The First Descendant 1.4.5 Patch Notes - All Changes

The First Descendant Update 1.4.5 went live on Thursday, October 15, 2026 on Steam, Xbox and PS5. It adds Onslaught Stage 5, a second Trials dungeon, a new Transcendent Weapon called Monster Hunter and a big rebalance for Freyna, Gley and Enzo.

The notes were revised twice after release, so we've used the latest version, including the correction to Venom Injection. We will go over every change in 1.4.5, from the new content and rewards to the melee weapon tuning and bug fixes. If you're rebuilding after the rebalance, our Ultimate Gley build is a good place to start.

The First Descendant 1.4.5 Highlights

• Onslaught Stage 5: six waves, a Colossus at the end and Transcendent Weapons with a Quality of 301-400 in the loot
• Trials: Protocol 002: a second dungeon, with the available dungeon changing daily at 00:00 PDT
• Monster Hunter: a new Transcendent Assault Rifle that uses General Rounds
• Rotational Boost System: a +15% Transcendent Weapon Acquisition Chance Boost on two types of content each day
• Descendant rebalance: Freyna/Ultimate Freyna, Gley/Ultimate Gley and Enzo
• Melee weapons: higher base Attack Speed for Shadow, Deus Ex Manus, Hypernova and Crime and Punishment

Onslaught Stage 5

Stage 5 is available from the Albion "Tactical Transport Control" or the World Map content menu, and it unlocks once you've completed Stage 4. It consists of 6 waves, and a Colossus appears after the final wave.

• Public Operations can be started once the required Arche Activity reaches 93,300. Private Operations can be started even if your Arche Activity is below the required level.
• The Tyrant moves toward the Energy Concentration Point. If it gets there, Energy is reduced by 10%, so block its movement with barricades.
• When the Tyrant dies, Normal and Elite Vulgus within a certain radius die along with it.
• Monsters here have no Weak Point Damage Adjustment Value, and the Tyrant, Commander and Colossus have added Weak Point Damage Resistance.

Stage 5 Rewards

Mission completion rewards for Stage 5 include:

Defeating Normal Monsters, Elite Monsters and Commanders has a low chance of dropping Transcendent Weapon Loot. Stage 5 has also been added to the weekly Onslaught content. The weekly rewards stay the same: 1x Ancestors Module Loot III with guaranteed Option Tier, 130x Superconductive Cooling Unit and 1x Vulgus Bio Data Chip per run. In Stage 5, that module has at least one guaranteed Transcendent Tier Option.

Trials: Protocol 002

A second Trials dungeon has been added, so the two are now named Trials: Protocol 001 (Order of Truth) and Trials: Protocol 002 (Legion of Immortality). The available dungeon changes daily at 00:00 PDT, and the mission entry screen shows the time remaining and the Legion that appears. Best records for each Descendant Group are tallied separately for each dungeon, while entry method, requirements and rewards are identical.

Other Trials changes:

• Variable Code selection now has a shortcut to the Descendant info screen.
• New icons show when a Variable Code's effect relates to your equipped Reactor, weapon or owned Skills.
• Rewards from completed zones in Onslaught and Trials are now tallied and handed out together when the mission ends. In Trials, each Commander Combat Zone also grants 4,000 Gold, 400 Kuiper Shard and 9,600 Descendant EXP and Weapon Proficiency.

Monster Hunter Transcendent Weapon

Monster Hunter is a new Assault Rifle that uses General Rounds. It has been added to the Transcendent Weapon Loot from existing content where Transcendent Weapons drop. Its Hunter's Sense effect works like this:

• While you hold it, attacking a Colossus increases Additional Weapon ATK.
• After a certain number of shots, a chain explosion hits the point of impact and spreads to nearby targets. Stacking on the same target reduces the explosion damage, and Critical Hits accumulate more shots fired.
• Critical Hits on Normal Monsters, Elite Monsters and Tyrants grant Hunter's Sense. At maximum stacks, the stacks reset to 1 and ricochet damage hits the target and nearby enemies.
• Critical Hits on a Tyrant, Commander or Colossus inflict Monster Hunter, and hitting a target with it deals additional damage.

Rotational Boost System

A +15% Transcendent Weapon Acquisition Chance Boost is applied to select zones and content every day. Two types of content are boosted daily, marked with an icon under "Content with ongoing events" in the bottom-left corner of the map. The boost targets are Onslaught, Sigma Sector, Cradle of Evolution, Axion Plains Battlefield Missions, Trials, Infiltration Operation (400%), Void Vessel, Karel's Mothership and Axion Plains Infiltration Operation.

The final drop rate is Base Drop Rate × (1 + External Component Option Rate + Battle Pass Boost + Transcendent Weapon Acquisition Chance Boost) × (1 + Rotational Boost).

New Trigger Module: Prepping in the Dark

The update adds one new Trigger Module. Using a Ground DoT type skill to deal damage to an enemy grants Gap. While Gap is active, using a Concealment type skill grants Ambush Setup, which decreases the Cooldown of Skill 4 and increases Toxic Skill Power for the duration.

It has been added to Trigger Module Loot L, and the chance of getting that loot from Cradle of Evolution and Karel's Mothership missions is higher:

The Axion Plains Wall Crasher rewards now draw on 42 Trigger Module types instead of 41. The Trigger Module Selection Box reward is now Trigger Module Selection Box J, which holds the 41 existing modules plus the new one.

Descendant Rebalance

Freyna and Ultimate Freyna

Freyna's Synchronization Value goes from 1.752 to 1.602, and all of her damage now gets an increase based on Max MP (Max MP x 30.8%, up to 200%). Her Contagion Links, Venom Trauma, Putrid Venom and Venom Baptism skills see their continuous damage values rise, for example Toxic Puddle damage from Skill Power x 240.6% to 385.0% in Contagion Links. Several debuff durations also double from 4s to 8s.

Defense Mechanism becomes Toxic Trigger, which grants Active Camouflage (15s, Movement Speed +20%) and Catalyst Zone. The Transcendent Modules Toxic Stimulation, Venom Synthesis, Neurotoxin Synthesis, Venom Injection and Toxic Mixture all got their own adjustments. The latest revision lowers the Max Damage Increase for Venom Injection from 200% to 165%. Our Freyna build guide is worth a recheck, and our list of all Transcendent Modules covers the module basics.

Gley and Ultimate Gley

• Maximize Lethality: Firearm Critical Hit Rate goes from 10% to 15%, and the same change applies to Super Senses.
• Thirst: picking up Life Spheres now recovers Max HP x 12.0% instead of 4.0%.
• Blood and Iron: the passive trigger rate with a melee weapon rises from 50% to 80%, Power of Life Acquired goes from 10 to 25, and Rampage damage goes from 3,264.8% to 4,244.2%. Defeating an enemy now grants 4x Power of Life.
• Explosive Life: Frenzied HP cost per use drops from Max HP x 5.0% to 3.0%, and Skill Power Modifier rises from 2,534.5% to 4,578.3% by default and from 4,607.2% to 8,292.9% in Frenzied. Maximize Lethality lasts 15s instead of 8s, and Massacre lasts 15s instead of 10s.
• Demonic Modification: Explosion Damage goes from Skill Power x 5,109.7% to 8,942.0%.

Enzo

• Firing Specialist: the rounds needed per type are halved or close to it (General and Special Rounds 56 to 28, Impact Rounds 14 to 7, High-Power Rounds 14 to 6), and Firearm (Explosive) ATK Increase rises from 75% to 105%.
• Compressed Bullet: the same round requirement cuts apply, with Firearm (Explosive) ATK Increase going from 125% to 155%.
• Reinforce Front Line: the device becomes a drone attached to Enzo, and its Effect Range goes from 9.0m to 12.0m.
• Focus Fire: Prep Effects needed for Firing Specialist drop from 2 to 1, Explosive Drone damage goes from Skill Power x 3,241.0% to 8,102.5%, and the Enhance Combat Suit cooldown goes from 0.5s to 0.2s.

The developers also explained why Enzo's Firearm ATK buff moved into Firing Specialist: having to spam Explosive Drone to maintain a short buff increased control fatigue, so the buff now comes naturally as you keep firing. Our Enzo build guide is a good follow-up.

Melee Weapon Changes

Base Attack Speed was raised for four melee weapons, and their Normal Attack motions were improved:

The max applicable Attack Speed Modifier is now capped at 30%. In the melee modules, Faster Attack Speed drops from +100% to +30%, while the Slow Art, Toxic Edge, Electric Edge, Superheated Edge, Refrigerated Edge and Targeted Vulnerability modules now carry an Attack Speed Modifier of -10% instead of -30%. The Ultimate Weapon Hammer and Anvil now defaults to "Rifled Barrel: Anvil" mode, and the Tactical Acceleration Trigger Module cooldown falls from 18s to 12s.

Content and Reward Improvements

• Ammo: max carry amounts rise (General Rounds 400 to 600, Special Rounds 270 to 400, Impact Rounds 90 to 150, High-Power Rounds 75 to 100), and carry amounts on entering content rise to match. Base acquisition is 300 General, 200 Special, 75 Impact and 50 High-Power Rounds, while Intercept Battles let you acquire up to the max carry amount. Round drop chances are lower in most other content.
• Core rewards: adjusted in Infiltration Operation: Hard (400% multiplier), both Sigma Sector Dropoff Operation difficulties and Axion Plains. Mission completion Cores moved to drops, with higher-tier Cores and fewer drops.
• Ship Boarding Point: the Transcendent Weapon chance on mission completion rises from 14.5% to 15.2% on Normal and to 16.9% on Hard.
• Void Erosion Purge: Normal: Commanders can now drop External Component Cores and Kuiper Shards, and have a low chance to drop 1 of 42 Trigger Modules. Void Erosion Purge: Challenge also gives External Component Cores on completion.
• Field Missions: Ingris Field (Hard) and Axion Plains now show a recommended Arche Activity instead of the monster level.

Events and HQ Special Orders

• Login Event "Tactician Medical Support": a 33-day event that lets you use Attendance Memento, running until 11.23.2026 22:59 PST.
• Event Challenges: "Descendant Overhaul Mission" for the rebalanced Freyna, Gley and Enzo, plus a Growth Support mission for Mastery Rank 20 or below, both running until 11.16.2026 22:59 PST.
• Boost Events: "Battlefield Monster Hunter" and "Descendant's Weekend," which applies every Friday, Saturday and Sunday and adds +20% bonuses in several activities.
• Accelerate Research: weekend bonuses are double the weekday ones, and Accelerate Research Values for Onslaught Stages 1-4 were readjusted.
• HQ Special Orders: a new Quest schedule runs from 10.21.2026 00:00 PDT to 11.22.2026 22:59 PST, and Weapon Core rewards are combined so you can choose 1 of 7 Core types.

Other Improvements and Bug Fixes

• Loadouts were added to the Keyboard & Mouse and Controller option categories, with 5 per category.
• The Sub Ability of Transcendent Weapons is now also reflected on Descendant Unique Weapons.
• Fixed a Trials issue where the next zone's time limit dropped immediately, and a repeating sphere destruction stage in the Antithese and Vorax Commander fights.
• Fixed Corrupted Goroth not using Cold Snap in Onslaught Stage 4, and Separated Tarvos being unable to use Attack Skills in Phase 2 in Cradle of Evolution.
• Fixed players spawning facing the map edge at some Cradle of Evolution starting points, and characters getting stuck in the Infiltration Operation Quarantine Zone.
• Fixed Sharen's Head Skin Shadow Gaze owners being unable to claim the Battle Supply Shop reward. They can now choose Shadow Gaze or 800,000x Kuiper Shard.
• The age rating in Brazil changed from 12+ to 18+.

And that covers all of the changes in The First Descendant Update 1.4.5. You can read the full notes in the developer post on Steam. If you're farming the new content, our rundown of Void Intercept Battles is a handy next read.