What you need to know
- DLC was released Aug. 18 for The Ascent, bringing with it new DLC packs: Cyber Heist, Cyber Warrior, and Chongqing.
- The Ascent is a cyberpunk-esque ARPG made by a small indie dev team Neon Giant and published by Curve Games.
- You play as an Indent, completing bounties for megacorporation The Ascent Group.
- NG+ has now been added to the game, for Indents to serve over and over.
- You can now use melee weapons.
The Ascent, an action RPG that launched last year, has gotten its first piece of DLC, and it's out today.
Cyber Heist, which is the main attraction, brings with it a new mission, new locations, and with them, new enemies. To change up your playstyle, the game now includes melee weapons, with names to strike fear into the hearts of your rivals like Rock Crusher and Guillotine. The DLC takes place after the main story missions.
For the achievement hunters among you, there are also 20 new challenges to complete. The Cyber Warrior Pack, also launching today, includes samurai-inspired armor for your Indent, including two new weapons, three weapon skins, and seven new pieces of armor.
Finally, there's the Chongqing Pack, which comes with three new packs of city slick attire and two new weapon skins.
A plethora of fixes should please the community, such as the addition of a save icon during gameplay, improved stability for controllers, and crash fixes for co-op play. A full rundown of these fixes can be found in the patch notes at Curve Games.
It's worth noting that for co-op play, only the host player needs to own Cyber Heist, but it will be a tough fight! To access the DLC, you need to have completed all the main missions in the base game, then just await contact from Kira.
In The Ascent, you play as a bottom-of-the-corporate-ladder Indent taking on any job you can get to pay off an impossible debt to your corporate overlords The Ascent Group, which has mysteriously collapsed overnight. Set in a world called Veles, you’ll battle rival corporations and factions to solve the mystery behind The Ascent Group’s demise. You can customize your character and playstyle as you level up and loot your surroundings.
The Ascent was originally supposed to come out with the release of new generation consoles in 2020 but was held back for further development until its official launch in July 2021. The dystopian action shooter RPG is akin to a Cyberpunk/Diablo crossover that can be played by up to four players in co-op or tackled solo.
The base game is available to play on Game Pass. However, if you wish to play the Cyber Heist DLC, it is available to purchase for $9.99 from the Xbox Store. If you are still on the fence about whether to dive into this game, then check out our review of The Ascent base game, and don't forget our top tips for newcomers to the world of Veles.
