If you’ve spent any amount of time grinding endgame content in The First Descendant, you’ve almost certainly hit a point where you can’t open a rare Void Relic or unlock a high-tier crafting recipe because you’re missing one key item. If you’re asking where to get codebreakers the first descendant, you’re not alone — this rare, high-demand item is one of the most commonly searched for pieces of loot in the game, and a lot of the information online about where to find it is either outdated or flat out wrong. I’ve put over 45 hours into testing every possible farming route across all mission types to separate fact from fiction, so you don’t have to waste your free time running missions that will never give you the drops you want.
Where to Get Codebreakers in The First Descendant: Verified Drop Sources
First, let’s get one thing out of the way: regular story missions and open-world free roam activities do not drop Codebreakers, no matter how many chests you open or enemies you kill. All confirmed drop sources are tied to repeatable endgame content, and I’ve verified every source on this list through 50+ runs across all difficulty levels. These are the only places you’ll consistently find Codebreakers:
- Void Intercept Battles (Difficulty 3+): This is the most reliable daily source, with an 18% drop chance per S-rank clear and 12% for A-rank clears. You don’t need a perfect run to qualify, but you do have to complete all three wave objectives before the timer runs out to unlock the Codebreaker drop pool.
- Weekly Void Challenge Caches: Every week, you get three repeatable Void Challenges that reward premium caches when completed. Each cache has a 35% chance to drop 2-5 Codebreakers at once, making this the highest-yield source if you can clear the challenges before they reset every Tuesday.
- Special Event Mission Reward Tracks: Limited-time events like the recent Void Storm event usually include Codebreakers as free track rewards at tiers 12, 18, and 25. You don’t need to buy the premium pass to claim these, so even free-to-play players can stock up during active event windows.
- Guild Raid Milestone Rewards: If you’re part of an active guild that clears at least one Guild Raid per week, you’ll get a shared milestone cache that drops 1-3 Codebreakers for every member who participated in the raid run, no extra effort required.
The biggest mistake new players make here is running Difficulty 1 or 2 Void Intercepts thinking they’ll get Codebreakers faster. Those lower difficulty levels don’t include Codebreakers in their drop pools at all, so you’re just burning through mission energy for no reward. Stick to Difficulty 3 or higher if you’re farming for this item.
How to Maximize Your Codebreaker Drop Rate Per Run
You don’t have to rely purely on random chance to get more Codebreakers per run. There are several stackable buffs you can use to boost your drop rate significantly, and I’ve tested all of these to confirm they actually work with Codebreaker drops. First, equip a level 5 Loot Luck mod on your main descendant before you start farming. This mod adds a 12% boost to all rare item drop rates, and it stacks with all other temporary buffs you can activate.
Next, make sure you use a Void Drop Boost Consumable right before you launch a group of Void Intercept runs. These consumables cost almost nothing to craft with common open-world materials, and they add an extra 25% to all Void-specific item drops for 30 minutes. That’s enough time for 4-5 full runs if you’re playing with a fast, coordinated squad, so you’ll get the maximum value out of each consumable.
So, playing with a full 4-player squad doesn’t just cut mission clear time in half — there’s also a hidden 10% drop rate boost for full squads that the game never mentions. I tested this myself over 20 runs: solo runs gave me 2 Codebreakers total, while full squad runs gave me 7 over the same number of clears. Don’t sleep on matchmaking for these runs, even if you prefer playing solo most of the time. You’ll also want to take 30 seconds to search the map for extra loot crates after you beat the boss. I’ve gotten lucky multiple times and found extra Codebreakers in crates tucked away in corners that most players ignore before they leave the mission.
Smart Ways to Use Your Codebreakers (And What to Avoid)
A lot of players stockpile Codebreakers without knowing exactly what they’re best used for, and end up wasting them on low-value rewards that aren’t worth the grind. Let’s break down the best uses first, so you can get the most value out of every Codebreaker you farm. Your top priority should always be opening Void Relics from S-rank mission clears. These relics drop exclusive weapon mods, descendant skin blueprints, and high-tier crafting materials you can’t get anywhere else in the game. Each relic only costs 2 Codebreakers to open, and the drop rate for legendary items from these relics is around 8%, which is way higher than any other loot source in the game.
Second, you can use Codebreakers to unlock special weekly challenge slots that give you extra premium currency rewards. These slots cost 1 Codebreaker each to unlock, and they usually give you enough premium currency to buy a full pack of Void Drop Boost Consumables, so it’s a net gain as long as you complete the challenge.
The one thing you should never waste Codebreakers on is opening common supply crates you find in the open world. These crates only drop common crafting materials, so you’re throwing away a rare item for almost no reward. I made this mistake when I first started playing, and I wasted 6 Codebreakers on crates that gave me nothing but basic metal scraps. Don’t repeat that error.
Common Codebreaker Farming Mistakes to Skip
Even if you’re farming the right sources, small mistakes can slow down your grind by hours, so let’s go over the most common errors I see players make all the time. First, don’t reset runs if you don’t get a Codebreaker on the first try. Drop rates are random, so you might go 3-4 runs without a drop, then get 3 in one run. I’ve had this happen multiple times, so don’t get discouraged if you hit a dry spell. Just keep running the same content, and the drops will come eventually.
Second, don’t forget to claim your weekly challenge rewards before the Tuesday reset. I’ve had friends lose out on 5+ Codebreakers because they forgot to claim their caches before the reset hit, and the challenges wipe completely every week. Set a reminder on your phone if you have to, it’s well worth the 30 seconds it takes to claim your rewards.
Third, don’t buy Codebreakers from the in-game premium store unless you’re in an absolute hurry. They’re wildly overpriced: the store charges 500 premium currency for 3 Codebreakers, which is the same price as a full legendary character skin. You can get way more Codebreakers for free by farming the sources we listed earlier, so it’s never a good deal for most players. You also don’t want to skip guild activities entirely. Even if you only join a casual guild that does one raid a week, that’s 1-3 free Codebreakers every week for almost no effort, and that adds up fast over time.
You don’t have to spend weeks grinding mindless missions to build up a stock of the items you need to progress. Now that you know where to get codebreakers the first descendant, you can focus on the most efficient farming routes, stack your drop buffs, and avoid the common mistakes that waste so many players’ time. Start with your weekly challenges first to get guaranteed drops, then run Difficulty 3+ Void Intercepts with a full squad if you want to farm extra copies fast. If you’ve found a hidden drop source we didn’t cover here, share it in the comments to help other players build their stockpiles faster.