The Mutant Year Zero: Road To Eden expansion Seed Of Evil may not have been as big of an update as fans were hoping, but it does include one exceptionally cool new character: Big Kahn. Big Kahn is the newest stalker to join Dux, Bormin, Selma, Magnus, and Farrow on their journey to find the missing Elder and hold him accountable for his past sins.
Big Kahn is a powerful new character and has a unique skill tree among the stalkers that even comes with a pair of brand new abilities. As a late game character, Big Kahn comes with enough skill points to unlock a healthy portion of his moves, and returning players might feel slightly overwhelmed by all the options. Here is our guide to Big Kahn: who he is, how to build him, and how he fits best on your team.
Who Is Big Kahn?
Big Kahn is something of a legend among Stalkers living within the relative safety of The Ark. Big Kahn left The Ark many years ago and has been living in solitude out in the wastelands, defending the people of The Ark from afar. He is a half-man, half-moose mutant who is both stern and measured in tone. Rumors that Big Kahn has gone mad living alone in the wasteland for so long have circulated around The Ark for some time, but upon meeting the hulking stalker, it's revealed that that isn't the case at all.
Big Kahn can't be added to the party until you meet him in the Water Risers zone. There is a sequence of events that lead up to this chance meeting, starting in the Mausoleum of Suburbia on a quest to find the missing Elder. After encountering a new class of plant-covered "Pod" enemies, the group returns to The Ark to inform the people, only to find that giant vines have already infested The Ark and are beginning to mind-control everyone there. The stalkers head to the Water Risers in search of an exiled mutant named Goran who has plant powers and a vendetta against The Ark, that's where they encounter Big Kahn.
Big Kahn is on his way back to The Ark to inform The Elder about the Pod Ghouls, not realizing that The Elder is no longer in charge. He agrees to join the stalkers in order to hunt down Goran and stop the spread of mind-controlled Pod Ghouls from raving the wastelands and destroying The Ark.
What Are Big Kahn's Abilities?
Big Kahn has a large health pool and aggressive CC abilities that place him firmly in the tank roll. Though, one of the charms of Mutant Year Zero is the way that it provides flexibility to character builds and team compositions, you can build Big Kahn into a different roll, but you will have the most success if you build him into a tank.
His passive abilities will be familiar players who've used Dux and Selma, as Big Kahn shares their Silent Assassin and Super Tendons abilities. Silent Assassin is great for engaging, as it provides double chance to crit when firing while hidden. Unfortunately, the rest of Big Kahn's kit doesn't really support sneaky strategies, as he is really meant to be out in front drawing fire. That's why Super Tendons may be the better option as it allow Big Kahn to move into high ground without needing to use a ladder.
His minor abilities, Circuit Breaker and Sneak, are fairly niche as far as minor abilities go. Circuit Breaker is useful for disabling robotic enemies, which you'll only have to deal with in one major battle in Seed of Evil, while Sneak gives you a higher chance of sneaking between cover. Neither are particularly great, as again, Big Kahn probably shouldn't be your stealth character.
On the other hand, Big Kahn has some BIG Major abilities, two of which are fresh abilities in the game. Starting with the returning ability, Frog Legs, and it's new upgrade Iron Legs, allows Big Kahn to jump across the map, crash through the roof, and land on an enemy. It's great for getting to high ground and repositioning when he gets pinned down. Flame Puke is an ability that makes Big Kahn, well, puke flames on enemies at close range, and Ground Pound is a short range AOE that knocks down enemies when Big Kahn gets surrounded.
How To Build Around Big Kahn
As a tank, Big Kahn is best taking over for Bormin, who deserves a welcome rest after everything he's been through. Though he doesn't come with Bormin's Hog Rush charging attack or his (disgusting) corpse eater self-heal, Big Kahn is an expert at getting in and out of any situation. Put him on your team with Super Tendons, Sneak, and Frog Legs equipped to be the ultimate rush-down tank, able to get in, take some damage, and get back out with the kill secured.
Alternately, you may want to use Ground Pound when fighting a condensed group of enemies. Try to survey the battlefield and choose the ability that fits best. If enemies are spread out on multiple elevations, Frog Legs works better. Flame Puke is cool (and funny) but the other two abilities are just so much more useful. Also, don't forget to switch Sneak out for Circuit Breaker when facing multiple robotic enemies.
Along with Big Kahn, use Magnus for his indispensable mind control ability Puppeteer (now upgraded to Puppet Master for extra turns) and Dux for his new and improved Stalking Death ability that allows him to stay invisible after securing a kill. Those three characters provide a great variety of abilities and techniques to best the Pod enemies and save The Ark from destruction.