Frequently Asked Questions

 
This section is a collection of frequently asked questions about Ascension.  They are broken up into four sections: City, Dungeon, Combat and Other. 

City 

Q:  What does the “1(g)1(n)” to the right of an item name in the store mean? 

A:  This means that there are 0 Unaligned, 1 Good, 1 Neutral and 0 Evil items of that particular type in stock.  To get the price, select the item, then the alignment you wish to look at. 

Q:  How come some items are so expensive? 

A:  Because they have special abilities, or are rare.  You may notice that items such as “Padded Leather Armor” cost 230, and it’s just Leather Armor.  However, it offers more defense to the wearer than regular Leather Armor and requires a higher guild level for a character to use.  Some items even raise stats while they are equipped.  However, once your character grows and runs the lower levels, 500 will become play money. 

Q:  I want to join another guild.  When should I do this? 

A:  It is recommended to get a character to Level 30 Artisan (or equivalent) before joining another guild.  By this time, your character has built up enough hits and experience to survive the first few levels of the new guild and will be able to stay out longer to collect experience and grow faster. 

Dungeon 

Q:  How can I tell what other Characters are in the room?  How do I carry them? 

A:  Left click on the compass in the bottom center of the main screen to look in the room and then ‘p’.  If you are carrying a companion, the companion will be dropped to pick up the other character. 

Q:  How do I open a “Magically Sealed Chest”? 

A:  You need to be able to cast the “Magical Entry” spell, or find a magical item that unlocks the chest.  Some guilds have this, some do not. 

Q:  How come I keep on getting lost in the Dungeon?  How does this happen? 

A:  If you hit a Teleporter (or any other type of square that changes the location of your character) and it lands you in an area that nobody has been in before, you’ll become lost until you reach an area that somebody has been in before.  Depending on your character’s perception ability, sometimes you will be able to locate where you are and what level you’re on.  Rotators will also disorient your character, causing you to become lost if you step in an unmapped location after hitting one. 

Q:  How come my companions don’t stay around, or attack me all the time? 

A:  Charming a companion is only half of the work.  Once you get a companion, you must keep the bind level strong enough so that the companion cannot break free.  If you are trying to charm tough monsters with a beginning character, you probably don’t have the experience to keep hold of the monster - especially if you don’t continue to reinforce the ‘bind level’ of the companion.  The way around this is to increase your characters guild level(s) before charming certain monsters, or use a more powerful charm and bind reinforcement spell.  It’s also a good idea to keep a companion at full hits, since they lose interest (and binding) when they’re wounded. 

Q:  How come my companions hit my other characters and their companions during combat? 

A:  If you have a large party of characters and companions (e.g. 4 characters with 2-4 companions each), there's bound to be some mistakes made by companions as to who the enemy is during the rush of battle (especially if the attacking companions are from the upper levels).  The best way around this is to keep the whole body count (companions & characters) around 6 or less.  For more information, see the Companions section on Combat. 

Combat 

Q:  I keep on dying.  How can I survive? 

A:  Try to keep your Strength and Dexterity around 12 or so (for beginners) and don’t wander too far from the city.  The farther away your character gets from the city, the nastier the monsters get.  Also, there is strength and reliability in numbers.  A group of two or three has a much better chance of surviving than a single character on their own - however, it takes longer for each character to advance since experience and gold is shared with all. 

Q:  How come I can’t see some monsters? 

A:  Because they are invisible.  In order to see them, you must be able to cast a spell or find an item that allows you to see them.  It’s almost twice as hard to hit a monster that’s invisible.  Same goes for a character that’s invisible being attacked by monsters that can’t see them. 

Q:  How come some monster’s names change while I’m fighting them? 

A:  Because your character mis-identified the monster and later realized what it really was.  Mis-identification decreases as a character becomes more intelligent, wise, and powerful. 

Q: How do I run away from monsters? 

A:  During Combat, you can use the cursor keys to move around just like you can when there are no monsters in a room - you can therefore use this ability to “run away”. 

Other 

Q: My new magic user keeps on dying.  How can I help them out? 

A: Unless you have a stash of stat-raising items to give to the character or have taken them to level 30 Artisan, it can be hard for a starting magic using character to survive.  A good technique is to put them behind a party of 1 or 2 fighters who are in defend mode.  Put the magic user in back and cast away!  The one or two fighters in the front will take the brunt of the attack (and not kill the monsters since they are in defend mode), allowing the magic user to zap the monsters and gain experience!  This technique works for any type of character. 

Q: What does it mean when my character is “Pinned”? 

A:  It means that your character cannot learn anymore (gain experience) until they reach the next level in their current guild.  It also means that your character has enough experience to make level and is 1 experience point away from making the next level.  This quite often happens when a character is looking for a quested monster.  The only way to become “un-pinned” is to make a level. 

Q:  I’m quested for a monster that I can’t find and I’m pinned!  Help! 

A:  In this situation, it’s best to either go to the Oracle for help (to find the monster), or either grab another one of your characters or switch to another guild while you run around and look for the monster your character is quested for.  If you find the monster, grab your original character/switch back to the original guild, run to the place where the monster is and kill it.  Rarely will a character be quested for a monster they have never seen.  Be sure to keep track of where you meet what monsters just in case this happens.  If all else fails, you have the option of forfeiting a quest when trying to make a level (and are pinned)... unless it’s a required quest, that is. 

Q:  I have all of these Items, but I don’t have the money to identify them.  What should I do? 

A:  Sell them!  At first, having money is more important than knowing what all your items are.  If they’re special items, you can just buy them back later when you get more gold.  It’s recommended that a Character sells the first few items it finds then uses that money to identify other found items. 

Q:  What guilds should I join and work on to create the best character? 

A:  That depends on a number of things - do you plan on having the character be a “team player”, meaning run in lots of parties with other characters, or be independent?  A party of characters can consist of characters that are specific guild types (i.e. don’t have any other guild abilities than the ones from their main guild).  However, if a character wants to survive on their own, they should take the time to build up other abilities in other guilds so that they can be independent.  Of course the best combination is a party of independent characters - however, this takes much more time to create than the previously mentioned choices.

 
 
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