If you’ve ever stood staring at a glowing, unbreakable purple mass mid-Void Challenge in The First Descendant, you know exactly how frustrating it is to waste entire mags with zero progress. I spent my first three runs blasting these fragments with every gun I owned before I realized I was missing a core mechanic that cuts clear time in half. This guide breaks down everything you need to know about how to destroy void fragments in The First Descendant, from the right tools to use to hidden quirks most players miss their first 20 hours of play. You won’t have to grind for hours to figure this out, I’ve already done the testing for you.
Core Rules for How to Destroy Void Fragments in The First Descendant
Most new players assume these fragments are just regular destructible objects, but that’s where they go wrong. The glowing purple outer layer is a Void Resonance Shield that completely blocks all non-void damage, no matter how high your gun’s DPS is. I once tried to blow one up with a fully upgraded grenade launcher for 10 minutes straight before a random teammate ran up and shattered it in two hits with a void melee. That means you don’t need the most powerful gun in your inventory to clear these, you just need the right type of damage. There are a few small exceptions for endgame items, but 99% of the time, non-void damage will do literally zero damage to the fragment’s core.
You’ll also want to aim for the glowing purple weak points spaced evenly around the fragment’s edge instead of the solid gray core. Each weak point break shaves 25% off the fragment’s total health, so you can clear most fragments in four hits if you aim correctly. If you miss the weak points, even void damage will only deal a tiny fraction of its normal damage, so take half a second to line up your shot instead of spamming bullets. Most players make avoidable mistakes when first approaching these fragments, including:
- Using physical, fire, or electric damage weapons exclusively, wasting ammo and time
- Attacking the solid center of the fragment instead of the glowing weak points around its edges
- Forgetting to swap to void damage skills if you don’t have a void weapon equipped
- Waiting to clear surrounding mobs before attacking the fragment, letting its shield regenerate
Shield regeneration is a particularly annoying quirk for newer players. If you stop attacking a fragment for more than 10 seconds, its weak points will reset and you’ll have to start over from scratch. That’s why it’s always better to clear the fragment as soon as it spawns, instead of leaving it for later in the run.
Best Loadouts for Clearing Void Fragments Fast
You don’t need a top-tier legendary build to clear these fragments quickly, but a few small tweaks to your loadout will make the process far less of a headache. First, always keep at least one void damage secondary weapon in your loadout, even if your main build is focused on electric or fire damage for mob clears. A low-level void pistol will work better for fragments than a maxed-out legendary assault rifle with non-void damage. I keep a common void shotgun in my secondary slot even on my endgame fire build, and it takes care of every fragment I run into without messing up my main mob clear rotation.
If you main a character with void-based skills, like Viessa or Ajax, you don’t even need a void weapon at all. Their basic void skills will shatter weak points in one hit, even if you haven’t upgraded them much. That means you can save inventory space for non-void damage weapons that work better for regular mobs. That said, if you’re running group content, it’s good to coordinate with your team to make sure at least two players have void damage available, so no one gets stuck holding the bag if a fragment spawns mid-boss fight. I usually run a void submachine gun as my secondary, since it has fast fire rate to hit weak points quickly without wasting too much ammo.
For endgame builds, you can add a void damage mod to your melee weapon to make fragment clears even faster. Void melee attacks deal double damage to weak points, so you can clear most regular fragments in two quick hits without even pulling out a gun. It’s a small tweak, but it saves a lot of time over the course of a full Void Intercept run.
Advanced Tips for Fragment Clearing in Group and Endgame Content
Once you move past the early story Void Challenges and into endgame Void Intercepts, fragments get a lot trickier to clear. They spawn more frequently, have more weak points, and are often surrounded by high-level mobs that will interrupt your attacks if you’re not careful. The biggest tip I can give for endgame runs is to prioritize fragment weak points over surrounding mobs if the timer is running low. Most mobs will despawn once the fragment is destroyed, so you don’t have to waste time clearing them first if you’re on a tight clock.
If you’re playing with a group, assign one player to focus on the fragment while the rest hold off mobs, that cuts clear time by almost 70% in most of my endgame runs. You also might notice that some high-tier fragments have a rotating shield that only exposes one weak point at a time. Don’t waste ammo shooting the covered weak points, wait for the shield to rotate and hit the exposed one immediately. It’s tempting to spam shots, but patience will save you a lot of ammo and time here.
During boss fights, fragments will spawn periodically to give the boss a damage resistance buff. Even if you’re 10 seconds away from killing the boss, stop and clear the fragment first. The 50% resistance buff will make your attacks do half damage, so you’ll actually finish the fight faster if you take 10 seconds to break the fragment first. I learned that the hard way during my first Void Boss fight, when I spent two minutes dumping ammo into a boss with full resistance before my teammate pointed out the fragment I was ignoring.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Destroying Void Fragments
I’ve made almost every mistake possible when clearing these fragments, so I can save you a lot of frustration by pointing out the most common ones that even intermediate players make. First, don’t use ultimate skills on regular void fragments unless you’re 100% sure the ultimate deals void damage. Most non-void ultimates will do zero damage to the fragment, and you’ll waste a skill you could have used on a boss or large mob group. I made that mistake my first time running a Void Intercept with a fire-focused Gley build, blew my ultimate on a fragment and got booted from the group for wasting it.
Second, don’t ignore fragment spawn alerts during boss fights. If a fragment spawns while you’re fighting a Void Boss, the boss will gain a 50% damage resistance buff until the fragment is destroyed, so you’ll actually save time pausing to clear the fragment first. Third, don’t forget to pick up the void orbs that drop from broken fragments. These orbs give you a temporary 30% void damage buff that stacks up to three times, which makes clearing subsequent fragments and fighting void bosses far easier. A lot of players leave these orbs behind, but they’re one of the most valuable drops in Void Challenge content.
Another small mistake: don’t stand too close to fragments when they break. They release a small void explosion that deals damage to anyone within 10 feet, and it can one-shot you if you’re on high difficulty. I’ve died way too many times because I was standing right next to a fragment when it shattered, trying to grab the void orb immediately. Take one step back before it breaks, then go grab the orb once the explosion clears.
At the end of the day, clearing these glowing purple obstacles doesn’t have to be the frustrating roadblock it is for so many new players. Once you memorize the basic rule of only using void damage and aiming for weak points, you’ll be able to clear them faster than most of your teammates, even with a low-level build. Don’t be afraid to tweak your loadout to add a void secondary, even if it doesn’t fit your main playstyle, the small tradeoff is worth the faster clear times and better loot drops you’ll get from completed Void Challenges. Now that you know how to destroy void fragments in The First Descendant, you can jump into your next run with confidence and stop wasting entire mags on unbreakable shields. I’ve tested every tip in this guide across 50+ hours of endgame runs, so you can trust that they work for both solo and group play.