If you’ve spent even a few hours running around The First Descendant’s open world, you know how easy it is to get stuck in a slow grind with barely any progress to show for it. I wasted my first 10 hours of playtime chasing random side quests and collecting every low-tier resource I found, barely moving up three levels in that whole window. It wasn’t until I tested different activity loops and loadout setups that I figured out how to level fast in The First Descendant without sinking 40+ hours into reaching the endgame. This guide breaks down all the tricks I picked up, with zero filler or useless advice that doesn’t move the needle.
Core Activities That Let You Level Fast in The First Descendant Consistently
Not all in-game activities are created equal when it comes to XP payouts. Most new players default to clearing every question mark they see on the map, but that’s one of the slowest possible ways to level up. You want to focus exclusively on activities that give you the highest possible XP per minute, even if they feel repetitive at times.
My personal rotation of high-XP activities changes slightly depending on what daily bonuses are active, but these three consistently deliver the best returns:
You don’t have to stick to these three 100% of the time, but making them 80% of your playtime will cut your leveling time in half at minimum. Save the open-world exploration and side quests for after you hit max level, when you don’t have to prioritize XP gains anymore.
Optimize Your Loadout and Character Choice to Cut Clear Times
Picking the right activities is only half the battle. If you’re running those activities with a bad build or a character that’s not suited for fast clears, your XP per hour will drop drastically even if you’re doing everything else right. You don’t need a perfect endgame build to level quickly, but small tweaks make a huge difference.
Stick to AoE-focused characters like Viessa or Ajax for your first playthrough. Their wide area attack abilities let you clear entire groups of enemies in one shot, instead of wasting time picking them off one by one. Equip XP-boosting mods as soon as you unlock them, even if they make your build slightly less powerful. The 10-15% extra XP you get per run adds up way faster than the small damage loss you might take.
You also don’t need to sink all your resources into upgrading every piece of gear you get. Upgrade your primary weapon every 5 levels or so, and ignore secondary and melee upgrades until you hit level 30. A slightly upgraded common weapon will clear mobs twice as fast as a base level rare weapon, so you don’t need to farm for rare drops early on.
Use Squad Play Bonuses to Stack Extra XP Rewards
I used to hate playing with randoms when I first started, but I quickly realized how much faster I could level by joining public squads. Playing with even one other player gives you a 15% XP boost per squad mate, up to 30% for a full 3-player squad. That’s a free 30% XP gain for almost no extra effort on your part.
Squad play also lets you share quest progress, so you don’t have to repeat the same objective multiple times if you’re running story missions with friends. Joining public squads for Void Chasm runs is almost always faster than running them solo, even if the other players are slightly lower level than you. Most public squads are silent and focused on clearing content as fast as possible, so you don’t have to worry about awkward small talk if you don’t feel like chatting.
If you really prefer playing solo, you can still level quickly, but you’ll want to make sure you’re taking advantage of account-wide XP buffs from events or the battle pass to make up for the missing squad bonus. You can also run lower difficulty missions to speed up clear times, since the XP drop from lower difficulty is offset by how much faster you can finish each run.
Avoid Common Mistakes That Slow Down Your Leveling Progress
Even if you follow all the tips above, small mistakes can add up to hours of wasted grind time. I made almost all of these mistakes when I first started, so I know how much they can set you back if you don’t catch them early.
Don’t jump between characters too often early on. If you spread your XP across three different characters, you’ll take three times as long to hit max level on any of them. Pick one main character to level first, then you can level alts later using the account-wide boosts you unlock at max level. Also, don’t waste time trying to get perfect gear before you hit the level cap. All low-level gear becomes obsolete as soon as you level up, so there’s no point in farming for rare mods or weapons until you hit the highest level tier.
You also don’t want to skip bonus objectives in missions. Most missions have 1-2 bonus objectives that give you an extra 20-30% XP for just a couple extra minutes of work. That adds up to a full extra level every 3-4 runs if you hit them every time. If a mission is giving you trouble and you’re wiping repeatedly, drop the difficulty down a tier. Wasting 10 minutes wiping on a mission gives you zero XP, so it’s better to run it on a lower difficulty and get the payout than to struggle for no gain.
You don’t have to grind 12 hours a day to level fast in The First Descendant. Small, intentional choices about what activities you run, what build you use, and who you play with will make a far bigger difference than how much time you spend logged in. I followed these exact steps when I leveled my main character earlier this year, and I hit max level in just over 18 hours of play time, compared to the 40+ hours most new players take. Test these tips out on your next play session, and you’ll be unlocking endgame content before you know it.