If you’ve spent any time running co-op missions or farming bosses in The First Descendant, you’ve probably seen other players dominate lobbies with Valby’s game-changing support skills. Her ability to drop healing zones, buff ally damage, and slow down swarms of invading Vulgus makes her one of the most sought-after characters in the entire game, especially for players who prefer supporting their team instead of being the frontline DPS. In this guide, we’ll break down exactly how to get Valby The First Descendant, no hidden hoops or confusing grind required, even if you’re only a few hours into the game.
Core Requirements to Unlock Valby The First Descendant
First off, you don’t have to beat the entire main story to unlock Valby, but you do need to hit a few key milestones first to access her unlock mission. Most players hit these milestones naturally as they play through the opening arc of the game, but if you’re rushing to unlock her, you can target these steps specifically to cut down on time. First, you need to reach Player Rank 12, which you can get by completing story missions, daily quests, and co-op void intercept missions. You also need to unlock the Resource Collection Outpost in the Stormhill region, which becomes available right after you complete the third main story quest, “Stormhill Defense”.
You don’t need to spend any in-game currency to access this outpost, just make sure you complete that quest first to open the location. The last base requirement is 15,000 credits, which is super easy to farm even if you’re low on funds. Run a couple of low-difficulty resource farming runs, and you’ll hit that number in 10 minutes or less. If you’re short on Player Rank points, prioritize daily quests over open world farming, as they give 3x more rank points per minute of playtime.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough for Valby’s Unlock Mission
Once you hit all the core requirements, you can pick up Valby’s specific unlock quest, “Aid for the Researcher”, from the NPC at the Stormhill Resource Collection Outpost. This quest is marked with a blue character icon on your map, so you won’t miss it. The mission itself has three separate parts, none of which require you to run super high-difficulty content, but there are a few tricky spots that can trip you up if you don’t know what to look for.
First, you’ll need to collect 30 Vulgus Core Samples from enemy drops in the Stormhill open world area. These only drop from elite Vulgus units, which are marked with a red skull icon above their heads. Focus on farming the western edge of Stormhill where elite spawn rates are 3x higher than other parts of the region, so you can collect all samples in 20 minutes or less. Next, you’ll need to run the “Stormhill Supply Run” void intercept mission on normal difficulty or higher, and make sure you interact with the hidden research crate in the second room of the mission. Most players skip this crate, but if you don’t open it, you won’t get the required research data to progress the quest.
The final part of the mission is a boss fight against the Ice Goliath, which you can run solo or with a team. If you’re running solo, focus on attacking the glowing weak spot on its chest, and keep moving to avoid its ice AOE attacks that can freeze you in place for several seconds. Once you beat the boss, turn the quest back in to the outpost NPC, and Valby will be added to your character roster immediately.
Hidden Tips to Speed Up Your Valby Unlock Grind
If you want to cut down the total time to unlock Valby to under an hour, there are a few little-known tricks that most new players don’t find out about until they’ve already spent hours grinding. I’ve tested all of these myself when I was unlocking Valby for my alt account, and they cut my total grind time in half compared to my first run.
One thing to avoid here is wasting your time running higher difficulty missions for the unlock quest. The drop rates for required quest items are exactly the same on normal difficulty as they are on hard or extreme, so you don’t get any benefit from running harder content for this specific quest. Stick to normal difficulty for all unlock mission steps to save yourself a lot of unnecessary frustration, especially if you’re still gearing up your main character.
What to Do First After Unlocking Valby
Once you’ve got Valby unlocked, you don’t want to jump straight into high-difficulty missions without setting her up properly first, because her base kit is a bit underpowered until you unlock a few key upgrades. First, spend 5,000 credits to unlock her first passive skill, “Regenerative Aura”, which gives all nearby allies a 10% health regen boost on top of her existing healing zone skill. This passive alone makes her a viable support for most mid-difficulty co-op missions, even if you don’t have any rare gear for her yet.
Next, run a few low-difficulty void intercept missions to farm her signature weapon, the Cryo Spray Gun. This weapon synergizes perfectly with her skill kit, as it slows enemies hit by her frost abilities, making it easier for your team to take down high-health elites and bosses. If you plan to play Valby as your main support character, you’ll also want to invest in skill upgrades that reduce the cooldown of her healing zone. Getting her healing zone cooldown down to 12 seconds or lower makes her irreplaceable for high-difficulty raids, where your team will need constant healing to survive boss AOE attacks.
One thing to note is that Valby’s damage output is very low compared to pure DPS characters, so don’t waste skill points upgrading her damage abilities if you’re playing her in a support role. Focus on healing and buff upgrades first, and you’ll be the most valuable player in every co-op lobby you join.
Unlocking Valby doesn’t require months of grinding or spending real money on microtransactions, as long as you follow the steps we laid out and avoid the common mistakes that slow new players down. She’s one of the most versatile support characters in the game, and she makes even the hardest raid missions feel far more manageable when you’re playing with a team. Now that you know how to get Valby The First Descendant, you can add her to your roster today and start carrying your team through even the toughest Vulgus invasions.