Luna is a multi-purpose Descendant with a kit woven with her unique rhythm mechanics. Let me explain her kit, best loadout, build, weapons, modules, and more in our The First Descendant Luna guide.
Table of contents
How to play Luna in The First Descendant: All Abilities explained
Luna is a specialist Descendant, so it’s essential to grasp how she works before we worry about the build and weapons.Most of Luna’s gameplay loop revolves around her Unique Weapon. As this gun is classed as an ability, your weapon choices take a back seat with the character, for better and for worse. Here’s a quick overview of her skills:
Improvisation (Passive Skill)
Luna’s Improvisation grants her an additional resource bar below her MP bar. The bar slowly fills whenever you cast an “Act” skill on the beat. Once the bar is full (after 15 successful Act casts),Luna can cast an Enhanced versionof any Act skill.
Stage Presence
Equips Luna’s Unique Weapon whichtriggers a rhythm mini-gameand is the vessel for her other skills. Luna can’t do much without Stage Presence live, asher playstyle revolves around her Unique Weapon. You can top up your ammo by casting any other skill.
Exciting Act
Exciting Act grants Exciting Buffs to Luna and her allies,increasing Skill Power. This skill is great for ramping up team damage, and Bunny mains, in particular, will love you for it. You’ll be laughing if you squad up with a team ofUltimate Bunnyplayers, as nothing will survive for long.
Relaxing Act
Relaxing Act is a support Buff thatimproves MP recovery. Most Descendants rely on a healthy supply of MP, and you can enable their skills more reliably by casting this ability.
Cheerful Act
Cheerful Act is arguably Luna’s trump card, grantingCooldown Reduction to the entire team. Like the Relaxing Act, this skill enables abilities for the squad,increasing overall damage output. Keep in mind that Cheerful Act has a savage Cooldown if you use it off the beat.
If I’m being critical,Luna’s rhythm games feel pretty clunkyat the time of writing, and I imagine they will be changed in a future update. As it stands, you’ll be disappointed if you expect Octavia from Warframe.
As for the Gameplay loop, Luna draws her unique weapon when you cast Stage Presence.The Unique Weapon comes with 30 shotsand every time you fire on the beat, you gain a stack that boosts damage. You rapidly lose stacks if you shoot off the beat, soyou must pay close attention to the rhythm.
Luna’s remaining skills offer a selection of buffs that must also be cast on the beat.Hopping between different skills grants Luna extra ammo, so do this frequently. You must be close to your squad to share the buffs, but we can address this with our build later on.
Here’s where it gets a little complicated.Once you reach 15 stacks, the next skill you cast will be “enhanced”making the effect stronger than usual. Try to execute this ability on the beat or it’s effectively wasted until you reach the stack threshold again.
As you’re able to see,Luna is a complex Descendantand a far cry from Bunny running spam (put your pitchforks away, I use her all the time!).
Best Loadout and build for Luna in The First Descendant
We lean into Skill-focused Modules for Luna as if Stage Presence isn’t active, we may as well use a different Descendant.I also recommend maxing out Luna’s HP and Defense, so she can survive tougher content. We’ll get into that when we cover her Descendant Modules.
You can use any Reactor you like with Luna, as we’re not building for a specific element. I’ve gone with aTingling Phase Reactor with Thunder Cage mounting, as that’s the weapon I recommend for the build.
While you can buy Reactors from Deslin in The Albion, you will find far better ones through regular gameplay. Once you hit Hard Mode, you can target farm specific Reactors from theDifficulty Level Rewards menuon the World Map.
External Components
Shields are the weakest form of Defense in The First Descendant, so I recommend prioritizingMax Defense, and Max HPon all main and sub stats. At the time of writing, I’ve not found any Sets that feel like they aremadefor Luna. Still, if you want to Min Max, here’s what I recommend:
Bravery Set
2-Piece Bonus
4-Piece Bonus
The Bravery Set is entirely optional, butthe Skill Duration increase pairs nicely with Luna’s skills. Skill Cooldown is always a welcome bonus, although it’s quite random with only a 35% chance to trigger.
Best Weapons for Luna in The First Descendant
As mentioned,weapon choices take a backseat for Lunaas her Unique Weapon defines her as a Descendant. That said, I have a couple of recommendations, including one you can obtain early.
Thunder Cage
The Thundercage is a phenomenal weapon in The First Descendant. you may get this SMG early on in the story, andit’s worth farming multiple copiesto improve the weapons Overcharge skill. I swear by this weapon, and here’s how I’ve built mine:
Your mods will depend massively on your Capacity, which you can increase with anEnergy Activator. If you don’t want to invest,Rifling Reinforcement is still mandatoryas it’s free damage and you can use it on any weapon.
I also lucked out with my stats.Critical Damage, Critical Chance, and Firearm Attackare fantastic for the Thunder Cage. My God Roll would be complete withWeak Point Damage or Rounds per Magazine, but it doesn’t add a massive amount.
Nazeistra’s Devotion
I love this chunky pistol, andit was buffed in the Luna and Ultimate Valby update. Nazeistra’s Devotion reduces enemy defense when you hit a weak point.The effect only lasts a few seconds, but it’s free damage for you and your squad. I’ve not fully invested in the weapon yet, but these are the Modules I use:
I must stress that theweapons are entirely optional for Luna, as you should have Stage Presence live 100% of the time.
Descendant Modules
Other Descendants,like Freyna, deal damage much more effectively than Luna, soI recommend assuming a support role. My Module choices reflect this decision:
Luna Descendant Modules explained
If you’re a new player, I strongly recommend investing infully upgraded Increased DEF and Increased HP modules. Shield modules aren’t as impactful, so feel free to leave those out. If you’ve seen any bossing build showcases, you may notice they don’t always run two defensive Modules, but they work wonders for general survivability.
I likeMulti Maneuveringas it gives me an additional Grapple Hook charge for mobility. Keep in mind thatSubModules like this grant additional Capacitywhen upgraded. I useNimble Fingerson all of my builds, as the Skill Cooldown reduction makes all of my Descendants feel much snappier.Frugal Mindsetis optional but pushes Luna’s Skill Range out a respectable amount.
Finally, we’re usingSkill Extension and Skill Expansionto increase the Range and Duration of our buffs.
Luna is a fun Descendant butrequires a busy playstyle to pop off. I would be very surprised if Luna doesn’t get buffed soon, so there’s no harm in building her now.
If you’re struggling to keep track of Luna’s rhythm game mechanics, ensure yourgraphics are set up correctly.
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.
