If you’ve spent even a few hours grinding missions in The First Descendant, you’ve probably stumbled across external components — weird, modular gear pieces that give wild passive bonuses that don’t show up on regular internal modules. A ton of new players hit a wall around level 20 when their base gear stops carrying them through harder missions, and the most common question I see pop up in community chats is can you upgrade external components the first descendant. The system is a little hidden if you don’t dig through the workshop menus, so I put together this full breakdown based on 80+ hours of playtime to walk you through exactly how it works, what to prioritize, and what mistakes to avoid.
Can You Upgrade External Components in The First Descendant, and How Does It Work?
The short answer is yes, you absolutely can upgrade external components, but the system works very differently from the standard module enhancement most players are already familiar with. You don’t use generic enhancement ore or materials to level them up — instead, you fuse duplicate copies of the same component to feed experience to your main one. Every time you hit a new level threshold, the component’s core passive bonus gets a significant boost, plus you get extra random stat rolls to make it even more powerful.
I made a huge mistake with this system in my first 20 hours of play. I kept selling or deleting duplicate external components because I thought they were just useless duplicates of gear I already owned. It wasn’t until I joined a co-op run for the Void Intercept Battle and saw a teammate with 3x the passive damage bonuses I had that I realized I’d been wasting extremely valuable upgrade fodder this whole time. Don’t make that same mistake — hold onto every duplicate of a component you might want to use later, even if it’s a lower rarity.
It’s also worth noting that external components are not bound to a single character once upgraded. You can swap them between any of your unlocked descendants whenever you want, so upgrading a good generic damage or defense component gives you value across your entire roster, not just one character. That makes the resource investment even more worth it for players who like to swap between playstyles regularly.
Step-by-Step Process to Upgrade Your External Components
Upgrading your external components is pretty straightforward once you know where to look, and you only need to meet a few basic requirements before you can start. First, you have to complete the "First Supply Run" main story mission, which unlocks the full component management menu at the Albion workshop. Once you have that unlocked, you just need the following items to get started:
- At least 1 duplicate copy of the external component you want to upgrade (same name, any rarity works but higher rarity duplicates give 2x more upgrade progress than lower ones)
- Sufficient credit reserves, the cost scales with the component’s current level and rarity, with legendary upgrades costing up to 100,000 credits per level at max rank
- A free inventory slot to hold the upgraded component, though the game will automatically combine them so you don’t have to worry about extra space most of the time
Once you have all the required materials, head to the workshop and select the "Component Management" option from the NPC menu. Pick the base component you want to upgrade first — this is the one you already have equipped, or the one with the best existing stat rolls you want to keep. Then select the duplicates you want to use as fodder from the right-hand menu, confirm the cost, and hit upgrade.
You can only use components of the exact same name as upgrade fodder, so you can’t feed a random "Sniper Damage Boost" component to a "Fire Damage Boost" component, no matter how similar their effects are. That’s why it’s so important to hold onto duplicates of components you use often, instead of selling them for quick credits. Upgrading a component doesn’t reset its existing stat rolls either, so if you got a perfect roll for your build on a common rarity component early on, you can safely upgrade it all the way to max rank without losing that good roll.
Best External Components to Prioritize for Upgrades
You don’t want to waste resources upgrading every external component you pick up, because the credit and duplicate costs add up really fast at higher ranks. Focus on upgrading components that fit your main playstyle first, and save generic or niche components for later when you have extra resources to spare.
If you main a DPS character, prioritize components that boost your core damage type first. For example, if you main Viessa and run a full fire build, 15% extra fire damage on critical hits components will give you way more value than a generic 5% movement speed boost. If you play a tank character like Ajax, focus on components that boost your max shield and damage resistance first, so you can take more hits for your team in co-op runs.
Legendary external components are always worth prioritizing over rare or epic ones, because their maximum upgrade level is 10, compared to 5 for epic and 3 for rare. A level 10 legendary component will give you 3x more bonus value than a maxed rare component, even if the base stats look similar at first glance. If you play a lot of co-op content, support-focused external components that boost party stats are also worth upgrading — they make you a much more valuable team member for high-difficulty Void Chasm runs, and you’ll get invited to way more endgame groups if you have a fully upgraded support set.
I keep two separate sets of upgraded components on hand at all times: one full damage set for solo grinding and boss fights, and one support set with party buffs for co-op missions. Swapping between them takes 10 seconds tops, and it means I don’t have to waste resources upgrading separate sets for every character I play.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Upgrading External Components
Even if you follow the process correctly, it’s easy to waste hundreds of thousands of credits and dozens of rare duplicates if you don’t know what pitfalls to look out for. I’ve made almost all of these mistakes myself, so I’m sharing them to save you the frustration of having to re-grind materials later.
The first big mistake I see all the time is fusing high-rarity duplicates of components you don’t currently use just to clear inventory space. It’s tempting to get rid of extra items when your inventory is full, but you’re way better off saving those duplicates for when you unlock a new character or want to try a new build later. I deleted 3 legendary duplicates of a rocket launcher damage component early on, and then had to grind for 10 hours to get more when I decided to main Freyna a week later. Trust me, it’s not worth the quick inventory clear.
Another common mistake is upgrading low-rarity components first when you know you’ll replace them later. Even if a rare component has a really good roll, its max level is so much lower than a legendary that you’ll end up wasting all the resources you put into it when you get a better version. Only upgrade low-rarity components if you’re still early in the game and don’t have any higher rarity options that fit your build.
Always test a component for 2-3 missions before you spend resources upgrading it, to make sure it actually fits your playstyle. A component that gives you 10% extra damage when you’re below 50% health sounds great on paper, but if you’re the type of player who always stays at full health, you’ll never actually get that bonus. Try it out for a few runs first to confirm you get consistent use out of it before you pour resources into upgrading it.
At the end of the day, the answer to can you upgrade external components the first descendant is a resounding yes, and taking the time to learn the system will make a massive difference in how easily you can tackle endgame content. You don’t have to grind for duplicates 24/7 to get value out of upgrades either — even upgrading your core 2-3 main components to level 5 will give you a noticeable boost in damage and survivability. I recently upgraded my main legendary critical damage component to level 10, and my single-target DPS went up by almost 40% in Void Intercept Battle runs, so the grind for duplicates is absolutely worth it if you want to push the hardest content the game has to offer.