The Ascent - GAME FAQ

[Bernabucket]

THE GAME

What type of game is The Ascent?
This Ascent is much more than a “shooty shooty game”; it’s a solo and co-op Action Shooter RPG, set in a cyberpunk world.

Too difficult? Too easy? Difficulty mode
The difficulty by default is the “normal” difficulty. However, you can find other options in the Main Menu > Settings > Gameplay and choose between Easy / Normal / Hard.

How long is The Ascent?
The length of the game is very hard to estimate as it depends on your playstyle; we estimate the main mission campaign to be between 10-15 hours, but the game overall (main mission and side missions) would easily take more than 15-20 hours depending on your playstyle.

Where can I find EVERYTHING about the game?
We are partnering with Fextralife who made our official The Ascent Wiki Guide! Visit this guide to get information on skills, cyberdecks, weapons, armors, bounties, missions walkthroughs and more > https://theascent.wiki.fextralife.com/The+Ascent+Wiki

What is there to do after the main story/ what is the endgame like?
After the end of the main story, you are free to continue exploring the world of Veles to discover new areas, acquire loot, take on side missions, try out new augmentations, continue improving your character and finding all the secrets you might have missed. Remember that you can keep your character and progression when joining other players in co-op, so you might want to give some friends a hand if they are struggling in a particular mission with your bulked-up end-game character!

What is the fast travel system in The Ascent?
You can quickly and conveniently travel around the world using the premium taxi services. Call for a taxi at almost any calm moment with T. A ride cost money but will get you to where you want.
If you don’t have enough money or want to keep exploring, you can travel between train stations for free using Interlink's free public transport services.
In both cases, you unlock new stations by exploring the world.

MULTIPLAYER

Find more information on multiplayer in the Fextralife Wiki Guide in this page: https://theascent.wiki.fextralife.com/Online

How many players can I play The Ascent with in Co-Op?
You can play the entire game in solo or in co-op with up to four players.

Can I play The Ascent in Local Co-Op?
Yes, you can play in local or online co-op with up to four players.

How does Co-Op work in The Ascent?
The Ascent has Local Co-Op and Online Co-Op, both supporting 2-4 players. You can choose between hosting a new saved game which will start you from the beginning of the story or host a saved game that will continue from wherever your selected save profile last saved.

Is Co-Op in The Ascent ‘Hop-In, Hop-Out’?
The Ascent supports "Hot Joins", allowing players to join a game in progress through their platform's friends list. If you are joining another player's world, once the host’s game has loaded, you will be transitioned to their session. If you are a host and another player is attempting to join your session, you will be notified in the lower left-hand corner of the screen.

Is there difficulty/character scaling for Co-Op play?
The difficulty will automatically scale based on the number of players in your session.

How does progression work in Co-Op versus playing Solo and is my progression & loot transferable between co-op and solo?
World and mission progression in a multiplayer session will adjust to the host’s game; however, all players can join the host’s game with their own characters and character progression. All loot and progression acquired in the multiplayer session can be carried over single player afterwards. The same characters can be used in both single player and multiplayer with loot and progression carried over.

STEAM SPECIFIC

Are the pre-purchase bonus items still available to get after launch?
The Steam exclusive pre-order incentives (Exclusive in-game weapon “Bitsplit Shotgun” + Soundtrack of the game + Exclusive Digital Artbook) will also be rewarded to Steam early adopters that purchase the game on Steam before August 8th.

How to unlock the in-game weapon “Bitsplit Shotgun”, included in the Steam pre-order incentive and early adopters’ bonus offer?
Anyone who has pre-purchased the game on Steam or purchased it on Steam as an early adopter (before August 8th) will be gifted with the exclusive in-game weapon “Bitsplit Shotgun”. The weapon will be automatically given to you upon Mission 1 completion. It will be listed in the journal under loadout once you see the “mission complete” message appearing in the game.

How to unlock the soundtrack (pre-order incentive and early adopters discount)?
If you have pre-purchased the game on Steam or are an early adopter (have purchased the game before August 8th) you will receive the soundtrack of the game as a gift. To find it, just tick the soundtrack box in the dropdown within the library.

How to unlock the digital artbook (pre-order incentive and early adopters discount)?
If you have pre-purchased the game on Steam or are an early adopter (have purchased the game before August 8th) you will receive the Digital Art Book of the game as a gift. In your steam library, right click on the Ascent, select manage, browse local files, and inside the extra content folder, you will find the artbook

What are the Technical Requirements for my machine to play The Ascent on Steam?
The Minimum Specification listed below allows gameplay experience close to 30 FPS on average while using 1080p resolution and lowest available settings:

• CPU Intel Core Intel Core i5-3470 (4 * 3200) or equivalent AMD FX-8350 (4 * 4000) or equivalent
  
• GPU GeForce GTX 660 ( 2048 MB) Radeon RX 560X (4096 MB)
  
• RAM 8 GB
  
• Disc space Around 35 GB
  
• OS Windows 10 x64

The Recommended Specification listed below allows gameplay experience close to 60 FPS on average while using 1080p resolution and overall “High” settings:

• Intel Core i7-6700K (4 * 4000) or equivalent AMD Ryzen 5 2600 (6 * 3400) or equivalent
  
• Geforce GTX 1070 (8192 MB) Radeon RX 5700 (8192 MB)
  
• RAM 16 GB
  
• Disc space Around 35 GB
  
• OS Windows 10 x64

TECHNICAL

Can I play The Ascent using a controller?
You can play The Ascent with a mouse and keyboard or with a controller.

What are the display specifications within The Ascent and next gen features?
The supported display specifications in the game are the following:

• STEAM > up to 4K 60FPS (spec dependant) + Ray Tracing (dependant on hardware) + DLSS (dependant on hardware)
  
• XBOX SERIES X > up to 4K 60FPS + Cross-play within Xbox family
  
• XBOX SERIES S > up to 1440p 60FPS + Cross-play within Xbox family
  
• WINDOWS 10 > up to 4K 60FPS (spec dependant) + Ray Tracing (dependant on hardware) + cross-play within the Xbox family
  
• XBOX ONE > up to 900p 30FPS + Cross-play within Xbox family
  
• XBOX ONE X > up to 4K 30FPS + Cross-play within Xbox family

What languages are supported in The Ascent at launch?
The Ascent supports English VO. Interface and subtitles are translated in the following languages: French, German, Spanish (Spain), Japanese, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Korean.

How can I change the language?
The game auto detects the language. If you're looking for a way around this, this can be overridden by following this method:
1. You right click on the game in your library
2. Choose properties
3. In 'General', there's Launch Options 4.
Enter the following e.g. -culture="pl" -culture="ja" -culture="ko" -culture="zh-hans"

Will The Ascent on PC include ultra-wide monitor support?
Yes, 21:9 works in borderless. Please note we are continuing to work to improve this functionality so you can select 21:9 in full screen as well. Thank you for your patience.

Does The Ascent feature cross-play with Xbox?
You can’t play The Ascent in cross-play between Steam and the Xbox platforms, but can between Windows 10 and the Xbox platforms (Xbox One, Xbox One X, Xbox Series S/X)

Is DLSS supported in the game?
DLSS is currently supported in the Steam version of the game and Windows 10 version of the game.

Experiencing performance issues?
Please note that DX12 is now the default mode for all PC players (since the last update, live on Steam on Friday August 27th and deployed for Windows 10 players on September 3rd). If you were playing with DX11 previously and want to continue doing so, you will have to enable DX11 in the in-game main menu.
Raytracing is turned off on all platforms by default. For Nvidia card owners, if you are continuing to have performances issues with Ray Tracing enabled, please enable DLSS.
Please note we are working on improving performance for players across all platforms.

Is The Ascent available on Mac?
The Ascent is available on Steam, Xbox series S/X, Xbox One, Xbox One X and Windows 10.

REPLACEMENT SAVES

In case it can be useful to some players, we have provided below some replacement saves at various points in the game.
VERY IMPORTANT: please note that these saves will completely replace all 10 save slots of your existing saves so you will lose them forever (they are really intended to help those that want to start over but not from the beginning of the game).

Other notes:

• The replacement saves will provide you with 3 save files (saved character slots): one for mission 2, one for mission 5 and one for mission 7.
  
• NO skill points have been allocated (you need to reallocate them before you continue your playthrough).
  
• We've given you an approximate amount of uCreds that you will have earned at each respective point in the game.
  
• You will also be given some of the progression rewarded augmentations
  
• The profile characters have appropriate levels for the game progression

How to install them:

• Link to download the replacement saves: https://we.tl/t-xOPX9HmPsu
  
• In the same link, you will find helpful guides on how to install the save files for Steam players and Game Pass players

PATCHES AND UPDATES

Always check you are playing on the right version!
We are improving the game regularly, so it’s important that you download the latest updates to make sure you are playing the best version of The Ascent on your platform. Please make sure you have downloaded the latest updates, following these steps:

On Steam:

1. Right click on The Ascent in your Library
   
2. click on “properties”
   
3. then on “updates”
   
4. and select “Always keep this game updated”.

On Xbox:

1. Launch the console to the Xbox Home.
   
2. Navigate to “My Games & Apps” and locate the title.
   
3. Highlight the title’s tile and press the Menu button.
   
4. Navigate to “Manage Game and Add-ons” then select ”File Info” in the left menu.
   
5. Observe the line of text along the top of the pop up,

This should read as: 4.4.1.0

On Windows 10 / Gamepass PC:

1. Launch the device to the desktop.
   
2. Ensure the title is installed from the Microsoft Store.
   
3. Open Windows Search and Type “The Ascent”.
   
4. Right-click “The Ascent” app and select “App Settings”.
   
5. This should open a page with the version displayed under "Publisher”. The version should read as: 4.4.1.0

If you are not playing on the right version, you will need to uninstall the game completely and re-install it to get the latest version of the game.
bWill I be able to play my PC save on the Xbox version of The Ascent?[/b]
Saves will sync between Windows and Xbox platforms sync when the game is launched.

Patch Notes History
Our team is still continuing to work hard on improving the game and we continue to be very grateful for all the support and feedback from our players. Please check out our Patch Update History page to learn more about recent updates and fixes: https://www.curve-digital.com/en-us/ascent-patchnotes

[GREW50ME_Gaming]

Thanks. Patch notes?

[GameNerdVeggie]

@Curve_Sophie: Will there be Buyable DLC's for the Game and can we make Gameplay/Balancing Suggestions? This Game needs more usable Powers.

[hom1e]

Originally posted by GameNerdVeggie:

@Curve_Sophie: Will there be Buyable DLC's for the Game and can we make Gameplay/Balancing Suggestions? This Game needs more usable Powers.

no. just hope for a sequel.

[Kangox]

will the game have hdr ?

[Grendel]

@Curve_Sophie:

These two achievements seem to be bugged for all players:
Flatliner and Comprehensive

I loved the game, I wanted to 100% it. I have the codex filled and these two achievements did not unlock. Please fix this.

[shadowlessclick]

Is the Gamepass version the same as the Windows 10 version? The Microsoft Store is reporting that 1.2.1.0 is the most recent version.

EDIT: WELP, looks like the Microsoft Store is garbage. Checking for updates, doesn't check for updates apparently (maybe it checks a version listing cache that's not updated frequently?). You need to go directly to the actual application then it checks that specific application and updates.

[B0sh1]

Any update on buggy achievements? Also, it appears that "Win" achievement also didn't work in my case. I completed the game and it didn't pop as well as the one for completing all side missions. I completed 28 side missions and went back through every area, no quest markers. A real kick in the nuts.

[TheSuit]

Thanks for the hardwork, but can we get some communication on Timeline for first major patch for fixes?

There are so many Quest Bugs and Stall Bugs and Save Bugs. I stopped playing the game until a patch comes out.

1. Saves sometimes stop working
2. Sometime the game refuses to quit
3. Bubble Quest can be permentently impossible to win if you die or leave the area the door will be forever closed
4. Quests have the wrong unlock times ( side quests being given when main quest progression hasn't unlocked the area for the quest )
5. MK Upgrades do not scale well - so damage drop off is really heavy at higher levels. Which is a problem because the upgrade compontents availability doesn't correspond with the progression.

[Stevejust]

Communication would be fantastic. Such a great game, but also find it necessary to stop playing until some crucial bugs have been squashed.

[PlagasX]

Would really love it if the game didn't stutter so much during action. Had to stop playing it since launch... Also, the game pass version doesn't have DLSS and RTX....

[GREW50ME_Gaming]

Originally posted by PlagasX:

Would really love it if the game didn't stutter so much during action. Had to stop playing it since launch... Also, the game pass version doesn't have DLSS and RTX....

Dlss and rtx were reportedly patched.

[Kangox]

There is a clear lack of communication .
-No nvidia drivers for a curated RTX/DLSS game and deleted feature for gamepass
-No HDR in a game with neon in the night
- No toggle for filmgrain (no files acces with gamepass to delete it)
-DirectX12 not working well
- Deleted saves
-12 GB update without a change log

No problem for me to have issues this is normal in a project to not have the time to give a perfect product at a given date but please give us information . One week after the release i don't play the game to really enjoy the game when he will be perfect and i have zero information about what is coming for pc players

[dgresevfan]

You really need to add to this that YOU IN NO WAY NEED WINDOWS 10 to play the game.

You presumably need it if you want to use certain graphical options but it isn't necessary.

Windows 7 works fine. Even my old Core i7 920 works more or less OK most of the time. I do get lag spikes when there are explosions making objects fly everywhere.

[xtrmsnpr]

where can i find the save files if we are playing the game from pc gamepass?

[Overon]

Is the gamepass version the same as the windows store version? I have the gamepass version and under app settings it says it's version 2.0.1.0 and in this faq it says the windows store version should say 2.0.5.0