October 1, 2025 - Today, NEXON released a major update for their looter-shooter title The First Descendant, featuring the brand-new 'Swords' weapon class, the Void Vessel Dungeon, a new Void Intercept Battle: Abyss and more, enhancing the player experience through new content and dynamic features. The update also features three new Trigger Modules and extensive quality-of-life improvements.
Swords have been introduced as a brand new weapon class in the new update, along with dedicated modules and External Components. Two unique swords, Shadow and Deus Ex Manus, are being introduced, each bringing its own special ability, such as Shadow Slash, and offering defensive mechanics that differ from firearms. Players can further enhance these weapons with exclusive sword modules and External Components, designed to strengthen melee combat builds.
Players can also look forward to an all-new Void Vessel dungeon, the Medium-Sized Facility Zone, which features unique boss mechanics and Hover Bike racing sections, available in Normal and Hard difficulty levels. A new boss, the Arche Slayer, uses sword-based attacks and high-mobility combat patterns, providing a thematic challenge that ties into the new weapon class. The dungeon’s Hover Bike racing segments utilize boost pads and jump pads for faster traversal. Players can acquire the new swords, sword modules, and External Components by farming this dungeon, with higher drop rates on Hard difficulty.
Additionally, enticing new Trigger Modules with powerful effects can be found below for players to experiment with:
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The ‘Supply Fortress’ module generates ammunition and grants additional reflect damage whenever barriers absorb hits and and supports high-power rounds weapons.
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The ‘Wave Eruption’ module boosts movement speed and damage output when using release-type skills, rewarding players for maintaining stacks.
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The ‘Rhythm Step’ module, exclusive to Luna, provides stacking buffs to movement speed and maximum shield when using rhythm-type skills, enhancing her survivability and mobility.
In addition to the new Trigger Modules, the update introduces a brand-new Void Intercept Battle: Abyss, Lava Citadel, a variant of the Molten Fortress. The boss features a powerful fire attribute, making it particularly vulnerable to ice-based attacks. Players will face challenging mechanics, including large-scale flame tornadoes that require them to destroy pillars from within the tornado zone to avoid devastating area-of-effect (AoE) damage. The boss also unleashes expanding fire attacks that demand quick reflexes and precise evasion. To further intensify the battle, waves of lava push toward the center of the battlefield, forcing players to constantly alter their positioning and timing.
Moreover, a number of quality of life (QoL) improvements have been introduced, such as Amorphous Materials can now be opened directly in Albion using a dedicated device, eliminating the need to clear intercept battles or void fusion reactors. Additionally, reactor optimization conditions have been removed, giving players greater flexibility when customizing builds and reducing the need for constant re-optimization as new weapons are released. The Laboratory has also been enhanced, allowing players to summon Legion of Breach enemies and spawn up to 50 monsters, making it easier to test wide-area skills and evaluate damage potential in controlled conditions.
Furthermore, the update includes a new balance patch. As part of this, Kyle has received a significant revamp featuring major improvements to skill usability. These include extended dash mechanics, mid-air combo capabilities, deployable magnetic barriers, and enhanced ultimate functionality. The goal of these changes is to elevate Kyle’s performance to be on par with other recently balanced Descendants such as Lepic and Jayber. Alongside Kyle’s revamp, other Descendants have also received targeted balance adjustments. Ajax now has boosted skill power and improved firearm buffs, to strengthen overall combat performance. Esiemo has been improved to allow skill usage while sprinting and to deliver stronger area-clear capabilities. Meanwhile, Bunny sees enhanced performance against elite monsters and bosses, along with a fix to previous skill slowdown issues. These updates reflect the development team’s ongoing priority to normalize balance among Descendants and ensure less-used skills become viable in diverse builds.
Stay connected by following on X (formerly Twitter), liking on Facebook, catching updates on YouTube, or keeping up with the latest news on tfd.nexon.com. Descendants can dive deeper into the world of The First Descendant by joining the conversation on Discord. This channel was created as part of The First Descendant’s ongoing commitment to improving communication and gathering valuable feedback from the community.
More about The First Descendant:
Launched in July 2024, The First Descendant is a next-generation third-person co-op action RPG looter shooter featuring high-quality graphics developed using Unreal Engine 5. In the game, players become a Descendant whose mission is to combat against alien invaders. Players will encounter spectacular stories as they grow stronger through various missions and raids to finally discover the Descendants' secret. Cooperation is crucial as players team up with one another in strategic multiplayer boss fights where teamwork and tactics are key. New equipment, materials, and items obtained through a myriad of missions and boss fights will contribute to players’ character development.
About NEXON Korea
Founded in 1994, NEXON Korea is engaged in the production, development, and operation of online games. With a diverse portfolio of over 45 live games available in more than 190 countries, NEXON Korea offers engaging entertainment experiences across PC, console, and mobile platforms. Renowned for its iconic franchises, including MapleStory and Dungeon&Fighter, as well as newer titles like The First Descendant and The First Berserker: Khazan, NEXON Korea is dedicated to delivering innovative, high-quality game experiences to players worldwide. For more information, visit the official website: https://company.nexon.com/en/.
About NEXON Games
NEXON Games is the studio behind the globally recognized looter shooter The First Descendant, which met its first anniversary in July, and anime-style RPG Blue Archive. Alongside The First Descendant, the studio is actively developing new titles, including DNF: Arad, Project DX and Woochi the Wayfarer, showcasing its commitment to innovation across multiple genres and markets.