Best Viessa build in The First Descendant

Viessa is one of the starter characters you can choose in The First Descendant, and with the right build, her cold powers can apply some powerful debuffs to enemies.

Here’s everything you need to know about the best Modules, Reactors, weapons, and External Components to use with her. 

Best Viessa build

• Modules: Hypothermy, Nimble Fingers, Chill Specialist, Dual Claw
• Reactor: Frozen Mixture
• External Components: HP Recovery, Shields
• Weapons: Clairvoyance Beam Rifle

It’s important to use Modules like Nimble Fingers and Chill Specialist to both boost and lower cooldowns on Skills. External Components like HP Recovery and Shields are essential for the best Viessa build, and the Clairvoyance Beam Rifle is an excellent weapon choice that flows well with her abilities and playstyle.

Below are more details about her ideal Module Setup and what secondary weapons are a great choice for her.

Best Module Setup

Slot	Module	Description
1 (Skill Module)	Hypothermy	Replaces Ice Shackle with Ice Needle, which no longer slows down enemies but instead deals continuous damage to the target. The damage increases with each stack, up to 5.
2	Skill Extension	Improves Skill Durations.
3	Nimble Fingers	Reduces Skill Cooldowns.
4	Chill Specialist	Boosts the power of Chill Skills.
5	Skill Expansion	Considerably increases Skill Effect Range.
6	Non-Attribute Master	Considerably boosts Skill Power, with a smaller additional boost to Non-Attribute Skill Power.
7 (Sub-Module)	Dual Claw	Attack with Dual Claws during Sub Attack. Also increases your Max Module Capacity.
8	HP Concentration	Increases Max HP and Skill Critical Hit Rate.
9	Entropy Acceleration	Slightly improves Max MP and Skill Critical Hit Damage.
10	Energy Collection	Leech MP from enemies.
11	MP Accelerant	Slightly increases Skill Duration and Max MP.
12	Skill Range Mastery	Increases Skill Critical Hit Damage, with a slight increase to Skill Effect Range.

Hypothermy is a great Module to use because it changes the slow effect of Ice Shackle into a damage over time ability with Ice Needle. She’s not the strongest at base with damage, so including this Module ensures that she can pump out a ton of damage.

Arguably, the most important part of a great Viessa build is ensuring you can continuously and effectively use her skills. As such, using Skill Extension and Nimble Fingers ensures that you can use her skills for longer effect.

Energy Collection and Entropy Acceleration allow you to never really worry about MP, and Chill Specialist helps get the value you need from her attacks.

Best Reactors

The best Reactor to use with Viessa is Frozen Mixture because it boosts Fusion and Chill skill types, and she uses mostly these kinds of skills.

Frozen Mechanics is another solid choice, and you can also look into Reactors that boost Tech damage. Make sure that whatever Reactor you choose, though, that you meet the Optimization Condition for a bigger bonus.

Best External Components

The best External Components to use with Viessa boost her Max HP, HP Recovery, Shields, and Defense. 

Survivability is one of her weak points, so you’ll want to make sure you get more HP and Defense in her build so you can take hits more often. External Components are the perfect solution to this, especially because they give significant boosts to these stats.

Best weapons

The Clairvoyance Beam Rifle, Thunder Cage SMG, and Afterglow Sword Sniper Rifle are the best weapons to use with Viessa in The First Descendant. 

Thunder Cage

• ATK: 18
• Fire rate: 666
• Reload Speed: 1.4 seconds
• Effective Range: 23m
• Overcharge: Defeating an enemy could release an electric shockwave, dealing firearm ATK to nearby enemies within 3m.

The Thunder Cage is proving to be one of the strongest weapon choices in the game, and it’ll prove no different while playing with the best Viessa build. Its high fire-rate and Overcharge mean that if you ever get overwhelmed, you’ll be able to get out quickly. 

I found that its high damage output enhances her AoE damage and DoT capabilities, and enemies were quickly cut down before they became a real problem. 

Clairvoyance

• ATK: 23
• Fire Rate: 399
• Reload Speed: 2.2 seconds
• Effective Range: 35m
• The Thing Beyond: Hitting an enemy with a Stage 2 Beam inflicts Void Gaze on the target and hitting an enemy with a Stage 3 Beam inflicts Appalled Calling. This effect is considered to be the same effect as Frostbite in some modes.

The Frostbite status effect from this Beam Rifle synergizes well with Viessa’s Ice Shackles, because it contributes to these stacks, slowing enemies and making them easier to take down.

The Stage 3 effect of The Thing Beyond was one can reduce speed, which compliments her abilities even further. I did find, though, that you need to have pretty good precision to get the most value out of this weapon, so keep that in mind when you use it.

Afterglow Sword

• ATK: 240
• Fire Rate: 66
• Reload Speed: 2.5 seconds
• Effective Range: 55m
• Nightmare Reaper: When hitting an enemy’s weak point, inflicts the unique ability Death Propagation. On hitting an enemy commander or Colossi, increase Firearm Critical Hit Rate and apply the effect to the attack.

The Afterglow Sword Sniper Rifle is a great option for buffing Viessa’s damage because of its ability to stack critical damage. She tends to struggle with single-target damage, so the Afterglow Sword is a fantastic choice to balance that out. 

Best Active Skill

Frost Road is Viessa’s best Active Skill, because it gives her more mobility, increases her defenses, and stacks Ice Shackle on enemies when they stand on the Ice Sheets she creates. It brings together her strengths for a powerful debuff attack.

Cold Snap, her Ultimate, is also an incredibly strong skill that creates a massive AoE area where all enemies are stacked with Ice Shackle.

Abilities explained

• Ice Sphere (Passive): Condenses moisture in the atmosphere around the body, lowering the temperature. 
• Frost Shards: Fires an exploding Ice Beam that damages enemies and inflicts Ice Shackle. 
• Frost Road: Increases Running Speed and Shield, and creates Ice Sheets on the ground where Viessa stands. When enemies touch the Ice Sheets, they are inflicted with Ice Shackle.
• Ice Wave: Releases an arc of cold air in front of Viessa, inflicting damage and Ice Shackle.
• Cold Snap: Creates a snowstorm that explodes over time, inflicting damage and Ice Shackle on enemies.

While playing with Viessa, you’ll want to focus on using your skills to hit as many enemies as possible, because Ice Shackle stacks up to five times – slowing the enemy further every time. This also applies to Ice Needle, so even if you’re using the Hypothermy Module, it remains important to hit those shots.

Frost Shards and Cold Snap have very short cooldowns, so you also need to make sure you’re managing your MP well so you can consistently use both. As a result, you’ll almost never have a problem with enemies overwhelming you. 

How to unlock Viessa

Viessa can be chosen as one of the starter characters, or you can collect the necessary materials to research her. 

She needs Enhanced Cells, Stabilizer, and a Spiral Catalyst, and you can get her Code from running Void Intercept Battles. Once this is done, you can visit Anais in Albion to research her. 

Viessa is great fun to play with, but be sure to check out our Bunny and Lepic builds as well, especially if you chose Lepic as your first character. Otherwise, you can have a look at all the character abilities to see who you’d like to unlock next.