Reactors are the backbone of your power progression in The First Descendant, empowering your skills and weapons to make sure you’re always ahead of the game and ready for action. Whether you’re new to the game or looking to optimize your build, my guide will show you everything you need to know about farming, enhancing, and implanting reactors. From skill boosts to weapon mounting, I’ll share insights from my own experience to help you make the most of this important gameplay mechanic.
Complete Guide to Reactors – Farming, Enhancing & Implanting
Reactors in The First Descendant are essential components that amplify your power by aligning with a Descendant’s skills and weapons. Their main roles include:
- Skill Boost – Enhances skill power based on attributes.
- Optimization Condition – Matches weapon types to further boost skills.
- Substats – Adds critical bonuses like cooldown reduction and crit rates.
Example: Pairing the right reactor can boost skill power by 160% when matched correctly with weapons.
Reactors can be enhanced up to level 5 for better performance, but this can be resource-intensive, so focus on top-tier reactors.
Choosing the Right Reactor
To optimize your Descendant’s performance, start by analyzing their abilities. Review each skill to determine its type—whether it’s Electric Infusion (for instance for Sharon)—and identify which ones are damage-dealing and which are utility-focused.
Focus primarily on damage-dealing abilities, as these benefit the most from reactor boosts. Next, select the best reactor by looking for one that enhances the primary damage-dealing skills. Check the Skill Power Boost Ratio in the reactor details to ensure it provides boosts that align with your Descendant’s abilities.
Once you’ve selected a reactor, confirm its compatibility by verifying that it matches the main abilities’ damage types and supports the required skill categories to maximize performance. Finally, choose a reactor that complements your Descendant’s abilities, double-check skill power enhancements, and review substats to fully optimize their combat potential.
Weapon Mounting Explained
By default, reactors come with one weapon mounting. For example, a reactor might have a handgun weapon group mounting. If your equipped weapon doesn’t match this mounting, the reactor’s optimization condition won’t be met, and you’ll only get 100% skill power. However, if you equip the correct weapon type, it activates the mounting, giving you a boost—such as increasing skill power to 160%.
To maximize performance, always pair your reactor with weapons that match its mounting type. Additionally, reactors can be upgraded to support up to three different weapon groups. This means you can switch between weapons, and as long as one matches the mounting, you’ll retain the full skill power boost.
For example, if a reactor supports sniper rifles, scout rifles, and beam rifles, equipping any of these will meet the optimization condition and maintain maximum performance. This flexibility ensures that no matter which weapon you’re using, your reactor’s bonus remains active.
If you need to add another mounting type—like a hand cannon—you can customize the reactor to support it. Keep in mind that handguns and hand cannons are treated as different weapon types, so you’ll need to set up the mounting accordingly to make sure that it’s compatible and maintain optimal performance.
How to Implant a Weapon Mount on a Reactor
To add a weapon mount to your reactor, follow these steps:
- Access the Workbench:
Go to the workbench and select the “Implant Reactor” option. - Choose the Reactor to Upgrade:
Select the reactor you want to enhance. Make sure it’s the one you plan to keep and upgrade, as this process is permanent. - Select a “Donor” Reactor:
Pick another reactor that has the weapon group mounting you need (e.g., Hand Cannon). Ideally, choose a reactor you don’t need—perhaps one with poor stats or mismatched abilities. - Implant the Weapon Group:
The “donor” reactor will be consumed during the process, and its weapon mounting type will be added to your main reactor. For example, if the donor reactor has a Hand Cannon mount, this will now be added alongside your existing mount (e.g., Handgun). - Confirm the Implant:
Once implanted, your reactor will support multiple weapon types, allowing flexibility in weapon choices without sacrificing performance boosts.
Notes About Implanting Reactors
Implant Wisely! Only upgrade reactors that you’re sure about—preferably ones with strong stats and abilities that fit your playstyle. This ensures you’re investing in the right reactor for long-term use.
Also, save implants for reactors with top-tier stats (often called “God Roll” reactors) or those that are very close to perfect. Prioritize reactors you plan to fully enhance and upgrade to Level 5. Moreover, add mounts based on the weapons you use most—such as Sniper Rifles, Beam Rifles, or Hand Cannons—to maximize combat effectiveness.
Implanting weapon mounts is costly, so use this feature strategically to create the ultimate reactor setup for your preferred weapons and abilities.
How To Enhance Reactor
Enhancing your reactor is a critical step in boosting its performance, but it can be costly, so it’s important to plan carefully. Here’s how it works:
- Access the Enhancement Menu:
Go to the enhancement section and select the reactor you have equipped. - Upgrade Levels:
- Enhancements increase the reactor’s power by leveling it up.
- Levels 1 and 2 are straightforward and were available in the base game.
- Levels 3 to 5 were introduced in Season 2 and require rare materials.
- Required Materials:
- Level 1: 5 Precise Iron Accelerators – Easy to obtain.
- Level 2: 15 Precise Iron Accelerators – Still manageable.
- Level 3: 20 Precise Iron Accelerators + U-Dimension Analyzer – Costs start to rise significantly.
- Level 4: 60 Precise Iron Accelerators – Requires more farming.
- Level 5: 140 Precise Iron Accelerators – Extremely expensive and resource-intensive.
- When to Upgrade Beyond Level 2:
- Carefully Evaluate the Reactor: Only enhance reactors with perfect or near-perfect stats (often called “God Rolls”).
- Focus on Long-Term Use: Ensure the reactor fits your playstyle and weapon choices before investing heavily.
- Endgame Priority: Treat enhancements above Level 2 as a late-game activity reserved for your best reactors.
- Implant Considerations:
- Implanting additional weapon mounts or enhancements should only be done on reactors you are fully committed to upgrading.
- Enhancements and implants combined can make a reactor highly versatile and powerful but at a steep resource cost.
Notes About Enhancing Reactors
Make sure that you prioritize reactors that align with your abilities and weapons to make the investment worthwhile. Also, stockpile materials like Precise Iron Accelerators and U-Dimension Analyzers to prepare for upgrades. Lastly, focus enhancements on reactors with ideal stats and weapon mounts to avoid wasting valuable resources.
Reactor enhancement is a long-term process meant for late-game optimization, so approach it strategically to create the perfect build for your Descendant.
Reactor Sub-Stats Explained: What To Keep & Discard
Understanding reactor sub-stats can be overwhelming, but this section of the guide simplifies what to look for and what to avoid when optimizing your build.
Reactors come with sub-stats that affect performance; they’re pretty self-explanatory. Here are some examples:
- Fusion Skill Power Boost Ratio – Increases fusion skill effectiveness.
- Skill Cooldown Reduction – Reduces cooldown time for abilities.
- Additional Attack vs. Colossus – Boosts damage against Colossus enemies.
- Skill Critical Hit Damage – Enhances critical damage output.
- Skill Effect Range – Expands ability range.
- Tech Skill Power – Boosts tech-based skills.
- Singular Skill Power – Improves singular abilities
What To Look For
When optimizing your reactor, prioritize sub-stats based on your build’s specific needs.
- Damage-Focused Builds should emphasize Singular Skill Power, Critical Hit Damage, and Skill Power Boost Ratio to maximize damage output. These stats directly enhance offensive capabilities, making them ideal for aggressive playstyles.
- Cooldown-Dependent Builds benefit the most from Cooldown Reduction, which enables faster skill rotations and better sustained damage or utility. This is especially useful for builds that rely heavily on frequent skill usage.
- Utility Builds should focus on stats like Skill Effect Range and Duration to enhance area coverage and prolong skill effects. These are ideal for builds centered around crowd control, support abilities, or AoE effects.
- If you’re using a Singular Skill Build, prioritize Singular Skill Power and Critical Hit Damage for consistent and powerful attacks.
- Similarly, Chill-Based Builds should focus on Chill Skill Power and Cooldown Reduction to maximize elemental damage and ability uptime.
What To Avoid
Certain sub-stats provide limited benefits and should generally be avoided unless they fit a specific niche strategy.
- HP Heal Modifier is often unnecessary as it offers minimal impact in combat. Builds relying on shields or damage mitigation gain little from healing-focused stats.
- Sub Attack (Melee Attack Boost) is not useful for ranged or skill-centric builds, making it a low-priority stat for most players.
- Additional Attack vs. Legion Factions boosts damage against specific enemies like the Legion of Darkness, Order of Truth, and Legion of Immortality. However, its situational nature limits its value, as it won’t provide consistent benefits outside encounters with these factions.
- Skill Cost Reduction lowers skill costs but has a negligible impact compared to offensive or cooldown-based enhancements, making it another stat to skip.
Avoid investing resources in these sub-stats unless they align perfectly with your strategy and prioritize universally valuable stats instead.
Matching Descendants with Reactors (Elements)
Reactors are often tied to elemental builds, such as Fire, Chill, Electric, and Toxic. It’s crucial to match the reactor’s element and skill type with your chosen descendant to ensure maximum synergy.
For instance, some builds focus on Chill-Based Skills, so prioritizing Chill Power Boost and Singular Skill Power will deliver optimal results. Avoid reactors with Fire, Electric, or Toxic bonuses, as these won’t apply to Chill-based builds.
Tip: Recent updates have improved reactor drops to make sure their elements match your build, reducing mismatched rolls. However, secondary sub-stats like Fusion or Singular Skill Power may still need refining if you want to achieve peak performance.
By aligning your reactor’s stats with your descendant’s strengths, you can create a more efficient and powerful build tailored to your playstyle.
How to Farm Reactors for Your Descendant
Farming reactors for your Descendant is actually quite straightforward once you know the steps. Here’s a quick guide to help you get the right reactors for your build:
- Select the Right Difficulty
- Head to the map and press the G button to open the difficulty menu. Ensure that the difficulty is set to Hard.
- Choose Your Descendant and Skill Type
- Next, select your Descendant and the required skill type (for instance, Chill and Singular). You’ll see a list of reactors that match these criteria in the Storage tab.
- Start Farming
- Once you’re in the Storage area, pick a mission and run it. As you complete missions in this area, you’ll collect reactors corresponding to your selected skills (e.g., Chill and Singular).
- Manage Auto Dismantling
- Be careful with your Auto Dismantle settings. If you have a fast dog companion, it could dismantle reactors before you even have a chance to check them. It’s a good idea to disable Auto Dismantle while farming.
- Look for Gold-Grade Reactors
- During your runs, keep an eye out for reactors with gold rolls. These are your best bet since they offer better stats. You may need to run a few missions to find reactors that meet your requirements, as anything below gold will likely get dismantled.
- Check Reactor Quality
- After completing a mission, inspect the reactors you’ve collected. For instance:
- Fusion reactors are not ideal if you’re looking for Singular.
- Singular reactors with good stats (like Skill Power Boost Ratio and Cooldown) are the ones to keep.
- Avoid reactors with unnecessary abilities, like Legion of Darkness bonuses or additional Sub Attack that don’t fit your build.
- After completing a mission, inspect the reactors you’ve collected. For instance:
- Purple vs. Gold Reactors
- Purple reactors are capped at 140% power and don’t require a mounted weapon to equip, but gold reactors are generally better for maximizing your stats and power.
- Repeat the Process
- Farming for the perfect reactor takes time. Be prepared to repeat the process multiple times—5 to 10 runs is usually necessary to find a decent reactor.
- Dismantling Unwanted Reactors
- Once you’ve checked your reactors, dismantle the ones you don’t need, and be sure to disable Auto Dismantle if you’re using a fast companion.
Wrapping Up
Right now, I’m focused on finding the perfect reactor for my build. Ideally, I’m looking for a reactor that has the same core stats as the one I’m using, but with a slight improvement.
For example, I currently have a reactor that’s almost perfect but could be better with a higher-tier stat or a different roll. In this case, I have a 9/10 reactor with Additional Skill Attack and Singular Skill Power Boost Ratio in purple, but if I could get the Skill Power Boost Ratio in gold, it would make the reactor even better, allowing me to fully invest in it for my optimal build.
The challenge, though, is how tricky the game can get. As soon as you open your inventory to check the reactors, enemies spawn, so you’re constantly racing against time to review everything before they start attacking.
Anyway, that is all. I hope you found this guide about Reactors in The First Descendant helpful and easy to follow. I’ve tried to keep things as simple as possible, but if anything was confusing, feel free to ask in the comments below. Now that you understand the basics of farming reactors, you’ll be able to find the right ones for your Descendant’s build!
