You must finish the main story to unlock Hard Mode in The First Descendant. Read on to learn how to unlock Hard Mode, how to change difficulty, its rewards, and its differences when compared to Normal Mode.

How to Unlock Hard Mode

Complete Heart of the Fortress

To unlock Hard Mode, you must finish the Heart of the Fortress quest in the Fortress Region. To unlock the quest, you must progress through the main storyline as this is the last mission in the main storyline.

Main Quest Walkthrough

Hard Mode Rewards

Target Farming Rewards

Reward Target Farming

Key
Character	Ammo	Skill
Fire	General Rounds	Tech
Chill	Special Rounds	Singular
Electric	Impact Rounds	Fusion
Toxic	High-Power Rounds	Dimension
Non-Attribute	-	-

When you are out to do Battlefield Missions, you can get items with your desired specific compositions by checking the Difficulty Level Rewards on the World Map. Each week, there is a different item rotation for each location. Refer to the list above for this week's rotation!

Ultimate Amorphous Materials

On Infiltration Operation missions, you can now get Ultimate Amorphous Materials! These materials contain most of the better blueprints with high acquisition chances!

Amorphous Materials Guide

How to Change Difficulty

Select World Difficulty

Key	Command
	Opens the Map

To change to Hard Mode, first open up the World Map. After doing so, select the World Difficulty found on the bottom right of the World Map. From there, you can choose between the two difficulty options: Normal and Hard Mode!

Differences Between Normal and Hard Mode

Exclusive Rewards in Hard Mode

The main difference between Normal and Hard Mode is that Hard Mode has exclusive rewards for Void Intercept Battles and Infiltration Operations.

Completing these missions will reward you with some highly coveted Ultimate Amorphous Materials and Shape Stabilizers with better acquisition chances!

All Void Intercept Battle Bosses

Enemy Modifiers

In Hard Mode, the enemies you encounter in open areas will have additional modifiers that either strengthen or weaken them. For efficiency's sake, you are incentivized to build around these modifiers.

Infiltration Operation Reward Selection

In Infiltration Operation missions, you can change the reward pool before you start. This additional option allows you to have a better agency with the items you want to get!

Score System and Additional Options

Depending on your team's kill performance, you will have increased chances or downright guarantee a specific reward. Each reward pool will have different options where you can apply a debuff to your team or strengthen enemies.

The more you apply options, 10% will be added to the base 100% of the Kill Score. Optionally, you can choose to reroll the options by spending 1000 Gold!

The First Descendant Related Guides

Tips & Tricks

All Tips and Tricks