Ascension Released

[BriarFox]

http://forums.play.net/forums/GemStone%20IV/GemStone%20IV%20Announcements/Important%20Announcements/thread/1927376

Hey everyone, Ascension is now available in Platinum and will be headed to the other instances in the following days. Ascension is a new system that allows you to divert experience into an Ascension Training Point (ATP) pool, which can then be spent on Ascension Skills to further define your character. Ascension is focused on Post-Cap Development, but is not restricted to level 100 characters. Starting at level 20, you can divert up to your level as a percentage of your experience gain towards Ascension Experience (AEXP). Every 50,000 AEXP will net you 1 ATP, which may then be spent on Common, Elite, or Legendary skills. This initial phase is limited to the Common tier, and more details on Elite/Legendary will be released at a later date.

See http://forums.play.net/forums/GemStone%20IV/Combat,%20Magic,%20and%20Character%20Mechanics/Ascension/view/2 for the initial post regarding the Ascension system. The wiki page at https://gswiki.play.net/Ascension_Skill_System will be updated as the system progresses. Finally, the ASCENSION verb is available in-game for more information, and has been copied below for your convenience.

USAGE: ASCENSION [option] [args]

Options:
EXP - View your Ascension experience and ATP
SET {#} - Set the percent of experience to absorb as Ascension experience
LEARN {skill} - Trade in Ascension Training Points to unlock an skill
UNLEARN {skill} - Trade in an Ascension skill for Ascension Training Points
LIST {tier} - Lists Ascension skills by tier available for you to unlock
INFO - Displays your current Ascension skills
MILESTONES - View your Ascension Milestone progress
HELP {skill} - Lists information about the selected skill

Note: All {skill} references above require use of the skill mnemonic.



This message was originally posted in Combat, Magic, and Character Mechanics, Ascension. To discuss the above, follow the link below.

http://forums.play.net/forums/19/327/3408/view/372

~GM Naijin

[drumpel]

About god damn time, damn it.

I mean.... awesome!

[BLZrizz]

Anyone mind posting the training costs for the various skills and tiers?

[mgoddess]

Anyone mind posting the training costs for the various skills and tiers?

If you've got an account, you should be able to log into the test server and 'ascension list common' to get the (large) list. Everything in the common tier looks to cost one ATP, with 40-50 ranks available for each skill.

[Donquix]

Anyone mind posting the training costs for the various skills and tiers?

it's just the common tier (basic stats, resists, etc.)

1 atp (50k exp) per for first 5, 2atp for next 5, 3atp for 11-15, etc. 40 max per ability.

We don't know costs for the higher tiers yet.

[Methais]

https://media2.giphy.com/media/3o6gDPXMNxFhvHdcf6/giphy.gif

[Skeletor]

If you've got an account, you should be able to log into the test server and 'ascension list common' to get the (large) list. Everything in the common tier looks to cost one ATP, with 40-50 ranks available for each skill.

So I can potentially jack my strength up to 150? Giantman with enhancives wil have +75 bonus to strength? whaaaaa ?

https://media0.giphy.com/media/3o7btPCcdNniyf0ArS/giphy.gif

[BriarFox]

So I can potentially jack my strength up to 150? Giantman with enhancives wil have +75 bonus to strength? whaaaaa ?

https://media0.giphy.com/media/3o7btPCcdNniyf0ArS/giphy.gif

There are scaling costs for each rank (1 ATP 0-5, 2 ATPS 6-10, etc) but you can do some pretty crazy things. That said, I’m more interested in the profession tiers than the common tier.

[beldar17]

Nuad wants to be able to bond with a bear, in the biblical sense.

[BriarFox]

Nuad wants to be able to bond with a bear, in the biblical sense.

I mean, how do you think you make a skinwalker?

[Alashir]

Does ascension dropping mean that paladin updates are coming soon?

[Fortybox]

There are scaling costs for each rank (1 ATP 0-5, 2 ATPS 6-10, etc) but you can do some pretty crazy things. That said, I’m more interested in enchanting coraesine the legit way instead of cheating.

Awesome!

[BriarFox]

Awesome!

Once I went to a dog shelter to drop off some old towels for the animals. As I walked through the stalls to see the animals, I came across one animal snarling at the wall of his cage. There was nothing there, but he snarled and spun and peed himself and snarled some more until he finally collapsed, exhausted. On my way back from dropping off the towels, there he was again, back at it. I knew then that he would never leave that shelter. There was only one path out for him, and it wasn’t a happy one.

That dog is you.

[mgoddess]

Seems like Ascension is now live in Prime, as of 7:44pm PST:



[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "A Noble Effort" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "Great Expectations" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "Master of My Fate" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "High and Mighty" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "A Grand Triumph" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "Master of your Craft" milestone!]

[drumpel]

Seems like Ascension is now live in Prime, as of 7:44pm PST:



[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "A Noble Effort" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "Great Expectations" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "Master of My Fate" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "High and Mighty" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "A Grand Triumph" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "Master of your Craft" milestone!]


You magnificent bastard! Time to punish myself and put my mutant warmage to work!

[gilchristr]

I am a giantman with maxed strength enhancives (140 strength).

Will this let me be stronger? If so what is my new max strength. I read everything and I still have no idea.

Also, if I get stronger will my weight finally go up again? Enhancives don't increase my weight

[Fortybox]

Once I went to a dog shelter to drop off some old towels for the animals. As I walked through the stalls to see the animals, I came across one animal snarling at the wall of his cage. There was nothing there, but he snarled and spun and peed himself and snarled some more until he finally collapsed, exhausted. On my way back from dropping off the towels, there he was again, back at it. I knew then that he would never leave that shelter. There was only one path out for him, and it wasn’t a happy one.

That dog is you.

This story is a lie. You’d never drop off towels but would instead sell them for 500m silver each as a Treasure in the Shart exclusive.

[nocturnix]

So do i get ascension right? After I cap I can either continue getting regular XP and working on postcap skills or ascension (or a mix of those). So now i have to make a choice: do i work on continuing to progress my postcap skills or work on ascension? Seems like, at least for the essential skills working on regular xp postcap goals beats ascension hands down until you run out of skills to cap....

[BriarFox]

So do i get ascension right? After I cap I can either continue getting regular XP and working on postcap skills or ascension (or a mix of those). So now i have to make a choice: do i work on continuing to progress my postcap skills or work on ascension? Seems like, at least for the essential skills working on regular xp postcap goals beats ascension hands down until you run out of skills to cap....

Right, though you can also work on the Ascension system earlier, too. You can divert a percentage of experience equal to your level, I think, so 20% at level 20.

[BriarFox]

This story is a lie. You’d never drop off towels but would instead sell them for 500m silver each as a Treasure in the Shart exclusive.

I'm sorry I banged your mom. In my defense, I had *really* massive beer goggles that night.

[Orthin]

Once I went to a dog shelter to drop off some old towels for the animals. As I walked through the stalls to see the animals, I came across one animal snarling at the wall of his cage. There was nothing there, but he snarled and spun and peed himself and snarled some more until he finally collapsed, exhausted. On my way back from dropping off the towels, there he was again, back at it. I knew then that he would never leave that shelter. There was only one path out for him, and it wasn’t a happy one.

That dog is you.

I was wondering where that was going lol

[Fortybox]

I'm sorry I banged your mom. In my defense, I had *really* massive beer goggles that night.

...ew but that's more lies. Your soy drinking wouldn't make that possible.

[Roblar]

I am a giantman with maxed strength enhancives (140 strength).

Will this let me be stronger? If so what is my new max strength. I read everything and I still have no idea.

Also, if I get stronger will my weight finally go up again? Enhancives don't increase my weight


180 strength.

It shouldn't affect weight, I think.

[Gelston]

180 strength.

It shouldn't affect weight, I think.

Con increases weight.

[Roblar]

Nope, strength is the stat (per wiki). Not that the wiki is always right but based on racial bonuses sounds right as the strongest races weigh the most.

CON is hit points but I just said that because he said he didn't see an increase from enhancives before.

So it is possible there is a cap where enhancives may not increase character weight and it is soley based on stat/racial bonuses but I didn't check.

[Gelston]

Nope, strength is the stat (per wiki). Not that the wiki is always right but based on racial bonuses sounds right as the strongest races weigh the most.

CON is hit points but I just said that because he said he didn't see an increase from enhancives before.

So it is possible there is a cap where enhancives may not increase character weight and it is soley based on stat/racial bonuses but I didn't check.

I'm fairly certain the wiki is wrong there, but my memory could also be shit.

[Gelston]

"The body weight of a character depends on the base weight of their race, plus their Strength and Constitution stats scaled by a race-dependent Weight Factor."

It is both.

[Blazar]

"The body weight of a character depends on the base weight of their race, plus their Strength and Constitution stats scaled by a race-dependent Weight Factor."

It is both.

Now the question would be, does it use the current stat, or the starting stat like mana pool does.

[Gelston]

Now the question would be, does it use the current stat, or the starting stat like mana pool does.

Current. I can tell you for a fact I've seen my characters' weights go up as they gained stat increases when leveling. Enhancive stat boosts do not raise weight though. Can ascension perks + enhancives stack to over 140? If so perhaps ascension can up the weight.

[Archigeek]

Current. I can tell you for a fact I've seen my characters' weights go up as they gained stat increases when leveling. Enhancive stat boosts do not raise weight though. Can ascension perks + enhancives stack to over 140? If so perhaps ascension can up the weight.

For those who don't know, your body weight is equal to the heaviest object you can pick up, regardless of other factors. I doubt this comes into play often, but in rare cases it does. I'm sure there are other issues related to body weight that people are considering, but I always have found that to be an amusing one.

[Methais]

Once I went to a dog shelter to drop off some old towels for the animals. As I walked through the stalls to see the animals, I came across one animal snarling at the wall of his cage. There was nothing there, but he snarled and spun and peed himself and snarled some more until he finally collapsed, exhausted. On my way back from dropping off the towels, there he was again, back at it. I knew then that he would never leave that shelter. There was only one path out for him, and it wasn’t a happy one.

That dog is you.

Plot twist: You were destined to save that dog, and you let everyone down and that's why we have coronavirus now.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

Yeah, sounds like a dick move on that poor abused dog.

[Derex]

So wait people with 50m exp just got shafted?

[Taernath]

So wait people with 50m exp just got shafted?

It's a new system, everyone starts at the same point.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

It's a new system, everyone starts at the same point.

Until the next pay event... AMIRITE?

You heard it here first

[Stolis]

I think if you have 50m exp, you're not really training in anything you really care about. You have no issue shifting your exp growth to 100% ascension if you want. Just capped people or even people who haven't finished their primary skills, this is something you can't really enjoy all that much yet. I've got 10% going towards it now, which seems like way too little

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

Aren't there a couple people who hit true cap? This has got to be great for them.

[Stolis]

Aren't there a couple people who hit true cap? This has got to be great for them.

Vyrshkana (sp?) I think just did over in Plat. But for real though, wtf do you do at true cap? Do you get super pissed if you die, because you somehow fucked up?

[mgoddess]

Just capped people or even people who haven't finished their primary skills, this is something you can't really enjoy all that much yet.
At 8.5mil, my capped paladin is set for 50/50, since she isn't finished, yet with most skills that I want her to have... with the 50/50, I think I'll still get enough PTP/MTP's to get her normal skills maxed in decent time, and still get a decent amount of ATP's to enjoy that system also in decent time.

[Stolis]

At 8.5mil, my capped paladin is set for 50/50, since she isn't finished, yet with most skills that I want her to have... with the 50/50, I think I'll still get enough PTP/MTP's to get her normal skills maxed in decent time, and still get a decent amount of ATP's to enjoy that system also in decent time.

I'm only 2x mana for the moment. I've finished a lot of the primary ones, but still have my lores and then the dreaded 3x mana. I did spells. Dodging, and CM. I know what being a glutton for punishment is, but it's hard for me to want to focus on ascension stuff when I don't have max mana yet. Once that shifts, I'm sure my priorities towards it may shift too?

[Gelston]

Vyrshkana (sp?) I think just did over in Plat. But for real though, wtf do you do at true cap? Do you get super pissed if you die, because you somehow fucked up?

Make money and RP.

[drumpel]

I think if you have 50m exp, you're not really training in anything you really care about. You have no issue shifting your exp growth to 100% ascension if you want. Just capped people or even people who haven't finished their primary skills, this is something you can't really enjoy all that much yet. I've got 10% going towards it now, which seems like way too little

Setup my level 55 warmage to do 50/50 split for exp. I need to get him to his next set of armor and need 70 AU ranks. Right now he's sitting at 59 ranks and with the +8 AU leg greaves he has lockered away, I just need 3 more levels or 2 levels with 1 ATP or 1 level with 2 ATPs (he's got about 10k in ascension exp right now) to hit 70 ranks. Getting him into some +6 DP, +5CP 7x/T3 studded leathers with +7 to OHE will be a nice bump over his 5x/T3 cuirbouilli leather.

After I hit my armor goal I plan on just building up ATPs and hording them until we get an official list of Tier 2 and Tier 3 skills for Ascension.

[Archigeek]

I have a feeling, based on spell list dev, that the tier 2 and tier 3 will be a bit underwhelming. Part of that is probably because our expectations are too high, and partly because being able to increase stats and skills is already a really powerful thing.

Has the question been answered yet, about whether or not this allows us to exceed the max increase via enhancives, or do those max numbers remain the limit?

[Berost]

Was told on discord yesterday it goes above enhance limits

[Methais]

So wait people with 50m exp just got shafted?

Here's what 52m exp looks like for me, and sitting on 1,800 unused PTPs that I was gonna dump into THW and then probably never use it, but they're about to change the mangler around anyway so I'm sure I'll be moving a few things around.

Two Weapon Combat..................| 201 101
Armor Use..........................| 70 15
Combat Maneuvers...................| 201 101
Edged Weapons......................| 201 101
Ranged Weapons.....................| 201 101
Thrown Weapons.....................| 201 101
Polearm Weapons....................| 201 101
Brawling...........................| 201 101
Ambush.............................| 201 101
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 201 101
Physical Fitness...................| 201 101
Dodging............................| 201 101
Arcane Symbols.....................| 302 202
Magic Item Use.....................| 302 202
Spell Aiming.......................| 308 208
Harness Power......................| 403 303
Elemental Mana Control.............| 302 202
Spirit Mana Control................| 70 15
Elemental Lore - Air...............| 142 42
Elemental Lore - Earth.............| 160 60
Elemental Lore - Fire..............| 200 100
Survival...........................| 201 101
Disarming Traps....................| 201 101
Picking Locks......................| 302 202
Stalking and Hiding................| 201 101
Perception.........................| 302 202
Climbing...........................| 201 101
Swimming...........................| 201 101
First Aid..........................| 302 202
Trading............................| 302 202
Pickpocketing......................| 201 101

Spell Lists
Major Elemental....................| 127

Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 75

Spell Lists
Wizard.............................| 101




Almost all of the extra stuff is useless and never gets used unless I'm super bored and feel like fucking around for a few minutes until I get bored with that.

[Berost]

For freshly capped. It does look like the math and the stats will be to keep working your usual training and dump a small % into ATP for giggles and the boost. Until your core stuff for your class is maxed or where you want it.

[Skeletor]

So this is too complicated someone give me the tldr. Before cap or freshly capped, is there any reason whatsoever I should be diverting EXP into this?

[Tgo01]

So this is too complicated someone give me the tldr. Before cap or freshly capped, is there any reason whatsoever I should be diverting EXP into this?

At 50k exp for 1 ascension point it sure seems better to get your normal skills to where you want them first. 50k will get you 20 mental training points and 20 physical training points which goes a long way towards skills at cap.

This is all for the common ascension skills though, there are some ascension skills in the legendary tier that do unique things that might be worth looking into.

[Palcron]

So this is too complicated someone give me the tldr. Before cap or freshly capped, is there any reason whatsoever I should be diverting EXP into this?

Leafiara posted a good writeup on the wiki. Basically, it's pretty much always cheaper to train skills the old fashioned way. It becomes really useful when you want to hit a threshold that cannot be achieved through standard training (MOC, lores, etc), but even then, it's largely a post-cap boost.

Personally, training stats are great since they stack with enhancives, but I won't be bothering with skills until I'm way past cap or they come up with something particularly interesting in the next tiers of ascension that require a certain amount of common-skill training.

https://gswiki.play.net/Leafiara/Ascension_Considerations <- her thoughts

[Archigeek]

I think taking a close look at thresholds is an excellent idea. If say, you have 202 ranks in a skill and the next cut off is at 210, that might be worth pursuing.

To me the most tempting low hanging fruit is going to be straight up weapon training and basic skill training, not much different than what you would normally do precap.

It's also worth understanding that in post-cap hunting areas, critter level makes a lot of CMANs and that sort of thing pretty ineffective because SMRv2 is so level based. So the follow up question is, with an extra 10 ranks of weapon skill, can I now feint a lich? It's probably not going to help, but understanding where you can overcome level differences and where you can't will help you avoid wasting points.

I'd still like to know more about the skills at higher tiers, and the trees required to get there. I'm going to try to think as objectively as possible about how expanding training will impact effectiveness.

Examples of things that a person might consider that may have more impact than visible at first glance: armor training thresholds, additional CMAN/armor/shield skills, mstrikes speed improvement, etc.

As a pure, this system opens up the ability to match base capped AS of a square with some extra training and enhancives. Semi's are no longer semi's, they're multi's with enough time and exp. Squares alternatively can bump up AS theoretically by 75 points in melee combat, on top of whatever they were doing pre-ascention.

[Methais]

So this is too complicated someone give me the tldr. Before cap or freshly capped, is there any reason whatsoever I should be diverting EXP into this?

Max out your useful skills, which I guess is probably around 20-30m xp for most professions, then dump everything into Ascension.

[mgoddess]

With much thanks to those who worked on getting it on the Wiki, here's the list of what's available in the Common Tier (Tier 1) of Ascension skills: https://gswiki.play.net/Ascension_Skill_System/Tier_lists

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

Man if I was still playing and capped I'd be eating up the stat skills. Pretty cool enhancement.

[Berost]

ANd for what it is worth. There is an ATP fixskill coming when elite and legendary tier are released.

[Roblar]

Squares alternatively can bump up AS theoretically by 75 points in melee combat, on top of whatever they were doing pre-ascention.

95, STR too

On plus side, I mathed out the pending mangler changes and looks like I am 1.something rank past true cap (once they are live and I get TPs back for a couple already trained skills). I feel like I backed into the playoffs...

I got 50K and an extra 1 ATP yesterday with Lumnis without trying very hard so I think this will be around 20 atps a month or so.

[Archigeek]

95, STR too

On plus side, I mathed out the pending mangler changes and looks like I am 1.something rank past true cap (once they are live and I get TPs back for a couple already trained skills). I feel like I backed into the playoffs...

I got 50K and an extra 1 ATP yesterday with Lumnis without trying very hard so I think this will be around 20 atps a month or so.

Good point on strength. Now how the heck are you going to manage 20 ATPs a month?

[Demihuman]

One different perspective on Ascension is that it can be utilized to significantly delay level advancement for younger characters while at the same time allowing them to increase abilities (albeit more slowly). If a character at level 20 diverted their maximum 20 percent to Ascension, and continued to raise it 1% every level, they would probably not cap until around 15 million exp. or more. The purpose of this, if anything, would be for a player to progress while being able to partake in the greater diversity of hunting areas for a much longer time before hitting the grind of the capped areas.

[Geijon]

So I can potentially jack my strength up to 150? Giantman with enhancives wil have +75 bonus to strength? whaaaaa ?

https://media0.giphy.com/media/3o7btPCcdNniyf0ArS/giphy.gif

Yes.

[Tgo01]

One different perspective on Ascension is that it can be utilized to significantly delay level advancement for younger characters while at the same time allowing them to increase abilities (albeit more slowly). If a character at level 20 diverted their maximum 20 percent to Ascension, and continued to raise it 1% every level, they would probably not cap until around 15 million exp. or more. The purpose of this, if anything, would be for a player to progress while being able to partake in the greater diversity of hunting areas for a much longer time before hitting the grind of the capped areas.

That’s a very good point.

[Tgo01]

I think everyone is forgetting the most important question: how many more silvers can I be looking at if I max out trading and influence via ascension?

[Tgo01]

Also a warrior can now get 5 ranks in slash/puncture/crush AND 5 ranks of armor support or 5 ranks of armor reinforcement, so that's kind of nifty.

Well I'm just assuming you get more armor points via ascension armor ranks, kind of dumb if you don't.

[BJARN]

Also a warrior can now get 5 ranks in slash/puncture/crush AND 5 ranks of armor support or 5 ranks of armor reinforcement, so that's kind of nifty.

Well I'm just assuming you get more armor points via ascension armor ranks, kind of dumb if you don't.


Do you get cman points from cman enhancives?

[Tgo01]

Do you get cman points from cman enhancives?

No but ascension points are earned via character training similar to skills, enhancives are found/bought/what have you. Plus it doesn't work with enhancives because it would be a mess every time you take off an item and lose cman points then gain them again when you put them back on.

Ascension points are permanent until you fixskill outta it.

[Roblar]

Good point on strength. Now how the heck are you going to manage 20 ATPs a month?


https://media.giphy.com/media/l3q2JCu9lep6dAmyY/giphy.gif

[Roblar]

Also a warrior can now get 5 ranks in slash/puncture/crush AND 5 ranks of armor support or 5 ranks of armor reinforcement, so that's kind of nifty.

Well I'm just assuming you get more armor points via ascension armor ranks, kind of dumb if you don't.

I don't think so because CM doesn't get cman pts

[Tgo01]

I don't think so because CM doesn't get cman pts

Well boo to that!

[Makkah]

I don't think so because CM doesn't get cman pts

What the hell? Really?

[nocturnix]

One different perspective on Ascension is that it can be utilized to significantly delay level advancement for younger characters while at the same time allowing them to increase abilities (albeit more slowly). If a character at level 20 diverted their maximum 20 percent to Ascension, and continued to raise it 1% every level, they would probably not cap until around 15 million exp. or more. The purpose of this, if anything, would be for a player to progress while being able to partake in the greater diversity of hunting areas for a much longer time before hitting the grind of the capped areas.

As if leveling in gemstone is already "too fast". Why on earth anyone would already want to slow down something that takes years to accomplish to smell the roses is funny to me :)

I think it took me probably 10 years to cap my first character (this week). What kind of sick person would want to increase the length of that grind? :)

[Orthin]

As if leveling in gemstone is already "too fast". Why on earth anyone would already want to slow down something that takes years to accomplish to smell the roses is funny to me :)

I think it took me probably 10 years to cap my first character (this week). What kind of sick person would want to increase the length of that grind? :)

I think Drumpel was specifically waiting for this before continuing to develop his warmage, so that makes 1 person haha (though may be someone else with the warmage but I know it is someone!)

[bluecenterlight]

Loot. Slowing down leveling could allow a player to stay in non capped areas that aren't overhunted much longer. Once capped it's the same areas over and over.

[drumpel]

As if leveling in gemstone is already "too fast". Why on earth anyone would already want to slow down something that takes years to accomplish to smell the roses is funny to me :)

I think it took me probably 10 years to cap my first character (this week). What kind of sick person would want to increase the length of that grind? :)


I think Drumpel was specifically waiting for this before continuing to develop his warmage, so that makes 1 person haha (though may be someone else with the warmage but I know it is someone!)

Between trying to max weekly essence on my two wizards (which sometimes I don't even do....maybe I'm too lazy or because it gets boring...I don't know) I now can also get back to my warmage.

He's level 55 and got 2 freebie ATPs for milestones (level 20 and 40). He is capped on his AU ranks , 57, and with his outstanding milestone achievement points his AU is now at 59! 3 more AU ranks between leveling normally or ATPs and his +8 AU leg greaves I can get him in his much improved studded leather armor sooner rather than later. 70 AU ranks gets him to the minimum spell hindrance of 9% in studded leather. With him being gimped in spell ranks he only needs to keep 902/506/909 active while hunting because he doesn't have any other spells he can use that would work (CS is too low without spell ranks and he just only knows up to 520 and 913). Right now I have him out about 15-18 minutes to max his exp pool with a 50/50 split for ascension experience. So he needs to recast 506 15-18 times, 902 maybe half that amount and 909 just a couple of times since he doesn't need it all that often (cman feint at 4 ranks generally opens up his targets enough to not needing to knock them prone). Out of those 25-30 casts he needs to do out hunting, he sees maybe 3 spell hindrance failures on average.

After that, I can work on building up ATPs and see what useful skills come around for Tier 2 and Tier 3 levels.

I'm hoping they keep a Tier 2 skill that helps reduce casting hindrance (probably every rank reduces it by 1% if I had to guess)
They also suggested a skill (don't recall if it was Tier 2 or 3) that negates some known spell rank penalty for redux.

If they keep those two skills they could be a good boon to my warmage. Reduce spell hindrance (since I want him in Brig or possibly Chain Mail by cap....if he's viable by then) and then boost his redux a little by offsetting some of the known spell rank penalty.

My ATP goals:
5 AU ranks
Hold off to see what T2/T3 skills come along
5 STR bonus
5 OHE ranks
5 CMAN ranks
5 PF ranks
(maybe 5 Shield Use ranks....depends if they eventually allow shield skills to be used with all classes)
Pump ATPs into AU after all that and get into brig or chain mail. Chain mail will only be viable if they keep the suggested skill to reduce spell hindrance. Without it, the spell hindrance would probably be too much to handle and allow successful hunts.

The best a wizard can do with Ascension + max enahncives is get AU ranks to 201 (101 from normal skills +50 from ATP +50 from enahancives).
201 AU ranks is still 9 ranks under the 210 needed to have max reduced spell hindrance in chain mail. I think that would be around 18% spell hindrance. If I don't use enchancives, chain mail spell hindrance would probably be closer to 30% at 151 ranks...and that would be brutal. Even if a paladin had 5 ranks of armor fluidity I could get, that's only 50% off the base hindrance (16% is base hindrance for wizard in chain mail, so only 8% reduction would be achieved) and 20+% hindrance would still be pretty bad.

So, here's hoping for an Ascension skill that allows reduction of spell hindrance.



Good point on strength. Now how the heck are you going to manage 20 ATPs a month?

I can do 45-50K exp a week with my wizards with Lumnis active and needing to cap weekly essence. Roughly 12 hours (give or take an hour, depending on what I'm doing). Set your Ascension exp to 100% at cap and that's 1 ATP a week.

Getting 4 ATPs a month should be pretty simple for anyone with 10-15 hours of hunting/experience earning time a week.

Also, don't forget that you can use Instant Mind Clears to absorb up to 1000 exp instantly. If you're sitting a shit ton of them you can blow through enough exp for a few ATPs as well. One of my wizards has 70+. He can fill his experience bucket so fast he could use 3-4 instant mind clears a hunt before running out of mana or filling his essence pool.

Basically, at a minimum - 4 ATPs a month is doable. A more dedicated player could probably get 2 ATPs a week.
Also, don't forget you can reset your Lumnis schedule twice a year. So 2 weeks in a year you're pretty much guaranteed 2 ATPs a week if you utilize the Lumnis Schedules method.

52-100 ATPs a years is where most people will probably fall into. A few folk that never sleep, buy the crap out of RPA orbs and so on....probably upwards of 150+ ATPs.

[Archigeek]

I can do 45-50K exp a week with my wizards with Lumnis active and needing to cap weekly essence. Roughly 12 hours (give or take an hour, depending on what I'm doing). Set your Ascension exp to 100% at cap and that's 1 ATP a week.

Getting 4 ATPs a month should be pretty simple for anyone with 10-15 hours of hunting/experience earning time a week.

Also, don't forget that you can use Instant Mind Clears to absorb up to 1000 exp instantly. If you're sitting a shit ton of them you can blow through enough exp for a few ATPs as well. One of my wizards has 70+. He can fill his experience bucket so fast he could use 3-4 instant mind clears a hunt before running out of mana or filling his essence pool.

Basically, at a minimum - 4 ATPs a month is doable. A more dedicated player could probably get 2 ATPs a week.
Also, don't forget you can reset your Lumnis schedule twice a year. So 2 weeks in a year you're pretty much guaranteed 2 ATPs a week if you utilize the Lumnis Schedules method.

52-100 ATPs a years is where most people will probably fall into. A few folk that never sleep, buy the crap out of RPA orbs and so on....probably upwards of 150+ ATPs. - Drumpel

Still a long way from 20 ATPs a month, which is a million exp per month. Roblar is pretty clever though, when it comes to experience gain.

I do think your expression of how this system makes a very big difference for some mutant character types though. I think a lot of pures who dabbled in melee attacks so they could bring down the occasional Vvrael Destroyer, are going to find it a whole lot easier now. It'll still cost a lot though.

[Methais]

As if leveling in gemstone is already "too fast". Why on earth anyone would already want to slow down something that takes years to accomplish to smell the roses is funny to me :)

I think it took me probably 10 years to cap my first character (this week). What kind of sick person would want to increase the length of that grind? :)

That phat mid 60s loot I'm always hearing about. Probably.

[Candor]

I'm not playing much these days, but about 30 seconds after entering the game this evening I received the following messages:

[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "A Noble Effort" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "Great Expectations" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "Master of My Fate" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "High and Mighty" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "A Grand Triumph" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "Up to the Task" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "Rogue: Daily Grind" milestone!]

My rogue usually ambushes his targets and uses edged weapons. Anyone have a recommendation as to what to do with these tps?

[Archigeek]

I'm not playing much these days, but about 30 seconds after entering the game this evening I received the following messages:

[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "A Noble Effort" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "Great Expectations" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "Master of My Fate" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "High and Mighty" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "A Grand Triumph" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "Up to the Task" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "Rogue: Daily Grind" milestone!]

My rogue usually ambushes his targets and uses edged weapons. Anyone have a recommendation as to what to do with these tps?

I would put the first 5 into OHE. After that it gets trickier. Trainings 6-10 in OHE cost 2 points apiece, so you may want to consider STR for an AS boost with added benefits before more OHE.

[mgoddess]

I'm not playing much these days, but about 30 seconds after entering the game this evening I received the following messages:

[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "A Noble Effort" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "Great Expectations" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "Master of My Fate" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "High and Mighty" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "A Grand Triumph" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "Up to the Task" milestone!]
[You have been awarded 1 Ascension Training Point for the "Rogue: Daily Grind" milestone!]

My rogue usually ambushes his targets and uses edged weapons. Anyone have a recommendation as to what to do with these tps?

I'm leaving mine alone for now, until the Elite & Legendary tiers come out... though, I guess as someone mentioned, there's possibly going to be an ATP fixskill, so maybe there's no reason to not train with them....

[drumpel]

I'm leaving mine alone for now, until the Elite & Legendary tiers come out... though, I guess as someone mentioned, there's possibly going to be an ATP fixskill, so maybe there's no reason to not train with them....

My guess is that some Common skills will probably be required to learn a higher tier skill - so don't be surprised if you have to dump some ATPs into Common skills before you can learn some Elite....and probably same with Legendary skills might require Elite ranks first.

Also, maybe they won't be complete retards and allow a free fixskill once all ATP Common/Elite/Legendary skills are released.

[Roblar]

My guess is that some Common skills will probably be required to learn a higher tier skill - so don't be surprised if you have to dump some ATPs into Common skills before you can learn some Elite....and probably same with Legendary skills might require Elite ranks first.

Also, maybe they won't be complete retards and allow a free fixskill once all ATP Common/Elite/Legendary skills are released.


They've said exactly that. Some require that, will vary.

And a free fixskill, or maybe ascension only, one will definitely be allowed upon release.

[Methais]

My guess is that some Common skills will probably be required to learn a higher tier skill - so don't be surprised if you have to dump some ATPs into Common skills before you can learn some Elite....and probably same with Legendary skills might require Elite ranks first.

Also, maybe they won't be complete retards and allow a free fixskill once all ATP Common/Elite/Legendary skills are released.

I expect it to work just like talent trees similar to WoW, but in text.

[Darcthundar]

It may have been stated already but are Ascension points in addition to max enhancive points?

[Menos]

It may have been stated already but are Ascension points in addition to max enhancive points?

Ascension points have their own max that is independent of the normal enhansive system.

[Skeletor]

Ascension points have their own max that is independent of the normal enhansive system.

So the two stack? Geezus...

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/640/962/d91.gif