The new loot shooter The First Descendant launches with hundreds of thousands of players on Steam, PS5, and Xbox. Despite the controversial cash shop, many players are excited about the game and the heroes. Just a few days after the launch, some fans explain how they have already acquired new characters without having to pay for them.
Here’s the situation with The First Descendant:
- The shooter was released for free on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox on July 2. On the first day alone, nearly 200,000 players logged in just on Steam.
- However, the reviews are mixed. On Steam, The First Descendant has only a 51% positive rating, Destiny experts are still undecided about what to make of the shooter.
- The biggest criticism is the cash shop. Developer Nexon is known for aggressive monetization, but the shop of The First Descendant greatly frustrates players.
How do I unlock new characters? In The First Descendant, you play with one of 14 different characters or “descendants,” each with different abilities. The easiest way to get them is directly in the shop.
There, the descendants cost between 300 and 900 Caliber, the game’s real money currency. This corresponds to about 5 to 20 euros, depending on the offers you take advantage of. Additionally, there are ultimate heroes for 3,000 Caliber, which is roughly 60 euros.
Alternatively, you can simply earn the characters. To do this, you first need to “manufacture” them, similar to Warframe. Visit Anais, an NPC in Albion. With her, you start research projects for new descendants.
You can find the materials for the research or buy them directly from Anais if you are missing something. However, this will cost you Caliber again.
“4 days, that’s pretty fast”
How long the grind takes depends on how excessively you play and want to play The First Descendant. The first users on Reddit are now showing how they unlocked their first new characters after 4 days – 100% free.
There are some biting comments: The grind could have been faster if the servers hadn’t had problems for 2 days. Regardless of the grind, however, you still have to wait an additional 16 hours after starting the research project for the descendant to be completed.
Valby, who was unlocked here, is also a special case, as one user explains:
- You first need blueprints for Valby’s materials.
- You then need to craft the materials – which also takes time.
- For many other characters, it’s only necessary to farm the code and materials directly.
Another user reports that he has already unlocked two characters and found the grind not terrible.
For him, it was Freyna and Sharen. However, at times there are materials that are simply hard to obtain.
Another comment mentions that he was able to farm 3 out of 5 required materials for Gley in just two hours. Aside from some specific materials and bugs, the grind seems quite reasonable, according to players.
One user calculates: If the pace is maintained, one would have a complete roster after a month and a half. That’s faster than the next season would even come out. If you’re still unsure which descendant you want to play, you can find help here: The First Descendant: Which character suits you best?
