If you've made it as far as Maluca in The First Berserker: Khazan, you've had a pretty tough go of it, and you're probably already tired of hearing those war drums beating on and on. Unfortunately, those previous boss fights were small potatoes compared to what's ahead. Maluca has two difficult phases, the second of which introduces a new status effect, Chaos, that can be quite devastating if you're unable to dodge his attacks. Maluca's move set is particularly challenging if you don't know how to defend against his seemingly random attacks.

However, as with bosses such as Volbaino, it's essential against Maluca because it is effective at draining his stamina bar and giving you a chance for a brutal attack. If you haven't been practicing your Reflections up to now, you'll get plenty of practice trying to defeat Maluca.

Where To Find Maluca In First Berserker: Khazan

Traverse Nadin Quarry & Complete Veiled Knives

To get to Maluca, you'll first have to traverse Nadin Quarry through its various levels and remove both new and familiar enemies. Nadin Quarry is in the Pell Los Plateau, and consists of undead enemies, revenants, spiders, and many more. Enemies in this region include the Renowned Spellblade's Shadow elites. The enemies have giant Epee-style swords and can summon lightning balls to throw at you from range.

Renowned Spellblade's Shadow elite enemies have a chance to drop the Soul Piercer Spear, part of the Soul Eater Set, which I'd recommend for any mid-game spear build. There are a ton of Knivesveil bandits and soldiers along the way, and they will swarm you if you're not careful. You'll also have to get past a couple of giant rolling ball traps, which aren't too difficult if you manage to take out the enemies first. Eventually, you will reach the Throne of the Veil, where Maluca will be waiting inside the arena.

How To Defeat Maluca

Use Reflection In Both Phases To Defeat Maluca

When you start fighting Maluca, he'll be in his human form and have no status effects built into his attacks. He has some relatively slow swings, which are the ideal time for you to start practicing your Reflections on him. He will start the battle with an initial heavy swing, then a follow-up attack that can easily be Reflected if you get used to the timing. If you miss, he'll come at you again with an even slower attack that you should also be able to Reflect.

Reflections against Maluca in both phases will melt away his stamina bar, so getting a good sense of the timing on his heavy sword swings is crucial.

Reflections against Maluca in both phases will melt away his stamina bar, so getting a good sense of the timing on his heavy sword swings is crucial. In both phases, he will potentially stop beating on his chest, which will increase his health bar and can be interrupted in the first phase. Be sure you have a spirit charge in the back pocket for a javelin throw.

Maluca has a few other big moves available during the first phase, including a charged whirlwind projectile that he can shoot up to three times, but this can be guarded or dodged relatively easily. His first phase also includes unblockable attacks that can be dodged, which he will follow up with a kick that can deal substantial damage. Once you get Maluca down to about 75% health, he'll enter into his second phase, and the difficulty will be taken up another notch.

Maluca's Second Phase Introduces Chaos Into The Mix

Once Maluca enters his second phase, you'll get a taste of a new status effect: Chaos. Chaos attacks will build up and eventually start to eat into your maximum health, stamina, and spirit if you take repeated hits without clearing the effect. Luckily, most of Maluca's Chaos attacks can be dodged or avoided if you know when they are coming. The first one occurs almost right away. On entering the second phase, Maluca will jump into the air and do a ground slam followed by an explosion, and then shortly after, he will teleport attack you.

You can land a heavy attack in between his initial ground slam and the explosion, and his explosion can be brink guarded against as well.

You have to brink dodge to avoid this, and if you don't land it, you'll be sliced up with Chaos attacks and possibly even have the gauge entirely filled depending on how low your resistances are. After this initial attack, he will employ an attack that forms a line of smoke and then dash at you with his two blades.

This is your first chance to land a Reflection in his second phase, and you'll want to keep an eye out for this opportunity throughout the fight. Similar to his first phase, he will stop to pump his chest, only this time he will deal Chaos damage, so your best bet is to hit him with a charged-up javelin so he doesn't regain much health. Maluca will pull out his greatswords intermittently, which is a sign that he's about to do three jump slam attacks again, all of which you need to brink dodge to avoid.

He will also teleport slash you throughout the fight, but if you do it at the right time as his sword flashes, you can get a Reflection on this and melt his entire stamina bar for a brutal attack opportunity. He will also have the same whirlwind move as in his first phase, but as his health gets lower, he will deploy up to seven or eight charges in a row instead of just three. The big move to watch for is when he crouches down for a pounce and leaps up with a glowing sword. Brink dodge this, or pay the price.

Rewards For Beating Maluca

Unlock Khazan's Phantom Form By Defeating Maluca

Once you finally take Maluca down to zero health, a cut-scene will trigger where Khazan and the Blade Phantom finally merge into one, imbuing Khazan with his Phantom Form. This is a special Berserker mode that Khazan can go into after filling up the gauge by killing enemies and landing hits. The Phantom Form can be used anytime you have a full gauge, and comes in extremely useful when you're on the brink of death. It can also be upgraded in the common skills tree, enhancing its various effects.

Additionally, you'll receive two random pieces from the Chaos-Ridden Set and possibly the Chaos Fragment, allowing you to craft pieces of the Chaos-Ridden set at the Blacksmith in First Berserker: Khazan.

Overall, Maluca is an extremely tough boss, and you'll need to use all the tools at your disposal to beat him. Maluca can be defeated more easily if you practice your timing with Reflections in The First Berserker: Khazan, and the only way to take him down all the way is with persistence and patience.