The First Descendant: Keelan Build & Best Loadout – Season 4 E1

Welcome to The First Descendant Keelan Build Guide for Season 4 Episode 1.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to unleash the full potential of Keelan, the poison snake. From mastering his unique poison-based abilities to selecting the perfect weapons, stats, and modules, this guide covers everything you need to create a truly devastating build for Keelan.

Table of Contents:

1. How to play Keelan
2. Keelan Builds Overview – Modules
   1. Keelan Mobbing Build
3. Keelan Trigger Module
4. Keelan Ancestor Module
5. Arche Tuning for Keelan
6. Keelan Equipment Overview
   1. Best Weapons for Keelan
   2. Best Reactor for Keelan
   3. Best External Components for Keelan
   4. Inversion Reinforcements
7. Keelan Basics
   1. How to unlock Keelan
   2. All Keelan Skills
   3. Best Grapple Hook for Keelan
8. Keelan’s Story

For builds on other Descendants, visit our The First Descendant Builds Database, or check out the Character Tier List or the Weapon Tier List. 

TFD Wiki: We have expanded Alcasthq with tfd.gameslantern.com, a Wiki & Database for anything related to The First Descendant. Use the Character Editor or the Weapon Editor to theorycraft and create builds yourself. Browse Descendants, Weapons, Leaderboard Loadouts or use the Compare Tool. There are plenty of other features you can check out, too!

Here is a quick list of the strengths and weaknesses of the Keelan Build for The First Descendant.

How to Play Keelan in The First Descendant

To unlock Keelan’s full potential, you need the right Weapons, Reactors, and External Components:

• Modules: Selecting the right Modules boosts the power of your character the most, this is very important.
• Ancestor Modules: Having a good Ancestor module with the right perks is key to ultimate power for your Descendant.
• Weapons: Keelan is a skill-based Descendant, therefore weapons aren’t that important. However, there are certain weapons that we can use as a “stat stick” to enhance Keelan’s power and mobility even further. Please view the Best Weapons for Keelan section of the build.
• Reactors: Selecting the right reactor can drastically boost your damage. Check out the Best Reactors for Keelan section.
• External Components: These are critical for survivability. Properly configured, they double or triple your HP and DEF. Learn more in the Best External Components for Keelan section.

Building a top-tier The First Descendant Keelan Build requires not only the right modules but also optimized weapons, reactors, and components.

Best Keelan Builds Overview for The First Descendant

• Crystallization Catalysts: To unlock the necessary socket slots.
• Energy Activator: To increase overall module capacity.
• Gold & Kuiper: Best Gold Farming Method – Best Kuiper Shard Farming Method.

Equipment: I will cover Weapons, Reactors, External Components, Inversion Reinforcements, and Transcendent Modules in the Keelan Equipment section. To maximize the power of any build, you must get the correct items!

Keelan Mobbing Build

This Keelan Build is melee focused. I prefer using the Crime & Punishment weapon with this build, but you can run any sword with this.

• Ancestor Module:
  • Essential: Max HP
  • Optional: Max Shield, Toxic Skill Power Boost Ratio, Singular Skill Power Boost
  • Negative: Harmless negative

Keelan Trigger Module

You need to first unlock the trigger module slot for each character. Learn how to unlock Trigger Modules in The First Descendant.

• Mobbing: Gap in Time

Keelan Ancestor Module

Ancestor Modules can be slotted once you have acquired them. However, they are only worth it once you have an Ancestor module with good stat rolls on them.

• Keelan Ancestor Module: Adventurer’s Resolution
• Superconductive Cooling Units (Needed to Reroll perks): How to farm
• Must Read: How Ancestor Modules Scale & Examples

It is only worth slotting an Ancestor Module if you have good rolls on it; otherwise, it isn’t worth it.

Keelan Mobbing Build

• Ideal Positive Rolls
  • Max HP
  • Max Shield
  • Toxic or Singular Skill Power Boost Ratio
• Ideal Negative Rolls
  • Any harmless negative

Ancestor Module: What to Replace and Why

To slot an Ancestor Module effectively, identify existing modules that share the same primary stat. By replacing a standard module with an Ancestor version that offers similar values, you maintain your core build while gaining its additional unique perks as a ‘free’ bonus.

• How to: Replace a standard module with an Ancestor Module that mirrors its main perk.
  • The values should be close; you preferably don’t want to replace a 100% with a 30% value.
• Example 1: If your Ancestor Module provides Skill Critical Hit Rate, replace Skill Insight.
• Example 2: If your Ancestor Module provides Max HP, replace Increased HP.
• Example 3: If your Ancestor Module provides Skill Effect Range, replace Skill Expansion.
• Result: All other perks from the Ancestor Module will basically be a “freebie” and improve your build!
• Helpful Links:
  • Descendant Synchronization Value Explained
  • Ancestor Module Image & Build Examples
  • Ancestor Module Perk Quality & Stat Scaling Explained

As long as the Ancestor Module reaches a similar value to the one you’re removing, every additional stat on that Ancestor Module becomes a “free” bonus for your build.

Arche Tuning for Keelan

The Arche Tuning System in The First Descendant is important for every Character; it buffs your stats by a good amount.

Mutant Cell: Arche Chain Catalyst

Keelan Equipment Overview in The First Descendant

Equipment is the cornerstone of any successful The First Descendant Build. For Keelan, having the right setup can mean the difference between dominating a dungeon and falling short. This section breaks down the essential equipment types: Weapons, Reactors, and External Components.

Keelan Equipment Guide

Equipment Type	Importance	Key Benefits
Weapons	Not very important because Keelan is a skill-based Descendant. Only used as a “stat stick” to get Sprint Speed and Grapple Hook Recharge or other weapon effect buffs!	Increases overall DPS. Amplifies the effectiveness of skills.
Reactors	Essential for boosting skill damage. Incorrect reactors severely reduce effectiveness.	Enhances skill potency. Ensures Keelan’s abilities perform at peak levels.
External Components	Arguably the most impactful equipment. Dramatically improves survivability and utility. Set Buffs with 2/4 pieces.	Quadruples stats like HP or DEF. Adds utility like MP recovery. Enables effective performance in high-difficulty content. Core System Enhancements.
Inversion Reinforcements	Adds further buffs to your build.	Perks that can make a difference in build power.

Best Weapon for the Keelan Build in The First Descendant

I prefer using Crime & Punishment, but any sword is fine for this build.

Top Weapons for Keelan

Weapon	Category	Key Features	Why It’s Great for Keelan
Crime and Punishment	Sword	Deals massive AoE damage & Combo Damage.	Keelan works best with swords.
Shadow	Sword	Deals massive AoE damage.	Keelan works best with swords.
Hypernova	Sword	A throwable sword that tows enemies together.	Pulls enemies together, making them easy to kill.
Deus Ex Manus	Sword	Single-Target DPS.	Strong Single-Target Damage.

Best Reactor for Keelan in The First Descendant

Selecting the best reactor for Keelan in The First Descendant can significantly enhance his abilities, allowing you to maximize his effectiveness in various scenarios. Not only does the reactor determine your skill damage, but it also gives additional secondary benefits through modifiers. These are often hard to get and take time to grind out!

All of Keelan’s skills are Toxic & Singular/Fusion.

It is hard to get a Reactor with two best in-slot specs. However, you should be able to get a Reactor with at least one good spec. I will highlight the more important spec in bold in the table below.

How to find the Location of Reactors

Reactor drop locations change every day. Not many players are aware of this and become confused. Now, there is a reactor search function in-game. Go to the map and press on Difficulty Level Rewards. In here, you can see where all the reactors currently drop.

Note: It is possible that not all reactor types are currently dropping. You have to come back and recheck every day.

If your specified reactor drops in an area, you go there and farm any missions and monsters (Preferably missions with lots of monster spawns). There will be plenty of reactors dropping from monsters all over the place, any monster works. It will take a while to get a good reactor!

Best External Components for the Keelan Build

Keelan works best with the Bravery set; it increases his Max Shield further and speeds up the cooldown of his skills.

• Mobbing: 4x Bravery
  • Bravery Power: Max HP & Any of your choice
  • Bravery Sensor: Chill Resistance & Any of your choice
  • Bravery Memory: DEF & Any of your choice
  • Bravery Processor: Max Shield & Any of your choice

Inversion Reinforcements Setup for Keelan

You can find the Inversion Reinforcements in the inventory, located on the bottom left side. This changes with every new season and needs to be leveled up again.

At max level, you have unlocked everything. While the last perk is always active in each row, you can only slot three additional perks at the bottom. Here is what you want to prioritize:

• Skill: Perk 1.
• Weapon: Perk 4.
• Recovery: None.
• Survival: Perk 2.
• Season: None.

Keelan Basics in The First Descendant

If it is your first time playing Keelan in The First Descendant, here are some useful things you should know.

1. How to unlock Keelan
2. All Keelan Skills
3. Best Grapple Hook for Keelan

How to Unlock Keelan in The First Descendant

Let’s take a quick look at how to unlock Keelan in the First Descendant. To unlock Keelan you have to purchase him from the store, or research him. You need the following items to research Keelan:

• 1x Keelan Enhanced Cells – Drops in Void Vessel normal mode
• 1x Keelan Stabilizer – Drops in Void Vessel normal mode
• 1x Keelan Spiral Catalyst – Drops in Void Vessel normal mode
• 1x Keelan Code – Drops in Void Vessel normal mode
• 400k Credits

When you visit Magisters Anais at the Research Institute you can hover over each item. Then click on Acquisition Info and it will tell you where this specific item drops. You can view an in-depth guide here on How to get X in The First Descendant.

The First Descendant Keelan Skills Explained

In this section, we are going to explain the skills available to our Keelan Build in the First Descendant, how each skill works and the best ways for you to use them.

Icon	Skill Name	Description
	Void Corrosion	Targets an enemy and fires Void Corrosion, inflicting Acidic Decay on the hit target. Deals additional damage to the enemy with the Acidic Decay.
	Onslaught	Dashes forward, dealing damage and inflicting Acidic Decay on the pierced enemy. When the skill ends, an explosion occurs, dealing damage to enemies within range. Deals additional damage to enemies with Acidic Decay.
	Septic Gust	Deals damage and inflicts Acidic Decay on enemies within range. Inflicts Blood Rot on enemies with Acidic Decay, triggering an additional explosion when the skill ends.
	Tremor	If enemies within range have Acidic Decay, deals additional damage proportional to the amount of Acidic Decay stacks. If enemies within range don’t have Acidic Decay, increases the amount of Onslaught stacks.
	Erosion (Passive)	Using a skill a certain number of times enhances your abilities and grants you Acidic Infusion Level.

Void Corrosion

Onslaught

Septic Gust

Tremor

Erosion (Passive)

Smooth Grapple Hook for your Keelan Build

Using the standard Grapple Hook in The First Descendant can be a pain, and it feels kinda frustrating at times. Don’t worry, there is a way better alternative that will make it a joy to use the grappling hook!

It is called the Mid-Air Maneuvering Sub Module. I use this on all my The First Descendant Builds because it improves grappling by so much.

With this Module, you can attach your Grapple Hook to anything, even air! That means you can simply aim towards the sky and Hook up your grapple hook there for guaranteed fast movement!

Here is a guide on how to get the Mid-Air Maneuvering Sub Module in The First Descendant. It won’t take a lot of effort, but it will definitely improve your build and overall gameplay in The First Descendant.

Keelan’s Story in The First Descendant

“What?! The Investigative Corps? Has Alpha lost his mind? The First Descendant Keelan should be utilizing a strong Descendant like you, not putting you in the Investigative Corps! This is a waste!”

Jeremy reacted with disgust after hearing HQ’s decision. Keelan watched him silently and sighed. Keelan Ayodele, was one of the more prolific Descendants to be dispatched on Intercept Battles, usually volunteering for them, had a high success rate. He was an essential Descendant and a vital strategic asset in Intercept Battles, as he used his Arche abilities to manipulate wind and air pressure. He could create favorable variables in battles, such as stopping Colossi movements and altering air currents to redirect incoming attacks.

Although he was dispatched to Intercept Battles on HQ’s orders, Keelan was more driven by his own will. The adrenaline and exhilaration of fighting Colossi in the unpredictable space of the Void had become a driving force for him to fight and gave him a reason to live. However, HQ was concerned about his prolonged exposure to Void Energy, and discouraged him from participating in Intercept Battles, but Keelan was undeterred.

He participated in Intercept Battles as if they were an unbreakable habit, unaware of what the feelings of exaltation were doing to his body. Eventually, a massive amount of Void Energy accumulated in his system, causing abnormalities and altering his Arche Trait. Albion HQ and the Magisters were baffled by the violation of a fundamental rule: “Arche is genetic material inscribed in your DNA and is immutable.” This meant their greatest strategic asset, the Descendants, had been compromised.

They were unsure what problems the transformation of the Arche ability due to Void Energy might cause. In the end, HQ decided to remove Keelan from all major missions, including Intercepts, and assigned him to the Investigative Corps until the matter could be discussed. The work of the Investigative Corps was by no means easy, but for Keelan, who felt alive during life and death Intercept Battles, his new environment bored him to death. Finally, Keelan was summoned to HQ to discuss the situation with Alpha.

“We’ve decided you’re a good fit for augmenting the Void Vessel Special Recon Unit and have changed your assignment to the Void Vessel Special Recon Unit, H.O.U.N.D. You’re an outstanding Descendant, you’ve participated in countless Intercept Battles, you’re familiar with the peculiarities of the Void… and you’re immune to Void Energy, so you check all the boxes. You’ll be a vital asset to H.O.U.N.D.”

Breaking the seriousness of Alpha’s voice, Keelan let out a chuckle of mockery.

“So, I’m a hound specialized for the Void.”

Alpha was set to retort to his cockiness, but Keelan was faster.

“Your wish is my command.”

Keelan felt unbridled joy that he could fight again. It would be in the Void Abyss, in uncharted territory, against enemies he’d never faced before, and he could feel the exhilaration of being alive in the face of that enemy. Of course he was happy. He felt like his heart was beating for the first time in a long time. On his first day in H.O.U.N.D., his training partner, Ines Raya, asked him. “Why are you so happy?” As he replied, he smiled wryly.

“I enjoy the unexpected.”

“With so many people wanting me to live, I have no choice but to do so.” – Dr. Kate

Related Guides for The First Descendant

• The First Descendant Builds Database
• The First Descendant Bunny Build
• The First Descendant Sharen Build

You can also check out our Ultimate Weapons Database for The First Descendant or the Builds Database for The First Descendant.