Who Are The Strongest Descendants?
The First Descendant has been one of the most entertaining shooters that I’ve picked up in quite a while. It plays a lot like Destiny or Warframe, making it a great new addition to the co-op shooter PvE community. It’s also just released the first season Invasion, which brings our list of playable characters up to 16.
The First Descendant playable characters are something else too. Each one comes with a host of special abilities, and their playstyle that makes them all unique and fun to play. That being said, just like any game of this type, some of the characters you can play are better than others.
There are plenty of different ways to play this game. We have our fair share of speedsters, tanks, technicians, support, snipers, you name it. The First Descendant did a good job of giving us some variety with our playable options right out of the gate. Sadly, it’s always true that some of them are just better than others. It’s definitely true in areas like the tanks, where Ajax rocks the court from starting character to finish. Likewise, it’s hard to put support characters much higher than what is called the B-tier when ranking characters. That being said, let’s take a look at the descendants, from the weakest to the strongest.
Ranking the Descendants from Weakest to Strongest
16. Luna
Who is Luna
Luna is one of our newest characters, and she’s one of the support descendants. She has a set of unique skills that are based on music and aim to provide buffs to herself and her allies. Her musical notes can be used to strengthen allies, and can be combined with her unique mods to do significant AoE damage to enemies nearby.
Ranking Luna at 16
Luna comes ranked in at the bottom of the list because she’s so squishy. She doesn’t have a lot of damage output, although she does have some. She can be given some weapons to help her clear the way but her primary playstyle requires the use of her Stage Presence skill. This gives her a unique weapon that functions in time with her hitting notes at the right moment to stack damage and increase her buffs. The downside is that missing notes consume a large amount of MP and can have negative effects.
Luna also isn’t the most survivable of the support descendants. She falls short compared to characters like Enzo who can keep players in the fight almost indefinitely. Being so low on the damage output may be repetitive but, indeed, it doesn’t help the situation any.
Playing Luna Tips and Tricks
1. Timing is everything
Luna's skills focus on hitting the right notes at the right time. It's often compared to playing a musical mini-game in a co-op shooter, but it can be used to great effect. The big deal for her is getting that timing down to pinpoint accuracy, because failures can cost a large chunk of your MP.
2. Get the best mods
Luna's Best Mods are Nimble Footsteps, Battle of Stamina, and Time Distribution. The goal for Luna is to keep that MP full and to give her as much cooldown and focus on her abilities as possible. Since she plays best using her Stage Presence skill, the goal is to pretty much keep it on 100% of the time.
3. Stage Presence, must have Stage Presence
Luna is built around this skill and the weapon that goes with it. It allows for an exponential amount of stack buffs and the ability to do damage depending on the right mods and skills. More importantly, Stage Presence can be kept going 100% of the time which means that Luna can stack infinite ammo and damage. This keeps you in the fight when most other players would have to flame out or fall back.
4. Know how to support your allies
Luna's best skills come from her ability to grant buffs left, right, and stage center. Exciting Act can be used to boost skills in allies and critical hit rate. That's great for characters like Blair that focus on the ability to land critical hits for maximum damage. Relaxing Act is similar but for MP recovery. This can be a big deal for other players, including Luna who needs to keep her MP up to keep her ultimate going.
5. You're not a healer, you're a cleric
Really, Luna is a cleric figure in a lot of ways. She's not a healer though, so the buffs she provides don't mean much if she gets wiped out. Luna's skills can be used at a fairly decent range, so it's smart to play her like a support character, almost like a short-range sniper
Luna’s Strengths
- A unique weapon can be kept going at all times which makes for Luna staying in the fight longer than most
- stacks damage and works as an excellent support character for boss battles
- does decent AoE, although not as much as non-support characters do
- comes equipped with an auto-aim that makes it easier to hit targets
- works well for group buffs and resource management
15. Kyle
Who is Kyle
Kyle comes to us as the magnetic tank. He has the fun ability to be able to dash around the map using his Repulsion Dash, which clobbers enemies and knocks them back to stun them. It works better for mob control than boss fights, but Kyle is the tank to soak up the damage for the player who wants a hard-to-kill Descendant.
Ranking Kyle at 15
As far as tanks go, Kyle is probably the most niche of the lot. He does lower damage than tanks like Ajax, and Lepic is just all-around more versatile. That’s not to say that Kyle doesn’t have his uses, but it seems more niche to mob control than boss fights. He is probably the most durable of the tanks, and he is more mobile with his shields than Ajax is. However, he requires a lot of resource economy into shield investment, which is one of the least efficient mechanics in the game.
Playing Kyle Tips and Tricks
1. Let's Go, Defense- Let's Go, Defense
One of the keys to Kyle is maxing out his survivability. When we do that, he can run nearly 100% damage negation, making him one of the tankiest, even among the tanks.
2. Magnetism Spurt is a great skill
When it comes to a bread-and-butter skill for Kyle players, Magnetism Spurt is the way to go. It absorbs damage and reduces how much is done by 25%. On top of that it triggers his unique resource and makes for a fun exploding shield effect. Tanks may not be the best damage dealer, but buffing up this skill is one of the few ways Kyle players can deal more damage than other tank players.
3. Know your Mods
The best mods for Kyle are usually based on his skill. We like mods like Amplification Control for boosting range and skills, while we like Time Distribution for skill cooldown reduction and an HP boost. We look for anything that gives us a massive defensive boost as well, which makes Spear and Shield a great option for us. Keeping our cooldown is essential for spamming our skills, but we put a premium on boosting DEF and shield stats. Anything that allows for scaling with these stats is of the biggest benefit to us.
4. Play like a linebacker
Tanks are usually front-line characters, and Kyle works just like the kind of player you'd want if you needed to rush the enemy team. The goal is to be so tanky that the enemy line can't stop you, then use knockback skills to stagger them. If Ajax is about boxing in the enemies, Kyle serves the purpose of breaking through the enemy offenses.
5. Kyle is more mobile than other tanks
We can't say Kyle is a tank any more clearly, but he's also the most surprisingly mobile. His special ability allows him to fly around the map for a short time, which is great for landing him in the middle of it. Even if he isn't the strongest tank, he is probably one of the most disruptive, and that works for us.
Kyle’s Strengths
- Magnetic abilities that can deal damage and heal at the same time
- has good shields and knock back abilities
- can stun enemies with his abilities
- more mobile than other tanks thanks to his ultimate
- works as a tank and can take a lot of damage, although less than Ajax
14. Esiemo
Who is Esiemo
Esiemo is the explosive Descendant. He has an amazing ultimate that charges around the battlefield and causes explosions. On top of that, he can deploy manual bombs, sticky bombs, and other skills with great AoE damage.
Ranking Esiemo at 14
Esiemo is a great grenadier, and he’s very good with explosives. That being said, Esiemo is usually described as a weaker Lepic. His passive is underwhelming, and he isn’t the best at taking damage. If he’s played like a glass cannon, he works well. Otherwise, his abilities tend to fall short of his more powerful Lepic counterpart.
Playing Esiemo Tips and Tricks
1. Blast away
Every descendant has their bread and butter skill, and for Esiemo it's Blast. This skill manually detonates all attached bombs and increases their damage by up to 25%. This usually stacks up to 5 times which works for 125% damage dealt per explosion. That ends up adding up quickly.
2. Know your battlefield
Part of Esiemo's skill revolves around being able to carefully plant bombs at the right times and places. Some of them are time-delayed, and some of them are proximity-based. The best you can do with Esiemo is know when and where to plant what kind of bomb for the best kind of effect.
3. Techs are not Tanks, don't get them confused
Esiemo is not the most mobile player, and he doesn't have the shields and defensiveness of tanks. Esiemo is almost more of a glass cannon kind of an engineer than anything else. Remember that he may do good damage but he is also a bit squishy. Don't feel the need to be on the front lines, just be ready to blow it up.
4. Know your mods
Generally the best mods for Esiemo come down to Spear and Shield, Fire Master, and Amplification control. These give us a boost to our skill range, skill power, and defenses. The real goal is to pump up the damage done by as much as possible, and then hang back and let your bombs do the trick.
Esiemo Strengths
- Grenadier character that does great AoE
- Great glass cannon character
- can stick explosives onto enemies, which sucks for them
- comes with his weapons for a more dedicated build
13. Yujin
Who is Yujin
Yujin is described in his bio as ‘the gruff medic’ and he lives up to the name. Yujin is the most dedicated healer in the game, for allies. His skills also focus on buffing just about every aspect of your team on both attack and defense. This makes Yujin for team play and anyone who likes the healer role.
Ranking Yujin at 13
Yujin is great for team play, but he is dedicated to team play. He doesn’t have any great capacity to heal himself, and he also has some of the absolute lowest damage output among the Descendants. This is not a good character for solo play, but a good Yujin can make or break a team event against tough bosses and invasions.
Playing Yujin Tips and Tricks
1. Restructure Serum for the win
This is the bread and butter skill for Yujin that focuses on his ability to heal and debuff enemies. This particular skill gives enemies the allergy issue and weakens them to damage by 10%. It also heals allies who deal damage on enemies and a fun explosion.
2. Know your mods
For Yujin, Safe Recovery, Time Distribution, and Spear and Shield are usually the most well-liked mods for him. This Boosts his recovery and skills but also increases his defense and cooldowns. If you're running a medic version of Yujin, getting those skills off as they're needed is a big deal. Otherwise, I like to focus on boosting defense to make it easier to take a hit in solo.
3. Healing and buffing go hand in hand.
Several of Yujin's skills either apply a buff or they hit the enemy with a debuff. This means that we can pump up ourselves and our allies but make the enemies extra squishy. Who doesn't like a squishy enemy?
4. Invasions and Solo are not for Yujin
Any player worth their salt can play any character through the whole game and win. Yujin just really isn't suited for this type of play or invasion. Yujin players are best suited for the crowd and their ability to buff and heal.
Yujin’s Strengths
- Great support character that is good at healing enemies, but not himself
- very effective for group play and healing aggressive players
- Delivers solid and well-rounded buffs for teammates
- best healer character in the game for players to play
12. Jayber
Who is Jayber
Jayber is a support Descendant, and is the perfect choice for any Heimerdinger fans who are taking a break from League of Legends. His primary focus is around setting and maintenance of his turrets which makes him great for defensive deployment and boss fights.
Ranking Jayber at 12
Jayber is ranked at 12 because he simply fails to outshine some of his stronger allies. He lacks mobility since his turrets require almost constant attention. They serve their purpose, but it does come at a sacrifice if they’re destroyed or on cooldown. That being said, Jayber does have a good bit of survivability, and we love him for the boss fights. We just can’t justify putting him up with the stronger fighters like Enzo, Lepic, or Ajax. He just lacks mobility and damage output.
Playing Jayber Tips and Tricks
1. Castle Defense in First Descendant (Know your turrets)
Assault Turret is going to be Jayber's primary skill for any player. The skill summons two different turrets that can attack enemies and explode on command. Jayber also gets a boost in attack from having both his turrets active, not counting the fact that they can do great AOE and heal too.
2. Know how to repurpose
Turrets can be summoned as assault turrets or medical turrets. On top of that, they can be recalled via the Reactivate skill, or sent into the enhanced state via the multi-purpose gun skill. Depending on how the player uses Jayber, skills can be pumped up to a great rate.
3. The Techy Tank
You might not think that most techs are the most tanky, but Jayber does function like one. He can hold the line extremely well and use his medical turret to heal and restore MP while the assault turret pumps out damage. He isn't the strongest of tanks but paired with Ajax, or even just creating a line of fire makes him great for team missions.
4. Know your mods
Time Distribution, Spear and Shield, and Amplification Control are the most recommended Jayber mods because of their ability to boost abilities and reduce cooldown. The turrets have a bit of a cooldown period, so cooldown reduction and skill boosts are the biggest factors for most Jayber fights
5. Picking your weapons
Jayber's weapons need to be a reflection of how the player wants to play. It's never a bad idea to run weapons like Thunder Cage. That said, it's also good to make sure that your Jayber best fits the role you need him for.
Jayber’s Strengths
- great for any situation, boss or mob combat
- very durable and good for taking damage without getting too hurt
- plays well in the late game against harder enemies
- fairly easy to get built up and maxed out
- creates turrets that can be set up for strategic battlefield control
- good for beginners learning how to play
11. Sharen
Who is Sharen
Sharen takes the place as our primary rogue and assassin Descendant. This Descendant boasts powerful camouflage skills which boosts her assassin damage. From crowd control to devastating boss shots, Sharen is the assassin who makes the headshots.
Ranking Sharen at 11
Sharen comes in ranked at 11 because she is a clunky Descendant to run. She has great damage potential, and can even one-shot some enemies or bosses with her special skills. Her assassinator passive also increases damage too. If Sharen were part of the Assassin’s Creed world she would probably be considered S-Tier.
Sadly, this isn’t Assassin’s Creed and Sharen’s playstyle requires a much more roundabout way of playing than other Descendants who do more damage to a larger group of foes in general. Her invisibility stealth skill is great, but it also means that to get the most out of Sharen’s abilities, she needs to be invisible and out of combat. Some of her skills also require her to be in the melee range to get the best effect, which makes staying out of the fight difficult.
Some players swear by Sharen for her damage potential and her stealth skills. She is an almost necessary Descendant to have to raid outposts for farming material. That being said, players have also flocked to Reddit, Youtube, Steam, and even gaming articles on N4G show that by and large, outposts are a mechanic that is negatively received. Sharen most definitely has her niche uses and is even said to have S-Tier damage skills according to Wowvendor, but most of the time she falls into the D-Tier category in terms of playstyle and mechanics.
Playing Sharen Tips and Tricks
1. Maximize the camouflage
Sharen’s best skill is that she can go invisible and undetected. While camouflaged she can infiltrate just about any area which makes her great for farming and infiltration of outposts. Using the ability to go invisible also grants Sharen great mobility, which means that this player should be anywhere and everywhere to deliver that damage.
2. Get the most shocking results
Sharen and Bunny both make use of electrical powers. This lets her stun, debuff, and deal burst damage at the same time. This gives Sharen some debuff and stun damage to inflict electricity over time.
3. Know your mods
MP Conversion, Overcharged Edge,Nimble Fingers, and Overwhelming HP are great for Sharen since they focus on boosting damage and skill duration. Sharen should function as a high damage dealer, just like Hailey. Boosting her skill cooldown and her primary attack damage will go a long way when picking her mods.
4. Beat the Bosses
Sharen does burst damage that Is great against bosses. The main focus should be on her single target damage, while her ultimate and her AOE should be used more sparingly for these.
5. Play smart, and know your character
Sharen is a good character, but she can be squishy if she's caught in the open. Her survivability and mobility is based largely on her ability to go use her stealth skills. She isn't actually the most durable character which means playing her can be as high a risk, as it is a reward.
Sharen Strengths
- Great stealth and camouflage options
- works well with bunny players since they both work around electricity
- Deals a good amount of damage at range
- stealth player with the ability to infiltrate and get important items easily
- serves as a very good glass cannon character
- can pair multiple abilities to function as a burst character
10. Blair
Who is Blair
All the pyros in the audience can rejoice with Blair. This is our resident flame Descendant, and he’s described as ‘a wizard with a gun.’ Blair focuses on setting everything on fire to deal damage over time. Where he shines though, is his ability to maximize critical hit damage, and lower enemy defenses to make it hurt even more.
Ranking Blair at 10
As much as we love fire, Blair just isn’t as versatile as the other elemental Descendants floating around the list. Bunny is just at the top of the list in general, while characters like Viessa and Valby are more versatile. Sadly, Blair lacks mobility and that doesn’t mix well with the fact that he is on the more squishy side of Descendants.
Playing Blair Tips and Tricks
1. Critical hits are more important than fire
Blair is the primary Pyro descendant but his best skills come from his ability to trigger critical hits. This boosts his damage big time and makes for a great way to stun and quickly deal with enemies.
2. Be the Natsu, play the Natsu
Critical hit chances are some of the most important parts of Blair, but he does function like a true Pyro. His critical hit rates go up thanks to how many flame zones he can create. The more we let Blair throw down fire, the more critical hits we should expect to see.
3. Get cooking with Deadly Cuisine
Deadly Cuisine is Blair's staple skill that does a mix of burst damage and DoT. On top of that, it also triggers passive abilities for Blair which makes him that much more effective. This damage can be exponentially increased and makes for a great skill with the mods that pair with it.
4. Picking your mods
Truly Deadly Cuisine, Focus on Dimension, and Focus on Fire are the most popular mods for Blair. They boost his fire and his critical hit chances. These three give us the best chance to take on bosses and maximize the damage against enemies.
5. Offense makes the best defense
I wouldn't call Blair the most durable character out there, but he does do great in terms of beating the enemy down. He's more squishy than a glass cannon, but I highly recommend playing as if you're trying to get the highest amount of damage before getting hit.
Blair Strengths
- Deals damage over time
- Specializes in maximizing not just fire, but crit chance and status effects making him a good support character and front character
- Boosts critical hit damage significantly
- Does a huge amount of damage from ultimate and other fire abilities
- Deals in AoE damage
9. Valby
Who is Valby
If you’re a fan of the water, then Valby is the surfing Descendant to play. She is one of the most mobile characters, and she’s far more tanky than Bunny. This makes her great for players who like to get right into the middle and mix it up with the enemies.
Ranking Valby at 9
Valby is a great character, and she’s practically a mobile mini-tank. We love that about her, but her water abilities can be a bit inconsistent depending on the terrain. She’s also got great AoE potential, but she ends up falling short compared to other Descendants like Bunny who do the same thing. Valby makes for a great damage dealer, and a good boss-killer, she just falls short of other characters by a bit.
Playing Valby Tips and Tricks
1. AoE is the way for me
Valby is a great AoE character and she's pretty straightforward that way. Make big waves, or have your enemies step in puddles, either way, Valby is great for mass damage or DoT. Just like Blair, who throws out fire, Valby players shouldn't be afraid to make splashes, since Valby thrives on water and any enemy stepping on her puddles ends up taking damage over time.
2. Bubble Bullet is the way
Valby has a lot of skills that leave puddles on the ground, and Bubble Bullet gives us the most range for her. A lot of Valby's skills are based around leaving puddles of water that do damage, but most of them are close range, like Plop Plop or Clean Up. These create puddles that can do more damage over time and give Valby some extra utility, but Bubble Bullet works better with range. The more bounces it takes the more damage it does, so hit them at range and hit them often.
3. Valby and Bunny should do Laundry together
Valby has a fun ability that debuffs enemies with water, or in this case, it's called laundry. This lowers their resistance, especially to electrical damage. It's not the worst idea ever for Valby to pair up with Sharen or Bunny a lot since both use electrical damage that Valby can amplify.
4. Leave a puddle on the floor
Bunny is the fastest for sure, but Valby is a close second and her skills let her run through enemies. Leaving these puddles is good, especially since they help reduce MP cost for skills, but they also can be strategically laid. Knowing how your enemies function and how to put a puddle in their path is vital for Valby.
5. Know your mods
Spear and Shield, Battle of Stamina, and Frugal Mindset are three of the best mods to use. Valby is all about skill duration, damage, and MP so it's important to focus our mods on these. Anything that makes the spells go farther and last longer is great for Valby, while anything that boosts damage and lowers skill cost is a must-have for this character.
Valby’s Strengths
- Very maneuverable around the battlefield
- Great descendant for clearing out trash mobs and crowd control
- Valby is more durable than other sprinters like Bunny, and is built more like a tank than some of the fastest high maneuverability characters
- Has a very strong AoE ability that relies on water.
- Has high damage output against foes
8. Enzo
Who is Enzo
Enzo is probably the Descendant that provided all the bullets for the John Wick and Deadpool movies because he is the king of resupply. He has the great ability to resupply ammo to allies and himself, keeping players in the fight for longer. This is also a character capable of holding their own since Enzo makes for a great option in boss battles.
Ranking Enzo at 8
Enzo is great for just about any team match. He makes for a great addition to any farming run, and he can trigger high crit rates for himself and his allies. If anything, he is probably considered one of the most solid Descendants in the game so far. Sadly, he falls just short of characters like Gley in terms of damage, and he just lacks a little bit of the trade-off seen in characters that have ultimate forms.
One of the best reasons to run Enzo is that he can make almost any firearm deal an automatic critical hit damage using his Supply Firearm Enhancer ability. If you’re needing ammo and maximum damage for a boss run, Enzo is a must-have support character. Enzo is great for solo play, it may just take longer to clear the story than it might with some of the more meta characters that are available.
Playing Enzo Tips and Tricks
1. Infinite ammo with Start Supply
Start Supply is probably the most vital skill for Enzo because it creates a way for anyone to get heavy ammo from it over a long period. This skill also has a small cooldown period which means it can be dropped frequently. The goal with Enzo is to keep DPS as high as possible and keep your party in the fight.
2. Droning on
Enzo has two skills that leave drones for him that do damage. This is the Explosive Drone and the Perfect Support skill. The Perfect Support skill summons a drone that fires off a large missile, but the best
3. Stack defense and reduction
We have one defensive skill with Enzo and that's the Enhanced Combat Suit to recover shields. Enzo himself is somewhat squishy to start as an engineer character. It recovers his shields fast, but it also does a good bit of damage to the MP bar. Being able to reduce cost, and the rate at which skills can be used is a big deal for Enzo players.
4. Know your mods
Supply Firearm Enhancer, Maximize Duration, and Multitalented are the best mods for Enzo. These boost his duration but also increase the options for what Start Supply does. Keeping those cooldowns is a big deal for this build, and so is getting the most out of every skill activated. Mods are a big deal for support characters, especially if we're trying to get more bang for our buck.
Enzo’s Strengths
- Infinite ammo, infinite ammo, infinite ammo
- Serves as a very tanky character
- Great for support missions
- Great for focusing team utility instead of having to get distracted killing weaker enemies
- Good for boss battles
- Gains increased movement and attack speed upon defeating enemies
7. Viessa
Who is Viessa
Ice, ice baby. Viessa is our ice queen Descendant and she packs quite a punch. With her ability to boost crit rates and debuff enemies, she causes devastating damage to trash mobs and bosses alike. Viessa is one of the more powerful elemental Descendants, falling only short of Bunny in terms of overall practical utility.
Ranking Viessa at 7
Honestly? All the starting characters that the player has access to at the beginning are good. Starting characters are usually pretty solid, but First Descendant ended up making their starting characters three of their dominating A-Tier or S-Tier characters. Viessa is one of the highest damage output characters out there, and she does great at crowd control.
So why is Viessa ranked at 7? It’s mostly to do with the competitiveness of the top half of the Descendants. Viessa is very easily an A-Tier hero, but she can also be on the lower side when it comes to survivability. Grated, so is Bunny, but Bunny has more of a skill that deals damage and forgets about the enemies for the most part. Viessa’s ice skills do require some maintenance to get the most bang for your buck which makes her a bit more clunky.
Viessa’s AoE damage is also a little lackluster, which is surprising considering how good she is at crowd control. That on its own isn’t a deal breaker, but her skills are just a little heavily tipped towards debuffing, where I think she could have used a little streamlining to give her more impact.
Playing Viessa Tips and Tricks
1. Know how to build ice shackles
The key to anything Viessa-related is knowing how to trigger and stack ice shackles. Just about any of her skills can do it, but stacking these give the player continuous damage while slowing down the enemy. Since most of her skills do the trick, it's important to remember how to shackle the enemy and get the most done in the same movement.
2. Frost Shard for the win
Frost Shard is considered the bread and butter skill for Viessa thanks to its low cooldown and the ability to trigger ice shackle in more than one stage.
3. Crowd control, crowd control, crowd control
In a large part, Viessa is meant to be played as a defensive hold on a team or as an on-the-move DPS character that pummels the enemies with ice. Thanks to her skills she can freeze troops in place and damage them at the same time which makes her great for funneling enemies down or trapping them in a place where they can be easily taken out.
4. One of the most balanced
Even though she's got a few extra steps to her dance, Viessa is one of the most balanced and straightforward characters to play in the game. That makes sense since she's one of the starters; but Viessa is also really easy to get a handle on and that means mastering her is easy. Being as balanced as she is, she's also good for just about any situation you can think to put her in.
5. Knowing your mods
Like most of the other elemental specialists in the game, Viessa comes with her own specialized ice modules that boost her skills. The top three for her are Hypothermia, Focus on Chill, and Front Lines. Boosting Viessa's damage is a prime option, but the goal is to boost the effectiveness of her debuff game. Focusing on anything that boosts skill duration or effects is a huge bonus for her. Nimble Fingers and HP Collector are both solid options as well, since they reduce cooldown and increase HP to last longer.
Veissa’s Strengths
- Ice-based player with high damage
- Deals in high crit rate chances that massively boost her damage along with her debuffing skills
- Debuffing enemies makes them weak to status effects in general and removes their defensive capabilities.
- Excellent for crowd control, especially with her ultimate ability
- Powerful burst characters that can hit with everything at once.
6. Freyna
Who is Freyna
If you’re a fan of the rogue class or poisoners, then Freyna is the perfect Descendant for you. Freyna stands at the top of the Damage over Time status effect Descendants with great skills that synergize between inflicting poison fast, and then increasing damage against all poisoned targets. With an aggressive and well formulated playstyle, Freyna is the best choice for bringing the enemies to their knees while frothing at the mouth.
Ranking Freyna at 6
Freyna is most definitely the best of the DoT Descendants and as far as powers go, she has some of the best synergy between her skills and her weapons. Her aggressive playstyle is perfect for poisoning as many enemies as possible, then hiking up the damage using her ability to buff damage on poisoned targets. She has some of the consistently highest DPS in the game, and she’s got a great skill kit that feels well-rounded and easy to use.
The only thing that gets Freyna pushed out of the top 5, as an A-Tier hero, is just her inconsistency against bosses and her mobility. Freyna is aggressive, but she lacks any skills that give her any serious mobility around the map. Her skills are incredibly efficient at what they do, they just don’t leave a lot of room for complex maneuvering. She is also great for crowd control, where her poison effects can stack with multiple enemies. Against bosses, this becomes limited and she loses some of her utility, although not much.
Playing Freyna Tips and Tricks
1. Best DoT stacker for elementals
We have a few elemental characters but none of them stack the DoT quite like Freyna. She is considered the best elemental attribute character in the game. They're not wrong either, since she can be run with plenty of options to make enemies weak to poison, and she can do widespread poison damage to enemies then
2. Your playstyle is what you make it
Freyna has a fun little quirk that allows her to do extra damage against already poisoned enemies with her attacks. On top of that comes as one of the most well-rounded Descendants in the game, with answers to just about everything. Really, Freyna is as good or bad as she is played, and it doesn't hurt to play her with a decent amount of aggression and ambition.
3. Picking your mods
Spear and Shield, Emergency Measures, and Neurotoxic Synthesis are the best declared mods for Freyna. These are the basic mods for boosting Toxin damage and giving Freyna a little extra defense that she could use. The goal is to make sure there is as much sustained damage over time as possible, which makes any mod that boosts skill duration and potency a must-have for this toxic lady.
4. Everything is a toxin
It may not be the best thing ever to make every single skill based around poison, but with Freyna it doesn't hurt. It makes her great against almost all the bosses and single-target fights, as well as against trash mobs. Since her goal is to poison everything, and then kill it twice as dead, having all of her skills localized to toxin-based advantages helps.
5. Baptism by Venom
Freyna's best skill is her Venom Baptism which inflicts poison, and then a 400% Do that, it infects them with an infectious toxin which spreads to nearby allies, which fits into Freyna's need for poisoned foes.
Freyna’s Strengths
- Deal extensive damage over time
- Has her specific gear that works well for her in making a dedicated character
- Deals in very effective AOE damage with her skills
- Great for clearing trash mobs and the like
- Sets up plenty of traps and skills on the battlefield to control the enemies
5. Ajax
Who is Ajax
Ajax is our starting tank character, and the shield master of the game. He has powerful shields that not only absorb damage, they throw the damage back at the enemies. With heavy armor, and powerful void skills to pair with his shields, Ajax makes for a formidable tank both in his base and his ultimate Ajax form.
Ranking Ajax at 5
Don’t get me wrong, Ajax was my starting Descendant and is still probably one of my favorites. He is arguably the best tank in the game, and he has excellent crowd control, durability, and his shields make for great team coverage. On top of that, Ajax has his Void walker skill which gives him not just mobility, but also some great stun damage.
At number 5, Ajax is simply one of the best characters to play, but he isn’t the best. His damage output is on the lower side, which is true for most of the tanks. On top of that, as much as I love his shields, there are times you wish he had an option that he could carry around with him the same way Kyle does. We make that trade-off for team support though, which really just works out well. I can safely say that if you’re playing with snipers, they will really love that shield reflecting enemy damage while they power up their big kill shots.
There are also a few issues with how much Ajax is forced to rely on his MP and his mods, but these aren’t real teeth grinding problems. Mods make the character more versatile, and the MP is no more of a factor than characters like Luna who rely heavily on their MP as well.
Playing Ajax Tips and Tricks
1. Orbit Barrier is your friend, make use of it often
Orbit Barrier is hands down one of the best skills for any tank to have, and it's a very group-friendly one too. This is a skill with a low cooldown, can be dropped instantly while performing other tasks, and it reflects enemy damage at them. On top of this, it scales with defensive stats which is great for Ajax, who pumps a lot of focus into DEF and HP.
2. Reduce that Cooldown
Ajax is unique in his ability to use void energy for enhancements and the like. It's best to pair him with a good reactor to reduce cooldown, which in turn increases how often he can spam his shield skills
3. Ajax is meant to be aggressive, don't wuss out
Playing Ajax is great for the player who knows a thing or two about really aggressive gameplay. Ajax is a character that sees his best use from crowd control restricts the enemy and making it easier for your opponent to clear out the mobs. Having a proper kit is important for this, or you just need to be a somewhat death-defying type of player. The key is that Ajax is good about halting advances, boxing in enemies, and getting into the heat of combat.
4. Ajax is a tank, so build your damage accordingly
All the tanks in First Descendant are on the lower side of the damage when building them. If you're playing solo then the best thing is to focus on weapons that debuff the enemy and give you a massive attack, because Ajax has less than others. If you're playing in a crowd you would be best suited to finding weapons that disrupt and debuff the enemy to make the crowd clearing even easier for your comrades.
5. Combo Orbital Barrier and Hyper Cube
Orbital Barrier is also a skill that can be used to boost void energy which is used to caster Hyper Cube. This creates an enhanced barrier that increases Firearm and Explosive ATK. This helps you and your teammates, so it's a good way to start a steamroll going on that damage boosting.
6. Get good Modules
Ajax's most recommended mods are usually Body Enhancement, Overwhelming HP, and An Iron Will. Since Ajax is a player that focuses on MP, high DEF, and HP, as well as his skills we want mods that lower his cooldown. Giving him massive HP is also a common trick since several of his skills scale off of his DEF and HP stats.
Ajax’s Strengths
- Creates barriers that are very useful and consistent
- One of the starting characters and easy to master
- Versatile skills that synergize with weapons and modules
- Good with crowd control
- Tank that is great at taking damage, with high defense
4. Lepic
Who is Lepic
Lepic is another of our starting characters that functions as the ultimate soldier playstyle. He is one of the highest damage-dealing Descendants in the game and he comes to us with the ability to massively increase his damage thanks to his Overkill ability. Lepic is the iconic Descendant of choice for the aggro player, being extremely streamlined and able to blitz mobs and bosses alike with pure damage focus.
Ranking Lepic at 4
Lepic is another one of those A-tier to S-tier characters that just all around does a great job. He has his ultimate form, and he is great for blitzing. While his passive isn’t considered all that great, it’s perfect for players who are just starting and need a chance to survive some sticky situations. Lepic is one of the most sluggish Descendants that you can start with because he has almost no boosts to his movement or speed, but this is only one of the complaints we have about him.
What makes him good is his straightforward playstyle. The best thing about Lepic is the ability to spam his ultimate, more than just about any other character. He deals great damage, including against bosses and he is very easy to learn. There’s no wonder that he is a starter because he really can help any player get into the game, and stay good for their entire first time playing through. Like Ajax, he is very module-dependent, but this also means that he can adapt to most situations without getting too complicated.
Playing Lepic Tips and Tricks
1. Lepic is meant to be simple, keep him fine-tuned
Lepic is a starter, and one of the best Descendants in the game for a reason. He has one of the easiest aggro playstyles to get into, and he is very basic to learn for any new player. Because of that, he's already well-rounded and tough. Keeping him streamlined to do what he does best is the best Lepic way to play.
2. Grenade Throw, for the win
Grenade Throw is the bread and butter skill of Lepic, mostly because it's grenade spam. In a way, we like him better than Esiemo for this skill, but it's just good. Lepic is also a mod lover, which means that with the right mods, a player can spam grenades back to back without worrying about cooldown, and dealing great AoE.
3. On the clock, or Overclocked
Lepic is designed to make the most out of his Overclock ability. Mostly it adds burn damage to enemies, triggered by Grenade Throw and Overkill, making them stronger and giving them a DoT on top of blast damage. This is another character where we're trying to see the most damage for each move we make, and Lepic synergizes with himself well.
4. Clear the room
Lepic is a master of the AoE and blowing up crowds. His skills are great against bosses too, but we see them shine their best by pulling enemies to the center, and then hitting them with a grenade in the middle. If you're going to fight bosses with his ability, use his grenades to trigger burning and then trigger Overclock for extra power.
5. Pick your mods, gentlemen
The best mods for Lepic are said to be Regenerative Braking, Nimble Fingers, and Maximize Range. This boosts MP for skill use and decreases cooldown times. Maximize range is also used to boost skill range which makes Lepic prime for doing more damage before he ever gets into the fight. Lepic is also like Ajax because he is a mod-man. We can make him however we want because both beginning players rely on mods to max them out the best.
Lepic’s Strengths
- Can use their ultimate skill frequently
- Very simple play style that’s easy to learn
- Deals a great amount of damage with grenades and skills
3. Gley
Who is Gley
If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if you mixed a vampire with a Norse berserker and dumped them into a science fiction setting, then I would suggest playing Gley. This is one of the most unique Descendants in the game because she uses her health bar to boost her attacks, and then recover attacks. So, if you have any familiarity with the bleed mechanics of Elden Ring, you’ll be right at home using Gley as your main.
Ranking Gley at 3
Gley is one of the best damage dealers in the game, has an ultimate form of her own, and is extremely aggressive in terms of playstyle. She falls just a little bit short of Bunny or Hailey when it comes to DPS, but that margin is very thin. Her skills combo very well, especially with the right weapons and modules, to deal more than enough damage to make Gley one of the top boss-killers out there.
Gley’s only downfall comes from the high-risk and high-reward playstyle that comes with her. She is probably one of the most skill-based characters to choose from, and not being well-practiced with her can mean some devastating losses and serious frustration. It’s important to remember that this character does not use shields to protect herself, and eats up her own HP to power up. As long as the player is extremely aggressive in killing enemies to restore their health, the risks are worth it. If you’re not an aggressive player I would highly recommend someone like Freyna or Hailey that can keep back and inflict damage in more protected ways.
Playing Gley Tips and Tricks
1. Play high risk for that high reward
Anyone playing Gley has to be willing to take a high risk for a high reward. Her Frenzied mode takes up a decent chunk of the HP bar, but she also regains health and boosts attack power when killing enemies. This kind of character is meant to be played aggressively.
2. Gley is the sum of the whole
Playing Gley requires everything to be able to synergize well together. Her damage output is reliant largely on her weapon choice and modules. It also requires a balance between actions. Gley gets her best power boosts from frenzied mode, which consumes health which also requires an equal return of life spheres to keep up. Playing too aggressively can leave a player too easy to kill, while playing timidly leaves you a weak middle-of-the-road Descendant.
3. Picking your mods
HP Collector, MP Conversion, and Battle of Stamina are the most recommended mods for Gley to play. HP collector boosts her ability to heal from killing enemies which keeps Gley from being too squishy. Battle of Stamina is best for increasing overall HP and skill duration. We also run MP Conversion because Gley does not use MP anyways, but this does reduce our cooldown significantly which is great for Gley.
4. Bosses beware
Gley is in the top three in part because she is so effective against bosses. She can keep up with, or even surpass Hailey and Bunny. She is good at both AoE and single target damage, but her focus on single target damage is the best for boss runs with some changes that can be made to make her good for mob clearing.
5. Frenzied play
The bread and butter of Gley is her frenzied state which boosts her attack power but reduces her healing. It can be switched on and off for healing purposes or gathering life spheres from enemies. Also, her skills can be altered depending on this frenzied state.
Gley’s Strengths
- Deals high damage against bosses
- Great combinations and synergy between skills
- Works as both a berserker and a vampire character for aggressive players
2. Hailey
Who is Hailey
Hailey comes to us from season 1 as our new sniper and massive damage dealer against bosses. She wields powerful weaponry with devastating skills that can melt bosses and trash mobs alike at long range. Any foe with a crosshair on them had better hope the player doesn’t have Hailey as their main.
Ranking Hailey at 2
When it comes to boss-killers, Hailey is considered the ultimate character at this point. She is incredibly powerful and delivers devastating damage. In fact, as of the newest updates, Hailey’s ultimate is capable of documenting somewhere in the neighborhood of 8,000% damage when firing. For damage and boss killing, Hailey is currently the undisputed best. She comes to us with single-target damage and AoE, making her extremely well-rounded as far as snipers go.
The only reason that Hailey falls to the number 2 slot is because of her inability to maximize front-line damage. She’s a sniper that does her best at maximum range, and like many snipers, she can be a bit of a glass cannon. Her survivability and long animations aren’t the best, and it’s almost necessary to keep her out of the main firefight. That’s true of every sniper though, and Hailey has more than made up for her slowness with enough utility to easily land her in the number 2 spot.
Playing Hailey Tips and Tricks
1. Play at a distance, trust me
Hailey is probably the most powerful damage dealer in the game at this point, and this largely comes from her Cold Fury skill. This boosts her damage exponentially, but it also slows her down a lot. If you're playing Hailey as a front-line player, then you're probably playing her poorly or dying a lot. She gets her best damage and skill power at a distance, and should always be played as a very long-range sniper.
2. Picking your mods
MP Conversion, Front Lines, and Focus on Chill are the three best mods for any Hailey player to have. She does a lot of cold damage, like Viessa, so we like Focus on Chill for her, and we like converting MP for our cooldowns so Hailey can do more damage at a faster rate. Anything that boosts her final attack power is great for Hailey, and anything that boosts her recovery features for MP is useful as well to keep her shot damage high.
3. 25 meters is the golden number
If you're wondering how far away to play Hailey, figure that you want to start your kill shots at about 25 meters or more. At this range, we get a boost from Zenish to weak point damage and can restore 15% of MP per shot for four shots. The right build gets 100% crit chance at maximum range, so holding that will give us a major boost in our skills.
4. Know your weapons
Hailey does the best with sniper rifles, but we also see some great value from hand cannons with her and her reactors. Anything that can power off high-damage shots is great for her, and anything that can be boosted by cold, or weakened enemies makes for an excellent addition to her arsenal. Afterglow Sword and Piercing Light make for great choices for her, and so does Nazeistra's Devotion for its defense-weakening abilities and high damage output.
Hailey’s Strengths
- Has some of the highest damage in the game with her skills
- Great for range and sniper players
- Extremely versatile between AOE and single target damage
- Slower than other heroes but makes for a great station
1. Bunny
Who is Bunny
The Duracell bunny has been due for a facelift for a while now, but I never expected anything as charged as our top-ranked Descendant, Bunny. With her fast moves, she can zip around any map about as fast as the Flash, while dealing devastating electrical damage to anything nearby. Bunny is a speedster Descendant who focuses on plenty of electric-based skills to annihilate trash mobs and deal devastating damage to bosses. With her zipping around the map, victory is almost always assured.
Ranking Bunny at 1
It’s no joke to say that Bunny and Ultimate Bunny take the top of the list for just about every player out there. Most lists stop their rankings from D-tier to S-tier. Bunny usually gets placed at the top of the list for being S+ tier. She has great AoE, and powerful electric skills that can be ramped up to insane levels. In fact, it's been commented on more than one blog that just double jumping close enough to a boss is enough to set off one of Bunny’s skills for a surprising amount of DPS.
Bunny is on the lower side of the durability scale. It’s usually suggested that if a player is using her that they try not to stop moving for very long. She does her best at full speed and generates as much electric AoE as possible thanks to her skills. There’s a reason she gets paired with the Thunder Cage so often for this reason. As long as the player is good about being elusive and hard to catch, they can deal more than enough damage to melt enemies and bosses alike, even while playing solo.
Playing Bunny Tips and Tricks
1. Duracell always keeps going
It's not a joke that the first time I heard about a rabbit themed character that produced lightning and was always moving; I honestly thought of the Duracell rabbit. If you're wondering about playing Bunny, play her like the Duracell rabbit. Never let her stop moving for long, especially since she generates electricity by keeping up her pace.
2. Pick weapons that don't slow you down
One of the big reasons that Thunder Cage is so popular with Bunny isn't just because of its electrical skills. Players will tell you that the real reason to run Thunder Cage is because you get great mob control without sacrificing movement speed. Now, a majority of the weapons affect your movement speed when firing, but picking those that have the least effect is important for a Bunny player.
3. Best Skill
Bunny's bread and butter skill is usually going to end up being Lightning Emission. It's got great AoE damage that can even kill bosses with the right mods attached. On top of that, it also can trigger electrocution in your enemies which adds even more DoT into the mix. Double Jumping is also a popular theme for Bunny. We can pump this up even more by adding Speed of Light to increase her sprint speed, and follow it up with Maximum Power for our forward moving needs.
4. Pick your Mods
High Voltage, Focus on Electric, and Battle of Stamina are the best mods that Bunny players can use. High Voltage boosts the damage from Lightning Emission and Thrill Bomb, while Focus on Electric just buffs your voltage skills up. We always like Battle of Stamina for the health and skill durations. Likewise, Spear and Shield is great for Bunny as well as Long-Distance Maneuvering which gives us our grappling hook play style at better range.
5. Bunny is a nuke, play her like one
You can only say so many times that the best way to play Bunny is to keep her moving. This is because the more she runs, the more energy that she accumulates. Her skills let her release this energy in shock waves like the Double Jump and pulse, which can all be combined together. At her best she can play using a grappling based play style, fire off weapons, and hit the ground like a lightning strike that sends out multiple shockwaves. Realistically, Bunny can wipe out just about anything, and she can be used to clear just about any trash mob in an instant.
Bunny’s Strengths
- The most mobile character in the game
- Stacks plenty of damage both against bosses and mobs
- Good AOE skills
- Great for players that like to get in close to enemies
- This build specializes in trash mob clean up
- Double Voltage build allows the player to stack damage just by double jumping near enemies
Players, Pick your Descendants
Any First Descendant player is likely to tell you that Bunny just is the best character for the game, hands down. Any First Descendant player will also tell you what any player of any game will tell you, and that is that their character is secretly the best character and just misunderstood. A good example of this is that there are players that consider Sharen to be an S-Tier descendant when she is otherwise ranked as D-Tier the majority of the time, or that Kyle is as good as Ajax in the right circumstances. I can appreciate that any player can make a Descendant a good descendant, but for the average player, we always appreciate having a good tier list. First Descendant is a really fun game so far, and it has picked up a good amount of popularity since its drop. With new Descendants and upgrades on the way with every major update, we can certainly look forward to seeing these characters evolve into even more powerful builds and play styles.
