0 Comments 
On October 30, The First Descendant got a major update that brought some considerable improvements. Everyone was looking forward to the Reactor changes which finally addressed the infamous Weapon Mountings, and we also got a new option to change your Player Name. Finally, along with some minor fixes, Nexon made some changes to Defense missions, which turned out to be way more popular than anyone expected, and The First Descendant fans love them.
Defense Operations Are the Best Leveling Missions in The First Descendant Now
According to the latest update, the Defense missions, the ones found in Kingston, Echo Swamp, and Fortress, have been tweaked to be shorter but more action-packed, with more monsters spawning in each wave. Additionally, you will get bonus Weapon XP at the end of each stage. This resulted in Defense missions now being the best place to farm XP, both for Descendants and weapons.
The players love them, and YouTubers already offer great guides on how to farm those Defense missions most efficiently. They are just like 400% Invasions, but way shorter. “And I just wasted 3 hours doing heart of the fortress” commented one player. The only downside to these Defense missions, compared to 400% Invasions, is that they offer no loot, like weapons or Modules, just Shards and XP (and end-of-the-stage rewards). “0-34 weapon leveling in 8 mins,” said Ukis4boys.
But They Are Far From Perfect
However, others are more skeptical, saying that these updates are not going to raise the player count, and that they have to be a bit harder. “There needs to be difficulty. Freyna and Bunny should not be shutting down the entire map so that not only are non Freyna and Bunny don’t get a chance to do anything but MOBS are not even doing anything,” said eden-star.
Some suggest that making them more engaging (as everything but the last couple of Waves is a breeze) would make Defenses even better and bring more players back. “I kind of wish they were more engaging like the last few waves. Maybe a boss after each fight so everyone feels like they’re doing something in all the waves…Feels like a step in the right direction in making the mode somewhat more fun but if they geared to be exactly like the end with all the bosses but in more waves instead of the end, more people will probably do it.” suggested Sn1pe.
In any case, the improvements for the Defense missions are a step in the right direction for sure, and Nexon can easily tweak them in the future. But for now, we finally got an easy way to level up that is not time-consuming.