If you’ve spent any time messing around with The First Descendant’s customization menu, you’ve probably run into the same roadblock as hundreds of other players: limited paint options. There are hundreds of unique color shades, matte, glossy, and metallic finishes to unlock for your characters, weapon skins, and even your hub base decor, but most new players have no clue how to get paint in The First Descendant consistently. I’ve spent over 70 hours grinding for rare paint drops over the last few months, so I’ve put together every working method I’ve tested, plus common mistakes to avoid so you don’t waste your time on low-yield runs.
Core Methods for How to Get Paint in The First Descendant
You won’t get paint drops from standard mobs you fight during main story missions, for the most part. All paint drops are tied to three core activity types, and each gives different rarity tiers of paint, so you can target exactly what you need instead of grinding blindly.
One thing to note here: if you’re playing with a full squad, all paint drops are shared across the team, so everyone gets the same paint reward, no need to roll for it. That means running world bosses with a full 4-person squad doesn’t lower your chance of getting the paint you want, so don’t hesitate to join public lobbies for these runs.
Best Open-World Paint Farming Routes for New Players
If you’re just starting out and don’t have access to high-level side missions or endgame boss fights, open-world cache farming is your best bet for building up a basic paint collection quickly. The first open zone, Vespers Island, is by far the best spot for low-level players, as most of the cache locations are far from high-damage mob spawns.
The northern coastal factory area has 12 caches within a 2 minute run loop, that's the fastest route for common paint I’ve found anywhere in the game. You don’t need to fight any enemies if you stick to the outer walls of the factory, you can sneak past all the level 12 mobs even if you’re only level 5. Just make sure you don’t run into the patrolling heavy drone near the back entrance, it will one-shot low-level players if you get too close.
You can toggle your scanner on while running to highlight caches through walls, so you don’t waste time checking every nook and cranny. I used this route for my first 10 hours of farming, and I collected over 80 common and uncommon paints in that time, enough to customize my first three characters completely. If you get tired of the Vespers Island route, the desert zone's abandoned mining facility has a similar loop, but it has higher level enemies so it's better for players level 20 and up.
How to Craft Rare Paint Using Collected Resources
Farming pre-made paint drops isn’t the only way to expand your collection. You can craft almost every non-legendary paint at the hub's workbench once you unlock the crafting upgrade at player level 15. This is a great option if you’re looking for a very specific shade that doesn’t drop often from caches or missions.
Each paint recipe requires three core materials: pigment powder, binder resin, and a finish additive, depending on if you want matte, glossy, or metallic. Pigment powder drops from the same caches you farm for pre-made paint, so you’ll stock up on it naturally while running your farming routes. Binder resin comes from breaking down unwanted weapon skins you get from mission rewards, so don’t just sell those extra common skins you don’t plan to use. Finish additives are sold by the hub's cosmetic vendor for 500 gold each, which is super cheap even for new players.
One handy tip: If you have duplicate paints you don't want, you can dismantle them at the workbench to get back 70% of the materials used to make them, so you don’t waste resources on shades you'll never use. Some rare event-exclusive paints can only be crafted during limited time events, so check the workbench every time a new event drops to grab those recipes before they're gone.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Farming Paint
I’ve seen dozens of new players waste hours on inefficient grinds because they didn’t know how the paint drop system works, so I’ve rounded up the most common mistakes to skip so you can build your collection faster.
First, don’t run story missions over and over expecting paint drops. 90% of story missions give no paint rewards at all, so you’re just wasting your time if that’s your main goal. Save story runs for when you’re trying to progress the plot or level up a new character, not for farming cosmetics.
Don't forget to claim your weekly challenge rewards, the weekly "open 50 caches" challenge gives 5 free epic paints every week, most players don’t even notice this reward exists until someone points it out. It takes less than an hour to complete this challenge if you run the Vespers Island factory loop, so it’s easily worth the time investment.
Also, don’t sell your extra pigment powder to the vendor. It’s almost impossible to buy pigment powder anywhere in the game, so you’ll regret selling it when you want to craft rare paints later. I made this mistake early on, and I had to spend 3 extra hours farming caches just to get enough pigment to make a metallic purple paint I wanted for my main character.
At the end of the day, collecting all the paint you want doesn't have to be a tedious grind if you stick to the methods we've covered here. Whether you're running low-effort open-world cache loops, grinding side missions for rare finishes, or crafting custom shades at the workbench, there's a method that fits every playstyle and skill level. Now that you know how to get paint in The First Descendant, you can stop scrolling through the customization menu wishing you had more options, and start grinding to make your characters and weapons look exactly how you want them to. Don't forget to check for event-exclusive paints every few weeks, as new shades are added to the game regularly for limited time periods.