If you’ve spent any time running Void missions or fighting boss raids in The First Descendant, you’ve almost definitely seen other players wreck entire enemy waves with Gley’s chaotic flame abilities. Her passive ability lets her build up flame charges with every hit, then unleash a nuke that clears entire rooms of enemies, which is perfect for farming upgrade materials or speeding through raid checkpoints. She’s far and away one of the most popular S-tier characters for both solo farming and group play, but a lot of new players run into roadblocks when they try to figure out how to get Gley the First Descendant. I unlocked her last month after fumbling through a few missed prerequisites, so I’m breaking down exactly what you need to do, no vague forum rumors or misincluded steps included.
Prerequisites You Need to Meet Before You Can Get Gley the First Descendant
Before Gley’s unlock quest even shows up in your mission log, you have to hit three non-negotiable requirements. I skipped past the fine print when I first tried to unlock her, and I wasted two hours running the wrong missions wondering why the quest wouldn’t pop, so don’t make that same mistake. First, you need to be at least Player Rank 25. If you’re still a few ranks short, running repeatable supply run missions on normal difficulty will get you to Rank 25 in about 4 hours of play, even if you’re playing completely solo. You don’t need to grind endgame raids to hit the rank requirement, which is a common misconception I see floating around community forums.
Second, you need to have completed the main story quest up to the “Void Chasm Activation” arc. You don’t have to finish the entire main story, but you do need to unlock access to Void difficulty missions to collect the required items for Gley’s unlock. Third, you need 3 Void Entrance Tokens to access the Abandoned Mine Void mission, which drop from hard mode daily missions. You will not see Gley's unlock quest pop up in your mission log until you hit all three of these prerequisites.
Your gear score should be at least 1200 before you attempt Gley's unlock missions, or you’ll struggle to take down even basic enemies quickly. You can bump up your gear score fast by running normal difficulty Void missions and upgrading your common rarity gear to level 10, no rare drops required.
Step-by-Step Mission Walkthrough for Unlocking Gley
Once you hit all the prerequisites, head to the Resistance Camp command terminal to pick up the “Flame of the Forgotten” quest, which is Gley’s dedicated unlock mission. The quest has three core steps, and I’ve included small tips for each to help you avoid the mistakes I made on my first run. The entire process takes between 3 and 5 hours depending on your gear and how lucky you get with drops, which is much faster than most other S-tier character unlocks in the game.
Don’t leave the Abandoned Mine mission early even if you think you have all 12 emblems. I did that once and 2 of my drops didn’t register because I didn’t finish the final mission objective, so I had to run the whole thing again. The Fire Warden spawns every 2 hours, so check the in-game event timer before you head out so you don’t wait around for nothing. I recommend bringing at least one other player with you for the Fire Warden fight, even if your gear score is above 1400. The boss has a one-shot flame breath attack that targets the closest player, so having a second person to draw aggro will make the fight go much smoother. I tried to solo it my first time and got wiped three times before I asked a random player in the global chat to join me, and we beat it in less than 10 minutes together.
Common Mistakes That Delay Gley Unlocks
Even if you follow the steps correctly, there are a few common pitfalls that can add hours to your unlock time, most of which are barely mentioned in the in-game quest instructions. First, a lot of players run the normal difficulty version of the Abandoned Mine mission, but Burnt Emblems only drop on hard difficulty. I’ve had friends spend 3 hours running the mission over and over, only to realize they were on the wrong difficulty the whole time. Double check the difficulty toggle before you launch the mission to save yourself the headache.
Another mistake I see all the time is players collecting 12 emblems, but not making sure they’re the right type. Regular enemy drops include similar-looking grey emblems that don’t count for the quest, so you need to make sure you’re picking up the red, rare variant from elite enemies. You can check if you have the right emblems by opening your quest inventory and looking for the red flame icon next to the item name. If you have the wrong ones, you can discard them to free up inventory space, they don’t have any other use.
Some players also think they can buy the Core Flame or Burnt Emblems from the in-game premium shop, but all items for Gley’s unlock are bound to your account, so you can’t trade or buy them. There are no pay-to-win shortcuts to unlock Gley, so don’t waste your premium currency on random loot boxes that claim to include her unlock items. Those boxes only have cosmetic items and upgrade materials, no quest-specific drops.
First Things to Do After You Unlock Gley
As soon as you unlock Gley, you’ll get access to her base skill set and common rarity default weapon, but there are a few quick steps you can take to make her way more powerful right off the bat. First, run her first personal side quest, which unlocks immediately after you complete her unlock story sequence. It’s a short 15-minute mission that rewards you with her signature flame thrower weapon, which has 30% higher damage when used by Gley than any other character, and it synergizes perfectly with her flame charge passive. I skipped this quest at first and used a random assault rifle, and her damage was barely better than my starter character, so don’t sleep on this step.
Next, invest your first 5 skill points into her AoE flame wave ability, which is her best skill for both solo farming and group play. It has a short 8-second cooldown, and it applies a burn effect to all enemies hit that deals damage over time for 10 seconds. Once you hit level 15 with Gley, you can unlock a modifier for the ability that lets it restore 5% of your health for every enemy hit, which fixes her biggest weakness of low base health. Pair Gley with a support character like Viessa in group raids to offset her low health pool, which is her biggest downside. I run her with a Viessa support for freeze and healing, and I can clear a full Void mission in 12 minutes flat, which is half the time I used to take with my starter character.
You can also unlock Gley’s second passive ability, which reduces fire damage taken by 40%, by completing her second personal side quest that unlocks 24 hours after you first get her. It’s a short mission that only takes 15 minutes to run, and it makes a huge difference in her survivability when you’re fighting fire-themed bosses. I skipped it at first and kept getting one-shot by the Fire Warden when I went back to farm upgrade materials, so don’t make that same mistake. The seasonal pass has an exclusive skin for Gley, but it’s completely cosmetic with no stat boosts, so you don’t need to buy it to make her viable for endgame content.
Unlocking Gley doesn’t have to be the confusing, multi-day grind a lot of new players make it out to be. As long as you hit the rank and quest prerequisites first, follow the mission steps closely, and avoid the common mistakes that waste your time, you can get Gley the First Descendant in as little as 3 hours of focused play. Once you have her, take a little time to test her skill combos in low-difficulty missions first, and you’ll be tearing through endgame content before you know it. If you run into any snags during the unlock process, most players in the global chat are happy to help with boss fights or point you to the right elite spawn points, so don’t be afraid to ask for help.