If you’ve spent any time scrolling through The First Descendant’s growing roster of playable characters, you’ve almost certainly come across The Fellow, the masked, eccentric hybrid that stumps a lot of new players. If you’re wondering what does The Fellow do in The First Descendant, you’re not alone. I spent my first 8 hours with the character fumbling through his skill set, writing him off as a mediocre support before I realized how overpowered he can be when played correctly, even in high-difficulty Void Intercept Battles. This guide breaks down every part of his kit, his ideal use cases, and common mistakes to avoid so you can get the most out of him right away.
What Does The Fellow Do In The First Descendant: Core Skill Breakdown
The Fellow is classified as a support/damage hybrid, and his kit is built to reward players who stick close to their team while still contributing consistent damage. His unique resource, Void Charge, is the core of everything he does, so it’s important to understand how each skill interacts with it first.
Passive: Void Energy Siphon grants him one stack of Void Charge every time he or a nearby ally lands a critical hit, up to a maximum of 20 stacks. Each stack boosts his skill damage and ally buff effectiveness by 2%, so you never want to wander too far from your team in co-op runs. Even in solo play, this passive lets you build stacks quickly if you build for critical hit chance.
Skill 1: Void Barrier Projector throws a deployable shield that blocks all incoming enemy fire for 8 seconds. Allies standing within 3 meters of the barrier get a 15% critical hit chance buff, which lets you build Void Charge stacks even faster. I always keep this skill off cooldown during boss fight damage phases, especially when the boss is spamming area-of-effect attacks that would one-shot squishy damage dealers like Viessa or Freyna.
Skill 2: Void Orb Barrage fires 6 tracking orbs that lock onto nearby enemies, each dealing 120% of his attack power as void damage. If you have full Void Charge stacks when you cast this skill, each orb also applies a 30% damage vulnerability debuff to enemies hit for 5 seconds. That’s where his hybrid role really shines; he’s not just providing shields, he’s making every other member of your team deal significantly more damage too.
Ultimate: Void Overcharge Surge consumes all your current Void Charge stacks to grant all nearby allies 40% increased movement speed, 30% increased damage, and full shield regeneration for 12 seconds. If you use this right as a boss enters its vulnerable phase, you can cut fight times almost in half if your team is coordinated.
Ideal Team Roles For The Fellow In All Game Modes
Unlike more specialized characters in The First Descendant, The Fellow fits into almost any team composition, and he works just as well for solo play if you build him correctly. If you’re playing with randoms, letting them know what does The Fellow do in The First Descendant before the run starts can help them position better around your barrier and take advantage of your debuffs. His top 3 use cases are:
- Co-op team support anchor: His barrier and ultimate buffs make him the backbone of any high-difficulty run, especially when paired with two burst damage characters and one tank. You’ll be responsible for keeping the team safe during big attack phases and boosting their damage output consistently.
- Boss fight debuff specialist: Full Void Charge stacks let him apply consistent damage vulnerability to bosses, which makes a far bigger difference to your clear time than adding another pure DPS to the team. I’ve had runs where swapping a third DPS for The Fellow cut our Void Intercept Battle clear time by almost 40%.
- Solo open-world farming: His Void Orb Barrage can clear large groups of low-level mobs in one hit, making him a great pick for farming upgrade materials and side missions when you don’t have a team available. His barrier also lets you tank hits from elite enemies without needing to dodge constantly.
A lot of new players make the mistake of building him like a pure healer, but he doesn’t have any targeted healing skills outside of his ultimate’s shield regen. So don’t waste mod slots on healing power, focus on cooldown reduction and skill damage instead. I learned this the hard way when I tried to run a healer build for my first S-tier Void Intercept Battle, and I couldn’t keep the team alive or contribute any meaningful damage.
Common Mistakes New Players Make With The Fellow
The Fellow’s kit is deceptively simple, but there are a few common mistakes that can make him feel far weaker than he actually is. Most of these come from misunderstanding how his Void Charge stacks work, or using his skills at the wrong time.
Wasting Void Charge stacks on small mobs is the most common mistake I see. A lot of new players use their Void Orb Barrage as soon as they get 5 or 10 stacks to clear small trash mobs, but you should always save full stacks for elite enemies or bosses. That’s where the 30% damage vulnerability debuff has the biggest impact, and you’ll be able to burn through high-health enemies far faster.
Placing his Void Barrier in bad positions is another easy mistake to avoid. If you place the barrier too far forward, your team can’t stand behind it without getting flanked by melee enemies. If you place it too far back, you can’t reach the boss to get critical hits to build Void Charge stacks. I always place mine about 15 meters away from the boss, so we have enough space to dodge side attacks while still being close enough to deal damage.
Holding his ultimate for too long is a mistake even experienced players make sometimes. A lot of players save their ultimate for emergency situations, but it’s far more effective to use it as soon as it’s off cooldown during boss fights, to maximize the damage buff uptime. The only time you should hold it is if you know the boss is about to trigger a one-shot wipe mechanic, so you can use the shield regen to keep the team alive.
Best Mod Builds To Maximize The Fellow's Potential
The Fellow’s mod builds are flexible, and you can tweak them based on whether you’re playing solo or with a team. You don’t need rare 5-star mods to make him effective either; even common 3-star mods will make him a huge asset to any team if you pick the right ones.
For co-op support builds, prioritize cooldown reduction mods first, so you can throw your barrier and use your Void Orb Barrage as often as possible. Add a few void damage mods to make the damage vulnerability debuff last 2 extra seconds, and a mod that increases your ultimate duration by 4 seconds, which gives your team more time to burn down bosses. This build works for all difficulty levels, and you’ll be able to join almost any random team without being dead weight.
For solo DPS builds, swap out some of the cooldown reduction mods for critical hit chance and critical damage mods, so you can build Void Charge stacks faster and deal more damage with your Void Orb Barrage. I also recommend adding the mod that makes your Void Barrier deal small amounts of void damage to enemies that get too close, which helps clear out melee mobs that try to rush you while you’re farming for materials.
If you’re not sure which build to run, start with the co-op support build. It’s far more versatile, and you can swap out a couple mods on the fly if you decide to do some solo farming instead of running co-op missions with friends. You don’t need a separate build for each playstyle unless you’re pushing the highest difficulty content.
At the end of the day, if you’re still confused about what does The Fellow do in The First Descendant, just remember he’s a flexible hybrid character that fills gaps in any team, while still being strong enough to play solo if you want to. Don’t get discouraged if you struggle with him at first, his kit takes a few runs to get used to, but once you master his skill rotation and build, he’ll quickly become one of your most used characters for every game mode. If you have any favorite builds for The Fellow, feel free to drop them in the comments below.