Enemy Weaknesses Explained In The First Descendant
In this guide we are going to cover enemy weaknesses in The First Descendant. This is important because enemies take a lot of extra damage if you hit them with whatever they are weak to.
Why Weaknesses Matter
- Matching physical weakness = 10% extra damage.
- Matching & further debuffing elemental weakness = 50%-400% bonus damage.
- If you match BOTH, your DPS skyrockets.
- This is essential knowledge for harder content.
- Mainly focusing on elemental weakness is key.
Elemental Attribute Damage Types
In The First Descendant, you have several elements/attributes that exist, these are the following:
- Fire (Applies Burn: Damage over time)
- Chill (Applies Frostbite: Freezes and slows enemies)
- Electric (Applies Electrocution: DEF reduction)
- Toxic (Applies Poison: Damage over time)
- Non-Attribute (No extra effect)
Weapon Damage Types
Each weapon has a specific damage type, if you match the correct damage type to an enemy you will deal increased damage:
- Crush (Example: Machine Guns)
- Burst (Example: Shotguns)
- Pierce (Example: Snipers)
You can visit the Weapons Database for a full list of all weapons in The First Descendant.
Enemy Faction Weakness in The First Descendant
There are currently four enemy factions in The First Descendant. They are Legion of Immortality, Legion of Truth, Legion of Darkness and the Legion of Breach.
Tip: By using your scan (Ecive scanner) you can see what the current enemies are weak to above their head.
| Faction | Elemental Weakness | Physical Weakness |
| Legion of Immortality | Toxic | Crush |
| Legion of Truth | Electric | Burst |
| Legion of Darkness | Chill | Pierce |
| Legion of Breach | Adaptive | Random |
Adaptive: The Legion of Breach is special. They get random physical weaknesses and adaptive elemental weaknesses. This means that they rotate elemental weaknesses. For example, in Axion, if you defeat Legion of Breach with fire damage, they will then spawn with fire resistance. They adapt to whatever element you use the most.
How To Identify Weaknesses In-Game
In The First Descendant you can find out what enemies are weak to by using your scan ability (Tab on PC and R3 on console). Afterward, you will see symbols above their head.
Weapon Bonus Damage Multipliers
Lastly, I would like to mention that some weapons have increased damage modifiers against certain enemy types. For example, the Deus Ex Manus sword deals 4x damage against Legion of Breach Commanders, making it best in slot to deal with this type of enemy.
As of writing this guide, only swords have the extra damage multipliers:
- Deus Ex Manus: 4x damage vs Legion of Breach Commanders
- Shadow: 4x damage vs Legion of Immortality Elites
- Hypernova: Legion of Darkness Elites
Example Loadout vs Enemies Weak Against Chill
In a lot of endgame content, Legion of Darkness show up that are weak against Chill. Therefore, the Albion Cavalry Gun is one of the most effective weapons against this type of enemy.
It already has Chill damage included in its base stat (8217). Meanwhile, we add more Chill damage via Modules (Chill Enhancement & Chill Priority) and weapon cores (2x Chill ATK X). With this setup you will defeat enemies weak against Chill easily compared to a non-optimized weapon that features another element.
Please visit the Weapon Builds Database or the Character Builds Database for more optimized builds in The First Descendant.
About the Author: Alcast
