The First Berserker Khazan: Maluca Boss Complete Guide

Maluca is the boss of the “Veiled Knives” main mission in The First Berserker: Khazan.

Despite that being only the 7th main mission in the game, Maluca is a massive roadblock for most players. He seems quite unassuming at first, but his speed and damage during the second phase are extremely overwhelming. Frankly, we won’t judge anyone who spends hours just trying to beat this guy!

In this guide, we’ll give you tips and tricks to help you deal with all of the things Maluca can throw.

Maluca Boss Complete Guide | The First Berserker: Khazan

Starting the Fight and Phase 1

Before we start talking about Maluca and some of his key attacks, we want to mention that Maluca is capable of inflicting Chaos with his attacks. When you’re afflicted by Chaos, you’ll have reduced Maximum Health. This can also stack to further decrease your HP, Stamina, and Spirit!

So, what we’re saying here is this: bring Chaos Resistance Elixirs for this fight. They can cure the effects of the Chaos status, which can definitely help deal with Maluca.

Moving on, let’s talk about Maluca’s phase 1… it’s frankly a very basic phase. Maluca will use two broken greatswords to fight you. He has very slow and clumsy attacks in this phase, making him predictable and easy to Brink Guard. Just be careful that the slow timing of his attacks doesn’t trip you up!

A notable gimmick in this phase is his projectile attacks. Maluca will twirl while doing a backstep away from you and then fire three projectiles from one of his greatswords. Once you see him do his backstep, make sure to get ready to dodge. Dodge towards Maluca as the projectiles get close and you’ll phase through them. Plus, you’ll shorten the gap!

Another trick Maluca pulls is that sometimes he’ll taunt and start turning his back on you. If you attack him while he taunts, he’ll instantly counter with a Burst Attack. Trying to counter the Burst Attack can be tough, so it’s easier to just use your Javelins to deal damage from a safe distance.

The last important gimmick is that Maluca will sometimes stop fighting and start screaming at the sky. There will be a noticeable shockwave around him when he does this, as shown above. This move will heal him, so try to rush him down and deal damage to stop him from healing too much!

Phase 2 – Maluca’s Motivated!

The second phase of the fight starts once you get Maluca to 70%. A short cutscene will play and the fight will resume with a corrupted Maluca. He’ll instantly jump and plunge his greatswords into the ground. When he does this, start running away from him as he will follow it up with a massive AoE shockwave.

From now on, Maluca will primarily be using a katana instead of the broken greatswords. He’ll be extremely agile and have fast attacks, completely changing the pace of the fight compared to his clumsy first phase.

One of the first attacks Maluca may use during this phase is a sheathed slash. Maluca will sheathe the katana and then a bright horizontal flash will appear on his position. Time will also slow down here, making the attack a bit weird to react to. Nonetheless, try to dodge right after you see the flash and you’ll avoid the follow-up unsheathing slash.

Another extremely risky attack is his katana stab, which doubles as a grab. Maluca will jump and pull his glowing katana back. Try to dodge as soon as you see this to avoid the stabbing motion. Remember, this is a grab so you can’t block it!

This attack is particularly dangerous as it comes out extremely quickly. Keep an eye out for it and get ready to react as soon as you see Maluca’s feet get off the ground.

Other Important Katana Moves

Maluca can also pull out a long combo of about 10 slashes. He’ll signal this by sheathing his sword, jumping away, and slashing the ground. Get ready for the combo once you see him raise a wall of mud, as shown above.

He’ll then dash to Khazan and start the combo. It starts with 1 slow slash, then 6 quick slashes, and ends with 2 more slow slashes. It can be hard to Brink Guard the whole combo, but it’s a fantastic way to hurt his Stamina.

These kinds of combos are what make Maluca such a tough boss in The First Berserker: Khazan. Don’t feel bad if you have a hard time dealing with these moves!

Speaking of tricky moves, Maluca also has a teleporting slash move. He signals this by sheathing his sword, which glows shortly before the attack comes out. The timing to dodge or guard against this one is tricky. Our recommendation is to not use the glow for the timing, as the actual attack comes out later than the glow indicates.

Sometimes, Maluca will first jump above Khazan’s head a couple of times before teleporting. Watch out for this as it makes the timing even trickier. He tends to do it mostly if you’re too close when he starts the move. However, sometimes he runs up to you just to jump over and confuse you…

As a last note about his katana moveset in phase 2, know that he can still heal and taunt you much like he could in phase 1. Deal with these moves the same way you did during the first phase and you’ll be fine, though.

Bringing the Greatswords Back

Randomly during phase 2, Maluca may put the katana away and use his broken greatswords again. This is largely a repeat of phase 1, thankfully, so it’s not too tough! That said, he does have two notable new tricks.

The first new trick is that he’ll do 3 plunging attacks in succession. These are similar to the one he does at the start of phase 2, just without the massive AoE follow-up. If you get the timing down, they’re not too hard to Brink Guard.

The second new trick is that he can now do his projectile attacks again. They function largely the same as during phase 1 and have the same tells. However, he shoots more projectiles in succession and also has a shorter delay between attacks. Nonetheless, just dodge through them and you’ll be fine.

After a short while of using the greatswords, Maluca will remember that he’s much more of a threat with the katana and will switch back. Thankfully, he’ll have learned no new tricks with the katana, so the fight just continues as usual until you either win or lose!

So, there you have it! Those are the main things to watch out for as you try to defeat Maluca, the boss of the “Veiled Knives” mission in The First Berserker: Khazan. We wish you good luck and patience when dealing with this threatening foe!

If you haven’t done so yet, it’s also a good idea to unlock Qazumaka the Blacksmith. He can help you improve your equipment, which can come in handy against Maluca.