If you’re a fan of fast-paced third-person looter shooters with flashy customizable characters and massive boss fights, you’ve probably seen The First Descendant popping up on your recommended game lists lately. I’ve spent over 40 hours playing the game both solo and with friends, so I’ve tested every feature to pull together this no-fluff guide. The most common question I see from new and prospective players is simple: is the first descendent multiplayer, or is it a strictly single-player experience? We’ll break down everything you need to know about playing with others, from lobby setup to common bug fixes, so you can jump right into the action with your group.
Is The First Descendant Multiplayer Across All Game Modes?
The short answer is yes, almost all content in the game supports multiplayer play, with only a tiny section of the game locked to single-player. The only time you can’t team up with others is during the 15-minute opening prologue, which is designed to teach you basic movement, shooting, and ability mechanics before you connect to the wider game servers. You can unlock full multiplayer access as soon as you complete the opening prologue mission, no extra quests or level requirements needed.
Multiplayer support varies slightly by game mode, with different player limits set for PvE and PvP content to keep matches balanced and fun. If you’re curious exactly how many people you can play with for each activity, here’s the official breakdown:
- Story side missions and open-world exploration: 2-4 player co-op support, with optional match-making for random groups
- Void Intercept boss fights: 4 player co-op, with mandatory group play for the highest 3 difficulty tiers
- Team Deathmatch and Control Point PvP: 4v4 player lobbies, with separate ranked and casual queues
- Special limited-time Void Raid events: Up to 12 player cooperative boss battles for exclusive rare rewards
You don’t have to play with others if you don’t want to, either. Single-player mode is still available for all PvE content if you prefer to play alone, and you’ll still get the same base loot rewards as groups, just at a slightly slower drop rate. The only content you can’t access solo is the highest difficulty Void Intercepts and 12-player raids, which are balanced specifically for coordinated groups.
How to Set Up Multiplayer Lobbies With Friends
Setting up a multiplayer lobby with your friends is straightforward, even if you’re playing on different platforms. The game supports full crossplay across PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch, so you don’t have to worry about platform barriers stopping you from playing with your group. All you have to do is navigate to the in-game social tab, search for your friend’s in-game username, send a friend request, and once they accept, you can invite them directly to your lobby from the same menu.
You don’t need a paid subscription to play multiplayer on PC, but console players will need their platform’s active online service subscription to access multiplayer features. If you don’t have any friends online, you can also join random public lobbies for any activity, which is a great way to meet other regular players and find people to run high-difficulty raids with on a regular basis. I’ve met a few of my regular raid group members through random public lobbies, and it’s made the game way more fun to play long-term.
That said, if you’re playing with crossplay enabled, you might notice slightly longer queue times for PvP modes, since the game has to match players across multiple platforms. If you’re in a hurry to get into a match, you can turn crossplay off in your settings menu to only match with players on the same platform as you. Just keep in mind that turning crossplay off will also mean you can’t join lobbies with friends on other platforms.
Key Advantages of Playing The First Descendant in Multiplayer
While playing solo is perfectly viable for most casual content, playing in a group comes with a lot of big perks that make the grind feel way more rewarding. For starters, higher difficulty multiplayer missions have way better loot drops than equivalent solo runs. Higher difficulty multiplayer missions drop 30% more rare upgrade materials and exclusive character skins than solo runs, so you can build your ideal character loadout way faster if you play with a group.
Playing in a group also lets you take on content that’s impossible to beat alone. The highest difficulty Void Intercept bosses have millions of HP and one-shot attack mechanics that require coordinated team play to avoid, and you won’t be able to deal enough damage to beat them before the timer runs out even with the best possible solo build. You can also mix and match character classes to cover different roles: have one player run a tank character to draw boss aggro, one run a support character to heal the group, and two run damage-focused characters to burn through boss HP fast.
One of my favorite small perks of multiplayer play is the ability to share loot with your group members. If you get a drop that’s a perfect fit for your friend’s character but useless for yours, you can drop it directly for them to pick up, which cuts down on grind time for everyone in the group. The only small downside to multiplayer play is that random public lobbies can sometimes have players that AFK or refuse to contribute to missions, so it’s always better to team up with people you know if you want a smooth run.
Common Multiplayer Issues and How to Fix Them
Like most online live-service games, The First Descendant has a few common multiplayer bugs that can pop up from time to time, but most of them have very simple fixes that take less than a minute to try. 90% of multiplayer connection errors can be fixed by restarting your game and verifying your file integrity on PC, so that’s always the first step you should try if you’re having trouble connecting to lobbies or receiving friend invites.
If you’re sending friend invites but the other player isn’t receiving them, make sure you’re searching for their in-game display name, not their platform account username. Crossplay friend invites only work if you use the unique in-game name each player creates when they first launch the game, so double check that you have the spelling right before sending the invite. You should also make sure your in-game privacy settings are set to “allow friend invites” if you’re having trouble receiving invites from other players.
If you’re getting kicked from public lobbies randomly before the mission starts, it’s almost never a bug. Most lobby hosts set minimum gear score requirements for high difficulty missions to make sure everyone in the group can contribute, and you’ll get kicked automatically if your gear score is below the host’s set limit. You can check the lobby’s gear score requirement before joining by clicking on the lobby details in the match-making menu, so you don’t waste time joining lobbies you don’t qualify for. If you’re experiencing bad lag in large 12-player raids, try lowering your shadow and particle effect settings to reduce strain on your system during busy fights.
So if you’ve been on the fence about picking up The First Descendant because you weren’t sure you could play with your friends, you don’t have to worry anymore. Now you have the full answer to whether is the first descendent multiplayer, plus all the tips you need to set up lobbies, get better loot, and fix common connection issues without hassle. Whether you prefer casual co-op story runs with friends, competitive PvP matches, or high-stakes 12-player raids for exclusive rewards, the game’s multiplayer modes have something for every type of player. If you’re brand new to the game, I recommend starting with small 2-player story missions first to get the hang of the mechanics before jumping into high-difficulty group content.