If you’ve spent hours grinding The First Descendant trying to push your damage numbers past the current endgame wall, you’ve probably come across mentions of the Firearm Master mod as one of the best damage multipliers for gun-focused builds. Figuring out where to get Firearm Master in The First Descendant isn’t immediately obvious, though, since the game doesn’t mark this rare mod as a guaranteed reward for any single mission. I’ve spent the last three weeks farming for this mod across every difficulty level, testing drop rates across different mission types, so I’ve broken down exactly how to find it, what it does, and how to make the most of it once you unlock it.
Where to Get Firearm Master in The First Descendant: Exact Farm Locations
Firearm Master is a legendary passive mod, so it only drops from high-level endgame content, not regular story missions or low-difficulty side quests. I tested 12 different mission types over 70+ runs to narrow down the most reliable sources, and these three routes have the highest confirmed drop rates across the player community. You don’t have to stick to just one, but mixing them will cut down your total farm time significantly.
- Run Extreme difficulty King Crab Void Intercept 3x per day first: it has the highest confirmed drop rate for Firearm Master, and runs take an average of 12 minutes per clear with a coordinated team.
- Complete your weekly 10 firearm damage challenge missions: each one gives 2 Special Void Supply Crates, which have a 3% drop chance for the mod per crate.
- Trade 150 Void Fragments with the Void Merchant in the main hub once per week: there’s a 12% chance the merchant will have Firearm Master in their rotating stock each reset.
Don’t waste your time farming lower difficulty runs, though. The mod only drops from content that’s level 65 or higher, so you’ll need to have at least a 160k combat power build before you try farming for it reliably. You can increase your drop odds by 20% by equipping a Loot Luck mod on your backpack before you start farming runs. I’ve had two Firearm Master drops so far: one from an Extreme King Crab run with my clan, and one from the weekly Void Merchant rotation, so these routes are proven to work.
What Firearm Master Actually Does for Your Builds
A lot of players hype up Firearm Master without explaining why it’s so powerful, so let’s break down its stats simply. At base level, it gives 35% increased base damage for all non-heavy firearms, plus an extra 15% critical hit chance for 3 seconds after you reload. Unlike many other legendary damage mods, it doesn’t have any conflict tags, so it stacks with every other damage buff you have equipped, from character passives to weapon-specific mod bonuses.
This mod isn’t for every build, though. It only applies to pistols, SMGs, assault rifles, and marksman rifles, so if you main heavy weapons like rocket launchers or miniguns, you won’t get any benefit from it. Firearm Master is best paired with characters like Viessa and Bunny, who rely on fast-firing primary and secondary weapons to proc their passive abilities. I tested it on my Viessa build when I first got it, and my sustained damage jumped by 42% immediately, without changing any other parts of my loadout.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Farming for Firearm Master
I made a lot of avoidable mistakes during my first week of farming for this mod, so you don’t have to. The first big mistake is trying to farm alone. Team runs cut clear time in half, and you get extra loot rolls for each team member that contributes at least 15% of the total damage, so you have more chances to get the drop per run. Never join random public runs for Extreme difficulty if your combat power is below 170k, as you’ll get kicked before the run starts and waste your entry ticket.
The second mistake is wasting Void Fragments on random mod crates from the hub shop. Those crates have a less than 1% drop chance for Firearm Master, so saving your fragments for the weekly merchant roll is 12x more cost effective. The third mistake I see all the time is players not checking their mod inventory regularly. Make sure to sort your mod inventory by rarity after every run to spot legendary drops immediately, instead of letting them collect dust in the back of your storage. I know two players who had Firearm Master in their inventory for weeks before they noticed it, because they never sorted their mods.
How to Optimize Firearm Master Once You Unlock It
Getting the mod is only half the battle; you’ll need to level it up and pair it with the right complementary mods to get its full benefit. First, prioritize leveling it to level 10 as soon as possible. Maxing it out doubles the base damage bonus to 70% and the critical hit chance buff to 30%, which is a massive jump in power. You’ll need 25 legendary mod enhancement cores to max it, so start saving those up before you even get the mod, if you know you want to run a gun-focused build.
Pair Firearm Master with the Rapid Reload mod to trigger the critical hit bonus almost constantly during fights, especially with fast-firing SMGs and assault rifles. Since the critical buff activates after every reload, cutting your reload speed down to 1 second or less means you’ll have that 30% critical chance up almost 100% of the time during extended fights. You also don’t need to equip it on both your primary and secondary weapon slots, since the passive applies to all equipped non-heavy firearms automatically. That frees up an extra mod slot on your secondary weapon for another damage buff or utility effect.
At the end of the day, the grind to get Firearm Master in The First Descendant is well worth it for any player that prefers fast, gun-focused playstyles over ability or heavy weapon builds. You don’t have to spend 40 hours grinding for it, either—stick to the farm routes we outlined above, and you’ll get it within a week of consistent daily runs. Once you have it, take the time to max it out and pair it with complementary mods, and you’ll see your damage numbers jump higher than you thought possible.