The First Descendant: Exterminator Build Guide for High DPS Farming

 

Understanding the Exterminator: Why It Falls Short

In The First Descendant, weapon choices can make or break your gameplay, especially when it comes to maximizing DPS (damage per second) for farming. One such weapon is the Exterminator, which has caused quite a stir within the community for its unique playstyle and, unfortunately, its underwhelming performance in comparison to other options like the Restored Relic.

At first glance, the Exterminator seems promising. It features explosive and fire-based attacks, with base stats that appear superior to the Restored Relic. But here's the kicker: despite these higher base numbers, the Exterminator struggles to keep up in actual combat. Let’s break it down and understand why this is the case.

Weapon Stats Breakdown: Base Stats Aren't Everything

When comparing the Exterminator to the Restored Relic, the first thing you'll notice is the difference in critical hit rate, multi-hit damage, and weak point damage. These are key stats that can drastically influence your DPS output, and unfortunately, the Exterminator falls short in all of these areas.

1. Critical Hit Rate:

   • The Restored Relic boasts a solid 20% critical hit rate with a multiplier of 1.2x.

   • The Exterminator, on the other hand, only offers 10% critical hit rate with a 1.15x multiplier.

   • This 10% difference makes a noticeable impact, as you’ll land fewer critical hits, significantly reducing your potential for high DPS bursts.

2. Multi-Hit Damage:

   • The Restored Relic has a 0.58x multi-hit multiplier, which means you can stack damage on enemies that get hit multiple times.

   • The Exterminator comes in at a meager 0.19x base multi-hit damage. This massive disparity means that, even with high fire rate, you’ll see less damage output from multi-hit mechanics.

3. Weak Point Damage:

   • Both weapons have a 1x weak point damage stat, meaning they both hit weak spots for the same amount of damage when aiming for those critical zones. But the key problem here lies in the Exterminator’s unique ability, which diminishes its effectiveness.

The Exterminator's Unique Ability: Not Quite as Powerful

The Exterminator's unique ability is designed to deal with multiple targets at once, using lock-on targeting. When fully upgraded, it can lock onto six targets every 0.05 seconds within a 5-meter radius, dealing 43.8% of your regular damage. While this might sound useful in theory, there are significant issues with its practicality:

• Reduced Damage Output: The damage dealt by the Exterminator’s lock-on targeting is just 43.8% of your normal damage. For comparison, even when hitting weak spots, the damage reduction is substantial.

• Carapace Hulls: When fighting tougher enemies with carapace hulls, the damage is only 65.7% of normal damage. This reduction is harsh, and for these specific encounters, the Exterminator is almost entirely outclassed by the Restored Relic.

• Bonus Damage to Specific Targets: The Exterminator does shine against cluster sacks, cluster tunnels, and assault ships, where it deals 151% damage. However, for the majority of enemy types, this weapon just doesn't cut it.

Why the Exterminator Falls Short in Real Combat Scenarios

Despite all the numbers stacking up in favor of the Restored Relic, the Exterminator still has a niche that some players may want to explore—primarily for the cluster sack and tunnel farming. But when it comes to most standard encounters, this weapon just doesn’t offer enough firepower.

You can still use it for farming runs, but the DPS output is subpar. If you rely on the Exterminator, you’ll be looking at about 1.8M DPS, which is significantly lower than the 3M DPS you can achieve with the Restored Relic. The Exterminator also lacks the critical hit potential and multi-hit synergy that make the Relic so effective.

How to Build the Exterminator: Maximizing Its Potential

If you’re committed to making the Exterminator work for you, a solid build can mitigate some of its weaknesses. However, it’s important to recognize that no matter what you do, the weapon will still be underpowered compared to other top-tier choices.

Primary Stats Focus:
The key to maximizing DPS with the Exterminator is stacking as much raw attack as possible. This means focusing on stats like explosive attack, fire attack, and fire rate. Your goal here is to make the Exterminator hit as hard as possible by boosting its base damage output.

Essential Mods:

• Rifling Reinforcement: Increases explosive attack, making your shots pack a stronger punch.

• Action and Reaction: Boosts fire attack, which directly enhances the weapon's overall damage.

• Charge Amplification: Adds more explosive attack power, contributing to higher base damage.

Fire Rate and Fire Enhancement:
Since you’re building around explosive and fire damage, increasing your fire rate is crucial. The faster you fire, the more damage you deal overall. Fire enhancement will also add more damage to your fire-based attacks, giving you better synergy with the weapon's core stats.

Multi-Hit Focus:

• Multi-Percussion Site: This mod increases multi-hit damage, ensuring you get the most out of your shots when hitting multiple targets.

• Multi-Piercing Site: Another essential mod to boost multi-hit chances, especially if you're aiming for better consistency in hitting multiple targets at once.

• Multi-Bullet Mod: This one is crucial for increasing multi-hit damage and inflicting Deep Wounds on enemies, which adds more DPS over time.

Core Rolls: What You Need to Maximize

For the Exterminator, the core rolls are relatively straightforward but crucial for squeezing out the maximum possible performance from this weapon.

• Fire Rate Cores: Focus on three fire rate cores, all at 20%. This will help you fire quicker, which is important for maximizing DPS with a slower-hitting weapon like the Exterminator.

• Fire Attack Cores: Add two fire attack cores, maxed out to ensure that your explosive and fire attacks hit as hard as possible.

In terms of weaponry adjustments, focus on:

• Multi-Hit Chance

• Multi-Hit Damage

• Fire Attack

• Explosive Attack

The Gley Build: Synergy with the Exterminator

The Exterminator works best with the Gley build, which is specifically tailored to enhance multi-hit mechanics. This build is nearly identical to the one used with the Restored Relic, with slight tweaks to accommodate the Exterminator's needs.

To optimize the build, use Arcade Tuning to further enhance multi-hit chances, improving consistency and boosting your total DPS. This is the best synergy you can achieve with the Exterminator, as it allows you to capitalize on its multi-hit potential, which is its primary advantage.

Field Test: How Does the Exterminator Perform in Combat?

So, how does the Exterminator stack up in actual gameplay? We took it to the Liquefied AX Vault and tested it against various enemies. When used with lock-on targeting, the Exterminator does have its moments, particularly with assault ships. However, against regular enemies, it’s significantly slower than the Restored Relic. You can still get the job done, but the process is more tedious and takes longer.

• Cluster Sack and Tunnel Farming: The Exterminator excels here. Its lock-on ability makes quick work of these enemies, dealing 151% bonus damage. This is one area where the weapon performs better than expected.

• General Farming: Against regular enemies, the Exterminator just doesn’t hit as hard or as fast as other weapons. Even when you attempt to focus on multi-hit damage and fire rate, it still feels underwhelming compared to the Restored Relic.

Final Thoughts: Is the Exterminator Worth It?

While the Exterminator has its uses, particularly in cluster sack and tunnel farming, it ultimately falls short of the Restored Relic in terms of overall performance. If you’re looking for pure DPS and efficiency, you’re better off sticking with the Relic.

However, if you’re a fan of the Exterminator’s playstyle or simply want to try something different, it’s still a fun weapon to experiment with. Just don’t expect it to outperform top-tier options, and make sure you’re okay with slower runs if you decide to use it for general farming.

FAQ: The First Descendant - Exterminator Build Guide

Q: Is the Exterminator a good weapon for high DPS farming?
A: While the Exterminator has its niche, especially against specific enemies like the cluster sack, it falls short in general farming compared to the Restored Relic. It’s not ideal for high DPS farming.

Q: What are the key issues with the Exterminator's damage?
A: The Exterminator suffers from low critical hit rates, weak multi-hit damage, and a reduced lock-on damage multiplier, making it underwhelming compared to other weapons.

Q: How can I maximize the Exterminator's performance?
A: Build the Exterminator around raw explosive and fire attack damage, with mods for multi-hit chance and damage, and fire rate enhancements to boost its DPS.

Q: What’s the best synergy for the Exterminator build?
A: The Gley build works best with the Exterminator, focusing on multi-hit mechanics and explosive/fire damage to maximize its output.

Q: Is the Exterminator better for farming cluster sacks or tunnels?
A: Yes, the Exterminator performs well against cluster sacks, cluster tunnels, and assault ships due to its lock-on ability, dealing bonus damage in these scenarios.

Q: Should I stick with the Restored Relic instead?
A: For pure DPS farming, yes. The Restored Relic outperforms the Exterminator by a large margin, with much higher DPS and better ability to hit weak spots.

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