The First Descendant Best Characters Ranked

New characters are tough to earn in The First Descendant, and building them takes a lot of work and resources. It can take dozens of hours to max out a Descendant and even longer if your luck is as bad as mine!

Most characters look the part, and I wouldn’t blame you for wanting all of them. That said, they aren’t created equally. If you need a nudge in the right direction, let me show you the best The First Descendant has to offer.

Some eagle-eyed players have pointed out similarities between some designs in The First Descendant and Destiny 2, which the developers have pledged to fix.

10 Freyna

Dominator of Venom

Freyna is my favorite Descendant, so it pains me that she’s chilling at the bottom of the list.

This character relies on Damage over Time (DoT) effects. You can decimate groups of enemies with her toxin damage, which eats away at health bars.

Her damage against bosses is pretty respectable, and you can rip enemies to shreds if you invest in her Venemous Baptism. She’s also quite tanky thanks to her solid base stats and Defense Mechanism skill.

So what’s the problem?

Freyna can be played everywhere but is usually outclassed, making her a mediocre jack of all trades. The damage over time is a fun mechanic, but it’s too slow to be helpful in most situations.

I’ve invested an irresponsible amount of Catalysts into Freyna’s DoT skills, and she still can’t keep up with a regular Bunny.

At the time of writing, Freyna is the only Descendant who can break Toxin Void Shards, which is enough to slip in at 10th place on the list. There are plenty of weaker Descendants, but Freyna finds herself in the middle of the pack without a niche to fill.

9 Sharen

The Assassin in the Shadows

Sharen is a unique Descendant and fills a niche no one else can. She’s hands down the best pick for Vulgus Strategic Outposts, and many materials are unobtainable without her.

Outposts can grant additional rewards if you manage to break all reactors undetected. This is usually impossible unless you’re Sharen and use her Active Camouflage. The ability is excellent for clutch revives and grants bonus damage.

Collosi of every level fear Sharen equipped a well-built Afterglow Sniper Rifle. Sharen can dish out ridiculous burst damage and comfortably compete with other Descendants in tough battles.

Sadly, Sharen is pretty terrible at dealing with mobs. Her base stats aren’t the best, and she’s remarkably squishy unless you invest. Mobbing is a massive part of The First Descendant, and Sharen’s subpar performance hurts her ranking on the list. However, her utility can’t be understated, and everyone loves seeing a Sharen skulking around Outposts for those sweet rewards.

8 Luna

The Mad Artist

Luna is the first Descendant to join the roster post-launch and has a powerful, if restrictive, kit.

All of Luna’s abilities lock her into a simple rhythm game where you must fire on the beat to maintain buffs. The downside is you lose bonuses if you shoot out of time.

The music mechanic feels clumsy, but it’s not without merit.

Luna can bestow buffs to her team, and a good player picks the suitable ability to accommodate the squad. She can grant Skill Power with the Exciting Act and decrease cooldowns with the Cheerful Act. You can even restore team MP, a game-changer for energy-hungry Descendants.

A good Luna player is a sight to behold, and she’s an asset to any team, regardless of the activity.

Luna’s mechanics are fine, but it’s better to stick to proper rhythm games if that’s what you’re after.

7 Enzo

The Greatest Quartermaster

I may rate Enzo a little too high, but I also think he’s an essential Descendant that every player should build.

Let’s get the bad out of the way. Enzo is all right at mobbing but is outclassed by most Descendants on this list. He’s useable but not known for his group-clearing potential.

Enzo shines in Collosi battles and is easily one of the best bossing characters in the game. His Perfect Support ability provides a shopping list of buffs, including Attack and Crit Rate increases. He also helps with your team’s ammo economy, which is always an issue in Interceptions.

As the icing on the cake, Enzo is the best character for unlocking Encrypted Vaults. His passive ability makes them easier to open, and many essential items are hard to get without him.

Even if you don’t want Enzo for his stellar boss damage, you need him for resource farming.

6 Valby

The Shape of Water

Valby is an exceptional Descendant and one of the easiest Ultimates to acquire. If you want to see DoT that’s actually decent, Valby is the Descendant for you.

Valby’s Clean Up skill coats the ground in a long-lasting liquid that instantly kills trash mobs as they spawn. She’s also surprisingly tanky and can comfortably survive in all hard-mode activities.

Her DoT debuffs work against bosses, which makes her lethal in Collosi battles. As the debuff is on your opponent, the entire team will benefit, making your damage dealers even more potent.

Valby’s kit is so versatile you can use her everywhere, so feel free to invest your precious Energy Activators and Catalysts.

5 Yujin

The Gruff Medic

Don’t let the medic outfit fool you, because Yujin is a surprisingly proficient mob killer if you have suitable Modules.

Proliferating Allergy is a superb Transcendent Module that transforms Yujin’s Restructure Serum. This ability usually provides healing, but the Module augments it to deal ridiculous AoE damage instead. You can delete swathes of enemies in a few well-placed shots, and it’s the last thing you’d expect from a healer.

Yujin’s damage is lacking against Collosi, but he’s not really there for that. Instead, Yujin can effortlessly keep the team alive. He can also buff his buddies’ Firearm ATK and Skill Power.

I don’t often see Yujin players, and that might be because the healer class isn’t as attractive as a damage dealer. That said, Yujin’s utility shouldn’t be underestimated, and the more challenging the content gets, the better he becomes.

4 Viessa

The Cold-Blooded Hunter

Earlier, we covered Freyna, where I said she was a jack of all trades but a master of none. If you imagine a Descendant who can do everything but better, you have Viessa.

Viessa has extraordinary stopping power vs mobs and bosses. She’s also the only Descendant who can break Chill Void Shards.

You can build Viessa a few ways, but her Cold Bloodedness Transcendent Module, combined with her Blizzard skill, allows you to splat most groups of enemies instantly.

Viessa even has an ability that increases her movement speed. She can’t keep up with Bunny, but the boost is nice and inflicts the Ice Shackle debuff on enemies.

On top of everything, Viessa has some of the most potent Crowd Control abilities in the game. Ice slows enemies to a crawl, and the effect lasts long enough for you to wreck the most formidable opponents. Oh, she’s also one of the three starter Descendants, meaning you can wield this devastating Ice Queen from day one.

3 Lepic

The Final Grenadier

Lepic is a grenade specialist, and his kit is just as lethal as it is fun to use.

Overkill is Lepic’s ultimate ability, and he deals outrageous damage against bosses. You can fill the air with explosive projectiles with the proper setup and output some of the highest single-target damage in the game.

Everyone loves to see a Lepic in Collosi battles, but he doubles as a respectable mob clearer if you build him for it. His Traction Grenade draws enemies into a neat bundle where you and your team can promptly remove them.

Lepic has a simple kit, but he’s solid and viable for every piece of content in The First Descendant. His Ultimate form is one of the easiest to obtain and well worth a look if you’re after a stellar damage dealer.

2 Gley

Hope Seeker

Gley is arguably the toughest Ultimate Descendant to obtain, locked behind obnoxious odds and an insufferable grind. She takes the number two spot on this list because she’s absolutely worth the pain.

Gley is a specialist Descendant who doesn’t use Shields and rewards high-risk play.

You can build Gley in multiple ways. Focus on her Massacre unique weapon or use her Increased Sensory to buff your regular guns. The latter has some hilariously broken combinations, and she can fire a never-ending barrage of rockets if you give her the right tools.

You can invest in Gley’s Siphon to make a ridiculous mobbing build with tremendous range. There are better mobbing Descendants, but she’s perfectly viable if that’s what you want.

Gley requires a skilled hand to play, and her kit isn’t as straightforward as other Descendants. Her play style is refreshingly nuanced, and if you take the time to master her skills, Gley is top-tier in almost every activity in the game.

1 Bunny

The Speedster

Surprising absolutely no one, Bunny takes the top spot as she’s the best Descendant by a country mile.

Bunny’s mobbing potential is so strong that she has no rival and can wreck waves of enemies with minimal investment.

Her gameplay loop is simple. Run as fast as possible and use her Electric Emission to zap everything into submission. It’s easy to run the ability with 100% uptime, which is all Bunny needs.

While it’s not her forte, Bunny is fine against many bosses, where she can rely on her unrivaled speed. Bunny must be explicitly built for bossing to shine against Collosi, but she can get the job done.

Bunny has it all. She’s powerful, easy to use, and is practically given to the player in the campaign. Her best weapon, the Thundercage SMG, is also easy to obtain early on.

This is a Descendant with utility in every activity at any level. Sure, you may be sick of seeing multiple Bunny players every mission, but there’s a good reason why she’s there.

At the time of writing, The First Descendant is in its infancy but clearly takes inspiration from titles like Warframe. Digital Extreme’s juggernaut recently added romance to their game, so who knows what the future holds for Nexon’s RPG Looter Shooter.

The First Descendant

Action RPG

Third-Person Shooter

Released

July 2, 2024

Developer(s)

Nexon Games

Engine

Unreal Engine 5

ESRB

Mature 17+ // Violence, Blood, Suggestive Themes, Strong Language

How Long To Beat

36 Hours

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