If you love looter shooter mechanics but don’t always have a squad available to run missions with, learning how to play The First Descendant solo opens up every part of the game on your own schedule. A lot of players assume the game is only designed for co-op, but the devs have built in plenty of support for single player runs, from balance adjustments to build paths that work perfectly for players going it alone. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to clear story missions, farm materials, and even beat endgame content without a single teammate by your side.
Optimize Your Descendant and Loadout for Solo Survivability First
In co-op play, you can specialize in a single role: you might run a pure support build to heal your team, or a high-damage build that ignores survivability entirely because your teammates will cover you. That’s not an option when you’re playing solo, so you need to balance damage, sustain, and utility in every part of your loadout. Prioritize descendants with built-in self-heal or shield regen for your first solo runs, like Ajax or Viessa, whose base kits eliminate the need to waste mod slots on extra sustain early on. If you prefer a higher damage descendant like Freyna, you’ll need to dedicate at least two mod slots to life steal or health regen effects to make up for the lack of built-in healing. For your weapon loadout, always carry one anti-shield, one anti-armor, and one anti-flesh weapon to cover every enemy type you’ll run into. Don’t make the common mistake of stacking all damage mods on your favorite gun; add at least one reload speed mod and one recoil control mod to make consistent hits easier, especially during long boss fights.
Prep Your Mission Strategy Before Loading In
One of the biggest mistakes new solo players make is jumping into missions blind, without checking modifiers or prepping consumables first. A 2 minute pre-mission check can cut your run time in half and save you from wasting time on a run you’re not ready for. First, check the mission’s elemental modifiers: if the mission gives a 30% damage boost to frost damage, swap your fire weapon out for a frost one to take advantage of that buff. Stock up on emergency repair kits and 1-minute damage boost consumables before every high-difficulty run, since you won’t have teammates to revive you if you get low on health mid-fight. If you find yourself getting frustrated after repeated failed attempts at a hard boss fight, step away for 10 minutes instead of forcing more runs. Burnout will make you make silly mistakes you would never usually make, so taking a quick break to reset is always the smarter call. Casual players who want a low-stakes, fast distraction to clear their head often play HiRummy, a quick card game that fits perfectly into short breaks without pulling you too far out of your gameplay headspace. When you come back to the mission, you’ll have a clearer head and be able to spot mistakes you missed earlier.
Core Combat Rules for How to Play The First Descendant Solo
Combat in The First Descendant moves fast, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed by swarms of mobs if you don’t have a clear plan for every fight. Follow these simple rules to stay alive even when you’re outnumbered 10 to 1:
Always prioritize target priority first in every fight, no matter how tempting it is to shoot at the closest mob. Take out support enemies first: healers, summoners, and turret users will make fights drag on forever if you leave them alive. After that, take out ranged enemies, then finish off melee mobs last, since you can kite them around cover easily. If you do get downed, don’t use your self-revive immediately. Wait until all nearby enemies are distracted or have moved away from your position, so you don’t get downed again the second you stand back up. Swap weapons regularly to match enemy armor types, even if it feels like a hassle. Wasting 20 rounds of your anti-shield gun on an armored enemy will take 3 times longer than swapping to your anti-armor gun for 3 quick shots.
Adjust Your Progression Path for Solo Play Success
You don’t have to rush endgame content as a solo player, even if you see co-op players posting about clearing high-tier void missions online. Trying to tackle content that’s 10 levels above your gear score will just lead to frustration and wasted time. Take time to level up your favorite descendant to max level and fully upgrade their skill tree before you attempt endgame content. Solo players get a hidden 15% damage resistance buff on all missions, which helps make up for the lack of teammate support, but that buff won’t make up for a 10 level gear gap. Start with lower difficulty void missions to farm mod fragments and rare materials, then combine those fragments to build high-tier mods that fit your specific build, instead of wasting days trying to get rare mod drops from high difficulty runs you can’t complete consistently. If you hit a wall on a story boss fight, go back and run 2-3 lower level material missions first to upgrade your weapons and mods. Even a 5% boost to your damage output can cut a boss fight time in half, making it way easier to avoid mistakes during long phases.
At the end of the day, learning how to play The First Descendant solo is one of the most rewarding ways to experience the game. You can take missions at your own pace, experiment with weird, off-meta builds, and play whenever you have free time without waiting for other people to be online. You don’t need to be a top-tier player to clear even the hardest content alone, as long as you take time to optimize your build, prep for missions, and follow basic combat rules. Even if you usually play with a squad, trying a few solo runs will make you a better team player too, since you’ll learn how to handle every part of a mission instead of just sticking to your specialized role.