The First Descendant Players Are Convinced The Game’s Drop Rates Can’t Be Trusted

Summary

• Players report struggling with drop rates for in-game items, with some spending hours to obtain rare drops.
• A Reddit thread highlights players' experiences with drop rates, questioning the game's 20% drop rate accuracy.

Nexon's The First Descendant has gotten off to a truly polarizing start. The game is performing well, constantly above a whopping 150k active players on Steam, peaking at nearly 240k, but that's not stopped players from complaining.

The First Descendant Review-In-Progress: It’s Time To Grind

Welcome back to the grind, it might just be the new era of PvE co-op shooters.

Upon launch, players declared that they were already "done" with the title, with some stating that the monetization practices and microtransactions were "disgusting," "predatory," and "the worst MTX I've seen in a long while." Now, after having a little longer with it, The First Descendant's drop rates have been called into question, with some players spending hours to get items that should reportedly drop 20% of the time.

The First Descendant's Drop Rates

The First Descendant's Drop Rates came up semi-frequently on the game's first day after launch, with a smattering of comments hitting a multitude of Reddit threads; however, as more people progress through the game, the problem is only becoming more prominent.

To unlock new characters, or Descendants as they're called in the game, players need to farm a variety of items. Many of these items are commonplace around the world, but others require a little more luck, with players needing to complete whole missions for a chance at something to drop one in five times. Supposedly.

A Reddit thread that claims the 20% drop rate is "cap" has dozens of players sharing similar experiences. The post's original author says they've spent over 5 hours replaying the same mission, "and not once has it dropped the singular piece I actually need." And they're not alone.

One user claimed it took them 17 runs to get an item with a 20% drop rate, adding, "The 20% is a fib if you ask me." Another felt that the "20% felt like 2%." The thread continues with players sharing how many runs it took them to get said item, with 12, 15, 19, 30 and "roughly 50" cropping up.

While many people have flocked to the thread to share their experiences, others are there to preach the good word of RNG, explaining that just because an item has a 20% drop rate, it doesn't mean you're guaranteed to get it within five runs.

Not Nexon's First Rodeo

One comment in the aforementioned Reddit thread told players, "It's Nexon, so don't trust the drop rates." And they make a fair point.

Earlier this year, the Korean company was fined nearly $9 million for changing the probabilities of some of the premium loot boxes in two of its games, Maple Story and Bubble Fighter. Whether it would make the same, though, expensive mistake twice remains to be seen.

The First Descendant

WHERE TO PLAY

The First Descendant is a next-generation third-person co-op action RPG looter shooter featuring high-quality graphics created in Unreal Engine 5.

Players become a Descendant whose mission is to combat alien invaders – The Vulgus who crossed dimensions over 100 years ago and brought with them the devastating Colossi and destruction – for the survival of humanity and to protect Albion and the continent of Ingris. Players will encounter spectacular stories of forces fighting over the Iron Heart as they grow stronger through various missions and raids.

Encounter features that make The First Descendant's gameplay unique: a variety of characters with unique concepts and combat styles, massive boss battles with up to four player co-op, free movement and coordinated action with grappling hooks, a variety of weapons and compelling customization options.