Battle Pass is the most common monetization model for every live-service game next to an in-game shop, and The First Descendant is no exception. However, it seems like Nexon has decided to lock character skins only behind the in-game shop, leaving nothing for Battle Pass other than weapon skins and some other cosmetic items.
The first Battle Pass for the pre-season of The First Descendant is now available, offering 96 tiers of rewards, but lacking character skins. While the Battle Pass includes almost all types of cosmetics, even the in-game currency for purchasing items from the in-game shop, it refuses to offer character skins, which is the most popular cosmetic category in the game.
I don’t think it’s difficult to agree on the fact that character skins are the most noticeable cosmetic items in a third-person shooter. Of course, weapon skins matter too, but it is not a first-person game, and you can really see the details of your weapons most of the time, which makes character skins much more valuable.
Fortnite is probably the best example in this case. The game always offers top-tier skins with the best designs for characters, while weapon skins usually come third or fourth after Back Bling and Pickaxe skins.
However, Fortnite still offers special character skins through Battle Pass, although it may not be as great as some of the skins exclusive to the Item Shop.
In this case, The First Descendant tries to lock the character skins behind Calibers, the in-game currency that you can earn to some extent from the Battle Pass, but that wouldn’t even be enough to buy a full skin from the shop.
The minimum price for Limited and Premium skins is 750 Caliber in the shop at the moment, but players can only earn up to 300 Caliber after completing the Battle Pass, which means even if you collect all Calibers from two Battle Pass seasons, you will still not be able to buy a Limited or Premium skin, while the Battle Pass itself will not grant you any skins either.
Things get even worse when you realize that you must spend 500 Caliber to purchase the Season Pass. So, it would make much more sense to directly buy character skins from the shop and ignore the Battle Pass, and still, you won’t lose anything big, other than some emotes, weapon skins, and attachments.
With 300 Caliber per season through the Battle Pass, you can either unlock new Descendants or purchase smaller cosmetic items like headgear, make-up, and back attachments.
Not that we haven’t seen anything like this before, but Nexon’s approach on Battle Pass in The First Descendant doesn’t seem to add enough value to your experience. Of course, you can earn more Gold and progress faster via Battle Pass rewards, but you never get any of those character skins, even the low-tier ones, to show off. At least, Battle Pass could have offered a few headgears, right?
