Summary
As exciting asTheFirst Descendanthas been since launch, one heavily draining downside for material farming just saw a major improvement. This looter shooter, while lacking in story and filled with microtransaction controversy, has generally been well-received for its engaging gameplay. Though similar to rivalWarframe, the overall feeling is different enough that the two games can fill different needs. Overall, the power fantasy given by the playable Descendants is well crafted and offers up playstyle builds that are flexible to player preference.
The largest concern so far inThe First Descendanthas been the amount of grinding needed. Though it is great that everything can be earned for free, most of the gear andall playable Descendantscan only be acquired through lengthy sessions or extreme luck. The game is also filled with a plethora of materials needed for crafting or used as a reward for Void Intercepts. Luckily, this issue has taken a huge quality-of-life step with the newest update.
The First Descendant Void Missions Now Show Material Amounts
Reducing The Tedious Tasks For Amorphous Materials
One of the key grind cycles inThe First Descendantis Void Missions, which dropAmorphous Materials opened to get blueprintsfor guns or Descendants. To start these missions, players need to have certain amounts of Void Shards, but before, it was necessary to keep tabbing into the inventory to check. The recent upgradehas made it so the Void Mission tab shows how many shards one has and how many are needed to launch.
Going off that, two other smaller changes were also made to the Void Mission system. The largest one isthat which Amorphous Materials drop, and what can be gained from them, is now shown above all the other rewards. This makes it easier for players to quickly find which mission needs to be done. The other change is that the Void Fragments, which arethe missions done to get Void Shards, are now color-coded to show what attributes are needed to accomplish them.
How Material Farming Changes Affect The First Descendant
Balancing Earning Rewards With Fair Investment
Though the grind does need to require effort, sinceit would cheapen the experience and remove the need for microtransactions without it, steps towards making it smoother are great. It lowers the potential for player frustration and could even increase activity if taken well enough. Future changes like this that make it easier to see rewards and material amounts would be great additions to makeThe First Descendantas smooth as possible.
Another option, though possibly more controversial, would be something akin to a pity system from gacha games. Some of the longer missions that award Descendant parts seem to drop very infrequently despite having a 20% chance. Perhapsa system that guaranteed the drop after 20–30 runs of that single mission would be a good countermeasure. At that point, any player who has run that mission for that amount of time has earned the drop and would likely burn out or feel locked out of content if this bad streak continued.
Overall, it is a great sign thatThe First Descendantis already listening to feedback and making appropriate changes. Along with content drops, these kinds of updates are huge factors for the longevity of live service games. These will likely be further boosted by future Descendant drops and the game version of Raids planned for December. Thus,The First Descendantis on a great path with this easily overlooked change that greatly improves farming.
