If you’ve spent any amount of time running Void Intercept Battles or farming for optimal gear in The First Descendant, you’ve probably hit a point where you can’t access higher difficulty missions or new characters. That’s where mastery rank comes in, and if you’re not sure how to upgrade mastery rank in The First Descendant efficiently, you’re not alone. I spent my first 20 hours in the game wasting time on low-impact activities that barely moved my progression bar, so I put together this guide to help you skip the grind and rank up fast without burning out.
What Mastery Rank Unlocks (And Why It’s Worth Grinding For)
A lot of new players brush off mastery rank as a meaningless number, but it unlocks some of the most valuable content in the entire game. You won’t get access to S-tier characters like Ultimate Viessa or high-difficulty Void Chasm missions until you hit specific rank thresholds, for example. I skipped working on my rank for the first week I played, and I couldn’t figure out why I kept getting locked out of co-op missions my friends were running.
Other key unlocks tied to mastery rank include extra mod slots for your weapons and descendants, higher capacity for your in-game storage, and exclusive cosmetic items you can’t get anywhere else. Even small rank jumps can give you a noticeable power boost that makes farming lower-level content far faster, so it’s worth prioritizing early on.
- New playable descendants and their exclusive skin variants
- Higher difficulty mission tiers with better drop rates for legendary gear
- Extra mod slots for both descendants and primary/secondary weapons
- Access to cross-server co-op endgame raids
- Increased maximum gold and material storage limits
Fastest Ways to Upgrade Mastery Rank in The First Descendant
You earn mastery XP for almost every activity you complete in the game, but not all activities give the same return on your time investment. I tested every common grind method over a three-day period, and these are the only ones I’d recommend if you want to rank up without wasting hours on mindless tasks.
Running repeated Void Intercept Battles on medium difficulty gives the most consistent mastery XP per hour, especially if you run them with a full co-op squad. Full squads clear missions 30-40% faster than solo runs, and you get a small XP bonus for playing with other people. Just make sure you don’t repeat the same exact battle more than 3 times in a row, because you’ll get a reduced XP penalty for repeated content.
Another great method is completing weekly and daily reputation missions for the different in-game factions. These missions give a huge chunk of mastery XP on top of regular rewards, and most of them can be completed while you’re already running other grind activities. Don’t forget to turn in your collected research materials to the Research Center every time you visit Albion, too—each completed research project gives a flat mastery XP bonus that adds up surprisingly fast.
You might be tempted to grind open-world mob kills for XP, but that’s one of the slowest possible methods. I tested it for an hour and only got 10% of the XP I would have gotten from three Void Intercept runs, so skip that entirely unless you’re already farming for specific mob drops.
Common Mistakes That Slow Down Your Mastery Rank Progression
Even if you’re running the right activities, small mistakes can cut your XP gains in half without you even noticing. I made almost all of these mistakes when I first started playing, so I know how frustrating it is to grind for hours and barely see your rank bar move.
The most common mistake is ignoring your daily and weekly challenge bonuses. Each daily challenge gives a 2x XP boost to your next three missions, and weekly challenges give a 5x boost that applies to all activities for a full hour. I used to skip doing these challenges because I thought they only gave cosmetic rewards, and I was leaving thousands of free mastery XP on the table every week.
Another mistake is sticking to solo runs even when you have the option to join a co-op squad. As I mentioned earlier, full squads clear missions much faster, and the group XP bonus stacks with your daily and weekly challenge boosts. You don’t even need to talk to your squad if you don’t want to—most public groups are focused on fast clears and don’t require communication.
Don’t waste your time completing low-level side missions that don’t contribute to any faction or weekly challenges, either. These missions give almost no mastery XP, and you’re better off running a single medium difficulty Void Intercept than five low-level side missions. Save the side missions for when you’re waiting for a co-op queue to pop, not as your main grind activity.
How to Track Your Mastery Rank Progress Effectively
You can check your current mastery rank progress at any time by opening your player profile from the main menu, but there are a few extra details the game doesn’t tell you upfront that can help you plan your grind better.
When you hover over your rank bar, you’ll see how much XP you need to hit the next rank, but you won’t see how much XP each activity gives. I kept a small notebook next to me when I was grinding to track how much XP each run gave me, and I adjusted my strategy based on what gave the best returns for my playstyle. If you play for less than two hours a day, prioritize daily challenges first before you run any other content—you’ll get the most out of your limited playtime that way.
You can also track your progress toward mastery rank unlocks by visiting the Mastery Rank terminal in Albion. The terminal shows you exactly what you’ll unlock at each rank, so you can set small, achievable goals instead of grinding aimlessly. For example, if you want to unlock Ultimate Viessa, you can see exactly how much XP you need to hit rank 20, and plan your grind around that specific goal.
That said, don’t get too obsessed with hitting the next rank as fast as possible. If you’re getting burnt out running the same missions over and over, take a break to play a new descendant or explore the open world. You’ll still earn small amounts of mastery XP for those activities, and you’ll be less likely to quit the game entirely out of boredom.
At the end of the day, learning how to upgrade mastery rank in The First Descendant doesn’t have to be a tedious, hours-long grind. Focus on high-return activities, take advantage of daily and weekly XP bonuses, and avoid the common mistakes that slow down progression, and you’ll hit your target rank far faster than you would by grinding random content. I used these exact strategies to jump from rank 8 to rank 22 in less than a week, and I didn’t have to spend every waking hour playing the game to do it. Take it slow, adjust the strategy to fit your playstyle, and you’ll unlock all the endgame content you want before you know it.