Giant The First Descendant overhaul brings a new zone to the free looter shooter

The First Descendant Season 3 has arrived, and it's the biggest overhaul for the free-to-play Steam looter shooter since launch. Boasting highs of over a quarter of a million players at launch, TFD was rivaling the likes of Destiny 2 and Warframe, but that count continued to drop as players ran into a lack of variety and a repetitive grind. Developer Nexon has been working hard to win back that attention, however, and The First Descendant update 1.3.0 is its most significant gambit yet, introducing a giant new zone and hover bikes along with a wealth of other gear and its latest playable character, Nell.

There's a lot to dig through in The First Descendant Season 3, as the 'Breakthrough' update aims to secure it a fresh spot among our best co-op games. The main addition is the Axion Plains, a new region that features main-story missions and a range of side content, including two all-new battlefield missions and an Intercept Battle against a giant, world-boss style Colossus called 'Wall Crasher' that appears every hour and will require coordinated teamwork to bring down. To help you get around, Nexon has introduced hover bikes to the free Steam game, with three initial variants to pick up.

The other big addition is Nell, a character you might recognize if you've played a lot of The First Descendant before. The Albion officer is making the jump to the battlefield as the newest playable Descendant, and her skill set makes use of an Arche Breach that can suck in foes and debuff them. She also boasts naturally higher weak-point damage, and is capable of temporarily causing all her shots to always strike perfectly to take advantage of this powerful boon. If you'd rather play Nell as a support, you can instead replace her breach with a pair of buff-granting abilities.

Alongside these comes more crafting via the Arche Trigger system, which can be unlocked from mastery rank 15 and adds a new 'Trigger Module' slot for each Descendant. There are nine of these powers to start with, ensuring you'll find one that works no matter your build, and each delivers bonus effects when you meet certain conditions. Arche Leak, for example, consumes MP to amplify the effects of continuous damage skills, while Particle Conversion Emitter grants an additional benefit to any allies that you buff or heal.

There are two new ultimate weapons to seek out: Exterminator is a rocket launcher that automatically targets foes with powerful explosive rounds that deal additional damage to carapace hull and armored carapace on special enemy units. Eraser is a scout rifle that builds 'Analysis' stacks as you land hits, and then spends these to create clouds of degrading enzymes that inflict corrosion on your foes. There are also some new external components earned from fighting Wall Crasher.

A fresh Void Intercept Battle, 'Abyss Challenge,' pits you against another new Colossus, Storm Hanger. This horrifying target will take some careful consideration to bring down, so you'll need to study the battle carefully to succeed. Nexon notes that it is vulnerable to toxic damage, so bring that along if you can.

The First Descendant Season 3 and update 1.3.0 launch today, Thursday August 7, following server maintenance. You can read through the full patch notes courtesy of Nexon for a full list of changes and additions, including some welcome quality-of-life tweaks such as a new 'quest path display' feature to help you track down NPCs in the main town of Albion.

If you're considering getting in for the first time, be sure to check The First Descendant system requirements to make sure your PC is up to the task. We've also rounded up more of the best open-world games in 2025.

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