Summary
The first season ofThe First Descendantfinally arrives, adding in the new cryo sniper Hailey, Invasion Episode, and plenty more for players to check out. After launching at the start of July,The First Descendantquickly became a major success for Nexon. While the free to play title has managed to capture a large player base, Nexon has attempted to keep fans happy with consistent updates and content drops, while also changing aspects of the experience that players largely don’t enjoy.
Over the past few weeks, Nexon has been busy preparing the game for its first season. Following a new trailer,The First Descendantplayers were introduced to the cryo sniper Hailey Scott, the latest character being added to the game’s growing roster. As a sniper, she’s capable of dealing massive damage to enemies, especially those further away thanks to her passive. She also has access to cryo rounds and a knock back ability to generate more space away from enemies, though her ultimate ability equips her unique weapon to not only dish out huge damage but restores MP and decreases cooldown. However, a new character isn’t the only change players will find after downloading the first season.
Theseason 1 update forThe First Descendantis substantial, not just in the content that it adds, but Nexon has also made sweeping changes to most of the game’s systems with quality of life improvements and further bug fixes. For example, this update has made adjustments to Void Fragments and Fusion Reactors so that finishing one activity will give players enough materials to start the other immediately. Reconstructed Devices in Fusion Reactors now require only one type of shard instead of two different ones, making them easier to work with in order to obtain and farm rewards. Not only that, when researching items in Albion, players can also specify the quantity to make if they have enough materials, instead of having to craft 1 at a time, as well as reducing the time for an Ion Accelerator, Phase Exchanger, or Adjustment Control Axis.
For most players however, the new content like the previously mentioned Hailey Scott will likely be the big headliners with this update. The game’s story continues in Season 1 as players can now check out the Invasion episode once all main quests have been completed. Working through that storyline eventually unlocks the newInversion Reinforcement progression system inThe First Descendant, a tool that allows players to improve and strengthen their character with bonuses and effects tied to five different categories. Players will need to acquire Ironheart Particles to increase the Inversion Reinforcer level, which grants energy that can be spent.
However, all the excitement of a new season was met with a bit of controversy when Nexon revealed it would be split into three seperate updates over the course of three months. One of the most anticipated additions in season 1 was Ultimate Freyna, though fans discovered she wasn’t scheduled to arrive in game until the end of October. Responding to fan feedback,Nexon announced a big schedule change forThe First Descendant, reducing the updates down to 2 and moving the final update up closer to the start of October instead. While many still aren’t thrilled about having season 1 cut in half, the change was nonetheless appreciated and continued to show that the developers are listening.
(1) Content
# Director’s Comment
Recently, we’ve received feedback that players who are hard of hearing find it difficult to locate Encrypted Vaults. Therefore, we’ve added visual cues to the Encrypted Vaults hint to help more players feel comfortable playing The First Descendant. We hope this small change helps players with hearing loss, and we will continue to work hard to improve accessibility so that everyone can have a better gaming experience.
The 1.1.0 update brings many changes to Hard Infiltration Operations. We’ve changed some of the pre-existing missions such as Occupation, Defense, and Escort to Extermination or Destruction to give players a run-and-gun styled fast-paced combat experience as they enjoy repeated farming. The reward system has also been adjusted to reflect this: we’ve significantly increased the amount of EXP gained from defeating monsters and completing missions in Hard Infiltration Operations, and while Special Operations are still the better option for farming EXP, Infiltration Operations can now provide a decent amount of EXP as players farm items. Additionally, we’ve increased the amount of rare basic materials you can receive from clearing Hard Infiltration Operations. We’ll continue to add more content that allows players to enjoy their favorite styles of combat.
With the 1.1.0 update, we’ve made adjustments so that a single playthrough of a Void Fragment will yield enough Void Shards to use the Reconstructed Devices in Fusion Reactors once. We’ve also improved accessibility by making Void Fragments and Fusion Reactors on the same battlefield drop and require the same type of shards. While you can still obtain two types of shards from Void Fragments, the Reconstructed Devices in Fusion Reactors now require only one type of shard, further improving accessibility.
We are constantly monitoring feedback to further improve Outposts and Void Fragments. For long-term improvements, the dev team is considering ideas to evolve Outposts into a non-stop combat experience, as well as improving the farming accessibility of Void Fragments and Fusion Reactors with the integration of content.
In this 1.1.0 update, we’ve also changed the spawn location of certain Void Fragment missions to provide an efficient way to farm shards for each attribute. In addition, we’ve added snipers in certain Void Fragment areas to prevent the use of macros.
in certain Void Fragment areas. We hope these changes will make your farming experience more enjoyable.
We’ve made adjustments to Special Operations so that there is improved efficiency when farming EXP. While we recognize many players enjoy leveling up through Sterile Land Mine Blocking, we still believe it’s not as rewarding as other EXP farms that require a simpler play, such as Void Fragments.
As a result, in this update, we’ve added EXP when clearing waves in Special Operations. The fastest, “Mine Blockade,” will now give you about 1.5 times more EXP than before, while “Resource Defense” and “Neutralize Experiment” will give you 2 times more EXP. We hope this will help players level up more efficiently across various Special Operations.
We have added the ability to select the quantity of researches when researching enhancement materials. One consequence of this change is that only two studies in the research list will result for each enhancement material. This means, previously, multiple Adjustment Control Axis could be simultaneously created; now, when it comes to Adjustment Control Axis, only two can be researched at the same time.
With the addition of the research quantity selection feature, players can now research up to 500 Adjustment Control Axis at a time. This allows them to conduct more research in one go, reducing the number of visits to Anais. However, the inability to simultaneously conduct multiple research will reduce the amount of enhancement materials that can be acquired in a short period of time.
While we want to give players new features, we also want to make sure that players in certain situations aren’t losing out. As a result, we’ve shortened the time it takes to research enhancement materials so that despite only doing one research at a time, you’ll still acquire a similar amount of enhancement materials as before. We hope this will help players research and utilize enhancement materials more efficiently.
Previously, in Update 1.0.7, we added information for random options, Arche type of Reactors, and External Component sets for item icons. The feedback we received was, that players were distracted, as there was too much information included. Based on this, we’ve made improvements so that the icon information is presented in a cleaner, more organized way. Dev Team will continue to listen to the valuable feedback given by community and players as we continue to make improvements to the game.
(3) Descendants
Jayber
Skill Power Modifier, Additional ATK for skills when attacking Colossus/Legion of Darkness/Order of Truth/Legion of Immortality, Incoming Damage Modifier
Ajax
In this update, we’ve made balance adjustments to Ajax, Blair, and Jayber. We’ve been closely analyzing feedback from the community and continue to monitor all Descendants and Ultimate Weapons. As we move forward with this Invasion Season, we’ll continue to balance more Descendants and Ultimate Weapons based on your feedback. We’ll do our best to make your experience more enjoyable and fair.
The First Descendant
WHERE TO PLAY
The First Descendant is a next-generation third-person co-op action RPG looter shooter featuring high-quality graphics created in Unreal Engine 5.Players become a Descendant whose mission is to combat alien invaders – The Vulgus who crossed dimensions over 100 years ago and brought with them the devastating Colossi and destruction – for the survival of humanity and to protect Albion and the continent of Ingris. Players will encounter spectacular stories of forces fighting over the Iron Heart as they grow stronger through various missions and raids.Encounter features that make The First Descendant’s gameplay unique: a variety of characters with unique concepts and combat styles, massive boss battles with up to four player co-op, free movement and coordinated action with grappling hooks, a variety of weapons and compelling customization options.
