- Conquest Difficulty Launch: The update adds a temporary high-stakes mode for Karel’s Mothership featuring tougher Vulgus enemies with boosted health and damage output.
- Raven Character Balancing: The range for Raven’s Raven’s Claw has been buffed to 65 meters, while her Veil of Night defensive stacks were dropped from 7 down to 3.
Conquest Difficulty and the Karel’s Mothership Challenge
The First Descendant Update 1.147 went live on September 3, 2026, bringing fresh end-game content to players on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The main draw of this patch is the rollout of Conquest Difficulty for the Karel’s Mothership mission. This tier is built to test the most optimized builds by scaling beyond the standard Hard mode. Found in the Void Vessel – Assumed Bridge Zone of the Ingris region, this mission forces squads to stay mobile while tackling Vulgus enemies that now possess much higher ATK and HP stats.
The Karel’s Mothership Conquest Ranking Run will run in two distinct windows, ending on October 15, 2026. Phase 1 wraps up on September 17, followed by a Phase 2 reset after a short maintenance break. This jump in difficulty mirrors the way other competitive developers tighten up high-tier AI logic, much like the refinements detailed in the CFB 25 Update 1.027 Patch Notes: Online Dynasty & AI Fixes to better challenge veteran players.
Raven Roster Changes and Tactical Rebalancing
Raven is a major focus in this update. After appearing in various leaks throughout 2025 and early 2026, she has now settled into a firm spot in the core roster. With the 1.147 patch, her Raven’s Claw ability received a major utility buff, increasing the maximum reach from 50 meters to 65 meters. This allows her to safely pressure bosses from a distance. Furthermore, her Shadow Step now reliably restores two stacks of Raven’s Claw when timed correctly.
To keep her in check, Nexon implemented a significant nerf to her survivability. The Veil of Night skill now provides only 3 counts of damage negation, down from 7. This change encourages more careful positioning rather than aggressive tanking. These kinds of character shifts are common in hero-based shooters, following a similar philosophy to the Apex Legends Update 1.000.133 Patch Notes: 3.19 Key Fixes where character power is shifted to maintain a healthy meta.
Technical Optimizations and Next-Gen Enhancements
As the game matures in its 2026 technical cycle, the developers have added specific support for mid-gen hardware upgrades. The 1.147 update improves performance for the PS5 Pro, using FSR 4.0 to keep the frame rate locked at 60fps even during the busiest moments of the Mothership raid. These fixes also clear up clipping issues and terrain glitches in Trials mode, making better use of Unreal Engine 5’s Nanite and Lumen. Maintaining this level of polish is vital for long-term playability, similar to the stability efforts seen in the Black Ops 2 Update 1.009 Patch Notes: Security & PS5 Fixes.
Economic Overhaul and Global Community Events
Hard Difficulty rewards have been scaled up across the board. Gold rewards now offer 58,200 per run, while Descendant EXP has jumped to 1,303,382. For those still building their arsenal, the Thunder Cage reward from the Chapter 4 Auto Build Setup Quest now drops at Level 81. Players can also save resources during the Weekend Readjustment Discounts, which slash the Gold and Kuiper Shard costs for Ancestors Module Readjustment by 50%. Finally, the Assemble Event is now active, challenging the community to beat Karel’s Mothership 150,000 times collectively to unlock a unique reward for everyone.
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