The Ascent: Complete Guide

A guide to The Ascent, Neon Giant's isometric cyberpunk shooter-RPG: combat and cover, character progression, cyberdeck hacking, loot and money, co-op, the DLC, and what the upcoming Legacy Patch changes.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the live PC build before the Legacy Patch, which Neon Giant has dated for 18 November 2026 (PT). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

• It is a twin-stick shooter with RPG layers. You aim freely, take cover, and switch between high and low aim to shoot over cover or hit crouched and small enemies.
• Aim high or low deliberately. Low aim hits small or crawling enemies; high aim lets you shoot over waist-high cover. Many early deaths come from shooting the wrong height.
• Level up and spend proficiency points. Levels give points to spend on attributes and skills; you can reset them later ("Do Over" is an achievement for respeccing once).
• Augmentations and modules are your abilities. Equip two augmentations and a module for active and passive powers.
• Tactical gear adds grenades and gadgets. Use them; cooldowns are short.
• Upgrade your favourite weapons. Upgrading a weapon increases its damage so it keeps pace with enemy levels; fully upgrading one is "Aficionado".
• Hack with your cyberdeck. It opens doors, chests, vending machines, ATMs and more, and gets stronger as you find upgrades.
• Currency is uCreds. You earn them from missions, bounties, loot and hacking ATMs; you need 200,000 for "Getting out of the slums".
• Solo or up to 4-player co-op, locally or online.

Setting and Story

You are an indentured worker ("Indent") on Veles, a planet dominated by The Ascent Group's arcology. When The Ascent Group suddenly collapses, the district you live in is thrown into chaos, and you take up arms to find out why. The four main areas are Deepstink, the Warrens, High Street and The Pinnacle, separated by elevators. You get around on foot, by taxi and on the Interlink Express rail line (riding it is the "Tourist" achievement).

Combat

Cover and aim height

• Waist-high cover blocks most incoming fire. Pop up, fire, duck.
• Aim high to shoot over cover at enemies behind it; aim low to hit small, crouched or crawling enemies.
• Destructible environments mean cover breaks. Keep moving.
• Exploding barrels are free damage ("Opportunist" wants 10 kills with them).

Damage types

Weapons deal different damage types, and some enemies are weak to specific ones. For example, robots take extra punishment from energy damage (the "Fight smart" achievement is killing a robot with energy damage). Carry weapons with at least two damage types so you can switch for enemies that shrug off your main one.

Weapon upgrades

Weapons are upgraded at vendors with materials and uCreds. Because enemies scale with area level, a favourite gun falls off unless you keep upgrading it. Focus your materials on two or three weapons rather than everything you pick up.

Melee (Cyber Heist DLC)

The Cyber Heist DLC added melee weapons for the first time, such as the Rock Crusher and the Guillotine, with a melee special move. Melee is strong for closing on ranged enemies behind cover.

Character Progression

Attributes and skills

Levelling gives proficiency points that go into attributes and skills. Attributes raise groups of skills and change your appearance: fully augmenting yourself produces the "fullchrome" look. The general principle:

• Invest in survivability first (health and evasion-type skills) on your first playthrough.
• Then weapon handling and critical damage to keep up with enemy health.
• Augmentation-focused builds invest in skills that improve ability uptime and power.
• Respec is available, so experiment.

Augmentations, modules and tactical gear

• Augmentations are active abilities with cooldowns (damage, crowd control, summons and so on).
• Modules are passive bonuses; you can equip two augmentations plus a module ("Added extras").
• Tactical gear covers grenades, turrets and gadgets. Some can make enemies drop their own grenades ("Drop your weapon!").
• Stasis synergy: putting an enemy in stasis and overcharging it can kill others around it ("Overkill"), and delivering big stasis damage is its own achievement ("Extreme Overcharge").

Armour

Armour pieces boost resistances and stats. Upgrade the pieces that fit your build and check resistances when an area's enemies use a particular damage type.

Hacking and the Cyberdeck

Your cyberdeck opens doors, containers, vending machines and ATMs. Hacking a vending machine and destroying another gets you "Free candy"; hacking an ATM is "Anonymous withdrawal"; hacking one of each hackable category is "Omnihacker". As the story upgrades your cyberdeck, previously locked areas become accessible, so backtracking pays off.

You can also deploy black ICE against enemy hackers ("Black ICE").

Missions, Bounties and Exploration

• Main missions drive the story and gate new districts.
• Side missions reward uCreds, gear and story; completing all of them is "For both our benefits".
• Bounties are tough named targets with good rewards. Claiming one is "Bounty Hunter"; killing a level 35 bounty is "VIP no more".
• Datapads and Codex entries fill in lore and count toward achievements.
• Secret routes exist ("Open Sesame"), and there is a hidden area called the Dark Playground ("Brave New World").
• Karlan-controlled Siege Mechs are big optional fights worth doing once you are geared.
• Zell and his guard are named targets with their own achievements; clear the guards ("Not so special") before committing to Zell himself ("Zell is dead").

Achievement cleanup checklist

If you want 100%, these are the ones people most often miss on a normal run:

Achievement | Requirement | Tip

Explorer | Discover all locations | Sweep each district's map before the story moves you on

Comprehensive / Flatliner | Fill the Codex / unlock all enemy Codex entries | Fight every enemy type at least once, including bounty and optional targets

Curious consumer | Read 10 datapads | Pick up every datapad you pass

Big leagues | Kill 50 enemies of level 35 or higher | Comes naturally in endgame bounties

VIP no more | Kill a level 35 bounty | Endgame bounty board

Hygiene | Use the sink after flushing a toilet | Interact with bathroom props

Snooze or lose | Try Snooze | Keep an eye out for the Snooze interaction in hubs

Sashimi | Get killed by a katana | Happens eventually against katana-wielding enemies

Suicidal | Die more than 100 times | A long-haul stat that usually pops over a full playthrough

Money

uCreds come from missions, bounties, loot sales and ATMs.

• Sell junk weapons you will never upgrade.
• Hack ATMs whenever your cyberdeck can.
• Do bounties once your gear can handle them; they pay well.
• Save for upgrades on your main weapon before buying new ones.

Co-op

• Up to four players, local or online. Remote Play Together is also supported on Steam.
• Revive downed friends ("Helping hand").
• Split roles: a tank/crowd-control player, a damage dealer, and a support-augment player make hard fights easier.
• Stick together for story events. The Legacy Patch specifically targets co-op teleporting issues, which have historically caused players to get separated.

DLC and Editions

DLC | Released | What it adds

Cyber Heist | 18 Aug 2022 | New missions and side missions set after the main campaign, new locations and enemies, and melee weapons

CyberSec Pack | 2 Dec 2021 | Weapons, tactical gear, armour and animated skins

Cyber Warrior Pack | 24 Feb 2022 | Samurai look: 2 weapons, 1 tactical, 7 armour pieces and 3 weapon skins

Free packs (Halloween, Winter, Chongqing) | Oct 2021 to Jan 2022 | Cosmetics, plus the Winter Pack's snowball grenade

Artbook + Weapon Pack | 31 Jul 2025 | Digital artbook and two exclusive weapons

The Ultimate Edition bundles the base game with the three paid packs (Cyber Heist, CyberSec, Cyber Warrior).

Legacy Patch (coming 18 November 2026)

Neon Giant announced the Legacy Patch on the game's five-year anniversary and dated it on 9 September 2026. It focuses on long-standing problems:

• Co-op teleporting fixes
• Encounter system fixes
• Save game and progression safeguards
• HDR support
• Localization improvements (EN, KO, FR, DE, ES, JA, PL, PT-BR, RU and Simplified Chinese)

The Ultimate Edition also arrives digitally on Nintendo Switch 2 on 2 December 2026 (PT).

If you have had save or progression bugs, it may be worth waiting for the patch before starting a new co-op campaign.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Shooting at the wrong height. Toggle high/low aim for the situation.
• Upgrading every gun. Materials are limited; focus on a few.
• Ignoring damage types. Swap weapons when enemies soak your main damage type.
• Over-levelled areas. Enemy levels are shown; if they are far above you, come back later.
• Skipping side missions. They are where much of the loot and uCreds come from.
• Forgetting augment cooldowns. Abilities are meant to be used every fight.

Advanced Tips

• Build around one damage type with matching augments and modules for maximum synergy.
• Combine stasis with overcharge for chain kills in crowds.
• Use tactical gear to break cover instead of flanking under fire.
• Farm bounties for money and gear in the late game.
• Save hacks for ATMs and chests you can reach only with later cyberdeck upgrades.
• In co-op, coordinate augments so crowd control lands before burst damage.

FAQ

Can I play The Ascent solo? Yes. The entire game is playable alone, or with up to three friends in local or online co-op.

When is the Legacy Patch? 18 November 2026 (PT). It fixes co-op teleporting, encounters, save and progression safeguards, adds HDR, and improves localization.

Where does Cyber Heist fit in? It takes place after the main campaign, so finish the story first. It has its own achievements, including one for finishing all Cyber Heist side missions and ones for your first melee weapon and first melee special-move kill.

What does the Cyber Heist DLC add? New main and side missions, new locations and melee weapons such as the Rock Crusher and Guillotine.

Is The Ascent coming to Switch 2? Yes. The Ultimate Edition launches digitally on Nintendo Switch 2 on 2 December 2026 (PT).

Can I respec? Yes. You can reset your proficiencies (the "Do Over" achievement).

Sources

• Steam store page: The Ascent
• Steam news for The Ascent (Legacy Patch date, 5-year anniversary post)
• Steam achievements for The Ascent
• Wikipedia: The Ascent