The First Descendantfollows similar storylines in other looter shooters such asDestiny. There is an evil trying to steal power from the world, Karel, and he has an unstoppable army to do his bidding. Players can join up with the rebel alliance in the hud zone of Albion to help stop Karel and his goons.
That’s the general premise ofThe First Descendantbut there are artifacts, magic, and other shenanigans abound. Story aside, some players may begin the game and get lost. There are a lot of menus and it can be hard to start on the right foot. That’s why these tips may be extra useful to avoid unnecessary mistakes.
6How Descendants Works
Getting More Characters And Loadouts
When players startThe First Descendant, they can choose between three characters who are known as the titular Descendants. Viessa is a good starting character as she has ice powers and other than skills and different stats, all Descendants operate the same way. Most weapons and most Modules, which are like armor chips, are universal. After choosing a Descendant players will be locked in for the first several hours.
At the home base in Albion, the game will tell players they can get new Descendants whenever, and then a micro-transaction window will pop up. Don’t make the mistake and be tempted to buy a new Descendant right away. Players can unlock more Descendants as they gather materials and enough in-game cash. Bunny, for example, can be unlocked as players follow the tutorial story. Also, levels and equipment transfer between Descendants so players don’t have to worry about leveling them all separately.
5Go Back To And Explore Albion Frequently
Players only have a set amount of gear they can carry around which is standard fora looter RPG. Players should warp back to their home base at Albion frequently to offload weapons and Modules into storage. If there are unwanted amounts of gear, they can always sell it too.
One easy shortcut players may miss is that they can tag unwanted gear as trash. That way players can sell all “trashed” items at once to save time. There are other reasons to head back to Albion frequently like to level up Masteries. There is a bar in the equipment menu that will tell players when it is time to visit the Mastery vendor in Albion, located on the East side of the compound. Not cashing in Masteries will result in wasted EXP and that’s never good in an RPG.
4You Can Examine Gear On Many Levels
Take A Look At Weapon Types
There are a lot of pickups players can gather on the battlefield from ammo to weapons to Modules. It can be a lot to keep track of as is typical in a looter RPG. For example, there are eleven types of weapons in the game from various rifles toshotguns which appear in many shooters. Some players may not realize this but in the weapon menu, for example, players can look at every type individually.
This categorization may help them decide on what to equip next. It’s also handy to note that there are four ammo types with the aforementioned shotguns using High-Power Rounds while assault rifles use General Rounds. The three weapon slots available are for any type of gun, so if players wanted they could equip three shotguns. It’s not locked in, unlikeother looter shooters includingDestiny.
3Matching Elements With Characters
Equipment Is For All, But It Shouldn’t Be
This same type of organization can be done in the equipment menu concerning Reactors and External Components. Reactors are the big pieces of gear to equip as they can raise a lot of stats and grant various boosts. While stat boosts are great for all Descendants, each one has a core elemental power.
For example, the aforementioned Viessa can use ice skills while Bunny can use electric-based attacks. Equip a Reactor to match their needs to boost these elements. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to equip a Reactor to Bunny that boosts fire powers, for example.
2Don’t Forget About Verticality
Put That Grappling Hook To Good Use
This game is set up likea typical third-person shooterwith various types of gear, weapons, and so on. It may not occur to players that they have a grappling hook since it doesn’t play into the core gameplay besides some needed platforming for missions. It’s an easy mechanic to forget but the grappling hook can help a lot during combat and is one of the highlights ofThe First Descendant.
For example, players could grapple up to a tall building and thenbecome a sniperfor the team. It can come in handy in a pinch too like an extra way to dodge attacks, especially during colossal boss battles. It’s a good idea to practice with the grappling hook but most importantly players should not forget about it.
1Check Out Your Journal
There are a lot of menus besides equipment that players have to parse through. One overlooked menu can be the Journal tab. Here, players can find mini-quests which will lead to rewards. They’re kind of like in-game achievements similar toTrophies on PS5.
They can range from completing story missions to defeating enemies in a certain manner like inflicting status ailments. If there is a reward to be claimed, there will be a red dot on the category. It might not be a bad idea to study some of these achievements to play in different ways thus leading to unlocking rewards faster. No reward is a bad reward inThe First Descendant.
