If you’ve spent any time tweaking builds in The First Descendant, you’ve probably stumbled on the sub attack power stat in your character menu and wondered what is sub attack power in The First Descendant, exactly, and if it’s worth upgrading. I ignored it completely for my first month playing, grinding for the highest possible base attack power on all my gear, until I ran a level 45 void interceptor with a friend who mained Ajax. His build had 3k less base attack than mine, but he was doing twice my total damage across the run, all because he’d maxed out his sub attack power. We’re breaking down everything you need to know about this often-overlooked stat, from how it works to how you can optimize it for your playstyle, so you can stop leaving damage on the table.
What is Sub Attack Power in The First Descendant, Exactly?
Put simply, sub attack power is a secondary damage stat that applies to all non-primary-fire sources of damage in your kit. Unlike base attack power, which only impacts the standard fire of your equipped weapons, sub attack power covers a huge range of damage types that many players rely on for most of their output. You can check which of your abilities use this stat by hovering over any skill in your menu, where the scaling type will be listed in small text at the bottom of the tooltip.
Sub attack power does not stack with base attack power, so investing in one won’t boost the other, and you’ll need to balance them based on your character’s kit. It applies to skill damage, summoned units, deployable gadgets like turrets and traps, weapon alt fire modes, and even skill-triggered melee attacks. For example, Viessa’s ice storm ability and Ajax’s summoned mechs both scale 100% off sub attack power, so base attack does almost nothing for their core damage output.
Every skill in the game scales with either base attack power, sub attack power, or a mix of both, so there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to which stat you should prioritize. Hybrid characters like Freyna have skills that split scaling between the two stats, so you’ll want to invest in both to get the most out of her poison DoTs and shotgun primary fire. I made the mistake of dumping all my upgrades into base attack for Freyna at first, and her poison ticks were barely scratching endgame boss health until I adjusted my build.
How Sub Attack Power Impacts Endgame Performance
Sub attack power stops being a niche afterthought once you hit the level 40 endgame content, where basic gunfire starts to feel weak against high-armor bosses and dense add waves. Most endgame encounters are balanced around skill usage, not just holding left click, so sub attack power often contributes more to your total damage output than base attack for most popular character builds. For summoner and full skill builds, this stat is non-negotiable if you want to clear content without struggling.
I ran a side-by-side test with two identical Ajax builds a few weeks ago to measure the difference. The first build had 12k base attack and 4k sub attack power, while the second had 8k base attack and 9k sub attack power. The second build cleared the level 50 void interceptor 47 seconds faster, and it wiped the three add waves in the final phase in half the time of the first build. The difference was even bigger when I ran the same test on Viessa, whose full skill build relied entirely on sub attack power for damage.
For skill-focused and summoner builds, sub attack power is more valuable than base attack power, and you should prioritize it when rolling gear or upgrading your skill tree. Even for hybrid builds, skipping sub attack power will cut your total damage by 30% or more in most endgame runs, since most bosses have 20-30% resistance to basic gunfire that skill damage ignores entirely. You don’t have to abandon base attack entirely for these builds, but you should aim for a roughly 60/40 split between sub and base attack for most hybrid kits.
Actionable Ways to Boost Your Sub Attack Power
You don’t have to grind for ultra-rare 5-star gear to get meaningful gains to your sub attack power. There are plenty of low-effort, high-reward ways to bump this stat without sinking dozens of hours into farming specific drops. I’ve used all of these tricks to boost my own sub attack power by over 5k in just a week of casual play, and it made a massive difference in how easy endgame content felt:
- Prioritize modules with +sub attack power rolls on your skill and accessory slots: these slots have 50% higher sub attack power weight than weapon slots, so you’ll get far bigger gains from rolling these slots than you will from your main or secondary weapon modules.
- Level up your descendant's skill tree nodes that explicitly list sub attack power bonuses: most skill-focused characters have at least 3 nodes that give 10-15% sub attack power boosts when fully upgraded, and these only cost standard skill points to unlock, no rare materials required.
- Use temporary buff foods and team support skills before endgame runs: support characters like Lepic can give a 20% party-wide sub attack power buff that lasts for 10 minutes, which stacks with 15% sub attack power buffs from cooking recipes you can craft with common materials.
- Reforge your relics to roll sub attack power as a primary stat: high rarity relics can give up to 2000 extra sub attack power if rolled correctly, and you can reforge them using materials you get from running daily missions, no paid content required.
Don't waste module slots on sub attack power if you play a pure gunner character like Gley, because her kit barely uses skills, and the stat will give you almost no benefit. It’s always better to check your skill scaling first before you invest any resources into upgrading this stat, so you don’t waste credits or materials on upgrades that won’t help your playstyle.
You can also track your exact sub attack power total and its sources by opening your character menu and clicking the stat breakdown button. This will show you exactly how much of your sub attack power comes from gear, skill trees, and temporary buffs, so you can easily spot where you can make upgrades to get the biggest gains for the least effort.
Common Sub Attack Power Mistakes to Avoid
Even if you understand what the stat does, it’s easy to make simple mistakes that waste your resources or keep you from getting the full benefit of your sub attack power investments. I’ve made almost all of these mistakes myself, so you don’t have to learn the hard way.
The first big mistake is assuming sub attack power works for every character. Pure gunner builds get almost no use out of this stat, so dumping resources into it for characters like Gley or Kyle is a waste of credits and upgrade materials that could go to boosting base attack or critical hit chance instead. It only takes 10 seconds to check your skill tooltips to see if they scale with sub attack power, and that quick check will save you hours of wasted grinding.
Another common mistake is mixing up sub attack power and flat final damage boosts. A lot of new players think sub attack power will make all their damage higher, but it only applies to the specific sub damage sources we listed earlier, so it won’t make your assault rifle’s primary fire hit harder at all. Sub attack power is only multiplied by skill damage modifiers, not base weapon damage modifiers, so don’t waste weapon mods that boost base attack on skill builds, use mods that boost skill damage instead to get the most out of your investment.
Many players also waste module slots by putting sub attack power rolls on weapon slots instead of accessory and skill slots. As we mentioned earlier, weapon slots give 50% less sub attack power than other slots, so you’re wasting the slot’s potential by putting sub attack rolls there. Save those slots for base attack or critical hit rolls, and put your sub attack rolls on your accessories and skill modules for maximum gain.
Always check your skill tooltips to confirm which stats they scale with before upgrading any stats, even if you’ve seen build guides online for your character. You might be running a weird off-meta build that relies more on gunfire than skills, so the standard sub attack power-focused build won’t work for your playstyle. There’s no wrong way to build a character, as long as you’re investing in stats that actually benefit the way you like to play.
So, if you’ve been sleeping on this stat up until now, you’re probably leaving a ton of damage on the table, especially if you main a skill or summoner descendant. Even if you play a hybrid build, balancing base and sub attack power can make a huge difference in how fast you clear missions and beat endgame bosses. Now that you know what is sub attack power in The First Descendant, you can tweak your builds accordingly, stop wasting resources on stats that don’t benefit your playstyle, and start crushing even the hardest void battles without grinding for ultra rare 5-star gear. If you have a favorite build that leans heavily on sub attack power, feel free to drop it in the comments below, I’m always looking for new setups to test.