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The First Descendant is now in its first Season and with it, it introduced a new game mode called Invasion. It’s where the Vulgus invade boss dungeons, offering you an alternative gameplay path. As you might have expected, this is an endgame game mode, meaning it’s difficult to a certain degree. Thus, I’ve prepared a guide on everything you need to know about Invasion dungeons in The First Descendant and how to complete them.
Unlocking Invasions in The First Descendant
Before anything, you need to ensure that you meet the requirements for Invasions. Here are the requirements and the step-by-step process:
- Finish the main storyline.
- Ensure that you’ve unlocked Hard mode on the open-world map.
- Finish the “How to Hide the Truth” mission and its subsequent missions.
- What The Destruction Left Behind
- Technology and Power
- Necessary Evil
- A Measure to Enhance The Descendant’s Capabilities
- Altered Design
- Inversion Reinforcement Device
- Isolated Descendant in The Snowfield
- Once that’s done, open the map and check for regions marked with the red hue. Those are the Invasion areas.
Invasions Explained
Invasions are basically puzzle-based solo missions. There are three types depending on the faction that’s launching the Invasion:
Faction | Activity |
---|---|
Legion of Darkness | Tile color-matching puzzle |
Order of Truth | Drone symbol matching puzzle |
Legion of Immortality | Artificial Brain collection |
These factions and their respective Invasion puzzles will be on a rotational availability. Invasions will share an area with the Infiltration missions, and you can select one or the other. Invasions will typically be up for 24 hours before rotating to another faction.
To access Invasions fast, here’s a step-by-step instruction.
- Go to Albion if you aren’t there already.
- Go to the Infiltration Operations Terminal (beside the Mailbox robot).
- Open the Terminal (select Hard) to reveal the Infiltration missions, and select the red areas with the Invasion icon.
- You’ll be prompted with a choice between Infiltration or Invasion, select Invasion, of course.
This will instantly teleport you to the area where you have to complete the Invasion. Completing it in a set threshold of time (and faster) can yield better rewards. Knowing how the mechanics work for each of the three Invasion types will also help you complete it faster and avoid frustrations.
Legion of Darkness (Tile Color-Matching Puzzle) Invasion Guide
This is likely the fastest Invasion type in The First Descendant. You’ve learned all about it in the mission for Hailey. All you have to do is match and unlock the tiles on the ground that match the colors and symbols on the door (and the boss). Here’s how it works:
- Stand on the circular tiles to reveal their color.
- Activate tiles with the same color and pattern as the ones on the locked door.
- For the boss, take note of its color, stand on the corresponding tile of the same color, and then shoot the boss.
You also don’t have to randomly try out the tiles. You can reveal the tile colors by standing on the elevated transparent tile platform. After that, just remember the colors and activate those tiles. Note that there are enemies that can deactivate a revealed tile. They usually have an exclamation mark on their head, so prioritize killing them.
For additional tips, consider the following for Legion of Darkness Invasions:
- Bring Gley with a Rocket-spam or unlimited-ammo build
- Ajax is also a good alternative
- Bring a long-range weapon to deal with the enemies with exclamation marks
Order of Truth (Drone Symbol-Matching Puzzle) Invasion Guide
This one is the most notorious out of all the Invasion mission types in The First Descendant. Here’s how it works, I’ll let you be the judge of how tedious it is:
- Don’t activate the drone yet or you will die if you activate the wrong drone.
- Go near one of the covered pillars.
- Shoot the pillar covers to reveal the symbol. Remember its symbol.
- Shoot four pillars and remember the symbols on each of them.
- Find and activate the drone that has ALL of the four symbols revealed on each of the pillars.
- Pick up the special gun that the drone will drop.
- Shoot the locked door.
- If the timer runs out before you destroy the door, you will have to do the puzzle again to get the special gun.
- Do the same for the boss.
All of this is happening while hordes of enemies are attacking you, by the way. If you activate the wrong drone, that’s an instant death and a reduction in your maximum death count. It’s a ridiculously annoying activity for a solo player, but it’s not impossible.
For that matter, here are some tips to help you finish this ordeal:
- Bunny is the ideal Descendant here
- Bring a precise weapon
- You might want to note down or draw the exact symbols on paper
Legion of Immortality (Artificial Brain Collection) Invasion Guide
The Legion of Immortality is likely the second easiest out of all the Invasion types. It’s also the most straightforward. All you have to do is the following:
- Kill enemies, and pick up their Artificial Brain drops.
- Bring the drops to the terminal until the green bar is full.
- Destroy the invulnerability lock on the door.
- It works similarly for the boss.
The only problem is that you need to do this fast (One minute) or the terminal will reset and lose its green bar progress. So you need a Descendant that kills small enemies fast and runs fast. Who else could that be?
- Bring Bunny
- Use the Long Distance Maneuvering mod