Mastery Ranks in The First Descendant are a crucial aspect of progression, allowing you to unlock new abilities, upgrade slots, and enhance your overall gameplay experience. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you rank up efficiently and make the most out of your time in the game.
What is Mastery Rank?
Mastery Rank is an account-wide progression system that unlocks various benefits for your characters and weapons in The First Descendant. As you increase your Mastery Rank, you gain access to additional slots for modules, inventory, and unique abilities, making your characters stronger and more versatile.
How to Unlock Mastery Rank
To begin leveling up your Mastery Rank, you need to earn Experience Points (EXP) by completing missions and defeating enemies. The Mastery Rank system becomes available after accumulating 1,500 EXP, typically achievable after the initial tutorial missions.
Once you have enough EXP, head to Albion, the main hub of the game. Here, you will find the Prime Hand NPC near the spawn point. Interact with the Prime Hands terminal to increase your Mastery Rank. The process involves a short animation where your character is enveloped by a mechanical hand, unleashing their Arche energy​.
Benefits of Ranking Up
Each level of Mastery Rank unlocks new features and enhancements:
- Weapon and Descendant Module Slots: Increase the capacity for equipping modules, allowing for more powerful customizations.
- Inventory and Storage Slots: Expand your inventory and storage limits, crucial for managing your gear and resources.
- Unique Abilities and Enhancements: Unlock various abilities and enhancements at specific Mastery levels, such as Weapon Level Transmission and Unique Ability Enhancement.
Fastest Ways to Earn EXP
Grinding for EXP is essential for leveling up quickly. Here are some effective strategies:
- Complete Missions: Focus on missions that offer high EXP rewards. Missions like Resource Defense and Mine-blocking objectives in the Kingston region are particularly lucrative. These missions are marked with purple icons and not only provide substantial EXP but also reward you with Amorphous Material, which is necessary for unlocking new weapon modules and descendants​​.
- Farm Defense Missions: Engage in defense missions where you fend off hordes of enemies. These missions can quickly boost your EXP, allowing you to level up efficiently. A good session of defense missions can help you reach levels 20 or 21 within an hour​​.
Advanced Tips for Mastery Rank Up
- Plan Your Grinding Sessions: Aim to accumulate enough EXP to rank up multiple levels in one go. This saves you from frequent trips back to Albion.
- Focus on High-Reward Tasks: Prioritize tasks and missions that offer the best EXP-to-time ratio. This helps you maximize your progress without unnecessary grind.
- Equip the Right Modules: Use modules that enhance your combat efficiency and survivability, enabling you to complete missions faster and with fewer setbacks.
Important Milestones
As you progress through the Mastery Ranks, you will unlock significant milestones that greatly enhance your gameplay:
- Mastery Rank 3: Unlocks Weapon Level Transmission, allowing you to transfer levels between weapons.
- Mastery Rank 5: Grants access to Unique Ability Enhancement, boosting your characters’ abilities.
- Mastery Rank 7 and 8: Unlocks advanced facilities like the Laboratory and Module Combining, providing more customization options​​.
Mastery Rank is an integral part of The First Descendant, enhancing your gameplay and providing a sense of progression. By focusing on efficient EXP farming and utilizing the benefits of each rank, you can significantly improve your characters and weapons. Remember, the key is to balance your grinding efforts with the strategic use of unlocked enhancements to stay ahead in the game.
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