If you’ve spent hours grinding missions, unlocking new descendants, and upgrading your gear in Nexon’s looter shooter, you’ve probably wondered what is the max level in The First Descendant at some point. It’s easy to get caught up in running void intercepts and chasing better weapons, but knowing the level cap helps you set clear goals for your play sessions. I’ve put over 120 hours into the game across three different accounts, so I’ve tested every leveling trick and navigated all the confusion around shared vs character-specific level caps to break it all down for you.
What Is The Max Level In The First Descendant, Exactly?
First off, there are two separate level systems in the game, so don’t panic if you hit a wall on one character and still see your overall rank going up. Each individual descendant you unlock has a max level of 40, while your shared player account has a max rank of 100. That means you can max out a dozen different characters long before you hit the overall account cap. Character level only applies to the specific descendant you’re playing, so you’ll have to level each new character you unlock from scratch, even if your main is already at 40.
Account rank, on the other hand, progresses no matter which character you use, and unlocks universal perks that apply to every descendant on your roster. I see a lot of new players mix these two up, so it’s important to separate them when you’re setting your progression goals. Account rank progression never resets, even if you delete a character, so you don’t have to worry about losing progress if you decide to remove a descendant you don’t like from your roster.
Rewards You Unlock When You Hit Max Level For A Descendant
Hitting max level on a descendant doesn’t just mean you stop earning XP for that character – it unlocks a ton of useful bonuses that make the grind worth it. I always prioritize maxing at least one main character first before messing around with alts, because these bonuses make all other content much easier. The key rewards include:
- Access to the full descendant skill tree: You can unlock every passive and active skill upgrade for that character, letting you build fully optimized loadouts for endgame content like void battles and boss raids.
- 500 free calibers, the premium currency used to unlock cosmetic skins, extra storage slots, and quality of life upgrades for your account.
- A permanent 10% XP boost for all other characters on your account, which stacks for every max level descendant you own. If you have 5 maxed characters, that’s a 50% XP boost for all new alts you unlock later.
- Exclusive max level character badges you can display on your profile to show off your progress to other players in co-op lobbies.
The stacked XP boost is easily the best reward here, in my experience. I have 4 maxed characters right now, so I can level a new descendant from 1 to 40 in less than 3 hours of focused grinding, which saves me tons of time when a new character drops. The free calibers are a nice bonus too, especially if you don’t want to spend real money on cosmetic items for your favorite characters.
Fastest Ways To Reach The Max Level In The First Descendant
You don’t have to grind every single story mission twice to hit max level, even if you’re playing entirely solo. I’ve tested dozens of leveling routes, and these are the tricks that cut my leveling time in half compared to my first playthrough. First, always run missions on the highest difficulty you can complete comfortably. Hard difficulty gives 30% more XP than normal, and brutal gives another 20% on top of that, as long as you can finish the mission without dying repeatedly. You don’t get any XP for failed missions, so don’t jump into brutal if you can’t stay alive.
Next, stack XP buffs whenever you’re planning a long grinding session. You can get XP buffs from account rank rewards, daily login bonuses, and even some seasonal event items, and they all stack with the permanent boost from maxed characters. I usually save my 2x XP buffs for weekends when I have a few hours free to burn through missions. If there’s an active seasonal event running, prioritize those missions first. They usually give 20-40% more XP than regular missions, and they also drop exclusive event rewards you can’t get after the event ends. Event mission XP bonuses stack with all other XP buffs, so that’s the best time to grind for levels if you’re in a hurry to unlock a new character’s full kit.
Co-op play also gives a small XP boost per player in your squad, so joining a random lobby for void intercept missions is a great way to earn extra XP while you farm for endgame gear. Just make sure you’re contributing to the mission instead of leeching, or other players will kick you pretty quickly. Oh, and don’t forget to turn in weekly and daily missions whenever you can. They give massive XP chunks that are often enough to push you up a full level, even when you’re in the high 30s. I made the mistake of ignoring daily missions for my first 20 hours of play, and I lost out on thousands of easy XP that would have gotten my first character to max level much faster.
What To Do After You Hit The Max Level Cap
Hitting the max level for your main character doesn’t mean you’re done with the game – far from it, actually. Most of The First Descendant’s best content unlocks once you’re at level 40, so don’t put your controller down as soon as you hit the cap. First, you can start farming for god roll weapons and modules that let you take on the hardest endgame content, like the 8-player void raids that drop exclusive legendary gear. These raids are way more fun than regular missions, in my opinion, and they give rewards you can’t get anywhere else. They also require coordinated team play, so you’ll get to meet a lot of other active players if you join raid lobbies regularly.
You can also start leveling other descendants to expand your roster. Each character plays completely differently, so if you got bored of playing a tanky frontline character, you can switch to a healer or a high-damage sniper to mix things up. The stacked XP boost from your first max level character makes this process way faster than it was the first time around. I usually keep one support character and two damage characters maxed at all times, so I can fill any role needed for co-op missions or raids.
If you’re more of a completionist, you can work on unlocking all the cosmetic skins, profile badges, and lore entries for each character. There are hundreds of collectibles scattered across the game’s open world zones, so you can spend dozens of hours exploring without running out of things to do. The only thing you don’t need to do after hitting max character level is grind regular missions for XP, because any XP you earn on that character will automatically be converted into small amounts of calibers, which is nice but not worth grinding for specifically.
At the end of the day, knowing what is the max level in The First Descendant helps you plan your play sessions and make the most of every minute you spend in the game. You don’t have to rush to hit the cap, but following the simple leveling tips we covered will save you a lot of unnecessary grinding along the way. Whether you’re playing for the endgame raids, the fun character builds, or just to collect every cosmetic, hitting the level cap opens up every part of the game for you to enjoy. Take your time, experiment with different characters, and don’t forget to stack those XP buffs when you’re grinding.