The First Descendant Adds Swords, a New Dungeon, and More in Its Latest Major Update

NEXON has announced the launch of a new major update for The First Descendant, which adds swords, a new dungeon, and additional content to the game. The swords are part of the brand-new weapon class, which will receive additional new weapons in future updates. For now, we have two new swords in this category. Other content additions include the Void Vessel Dungeon and the new Void Intercept Battle: Abyss. The update also brings three new Trigger Modules and a long list of quality-of-life improvements.

If you love melee combat, you will be happy to know that swords have been introduced in The First Descendant with its latest update. They come with their dedicated modules and External components. The two new swords added to the game are Shadow and Deus Ex Manus. Both of these come with their own special ability, like the Shadow Slash, and offer defensive mechanics that differ from firearms. You can further enhance these swords with sword modules and External Components, which are designed to strengthen melee combat builds.

The new dungeon, Void Vessel dungeon, is a medium-sized Facility Zone that features unique boss mechanics and Hover Bike racing sections. You can try it out in Normal and Hard difficulty levels. The new boss, the Arche Slayer, also uses sword-based attacks and high-mobility combat patterns while providing a thematic challenge that ties into the new sword weapon class. The Hover Bike racing segments use boost pads and jump pads for faster travel between sections. You can farm new swords, sword modules, and External Components by farming this dungeon, with higher drop rates on Hard Difficulty.

You can also find new Trigger Modules with powerful effects to experiment with. These include:

The ‘Supply Fortress’ module generates ammunition and grants additional reflect damage whenever barriers absorb hits and supports high-power rounds weapons.
The ‘Wave Eruption’ module boosts movement speed and damage output when using release-type skills, rewarding players for maintaining stacks.
The ‘Rhythm Step’ module, exclusive to Luna, provides stacking buffs to movement speed and maximum shield when using rhythm-type skills, enhancing her survivability and mobility.

The new Void Intercept Battle: Abyss will put you in front of the Lava Citadel, a variant of the Molten Fortress. This boss features a powerful fire attribute, which makes it vulnerable to ice-based attacks. It will challenge you with powerful fire attacks like the large-scale flame tornadoes that require you to destroy pillars from within the tornado zone to avoid devastating AoE damage. You will need to change your positioning and timing constantly during this battle to win.

Some quality-of-life improvements and balancing updates are also part of the pack. The QoL updates also include:

Amorphous Materials can now be opened directly in Albion using a dedicated device, eliminating the need to clear intercept battles or void fusion reactors
Reactor optimization conditions have been removed, giving players greater flexibility when customizing builds and reducing the need for constant re-optimization as new weapons are released.
The Laboratory has also been enhanced, allowing players to summon Legion of Breach enemies and spawn up to 50 monsters, making it easier to test wide-area skills and evaluate damage potential in controlled conditions

Some of the key balancing changes include:

Kyle has received a significant revamp featuring major improvements to skill usability. These include extended dash mechanics, mid-air combo capabilities, deployable magnetic barriers, and enhanced ultimate functionality. The goal of these changes is to elevate Kyle’s performance to be on par with other recently balanced Descendants such as Lepic and Jayber.
Ajax now has boosted skill power and improved firearm buffs, to strengthen overall combat performance.
Esiemo has been improved to allow skill usage while sprinting and to deliver stronger area-clear capabilities.
Bunny sees enhanced performance against elite monsters and bosses, along with a fix to previous skill slowdown issues

The First Descendant is currently available on PC via Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. You can update your title to its newest version to access the new content detailed above and more.

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Would you be interested in jumping back into The First Descendant and trying the new swords added to it? Or would you prefer trying out the new dungeon or the Void Intercept Battle? Let us know in the comments section below.