If you’ve spent hours grinding missions in The First Descendant only to end up with a stack of unopened material patterns cluttering your inventory, you’re not alone. Many new players run into this exact roadblock early on, since the game doesn’t exactly walk you through what these patterns are or how to use them. Learning how to open material patterns in The First Descendant is one of the most important early-game steps you can take to stop wasting valuable resources and start building the powerful gear you need to take on harder content. I still remember staring at my inventory full of weird glowing pattern items for my first 8 hours of play, clicking them over and over expecting a reward pop-up, only to get nothing. It was so frustrating I almost posted a bug report, until a friend in my co-op group clued me in on the actual process.
How to Open Material Patterns in The First Descendant: Core Step-by-Step Process
The biggest mistake new players make is assuming you can open these patterns directly from your inventory, which is not how the system works at all. You first need to complete the first two main story missions to unlock the Albion hub’s full crafting and research features, and if you skip that step, you won’t see the menu you need to process patterns at all. Once you have access to all hub features, the process is straightforward.
First, return to the Albion main hub from any mission or open world area. Then head to the Research and Crafting Terminal located right next to the central mission board, near the spawn point for all players. Select the “Pattern Unlock” tab from the top menu of the terminal, and you’ll see all unopened patterns from your inventory listed on the left side of the screen. Select the pattern you want to unlock, confirm you have the required base materials and credit cost to process the unlock, and hit confirm. The pattern will be added to your permanent crafting library immediately, and you can delete the physical pattern item from your inventory after that to save space. Once you follow these steps, you’ll have unlocked everything associated with that pattern, and you won’t have to worry about figuring out how to open material patterns in The First Descendant ever again.
Key Requirements to Unlock Rare Material Patterns Without Wasting Resources
Not all patterns are worth unlocking, especially early on when you have limited credits and rare materials to spend. Common white and green patterns only require basic drops like iron scraps and 1,000 to 5,000 credits, but rare blue, epic purple, and legendary orange patterns require special drops like Void Shards, boss-specific items, and up to 50,000 credits per unlock. If you’re still new to how to open material patterns in The First Descendant, sticking to blue rarity or higher patterns until you hit max level is the safest bet to avoid wasting resources.
There are a few extremely common mistakes players make when unlocking patterns that set their progression back by hours, or even days:
I learned this the hard way when I spent 3 rare Void Essence drops on a green armor pattern that gave me +5 defense, when I could have saved those for a legendary shotgun pattern I unlocked 2 days later. You can filter your pattern inventory by rarity in the Research Terminal to make sure you only process the ones that are actually worth your time. If you’re short on credits, run 2-3 quick co-op supply runs, they give 5x more credits than solo story missions on the same difficulty, so you can stock up fast.
What to Do After You Open Material Patterns for Maximum Progression
Once you open a pattern, it’s permanently added to your crafting library, so you never have to unlock it again for any of your characters. That means you can safely trash the physical pattern item after processing it, which is a huge help for players who struggle with limited inventory space. A lot of players hoard these patterns for months thinking they need to keep them, but they’re completely useless once you’ve unlocked the associated recipe.
Prioritize patterns that craft materials you use most often for your main build first. If you main a sniper build, unlock all sniper ammo and sniper mod patterns first, instead of wasting resources on melee weapon patterns you’ll never use. Unlocked patterns also apply to all your characters, so if you unlock a rare armor pattern on your main DPS character, you can craft that same armor for your support alt without re-unlocking the pattern. That’s a huge bonus, especially if you like swapping between characters for different mission types. If you get a duplicate pattern drop after you already unlocked it, you can sell it to the hub vendor for 500 to 10,000 credits depending on rarity, which is a great way to make extra cash when you’re running low.
Best Ways to Farm Rare Material Patterns Fast
If you’re chasing a specific rare or legendary pattern, you don’t have to grind random missions for weeks waiting for a drop. Rare and legendary patterns drop most often from Void Raid bosses, especially the weekly rotation bosses that have 2x increased drop rates for high-tier patterns. Co-op hard mode missions also have a 30% higher drop rate for rare patterns than solo missions, so if you’re grinding for a specific pattern, bring 2 friends to speed up runs and increase your odds of getting the drop you want.
You can also buy common and rare patterns from the weekly rotating vendor in the Albion hub, but they cost premium currency, so only do that if you’ve been grinding for a specific pattern for weeks and haven’t gotten a drop. Don’t waste premium currency on common patterns, they drop so often from normal missions that it’s never worth the cost. I’ve had the best luck farming the Void Worm boss on hard mode, I got 3 legendary weapon patterns in 5 runs last week, which saved me months of grinding random drops. You can also trade duplicate rare patterns with friends in your co-op group, as long as you’ve been in a group with them for at least 24 hours, which is a great way to fill gaps in your pattern library without extra grinding.
At the end of the day, learning how to open material patterns in The First Descendant isn’t a complicated process, but it’s one that can make a huge difference in how fast you progress through the game. You don’t have to stress about unlocking every pattern you get immediately, either – take time to prioritize the ones that fit your playstyle first, and you’ll avoid wasting resources you could use for bigger upgrades later. If you’re still stuck on finding a specific pattern, try joining a community group for the game, most players are happy to share which missions drop the patterns you’re looking for. Next time you log in, head straight to the Research Terminal to process all the patterns you’ve been hoarding, you might be surprised at the powerful gear you can craft right away.