The Ascent released earlier this week for all players on Xbox Game Pass as well as PC. I’ve had my hands on the game for about a week before release, and I was able to get through a solid portion of the game before it released to the public, courtesy of PressEngine. I have to say that I am absolutely loving this game (and my review will definitely be coming soon) and I highly recommend it. While you go about your way through The Ascent, the game offers a few beginner tutorials that are pretty helpful on your journey through Veles. So, what are some of the biggest beginner tips that I have to offer new players coming into The Ascent for the first time?
Upgrade Your Health
The very first thing that you’re going to want to do in The Ascent is upgrade your health! When you level up, you’ll earn a certain amount of skill points, and you’re going to want to dump all of that into upgrading your max health. Everything else comes after your health, because you will get absolutely torn up in the game. I highly suggest upgrading your max health, grabbing a shotgun, and then just going to town on every enemy you see. This will make your life so much easier (and longer too!).
Hacking
You can hack everything within cyberdeck reach in The Ascent. Many objects in the world require a cyberdeck capable of hacking that particular type. You can find out what your cyberdeck can hack by reading the Journal’s Character screen, and most things that can be hacked in the world are indicated by the color yellow. Doors and Chests can even be protected by more and more complicated ICE and as such, require even more powerful cyberdecks. You can upgrade your cyberdeck and increase its capabilities by finding Cyberdeck Upgrades in the world.
Aiming
Aiming your weapon doesn’t exactly increase your accuracy in this game, but rather just allows you to shoot over small enemies and obstacles, and also allows you to inflict Stagger on enemies while lifting your gun. This is useful for those larger enemies that charge at you quickly, and will allow you to manage your area a bit more easily.
Upgrading Weapons
All weapons in The Ascent can be upgraded if you have the required components. Visit a Gun Smith to upgrade any weapon currently owned to the next Mk.-level. Each level increases the damage. Weapon upgrades are persistent across all duplicates of that particular one. Even if you sell all currently owned P1 Protectors, the game will remember your Mk. if you get a new one.
Augmentations
Augmentations can be bought and found. They give you new abilities and work even better if they sync well with your skills and attributes. Install augmentations via the Journal out in the field or by visiting the Grafter. Doing it without the Grafter’s touch will deplete your Energy. You can find new augmentations in the world, from enemies or buy them from the Grafter.
Augmentation Abilities
Speaking of augmentations….these give you massively boosted abilities that you can use around the world of Veles. Augmentations deplete your energy on use, but energy will regenerate slowly over time, so you won’t have too long to wait before you can use your Augmentation abilities again. Some abilities automatically target enemies in reach; these abilities are signaled with a marker on the target itself. Furthermore, some of these abilities cannot be executed unless there’s a target acquired.
Armor Rating
Every piece of armor gives individual defense rating for each damage type. Make sure to equip the correct armor that is best suited for the type of incoming damage that you want protection from the most. It’s also very important that you keep up with the quality of armor as you start encountering enemies of higher level (trust me, I know this from experience) A lower defense rating will be very punishing against stronger enemies. It’s usually a wise investment. Armor can also provide passive boosts to Attributes and Proficiencies. So, you can either choose to spend some time learning the ins and outs of your armor, or just dump all of your skill points into your max health – you choose.
Those are some of my top tutorial tips for beginners in The Ascent. Most of these tips come from pretty early game tutorials, so they’re pretty easy to dismiss, but I strongly urge you to listen to what some of these tips are saying. It might just end up saving your life.
Follow Us
