Hailey Scott may be the new hotness in Season 1 but don’t forget the new weapon that came with her. Let me show you how to get the Excava in our weapon guide for The First Descendant and the best builds.
How to get the Excava in The First Descendant
All players can earn the Excava Assault Rifle as part of the Season 1 Battle Pass. You canaccess the weapon immediately if you purchase the premium trackfor the pass. If you’re not planning to buy the pass, you can still get the gun byreaching level 16, which will happen through regular gameplay.
The only downside to using the free track for the Excava is how many duplicates you’ll earn by the end of the season.You need four extra copies of the Excavato upgrade its Unique ability fully, and you’ll be two short.
It’s a minor difference, butyou need the premium pass if you want the absolute best Excavayou can build. With the best Excava, you can makethe best Hailey Scott build.
How to build the Excava in The First Descendant
Sadly, the Excava suffers frompoor base stats, so we must be careful with our Modules. The weapon has miserable Critical Hit Rate and Damage stats, and we’re limited with ways to improve those.
Still, here are the Modules I recommend to increase those stats:
Rifling Reinforcement is mandatoryon every weapon as it increases Firearm ATK. You get a +32% bonus damage with a fully upgraded Module, and it’s worth absolutely the Kuiper and Gold.
I useAction and Reactionon every weapon as it increases Firearm ATK by a further 61% at max rank. You do take a recoil penalty of 20%, but the damage is worth it.
Fire Rate UP and Expand Weapon Charge go hand in hand. One increases the Fire Rate, and the other boosts our Magazine capacity.
Finally,Better Insight and Concentration Priorityboost our Critical Hit Rate and Damage. The numbers are still pretty lousy, but those orange numbers will pop up more often and be more punchy.
You can useBetter Concentration as a budget replacement for Concentration Priorityor use both for more Critical Hit Damage.
This Loadout is pretty solid for most Assault Rifles and SMGs in The First Descendant. Every Module I’ve mentioned is worth fully upgrading as they are so interchangeable.
Is the Excava worth building in The First Descendant?
Most weapons are decent if you invest in them, butI advise against spending an Energy Activator on the Excavaunless youreallylike it.
Unfortunately,theThundercage already existsand outshines the Excava in every way. The Shock Grenade ability certainly looks fancy, but the damage numbers don’t match the pretty effects.
In my opinion, the Grenade ability feels a little awkward, and the payoff isn’t worth it. That said, the developers have proven they are reciprocal to feedback, and there’s always a chance the Excava will become the go-to Assault Rifle in the future;it’s just not there right now.
If you’re looking for things to do in Season 1, you can always spend some timefarming Ultimate Descendants. The grind is brutal, but you will unlock the most powerful Descendants in the game.
Anthony Yates
Anthony is a freelance writer for PC Invasion and has worked in the industry for four years. He’s furiously competitive and is always looking for the next big multiplayer hit. Anthony thrives in high-stakes games like Escape From Tarkov and Sea of Thieves. He is also passionate about speedrunning and always looks forward to the next GDQ and ESA events. When he’s not grinding leaderboards, Anthony enjoys visiting Arcades, retro gaming, and horror movies.
