If you’ve spent any time grinding missions in The First Descendant, you’ve probably hit a wall where your weapons feel weak, endgame missions lock you out, and you can’t unlock the higher-tier characters you’ve had your eye on. That’s almost always tied to your mastery rank, and figuring out how to rank up mastery in The First Descendant is one of the most impactful things you can do to improve your entire gameplay experience. I’ve spent over 120 hours testing different grind routes to cut down the time it takes to climb ranks, and I’m skipping all the fluff to share what actually works.
How to Rank Up Mastery in The First Descendant: Core Mechanics First
First, let’s bust a common myth: You don’t get large chunks of mastery XP just for replaying the same high-level mission 50 times. The vast majority of your mastery rank gains come from leveling new, unused weapons, descendant characters, and modules to their maximum level for the first time. That means if you’ve been sticking to the same 2 assault rifles and your main Viessa character for 20 hours, you’re leaving tons of mastery XP on the table.
Every time you max a new common, uncommon, rare, epic, or legendary item, you get a one-time mastery XP payout that scales with the item’s rarity. Legendary items give the highest payout per item, but don’t sleep on common and uncommon gear early on. They level way faster, so you can churn through them for quick XP gains when you’re just starting out, even if you never plan to use the gear in actual combat.
The Most Efficient Mastery XP Grind Routes For All Ranks
Your grind strategy should change depending on what mastery rank you’re currently at, because low-rank players have access to far fewer resources than players who are already at rank 15+. I’ve tested every popular grind method, and these are the only ones worth your time:
One quick note here: Don’t waste your premium currency on instantly leveling items unless you’re in a huge rush to hit a specific rank for an event. Leveling items naturally during missions gives you bonus loot and materials along the way, so you’re getting far more value for your time.
Hidden Bonuses That Speed Up Mastery Rank Gains
Most players miss these small, easy-to-miss bonuses that can cut your total grind time by up to 30% with almost no extra effort. First, always make sure you have an active XP booster running before you start a grind session. You can earn these boosters from daily login rewards, event passes, and even as random drops from end-of-mission chests, so you never have to buy them with real money if you don’t want to. The booster applies to both item XP and account mastery XP, so it’s double the value.
Next, remember to claim your mastery rank reward chests as soon as you level up. A lot of these chests have new, unleveled weapons or modules that you can immediately start leveling for extra XP, creating a nice feedback loop of gains. Another underrated trick is to join public multiplayer squads for your grind missions. Full squads get a 15% XP boost for all members, and missions go way faster when you’re playing with other people, so you’re completing more runs per hour and getting more XP per run.
Just make sure you’re not joining high-level missions you can’t contribute to. Most players are happy to help lower-rank players, but you don’t want to be dead weight the entire run. If you have a friend who’s already at a higher mastery rank, ask them to run mission groups with you. Higher difficulty missions unlocked by their rank will give you more item XP, even if you haven’t unlocked the difficulty yourself yet.
Common Mistakes That Slow Down Mastery Rank Progression
I’ve made every one of these mistakes myself when I first started playing, so I can tell you exactly what to avoid to not waste hours of your time. The first mistake is only leveling legendary gear when you’re below rank 15. Legendary gear takes 3 times longer to max than rare gear, and only gives 2 times the XP, so you’re actually earning less XP per hour by skipping lower rarity items early on. You can switch to focusing on legendary gear once you hit rank 16, but before that, churn through every common, uncommon, and rare item you get.
Another big mistake is dismantling new gear before you level it. I see so many players grab a new uncommon shotgun, see that their current epic shotgun is way stronger, and dismantle the new one immediately. That’s throwing away free mastery XP. Even if you never plan to use the weapon, spend a couple of runs leveling it to cap before you dismantle it—you get the materials back anyway, plus the mastery XP.
The last mistake is ignoring module leveling. Modules give almost as much mastery XP as weapons when you max them, but most players only level the 8 modules they use on their main character. Every module type has multiple variants, and each variant gives you a one-time XP payout when you max it. You don’t have to equip them, just add them to your loadout for a few runs until they hit cap, then swap them out for a new one.
Climbing mastery ranks doesn’t have to be a boring, endless grind if you’re using the right strategies. Once you understand that the bulk of your gains come from leveling new gear rather than spamming high-level missions, you’ll be shocked at how fast you can climb. Take the time to test the grind routes we covered, use the hidden XP bonuses, and avoid the common mistakes, and you’ll have figured out how to rank up mastery in The First Descendant faster than 90% of the player base. And don’t forget to stop and enjoy the game along the way—there’s no rush to hit max rank unless you’re chasing a limited-time event reward.