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 best Ascent build.
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.
Updated on September 18, 2021 by Payton Lott: With more than a month to experiment, players have discovered some incredible builds. The best builds in The Ascent seem to focus on either DPS or healing. The logic behind the skill allocations is that the character can either deal so much damage that the enemy will not be able to compete or heal so fast that the vitality bar will never be an issue. The additional builds in this updated guide can do both. One of the builds will rely on augmentations almost exclusively, and the other will decimate enemies with projectiles.
Super Saiyan
As the name suggests, the skills in this build maximize damage with abilities instead of grenades and weapons. For that reason, gamers can use any weapons they choose, as long as it is good enough to kill a couple of enemies. Players will need to invest heavily into Motorics/Cybernetics to maximize the potential of two augmentations, Neutron Beam and Spiderbots.
- Tactical Sense: 10
- Critical Hit Rate: 15
- Weapon Handling: 10-15
- Aiming: 10-15
- Body Battery: 20
- Vital Signs: 15
Body Battery will need to be at the skill cap to boost energy capacity and allow the character to use more augmentations during a fight. With 200-300 Body Battery, gamers will be able to use both of their augmentations twice before any cooldown period. With the skills above, as well as boosts from armor and modules, regeneration will be almost instantaneous.
To heal, people will need to use the Rejuv Grenade. It can be picked up from the augmentations vendors midway through the story. One Rejuv Grenade will be enough to heal indents and get them back in the fight. This is by far the best Ascent build for gamers that love using augments.
DPS Heavy Hitter
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Critical Chance is one of the most important skill trees to invest points in. The skill will boost overall DPS and help players kill enemies faster. With the right armor and mods to provide an added boost, crit chance can get to upwards of 30%, which is ridiculous. Combine that rate with any fast-firing weapon, and no one will stand a chance. Use the skills below to get the most out of the best Ascent build for gunslingers.
- Tactical Sense: 10
- Critical Hit Rate: 20
- Weapon Handling: 10
- Aiming: 15
- Body Battery: 10
- Vital Signs: 20
People will be hard-pressed to find a more balanced build in The Ascent. Every third bullet will be a critical hit, and the character will have 200+ health. Handling, Aiming, and Tactical Sense are all at 10 or above. The 10 points in Body Battery give characters more energy for augmentations. Players can honestly choose whatever augmentations they want and the build will impress. Some of the best in the game are included below. Picking one damage and one healing augmentation is recommended.
- Healing: Biometric Timestamp, Life Transfer
- DPS: Hydraulic Slam, Spiderbots, Neutron Beam, Lockon Fire
Lockon Fire is usually not considered a top-tier augment, but in this build, it is. Imagine not missing a bullet and getting several critical hits every second. Depending on the augmentations chosen, players can use the trusty Rejuv Grenade or equip an exploding tactical for additional DPS.
Minigun Master
Weapons
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.
Skills
These four skills are 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.
Armor
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
Motorics Boss Slayer
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.
Weapons
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.
Skills
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
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
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.
Undying Ascender
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.
Skills
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.
Augmentations
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 through the story.