The First Descendant Guide | Best Gley Build

Here's a guide on the best Gley Build in The First Descendant.

Game Guide by Ragib Rawnak on Aug 07, 2025

Gley's gameplay choices have undergone significant changes since she received major updates and buffs.

This guide focuses on the best build combinations, such as the main weapon platform build and a few skill-focused variations on it.

The First Descendant Guide, Best Gley Build

Weapon Build

Gley's gun performance is optimized in this build, making it her best configuration for most materials. This setup is what you'll use 90% of the time because Gley excels at equipping herself with powerful buffs and unlimited ammo in The First Descendant.

Setting up the Modules

The main change is that your transcendent module will now be Predator Instinct instead of the Massive Sanguification Module. Predator Instinct has undergone significant improvements, and now, when you fire guns while in its enhanced state, it does more damage.

This module used to have problems working with guns that weren't automatic, but it now works reliably with all types of weapons.

Increased HP and Stim Accelerant are two of your core tools. Gley is a descendant who focuses on life points and uses them to cast abilities. Building up a lot of HP makes you more likely to survive and use your abilities in The First Descendant.

You can keep your third ability up all the time with MP Conversion and Nimble Fingers because they significantly reduce cooldowns.

With the way things are set up now, the third ability has a 9.8-second cooldown and a 9.7-second length. When these numbers stay within 0.5 seconds of each other, they form a loop that keeps the infinite ammunition level steady.

Skill Extension and Maximize period make the period of your third ability longer. Maximize Duration works excellently for this build because it's focused on guns and doesn't need skill power mods.

Shock Shot Focus increases the guns' damage output. When you roll, Accelerated Drive Shaft makes your life better by significantly increasing your fire rate.

Because rolling is a regular part of the game, you'll use this action a lot to temporarily increase your damage.

HP Collector makes sure you can keep going by healing you whenever you kill an enemy during a two-second pause. This prevents cases where low health prevents you from casting an ability.

Suggestions for weapons

The Restored Relic is one of the best mobbing weapons because it does a lot of damage when it hits. When mobbing, use Increased Radius and Ammo Optimization to do the most damage to a large area in The First Descendant.

The Restored Relic does some of the best multi-hit damage in the game, at 75%. This makes it perfect for builds that use multiple hits. This base number shows how well multi-hits work.

For example, the Restored Relic's 75% means that each multi-hit does three-quarters of the damage of your first shot.

Restored Relic Build Configuration

Action and Reaction, Rifle Reinforcement, and Charge Amplification are the powerful attack bonuses you use for mobbing. What does fire damage come from? Fire Priority and Fire Enhancement.

Multi-shot functions need Multi-Piercing Sights and Multi-Percussion Sights. Include changes to the fire rate to increase shot speed, since Gley can hold an infinite amount of ammunition.

The First Descendant Guide, Best Gley Build

There are three fire rate cores and two fire damage cores to choose from. For Void Erosion Purge fights, switch out Ammo Optimization for Multi-Bullet to focus on hitting a single target more than hitting a large area in The First Descendant.

Other than the fire damage that the Restored Relic already does, Multi-Bullet adds stacking multi-hit damage and damage-over-time effects.

For the most rigid Void Erosion Purge material, change Fire Enhancement to Chill and Fire Priority to Chill Priority to make this a weapon that focuses on chill.

The Executor, the Last Dagger, and the Malevolent are some other weapons that Gley can use. Each has its own mod and core settings that are best for the way he plays.

Reactor and External Components

For the best performance, choose reactors that give you data on Duration and cooldown. The two-piece Fire Brand is used in your external component setup to increase skill time.

The Annihilation set only gave 5.7% skill lifetime, but Fire Brand gives 6.5%, which makes it better for this build. When you combine this with the two-piece Shield Crusher, your shot rate goes up by an extra 5%.

Arche Tuning Board Configuration

For guns that aren't critical, like the Restored Relic, pay attention to multi-hit explosive damage, advantage affinity, firearm attack bonuses, and Colossi nodes.

This board maximizes the chance of getting multiple hits and provides significant boosts to firearm and explosive attacks, as well as extra HP in The First Descendant.

If you are using guns that focus on critical damage, change your board so that the firearm critical chance and critical damage nodes are in the top position.

Some of your multi-hit bonuses will go away, but your critical strike and weapon attack bonuses will get a lot better.

Inversion Reinforcements

Pick the weapon module you like best, add Biodensity Augment to get stacked HP boosts, and choose Adrenaline Rush to move faster.

Massacre Loop Build (Skill Build)

This build keeps Massacre online all the time by continuously running Increase Sensory. With the latest changes, this is now a lot easier to do with the arcade tuning boards and new parts.

With your setting, you get a six-second cooldown and an eight-second duration, which is a good loop timing.

Focus on Dimension has been changed to Skill Simplification as the main change. You used to need to focus on the Dimension to get extra time reduction, but now you don't have to do that.

Skill Simplification gives you a unique source of skill power modifiers that work with the Dimension skill power modifiers.

You now have Dimension Amplification for certain dimension modifier power and Skill Simplification for general skill power modifier. This makes Massacre do more damage by multiplying it in The First Descendant.

Depending on how your reactor is set up, Outstanding Investment can be used instead of Maximize Duration. Outstanding Investment increases the length of skills and heals HP.

You don't have to use Maximize Duration, which lowers the skill power modifier by 21%, if your reactor has cooldown or duration data. Outstanding Investment does more damage than Maximize Duration, but it improves quality of life more.

The First Descendant Guide, Best Gley Build

Complete Damage Massacre Build (Skill Build)

In this setup, max single-use Massacre damage for boss fights is more critical than looping powers. You don't need to handle cooldowns because the goal is to kill all enemies with a single Massacre.

For the best burst potential, use Maximize Skill and Maximize Power along with damage boosts and Dangerous Ambush.

This build can kill most normal-level bosses with a single use of Massacre, which makes it very useful for fights where long-lasting damage isn't needed.

Build that explodes

This is a fun alternative that might clear material more slowly than the weapon platform build, but lets you play differently.

Explosive Life is always online, so you can spam as much as you want. Explosive Life sets life spheres off on the ground, which causes massive blasts in The First Descendant.

When these blasts kill enemies, they drop extra life orbs that you can use over and over again.

In places with a lot of enemies, this starts a chain reaction where enemies drop more life orbs, which you then explode again until everything is dead.

To get the first life orbs before chaining can start, you have to kill the first baddies with your sidearm. Most of the time, you have to manually kill one to three enemies to start the chain effect.

When playing with other people, this build doesn't work well when other players kill enemies quickly, stopping you from making your orbs. Bunny and Freyna players can mess up your orb creation, so it's best to use this build with one person.

Weapons for Skill Builds

For Massacre builds, use Python. If you want to use a different fast-firing SMG, the Blue Blood Bloomer will work too in The First Descendant.

Multi-hit changes don't change the damage done by Massacre, according to tests. Several tests that compared Python configurations with and without multi-hit mods found that the damage result was the same.

Massacre doesn't gain from multi-hit changes, so don't add them to weapons that are meant to be used with Massacre.

Explosive Life Weapon

The Peacemaker is the best choice for Explosive Life builds because it directly raises the damage done by Explosive Life.

Skill Reactor Configuration for Skill Build

For general content, prioritize skill delay and non-attribute boost ratio. For the best boss damage, add Colossi damage bonuses along with skill cooldowns for fights with Colossies.

The First Descendant Guide, Best Gley Build

Options for External Components

Massacre builds can get faster fire rates from Shell Crusher. The Firebrand adds more time to the Massacre's durability. The two-piece Mage Set gives you six extra Power.

When you need extra help looping, the Hunter Set's 4% time reduction and Shell Crusher's increased fire rate are significant together in The First Descendant.

For the most damage, use the complete Mage Set for Explosive Life builds. The complete Mage Set gives 84% more non-attribute skill power, which makes Explosive Life much more helpful.

Arche Tuning Based on Skill

Put time, skill cooldown, and skill power nodes at the top of the list. For Explosive Life builds, range modules might be helpful, but for builds with the most range, this isn't as important. Pay attention to the core statistics that help the skill rotation you've picked.

Choose Mutant Cells

The best choice for a mutant cell is Final Preparations. This cell gives you extra skill power when you use your fourth skill to hit enemies, which is especially helpful when using Massacre.

Non-Attribute Cohesion isn't helpful because you don't need extra damage for mobs, and Final Preparations is better for bosses, which is where extra damage is most useful in The First Descendant.

Also, check our The First Descendant Review and other guides below: