★ Beginner's Guide and Advanced Tips and Tricks
★ The First Descendant Roadmap
★ Season 1 | New Update
★ New Characters: Hailey and Ultimate Freyna
☆ Season Guides: Battle Pass | Invasion Dungeon
☆ New Weapon: EXCAVA
To unlock Hailey in The First Descendant, you must finish Invasion Dungeons daily to research her. Read on to learn how to unlock Hailey, their best hard and normal mode builds, basic info, and skills!
List of Contents
To get Hailey, you must farm Invasion Dungeons daily to obtain the components needed for her research. Keep in mind that farming Hailey will take a considerable amount of time since you will need to finish Hard Mode and have a maxed-out Descendant since Invasion Dungeons are solo missions.
As of the recent 1.1.0b hotfix, all of Hailey's research components' monster drop rates have increased for their respective Infiltrate Operations! With this hotfix, you can now go with the option of repeatedly running these operations to farm for Hailey's parts.
To further improve efficiency, the 1.1.0 patch also increased the XP gain of most Infiltrate Operations, meaning that you can also passively level your Descendants while farming for Hailey!
Update 1.1.0 Patch Notes (August 29 Update)
Research Time | Cost |
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16:00:00 | 400,000 |
Required Research Material | How to Get |
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Hailey Data Chip x1 |
・Hagios - Invasion: The Haven and Mission Monster ・White-night Gulch - Invasion: Mystery's End and Mission Monster ・Vespers - Invasion: The Shelter ・Kingston - Invasion: Magister Lab and The Slumber Valley ・Agna Desert - Invasion: The Asylum and The Caligo Ossuary ・Echo Swamp - Invasion: Seed Vault and The Chapel ・Fortress - Invasion: The Heart of the Fortress and Quarantine Zone ・Sterile Land - Invasion: The Forgottense and Unknown Laboratory |
Hailey Enhanced Cells x1 |
・Research
Research Materials Needed: ・Monad Shard x246 ・Compound Coating Material x239 ・Polyatomic Ion Particle x96 ・Hailey Reinforced Cell DNA x36 |
Hailey Spiral Catalyst x1 |
・Research
Research Materials Needed: ・Repton x422 ・Carbon Crystal x554 ・Common Carbon Activator x14 ・Hailey Spiral Catalyst Ring x36 |
Hailey Stabilizer x1 |
・Research
Research Materials Needed: ・Nanopolymers x363 ・Reverse Charging Coil x455 ・Negative Ion Particle x47 ・Hailey Stabilizer Component x36 |
You can unlock Hailey through the Research Institute in Albion. Note that to acquire a Descendant using research, you need all the required items and gold to unlock this character.
Alternatively, you can unlock Descendants by purchasing them in the Shop. This method only requires Caliber, an in-game currency that you can buy with real money. Purchasing Hailey in the Shop instantly unlocks the Descendant, allowing you to skip the item requirements and research time.
Hailey Hard Mode Builds | |
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Descendant Modules | Weapons and Modules |
Reactor and External Components | Playstyle Tips |
▼Jump to Normal Mode Builds▼ |
Note: This does not use the optimal reactor, meaning you can reach higher DPS!
Check out this 6-second clear for Hard Mode Pyromaniac using our Hard Mode Hailey build!
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This Hailey build revolves around fully speccing into Zenith's high damage capabilities by using Piercing Light as a stat stick. With the help of Dangerous Ambush and stacking as much Skill Power as possible, this build deals about 25,000,000 damage in 6 seconds!
This Zenith build melts bosses without letting the opponent lay a hand on you as you reposition yourself in uncompromised positions! The other modules focus on Skill Criticals and Skill Cooldowns.
Module Change | Explanation | ||
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Lessens Skill Cost at the cost of Skill Power Modifiers |
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Replaces additional Firearm ATK for the ability to spam skills |
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More MP Recovery over Chill Skill Power |
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Slightly gear more around skill cooldowns than Chill Skill Power |
With Multitalented, additional MP Recovery, and more Skill Cooldown, Hailey will be a high-damage mob clearer that can still reliably down bosses with Cryo Rounds and Storm Snare. When you prefer using weapons, you can use Shot Focus instead of Multitalented!
The MP combo between Maximize Conservation and Energy Collection will allow you to use Cold Fury for near indefinite use. When paired with weapons such as the Thunder Cage, you can mow down hordes of enemies quickly!
Weapon | Substat Priority |
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• Bonus Firearm ATK Colossus (vs. Colossus)
• Firearm Critical Hit Damage • Firearm ATK • Weak Point Damage |
Zenith requires a stat-stick weapon that possesses an absurd amount of base damage, critical values, and weak point damage to scale off of. As of the latest update, Piercing Light possesses the highest base damage out of all the weapons in The First Descendant.
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As Zenith also scales off of its stat-stick's modules, including Critical Hit Damage modifiers and Weak Point Expansion will allow you to reach about 3,000,000 from the sniper shots alone, plus the additional Chill damage follow-up if you hit weak points reliably!
Furthermore, you can also increase the amount of bullets you can fire off with Zenith by installing Expand Weapon Charge or Maximize Weight Balance, netting you the possibility of having 7-8 shots!
If you plan on running Solo Missions up until Swamp Walker, you can consider replacing Expand Weapon Charge for elemental modules since you aim on defeating them within 4-5 shots anyway!
Hailey Recommended Secondary Weapons | |
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It is best to bring weapons with high base criticals like the Thunder Cage or Enduring Legacy while Zenith is on cooldown as secondary weapons.
With the absurd critical hit rate and penetration Cold Fury provides, you can help a weapon designed around criticals reach their maximum potential in terms of both damage and room clearing!
Equipment | Substat Priority |
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• Skill Critical Hit Damage
• Additional Skill ATK When Attacking Colossus • Chill Power Boost Ratio • Skill Cooldown |
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• Max HP
• MP Recovery Out of Combat |
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• Max MP
• MP Recovery in Combat |
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• MP Recovery Multiplier
• DEF |
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• Max Shield
• Toxic Resistance |
Note that External Components with set bonuses have fixed main stats.
The best Reactor for Hailey is the Frozen Singularity Reactor, which boosts Chill and Singular, capitalizing on Storm Snare and especially Zenith's high power scaling. For substats, prioritize Additional Skill ATK When Attacking Colossus and Skill Critical Hit Damage to further hone in on boss melting.
While it is best to use a Frozen Singularity Reactor, you should prioritize a Frozen Reactor with a Piercing Light mounting optimization condition to always keep the additional skill power active.
Please refer to our Hard Mode rewards calendar to see where you can farm Frozen Singularity Reactors with High-Power rounds!
The best External Component set for Hailey is the Slayer set to get their 4-part set bonus, fully kitting out Hailey's capabilities by increasing Zenith's lethality with increased magazine size and skill power, while also slowing down Cold Fury's MP consumption!
For the substats, prioritize Max MP and MP Recovery to keep Cold Fury online while also allowing you to recover more MP with Zenith. Other than that, it is best to hone in on additional HP and DEF for increased survivability!
Hailey Playstyle Tips |
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Hailey's kit revolves around keeping her Cold Fury active while casting her other skills so that they consistently hit crits. Look to always keep Cold Fury online for extended periods by refreshing 15% of your MP reserves by hitting weak points with Zenith!
While it is best to stay stationary and far away from enemy pressure to keep your Cold Fury stacks, there will come a time when you need to reposition to safety.
While you may lose your Cold Fury stacks this way, it is recommended to roll and cover more ground due to your slowed movement. Besides, the skill takes little to no time to stack up!
Even if you are stationary while using Zenith, you can still cast Cryo Rounds! Using Cryo Rounds during Zenith becomes beneficial in multiple ways:
With Hailey's passive Safe Strategic Retreat, you will deal increased Weak Point damage the further you are away from an enemy. As a caveat, you will deal less damage the closer you are to your enemy.
Remember to check your passive icon to see the distance between your target for optimal damage. Hailey's weak point damage is at its peak when the passive icon is glowing blue but is affected negatively when labeled red!
When you are getting swarmed by opponents, utilize Storm Snare to get enemy pressure away from you. While slow, this skill hinders enemy movement and deals enough damage to guarantee they stay dead in their tracks.
Hailey Normal Mode Builds | |
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Descendant Modules | Weapon and Modules |
Reactor | External Components |
▲Jump to Hard Mode Builds▲ |
Best Hailey Modules | |
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Skill Critical Hit Damage +X%, Skill Critical Hit Rate +X% |
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Modifies the Charged Sub Attack. Use a Shock Punch to attack when performing a Charged Sub Attack. As the Enhancement Level increases, Max Module Capacity increases. (Currently +X) |
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Max MP +X% |
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MP Recovery +X% |
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Skill Critical Hit Damage +X% |
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Skill Critical Hit Rate +X% |
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Singular Skill Power Modifier +X% |
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Chill Skill Power +X% |
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DEF +X% |
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Max HP +X% |
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Skill Cooldown -X% |
Hailey, without the means of fully kitting out weapons, relies heavily on her Skill Power, Skill Criticals, and Skill Cooldown to actively use Cryo Rounds to clear mobs while using Zenith for boss encounters.
Since you can reliably restore your MP with Zenith, you can focus on Max MP and decreasing Skill Costs. This setup can help you maintain a 100% skill critical hit rate with Cold Fury!
Modules Guide: List of Modules
Weapon | Substat Priority | ||
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• Explosive ATK • Bonus Firearm ATK (vs. Colossus) • Firearm Critical Hit Damage • Attribute Status Effect Trigger Rate |
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Best Modules for Guardian R4 | |||
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Explosive ATK +X%, Recoil +X%. | ||
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Firearm Critical Hit Damage +X% | ||
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Firearm Critical Hit Rate +X% | ||
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Explosive ATK +X% |
To fully maximize Zenith's damage potential early on, it is best to equip the Guardian R4 as it possesses the earliest highest base damage out of all the weapons you can obtain early on. It is still best to change to the highest-level Snipers or Launchers as you progress through the game.
As a secondary, you can also equip the Thunder Cage as another means to clear hordes of enemies in conjunction with Cryo Rounds. However, always remember to swap out to your Guardian R4 when you use Zenith!
Reactor | Substat Priority | |
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・Skill Cooldown ・Chill Skill Power Boost Ratio |
For the earlier stages of the game, equip any Frozen Singularity Reactor you get. It is best to funnel into Singular as Zenith will be your go-to damage dealer even without MP.
For the substats, look for Skill Cooldown and Chill Skill Power Boost Ratio to actively cast your skills whenever you need while adding more -oomph to their damage output!
Reactors Guide: List of Reactors
Set | Set Effect |
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2-Set Effect: ・Chill Skill Power Modifier +8.6% 4-Set Effect: ・Skill Cost -2.8% ・Firearm Critical Hit Rate +5.9% |
Substat Priority | |
Auxiliary Power | ・Max HP ・Fire Resistance ・Kuiper Shard Drop Rate Increase Modifier ・Module Drop Rate Increase Modifier |
Sensor | ・MP Recovery in Combat ・Max MP ・Consumable Drop Rate Increase Modifier ・Character EXP Gain |
Memory | ・DEF ・MP Recovery Modifier ・Electric Resistance ・Firearm Proficiency Gain Modifier |
Processor | ・Max Shield ・Item Acquisition Distance Increase Modifier ・Toxic Resistance ・Equipment Drop Rate Increase Modifier |
Glacial is the best early external component set for Hailey since the set complements her skill set. Not only does it increase your Chill Skill Power Modifiers, but it also lessens Skill Costs and improves Firearm Critical Hit Rates!
The crucial stat here is less Skill Cost so you have more up-time to your Cold Fury! To get and complete the Glacial set, you must defeat the Dead Bride multiple times.
Hailey Basic Info | ||
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![]() Glacial Marksman |
Role | Burst DPS |
Element |
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Description | ||
"A ranged DPS who uses an anti-material sniper cannon made of frozen moisture. She defeats her enemies with beams and bullets infused with chill." |
DEF | Max Shield | Shield Recovery | Max MP | Max HP |
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2441 | 537 | 4.88 | 300 | 935 |
Skill | Type Effect |
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Proportional to the distance between the target and Hailey, the Weak Point Damage decreases the closer it is to the target and increases the further it is. |
Skill | Type Effect |
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![]() Fires a Cryo Round at enemies in front to deal damage and inflict Cryo. Targets with Cryo stacks receive additional damage and lose 1 stack when hit by Hailey's firearm attack. |
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![]() Unleashes a Chill Vortex around her, knocking back hit targets and firing a massive Freezing Beam in the direction of the crosshairs. Inflicts Cryo on targets hit based on Enemy AoE. |
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![]() Grants Hailey Cold Fury every second. The Cold Fury effect gradually decreases her Movement Speed, but greatly increases her Firearm and Skill Critical Hit Rates and Firearm Penetration. When Cold Fury reaches maximum stacks, Hailey becomes immune to Knockdown and gains an increase to her Firearm and Skill Critical Hit Damage. However, when using Roll or Grappling Hook, the stacks decrease. |
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![]() Equips her unique Weapon. When hitting an enemy with the Unique Weapon, greatly increases Penetration and Firearm ATK and deals additional Chill skill damage. Recovers a portion of MP upon successfully attacking Weak Points. Partially decreases the Cooldown of the Unique Weapon skill when the skill ends depending on the number of fired bullets. |
Too large to be called a gun and too accurate to be classified as a cannon, this one-off precision weapon was developed exclusively for Hailey and is a last tactical resort for when conventional attacks cannot subdue an enemy.
The specifications requested by HQ at the time of development required the creation of a weapon capable of piercing the armor of any enemy humanity was facing with a single strike.
Naturally, it was a nigh impossible request and seemed unlikely to be fulfilled in the future as well. But Hailey was like a walking ice core and the supercooled cryogenic Arche in her breath could instantly freeze any armor in existence and crush it into particles.
She already had the firepower and precision to achieve the requested specifications.
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Ultimate Freyna | - | - |
Character Guides | |
---|---|
List of All Builds | List of All Ultimate Descendants |
All Character Skins | - |
Hailey How to Get and Builds
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