To unlock every achievement in The First Descendant, finish the full campaign, recruit and upgrade Descendants, research weapons through Anais, raise equipment to level 40, and clear Void Intercept battles. The fastest route is to complete Albion's story progression first, then clean up research, mastery, module, co-op, and boss-related achievements with a properly upgraded build.
Finish the Campaign and Albion Progression
Start with the main quest rather than farming random missions. The story moves through Kingston, Sterile Land, Vespers, Echo Swamp, Agna Desert, White-night Gulch, and Hagios before sending you into the endgame. Completing these zones unlocks practical progression systems as well as campaign achievements such as Beginning of the Journey, Get a foothold in Albion, No Hope for Peace, and The Final Wish.
Do not abandon regional quests after the main objective marker disappears. Several systems open through Albion NPCs, including Research, Modules, Weapon Enhancement, and the Descendant menu. Speak with Anais after every major story milestone and check Seneca when Void Intercept Battles become available. If a mission appears greyed out, advance the campaign or complete the adjacent regional objective instead of repeatedly restarting the activity.
Normal difficulty is enough for most campaign unlocks. Save Hard Mode for farming and boss cleanup; rushing it with an under-leveled weapon creates a longer grind because enemies scale sharply and basic modules will not provide enough survivability.
Unlock and Upgrade Multiple Descendants
Descendant-related achievements are easiest when you treat every new character as a research project. The first additional Descendants normally come from story rewards and early materials, while later blueprints come from specific missions, Void Intercept rewards, and Amorphous Material Patterns. Use Anais's Research menu to track the exact requirements for each blueprint instead of dismantling materials blindly.
Prioritize accessible Descendants
Build a useful roster before chasing Ultimate variants. Bunny is excellent for clearing missions because her Electricity Emission and Lightning Emission skills damage nearby enemies while moving. Ajax provides barriers and defensive utility for boss attempts. Freyna spreads poison through Toxic Trauma and Contagion, making her effective in dense objective missions. Viessa controls groups with Chill effects, while Gley becomes valuable once you understand her HP-based resource management.
After researching a Descendant, equip a reactor and modules, then raise the character to level 40. Descendant levels reset when you use a Crystallization Catalyst, so do not apply catalysts casually while trying to complete achievement requirements. The useful milestone is a fully leveled roster with at least one strong mob-clear character and one durable boss character.
Achievements including The Ultimate Descendant, The Only Thing Better Than One, and The Best Things Come in Threes should be checked directly in the Steam overlay after their conditions appear complete. Some unlock when the research finishes; others trigger only after you claim the completed item from Anais and equip or register it.
Research Weapons and Build Mastery
For weapon achievements, use the Workbench and Anais rather than relying only on random drops. Research weapons such as Thunder Cage, Enduring Legacy, Afterglow Sword, Greg's Reversed Fate, and Python. Thunder Cage is the best early farming choice because its rounds can trigger an area explosion, while Enduring Legacy is a strong machine gun for Colossi.
Weapon levels are tied to the weapon itself, not simply the weapon category. At the Workbench, use Weapon Level Transmission to move a higher-level weapon's level onto the gun you want to keep. This prevents you from carrying a weak level-one Thunder Cage through late-game missions. Raise the weapon to level 40, install a weapon module, and enhance at least one module to make the loadout meaningfully stronger.
The achievement The Most Powerful Weapon is most efficiently pursued with a weapon you already use for campaign farming. Upgrade rifling, fire-rate, elemental, and critical modules only after checking capacity. Socket a Crystallization Catalyst when the gun is level 40 and you are ready to repeat the leveling cycle. Weapon Master and related mastery progress are easier to finish by rotating several weapons instead of forcing one gun through every activity.
Use the official The First Descendant Steam page for the current achievement list, because Nexon can add achievements with seasonal updates. Steam's global achievement percentage is also useful for identifying the exact milestone you have not triggered.
Clear Void Intercept Boss Achievements
Void Intercept Battles are the most demanding part of the completion route. Start with Grave Walker, then progress through Dead Bride, Executioner, Devourer, Pyromaniac, and Swamp Walker. Later encounters include Obstructer, Frost Walker, Molten Fortress, and Gley's Executioner-style higher-tier fights depending on the current update.
Use the correct counter for each Colossus
Study the boss's elemental weakness before launching. Dead Bride is vulnerable to Fire, Pyromaniac is vulnerable to Chill, and Devourer is vulnerable to Electric. Match your weapon's attribute module to the weakness, but do not sacrifice weapon level or core damage for a small elemental bonus. For most players, a level-100 weapon with a strong Firearm ATK build performs better than an underdeveloped weakness-specific gun.
Target the yellow removable parts around the helmet, shoulders, chest, and knees. Grapple when a part turns yellow, hold on until the stability prompt appears, and stop attacking if teammates are trying to stun the boss. When the Colossus enters its enraged state, destroy the glowing weak points instead of shooting armor. Against Devourer, eliminate the four healing stations quickly; leaving them active allows the boss to recover a large portion of its health.
For Frost Walker and Molten Fortress, follow the arena mechanic rather than treating the battle as a damage race. Revive teammates safely, stay outside red telegraphs, and save heavy cooldowns for exposed parts. This is also where Ajax's barriers, Bunny's mobility, and Freyna's sustained damage can complement one another. Boss achievements usually register after the results screen, so remain in the mission until the return prompt appears.
Complete the Final Cleanup Efficiently
Once the campaign, research, and Colossi are finished, use Albion as your checklist headquarters. Open the map and rotate activities that provide missing materials instead of farming one mission without a target. Amorphous Patterns list their possible rewards, and the Acquisition Info screen shows which mission or Void Intercept drops the pattern. This turns Ultimate Descendant and Ultimate weapon research into a planned route.
For achievements involving modules, install upgrades on both a Descendant and a weapon. Module capacity increases when you enhance a reactor, install an Energy Activator, or use a catalyst to match socket types. A practical early setup is Increased HP, Increased DEF, and a resistance module on the Descendant; Rifling Reinforcement, Action and Reaction, and a fitting elemental module on the weapon.
Keep one co-op session for achievements that require another player or are easier with a squad. Use public matchmaking for Void Intercepts, but communicate before destroying grapple points and assign revives during enraged phases. If an achievement does not appear, return to Albion, change zones, and reopen the Steam overlay. Also verify that the game is online and fully patched.
Check Nexon's official The First Descendant site for seasonal achievement changes and official support for tracking issues. For comparable completion routes, Steamoz's Monster Hunter Wilds achievement guide and Dead by Daylight achievement guide use the same campaign-first, cleanup-second approach.
The reliable order is simple: finish every story region, research several Descendants, level and enhance core weapons, defeat each available Void Intercept boss, then clean up module, mastery, and co-op milestones. Claim completed research rewards and wait through mission results, and The First Descendant's achievement list becomes a structured progression plan rather than an uncontrolled material grind.