Chain Brink Guards: Chaining Brink Guards will mean you can eventually wear down enemies and get them into an exhausted state.

Once you’re comfortable with the Brink Guard, it will become a core part of your combat. There are a few more abilities that can replace the Brink Guard later on, but it’s vital to get a hang of this early on.