Best Blair build in The First Descendant

Emily Stander
Blair in The First Descendant

The First Descendant has a range of different characters, and each has special abilities that give them a unique playstyle. The best build for Blair helps enhance his fire-wielding style. 

This build looks to use the best Modules, Reactors, and External Components to maximize critical hit potential, so here’s everything you need to know. 

Best Blair build

  • Modules: Focus on Fire, Fire Specialist, Classic Chef, Nimble Fingers
  • Reactor: Burning Phase
  • External Components: HP Recovery, DEF
  • Weapon: Enduring Legacy Machine Gun

Blair uses fire in The First Descendant and specializes mostly in doing massive critical damage to enemies. He’s got an interesting playstyle, though, because he thrives with AoE crit damage instead of single-target damage.

Burning Phase helps increase this power, and using External Components that boost his HP and DEF helps his lack of survivability be a little more stable. Throw in an Ultimate weapon like Enduring Legacy, and you’ve got the best Blair build sorted for success. More details about this build are below.

Best Module Setup

SlotModuleDescription
1 (Skill Module)Classic ChefChanges Pitmaster skill to increase firearm and skill critical hit rate and, using Deadly Cuisine, increases the number of flame zones to 4.
2Skill Range MasteryImproves the Range of Skills
3Increased ShieldIncreases your Max Shield
4Fire SpecialistIncreases the Skill Power of Fire skills
5Skill ExpansionIncreases the Effect Range of skills
6Focus on FireImproves the Skill Power of Fire Skills, and slightly reduces Skill Cooldowns
7 (Sub-Module)Dual ClawChanges your Sub Attack to a Dual Claw attack. Increases Max Module Capacity
8Willpower EffluxIncreases your DEF and slightly improves HP Heal
9Increased DEFIncreases your DEF
10Increased HPIncreases your max HP
11Nimble FingersConsiderably reduces your Skill Cooldown.
12[Flex]

Because of his lack of mobility, I found that using Modules like Willpower Efflux and Increased DEF made all the difference in surviving fights while still getting maximum use out of Blair’s Skills.

He is quite reliant on his skills to reach his potential, too, which is why Nimble Fingers and Focus on Fire are essential to help his Skill cooldowns be more manageable to you can stack Burn more often.

The last slot can be used for anything you think is relevant to what you may be facing, but his most interesting Module is Classic Chef, which enhances both his Pitmaster Passive and Deadly Cuisine to have more critical damage and DoT effects.

Best Reactors

Burning Phase is the best Reactor to use for Blair, considering that he has more Dimension type than Fusion type skills. 

Reactors are an incredibly important aspect in The First Descendant because they boost your Skill Power and can include extra modifiers that buff your build. It’s best to remember that you also meet the Optimization Condition for whatever Reactor you use to get the most out of it. 

Best External Components

The best External Components to use with Blair boost his Max Shield, HP Recovery, DEF, and Max HP

I find that Blair struggles with mobility in The First Descendant, so boosting his Shields and HP as much as you can make up for not really being able to get out of the way of enemy fire. 

Best weapons

The Enduring Legacy Machine Gun, Afterglow Sword Sniper Rifle, and Secret Garden Tactical Rifle are all essential for the best Blair build in The First Descendant. 

Enduring Legacy

  • ATK: 28
  • Fire Rate: 571
  • Reload Speed: 2.7 seconds
  • Effective Range: 40m
  • Craftsmanship: On hitting an enemy, increase Status effect Trigger Rate corresponding to the element (Fire/Chill/Electric/Toxic) and inflict the unique ability Quenching to the target. On hitting a Burned enemy, increase Firearm ATK and apply this buff to the attack.
Enduring Legacy Machine Gun in The First Descendant
Craftsmanship makes this weapon a must-have for Blair.

Although Enduring Legacy isn’t among the best weapons overall in The First Descendant, it’s an absolute beast in Blair’s hands. The Status effect and ATK increase you get from Craftsmanship means that you’re getting the most out of his Fiery abilities.

Afterglow Sword

  • ATK: 240
  • Fire Rate: 66
  • Reload Speed: 2.5 seconds
  • Effective Range: 55m
  • Nightmare Reaper: on hitting an enemy’s weak point, inflicts the unique ability Death Propagation. On hitting an enemy Commander or Collossi, increase firearm critical hit rate and apply the effect to the attack.
Afterglow Sword Sniper Rifle in The First Descendant
Nightmare Reaper makes this weapon excellent against bosses.

I found that I was never really getting close to the enemy with Blair, which means that using something like Afterglow increased his potential for crit damage – which is his major strength. This weapon also remains one of the strongest against bosses, where he can also fall slightly short overall. 

Secret Garden

  • ATK: 62
  • Fire Rate: 199
  • Reload Speed: 2 seconds
  • Effective Range: 35m
  • Gardener: When using a Dimension skill, recovers Custom Resource with a set chance. When using a Tech skill, grants the unique ability Pest Control with a set chance.
Secret Garden Tactical Rifle in The First Descendant
Gardener makes Dimension skills that much stronger.

Secret Garden is another fantastic secondary weapon choice because it can recover resources when using Dimension skills. It’s a little reliant on using these skills to achieve maximum effect, but it helps you manage your resources well, only adding more to the best build for Blair. 

Best Active Skill

Blaze Up is Blair’s best Active Skill in The First Descendant, as it has great AoE and DoT damage potential without having to get yourself too close to the enemy. 

He also really shines with his Ultimate, Deadly Cuisine, which unleashes a massive Fireball onto enemies and devastates them. He doesn’t have much in terms of defense, so I found stacking Burn effects and making effective use of crit damage was the best way to play him.

Abilities explained

  • Pitmaster (Passive): Critical Hit Damage increases when attacking enemies who are in Burn state.
  • Blaze Up: Shoots flame to deal damage to nearby enemies and creates Stoves. Stoves inflict constant damage and a Burn effect to nearby enemies.
  • Extinguish: Retrieve Stoves in the battlefield to restore Mana. Retrieving Stoves also increases DEF for a short period of time.
  • Burn Taste: Shoots flames forward. Enemies near the flames are inflicted with constant damage and a Burn effect.
  • Deadly Cuisine: Throw a large Fireball that splits into smaller Fireballs that explode. Explosion damage inflicts Burn effect and creates Stoves.

Blair is a fully DoT character who struggles a bit when it comes to single-target focus, but his critical damage output is rivaled by very few other Descendants thanks to his Pitmaster passive. 

The best way to play him is to focus on stacking Burn with Blaze Up and Burn Taste as much as possible so you can maximize your critical hits. He is one of the more difficult Descendants to master because of his lack of mobility and lower defense, so be patient while you learn how his character plays. 

How to unlock Blair

You can unlock Blair in The First Descendant by researching him with Anais in Albion or purchasing him from the store

As with other Descendants, you need to collect materials so you can research his Enhanced Cells, Stabilizer, and Spiral Catalyst. Then you can find his code in Hagios, and you’ll have everything you need to research him.

If you’re looking for more Descendants that have strengths in DoT and AoE damage, have a look at our builds for Valby, Lepic, and Freyna. Some strong characters thrive under pressure, like Kyle, that are worth a browse for your next unlock.