The First Descendant Releases Major Update 1.5

Highlights

Update 1.5 of The First Descendant delivers new content like Luna, Ultimate Valby, Gluttony boss fight, and an ultimate weapon called Peace Maker.
However, Update 1.5 also brings a ton of quality of life tweaks and bug fixes like buffs for numerous characters.
Nexon continues its policy of putting players first with this update, making Void Shards easier to acquire and reducing other pain points.

Hello there, dear readers! It’s your old pal Minseok Joo, The First Descendant Director, back again with another exciting update from our Dev Team! As you may know, we’ve been working tirelessly to ensure that your gaming experience is smooth, engaging, and rewarding. Today, I want to share some insights into the improvements we are planning for our beloved game, focusing on the current state rather than Season 1 and 2 updates.

Just as I mentioned earlier, I’ve delivered on my word with the massive 1.5 update for The First Descendant! This fresh wave includes exciting new characters like Luna and Ultimate Valby, a thrilling Gluttony boss fight, improvements to gameplay, and a host of bug fixes. Ever since our launch at the beginning of July, I’ve been keeping gamers hooked by introducing new gear, weapons, and characters that can be earned. It’s all about farming materials by revisiting missions, with clear indicators showing where resources are hidden – no more frustrating randomized RNG found in other games within this genre!

As a devoted fan, I appreciate how Nexon prioritizes player experience when updating The First Descendant. Unlike some developers who might weaken popular loot farms for a competitive edge, Nexon chooses to enhance other aspects of the game instead, making them more lucrative and enjoyable. This thoughtful approach ensures that the game remains engaging and fun to play, even as they tweak the balance to keep things fair. In the latest patch, this player-centric mindset shines through with fresh content, improved systems, and character upgrades – a testament to Nexon’s commitment to their players.

Nexon kept their word by releasing Update 1.5 for The First Descendant a day ahead of schedule. Now available for download, the update introduces two new characters: Luna and Ultimate Valby, which players can acquire either by purchasing or earning Amorphous Materials. For those seeking a fresh challenge, they can engage in the Hard Voice Intercept Battle against Gluttony, with potential rewards including blueprints for the latest ultimate weapon, Peace Maker – a hand cannon. Lastly, a new module called Arche Concretion has been added. Using this module temporarily reduces movement speed and Firearm attack, but increases Defense and Maximum Mana when a skill is activated. In addition, it accumulates stacks of Arche Concretion, enhancing Defense and Maximum Mana further.

In Update 1.5, the primary attraction lies in the introduction of new content, but it also enhances existing content with numerous improvements and bug fixes to ensure a smoother gameplay experience. For instance, characters like Freyna, Valby, Blair, and Viessa have been given boosts to their skills, especially Area of Effect (AoE) attacks which now have a wider range. Additionally, the developers have made substantial changes in gameplay, such as increasing the acquisition of Void Shards from Special Operations by seven times the normal amount, reducing the health of named bosses’ immunity spheres, and significantly enhancing Encrypted Vault spawns.

In this latest update, players can expect an abundance of fresh activities, which will further increase the existing inventory of materials required for obtaining the newly introduced characters, weapons, and modules. However, Update 1.5 appears to be just the start, as Nexon has unveiled a seasonal plan brimming with content for The First Descendant , featuring new story missions, colossal dungeons, and of course, upcoming characters to unlock.

The First Descendant Update 1.5 Patch Notes

New Descendant: Ultimate Valby

Added “Ultimate Valby.”

Ultimate Valby Modification Modules

Spiral Tidal Wave: The bouncy Bubble Bullet has been replaced by a projectile that flies in a straight line. Spiral Tidal Wave is stackable and can be fired three times in a row, and attracts impurities during the Gluttony Intercept Battle.
Hydro Pressure Bomb: Instead of “Plop Plop,” she leaps forward and deals damage to enemies around the landing area. The more enemies in the Laundry state, the more powerful the damage.

Added Ultimate Valby Amorphous Materials

Amorphous Material Patterns 011, 044, 115, 030, 055, 113, 023, 052, 073, 087, 110, and 125 can no longer be acquired. You can continue to use the Amorphous Materials you already have as before.
Added the “AA variants” of Amorphous Materials 011, 044, 115, 030, 055, 113, 023, 052, 073, 087, 110, and 125. You can acquire the Enhanced Cell Blueprint, Stabilizer Blueprint, Spiral Catalyst Blueprint, and Code of Ultimate Valby from them. Ultimate Valby’s blueprint and Code Materials will replace one of the items available from the original Amorphous.
The Amorphous Materials of the “AA variant” can be acquired and used in the same place as the original.

New Descendant: Luna

Added new Descendant, Luna.

Luna Skills

(Passive Skill) Improvisation: Using any skill increases Inspiration Gauge, which allows Luna to use Enhanced Skills.
(Active Skill 1) Stage Presence: Using the skill changes Luna’s weapon to her Unique Weapon. Performing the notes in time to the music by using skills or hitting monsters stacks and increases her Skill Power Modifier.
(Active Skill 2) Passionate Stage: Using the skill makes Luna play upbeat music, increasing the Skill Power Modifier of Luna and her allies. Gaining the Enhanced Effect increases the Skill Power Modifier even more and also increases the Skill Critical Hit Rate and damage of allies.
(Active Skill 3) Relaxing Act: Using the skill makes Luna play relaxing music. Hitting the enemy with a note grants an effect that instantly recovers the MP of Luna and her allies. Gaining the Enhanced Effect increases MP Recovery, and reduces Skill Cost.
(Active Skill 4) Delightful Stage: Using the skill makes Luna play delightful music. Hitting the enemy with a note increases Inspiration Gauge and decreases the skill cooldown of allies. Gaining the Enhanced Effect increases the Inspiration Gauge even more and immediately resets the cooldown of allies.

Luna Modification Modules

Nimble Footsteps: This Modification Module enhances Luna’s Movement Speed and amplifies the effect range of her performance, making it easier to support her allies.
Noise Surge: Transforms all of Luna’s skills to combat skills. Performing the notes in rhythm unleashes a powerful AoE attack. When the Inspiration Gauge is full, summons a moving stage where she dances to recover MP and Shield.

Added Luna Amorphous Materials

Amorphous Material Patterns 017, 038, 081, 020, 098, 068, 015, 049, 071, 027, 090, and 094 can no longer be acquired. You can continue to use the Amorphous Materials you already have as before.
Added the “AA variants” of Amorphous Materials 017, 038, 081, 020, 098, 068, 015, 049, 071, 027, 090, and 094. You can acquire the Enhanced Cell Blueprint, Stabilizer Blueprint, Spiral Catalyst Blueprint, and Code of Luna from them. Luna’s blueprint and Code Materials will replace one of the items available from the original Amorphous.
The Amorphous Materials of the “AA variant” can be acquired and used in the same place as the original.

Added New Hard Void Intercept Battle: Gluttony

Intercept Gluttony to collect the Hungry Sonic External Components Set and the blueprint of the Ultimate Weapon Peace Maker.

Gluttony External Components Set

Hungry Sonic Set: 2-piece set effect grants Toxin Resistance. 4-piece set grants an effect that recovers MP on hitting the target with a skill’s Unique Weapon as well as an effect that increases Skill Duration and MP Heal Modifier proportionally to Max MP.

New Ultimate Equipment: Peace Maker

Added new Ultimate Weapon Peace Maker. Using a Dimension skill grants the “Single Reload for Peace” effect.

When your weapon is fully loaded, the “One Shot for Tranquility” effect lets you discharge all your bullets in one swift, precise shot.

New Module

Arche Concretion: Decreases Movement Speed, Firearm ATK, and all Attribute ATK except the Non-Attribute ATK every time a skill is used, but each stack of Arche Concretion increases DEF and MP.

Added New Products

Added “New Descendant: Exclusive Luna Bundle” which includes Luna and the “Pool Party” skin.
Added Luna to the list of standard Descendants in the shop.
Added “Premium Ultimate Valby Bundle” which includes Ultimate Valby and the “Vermillion Wave skin,” and “Ultimate Valby Bundle.”
Added “Valby’s Summer Theme,” “Viessa’s Summer Theme,” and “Male Summer Theme Set.”
Added “Luna’s Albion Academy Cadet,” “Luna’s Classic Maid Uniform,” “Luna’s Panda,” and “Luna’s Dinosaur” limited skins.
Added “Luna’s Augmented Reality of Madness” premium skin package.
Added Luna’s exclusive “White Mouse” premium head skin.
Added Luna’s exclusive Hair & Makeup 1 & 2.
Added Luna’s “The Ultimate High Feeling” and “Volume Up” standard skins.
Added Luna’s makeup “Sly.”
Added “Adjustment Control Axis X30” and “Fine Adjustment Control Axis 20” support items.

Content Improvements

(1) UI/UX

To prevent module swapping from becoming a strategy in Intercept Battles and Infiltration Operations, equipping and removing modules, changing presets, and changing loadouts are now prohibited.
Added a feature to collect all Lost and Found items at once in the Mailbox.
After checking the map with acquired information in the Library, closing the map now leaves the Library open.
Added Camera Shake ON/OFF feature in Game Options.
(PS, Xbox) Added the ability to select preset search keywords to make it easier to search modules and research.
Added commas after every three digits in the game menu and HUD to make it easier to read numerical units.
You can now check key stat information in the weapon, reactor, and external component inventories.
You can now register equipped items as Attached Items.
Saving a preset now automatically registers equipped items as Attached Items.
You can now turn the red dot crosshair display on or off cities in Game Options.
Added an image to some items in Graphics Options to show what they do.
Increased the speed of scrolling when scrolling the map with the gamepad’s R-stick.
Changed the color of icons for Hard difficulty Void Intercept Battles on the World Map to make it easier to distinguish them from Normal difficulty battles.
The map no longer displays the marker when a quest NPC being tracked disappears.
The Modification Modules for the same Descendant are now displayed together in a row in the Library.
When the first clear reward and repeat clear reward are the same, the Acquisition Info in the Library no longer shows them both.
When selecting all duplicate modules in Dismantle Modules, you can now use a filter to register only the selected modules for dismantling.
Simplified the module combining animation.
Starting a research in the Materials tab of the Research menu now returns you to the Materials tab.
Added the “Leave Party” button to the Social menu to make the function easier to find.
Added a search function to the Consumables menu.
Even when acquiring skins for Descendants not currently in use the red dot still appears.
Added the red dot when acquiring paint.
The red dot now appears in the Weapons List side tab too when acquiring a weapon skin.

(2) Descendants, Modules

Increased the Poison contagion range of Freyna’s Room 0 Trauma from a 4 m radius to a 7 m radius.
Increased the maximum scaling range of Valby’s skills from 200% to 250%.
Increased the maximum scaling range of Blair’s skills from 200% to 250%.
Changed the blizzard generated by Viessa’s “Glacial Cloud” module to be triggered instantly without delay.
Changed Valby’s “Albion Academy Cadet” head skin to be dyeable.
Changed “Incoming Final Damage” to “Incoming Damage Modifier” in the description of the “Safe Recovery” module.

(3) Equipment

Added a feature in Game Options that enables some single-shot and burst weapons to fire automatically when the fire button is pressed and held down.
Increased Enduring Legacy’s Critical Hit Damage from 1.7x to 2.3x.
Increased Secret Garden’s Critical Hit Rate from 35% to 50% and Critical Hit Damage from 1.85x to 2.25x.
Increased Nazeistra’s Devotion’s Critical Hit Rate from 36% to 45% and Critical Hit Damage from 2x to 2.25x.
Decreased the trigger rate of Bombardment of Greg’s Reversed Fate, but now it also triggers when the weapon is fired at unshielded enemies.
Equipment can now be dismantled at once with no quantity limit.

(4) Field

Increased the amount of Void Shards that can be acquired from Special Operations by about 7 times.

1.0.4 Update of Hotfix: Initially, Void Shards were scarcely offered as rewards for Special Operations. However, our goal was to have Void Fragments serve as the main source to farm Void Shards, while earning extra Void Shards from Special Operations. But players expressed dislike towards this cycle, so we’ve boosted the amount of Void Shards that can be earned in Special Operations. We are also brainstorming ways for future enhancements. It seems that many players are gathering materials without using Fragments at the Fusion Reactor, so we’re contemplating removing Fragments from the Fusion Reactor’s initial setup entirely. This would make Fragments essential only when the Reconstructing Device is activated at the Fusion Reactor. We are assessing the effectiveness of our planned reward loop and will strive to establish a player-friendly reward system in the coming days.

Reduced the distance you’re knocked down when hit by a trap.
Lowered the ratio at which the named monster’s immunity sphere HP scales with the number of players in Infiltration Operations, and reduced the duration of immunity.
The Agna Desert, Vespers, Echo Swamp, White-night Gulch, Hagios, and Fortress fields now have a 100% chance to spawn Encrypted Vaults at spawn.
Increased the hit box size in “data collection” missions to make it easier to collect data.
Outside environmental sounds are now less audible in the indoor areas in Kingston.
Adjusted the distance that monsters spawn in the Laboratory to be closer as 15m.

(5) Miscellaneous

Balanced sound levels for shield destruction notification, material research result window, etc.

Optimization Improvements

(PC, PS5, XSX, XSS) Applied AMD FSR 3.1.
(PS4, XB1) Optimized memory usage.
(PS4, XB1) Optimized resolution to increase the maximum resolution by at least 5%.

Bug Fixes

(1) UI/UX

Fixed an issue where enemies defeated by the unique effects of Ultimate Weapons were not counted in Battle Pass Challenge and Awards.
Fixed an issue where the capacity cost reduced by matching socket types was not displayed on the Weapon Module Enhancement screen.
Fixed an issue where closing the Capacity Exceeded warning message while enhancing a module made the game inoperable.
Fixed an issue where restarting an Intercept Battle, Infiltration Operation, or Special Operation after completing it would not matchmake you with allies who applied to restart with you.
Revised the description on the Info screen that incorrectly stated that the damage taken decreases the higher the “Incoming Damage Modifier,” so that now it states the damage taken decreases the lower the modifier.
Fixed an issue where completing a mission with a weapon that has been socketed at least once would appear to give Mastery Rank EXP, when in fact it does not.
Fixed an issue where the names of the core materials and blueprints of Ultimate Weapons were swapped.
Fixed an issue where the quantity of attached paint was not displayed in the Mailbox.
Fixed an issue where the DBNO UI animation would persist when a DBNO ally left and another ally joined.
Fixed an issue where changing loadouts while in combat is not possible but the UI would switch to the selected loadout.

(2) Descendants

Fixed an issue where Lepic could trigger the “Overkill” skill at 0 MP while equipping the “Increased Efficiency” module.
Fixed an issue where Yujin could not target an ally when using “Solidarity Healing” if part of their body was covered by an object.
Fixed an issue where DBNO allies rescued by Yujin could not use any skills for a short period of time after the rescue.
Fixed an issue where switching weapons after using Viessa’s “Frost Road” skill caused the skill’s visual effect to remain.
Fixed an issue where the Knockdown range of Valby’s “Plop Plop” skill was larger than the actual Skill Range.
Fixed an issue where Enzo’s “Shoot Support” was not applied to allies.
Fixed an issue where using Ultimate Gley’s “Massacre” or “Life Siphon” skill did not increase her Skill damage when she is above 50% HP.
Fixed an issue where Gley’s “Life Siphon” skill and her Modification Modules “Massive Sanguification” and “Explosive Life” could be used on objects in Intercept Battles.
Fixed an issue where Kyle’s “Repulsion Dash” could be used on objects in Intercept Battles.
Fixed an issue where the skill animation of Kyle’s “Repulsion Dash” skill would intermittently be cancelled.
Fixed an issue where the power of Ultimate Bunny’s “Lightning Emission” was determined by the amount of Electricity she had at the time of use, unlike Bunny. The power of Bunny’s “Lightning Emission” depends on the amount of Electricity she currently has.
Fixed an issue where Bunny’s “Maximum Power” skill’s sound pitch went up infinitely and sounded like a noise.
Fixed an issue where Esiemo would become uncontrollable while using the “Arche Explosion” skill.
Fixed an issue where after Ultimate Viessa used “Frost Road” with the “Absolute-Zero” module or Valby used “Laundry Bomb,” Ajax placing a barrier on top of it inflicted reflective damage on Ultimate Viessa or Valby.

(3) Equipment

Fixed an issue where moving on a field with three or four pieces of an external component set prevented the 2-piece set effect from being applied.
Fixed an issue where the damage of hitting the Ultimate Weapon King’s Guard Lance after it was deployed was recorded in the statistics.
Fixed an issue where the Ultimate Weapon Executor’s Hip Fire Accuracy was lower than what it should be.
Fixed an issue where the Ultimate Weapon Thunder Cage’s unique effect would deal more than 1.33x damage when monsters were clustered. Instead, Electric Shockwave now deals 2x damage regardless of the number of enemies.

During our internal testing, we found an issue with Thunder Cage where it was dealing more damage than described when multiple monsters were present. To correct this, we initially adjusted the multiplier from 1.33x to 2x, but because we didn’t want this change to make it less effective for hunting, we increased the multiplier. We understand how valuable your items are, so we’ve enhanced Thunder Cage more than originally planned to prevent any perceived devaluation. If similar issues arise in the future, rest assured that we won’t just fix the problem but will also take steps to maintain the worth of your items in order to deliver a fair update.

Fixed an issue where you could hear one or two extra shots when firing single shots with a repeating firearm.

(4) Modules

Fixed an issue where the Firearm Critical Hit Rate increase effect was missing in the description of Valby’s “Supply Moisture” module.
Fixed an issue where Valby’s “Tidal Wave” module would not properly stack Finishing Attack when piercing an enemy.
Fixed an issue where equipping Ajax’s “Body Enhancement” module would have different final result values depending on when it was saved.
Fixed an issue where if the “Matrix Recomputation module” was equipped by Ajax the Shield would recover every time after a very short while and the Shield started at 50% after equipment.
Fixed an issue where the “Pitmaster” passive would remain indefinitely when Blair removed the “Classic Chef” module while Flame Zone was in effect.
Fixed an issue where the knockback effect would not trigger when Blair used “Deadly Cuisine” while equipped with the “Backdraft” module.
Fixed an issue where the name of the “Sharp Precision Shot” module’s buff was incorrectly shown as “Lethal Finish.”
Fixed an issue where Bunny’s Evolving Skin quest requirements were not counted when Bunny equipped a Modification Module.
Fixed an issue where Bunny unequipping the “Electric Condense” module left a status effect display that did not have any effect.
Fixed an issue where Gley’s “Predator Instinct” module skill displayed the Frenzied state icon and name twice when used.
Fixed an issue where Ultimate Gley’s “Demonic Modification” module sometimes did not deal damage when used.

(5) Field

Fixed an issue where defeating named monsters at the same time as Void Fusion Reactor mission was being deleted allowed the player to use Reconstructing Devices without consuming Void Shards.
Fixed an issue where the zone map of “Hagios: The Old Mystery” showed different paths from actual paths.
Fixed an issue where the traps would remain on restart after dying in the No Resurrection Zone in Hagos: The Haven.
Fixed an issue where movement markers would appear while progressing through the Void Fusion Reactor.
Fixed an issue where roaming monsters would not spawn on the White-night Gulch: Hatchery battlefield.
Changed the Amorphous Material Patterns and Shape Stabilizers acquired from Hard Infiltration Operations in the White-night Gulch and Hagios.

(6) Miscellaneous

Fixed an intermittent terrain rendering bug.
[XB1, XB1S] Fixed an issue where textures would intermittently display black lines when rendering terrain.
Fixed an issue where the Sub Quest “Obtain Freyna’s Research Materials 1” would complete after clearing “Rockfall: Vulgus Strategic Outpost” even if the “Amorphous Material Pattern: Freyna” was not obtained.
Fixed an issue where the Sub Quest “Prepare to Obtain Additional Materials for Freyna Research” could not be completed with Ultimate Bunny.
Fixed an issue where the camera would intermittently freeze when removing parts during Intercept Battles.
Fixed an issue where the Elite Vulgus Special Effect “Chasing Orb” would not deal damage.

Hello there, I am Director Minseok Joo from The First Descendant team. Today, I would like to discuss our plans for enhancing the game experience based on community feedback. At present, we are working on updates for Seasons 1 and 2, while simultaneously addressing issues that have arisen during live service. In this communication, I will focus more on how we plan to improve The First Descendant as a whole rather than providing details about Season 1 and 2 updates.

Thank you.

2024-07-31 17:35