The First Descendant – Very Detailed Gley Annilation Guide (50M DPS)
Gley Guide: Python, Organ and Afterglow Subs All Covered
By Robin.
This is the main set-up of the build. We want to run Python as our main weapon, Rocket as a mobbing/back-up low HP boss finisher, and Afterglow for a weak point decimator build.
Components
For your right-side components, you have a choice of running Annihilation or Slayer sets.
There is a very important and distinct difference in these sets apart from their ability. You will run Annihilation if you want to be a tank, and Slayer if you want more damage.
- The main stats on Annihilation are DEF, DEF, HP, HP.
- The main stats on Slayer are DEF, SHIELD, SHIELD, HP.
Because of these main stats, Slayer tends to be squishy but puts out a ton of damage. Choose what is comfy between the 2 sets.
Here are the perks of each, by the way:
The main draw of Annihilation is that it works very well with the mod “Walk a Tightrope” since you take so much damage to yourself, you tend to get the most benefit out of this effect.
The main draw of Slayer (which is usually better) is that it has a ton of base skill power at base usage. The downside is obviously being much, much more squishy with less HP and DEF.
Reactors
There are 2 reactors I would recommend here.
You want a gold reactor with the weapon you are planning on mounting for that fight. You will, a majority of the time, be using Python for your Annihilation build.
But for the few times you feel like using Afterglow, you would be using an Afterglow-mounted reactor. This is because you will get the most bonus for your Annihilation on a gold reactor, as it does damage based on your weapon, mods, and skill power.
For substats on your reactor:
- Skill cooldown/duration are very important for ensuring you have 100% uptime on your 3
- Dimensional skill power
- Non-attribute skill power
- Damage to Colossos
These will be the most important ones to look for.
If you have enough skill duration/cooldown already, you can run 2 powers for higher DPS if you need.
Non-attribute and dimension are the most important boxes to check for your reactors, by the way.
Decendent Build
This is what I run for full Catalyst’d: You can use any orange mod that is comfortable for you. Personally, I swap between shortsword and mid-air.
We use Massive Sanguification to be able to spam our Annihilation (our 4) and turn our 2, which would normally be useless, into a cooldown that does big AoE damage and gives you 3 orbs of life (enough to be able to use your 4).
If you are new to the game and don’t have access to all of these mods (mostly the Transcendent), I would recommend using the launcher build first.
The most important stats to build first on Gley are your skill duration and your skill cooldown to be able to spam your 3 infinitely. This doesn’t require a ton of investment and also allows you to run the rocket build as a build-up to the strong Annihilation builds.
I would recommend running Skill Extension, Nimble Fingers, MP Conversion, and focus on Dimension/Non-Attribute first as these give you the most CD/duration. It’s important to note that both focus mods DO NOT need to be upgraded at all to get the basic skill cooldown from these mods.
You would then put in sustain/tankiness after (since you want damage to be able to kill stuff to farm faster first). This can be Battle of Stamina, Stim Accelerant, and HP Amplification or HP Collector. The important thing to note about HP Collector is that it heals you when you kill something, so it’s really good for staying alive during mobbing and heals you on a percentage of your HP, so it’s important to build your HP first over Collector.
If you want to run an even higher damage build here for a little less sustain, you can run Spear and Shield for an extra 8% skill power.
After you have chosen your HP mods/sustain mods etc., you will usually have 1-2 slots to work with. The best-in-slot I have found to be here is Walk a Tightrope, as you will find yourself in the range of 50% or under during boss fights more often than not, and the bonus damage it gives is very big. You can also choose to run Multi-Talented, Status Immunes, another sustain mod. The last slot of this build is very flexible to whatever it is you feel would help your gameplay the most.
If one can get 100% uptime on Increased Sensory with [An Outstanding Investment], it should replace [Maximize Duration]. The -21.1% skill power modifier will decrease Massacre’s skill part damage by 30.62% at base.
[Spear and Shield] VS [Iron Defense]: if one chooses to use it for more damage, if you play Gley and are always under 50% health, [Spear and Shield] is better, [Iron Defense] otherwise. The difference is not much.
Weapons
Let’s start off with the main one…
Python is very flexible with what you can build, but you want to avoid crit % multipliers as its low base crit will be very hard to work around to get it high. Its weak point stat, however, is a massive 3.54x multiplier.
So you want to run as many weak point % bonuses as possible as it will do the most amount of damage you can fit in those slots.
The only thing I would run that isn’t on here is Concentration Priority, as the crit damage it gives is a massive amount, and even with a 5% crit chance, you are firing SO FAST that you will crit proc more than you think.
The only other thing to talk about that isn’t super standard on here is Mental Focus. You can choose to run Mental Focus or Sharp Precision Shot.
The main difference is that Mental Focus has more stacks you can build up before the fight even starts (so basically until you’re forced to run, you will have a 150% firearm attack increase).
The difference with Sharp is that if you stop firing, it’s a lot easier to keep your stacks going as you only have to make sure you’re firing every 1.5s.
The only other thing I will mention is that you can run any element you want for boss fights, but if you’re planning to max out your Python, I would recommend Electric damage as it has the most positive damage/neutral damage out of the 4.
Now for Organ…
This rocket is unique in the fact that it is a full auto firing rocket, allowing you to run your 3 and fire it infinitely without worrying about any type of ammo.
The build is very basic as it’s more of a starter Gley build weapon than something you want to super invest into.
- So you just want to build as much explosive attack as you can.
- Real-Life Fighter for weak point damage/weakness multipliers.
- And an element of choice for the boss you farm.
Afterglow Sword
The main point of running this Afterglow build is to quickly pop open weak points for big damage bursts and fast downs on bosses.
You could run this in her 4, but it’s way more worthwhile to run it just by itself with Gley’s 3 to make use of not having to reload after 6 shots.
Raw Afterglow is better than using it with Massacre because Afterglow’s unique ability directly contributes to its DPS, and Massacre does not inherit the weapon’s unique ability.