The Best Weapons in The First Descendant (1.4.x Patch, Late 2026)
The S-tier weapons that actually carry — Thunder Cage, Restored Relic, Albion Cavalry Gun, Secret Garden, Last Dagger — with their unique abilities, which Descendant each shines on, and why weapon cores matter as much as the gun.
In TFD your weapon has to match your Descendant’s element and skill focus, and the weapon cores you roll matter almost as much as the gun itself — a missing fire-rate core can literally halve a weapon’s fire rate. As of the current 1.4.x patch (late 2026), these are the weapons worth building toward.
The mobbing king: Thunder Cage
The Thunder Cage (submachine gun) is the easiest S-tier weapon to acquire and the best for clearing groups and farming. Its unique ability, Overcharge, makes a kill trigger an electric shockwave at up to 50% of your firearm attack to everything around it (1.2m radius at max), and reloading grants a big movement-speed boost. Pair it with Action and Reaction and Rifling Reinforcement mods. If you are new, this is the first weapon to max — it carries you through every Infiltration and Special Operation.
The no-aim AoE: Restored Relic
The Restored Relic (launcher) fires guided rounds — you barely have to aim, and it is the strongest pure AoE weapon in the game. It is the core of Infinite-Ammo Gley builds and a safe pick on almost any Descendant for group content.
The bossing / aerial pick: Albion Cavalry Gun
The Albion Cavalry Gun is the best all-rounder for Serena’s aerial play: its core setup lets you slot three fire-rate cores and two attribute-damage cores, and it has strong multi-hit values. It works for both mobbing and bossing. Ancient Knight is the Serena alternative built for Colossus bosses.
The single-target burst: Last Dagger
The Last Dagger (hand cannon) is a pure single-target nuke — built for burst on Nell (Shattered Heart) and Hailey weak-point sniping. It needs to be fully enhanced to shine, but the ceiling is the highest in the game for bosses.
The “stat stick”: Secret Garden
The Secret Garden (tactical rifle) is a skill-power amplifier. Its Technical Deployment grants Tech Knowledge stacks on skill use that boost Skill Power, and firearm hits spend those stacks to boost gun damage. On Bunny, Freyna, and Ajax you often don’t even fire it — it just buffs your abilities. It is mandatory for skill-focused descendants.
The skill descendant favorites
- Malevolent — spreads blades across many targets; a beast for any mobbing build.
- Afterglow Sword (sniper) — weak-point focus; the Colossus boss-melter with Hailey or Viessa (Gluttony, Deathstalker).
- Peace Maker (hand cannon) — crit hits build Bullet Hail stacks that crank fire rate; strong on Freyna and Hailey.
A-tier and budget
- Peace Maker, Enduring Legacy, Blue Beetle are solid A-tier / budget starters if you have not reached the S-tier grind yet.
- Smithereens and Excava are situational C-tier.
The one thing to remember
Build Thunder Cage first — it is easy to get and clears everything. Then match weapons to Descendants: Restored Relic for Gley, Secret Garden for Bunny/Freyna/Ajax, Albion Cavalry Gun / Ancient Knight for Serena, Last Dagger / Peace Maker for Hailey/Nell. And roll fire-rate cores — they decide whether an S-tier gun actually performs.