Honestly, playing Gley feels like walking a tightrope while holding a rocket launcher. Most people pick her up because they saw a YouTube clip of a Colossus melting in ten seconds, but then they actually jump into a Void Intercept and realize they’re spending half the fight staring at a gray screen.
She is weird. There is no other way to put it. Unlike every other character in The First Descendant, she doesn't have shields. If you take a hit, that’s your actual life bar disappearing. You’ve got to be okay with that.
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The Glass Cannon Myth
People call her a glass cannon, but that's actually wrong. Gley is arguably the tankiest character in the game if you build her for raw HP and defense. The "glass" part only happens when players get greedy with her Frenzied state.
When you toggle that first skill, you get a massive boost to Firearm ATK and Penetration. The catch? Your incoming healing is basically gutted. If you stay in Frenzied mode while a boss is targeting you, you're asking for a quick trip back to the respawn point.
The secret to actually staying alive is mastering the "Gley Dance." You toggle Frenzy on to dump your magazine, then toggle it off immediately to grab Life Spheres or use your Life Siphon to heal. If you aren't constantly clicking that 1 key, you aren't playing her right.
Why Everyone Is Obsessed With Infinite Ammo
If you’ve played a public match recently, you’ve probably seen a Gley standing in a corner spamming rockets like it’s a Fourth of July finale. This is her Increased Sensory (Skill 3) at work.
While Frenzied, this skill gives you a window where you don't consume ammo. Pair this with a high-impact, low-magazine weapon like the Vestigial Organ (a purple launcher that honestly outperforms most legendaries on her), and you become a stationary turret of destruction.
But here is the thing: most beginners forget about Skill Cooldown and Skill Duration.
If your cooldown is 40 seconds and your infinite ammo only lasts 5, you’re useless for 35 seconds. You need modules like Nimble Fingers, MP Conversion (even though she doesn't use MP, the cooldown reduction still works!), and Skill Extension. The goal is 100% uptime. Once you hit that threshold where the cooldown is shorter than the duration, the game fundamentally changes.
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The "Massacre" Build vs. The Gun Platform
There are basically two ways to play her once you get into the late game.
- The Gun Platform: You focus entirely on HP, DEF, and Cooldown. You ignore Skill Power because your damage comes from whatever gun you’re holding. This is the "safe" way to play.
- The Massacre Build: This uses her 4th skill, Massacre. It equips a unique pistol that scales off your Skill Power and your current HP. The lower your health, the harder it hits.
The Massacre build is where the legendary Python submachine gun shines. Because Massacre adds extra damage to every single bullet, a weapon with a ridiculous fire rate like the Python turns into a laser beam of death.
But it's sweaty. You have to manage "Power of Life" (those red pips under your health bar) and keep your HP low enough to maximize damage without getting one-shotted by a stray fireball.
Getting the Most Out of Her Arche
Gley’s lore is actually pretty dark—she’s a former military surgeon looking for her daughter, Dia, and her Arche powers are basically a result of horrific Vulgus experiments. That "frenzy" isn't just a gameplay mechanic; it’s her literally losing her mind in combat.
To make her feel "human" in terms of control, you really need her Transcendent Modules.
- Massive Sanguification: This is the gold standard. It lets you generate Power of Life without needing to kill enemies. This is mandatory for bossing. Without it, you’re stuck waiting for the boss to spawn "adds" just so you can use your 4th skill.
- Predator Instinct: Good for the infinite ammo rocket builds, as it ramps up your damage the longer you fire.
- Supersense: This is a trap for most players. It locks your fire rate. It’s only good if you’re using something extremely slow, like a very specific sniper rifle setup. For 90% of players, it’ll actually lower your DPS.
Quick Gear Check
Don't overthink the Reactor. You want a Materialized Singularity reactor (Non-Attribute/Singular). Look for sub-stats that have Skill Cooldown and Skill Duration. If you find one with "Damage against Colossus," keep it forever.
For External Components, the Annihilation Set from Hard Mode Devourer is basically built for her. It boosts duration and gives you more Firearm ATK as your HP drops. It synergizes so well it’s almost boring.
Practical Steps to Master Gley
Stop trying to copy the "1-second kill" builds until you have at least 8-10 Catalysts in her. She is a resource sink.
Start by maxing out Increased HP and Increased DEF. You can't do damage if you're dead. Once you can survive a hit from a Hard Mode boss, then start shaving off defensive mods for more cooldown.
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Go farm the Vestigial Organ in the Agna Desert. It’s a purple drop, so it’s easy to get. Enhance its ability to the max. Even without a "perfect" build, an infinite ammo launcher will carry you through almost all the base game content and early Hard Mode farming.
Lastly, learn to watch your health bar more than the enemies. Gley’s biggest enemy isn't the Vulgus—it’s her own abilities eating away at her life. Toggle off Frenzy, hit your 2 to Life Siphon a group of mobs, and get back in the fight.
Actionable Next Steps:
Focus on farming the Massive Sanguification module first if you want to tackle bosses, as it removes the RNG of Life Sphere drops. If you're struggling with survivability, swap your Reactor to anything with a high HP substat until you can comfortably manage your Frenzy toggles. Stick to the Vestigial Organ for mobbing and save the Python investment for when you have enough Crystallization Catalysts to support a full Skill Power build.