The First Descendant Invasion Dungeon puzzle guide

The First Descendant Season 1 extends its late-game through the introduction of Invasion Dungeons. These are solo-only Hard-Mode dungeon missions featuring exclusive bosses and all-new puzzles. Some of these puzzles are somewhat intuitive, while others can be head-scratchers due to vague in-game explanations.

In this handy guide for The First Descendant Invasion Dungeons, we will break down the solutions for all the puzzles we've seen so far.

How to solve Invasion Dungeon puzzles in The First Descendant

There are two types of puzzles exclusive to Invasion Dungeons that we have found so far in The First Descendant: drone explosions and pressure plates. The boss mechanics also inherit the type of puzzle you encounter in one of these dungeons, sharing the same gimmicks.

Below are details about each of these puzzle types, and how to circumnavigate them.

How to solve "Drone Explosion" puzzles in Invasion Dungeons

Drone explosion puzzles in Invasion Dungeons are explained very poorly by the in-game text. If you get into a dungeon with this puzzle type, each room will have three roaming drones with four symbols hovering over them.

A 90-second timer will start as soon as you step into the room, after which everything will explode. Only one of the drones will have a "correct" symbol sequence, and staying in its radius will protect you from it.

Shoot the pillars, reveal the symbol, memorize their place in the sequence (Image via Nexon)

There will be up to five hovering pillars in the room with tumor-like growths on them. They contain four horizontal slots, and they can contain up to one symbol on one of these slots. You can shoot these growths to reveal the symbol within. Note the following nuances:

One or two of the pillars will have no symbols on them at all.
If a pillar has a symbol on a slot, no other pillar will have a symbol on that slot. So, if you find a symbol on the uppermost slot of a pillar, don't bother with uncovering that slot for other pillars.

The symbols on these pillars represent the "correct" pattern, i.e. the right symbol and their position in the correct sequence. The drone with this "correct" pattern is what will protect you. Essentially, your job comes down to identifying the right drone and staying under it. Also, note the following points about the drones:

The drones can be activated to trigger the explosion prematurely before the timer expires. You can and ideally should use this providence if you've guessed the correct order.
The symbol sequence is laterally reversible, i.e. the symbol indicated on a pillar's uppermost slot can correspond to either the left-most or right-most symbol on the "correct" drone.

After you survive an explosion by guessing correctly, the drone will leave behind an Inversion Energy Emitter. This is a projectile weapon you have to shoot at the Malignant Tumors, i.e. the eyes on the door blocking your path to destroy them.

Shoot at it point-blank (Image via Nexon)

The weapon only holds six shots, and each eye takes three successful hits to destroy. In other words, you must do the puzzle twice for each room to destroy three eyes and unlock the door.

If you die either from the explosion or enemy fire, all the patterns reset, and you have to do it all over again. We recommend that you bring a naturally durable Descendant, and/or have a high amount of HP and DEF to withstand enemy forces while you solve the puzzle.

Malignant Call of the Vrignid boss guide

The boss for a dungeon with a drone explosion puzzle type will be Call of the Vrignid, a shade with fiery abilities. Making this boss vulnerable is the same as doing the puzzles you have done so far.

Shoot the boss with the Inversion Energy Emitter to open it up to damage (Image via Nexon)

Guess the correct pattern and stand under the correct drone when the explosion takes place. Afterwards, pick up the newfound Inversion Energy Emitter, and shoot the flaming sphere of Malignant Call of the Vrignid with it. A few shots make it vulnerable to regular damage, so you can start shooting the usual way.

If the yellow bar under the boss depletes, it regains its invulnerability. Rinse and repeat the same process as before to open it up to damage again.

Also Read: The First Descendant's Inversion Reinforcement mechanic, explained

How to solve Pressure Plate rooms in Invasion Dungeons

If you've unlocked Invasion Dungeons, you have already played through an example of the pressure plate puzzles in The First Descendant's Season 1 questline. The concept is simple: the energy barrier in your path will display three colors. Your goal is to simultaneously activate three pressure plates of these designated colors.

Note the colors on the door (Image via Nexon)

You have to stand on a pressure plate until the circle around it fills up, and its color will be revealed. Keep in mind the following:

When you first step in the room, the objective pointer will direct you to a floating disc. Standing on top of this temporarily displays the colors of all the pressure plates.
Marked enemies can deactivate a pressure plate, and change its color.
Activating a fourth pressure plate simultaneously will deactivate the first one in the queue.

There's no correct order to push these pressure plates; just activating the three correct ones will unlock the barrier immediately. The solution is conceptually simple, it's the busywork that complicates it.

There are two things you want to do. Firstly, identify and remember the position of a pressure plate that does have a color shown on the barrier. Secondly, snipe enemies with red exclamation marks on them as soon as one spawns, as these will actively seek out and reset a pressure plate.

All about the coloring (Image via Nexon)

The boss in this type of Invasion Dungeon will also have a pressure plate mechanic. To defeat this boss, you need to pop their shield first. Identify the color of their shield, find a pressure plate in the arena with that color, and stand on it before you start shooting at the boss. Once the shield pops, all regular ways to damage enemies work.

We'll update this article as we discover more puzzle types in Invasion Dungeons. Until then, check out our other guides on The First Descendant:

Edited by Ritoban "Veloxi" Paul