Crafting high-tier cryo gear in The First Descendant is a game-changer for tackling endgame void battles, but one of the most frustrating roadblocks for new and returning players is tracking down the elusive cooling metallic foil. If you’ve spent hours running random missions and coming up empty, you’re not alone—this rare crafting material has very specific drop conditions that most players miss their first few weeks playing. This guide breaks down every confirmed way to farm it, cut down on wasted time, and get the exact amount you need for your builds fast.
How to Get Cooling Metallic Foil: Confirmed Drop Locations & Missions
Cooling metallic foil only drops from cryo-themed enemy outposts and specific high-difficulty void missions, so you can waste dozens of hours running general content without seeing a single piece if you don’t target the right spots. The highest confirmed drop rate is from the Frostspine Ridge outpost on Vespers, specifically when you clear the level 40+ hard mode variant of the outpost defense mission. Runs here take 8 to 10 minutes on average, making it the most time-efficient farm available right now.
To unlock the drop chance for the foil, you need to destroy all three cooling core structures around the outpost perimeter before you defeat the final boss. 70% of the material’s drop chance comes from these secondary objectives, not the boss kill itself, so don’t skip them. If you run this mission with a full 4-player squad, you get a 20% full squad loot quantity bonus, so it’s worth teaming up instead of grinding solo if you can find reliable teammates.
The other confirmed drop location is the Void Intercept: Ice Tier 3 mission, which has a 9% drop rate per clear. This is a good secondary option if you already need to run Void Intercepts for void fragments to upgrade your descendant skills, but it’s less efficient than Frostspine Ridge because runs take 15 to 20 minutes each with no guarantee of extra drops from side objectives.
Maximizing Drop Rates: Pro Tips to Cut Farming Time
Even if you’re running the right missions, small tweaks can cut your total farming time in half. First, equip a loot rarity booster from your in-game inventory before you start your farm session. These boosters stack with squad bonuses to push your total drop rate for cooling metallic foil up by nearly 35% per run, and a single 30-minute booster fits 3 to 4 full Frostspine Ridge runs, so you don’t have to waste premium currency on longer boosters.
You should also avoid running the mission during global public events that don’t focus on cryo enemy spawns. These events replace the regular Frostspine Ridge enemy pool with event-specific mobs that don’t drop cooling metallic foil, so you’ll get zero progress even if you complete all objectives. Check the event calendar in the main menu before you launch a farming session to avoid this mistake.
Grinding the same mission 10 times in a row can get really tedious, and burnout is the biggest reason players give up before they get enough materials. A lot of players I know take 5 minute breaks between every 3 runs to refresh their focus, so they don’t make silly mistakes that cause mission failures. Some use that time to grab a snack, stretch, or play a quick casual game like Yono Rummy to reset their mind before jumping back into the next run.
Don’t skip the post-mission loot chests hidden in the side tunnels of Frostspine Ridge, either. Many players rush to exit the mission right after the boss dies, but these hidden chests have a separate drop chance for cooling metallic foil that doesn’t tie to the end-of-mission reward screen. You can find them behind breakable ice walls on the east and west sides of the outpost, and you only have 60 seconds after the boss dies to grab them before the mission auto-exits.
Common Mistakes That Waste Your Farming Time
Even if you’re running the right missions, small mistakes can slow down your farm by hours, or even make you miss drops entirely. The most common mistakes we see players make are:
I’ve made all of these mistakes myself early on, spending 6 hours running normal mode Frostspine Ridge before I realized I wasn’t even eligible for the drop. Double check your mission difficulty and objectives before you launch to avoid this same frustration. It only takes 10 seconds to confirm your settings, and it saves you hours of wasted effort.
What to Use Cooling Metallic Foil For Once You Farm It
A lot of players farm the foil without knowing exactly what it’s used for, so it’s worth prioritizing which crafts are worth the grind first. The most high-value item you can make with it are the cryo damage resistance modules for endgame void raids—these reduce incoming ice damage by 40%, which is non-negotiable for beating the level 50 Frost Wyrm raid boss that drops some of the best endgame gear in the game. You need 12 pieces of cooling metallic foil to craft the maximum level version of this module, so that’s the first target for most players.
You can also use it to craft the Glacial Burst assault rifle, one of the highest DPS cryo weapons in the game that’s perfect for crowd control in group missions. It fires ice rounds that freeze small enemies in place and deal damage over time to larger bosses, and it’s a favorite for players who main support or crowd control roles in squad content. You need 18 pieces of cooling metallic foil to craft the base version of this weapon, plus extra to upgrade it to maximum level.
If you have extra foil left over after crafting your core builds, you can trade it with other players for rare materials you might need for other builds, but don’t sell it to NPC vendors for credits. It’s far more valuable for trading or crafting, and vendor prices for rare materials are almost always a bad deal compared to player-to-player trades.
At the end of the day, farming cooling metallic foil doesn’t have to be the frustrating, endless grind many players make it out to be. Stick to the hard mode Frostspine Ridge missions, bring a squad, use your boosters, and avoid the common mistakes we outlined, and you’ll have all the material you need for your builds in a couple of hours at most. Don’t forget to take short breaks to avoid burnout, and you’ll be tearing through endgame content with your new cryo gear before you know it.