If you’ve spent even a few hours running missions in The First Descendant, you’ve probably noticed your inventory fills up with duplicate, low-tier weapons faster than you can equip new ones. Hoarding every gun you pick up might feel safe at first, but it will quickly leave you with no room for the high-tier, perk-heavy weapons that make endgame content feel manageable. That’s why so many new players ask how do you dismantle weapons in the first descendant – it’s one of the most fundamental, high-impact mechanics you can master early on. I’ve sunk over 80 hours into the game across both beta and full release, and I still dismantle at least 10 weapons every time I return to base after a 30-minute mission run. It’s not just about clearing space, either; the materials you get from dismantling are the same ones you need to upgrade your favorite legendary and unique weapons to their maximum power.
Step-by-Step: How Do You Dismantle Weapons in The First Descendant
The process is far simpler than many new players expect, but there are a few small restrictions you need to know before you start. You can’t dismantle weapons mid-mission, so you’ll have to wait until you return to the main hub to clear out your inventory. You also can’t dismantle weapons that are slotted to any of your descendants, even ones you don’t use regularly, so you’ll need to unequip them first if you want to break them down.
To dismantle individual weapons, first open your main inventory menu while you’re in the Albion main hub. Navigate to the Weapons tab, which will show every gun you currently own sorted by rarity by default. Hover over or select the weapon you want to break down, and choose the Dismantle option from the pop-up action menu. Confirm the choice, and the materials will be added to your storage immediately.
If you have a lot of weapons to clear, use the bulk dismantle option to save time. Hold the bulk select key (Ctrl on keyboard, X on Xbox controllers, Square on PlayStation controllers) to select multiple weapons at once, then choose Dismantle All Selected to break them down in one go. You cannot dismantle weapons that are currently equipped to any of your characters, or that are marked as favorites – if a weapon won’t let you select it for dismantling, check first if you accidentally favorited it or have it slotted to an alternate descendant you don’t use often.
Key Benefits of Dismantling Weapons Regularly
Once you know how do you dismantle weapons in the first descendant, you’ll never run low on the basic weapon parts you need to upgrade your main loadout. The most obvious benefit is extra inventory space: your default weapon inventory caps out at 120 slots, and expanding it costs premium currency you’d probably rather spend on cosmetics or new descendant slots. Dismantling low-tier drops after every mission means you’ll never have to leave a legendary drop behind mid-run because your bag is full, a mistake I made more than once when I first started playing.
Dismantling also gives you access to rare crafting materials you can’t get anywhere else as reliably. Common and uncommon weapons break down into basic weapon parts and low-tier elemental cores, while rare and epic weapons give you advanced parts and modification chips you can use to re-roll weapon perks. Legendary weapons dismantle into legendary weapon cores, which are the only material you can use to ascend legendary weapons past level 40. I used to hoard duplicate legendary weapons thinking I might use them on an alt, but I now dismantle every duplicate immediately, as the cores are far more valuable than a second copy of a gun I’ll never equip.
Regular dismantling also makes your inventory far easier to navigate. If you only keep the weapons you actually use, you won’t have to scroll past 50 irrelevant low-tier guns every time you want to swap your loadout for a specific mission type. It also makes it easier to test new weapons, since you can break down ones you don’t like immediately instead of letting them clutter up your storage for weeks.
Weapons You Should Never Dismantle (And Ones You Can Break Down Without Worry)
For all the benefits of regular dismantling, there are a few weapons you should hold onto even if you don’t plan to use them right away. I’ve made the mistake of dismantling rare unique weapons early on, only to realize later they were perfect for a new descendant I unlocked 20 hours later. Stick to this list of weapons to keep to avoid that frustration:
- Weapons with unique perk combinations that match your main descendant’s playstyle, even if they’re lower rarity. You can upgrade these later to match endgame power levels if their perks are good enough, and finding a perfect perk roll is far rarer than getting a high-rarity weapon with bad perks.
- Weapons that are part of a collection set, as completing sets gives you free permanent stat boosts for all your descendants. You can check if a weapon is part of a set in its description tab, and you only need one copy of each weapon to count for the collection.
- Event-exclusive weapons, which are only available for limited time periods and often have unique cosmetic effects you can’t get from standard drops. They only give standard materials when dismantled, so it’s worth holding onto them even if you don’t use them for combat.
As for weapons you can dismantle without a second thought, start with all duplicate weapons, even legendary ones. If you have two copies of the same legendary with worse perks on the second one, dismantle it immediately – the legendary core you get is far more valuable than a duplicate you’ll never use. You can also safely dismantle all common (white) and uncommon (green) weapons past the first 10 hours of gameplay, once you have a full set of rare (blue) or higher weapons for all your loadout slots. These low-tier weapons give almost no materials when dismantled, so you can even skip picking them up entirely if you want to save time during runs.
Common Dismantling Mistakes to Avoid
A lot of new players skip learning how do you dismantle weapons in the first descendant until they hit an inventory wall, but even once you know the process, there are a few easy mistakes that can cost you rare items or materials. The most common mistake is accidentally dismantling a weapon you wanted to keep, especially when using bulk dismantle after a long mission. I did this once with a legendary shotgun that had a perfect 100% crit damage perk roll, and I had to run the same void intercept mission 12 times to get another copy. Always double-check your selected weapons before confirming a bulk dismantle, especially if you have rare or legendary drops in your inventory.
Another common mistake is dismantling too many weapons before you unlock the first material storage upgrade. Your default material storage only holds 999 of each basic part, and any excess materials you get from dismantling will be automatically discarded if you hit the cap. Wait to do big bulk dismantle sessions until you complete the main story mission “Albion’s Defense”, which gives you a free storage expansion that doubles your material capacity.
You should also avoid dismantling low-rarity weapons that have rare mod drops attached. Every once in a while, a common or uncommon weapon will have a rare epic or legendary modification chip as a dismantle reward, which is shown in the dismantle preview. If you see that preview, prioritize dismantling that weapon first, as those mods sell for huge amounts of in-game currency or can be used to massively boost your main weapon’s power.
Finally, don’t dismantle event weapons just to clear space. As we mentioned earlier, they only give standard crafting materials, and you won’t be able to get them again once the event ends. If you’re running low on inventory space, move them to your account storage instead, which has far more space for unused items.
At the end of the day, figuring out how do you dismantle weapons in the first descendant is one of the first quality of life upgrades you can make to your gameplay loop. It takes less than 10 seconds to do, saves you hours of inventory management frustration later, and gives you all the materials you need to make your best weapons even stronger. You don’t have to overcomplicate it; start small by dismantling all common drops after every mission, and work your way up to bulk clearing duplicates once you get a feel for what weapons you actually use. Even if you make a mistake once or twice, you’ll get the hang of it faster than you think, and you’ll wonder how you ever played the game without doing it regularly.