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Battle pass weapons inThe First Descendantare often underwhelming. Season 2, Episode 2 changed this with the introduction of Malevolent — an Impact Rounds hand cannon that focuses on dealing AoE damage with its Unique Ability.
This guide covers everything you need to know about how Malevolent works, its stats, and how to build it inThe First Descendant.
What is Malevolent in The First Descendant?
Malevolent is theUltimate hand cannon from the Season 2, Episode 2 battle pass, and it’s a much stronger weapon compared to previous battle pass offerings. The weapon comes with theMalicious Pain Unique Ability— on hitting an enemy, it creates a Bladed Cog that bounces between multiple enemies to deal damage. Hitting weak points creates additional Bladed Cogs.
46,349
19,467
176
9
1.65s
1%
1x
12.5%
2.5x
Multi-Hit Damage
0.2x
Upgrading the Unique Abilityincreases the number of Bladed Cogs the weapon creates, their damage, and the maximum number of bouncers, so prioritize leveling up the battle pass and getting all the copies. It’s a powerful hand cannon for mobbing, especially when you pair it with a gun-focused Descendant like Serena.
Best Malevolent Build in The First Descendant
Malevolent hasalmost no Firearm Critical Hit Rate (only 1%)and minimum Firearm Critical Hit Damage. This means that, unlikeCrit-focused weapons like Thunder Cage, you should focus on other damage stats, including Weak Point Damage and elemental damage, when building this weapon.
Action and Reaction
Increases Firearm ATK and Recoil
Increases Firearm ATK but reduces Firearm Critical Hit Damage
Increases Toxic ATK but reduces Reload Time Modifier
Toxic Conductor
When attacking enemies afflicted with Poison, increases Firearm ATK
Rifling ReinforcementandAction and Reactionare staple Modulesto increase the weapon’s base damage, but because Malevolent doesn’t need Firearm Critical Hit, you can also take advantage of theCharge Amplificationfor more Firearm ATK.
Another way to increase Malevolent’s damage is through elemental damage. It already has a base of 19,467 Toxic ATK, which is why this build focuses on increasing Toxic ATK.Toxic Enhancementincreases Toxic ATK based on Firearm ATK, which is perfect when paired with the first three Modules.Poison Priorityfurther increases Toxic ATK. With a 12.5% Attribute Status Effect Trigger Rate, initial shots and Bladed Cogs often apply Poison. you may take advantage of that with theToxic Conductor, which further increases Firearm ATK when defeating an enemy affected by Poison. You can also build Malevolent into a different element, depending on the activity you’re playing. Building into Toxic ATK results in slightly higher damage, but activity’s modifiers take priority.
Prioritize Weakpoint Damage
One last thing to focus on is the Weak Point Damage, as the Unique Ability incentivizes hitting weak points. Keep in mind that Weak Point Damage only increases the damage of the initial shot, not the damage of Bladed Cogs or Poison damage. Add Modules, likeWeak Point Sight,to increase Weak Point Damage, and ensure your aim is on point to consistently hit weak points.
Best Malevolent Stats in The First Descendant
As you get Malevolent to level 100, you want to readjust its stats to fit the build. The logic behind the stats is the same as with Modules —you don’t need Firearm Critical Hit Rate and Firearm Critical Hit Damage. Instead, focus on getting Firearm ATK for higher base damage, Attribute Status Effect Trigger Rate (especially if using a Conductor Module), elemental ATK depending on the attribute you’re building for, and Rounds per Magazine.
Here are the stats to look for on the Malevolent:
Best Malevolent Synergies in The First Descendant
As mentioned before, Malevolentsynergizes well with Serena. Her Redemption ability allows weapons to deal AoE damage and triggers with Bladed Cogs. The AoE from Redemption also scales with Serena’s Max HP, creating more avenues to increase Malevolent’s damage.Gley can also workwith her infinite ammo build, but you’ll have to adjust the build accordingly, as ammo stats aren’t necessary in this case.
When using Malevolent in Season 2, Episode 2, unlock and equip theEvolutionary Cutting Mechanism perk in Inversion Reinforcement’s Season section to create additional Bladed Cogs.
