The armor and class system in The Ascent is unlike most games with stats and skill trees. Skills points can be allocated into one of four attributes, each of which will improve the armor rating of the head armor, upper body armor, lower body armor, or vitals. These attributes are Cybernetics, Motorics, Biometrics, and Frame respectively.
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Therefore, the skills that players raise will have an impact on both armor rating and specific attribute stats. The Ascent's clever system negates the need for rolls or variations of drops. Instead, skill points will determine how a build performs. Read on to learn more detail about these concepts in more detail, and to learn where to find armor in the game.
Each of the four attribute categories are related to two skill types. Their related skills are as follows:
- Cybernetics: Tactical Sense and Critical Hit Rate
- Motorics: Weapon Handling and Aiming
- Frame: Balance and Evasion
- Biometrics: Vital Signs and Body Battery
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Picking skills in one of the two attribute categories also increases the armor rating of the associated body part. Protect various parts of the player character's body by increasing attributes as follows:
- Cybernetics: Head
- Motorics: Upper Body
- Frame: Lower Body
- Biometrics: Internal
To create a balanced character with good armor stats, each of the attributes will need at least a few skill points. Most players will allocate the least amount of points to Frame; after all, Balance, which falls under Frame, is one of the worst skills in the game. However, Evasion is one of the best, and gamers can stack Evasion to get Frame to a viable level.
In addition to armor, skills also impact the duration and damage of the various augmentations, so players need to keep their attributes in mind when using augmentations.
In addition to the overall protection provided by the armor, players will receive a statistical boost, which also relates to how the character is built out.
Players can determine armor quality by looking at the color of the item in the menu. Yellow and purple items are the most rare, and can only be found later in the game. All armor and weapons in The Ascent drop based on progression, so players will have to ascend in order to get better gear. Generally, new weapons and items become available every five levels. It might take a bit of grinding to get better armor early on.
Armor drops from enemies, bosses, and hidden chests throughout the city. Early in the game, any enemy has a small probability to drop an armor piece. Similarly, bosses have both random and curated drops. These higher level enemies include bounties, side mission mobs, and the main storyline bosses. Bosses drop rare high rated armor that players can't find simply by farming low level adds.
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The best armor, however, is found in random chests. Most of the chests are hidden in rooms throughout the city, and many of them only have one entry and exit point. Most of the entryways are down alleys or behind obstructing objects. Explore the map a little while completing objectives, and a few of these will appear every now and then. A select few of the most fruitful chests are blocked behind doors that have to be hacked to get through. In order to hack most of the entryways, gamers will need to upgrade their Cyberdeck, as detailed below.
Figuring out what an ICE level is and where to get Cyberdecks can be confusing for new users. In reality, though, the system is quite simple. Cyberdecks will drop in accessible random chests, ships, and other loot sources in game. As players progress, more Cyberdecks will be available on the traversable map.
Once a character gets enough Cyberdecks, their ICE level will go up. Players with higher ICE levels will be able to hack through more doors and barricades. Most players will come by the upgrades naturally, as the game provides plenty of opportunities for drops. Explore the city and they will turn up. There are secrets around every corner in The Ascent, and a fair few of the Cyberdecks are near the beginner zones. Thus, it quickly becomes fairly easy to access areas that hold fantastic armor.
An additional benefit of a higher ICE level is the ability to hack turrets and set barrels on an explosive timer. Simply press the hack button near a turret or barrel to gain control of it. Turrets are especially useful as they deal high enough damage to kill enemies over level 10. Likewise, gamers can hack those barrels and kite enemies to their demise.
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