The First Descendant’s next major content update is now coming even earlier, and we got our first look at the new Descendants

The Thirst Descendant continues its inexorable march forward with an earlier release planned for Update 5.

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What you need to know

What you need to know

Nexon isn’t even attempting to combat “The Thirst Descendant” from becoming the new, official title ofThe First Descendantnow that we’ve gotten our first look at Ultimate Valby and one of Luna’s premium outfits, but I’m jumping the gun here. Players of this hit free-to-play MMORPG looter shooter have been waiting eagerly for the first major content updatefollowing weeks of rapid-fire patches, and now the wait is even shorter.

The First Descendant team at Nexon has announced that Update 5, which includes a ton of new features and improvements, is now arriving across Xbox, Windows PC, and PlayStation a dayearlier. Instead of Aug. 1, players will be able to access the new content on July 31, 2024. It’s not often we see developers push out games or updates early, so this was a nice surprise. Oh, and Nexon gave us our first look at some of the new content. Let’s dive in.

📢Big News: The Week 5 Update is coming to Albion a day earlierBe ready to dive into the crystal-clear waves with Ult Valby on 7/31! 🌊✨ pic.twitter.com/chXjRybAsuJuly 26, 2024

To begin, Nexon gave us our very first look at Ultimate Valby, one of two new Descendants coming in Update 5. Valby has quickly become one of the more popular Descendants thanks to her versatile area-of-effect abilities and usefulness for farming, and her Ultimate variant will have improved defensive stats and some exclusive Transcendent Modules for players to discover. She also boasts a new look, which is… A little more revealing than Valby’s normal (already skin-tight) suit.

Players will likely be able to purchase Ultimate Valby with real-world money, but should also be able to earn her entirely in-game (albeit with a lot of grinding and patience). We don’t know just how much stronger Ultimate Valby will be versus her standard variant, but wedoknow that Valby is one of three Descendants getting a buff with Update 5. AoE specialists Freyna, Blair, and Valby are all becoming more powerful and effective at taking on groups of Vulgus in the next release.

While we’re talking about buffs, Nexon is also improving the potency of several Ultimate Weapons with enhanced critical rate and damage or Unique Abilities. Hopefully, thesebuffs won’t come with all the controversial miscommunication of previous updates.

Check out Luna in her stunning new swimsuit cosmetic 🎶 Stay tuned for the next update! pic.twitter.com/PwDIHb7Vf2July 26, 2024

Next, we have Luna. Poor translation aside, this gives us a little more info on Luna as a Descendant and reveals one of her premium cosmetic outfits. Yes, it’s a bikini. Yes, The Thirst Descendant is real. We do already know a little about Luna and how she plays, though. Luna is a support-type Descendant, able to buff allies with musical abilities. She will also have options to become more offensive, too, although we’ll have to wait for players to experiment to see what kind of builds we’ll be able to run with.

Luna did play a role in the main campaign of The First Descendant, so players weren’t too surprised to see her appear as the firstnewplayable Descendant. Sound-based abilities always have the potential to be incredibly fun, though, so I’m definitely interested to see how viable Luna is when she arrives with Update 5.

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Beside the two new Descendants and their respective unique Modules, Update 5 is also bringing the Peace Mediator, a new Hand Cannon Unique Weapon, and Arche Concretion, a new Unique Module that’s perfect for support-type Descendants that don’t mind trading some attack potency for superior defense and support capabilities.

Nexon is adding the first new Colossi to the game, too, with Gluttony. This Intercept Battle will require players to carefully manage this Colossi’s endless greed and hunger while also persevering against its brutal cooling systems. Defeating Gluttony will be how players can earn new Ultimate Weapons and components.

The First Descendant’s Update 5 will also include unspecified quality-of-life improvements and other changes, so I’m interested to see what that entails. Of course, a bunch of new cosmetics are coming in this update, too, including ones that “players have been waiting for,” which may refer to cosmetics that were shown off during The First Descendant beta but are not currently available in the game.

Either way, Update 5 is rolling out to all The First Descendant players on July 31, 2024, acrossXbox Series X|S, Windows PC, andPlayStation 5.

The First Descendant —Free at Microsoft Store (Xbox)|Steam (PC)

Explore a sci-fi world pitting the remnants of humanity against the terrifying might of the Vulgus and the mysterious Colossi. Refine your abilities with over a dozen powerful, diverse characters in this free-to-play, MMORPG looter shooter.

Zachary Boddy (They / Them) is a Staff Writer for Windows Central, primarily focused on covering the latest news in tech and gaming, the best Xbox and PC games, and the most interesting Windows and Xbox hardware. They have been gaming and writing for most of their life starting with the original Xbox, and started out as a freelancer for Windows Central and its sister sites in 2019. Now a full-fledged Staff Writer, Zachary has expanded from only writing about all things Minecraft to covering practically everything on which Windows Central is an expert, especially when it comes to Microsoft. You can find Zachary on Twitter@BoddyZachary.