The Ascent has surprised many in the community, becoming one of the best games of the summer. Because the new title is a day one release on Xbox Game Pass, thousands of people can play for free. Ignoring some of the glitches and bugs that can hinder the experience, The Ascent is a blast to play.
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The addition of co-op allows gamers to connect with their friends and Ascend together. In total, the main story will take several hours to complete. However, Indents that are below mission level caps will have a hard time progressing through the game. Players can reference the tips below to level up as fast as possible.
Play With Friends
In co-op, if one character levels up, everyone in the party levels up. This will allow squads to create a DPS/healer/tank dynamic and win more fights. Having precisely designated roles is not as important in The Ascent, but it helps later in the game.
For example, one of the characters should have a Rejuv Grenade on hand for healing purposes, while the other members of a team can run damage tacticals and abilities for offensive purposes. The more fights the party is able to survive, the faster they will receive XP. Playing with friends makes surviving and leveling up easier.
Upgrade Weapons
Once gamers have leveled up a few times, it's probably time to visit Cluster 13 to get new weapons and upgrade existing ones. The guns available at the start of the game will not deal enough damage later in the game, even if they are upgraded. Increasing DPS will result in a faster time to kill and more XP per minute.
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Weapons can be purchased from the weapons vendor for Ucred. These weapons are quite expensive, so users will want to pick a couple that suit their playstyle. The Gunsmith will upgrade weapons for components, which are found in dedicated spawns on the map. Players will naturally come across them while completing missions and side missions in game.
Collect And Turn In Bounties
Bounties award a decent amount of Ucred early in the game. Squads will also get additional XP for killing bounties and turning them in at one of the bars. Bounty targets reward XP, and they are always surrounded by goons. Killing the bounty target as well as the mob will give characters a good amount of XP towards their next level-up.
Pick Up Side Missions
There are dozens of side missions available in The Ascent, and each rewards a healthy amount of XP on completion. Side Missions are preferable for players that have a limited amount of time to play, since missions in the main story can last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.
Similarly, side missions are great for those that are too far into the story for their level. Instead of dying every few seconds, gamers can play a couple of side missions and return to the action once they are at the appropriate level.
Use The Fast Travel System
Players can waste a lot of time walking in and out of safe zones in The Ascent. To maximize XP progress, gamers will want to summon a cab when possible to reach objectives faster. After all, nobody wants to walk 1,000 meters to the next step in a quest.
The game will be more enjoyable, and squads will level up quicker by fast traveling from place to place. There are plenty of benefits from exploring and looting, but that can be done in the general areas near mission objectives.
Always Activate Augmentations
Augmentations cause more total damage (AOE) than anything else in the game. Grenades are up there, but they need to be thrown accurately to have an impact. As soon as a fight begins, augmentations should be used to take out the first wave of enemies.
This is especially true for those using Biometric Timestamp, which resets health after a short period. Augmentations like Joyrun Dragon and Spiderbots are useful at any point in battle, and will help players level up faster.
Fight Everyone
Players receive experience for every enemy they kill. After fast traveling, any mobs that stand in the way should be eradicated. Most of the random non-bounty mobs will be no match for the ascender. Random enemies may not reward a ton of XP, but it will add up over the course of a few hours.
Obviously, this excludes the poor random souls who often become collateral damage. In addition, check enemy levels before taking on multiple enemies. There are plenty of 20+ level mobs that roam zones not too far from the beginner area.
Allocate Skill Points Intelligently
There are a number of overpowered skill combinations in The Ascent, and our guide has a few suggestions. Still, there are several skills that will be essential for any build. These are Vital Signs, Critical Hit Rate, and Tactical Sense:
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- Vital Signs increases health, which will keep indents alive and help them fight more enemies.
- Critical Hit Rate applies to any type of damage, meaning it will even have a large impact on augmentation heavy builds.
- Tactical Sense will speed up grenade regen, something every player can utilize.
Weapon Handling and Aiming should be the focus for people that use weapons more than augments. On the other hand, augment builds should allocate a fair share of points into the Body Battery skill for a higher max energy.
Choosing Armor
Having the right armor for the occasion will help any player level up in The Ascent. There are three tiers or boosts that each piece of armor provides. They include: damage defense, attributes, and boosts.
- Defense directly correlates with the type of damage inflicted by enemies (fire, physical, energy, and digital).
- Attributes refers to the attribute bonus of that particular piece of armor.
- Boosts are impacted by skill allocation.
Making the switch to a different set of armor can be advantageous when fighting enemies that deal a certain type of damage. Be sure to choose defenses wisely.
Don't Forget To Use Tacticals
Grenades are extremely useful in The Ascent. Many of the grenades are great to use on bosses and mobs because of DPS. EMP grenades stun/disable robotic enemies, lining up free kills.
The best grenade in the game, however, is the Rejuv grenade. It creates a healing AOE that all members of a team can use to refill their vitals. Players should always make sure to use their grenades when possible, as the Rejuv grenade will keep indents alive in the most dire of circumstances.
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