The First Descendant fanbase is buzzing this weekend after the release of Hotfix 1.0.2 on July 11. From the addition of matchmaking to endgame activities to triple drop rates and the removal of those pesky immunity spheres, many are calling the update a “huge win.”
The update arrived last Thursday with many flocking to the game over the weekend after a few server troubles to close out the week. Once in-game, players hit the ground running and have been blown away by the changes, as well as Nexon’s commitment to improving The First Descendant. “Devs are listening which is a pleasant surprise, and a very fast turnaround with the game only being out for nine days,” one player said on Reddit.
Many other players echoed this sentiment. “The hotfix kind of put to rest a lot of concerns I initially had. They reacted quicker to feedback than any game I can recall in recent memory and made all the right choices too,” another fan said. Of particular note was the Nexon director’s additional comment in the patch notes which addressed concerns regarding infinite magazine builds for Tamer and Gley. “This meta is very strong, but since it is within the scope of what the Dev Team has planned, there are no immediate plans to [nerf it],” the director said.
The director continued, saying that other builds rival the strength of the infinite magazine build, and for players to “enjoy them fully.” Many fans who came across from other looter shooters like Destiny 2 and Warframe are overwhelmed with the transparency of The First Descendant devs and their commitment to letting players loose in the world.
“It sucks grinding for a good build to just have it nerfed into the ground. I was really taken back by the transparency,” one player said, adding they would commonly have to scour Destiny 2‘s patch notes just to find out their favorite Exotic weapon or armor was nerfed.
Among the major changes, Hotfix 1.0.2 also made quality-of-life adjustments like extra crafting material drops, optimization updates for those struggling to run the game, and even moved an NPC closer to the Albion spawn point so players didn’t have to run as far.
Players have responded in kind with The First Descendant holding steady in the top 10 most-played Steam titles this weekend according to SteamDB, nearly cracking the 200,000 concurrent mark on Saturday and remaining steady week-over-week. These figures don’t even include those playing on console.
It’s got a long way to go yet in regards to improvements and bug fixes, but should the devs continue to stay on track and get out exciting new content, The First Descendant fans will be kept busy—and happy—for a long time to come.
