If you’ve ever loaded into a Void Intercept battle only to get wiped in the first 30 seconds because your character can’t keep up with the boss’s AoE attacks, you know how critical picking the right character is. Whether you’re a brand new player just working through the prologue or a veteran farming endgame materials, figuring out who are the best descendants in The First Descendant for your preferred playstyle can cut down your grind time by hours and make every mission way more fun. I’ve put over 200 hours into the game across solo, 2-player co-op, and full 4-player raid runs, so I’ve tested every descendant in every possible scenario to break down the top picks for every use case.
Who Are the Best Descendants in The First Descendant for Common Playstyles?
Before we jump into the top picks, it’s important to note that no single character is perfect for every situation. A character that dominates solo play might feel useless in a co-op raid, and vice versa. I ranked all the picks below based on four key criteria to make sure they work for most players:
- Performance across both early-game story missions and endgame Void and Raid content
- Ease of unlock for new players who haven’t farmed rare materials yet
- Synergy with common mod builds that don’t require ultra-rare loot drops
- Utility for both solo play and group co-op runs so you don’t have to level a new character every time you switch modes
For solo players who prefer exploring and clearing missions alone, Viessa is hands down the best pick. Her frost skills slow and freeze entire waves of enemies, so you don’t get swarmed when you’re exploring open world zones or running story missions alone. Her passive gives her health regen every time she freezes an enemy, so you won’t burn through health potions constantly even if you’re still learning enemy attack patterns. The only downside is her single-target DPS is a bit low for endgame boss fights, but you can fix that with a few common mod slots focused on frost damage over time.
If you mostly play with friends, Sharen is the best support descendant you can bring to any run. Her shield buff gives every team member a 40% damage absorption shield that lasts 12 seconds, which is a game-changer for high-difficulty raids where one shot can take out a full-health DPS character. She also has a group heal that triggers whenever she lands a critical hit, so you don’t have to waste time pausing to use potions mid-fight. Even if you’re playing support, her base DPS is high enough that you don’t feel useless when there are no buffs to cast.
For players who love dealing as much damage as possible as fast as possible, Bunny is unbeatable. Her ultimate skill summons a barrage of explosive drones that can melt a boss’s health bar by 50% in less than 10 seconds when built correctly. Her passive increases her movement speed by 30% every time she uses a skill, so you can dodge boss attacks easily while still pumping out damage. The only catch is she’s very squishy if you don’t time your dodges right, so she’s better for players who have a bit of experience with the game’s combat mechanics.
If you prefer being the front line for your team, Ajax is the best tank option by a wide margin. His passive gives him 70% damage resistance when he’s standing within 10 feet of three or more enemies, so he can absorb every AoE attack for the rest of the team. His taunt skill forces all enemies in a 20-foot radius to target him for 8 seconds, which lets your DPS characters focus on dealing damage without worrying about getting hit. He also has a self-heal that scales with his maximum health, so he rarely needs support from a healer to stay alive.
Best Early-Game Descendants for New Players
It’s tempting to jump straight to grinding for the highest-tier meta characters as soon as you start the game, but that’s almost always a waste of time for new players. I made the mistake of trying to unlock Bunny as my first character when I started playing, and I wasted 10 hours farming for materials I couldn’t even get yet, so I can tell you from experience it’s not worth it. Gley, the first descendant you unlock for free when you finish the prologue, is way better than most new players give her credit for. Her fire-based skills deal consistent area-of-effect damage to large groups of enemies, which makes clearing early story missions and open world mob camps super fast. She doesn’t require any rare mods to be effective, so you can use her until you unlock one of the higher-tier descendants without feeling like you’re wasting resources.
Viessa is another great early-game pick, because she only requires common materials you can farm in the first two open world zones. You can get her within 5 hours of starting the game if you prioritize her unlock mission, so you don’t have to stick with the starter character if you don’t love her playstyle. That means you don’t have to grind for weeks to get a character that feels good to play. Just make sure you don’t waste your materials on unlocking endgame characters first, because those require rare drops that you can’t get until you’re at least level 30. Focus on characters that work well for early content first, and you’ll progress way faster.
How to Optimize Your Chosen Descendant for Maximum Performance
Picking the right character is only half the battle, even the best descendant will underperform if you don’t build them correctly. Prioritize mod sets that match your character’s elemental affinity first, before adding generic damage boosts. For example, if you’re playing Viessa, a 4-piece frost damage mod set will give you a 60% frost damage boost, which is way better than a generic 30% overall damage boost. You can swap in generic damage mods later once you’ve filled out all your elemental set slots.
You don’t need to max out every skill on your character right away either. For example, if you’re playing Bunny as a burst DPS, you only need to max out her ultimate skill and her passive first, you can leave her minor utility skills at level 1 until you have extra skill points to spare. That lets you get the most important power boosts early without wasting points on skills you’ll rarely use.
Test your build in low-difficulty Void missions before bringing it to a high-difficulty raid, so you can adjust mod slots if something isn’t working. Many players make the mistake of bringing an untested build to a raid and wasting their team’s time when their character underperforms, so a quick 10-minute test run can save you a lot of frustration. If you’re playing in a group, adjust your build to complement your team’s composition. If your team already has a support character, you can swap out your support mods for extra damage mods to make the run faster.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Picking a Descendant
The biggest mistake I see new players make is picking a character just because they’re considered “meta” without checking if their playstyle fits them. For example, Bunny is the top meta DPS, but if you hate playing squishy characters that require constant dodging, you’ll have way more fun playing Ajax as a tank, even if he deals less damage. The meta only matters if you’re trying to clear the highest difficulty raids as fast as possible, if you’re just playing for fun you should pick whatever character feels best to you.
Another common mistake is wasting resources leveling 10 different characters at once. It’s way better to level one character to max level first, and then start leveling other characters once you have a stable main that can farm all the materials you need. That way you don’t end up with 5 characters at level 20 that can’t clear any endgame content. Don’t sleep on support characters even if you usually play solo. Many support characters have enough self-sustain and damage to work really well for solo play, and they’re always in high demand for co-op runs, so you’ll never have trouble finding a group if you have a maxed support character.
Finally, don’t ignore a character’s passive skill when you’re deciding which one to pick. A character’s passive skill is usually more important than their active skills, because it’s active 100% of the time without you having to do anything. For example, Ajax’s passive damage resistance is what makes him such a good tank, even if his active skills are pretty basic. Taking a minute to read through a character’s full skill kit before you spend materials unlocking them will save you from wasting time on a character that doesn’t fit your playstyle.
At the end of the day, the answer to who are the best descendants in The First Descendant depends a lot on what you want to get out of the game, and what playstyle you enjoy the most. The picks we’ve outlined here will work for 90% of players, whether you’re playing solo, with friends, or farming endgame raids. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different characters if you get bored of your main, you might find a less popular character that fits your playstyle perfectly. The best part of the game is trying out different builds and seeing what works for you, so don’t let meta tier lists stop you from having fun.