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The First Descendant Phase Exchangers
Screenshot by The Escapist

How to Get and Use Phase Exchangers in The First Descendant

Upgrade your weapons to new heights

At the start of The First Descendant, you might find yourself a little overwhelmed trying to understand what all the different items. Here’s how to get and use Phase Exchangers in The First Descendant.

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What Are Phase Exchangers in The First Descendant?

Phase Exchangers are consumable items that you can use to upgrade a weapon by using another weapon you no longer need in The First Descendant. For example, if you have a Rare weapon you love using, you can use other Rare weapons that you’re not using to upgrade it. This destroys the weapons you’re not using and increases the stats on your current weapon.

Generally, it’s not a great idea to use a Phase Exchanger on weapons during the early part of The First Descendant, as you’re likely to replace it sooner rather than later. However, in the mid to late game, Phase Exchangers help out tremendously by boosting stats on weapons that are perfect for your build.

Precision Phase Exchanger highlighted in an inventory menu in The First Descendant
Screenshot by The Escapist

There are two different tiers of Phase Exchangers. Standard Phase Exchangers, called just Phase Exchangers, can be used to upgrade common and rare weapons. Precision Phase Exchangers are needed to upgrade Ultimate Weapons.

How to Find and Use Phase Exchangers in The First Descendant

The main way to acquire Phase Exchangers is through Research. In Albion, you can visit an NPC named Anais, who’s located on the western side of the city. Anais allows you to exchange gold and materials for Research on new Descendants, weapons, and materials. When you Research something, you gain access to that item. This is the primary way to unlock new Descendants.

When it comes to Phase Exchangers, you need to go to the “Enhancement Material” tab in Anais’ shop. Here, you can see what you need to Research both standard and Precision Phase Exchangers. Every time you Research a Phase Exchanger, you receive one of the items. Standard Phase Exchangers cost some materials and 2,500 gold to research, while Precision Phase Exchangers cost 50,000 gold and more materials. Precision Phase Exchangers can also be earned on the Battle Pass in The First Descendant.

When you get a Phase Exchanger in your inventory, you won’t be able to directly use it from there. Instead, you have to visit a Workbench, which is located right to the north of Anais in Albion. Here, you need to use the Weapon Level Transmission station. This allows you to use your Phase Exchangers to upgrade weapons.

Using the Weapon Level Transmission station. in The First Descendant
Screenshot by The Escapist

If you click on a weapon you want to upgrade, you’re given the chance to select another weapon that you want to destroy in exchange for increasing the other weapon’s stats. When you select a weapon to destroy, you can see what stats are going to be increased on your current weapon in the “Result Preview” window. This process requires one Phase Exchanger every time.

Phase Exchangers aren’t so complicated once you know the basics of how they work in The First Descendant. I recommend stockpiling them until you really start to get some weapons you know you’re going to keep for the long haul.

The First Descendant is available now.


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Author
Image of Joey Carr
Joey Carr
Joey Carr is a Staff Writer at The Escapist. He has over seven years of experience in the video game industry as a writer, editor, and content manager covering a wide range of genres and titles. Specifically, Joey covers Call of Duty, other multiplayer titles, and new game releases. You can find some of his previous work on Upcomer, Dot Esports, GameSpot, and more gaming sites.