Anyone who’s spent even a few hours playing The First Descendant has had that gut-dropping panic moment mid-boss fight: you’re 10 seconds away from landing the killing blow, and your primary weapon clicks empty with no ammo left in reserve. If you’re new to this fast-paced looter shooter, you’ve almost certainly asked can you buy ammo in The First Descendant to skip that stress entirely. I’ve logged 120+ hours across PC and console versions of the game, tested every resource system extensively, and I’m breaking down exactly how ammo works, what restocking options you have, and how to never run dry when you need rounds most.
Can You Buy Ammo in The First Descendant: The Straight Answer
Let’s cut right to the chase so you don’t have to scroll for the core detail you’re looking for. No, you cannot directly purchase standard combat ammo from any vendor, shop, or in-game store as of the latest game patch. That might feel frustrating if you’re used to other looter shooters that let you drop in-game currency to stock up between missions, but there’s a deliberate design choice behind that rule. The devs built the ammo system to encourage strategic loadout and ability use, rather than letting players brute force every fight by spamming high-damage weapons with endless purchased ammo. There is one small exception to this rule though: special ammo for heavy, ultimate, or ability-linked weapons can sometimes be earned as a vendor reward for completing weekly challenges, but it’s never available for direct purchase.
Reliable Ways to Stock Up on Ammo Mid and Between Missions
Even if you can’t buy standard ammo directly, that doesn’t mean you have to run around empty half the time. I’ve tested every possible ammo farming method across all mission types, and these are the ones that work consistently for every character and playstyle, whether you play solo or in multiplayer lobbies.
- Scavenge from defeated enemies and supply crates: Every humanoid enemy you take down will drop ammo matching the weapon type they were using, and red supply crates scattered across every mission map give out 20-50 rounds of random ammo when opened. Prioritize opening these crates during lulls in fighting, not mid-boss battle when you’re exposed to damage.
- Use ammo support characters and abilities: Characters like Ajax and Bunny have passive or active abilities that generate ammo for you and your team during fights, making them ideal picks for long, high-difficulty missions where ammo runs out fast. If you don’t main a support character, look for teammates who do in public lobbies.
- Equip ammo regeneration mods on your weapons and character: Rare and legendary mods with ammo regen perks will slowly refill your equipped weapon’s clip over time, even during active combat, so you don’t have to stop fighting to scavenge. Even a low-tier 5% regen mod makes a noticeable difference over the course of a 20-minute mission.
- Claim pre-mission ammo packs from the preparation area: Before you launch any mission, you can pick up one free ammo pack from the supply stand next to the mission launch terminal that refills 50% of all your ammo reserves right as you spawn.
That last trick is one most new players miss, and it’s saved me from running out of ammo during the first 10 minutes of a high-level Void Intercept fight more times than I can count. You can only pick up one per mission, so make it a habit to grab it right before you hit launch, no matter what difficulty you’re playing on.
Common Mistakes That Make You Run Out of Ammo Faster
A lot of players blame their constant ammo shortages on the fact that you can’t buy ammo in The First Descendant, but 9 times out of 10, it’s because of small, fixable mistakes in how they play. Let’s go through the most common ones I see all the time in public lobbies. First, using a high-rate-of-fire weapon for every single fight, even against small, weak enemies that you can take down with a single melee hit or basic ability. Your primary AR or SMG should only be used for medium to large enemies, not for clearing out small swarm mobs that drain your ammo for no real reward. Second, not switching between your three equipped weapons often enough. Every player gets a primary, secondary, and heavy weapon slot, and each uses a separate ammo reserve. If you run through your primary ammo in 5 minutes, you’re probably not swapping to your secondary for close-quarters fights or your heavy for high-health targets nearly enough. Third, ignoring support abilities that generate ammo for your team. If you’re playing in a multiplayer lobby and someone picks an ammo support character, stay within 10 meters of them when possible to get the passive ammo drop buff, instead of running off alone across the map. I’ve seen so many players run out of ammo in the middle of a boss fight because they wandered too far from the team’s support player, and it’s such an avoidable mistake.
How to Optimize Your Loadout to Minimize Ammo Shortages
Even with all the scavenging tricks we covered, you can make your life a lot easier by building your loadout to reduce how much ammo you use in the first place. I use this exact build setup for all my endgame missions, and I almost never run out of ammo anymore, even during 30+ minute long boss raids. First, always pair a high-ammo-use weapon with a low-ammo or no-ammo option. For example, if you run a heavy rocket launcher as your primary for boss fights, pair it with a melee-focused secondary weapon or a character with high-damage spam abilities that don’t use ammo at all. Characters like Viessa and Glen have spammable offensive abilities that deal just as much damage as a mid-tier primary weapon, without using a single round of ammo. Second, prioritize mods that reduce ammo consumption over raw damage mods when you’re playing long missions. A 10% ammo consumption reduction mod might not sound like much, but over the course of a full Void mission, it can save you hundreds of rounds of ammo that you would have wasted otherwise. Third, test different weapon types to find ones that fit your playstyle without wasting ammo. If you have a habit of missing a lot of shots, don’t use a slow, high-damage sniper rifle that only has 12 rounds per reserve, swap to an assault rifle that has a larger ammo pool and higher forgiveness for missed shots. It’s always better to deal slightly less damage per shot but land more hits, than to waste half your ammo reserve on missed shots that give you zero value.
At the end of the day, asking can you buy ammo in The First Descendant is only the first step to fixing your ammo shortage issues. While you can’t purchase standard ammo directly, the mix of scavenging, ability use, and loadout optimization we covered will make sure you never have to panic mid-fight because you ran out of rounds. I’ve used these exact tricks to clear every endgame raid in the game without running out of ammo once, and they work for both solo and multiplayer playstyles, no matter what character you main. Take 10 minutes before your next mission to adjust your loadout and make a habit of grabbing the pre-mission ammo pack, and you’ll notice the difference right away.