What is weapon proficiency in The First Descendant?

Weapon proficiency is one of the grinders, but also an important facet of The First Descendant. It’s going to take some time with each of your weapons, so it’s going to be key to focus the grind on weapons that you care to use. This will be how you improve your weapons going forward into the game, now that it has officially launched. Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any way to make this faster.

Like the various classes (Descendants) available to you in The First Descendants, weapons also have a level, which is referred to in-game as weapon proficiency. If you’re looking to add some new effects or modules to your guns, here’s what you need to know.

---

What is the point of weapon proficiency in The First Descendant?

This will take time, but it's worth it to make your favorite guns better (Image via Nexon)

The First Descendants’ weapon proficiency is a level system put in place to show how far you’ve come with a particular weapon. Unfortunately, it isn’t a weapon type, but this grind is separate for every weapon you pick up in the game. That’s why it’s important to save this grind only for weapons you care about. Otherwise, you’re just needlessly grinding something that won’t benefit you later.

The weapon proficiency cap is level 40 for all weapons. Once you’ve reached that point, you can add an assortment of Module Socket Types to the weapon you’ve grinded up to level cap (40). This also requires a Crystallization Catalyst. This will unlock the ability for you to equip a new module for your weapon.

However, there’s a cost associated with adding one of these new module slots to your gun - it resets the weapon proficiency for that gun back to zero. If you want to add even more sockets to it, you’ll have to grind it back to level 40 all over again.

---

How to level up weapon proficiency in The First Descendant

As you can see, killing enemies goes a long way in building proficiency (Image via Nexon)

This part of the game is relatively easy, at least. If you want to improve weapon proficiency in The First Descendant, just play the game. Go around and shoot as many enemies as you can. The more EXP you grind up, the faster this will go up. Your level in the weapon of choice will go up as time goes on.

It’s crucial to only really grind guns you plan on using for a lengthy period. Otherwise, you upgrade them, add a new socket, and just switch them for another gun instead. In a game where there is so much grinding, you want to make sure you only grind the things that matter to you the most, like Ultimate Weapons.

---

Check out our other The First Descendant guides

• Exclusive Free PlayStation Plus Play Pack explained
• 5 things you should know before playing
• Pre-Season Battle Pass rewards