Trials Protocol 001 is the Order of Truth dungeon in The First Descendant, now part of the daily Trials rotation alongside Protocol 002. Each run links randomised combat areas, asks you to pick Variable Codes to strengthen your character and ends each round with a Commander fight. You can continue into more difficult rounds or leave after a clear.
Players trying to run Trials Protocol 001 after the October update may remember it being unavailable. Nexon temporarily suspended the dungeon when a portal could disappear, but patch 1.4.6 on October 22 fixed the final-zone portal and restored the normal rotation. Here’s how to enter, handle Antithese and Vorax, plan your code choices and understand the rewards.
How to unlock Trials Protocol 001
To enter Trials Protocol 001, complete The Stance of the Magisters main quest to unlock Hard Difficulty. Look for the Trials icon on the right side of the World Map, or visit Laboratory Manager Siena in Albion. Public matchmaking requires 83,980 Arche Activity; you can start a Private Operation below that activity threshold. Meeting the entry rules and having enough power to survive later rounds are two different things.
Update 1.4.5 introduced Protocol 002 and placed both dungeons on a daily rotation. Trials Protocol 001 features the Order of Truth, while Protocol 002 uses the Legion of Immortality. The available dungeon changes at 00:00 PDT; the entry screen displays the current legion and time until the next change. Our Protocol 002 guide covers that other rotation.
| Feature | Protocol 001 | Protocol 002 |
|---|---|---|
| Legion | Order of Truth | Legion of Immortality |
| Public Arche Activity | 83,980 | 83,980 |
| Rotation | Daily at 00:00 PDT | Daily at 00:00 PDT |
| Entry and rewards | Shared Trials rules | Shared Trials rules |
| Best records | Separate record by Descendant Group | Separate record by Descendant Group |
How rounds and Variable Codes work
A Trials Protocol 001 round starts with combat zones connected by portals and ends when the Commander is defeated. You select Variable Codes when finishing zones, and their effects carry into later rounds. Nexon says that picking one trait makes related traits more likely to appear, so early choices influence future options. Build around a consistent source of damage or defence instead of choosing unrelated upgrades simply because they sound powerful.
Routes are randomised, which makes each run different. After the Commander you can continue into a harder round or choose to escape. Stronger enemies are the price of pushing further, so there’s value in ending a run after a comfortable completion instead of risking a squad that is already struggling. The Freyna and Gley rework guides explain changed character skills that may influence your code preferences.
Antithese boss mechanics and strategy
Antithese is a tracking Commander that closes distance aggressively, using leaps and binds to keep you under pressure. Nexon’s boss description identifies nearby Security Codes as an opportunity: destroying them promptly creates a chance to counterattack. Don’t focus entirely on its health bar when those objects appear, because responding to the mechanic can make the dangerous close-range section easier to handle.
During Trials Protocol 001, keep enough space to see incoming movement, then redirect damage onto the Security Codes when they spawn. If you find yourself pinned in melee repeatedly, consider whether you’re missing those openings. An all-purpose weapon and a way to survive the approach can help more than a narrow damage setup that only works while a boss stands still.
Vorax boss mechanics and Identification Codes
Vorax is slower than Antithese but punishes hits that aren’t dodged. Its attacks can leave Identification Code marks, which become extra damage during subsequent patterns. That makes avoiding the initial hits especially important. The slower movement is an invitation to manage positioning, not to stand still and absorb attacks.
Nexon also fixed an earlier Trials issue where a sphere destruction phase could repeat indefinitely during fights with Antithese and Vorax. Players who encountered that bug should use the current version after the relevant patches when evaluating boss behaviour. If you’re choosing a weapon for Trials Protocol 001, our Monster Hunter assault rifle guide explains the new firearm, though its specific Colossus interactions shouldn’t be represented as unique boss weaknesses here.
Trials Protocol 001 rewards by round
Each completed round can award rewards. The initial published Trials Protocol 001 table gives a 10% Transcendent Weapon Loot chance for each of the first four rounds, with a better minimum weapon Quality range beginning in Round 3. That percentage is a chance of the loot, not of any particular weapon effect or a Quality 400 drop.
| Round | Weapon Loot chance | Weapon Quality range | Merit Tokens | Cooling Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10% | 271–400 | 10 | 10 |
| 2 | 10% | 271–400 | 10 | 10 |
| 3 | 10% | 281–400 | 15 | 10 |
| 4 | 10% | 281–400 | 15 | 10 |
You can exchange Merit Tokens with Excavation Chief Reina in Albion, including for weekly limited-time progression boosts. Compare Trials with Onslaught Stage 5 if you’re chiefly interested in Transcendent Weapons: Onslaught has its own quality bracket and completion rewards. The daily weapon boost guide also explains why some activities have different bonus conditions on different days.
Is Trials Protocol 001 fixed after October 22?
Yes. Trials Protocol 001 was suspended from the rotation on October 16 because of the portal issue in multiplayer. Patch 1.4.6 corrected the disappearing final-zone portal and allowed the daily rotation to resume. It also fixed issues with Trials boss-room collision, and adjusted difficulty when squad size changes during a run.
Variable Codes received fixes too: Arche Retrieval’s reactivation cooldown, Decisive Strike’s damage, and Domino Chain’s critical hit and stack behaviour were corrected. If a guide recommends an unusually strong bugged interaction, check whether it was recorded before the October 22 update. Our October known-issues guide covers more fixes, while the Enzo rework explains a different set of recent skill changes.
The best starting plan for Trials Protocol 001 is to check the current rotation, enter with a build that can survive escalating rounds, choose codes that support one another and respond to the Commanders’ mechanics. You will get more reliable results from knowing when to dodge, destroy Security Codes and leave a round than from treating Trials like a fixed-path mission.
Official source: Nexon’s Trials launch notes from Update 1.4.0.
