Embarking on the journey in The First Descendant can be both thrilling and overwhelming for new players. This looter-shooter RPG throws you into a world teeming with enemies, demanding missions, and a vast array of items to collect. To help you navigate the initial stages and ensure a smooth and efficient rise to power, this progression guide is tailored for beginners like you. We’ll cover crucial tips to keep in mind while playing, the best approach to early game progression, and insights into choosing a starting Descendant that fits your playstyle. Let’s dive into the essential knowledge you need to thrive in The First Descendant and make your mark as a formidable warrior.
5 Key Tips for New Descendants
Before you jump headfirst into missions and battles, understanding these fundamental tips will significantly enhance your gameplay experience and set you up for success in The First Descendant.
| 5 Tips to Remember When Playing |
|---|
| Unpausable Gameplay |
| Mastering the HUD and Status |
| Looting Enemy Drops |
| Mastery Rank for Skill Unlocks |
| Multiplayer Advantage |
Tip 1: Be Aware of the Unpausable Gameplay {#tip-1-unpausable-gameplay}
The First Descendant incorporates MMO elements, meaning the game world is persistent and doesn’t pause, even when playing solo missions. Unlike many single-player games, opening menus or accessing your inventory mid-combat will not stop the action. Enemies will continue to attack, and mission objectives will progress in real-time. This always-active gameplay demands strategic thinking and careful timing, especially during intense encounters.
Safe Havens: HUB Worlds and Lobbies
If you need to adjust settings, manage your inventory, or simply take a breather, HUB worlds like Albion and lobby areas are your sanctuaries. While time still progresses in these locations, they are designated safe zones where you can’t be attacked by enemies. Utilize these spaces to organize yourself, tweak configurations, and plan your next move without the pressure of imminent danger.
Tip 2: Get Acquainted with the HUD and Status {#tip-2-hud-and-status}
Familiarizing yourself with the Heads-Up Display (HUD) and on-screen button mappings is crucial for efficient gameplay. The HUD provides vital information at a glance, allowing you to react quickly and make informed decisions in battles.
Beyond the prominent Grappling Hook icon and Active Skills display, pay close attention to the weapon slots located in the lower right corner of your screen. This area shows your currently equipped firearms and their ammo status, essential for managing your offensive capabilities during engagements. Understanding these visual cues will improve your awareness and control in the heat of combat.
Tip 3: Don’t Miss Out on Enemy Drops {#tip-3-enemy-drops}
Defeated enemies are not just sources of experience; they also drop valuable resources in the form of ammunition, health points (HP) recovery items, and energy replenishment. Actively collecting these drops during missions is far more efficient than relying solely on Munition Caches scattered around the map. Staying vigilant for these pickups ensures you maintain your combat readiness and resource levels throughout your expeditions.
However, remember that you cannot pick up drops if your HP, Energy, or Ammunition are already at maximum capacity. Keep an eye on your resource levels to optimize your looting efficiency.
Tip 4: Unlock Skills by Increasing Mastery Rank {#tip-4-mastery-rank}
Your Descendant’s combat prowess is directly linked to their Mastery Rank Level. As you increase this rank, you’ll unlock new and powerful Active Skills, expanding your tactical options in battle. Mastery Rank is gained through consistent engagement – defeating enemies and successfully completing missions contribute to your experience pool, pushing you closer to the next rank.
Progressing your Mastery Rank is a fundamental aspect of character development in The First Descendant. Regularly check your progress and aim to level up to continuously enhance your Descendant’s capabilities.
Tip 5: Leverage Multiplayer with Friends {#tip-5-multiplayer}
While The First Descendant is perfectly playable solo, it truly shines as a multiplayer experience. Teaming up with friends adds a layer of strategic depth and camaraderie to your missions. The game facilitates social interaction through a Social Menu, accessible from the Map screen. Here, you can send friend requests to nearby players or search for friends directly using their Player IDs.
Playing with friends can make challenging content more manageable and enjoyable. Coordinating skills and strategies with allies can significantly improve your success rate in tougher missions and boss encounters.
Choosing Your First Descendant: Starter Character Tier List
Selecting your initial Descendant is a pivotal decision that shapes your early game experience. Each Descendant possesses unique skills and playstyles. Here’s a beginner-friendly tier list to guide your choice, focusing on ease of use and early game effectiveness:
| Descendant | Ranking and Explanation |
|---|---|
| Lepic | Ranking: ★★★ Role: DPS Explanation: Lepic excels as a damage dealer, capable of unleashing high burst damage with his grenades and area-of-effect attacks. His skills are effective against groups of enemies, and he can inflict burning damage for sustained damage over time. The Close Call passive skill provides a safety net, offering a chance to survive otherwise fatal blows, making him forgiving for beginners. |
| Ajax | Ranking: ★★☆ Role: Tank Explanation: Ajax is built to withstand heavy damage and protect allies. His Orbit Barrier skill generates a shield that not only absorbs damage but can also reflect enemy projectiles. The shield’s strength scales with Ajax’s HP and Defense stats, encouraging a tank-oriented build. Event Horizon, his passive skill, allows him to gather and enhance his abilities with Void Energy, adding a strategic layer to his tanking role. While slightly less straightforward than Lepic for pure damage, Ajax is excellent for learning enemy patterns and surviving tougher encounters. |
| Viessa | Ranking: ★☆☆ Role: Debuffer Explanation: Viessa specializes in crowd control and weakening enemies with debuffs, primarily through her Ice-based skills. Many of her Active Skills apply the Ice Shackle debuff, slowing and hindering enemies. She’s relatively easy to play, allowing you to attack while applying debuffs, offering a balanced approach. Her Ice Sphere passive skill creates a protective sphere when inflicting Ice Shackle, providing added defense. While her damage output might be lower compared to Lepic initially, her debuffing capabilities become increasingly valuable as you face more challenging and numerous enemies. |
For beginners, Lepic is often recommended due to his straightforward damage-dealing capabilities and survivability passive. However, both Ajax and Viessa offer viable starting points depending on your preferred playstyle – tanking and debuffing respectively. Experimenting with each Descendant can help you find the one that best suits your approach to combat in The First Descendant.
Fast Progression in the Early Game: 12 Essential Steps
Efficiency is key to a satisfying early game experience. To accelerate your progression in The First Descendant, remember these twelve actionable steps that cover combat tactics, resource management, and strategic gameplay decisions.
Step 1: Complete the Tutorial and Starting Missions {#step-1-tutorial-missions}
Never underestimate the value of the tutorial and initial missions. These guided experiences are designed to introduce you to the core mechanics of The First Descendant, including essential combat maneuvers like using the grappling hook and deploying active skills. Beyond basic training, these missions reward you with experience points, directly contributing to your Mastery Rank progression right from the outset. Completing these introductory stages efficiently sets a solid foundation for your journey.
Step 2: Lean on Assault Rifles Early On {#step-2-assault-rifles}
Assault Rifles stand out as versatile and effective weapons for the early game. Their balanced attributes – high damage per second (DPS), decent fire rate, and manageable recoil – make them ideal for both practicing your aim and efficiently dispatching early enemies. Ammunition for assault rifles is also readily available, ensuring you can consistently rely on them. Mastering assault rifles early on provides a significant combat advantage as you get accustomed to the game’s shooting mechanics.
Step 3: Progress Through the Main Questline {#step-3-main-quest}
Upon reaching Albion, prioritize following the Main Quest missions. These are easily identifiable by their distinctive Violet quest markers on the map and in Outposts. Main Quests are not only integral to the game’s narrative but also serve as structured progression paths, guiding you through different areas, introducing new mechanics, and rewarding you with significant experience and key items. Fast traveling to Outposts from the map screen makes navigating between Main Quests efficient.
Step 4: Continuously Aim to Increase Your Mastery Rank {#step-4-mastery-rank-progression}
| How to Increase Your Mastery Rank |
|---|
| Method: Collect Mastery EXP through combat and missions. Rank Up: Visit the Ancient Hand in Albion when prompted. |
Increasing your Mastery Rank is a continuous process that unlocks crucial character enhancements. Higher Mastery Ranks not only grant access to more potent Active Skills but also increase your capacity to equip Modules and utilize more Equipment Slots. Whenever you receive a notification indicating that you can level up your Mastery Rank, make a trip back to Albion and interact with the Ancient Hand to claim your rewards and boost your Descendant’s potential.
Step 5: Defeat Enemies to Farm for Better Weapons {#step-5-enemy-weapon-farm}
Engaging in combat and defeating enemies is not just about experience; it’s also a primary method for acquiring new and improved weapons. As you progress, focus on defeating various enemy types to increase your chances of obtaining weapon drops with superior stats, modules, and higher levels. Even if you have a preferred weapon type, collecting a variety is beneficial. Unwanted weapons can be dismantled for materials, which are essential for crafting and upgrading gear later in the game.
Step 6: Keep an Eye Out for Encrypted Vaults {#step-6-encrypted-vaults}
While exploring the environment, be observant for subtle cues indicating nearby Encrypted Vaults. These are signaled by tiny, square holograms emanating from the ground. Investigating these signals can lead you to hidden vaults containing valuable resources.
To open Encrypted Vaults, you’ll need Code Analyzers, which are items found or acquired in-game. Unlocking these vaults can yield a variety of crafting materials, including Research Materials, which are specifically used to craft new Descendants. Regularly checking for and opening Encrypted Vaults is a worthwhile detour during exploration.
Step 7: Equip Reactors That Match Your Descendant’s Element {#step-7-elemental-reactors}
Reactors play a crucial role in enhancing your Descendant’s elemental skills. To maximize your damage output, equip Reactors that correspond to your Descendant’s elemental affinity. For instance, using a Frozen Reactor with Viessa (Ice element), a Burning Reactor with Blair (Fire element), or a Tingling Reactor with Bunny (Lightning element) will significantly amplify the damage of their respective skills. Matching Reactors to Descendants is a straightforward way to boost combat effectiveness.
Step 8: Utilize Sub-Attacks to Knock Down Enemies {#step-8-sub-attacks}
Sub-attacks are a valuable combat tool, especially against tougher, non-boss enemies. Most standard enemies can be knocked down using sub-attacks, briefly interrupting their actions and making them vulnerable to follow-up attacks. Mastering the timing and application of sub-attacks can control the flow of battle and provide tactical advantages. Remember, however, that bosses are generally immune to knockdowns, so adjust your strategy accordingly in boss encounters.
Step 9: Destroy Every Resource Box You Encounter {#step-9-resource-boxes}
Keep an eye out for and destroy resource boxes scattered throughout the game world. These boxes are containers of valuable resources and crafting materials that are essential for various aspects of progression, including unlocking new Descendants and crafting powerful Ultimate Weapons. Developing a habit of destroying every resource box you come across ensures a steady supply of materials to fuel your advancement.
Step 10: Prioritize Modules That Increase DEF and HP in Early Game {#step-10-defensive-modules}
In the initial stages of The First Descendant, survivability often outweighs raw damage output. Focus on equipping modules that primarily boost your Defense (DEF), Health Points (HP), and Elemental Resistance. These defensive enhancements will significantly increase your resilience, allowing you to withstand more damage and survive longer in engagements. Since Reactors are already contributing to skill damage, bolstering your defenses with modules provides a balanced approach to early game character building.
Step 11: Continuously Increase Your DPS for Faster Kills {#step-11-increase-dps}
As you progress, maintaining and increasing your Damage Per Second (DPS) becomes crucial for efficiently clearing content. Regularly evaluate your weapons and aim to equip firearms with higher levels and DPS ratings. When selecting Weapon Modules, prioritize those that increase Firearm ATK. While stats like Critical Hit Damage and Weakpoint Damage are beneficial, Firearm ATK provides a more consistent and broadly applicable damage increase, enhancing your overall combat effectiveness in most situations.
Step 12: Grappling Hook to Counter Unbreakable Defense {#step-12-grappling-hook-defense}
Enemies with Unbreakable Defense can pose a significant challenge as their shields deflect standard weapon fire. The Grappling Hook is the key to overcoming this defense. Utilize your Grappling Hook to maneuver around these shielded enemies, disrupt their stance, and shatter their Unbreakable Defense. This tactical application of the Grappling Hook creates openings for attack, turning a potentially frustrating encounter into a manageable combat scenario.
Understanding The First Descendant: A Looter Shooter at its Core
What Defines The First Descendant?
The First Descendant is fundamentally a third-person looter shooter. You embody a Descendant, a powerful warrior capable of wielding unique skills and abilities alongside a diverse arsenal of firearms. The core gameplay loop revolves around engaging waves of enemies, tackling challenging bosses, and striving for the survival of humanity. You can choose to play solo or team up with friends in cooperative multiplayer, taking on story-driven missions and formidable boss battles. A central element is the continuous acquisition of loot – weapons, modules, reactors, and more – which you use to upgrade your Descendants and enhance their combat prowess. This constant cycle of combat, loot, and progression is the heart of The First Descendant experience.
Master Your Descent: All Essential Starter Guides
To further aid your journey in The First Descendant, here’s a compilation of starter guides covering various aspects of the game. Explore these resources to deepen your understanding and optimize your gameplay.
Explore More The First Descendant Guides
Navigate The First Descendant with these Guides
| The First Descendant Guides |
|---|
| Tier Lists |
| News |
| Void Bosses |
| Weapons |
| Materials |
| Modules |
| Maps |
