If you’ve spent any time grinding endgame upgrades in The First Descendant, you’ve almost certainly run into a roadblock when you need to track down rare upgrade materials. Ceramic composite is one of the most sought-after mid-to-endgame materials, and far too many players waste hours running the wrong missions chasing it. We’ve put together this guide after 20+ hours of testing drop rates and routes to answer exactly where to get ceramic composite in The First Descendant, so you can stop wasting time and start upgrading your gear.
Where to Get Ceramic Composite in The First Descendant: Verified Drop Locations
First, let’s cut through all the misinformation floating around community forums: this material only drops in two specific regions of the map, and only from specific loot sources. You won’t get it from regular mobs, basic chests, or low-level story missions, no matter how many you grind.
The most reliable source is the Void Intercept Battle mission at Sandstorm Outpost, set to 35-40 difficulty. Only the final boss reward chest from this mission has a confirmed 32% drop rate for 1-2 pieces of ceramic composite per clear. This drop rate is consistent across solo and squad runs, so you can run it alone if you don’t have a group available.
The second reliable source is elite red chests in Desert Wasteland Supply Run missions, set to level 32 or higher. These chests have an 18% drop rate for 1 piece of ceramic composite per chest, and there are 6 elite chests scattered across each Supply Run instance. This is a great option if you’ve already used up your weekly Void Intercept Battle bonus drops.
Best Farm Routes to Stack Ceramic Composite Fast
Once you know the drop locations, you can optimize your route to farm as much as possible in the shortest amount of time. We tested 7 different routes over 12 hours of playtime, and this is the one that gave us the highest number of drops per hour:
- Start with 3 consecutive Void Intercept Battle runs at Sandstorm Outpost (35-40 difficulty) to claim your weekly bonus boss drops first, which double your drop chance for the first 3 clears of the week
- Move to the Desert Wasteland Supply Run mission, and only focus on opening the 6 elite red chests marked on your mini-map. Skip all regular mobs and side objectives to save time
- Reset the Supply Run instance every 8 minutes, or after you’ve opened all 6 elite chests, whichever comes first. Don’t stick around to fight extra enemies, as they won’t drop the material you’re chasing
You can cut your farm time by 40% if you run this route with a full 4-player squad, since all players can open separate chests and all drops are shared across the entire party. If you get a random double material buff from a daily login reward, hold onto it and only use it when you’re running this full route to get twice as many drops per run.
We also recommend skipping this grind entirely for the first 20 hours of playtime. You won’t need ceramic composite until you start upgrading legendary weapons and endgame modules, so focus on leveling up your descendant first before you start chasing rare materials.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Farming Ceramic Composite
We saw a ton of players making the same mistakes when we tested these routes, and most of them add hours of unnecessary grind time. The first and most common mistake is running missions below level 32. Ceramic composite has a 0% drop rate in all missions below level 32, so even if you run 10 low-difficulty Supply Runs, you won’t get a single piece. Always double check the mission difficulty before you queue up.
Another common mistake is wasting time opening regular white or blue chests. These only drop common materials like iron ore and plastic, so they’re not worth stopping for when you’re focused on farming ceramic composite. Stick only to the red elite chests and final boss rewards.
Don’t forget to claim your weekly challenge rewards either. The weekly “Clear 10 Desert Region Missions” challenge gives 2 guaranteed pieces of ceramic composite as a reward, and a lot of players sleep on this easy, free source of the material. It only takes 30 minutes to complete the 10 missions if you run low-difficulty quick runs, so it’s well worth the time.
What You Can Use Ceramic Composite For
You might be wondering if this material is even worth the grind, and the short answer is yes, if you want to tackle endgame content. The main use for ceramic composite is upgrading legendary primary weapons past level 38. You will need a total of 22 ceramic composite to fully max out one legendary primary weapon, so you’ll need to farm quite a bit if you have multiple weapons you want to use for endgame builds.
It’s also used to craft the anti-armor plating module for tank descendants, which is a must-have for endgame Void Raid runs. This module reduces incoming damage from armored enemies by 40%, and you can’t craft it without 8 pieces of ceramic composite. I learned this the hard way last month: I skipped farming this material for weeks, and I couldn’t join my friends’ Void Raid run because my tank build was missing this key module.
If you end up with extra ceramic composite, you can trade 5 pieces for 1 random legendary weapon part at the central hub vendor. This is a great way to get missing parts for specific legendary weapons you’re trying to craft, so don’t sell any extra pieces you have for standard in-game currency.
At the end of the day, figuring out where to get ceramic composite in The First Descendant doesn’t have to be a frustrating, multi-hour grind. Stick to the verified drop locations and optimized route we outlined, avoid the common mistakes most players make, and you’ll have enough stacked to upgrade all your favorite gear in no time. If you’ve found any hidden drop spots we didn’t mention, feel free to share them in the comments below to help other players out.