Over the weekend, publisher NEXON ran a developer livestream highlighting the changes and new content coming to their free-to-play looter shooter ‘The First Descendant’. This update, the first of many for the year, introduces Breach Tracking content along with improvements to Descendants and weapons and in addition to new items such as Trigger Modules, new skins and in-game events. The update went live as of last night’s maintenance run.
Have a gander below for more details on the latest The First Descendant update. The game is available on PC via Steam, Xbox Series, and PlayStation 5 consoles with full cross-save and crossplay support. You can also join in on the community for the game via the official Discord server.
- New Content: Breach Tracking
- In this update, players can experience the newly added Breach Tracking content. Breach tracking enhances familiar dungeon areas with random elements, offering players a unique and unpredictable experience during repeated play.
- Players will find that mission maps are randomly selected from White-night Gulch, Vespers or The Fortress, each with varying routes.
- Defeating the boss spawns an Amorphous Dimensional Stone, which can be opened using a Dimensional Stabilization Key to obtain rewards.
- Monthly Balance: Enzo
- Enzo will receive adjustments to become a “build-up” style Descendant who grows stronger by frequently firing and changing weapons.
- Passive Adjustments:
- To support this playstyle, Enzo’s Fire Supporter passive will allow him to gain buffs by consuming ammunition. As the core gameplay involves building up buffs, he will be able to swap between three weapons along with different ammunition types using a weapon swap speed bonus. These adjustments will enable Enzo to utilize these buffs and become a powerful gun-based damage dealer.
- Base Skill Improvements:
- Improvements to Enzo’s playstyle include the ability to instantly deplete his Start Supply and the addition of Reload effect when using the Explosive Drone skill. Additionally, during Focus Fire, using the Explosive Drone will trigger an additional projectile attack.
- Transcendent Module Adjustments:
- For players who utilize Enzo, improvements have been made to his skill usage and combat flow. Depending on the Transcendent Module, Enzo can now become one of the three following support types:
- As a High-Damage Gunner, Enzo’s build will consume more ammunition in exchange for greater firepower.
- As a Support Gunner, Enzo’s build will be more focused on supporting other gun-based damage dealers.
- As a Hybrid Build, Enzo’s build will utilize skill damage more frequently, creating a hybrid playstyle fit for players’ preferences.
- Monthly Balance: Jayber
- Jayber will also receive adjustments to enhance his gunplay. This allows him to fight with his weapons while the turret is active. The turret’s standalone performance has also been buffed to encourage the use of its AoE attacks.
- Turret Sync’ Enhancement
- ‘Turret Sync’ has been enhanced to boost Jayber’s firearm abilities. This redesign encourages a more active, hybrid playstyle that combines the use of both turrets and firearms.
- Skill Module Improvements
- Turret Engineering: Allows for the deployment of one additional turret to bolster firepower.
- Immediate Purge Code: The ‘Multi-purpose Gun’ skill is now more destructive. Usability is improved with sprint-casting and reduced delay, making it a primary skill with expanded range and power.
- New Items: Trigger Modules
- Three new Trigger Modules have been added for players to experiment with:
- Kill Chain: Specialized for Jayber. When Jayber’s turret hits an enemy they apply Strike Target effect. Strike Target is a stackable effect that grants additional damage proportional to skill power when attacking with firearms or melee weapons
- Tactical Strike: Specialized for Enzo. When hitting enemies with Explosive Drone or Focus Fire skill grants a Tactical Target effect. Using Start Supply skills will trigger an explosion on enemies affected by Tactical Target dealing AOE damage.
- Two Face: A Trigger Module designed for Descendants who utilize the common “Chain” type skills. With this, the Two Face module flips a coin whenever you use a “Chain” type skill:
- If it lands on Heads, your Skill Power will be increased.
- If it lands on Tails, the skill’s Area of Effect will be increased, aiding in your build-up process.
- New Items: Ultimate Modules
- Two new Ultimate Modules will be added for this update for players to try out, including:
- Infection Amplifier: A module that can be used with the Infected Weapon Trigger Module to achieve increased additional damage.
- Aftershock Catalyst: A module that, when utilized with the Ground Eruption Trigger Module, grants Skill Cooldown Reduction and MP Recovery.
- Weapon Improvements
- Firearm Improvements have been applied to the following four weapons:
- Thunder Cage: Unique effects have been adjusted to focus on on-hit status effects, with improved chain damage structure and increased firearm attack power.
- Greg’s Reversed Fate: Base firearm performance and perk mechanics have been improved, allowing bombardment effects to trigger based on hit and condition fulfillment.
- Afterglow Sword: Unique effects have changed so that maintaining aim enables automatic weak-point targeting, and weak-point attacks grant increased damage.
- Nazeistra’s Devotion: Hitting weak points applies status effects to nearby enemies and additional buffs stack on the user based on the number of affected targets.
- Additionally, Sword Improvements have also been implemented, including the following:
- Adjustments have been made to improve survivability and attack systems for melee sword weapons.
- Guard System Improvement: The guard system has changed from an active input to a passive function, allowing guard effects to apply even during attacks.
- Combo System Added: Combo counts accumulate on successful melee hits, increasing melee damage based on the combo count.
- January Skins
- Individual skins will be also be released for all female Descendants, including the two idol teams: A-Girls and CeleXtar.
- January Events
- Players can look forward to a few exciting events coming up this month such as:
- ‘A-GIRLS & CeleXtar Debut’ Event
- From January 15 to February 5, players can use a Fan Token obtained from defeating enemies to purchase support boxes for either A-Girls or CeleXtar. All participants receive the debut group’s fan club badge after the event ends.
- In completing the challenge, players can earn Idol-themed customization rewards such as light sticks(Hypernova Skin), sprays, name cards, photo frames, etc.
- ‘Mining Day’ Event
- From January 17 to February 2 (weekends only), players will find that Gold and Kuiper Shard acquisition has increased by 20% in Breach Tracking / Axion Plains.
- ‘Unveiled Truth: Dia’ Login Event
- From January 29 – February 12, players can participate in a login event beginning one week before Dia’s release on February 5. Up to Day 7, players will receive rewards that include weapon and Descendant EXP amplifiers and Crystallization Catalysts. From Day 8 onward, rewards will include Dia Research Material and Dia Transcendent Module selection boxes. These rewards have been prepared to help returning players quickly engage in Dia farming.
Support Our Team
XboxEra is a community-first, community funded publication. If you value what we do, and want to have a direct say in what we cover, consider supporting us directly on Patreon.
All you need to do is head on over to patreon.com/xboxera and for less than a cup of coffee a month, you’ll help keep this publication alive. As a bonus, you’ll find that we create more content than many other Patreon supported publications, and we give more back in return.
So go on, do something awesome.
