Astral Ascent – Collective Guide

Each character has some spells that are unique to them and some that are common to everyone. On top of that, there is a Signature Spell that you always have and ties with the character, it’s personality, backstory and their playstyle.

Assassin who fights with knives
Her signature spell allows you to quickly dash to a nearby enemy that appears marked. The mark gives you extra damage against that enemy for a time.
Useful to start a fight or to stick to an enemy that moves too much.

Loud fighter whose knuckles speak for him
His signature spell blocks attacks that hit you in a short amount of time and then unleash a powerful blow.
Useful especially against bosses when you know their attack patterns

Octave attacks using magic guns, so he has some range.
Octave summons a moving drone that launches rockets. At the end of its life-time, it is thrust into an enemy and explodes.
Useful all the time, in small battles and boss battles. Think of it as an extra damage output.

Calie is also a ranged character, but she attacks by throwing gems which pierce. They stay on the screen forever. At the start, they can be a maximum of 5. You can keep attacking and a new gem will appear.
The thing with her signature spell is that those gems go back to you and hit every enemy in the line.
I recommend using that as often as you can, since is free damage that you can weave into your attack chain.

Between runs, you can get better stats or some forms of currency to start a new run, unlock spells or simply cosmetic clothes.

The NPC for this are the Peddler, Zim-Zim and Oloon
The Peddler is basically a shop. It is divided between the characters and the common spells, so you can decide if you want to stick to one character or try to unlock everything equally.

Zim-Zim allows you to buy progression such as extra health, extra mana for spells, keys for the beginning of you run or other perks

Oloon uses the tickets you found to unlock cosmetic clothes.
To unlock and buy these things you need two different this: Solar Flowers and Yalle Tickets
Yalee Tickets are found by playing. They are easy to spot, but rare to find.
Solar Flowers are earned by killing enemies, mainly. There’s another way to earn more: doing the achievements. They are really easy to do and require you to simply play. Sire Bapy is there for you to give them after each return to the Garden and to search what you can do to earn more.

Auras are somewhat unlocked as you play and Barbeque is the NPC you will find them, there for you to know what they do once you level them up and to see what they do.

There is also a telescope that lets you pick a buff. Each day 3 new ones will be there, and you can swap to another one before entering a new run.

To start a new run you have to talk with Sova. This game has co-op, so two players can do a run at once.
Each run lets you fight in 4 worlds: Earth, Red Barrens (Fire), Coral Archipelago (Water), Crimson Highlands (Thunder)
The Zodiacs (final bosses), enemies and traps are unique to each world
Each time you enter a new room you get some stars, that roughly tells you how hard that room is going to be. On how to spend those stars, go to Currencies

At the start of each run, you have 4 basic spells at level 1 with only one gambit slot available.
As you go, you will find other spells that you would want to use. Each different spell cost 1-3 mana. Usually the ones that are more expensive are better, but it is up to you to decide which spells suit your playstyle.

Spell levels give 10% extra damage. You can upgrade spells in Exploration Rooms and in Pavo’s Ruins

Gambits are extra effects that trigger when the spell is used, like summoning creatures or extra damage.
A spell can have up to 4 gambits, which you normally have to unlock and find.
Each spell can have an “elemental” affinity. Spells with no element have lower damage ceiling than elemental spells, they can only reach +50% on the “element” section of damage, while elemental spells can get to 100% if you fill all their slots with the same element.

Improvements from world to world

At the start of each new world you can improve your character’s signature spell and basic attack.
In the first world, however, only your signature spell is possible, but you can change one of your spells for another that is offered.

WIP WIP WIP
Currencies
Quartz
Keys
Stars
Healing Shards

Go to the end of the level, slaying monsters and getting chests and quartz along the way.
In this type of room is where you can find Yalee Tickets, Memories of the characters in the game.
In this kind of room there’s always a big lock. To open this, you will have to spend 3-5 keys (you have to choose). 3 keys will get you a Pavo Feather or a Stone Altar. Pavo Feathers will improve your spell level, making it hit 20% harder. Stone Altars give you a choice between 3 of these: Strength, Attack Speed, Armor, Mana, Health or Crit Chance. If you spend that, the Feather will give you 2 levels or you can pick 2 stones from the Altar.

You get in, you get trapped, you kill every enemy until the barrier opens. These rooms always give you keys.
Sometimes a Zodiac will appear at the beginning and give you a challenge, like don’t get hit or end fast, in which case your reward will be better, normally a couple more stars.

Hard fighting rooms, with a bunch of elites and lots of foes. It gives probably the most amount of stars.

In this room, you can pick any type of Gambit. Then, you will pick a gambit of that elemental affinity with the highest rarity. The good thing about this room is that gambits you pick here change the elemental affinity of the spell you put them in.
Say you have a fire spell and you like it more when it freezes. Sun Room is the answer

Here you will be given a choice of two powerful spells that mimic the attack patterns of the Zodiacs.

A room with 4 free choices of friends that are either invoked with your signature spell OR provide a passive benefit. These friends are people from the pre-first stage room (Nova, the Chameleon, other playable characters, etc.), each providing different bonuses.
Of note is one of the Chameleon bonuses, which transform all stat altars into giving random stats, but you get to upgrade 3 stats.

After you face some bosses they might appear alone in a run with a proposal for you: face their challenge and they will ‘accompany’ you. If you accept, you’re teleported to a special room where you’ll face that particular boss’ challenge. Each boss has their own unique challenge.
After you beat the challenge, your character is teleported back to the previous room where you met the boss and its symbol will be on the ground for you to grab and then choose the next room.
The symbol allows you to summon that boss once its gauge is full, all summons do some damage and also have some effects (Leo burns, Capricorn buffs you for a time, etc.). It’s important to note that if you beat a challenge for a boss that may appear as the boss of that stage, it won’t be selected by the wheel in the Boss room (you can never face Virgo while Virgo is accompanying you, same for all bosses).

Here are the ones I have found:
Virgo: Kill more enemies than her
Taurus: Kill the flying dummies without touching the ground, by bouncing
Capricorn: Card game in which you have to remember where is each card
Leo: Hit the dummy as hard as you can to deal more damage to it than Leo
Sagittarius: Escape to the end without being hit by her.
Scorpio: Similar to Sagittarius, you have to reach the final destination. This time, going up.
Pisces: Notes will come down. You must catch the blue ones (+1) and avoid the red ones (-2). If you are at or above 30 points in the end, she will come with you
Libra: Like a QTE, you have to smash buttons in the given order. If you are playing with a controller, I suggest change the button icons to those you are more comfortable with (Switch/Playstation/Xbox)
Aquarius: He will hide in a barrel and you will have to find him. Pretty easy if you pay attention.

Not all Summon rooms are worth your time, Scorpio is the hardest, Taurus sometimes may throw you off due to the targets moving and Leo is a DPS check, all the others are easy, however it’s a room that doesn’t reward you with quartz, stars or anything else besides the boss gauge that you may eventually summon, so, evaluate it properly if that particular room is worth your trouble.

Minibosses. Currently I have found:

• Draco
• Lupus
• Pegasus
• Hydra

Here you will always get 10 stars, a gambit unlocker and two other gambits

Three main things you can do here:

• Andromeda’s Drinks: Spend your hard earned stars to improve your stats, the same as in a Stone Altar. Each time you get a drink, the next gets more expensive
• Shop: Spend quartz to buy spells, gambits or gambit slots for your spells.
• Inside the Bar: Sometimes one or more Zodiacs will be inside. If you speak to them, you will have a chance to get their summon. Mind that it replaces the one you already have. The Inside is only available if you already have a summon and there is another Zodiac that you have defeated at least one time.

There is also an altar to spend stars and gain health shards to heal.

The big whale will give you a choice between three gambit types. You can then pick up all 3 gambits in which one of them is always a gambit slot

Spend health to improve your spells. The first one is free, but the next ones are paid and each time the health cost increases.
Specially useful if you can use it 2-4 times

Here you can choose one of these:
Improve all your current spells by 1 level
Get a choice of a new spells between three possibilities
Unlock a gambit slot in all your spells

This room only appears in the first world, normally 3-4 rooms into it. It gives you a new spell.

You can get new Auras here. Auras are passive effects, usually tied to movements like the stomp or the dash, but each one is different. At the beginning there is only one to pick, but as you play and rescue more Yalee, you will have the ability to choose between 5 different ones.

Not really a room type, since it’s inside the Exploration Room. Sometimes you will find an altar that when interacted will send you to a Trial. In these trials you don’t have to get hit and must reach the end to get a drink, similar to the ones you buy in Andromeda’s Bar. They are tricky, but once you figure out how to do them, they become easier.

At the end of each world, you will face one of the 3 Zodiacs that defend it. Win and you will get some health and gambits or auras.
Each boss has a meter that they fill as the battle goes on. It varies from Zodiac to Zodiac, but once they fulfill that, I would recommend to focus on dodging their attacks until they calm down, but not everyone’s the same.