How to beat Kailok, the Hornsplitter in Crimson Desert

The Hornsplitter boss fight in Crimson Desert is a tough one, despite the fact it comes very early on. Kailok, the Hornsplitter, is the head honcho of the Goldleaf Merchant's Guild, and you must take him down as a favor for Shakatu at the end of Chapter 2, during the "Cheers Echoing from the Edge" quest. It's essentially the first serious challenge you'll face, and he comes armed with a variety of attacks.

Here are our top tips for taking down Kailok, the Hornsplitter in Crimson Desert, including how to prepare and how to deal with his moveset.

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How to prepare for Kailok, the Hornsplitter in Crimson Desert

You may come into the Hornsplitter boss fight unprepared as it's likely the first proper boss fight you'll tackle (unless you fought Marni's Excavatron in a side quest before now), so there's one key rule that applies to pretty much every boss fight in the game: you can never have too many healing items. These will mostly be various foodstuffs, but you should ensure you're cooking as many full meals as you can because they'll heal more than raw ingredients. Stock up on palmar pills too, whose recipe can be found fairly close to the starting area.

In terms of armor and weaponry, this boss fight takes place at such an early stage, chances are you won't have got your hands on anything too fancy yet. We'd recommend using a sword and shield though — aka the starting setup — because parrying his attacks is highly effective. However, if you complete the Bluemont Manor and Hillside Manor strongbox puzzles, you can get some jewelry with defense-enhancing buffs.

If you have abyss artifacts to spend, invest in stamina. You'll need as much as you can get because Hornsplitter is so agile, you'll be dodging and running around the arena like never before. Additional health won't go amiss either.

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How to beat Kailok, the Hornsplitter in Crimson Desert

The biggest tip for taking down Hornsplitter is to take your time. You will be severely punished if you don't bide your time and wait for openings to attack because he will unleash a barrage of attacks. However, as mentioned above, he can often be parried, so don't be afraid of creating those openings yourself.

Hornsplitter's most devastating attack is when he unleashes a fairly large ranged energy blast. This cannot be parried, so your best bet is to time an evasive dodge or jump. He'll often launch one after bouncing away from you following some swings of his weapon, or he'll charge one up by lifting his sword, which is more telegraphed. However, he'll follow it up with anywhere from two to five more, so stay on your toes.

Force Palm is one of the best tools at your disposal because it can stun him, so I'd recommend leveling it up as much as possible. If you can get it up to the third stage and unlock Proficiency, this will knock him over. You can also use Blinding Flash to interrupt some of Kailok's attacks, but the window is tight, so it requires practice.

If you want to cheese the battle, try and get him out of bounds. You have a 30-second window to get back within the boundaries of the arena, but Kailok won't attack you while he's there, so you can get quite a few attacks off before he's back inside.

Defeating Kailok, the Hornsplitter will reward you with the Sword of the Lord, which will likely become your go-to weapon for the next chapter, along with seven iron ore and the Seal of Greed, which is a temporary sell price buff whenever you're trading with the Goldleaf Merchant Guild. Not too shabby.

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Just starting out in Crimson Desert? We have guides to help you learn the basics and refresh your memory on how some of its systems work. The world of Pywel is huge, so you might have a hard time deciding where to go first, but you can make your journey a little easier with the help of our interactive map. Along the way, make sure to learn a few life skills like fishing, logging, cooking, and mining, all of which can help you make money.

We also have walkthroughs for puzzles in the Abyss like the Root's End and Precipice of Truth, as well as ancient ruins like the Dragon's Stone Chamber.