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Discover how to get the Ultimate Thunder Cage, the best modules, best stats, and more in our weapon build guide for The First Descendant!
This build guide has been updated for Hotfix 1.0.7 of The First Descendant.
Best Ultimate Thunder Cage Build Guide in The First Descendant
The Thunder Cage is an Ultimate weapon in The First Descendant, which is popular due it’s early introduction in the game, along with the great area-of-effect burst damage that it can deal. Even at lower levels, it can drop packs of the easy mobs when the Electric Shockwave triggers. Additionally, it can be modded and upgraded to remain an impactful weapon at the end game.
All Thunder Cage features in The First Descendant:
- Weapon Type: Ultimate Submachine Gun
- Special Ability: Overcharge
- Base Reload Speed decreases by 25%.
- When defeating an enemy, that enemy has a 40% chance to discharge Electric Shockwave that deals additional damage to nearby enemies.
- Pros: Defeated enemies discharge electric shock waves, dealing additional AOE damage.
- Cons: Relies on defeating enemies to trigger its effect.
- Best Characters: Bunny, Kyle, Lepic, Sharen, Valby
- Best Mods: Sweeping Squad, Action and Reaction, Fire Rate UP
Thunder Cage Advanced Stats
Below are the base advanced stats for the Thunder Cage Submachine Gun at level 1:
- Firearm ATK – 24
- Fire Rate – 666
- Rounds per mag – 26
- Reload time – 1.4 seconds
- Crit rate – 20%
- Crit damage – 2x
- Status chance – 4%
- Weakpoint damage – 1.2x
How to Get Ultimate Thunder Cage in The First Descendant
The Ultimate Thunder Cage will require you to reach Mastery Rank Level 1 before you can craft it with Magister Anais in Albion. Additionally, once you collect all of the needed materials, you will have to pay a 100,000 credit/gold fee. Finally, it will take 4 hours of research time for the Thunder Cage to be completed.
To Craft Ultimate Thunder Cage, you will need the following materials:
- Thunder Cage Polymer Synctium – Sterile Land Rockfall, External Reactor
- Thunder Cage Synthetic Fiber – Sterile Land Repository, Kuiper Mine.
- Thunder Cage Nano Tube – Sterile Land Restricted Zone, High-powered Jammer.
- Thunder Cage Blueprint – Sterile Land Ironworks, Logistics Facility.
To find all of the materials for crafting the Ultimate Thunder Cage you will need to run various missions in the Sterile Land zone. This will be the second zone in the game after Kingston, and before going there the first time you will receive a sub-quest called Basic Weapon Training. This will be your guide for collecting all of the materials for the Thunder Cage. Moreover, you’ll need to return and rerun these missions in order to farm materials for duplicates that will further upgrade your weapon.
Best Modules for Ultimate Thunder Cage in The First Descendant
Sweeping Squad, Action and Reaction, and Fire Rate UP are the best weapon mods for the Thunder Cage submachine gun. These mods increase your overall Firearm ATK while boosting the rate of fire. Sweeping Squad specifically increases firearm ATK after defeating enemies and can stack for huge damage boost while destroying enemies. Critical-related mods like Better Insight and Better Concentration should also be considered to help with critical balancing. Below are the best weapons mods for the Thunder Cage submachine gun.
Best Beginner Mods for Ultimate Thunder Cage
Below are the best beginner weapons mods for the Thunder Cage:
- Fire Rate UP – Fire Rate +6%
- Electric Enhancement – Adds Electric ATK equal to 8% of Firearm ATK
- Expand Weapon Charge – Rounds per magazine +12%
- Rifling Reinforcement – Firearm ATK +12%
- Better Insight – Firearm Critical Hit Rate +10%
- Better Concentration – Firearm Critical Hit Damage +19%
| Slot | Module |
|---|---|
| 1 (First Row) | (empty) |
| 2 | Fire Rate UP |
| 3 | Electric Enhancement |
| 4 | Expanded Weapon Charge |
| 5 | (empty) |
| 6 (Second Row) | (empty) |
| 7 | Rifling Reinforcement |
| 8 | Better Insight |
| 9 | Better Concentration |
| 10 | (empty) |
Best Advanced Mods for Ultimate Thunder Cage
- Action and Reaction: Firearm ATK +15%, Recoil +5%
- Fire Rate UP: Fire Rate +6%
- Electric Enhancement: Adds Electric ATK equal to 8% of Firearm ATK
- Better Concentration: Firearm Critical Hit Damage +19%
- Edging Shot: Firearm critical hit rate +11%, firearm ATK -4%
- Rifling Reinforcement: Firearm ATK +12%
- Concentration Priority: Firearm Critical Hit Damage +30%, Reload Time Modifier -8%
- Better Insight: Firearm Critical Hit Rate +10%
- Flex: put an elemental type of your choice or rounds per magazine in this slot, depending on your socket.
- Sweeping Squad: When defeating an enemy, Firearm ATK +10.6% for 5s at 33% chance (up to 3 stacks)
| Slot | Module |
|---|---|
| 1 (First Row) | Action and Reaction |
| 2 | Fire Rate UP |
| 3 | Electric Enhancement |
| 4 | Better Concentration |
| 5 | Edging Shot |
| 6 (Second Row) | Rifling Reinforcement |
| 7 | Flex |
| 8 | Concentration Priority |
| 9 | Better Insight |
| 10 | Sweeping Squad |
Best Weapon Stats for Ultimate Thunder Cage in The First Descendant
The best weapon stats and traits for the Thunder Cage are Firearm ATK, Firearm critical hit rat, critical hit damage, and electric damage. These traits can be adjusted at a workbench and will overall increase your Thunder Cage’s damage.
Here are the best weapon stats to obtain via weapon readjustment for Ultimate Thunder Cage in The First Descendant:
- Firearm ATK
- Firearm Critical Hit Rate
- Firearm Critical Hit Damage
- Electric Damage
In the First Descendant, weapon stats are randomly generated for all weapons when they drop or are created via crafting. You can change (or re-roll) them through the Weapon Readjustment system. Each weapon has four random traits or options that can be rerolled (another RNG attempt) to find the ideal trait. These traits are random and so is their quality. Therefore, expect to spend a lot of materials to min-max the perfect roll.
How to Upgrade Thundercage
To upgrade the Thundercage weapon, you can increase module capacity, level transmissions weapon to your current level, readjust the weapon traits, or enhance the weapon’s unique ability. The First Descendant provides several different avenues for upgrading and improving your weapons by using their repair station Workbench. The Workbench is located in the same general area as Anais and weapons seller Deslin on the west side of Albion. Below are the various methods for upgrading weapons in the First Descendant:
- Max Capacity UP: increase the module capacity.
- Level Transmission: upgrades level to your current level.
- Readjustment: changes weapon traits and perks.
- Enhanced Unique Ability: increase ultimate weapons unique effect to max of 5.
Maximum Module Capacity
When upgrading weapon mods, be aware there is an increased cost and a max module capacity of 80. The material needed is Energy Activators, and you will get one of these after playing through the end of the campaign, or you can craft them with Anais. Therefore, you want to balance increasing mods and not attempt to max out every one. A balanced approach to firearm ATK, critical chance, and critical damage is the best (+3 or so to each).
Weapon Transmission
Each time you craft an Ultimate weapon in The First Descendant, after collecting it from Anais you will find that it is a low Level 1 firearm. However, you can easily bring it up to your current weapon level by using the Weapon Transmission mechanic at the Workbench. Finally, you will need to reach Mastery Rank 3.
To level up Thunder Cage in The First Descendant, you will need:
- Precision Phase Exchanger
- 250 Liquid Metal
- 50,000 credits/gold
- 10:00 of research time
To get Superalloy and Liquid Metal in the First Descendant, you will need to dismantle many weapons you don’t want by junking them. This breaks down the weapon into crafting materials you can use to make other items. Consequently, we highly recommend breaking down all of your excess weapons instead of selling them. Credits are easier to earn just by playing the game and completing missions.
Weapon Readjustment
In The First Descendant, the Weapon Readjustment mechanic allows you to use the Workbench to re-roll your weapon stats. Moreover, you can re-roll all of your stats at once, or lock individual stats you like and only re-roll the ones you want to change.
Finally, you will need to reach Master Rank 4 in order to unlock Weapon Readjustment at the Workbench.
To change Thunder Cage stats in The First Descendant you will need:
- Fine Adjustment Control Axis x2
- 200 Liquid Metal
- 30,000 credits/gold
- 1:00:00 of research time
Enhance Unique Ability
Each Ultimate weapon in The First Descendant comes with a unique ability that gives it a powerful effect and you can enhance the power of these abilities. This is another mechanic that you will use at the repair station Workbench, and it unlocks at Mastery Rank 5.
However, unlike Weapon Transmission and Weapon Readjustment there is no unique crafting material you will need to create and use. To enhance the unique ability of Thunder Cage, you will have to craft a duplicate. Then, take that Level 1 duplicate to the Workbench and sacrifice it to upgrade the Overkill ability to a stronger version.
As you can see in the image above, enhancing the Thunder Cage one time massively increases the chance to trigger the Electric Shockwave from 40% up to 70%. Additionally, the radius of the bast does shrink, but on the other hand it also deals a lot more damage than before.
How To Use Ultimate Thunder Cage
The best way to use the Ultimate Thunder Cage submachine gun is within medium range before damage falls off at 23 meters. Beyond this point, you will lose damage until the range of 43 meters. Therefore, you must be close and hold down the trigger, aiming for weak points. The main benefit of the Thunder Cage is the AOE damage explosive chance. Therefore, look to kill enemies with the lowest HP to trigger the extra damage effect, causing a chain reaction of kills.
The Thunder Cage can be effective in Void Intercepts battles but requires constant movement. You want to continue to strafe to the side while aiming down sights when the boss isn’t targeting you. If the boss turns towards you or you are playing solo, hip fire to increase visibility and movement speed. Swap to your High Powered Rounds weapon during a boss weak point destruction. During this phase, you will have 5-7 seconds of uninterrupted damage, and it is best to use a burst weapon that requires special or heavy ammo.
Lastly, use a second weapon with either special rounds or impact rounds. Ideally, this weapon should be mid-range and complement the up-close Thunder Cage. A Hand Cannon, Beam Rifle, or Scout Rifle make a good choice. Select a Grenade Launcher or a Sniper RIfle for your Heavy Impact Weapon. The Grenade Launcher is helpful for add clear where you can’t get in close. The Sniper Rifle is best used in Void Intercept boss battles at range. We hope this guide helped you, and we recommend using Bunny build when paired with the best Ultimate Thunder Cage for the First Descendant.
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