Best Weapons in The First Descendant

As the latest looter shooter to take the world by storm, The First Descendant is all about getting that next incredible gun. Here are the best weapons in The First Descendant.

Best Early Game Weapon – Ominous Hound

The Ominous Hound is unassuming at first, but is not to be underestimated. This workhorse assault rifle is one of the first weapons you’ll ever get your hands on in The First Descendant, and is a popular pick among friendly NPCs. However, it is worth making note of and holding onto.

This weapon fires general rounds, which are the most abundant in The First Descendant. At base, it has a DPS of 178, 31 rounds per magazine, and a fire rate of 600 r/min.

While players can, in theory, use weapon transmission to upgrade The Ominous Hound, they likely won’t have to. This assault rifle spawns early and often in the first few regions of the game, so players should almost always have one on hand at an appropriate weapon level for their challenge. The weapon is also very accurate.

Best General Round Weapon – Unfinished Study

The First Descendant throws no shortage of enemies at Descendants. As such, Machine Guns have become a popular pick among players, especially against boss Colossuses. This weapon type boasts high fire rates and large magazines.

The Unfinished Study is my preferred Machine Gun, due to its impressive magazine size. At base, Unfinished Study has 125 rounds per magazine and a fire rate of 545 r/min. These stats are impressive on their own, but can be made to be downright overpowered with the right modules. Fire Rate Up, Expand Weapon Charge and Weapon Tuning can further boost the capacity and fire rate of Unfinished Study. With these modules, this weapon trumps even Ultimate Machine Guns like the Albion Cavalry Gun. It’s also much easier to find, as it drops as Rare Loot in mid-game regions.

Best Impact Round Weapon – Nazeistra’s Devotion

This Ultimate is one of the easier ones to find in The First Descendant. The missions which drop the items for it are main missions, and the drop odds are fairly high. You’ll get a little help from the Descendant Instructor later on in the game, too. Nazeistra’s Devotion is a powerful Hand Cannon, and wielding it feels like using the iconic Golden Gun from Destiny 2.

Nazeistra’s Devotion has a powerful Firearm ATK, 8 rounds per magazine at base, and a fire rate of 150r/min. This weapon can be very powerful against single enemies and does enough damage to be a viable sidearm in boss fights. However, this weapon’s shortcoming is that it struggles in crowd control. The best use case for Nazeistra’s Devotion is as a powerful sidearm. It’s an excellent pick to swap to should you need a more mobile weapon than a Machine Gun or Beam Rifle.

Best Special Round Weapon – Burning 44

Beam Rifles have a high place in the META in The First Descendant pre-season. These powerful lazar weapons are like wielding a long range flamethrower. Burning 44 is among the most powerful of them.

At Base, the Beam Rifle has a powerful Firearm ATK, 50 rounds per magazine, and a fire rate of 499 r/min. This allows for a steady stream of fire, which can do massive amounts of damage to enemies. Like Nazeistra’s Devotion, Burning 44 can only really do damage to one enemy at a time. However, this weapon’s mag size and fire rate combine for an impressive DPS. This is what makes Burning 44 so versatile. It kills fast enough to be a great crowd control weapon, but also excels in focused fire against large targets.

Best High-Power Round Weapon – Death Roar

Speaking of crowd control, there is no better way to do it in The First Descendant than with a Launcher. Death Roar earns its epic title. This weapon has a powerful Explosive ATK, 7 rounds per magazine, and can fire about once a second at base.

However, even without mods, Death Roar is a powerful, relatively spamable Launcher. While others do more damage, and some have a better magazine size (like the Lightspeed Barrel) this weapon has an impressive combination of both. Its large blast radius makes it highly effective against crowds, but it also does enough damage to deplete health bars on larger enemies.

Best Ultimate Weapon – Thunder Cage

Thunder Cage is likely to be the first Ultimate most Descendants get their hands on. Its parts are found fairly early into the game in the Sterile Land region. The First Descendant guides you through unlocking it fairly early on through the Descendant Instructor. This helpful bot suggests that the Thunder Cage isn’t the most effective weapon and may not be worth sacrificing higher level weapons for Weapon Transmission.

However, I disagree. Thunder Cage is a fast fire rate, very mobile Submachine Gun which pairs well with speed centric Descendants like Bunny. At base, it has a Firearm ATK of 24, 26 rounds per magazine, and a fire rate of 666 r/min. However, this weapon has potential to be far greater. With the right Modules, this weapon can get a sizable increase to fire rate and magazine size, making it one of the fastest firing weapons in The First Descendant.

In addition, Thunder Cage also boasts an Electric ATK which does damage to enemies over time, weakens their defense, and dazes them. We’ve even broken down the best build for this monster here.

The First Descendant is available to play now.