Nexon Details What Players Can Expect from The First Descendant Season 1 (Updated)

Nexon Games gave an expansive overview of what players can expect from the first season of The First Descendant.

On Aug. 29 the first season will begin, and with it will come the first of three large updates. This one will include the new Descendant, Hailey, who utilizes ice and snipers to eliminate threats of all sizes.

Ultimate Weapon Excava will also be added. This assault rifle charges voltage when attacking enemies, which can later be used to fire energy grenades. It will also be included as a free reward in the Invasion Season Pass, which will also release as part of the first update. A new dungeon, and Reinforcement will be also be present.

Update: Following our initial post The First Descendant Producer, Lee Beom-jun, confirmed via X (formerly Twitter) that the schedule will be adjusted to address the overwhelming feedback they received. Instead of having three updates there will only be two. The first is on Aug. 29 and unchanged, with a second on Oct. 10 that combines the second and third parts.

On Sept. 26 the second update will release with the rumored new Intercept boss, Death Stalker. The poison based boss appears from the void, forcing players to figure out its secret to achieve victory. To help do this a new Ultimate Weapon, Frost Watcher, will be added. This scout rifle reduces enemy Chill Resistance, and boosts Chill Skill Damage each time you hit from “long range.”

The third update will release on Oct. 30, and adds Ultimate Freyna, her exclusive story, new mods, and a higher Infiltration Operation level.

Finally, a new vender called ETA-0 will be added. He sells rare materials, and Blueprints for Descendants/Ultimate Weapons via an exclusive currency. The catch is ETA-0 will occasionally visit Albion with a new selection of wares. So they’re basically Xur for those familiar with Destiny.

More information, and details about The First Descendant‘s first season can be found below.

The First Descendant Season 1 Overview

Greetings, Descendants. This is the Director of The First Descendant, Minseok Joo. 

In this Dev Note, I would like to share preview of the Season 1 update. 

Please check the major update details along with the weekly updated content schedule for Season 1. 

Just when you thought Karel’s Legion had retreated, they’re coming back with more powerful tactical weapons. The First Descendant Season 1 update “Invasion” features a new episode along with the Invasion events, New Descendant Hailey, Ultimate Freyna, Ultimate Weapons, new Intercept Battle Death Stalker, and a season-exclusive progression system called Inversion Reinforcement.

Season 1: Invasion will be released throughout three updates, starting August 29th, offering a variety of content with new challenges and rewards. 

The First Descendant is planning to provide seasonal updates, and ‘Invasion’ is the first step of this journey. We’ll explore the secrets of the Descendants and unravel the story of Ingris as we journey through the seasons. You will discover new weapons, new Descendants will join the war, and the Descendants will become more powerful. Of course, the seasons will progress in a way that preserves the progression of your Descendants and your collectibles. 

Karel’s New Weapon 

Karel has prepared a new tactical weapon for revenge. This tactical weapon, forged from the Ancestors’ technology discovered by Amon, is the Vulgus legion’s new strategy against the Descendants.  

When the Invasion Season begins, the Invasion event will occur daily in two of the “Hard Infiltration Operation” dungeons. In the dungeon where the invasion has begun, you can start by selecting either “Infiltration Operation” or “Invasion”, and the Invasion event can be cleared twice per day for each dungeon.

Invasion Dungeons will put your skills and wits to the test. To hold back the Descendants, Karel has built a defense system with different mechanisms for each legion. These dungeons are solo challenges that feature different routes, puzzles, and strategies from the normal dungeons, where your objective is to fend off the invasion as quickly as possible.

New Descendant, Hailey Scott 

Once a guerilla unit supply soldier who gained fame as a legendary sniper, Hailey is now the newest member of the Descendant Corps. Not only can she take out enemies from a distance with her anti-materiel Sniper Cannon, she can also rapidly decrease her body temperature to spew Chill when emotions run high.

While Hailey is an admirer of Viessa who can manipulate Chill at will, and is a cold-blooded sniper on the battlefield, she’s also a warm-hearted hero who loves to make snow crystals and bring smiles to children’s faces. 

– Cryo Round: Instantly fires a Cryo Round that automatically tracks the enemy, deals damage and inflicts ‘Cryo’ which deals Additional Damage along with Hailey’s Firearm Damage.

– Storm Snare: Fires a Freezing Beam that unleashes a Chill Vortex around you and knocks back enemies. Inflicts ‘Cryo’ on enemies that take Damage.

– Cold Fury: Hailey’s Movement Speed gradually decreases, but her Firearm and Skill Critical Hit Rate, and Firearm Penetration all increase significantly.

– Zenith: Replaces Hailey’s weapon with her Unique Weapon, anti-material Sniper Cannon. Penetration of the anti-material Sniper Cannon and Firearm ATK greatly increase and deal additional Chill skill damage. Recovers MP upon successfully attacking Weak Points and decreases the Cooldown the more Bullets you have remaining when the skill ends.

Inversion Reinforcer for Season Progression 

Descendants experienced a change in their Arche as they’ve come into contact with Ironhearts multiple times. Their Arche began to draw energy from a destroyed Ironheart. Embracing this energy as a source of strength, the Descendants can now gain new abilities through the Inversion Reinforcers. 

– Hunt: Improves the Descendant’s basic Stats. 

– Attribute: Improves the Descendant’s Attribute Resistance. 

– Recovery: Improves the Descendant’s Recovery. 

– Survival: Receives a defense buff that activates under certain conditions. 

– Season: Receives an effect that is useful for Invasion Dungeons. 

Inversion Reinforcement is a progression system that only lasts for the season. You can learn the Inversion Reinforcement Effect using the “Ironheart Particle,” which can be earned by clearing Invasion dungeons or being active in the Hard Difficulty Fields. You can choose three of the effects that have been unlocked.

When you unlock all four of the effects in a line, you automatically acquire that line’s Collection Effect. Collection Effects are passive effects that are always applied during the season. This means that if you unlock all Inversion Reinforcement effects, you can utilize 3 Selected Effects and 5 Collection Effects from each line in battle. 

Freyna’s Awakening, Ultimate Freyna 

Still trapped in the day of the Room 0 Incident, Freyna’s trauma has stopped her time. In Season 1, we follow the story of Freyna who continues to grieve alone. In this Descendant-exclusive story, you’ll explore the inner mind of a crestfallen hero, who is trapped in guilt and self-hatred for surviving alone after failing to save her love and comrades. 

Will she be able to overcome her trauma? You will then get to meet Ultimate Freyna, who broke through her limits. There are also exclusive Modification Modules for her.  

Future Ultimate Descendants will be added with the seasonal updates and as the Descendants’ stories and The First Descendant’s lore expands. After Season 1 Ultimate Freyna, the next update to the Ultimate Descendants will launch sequentially, starting with the initial Descendants to join Corps.

New Ultimate Weapons

– Excava: A powerful and versatile Ultimate Weapon, this Assault Rifle arrives with this update. Also acquirable as a free Battle Pass reward, Excava charges voltage when attacking enemies and uses the charged voltage to fire Energy Grenades.  

– Frost Watcher: Acquirable through gameplay, this Scout Rifle reduces an enemy’s Chill Resistance and increases your Chill Skill Damage each time you hit the enemy at long range. It’s a perfect weapon for Viessa or Hailey who use Chill attribute skills. 

The Looming Threat Over Ingris, Death Stalker Intercept Battle 

The Colossi still threaten Ingris from behind the Dimensional Wall, and it’s time to meet the most powerful Colossus of Season 1, Death Stalker. 

Death Stalker emerges from the darkness and unleashes attacks based on poison and fear. Stalking the Descendants in the darkness of the Void, Death Stalker is more formidable than any other Colossus you’ve intercepted. You must jump back into the Void to protect Ingris from this menace. Solve the mystery shrouded in the dark and intercept Death Stalker. 

Highest Difficulty Infiltration Operation and ETA-0 

In Season 1, the highest Difficulty of the Infiltration Operations will be added. It’s a proving ground to test and polish your optimized builds. Form a team or challenge yourself to more difficult Infiltration Operations in Public Matchmaking. Prove the strength of the Descendants and acquire loot that can only be obtained in more difficult Infiltration Operations. 

Along with this, a mysterious merchant, ETA-0, visits Albion. Every time he visits, he shows up with a variety of products that can be purchased with exclusive currency. With each visit he brings different products. Since he visits Albion with Blueprints for Descendants and Ultimate Weapons, and occasionally hard-to-find consumables, don’t miss out on visiting ETA-0. 

Season 1: Invasion Update Schedule 

All content will be updated sequentially during the Invasion Season.  

Date	Type	Update Items
August 29th	1st Update	New Descendant Hailey and Hailey Skins Invasion Dungeon Inversion Reinforcement Invasion Season Battle Pass and Ultimate Weapon Excava
September 26th	2nd Update	New Intercept Battle Death Stalker Ultimate Weapon Frost Watcher New Ultimate Skins and Ultimate Descendant Exclusive Spawn Effects
October 30th	3rd Update	Ultimate Freyna and Freyna Exclusive Story Ultimate Freyna Modification Modules Hailey Modification Modules New Ultimate Modules Highest Difficulty Infiltration Operations ETA-0

Additional Improvements Applied to Season 1 

Finally, here’s the news on the improvements that will be applied with Season 1 on August 29th. 

■ Void Fragment and Fusion Reactor Loop Improvements

It has been improved so that playing Void Fragments once on Hard Difficulty now grants enough Void Shards to use the Fusion Reactor once. Consequently, the amount of Void Shards rewarded in Special Operations has also been increased. Additionally, Void Shards required for the Fusion Reactor have been consolidated into a single type.

Now, the same type of Void Shards will drop from both Void Fragments and the Fusion Reactor within the same battlefield. This change enhances the convenience of farming Void Shards and optimizes the monster placement for representative Void Fragments of each attribute.

Finally, the Fusion Reactor now requires Void Shards when using the Reconstructed Device, rather than at the start of the mission. This adjustment ensures that Void Shards are not consumed if you accidentally enter the Fusion Reactor.

■ Hard Infiltration Operation Improvements

As previously announced, random options will be replaced with preset selections. The presets offer three options: 0%, 125%, and 250%, and Descendants who choose the same preset can play together in Public matchmaking. 

In addition, to prevent the number of types of matchmaking pool from growing indiscriminately, Descendants who select the same Infiltration Operation will now be matched together, regardless of their selected rewards. Instead, the global effects that were applied based on the selected rewards will be removed. 

Lastly, the timed Occupation Mission will be removed from Hard Infiltration Operations and replaced with the Extermination Battle, where the time can be reduced based on the Descendant’s skill. 

■ Socket Type Saving Feature Improvements

Now, once you assign a Socket Type, the Socket Type granted to that slot is permanently saved, so you can easily change it to the previously granted Socket Type at any time. For example, if a Descendant changes an Almandine Socket to a Malachite Socket, you can easily choose between Almandine and Malachite in that Socket afterward. 

Additionally, the Socket Type applied to Loadout Setting 1 can also be used for Settings 2 and 3 as well, allowing you to grant multiple Socket Types only to the slots that require multiple Socket Types depending on your builds. 

■ Descendant Balance Adjustments

Jayber’s Turret has been improved to apply stats such as Skill Power Modifier and additional ATK and will be able to be enhanced by Descendant Modules. Additionally, Jayber’s “Turret Sync” skill has been adjusted to apply to the Turret Jayber has summoned and if the “Turret Engineering” Modification Module is equipped, the summoned Turret has been improved to create an area. 

Blair’s “Pitmaster” skill has been improved to have a more enhanced effect based on the number of Flame Zones. The duration of the “Blaze Up” skill has been increased, and the MP cost has been reduced. When using the “Extinguish” skill, the “Flame Zone” will no longer be retrieved, instead, the “Taste of Aggression” effect will stack based on the number of “Flame Zones”.

The damage of the “Burn Taste” skill has been increased, and a skill button input feature has been added to allow canceling the skill mid-use. Additionally, the Max Stacks of the “Incendiary Bomb” Modification Module has been increased, and the performance of the “Deadly Cuisine” skill has been enhanced when the “Classic Chef” Modification Module is equipped. 

Ajax’s “Orbital Barrier” and “Hyper Cube” skills are now affected by Attribute Resistance, making them stronger. The “Body Enhancement” Modification Module increases HP, DEF, and Shield and when using these skills Void Energy will always recover to 100%, allowing the use of Enhanced Skills more often. Additionally, the “Void Charge” Modification Module will allow the “Void Walk” skill to be stacked and the “Void Walk” and “Expulsion” skills have been modified to increase Damage based on DEF. When using an Enhanced Skill, the Cooldown will now reset. 

■ Various UX Improvements

First, a feature to designate random options has been added to the External Components Junk Filter and Reactor. This allows you to conveniently designate items that don’t have the needed random options as Junk. Additionally, dismantling items in combat is now available. 

The shapes displayed to show your preferred item attachments can now be designated using a variety of shapes, enabling you to manage them with different shapes according to their uses. 

A Favorites feature has been added to the Research menu and the acquisition information of the applied item will now be shown on the map. 

Other updates include additional improvements to the icon information display that was included in version 1.0.7, a feature to disable voice playback during Hard Missions, the addition of visual information to the Encrypted Vault, and various other improvements. 

Don’t miss The First Descendant’s first Season, starting on August 29th.