The Ascent has only been out for a week, and thousands of gamers are already joining the community every day. Despite a few annoying bugs, the game is a lot of fun to play. Over the last few days, many in the community have had time to tinker with different skills and Augmentations to create the ultimate build.
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The possibilities are endless, because of the way the class system works in The Ascent. Thus far, there are a few different builds that work exceptionally well against higher level enemies. Here's a handy guide to three powerful Ascent builds that all gamers need to try in their first playthrough.
This build is specialized for those that like to use fast firing machine guns. The Minigun is the ideal weapon, but any automatic SMG or assault rifle will work. No need to be too choosy; it's the skills that make this build work.
There are four skills that will be essential for players who want to try the build:
- Critical Hit Rate
- Aiming
- Balance
- Vital Signs
Each of these four skills should be at 10 or higher by levels 15-20. For people that have different skill allocations, fear not. There is an easy way to redo skill points later in the game.
Other helpful skills include Weapon Handling and Body Battery. Motorics skills will improve both reload speed and bullet spread, since the Minigun will need improved spread to make sure all of those pellets hit the target. Critical Hit Rate provides a noticeable boost to critical chance, which will increase DPS. Vital signs will always be necessary to increase health and increase Biometric Augmentations.
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Choosing armor for this build is simple: just find the armor piece in each category that has the highest average resistance across the board. With the balanced skills above, this should not be a problem. As players progress, they will pick up armor that complements the class. The following Augmentations work well with the build:
- Biometric Timestamp: Recover health after a short period.
- Lockon Fire: Hit every shot while the ability is active
The Motorics build will rely heavily on Weapon Handling and Aiming to create the master boss slayer. As with any build, gamers will want to put some of their points into Vital Signs to make sure the character has enough health to survive chaotic fights. This build is set up for Augment heavy gameplay.
Gamers will want to run a machine gun with a launcher/grenade launcher for high DPS against bosses and high level enemies. Launchers also provide a longer range than the machine guns, making them perfect for those who like to cause chaos from a distance.
The following skills are recommended for this build:
- Weapon Handling
- Aiming
- Vital Signs
- Body Battery
Players can go all in on these skills or try to make the build a little more balanced. Evasion and Critical Hit Rate are solid secondary skills to build out.
Augmentations are the most important aspect of this build. By investing a lot of points in Motorics, the Augments will last longer and deal more damage. Gamers need to be using the following two abilities to complete the build:
- Hydraulic Slam: Kinetic attack that sends a cone of AOE damage
- Neutron Beam: Generates a continuous neutron beam that inflicts massive damage
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Hydraulic Slam is good, but it is merely a placeholder in the slot. There are a couple of other options in Motorics for those that prefer a different skill. The Neutron Beam is what makes this class so incredible. It will last for a long time, decimating all in its path. With a heavy Motorics build, it will regenerate very fast as well. Hold the beam on bosses to melt them with ease.
The final build in this guide is like a cheat code. Gamers will have to be pretty reckless to get killed with these skills and Augmentations. Getting the health pool up with Vital Signs is the principle focus early in the game. Follow additional tips below to get DPS up and make staying in the fight a piece of cake.
Be sure to ramp up the following skills when aiming for this build:
- Tactical Sense
- Critical Hit Rate
- Weapon Handling
- Aiming
- Vital Signs
Players will be able to eat damage, aim, and fire with this setup. Evasion and Body Battery will not be as essential because the character will have a ton of health. The Rejuv Field grenade paired with Tactical Sense will make sure that players always have health. The grenade will heal the player for a short period while in the AOE, which basically makes the character a tank with heals.
Equip the following Augmentations for additional regeneration.
- Life Transfer: Leeches health from nearby enemies that take damage
- Spiderbots: Sends out spiders that seek enemies and explode on impact
Rejuv Field and Life Transfer provide a constant source of health while in a fight. Gamers can out heal almost any mob in the game. In co-op, teams can cycle grenades and Life Transfer, which breaks the game completely. Additionally, Spiderbots is an S tier Augmentation, engulfing eight enemies near the player. With any of these three builds, users will have a blast progressing though the story.
NEXT: The Ascent: Mission List