The First Descendant Leveling Guide: Level 40 and Proficiency

Efficient leveling in The First Descendant begins by identifying the experience bar you want to fill. Descendant Level, Weapon Proficiency, Mastery Rank and Arche Tuning are separate systems. An evening spent in useful content can still miss your intended goal when the activity develops a different part of the account.

Your first character should prioritize the story and unlocking activities. After entering Hard, accessible 400% Infiltration Operations provide a useful foundation for repeat leveling. Choose a route by consistent completions and actual experience over the entire session, including loading screens and failed attempts.

This guide covers first-time progression, a new character on an established account and recovering levels after a Crystallization Catalyst. These situations need different preparation. A promised universal time to level 40 would be misleading because players have different access, equipment, groups and experience bonuses.

Choose the correct progression target

A Descendant's normal level reaches 40. Build development continues beyond that point through capacity, sockets, reactors and additional systems. Reaching 40 is a reason to select your next objective, rather than proof that every unlocked difficulty is now equally appropriate.

Your first character: keep advancing the story

Complete Main Quests, unlock regions and regularly update equipment. The story provides experience alongside access to more useful farming sources. Repeating an early mission for a higher character number can delay progression that would improve your whole account.

If you hit a wall, diagnose it before selecting a farming route. A low character level calls for EXP; an outdated gun calls for a weapon update; frequent deaths call for defenses and components. Repeating a mission is useful when it fixes a defined problem, rather than merely postponing a difficult story encounter.

Work on available Bunny and main-weapon quests alongside the campaign. That builds the foundation of your future farming loadout. Avoid researching everything at once: the selected main setup must remain strong enough to handle the next mandatory objectives.

Missions combine weapons, skills and movement.

A new Descendant on an established account

An established account can give a fresh character a dependable weapon and appropriately enhanced modules. Use that advantage. Removing survival to fit additional damage cards is a poor trade when it leaves you repeatedly waiting for teammates to rescue you.

A temporary skill build still needs a suitable reactor. Check the Attribute and Arche Type of its main attacks. Perfect substats are unnecessary for a first leveling pass, but a random reactor from another character does not become appropriate simply because it has a higher rarity.

Retain one stable source of damage. If you are developing both a character and a weapon, avoid making the entire loadout experimental. Secure reliable mission completion first, then add extra progression projects in the remaining slots.

When to use 400% Infiltration

After unlocking Hard, complete the Main Quest "Invasion," then look for 400% Infiltration Operations in the map's red zones with a red skull icon. They support character growth, weapon development and material farming. Select an operation whose dangerous sections you understand instead of automatically choosing the least comfortable map.

A group can share responsibilities, but every participant should retain a working setup. Do not assume teammates will always compensate for missing defenses or an entirely undeveloped weapon. Active participation improves completion speed and makes your session results more consistent.

If the operation succeeds only intermittently, reduce the strain temporarily. Restore a dependable gun, improve survival or choose more accessible content. One failed difficult run can provide less useful progression over an evening than several reliable completions.

Weapon experience across three slots

The active weapon receives 100% Proficiency EXP, while weapons in the other two slots receive 20% each. Experience is not divided equally into three portions. Choose the active gun deliberately when its Proficiency is the main objective.

You can keep a weak weapon in a secondary slot while using a reliable main gun. Progress is slower, but the complete operation remains manageable. Once the weapon becomes sufficiently comfortable, use it actively in a suitable part of the activity.

Compare weapon models rather than the date an individual copy dropped. A fresh copy of an already mastered model does not create another first-time Mastery project. Record the models that still need initial development before organizing a collection-leveling session.

Thunder Cage: inspect weapon level, modules and Unique Ability separately.

Re-leveling after a Catalyst

1. Reach character level 40 or Weapon Proficiency 40.

2. Check the planned modules and required socket type.

3. Use the Crystallization Catalyst on the intended slot.

4. Confirm the reset loadout still contains the necessary modules and weapons.

5. Select an accessible route for the next leveling pass.

6. After restoring the level, decide whether another Catalyst is currently worthwhile.

Socket assignment resets the relevant level or Proficiency to 1. Character skills remain available. However, the lower level still warrants a survival check. Familiar buttons remaining on the ability bar do not mean every aspect of the character stayed at its previous strength.

This process improves a build's capacity efficiency, but does not award all first-time Mastery EXP again. If the next account rank is your goal, introduce new weapon models and Descendants instead of relying exclusively on repeated cycles of one favorite character.

Compare routes using complete sessions

Use a simple calculation: experience earned divided by the full session time. A hypothetical route providing 300,000 XP in 10 minutes produces 30,000 XP per minute. Another providing 450,000 XP in 20 minutes produces 22,500 XP per minute. These are example calculations, not advertised rewards for particular missions.

Add useful loot as a second criterion. A slower EXP route may be better if it also supplies missing research materials. Conversely, a large completion reward means less when half the session is consumed by restarts and waiting.

Inspect active boosts before launching. Descendant EXP, Weapon Proficiency and Unique Arche Factor EXP are different bonuses. Temporary events have end dates, so an old anniversary bonus should not be counted as a permanent part of the route.

Keep comparison conditions similar: use the same character, comparable module development and the same active boost. Otherwise you may credit the map for an improvement actually caused by equipment or an EXP bonus. Stop the comparison when the objective is complete and move to the next project. A few records of real sessions are more useful than a long list of theoretically available missions your account cannot yet finish reliably.

Frequently asked questions

Which mission is always fastest?

There is no universal winner. On an established account, start by comparing 400% Infiltration options, then account for access, reliable completions and useful secondary materials.

Should I enter endgame immediately at 40?

No. Review weapons, modules, reactor and the selected activity's requirements. Ordinary character level is only one part of readiness.

Can several weapons level together?

Yes, but the active slot receives more experience. Plan your secondary projects around the 100% and 20% allocation.

Why did my account rank barely move after another level 40?

First-time progression and Catalyst re-leveling serve different purposes. For Mastery, find additional sources of initial account experience.