Astral Ascent Guide: Tips & Tricks to Get Better at the Game

If you’re finding it difficult to survive in Astral Ascent, I’ve got you covered! I’m here today to share a full set of tips and tricks that will help you get the most out of this amazing platformer roguelite.

You will learn more about characters and their signature spells, Meta progression, but also tips and tricks for each of your runs, room types and combat mechanics. In other words – everything you need from a full guide.

Characters and Signature Spells

We currently have four playable characters in the game, each offering a unique approach, distinct abilities, and Signature Spells. You need to adapt your playstyle based on your character and practice to become better.

Here’s everything you should know about each character (with the note that a 5th is in the works for some time now, hopefully coming soon):

Ayla

Role: Assassin wielding deadly daggers.

Signature Spell: A quick dash to a marked enemy, dealing increased damage.

Playstyle: Ayla is perfect for swift, close-quarters combat. Her agility allows for rapid engagements and retreats, making her a difficult character to master, but a great one once you get used to her mechanics.

Note: If this already seems overwhelming, I recommend checking out our previous article, Soulstone Survivors: Best Builds for Characters.

Kiran

Role: Balanced fighter with heavy punches.

Signature Spell: A timed block that unleashes a powerful counterattack (if successful).

Playstyle: Kiran is relatively balanced – a melee character that can both give and take damage. Mastering his signature spell is essential here, but overall he’s a relatively easy character to play, especially if you prefer close combat.

Octave

Role: Ranged combatant using magic guns.

Signature Spell: Deploys explosive drones that target enemies.

Playstyle: Octave is the perfect choice for fighting from a distance, controlling the battlefield with ranged attacks and drones. Probably the most played character in the game – and for a solid reason. He’s that good!

Calie

Role: Tactical fighter throwing piercing gems.

Signature Spell: Throws gems that pierce enemies and return, allowing for multi-hit combos.

Playstyle: Calie requires perfect timing and positioning for her Signature Spell to work. It’s not easy to master, but can be lethal in all game situations.

Also read: Best offline mobile games for long flights

Meta Progression

Between each run, you will interact with various NPCs in the garden to become better. Making sure that you take advantage of everything offered in this stage will level up your character and make your life a lot easier.

Here are all the options that you have in the Garden – I recommend going through them all and getting as much as possible from each before starting a new run.

Unlock New Spells: You do this by visiting The Peddler (where you also have the option to deal with new characters). My recommendation is to work on the basic spells though in order to better specialize yourself.

Stat Upgrades: Speak with Zim-Zim to invest Sun Shards into permanent stat boosts, which are essential for your long-term survival and performance. Make sure to focus on the strengths of your current character when enhancing attributes like life, mana, or strength.

Cosmetics: Collect tickets during runs and exchange them with Oloon’s associate to customize your character’s appearance. While this is not a game-changer, it’s great for truly making each character truly your own.

Achievements: Consult Sire Bapy to track achievements and earn rewards that can aid in your journey.

Other NPCs: Other NPCs in the garden will only provide information and help build the game’s lore (like Papa Yalee – character stories or the Auras info with Barbeque).

If this roguelite approach seems too easy, I recommend checking a solid roguelike instead: Colony Ship.

Runs and World Progression

When you’re done with the NPCs, talk to Sova to start a new run. You have four distinct worlds that you can explore:

• Earth
• Red Barrens (Fire)
• Coral Archipelago (Water)
• Crimson Highlands (Thunder)

Each of these words comes with unique enemies, traps, and bosses, and requires slightly different strategic approaches.

At the start of each run, your character begins with four basic spells at level 1, each with one gambit slot. As you progress, you’ll encounter opportunities to acquire new spells, upgrade existing ones, and unlock additional gambit slots to enhance your abilities.

The golden rule of thumb here is to get the more expensive spells in most cases (as they are better) but keep a few 1-mana for constant use. Practice will make perfect here, so go through several runs to see what fits your character and play style better.

Note: Each spell has an elemental affinity, meaning that you can get to max damage if you fill all their slots with the same element.

Room Types and Challenges

During gameplay, you will visit all sorts of rooms, each with different challenges and potential rewards.

Each room is marked with stars, indicating its difficulty level. Choosing rooms that align with your current build and power is essential for your survival – but also knowing what to expect from each room is important, as some are inherently better than others.

Exploration Rooms

Go through this room, defeat enemies and collect chests and Quartz. These rooms may contain Yalee Tickets and character memories. Locked areas within require keys to access additional rewards.

Also read: Dark and Darker: Tips & Tricks for Beginners

Fight Room

Engage in combat against waves of enemies to earn keys. Occasionally, Zodiacs present challenges, such as time constraints or avoiding damage, which can yield better rewards upon completion.

Eclipse Room

A more challenging variant of Fight Rooms, this type of room features multiple waves and stronger, elite enemies. Successfully clearing these rooms grants increased keys and stars.

Sun Room

Select an elemental affinity to receive a high-quality gambit of that type. These gambits can change a spell’s affinity.

Moon Room

Choose between two powerful spells that replicate the attack patterns of the Zodiacs.​

Echo Room

Obtain companions that either activate with your signature spell or provide passive benefits.

Andromeda’s Bar

Spend stars to enhance stats through Andromeda’s Drinks, purchase spells and gambits from the shop, and interact with Zodiacs to acquire their summons. An altar is also available to exchange stars for health shards.

Andromeda’s Trials

Found within Exploration Rooms, these trials challenge you to reach the end without taking damage, rewarding successful completion with a drink similar to those purchased in Andromeda’s Bar.

Cetus’ Cavern

Choose from three gambit types, acquiring all three, with one always being a gambit slot.

Pavo’s Ruins

Upgrade your spells by sacrificing health. The initial upgrade is free, but subsequent enhancements increase in health cost.

The Forge

Offers choices to improve all current spells by one level, select a new spell from three options, or unlock a gambit slot in all spells.

Telluric Ruins

Typically appearing early in the first world, this room grants a new spell, which is very useful for your long-term game.

Yalee Kingdom

Acquire new auras. Initially, one aura is available, but rescuing more Yalee increases the selection up to five.

Peaceful Room

Recover health and mana, and optionally spend stars to refill healing shards.

Zodiac Challenge Room

After defeating certain bosses, they may offer challenges. Accepting them transports you to a special room to complete the task. Success allows you to summon that boss during future encounters.

The Void

Face minibosses with unique attack patterns. Defeating them yields stars, a gambit unlocker, and additional gambits.

Boss Room

Confront one of the Zodiacs at the end of each world. Victory grants health, gambits, or auras.

Related reading: Myth of Empires: Tips & Tricks for Beginners

Combat Mechanics and Strategies

Combat in Astral Ascent is fast-paced and requires quick reflexes but also planning and a well-built character. There are plenty of things you have to consider and micromanage when it comes to fighting:

Mana Management: Spells consume mana, which regenerates through basic attacks and other means. Make sure to only use spells when necessary to have enough mana when needed.

Gambits: These are modifiers that add effects to spells, such as summoning creatures or dealing extra damage. Spells can have up to four gambits, which must be unlocked first and then customized to suit your playstyle.

Auras: Passive abilities that provide bonuses or trigger effects under certain conditions. Choosing auras that complement your build is essential and practice makes perfect here.

Echoes: Special summons that assist you in battle, each with unique abilities and cooldowns, proving to be extremely useful in more difficult challenges like boss fights.

General Tips & Tricks

You already have a better understanding of the game and how it works. Now, it’s time for some generic, all-rounder type of tricks that will enhance your gameplay even further.

First, experiment with Builds. Most likely, you won’t get a perfect build initially, so keep trying different combinations of spells, gambits, and auras to find synergies that suit your playstile and character.

Astral Ascent allows for cooperative gameplay for two players. So if you bring a friend along on your adventure, make sure to coordinate your builds, spells and gambits so that you complement each other. Use this feature to cover each other’s weaknesses and maximize combined strengths.

Don’t ignore defense! Even though you need to find some balance eventually, investing in defensive upgrades like armor will increase your survivability and is equally important as investing in offensive traits.

Collect and spend currencies like Quartz wisely to enhance your abilities and prepare for tougher challenges ahead. Micromanagement is key in this game!

When fighting against the various bosses and enemies, learn their patterns. This allows you to better prepare and respond to their attacks and, in the end, win more encounters.

Finally, don’t ignore NPCs! Interacting with all the characters in the Garden will unlock all sorts of goodies that will help you along the way. Or, if you want to try something new, check out my Warcraft Rumble Guide.

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Do you have other tips and tricks to share with fellow Astral Ascent players? Let us all know by commenting below or keep reading: How to Unlock ALL Characters in Brotato.