Ascension

Ascension is a system that progressively increases the game’s difficulty. There are 10 levels (1–10), and effects are cumulative — selecting a level activates all Ascension effects at or below that level. For example, choosing A5 enables all effects from A1 through A5.

Ascension List

Level	Name	Effect
A1	Swarming Elites	Elites spawn more often
A2	Weary Traveler	Ancients only heal 80% of your missing HP
A3	Poverty	Enemies and Treasure Chests drop 25% less Gold
A4	Tight Belt	Start each run with 1 less potion slot
A5	Ascender’s Bane	Start each run Cursed
A6	Inflation	Removing cards from your deck at the Merchant is more expensive
A7	Scarcity	Rare and Upgraded cards appear less often
A8	Tough Enemies	All enemies are harder to kill
A9	Deadly Enemies	All enemies have deadlier attacks
A10	Double Boss	Fight two bosses at the end of Act 3

Level Details

A1: Swarming Elites

The number of Elite combat nodes generated on the map increases.

Stat	Normal	A1+
Elite count	5	8

A2: Weary Traveler

The HP healing performed by Ancients at the start of each Act is reduced from 100% to 80% of missing HP.

Stat	Normal	A2+
Ancient healing	100% of missing HP	80% of missing HP

For the first Ancient (Neow), HP starts at 0, so you heal 80% of your max HP.

A3: Poverty

Gold rewards from defeating enemies and from treasure chests are reduced by 25%.

Combat gold ranges:

Room Type	Normal	A3+
Normal Combat	10–20	7–15
Elite	35–45	26–33
Boss	100	75

Treasure chest gold:

Stat	Normal	A3+
Chest gold	42–52	31–39

A4: Tight Belt

The number of potion slots at the start of a run is reduced by 1.

Stat	Normal	A4+
Starting potion slots	3	2

A5: Ascender’s Bane

A curse card “Ascender’s Bane” is added to your deck at the start of the run.

Ascender’s Bane card properties:

Property	Effect
Card type	Curse
Cost	Unplayable
Keywords	Eternal (cannot be removed), Unplayable, Ethereal (exhausts at end of turn)
Upgrade	Cannot be upgraded

The Eternal keyword prevents removal from the deck by normal means. Ethereal causes it to exhaust if it remains in hand at end of turn, but it is not removed from the deck.

A6: Inflation

Removing cards from your deck at the Merchant is more expensive. The base cost increases and the price escalation per removal is doubled.

Stat	Normal	A6+
Base removal cost	75 Gold	100 Gold
Price increase per removal	+25 Gold	+50 Gold

A7: Scarcity

Card reward rarity distribution changes, reducing the appearance rate of Rare and Upgraded cards.

Normal combat card rarity:

Rarity	Normal	A7+
Common	60.0%	61.5%
Uncommon	37.0%	37.0%
Rare	3.0%	1.49%

Elite combat card rarity:

Rarity	Normal	A7+
Common	50.0%	54.9%
Uncommon	40.0%	40.0%
Rare	10.0%	5.0%

Shop card rarity:

Rarity	Normal	A7+
Common	54.0%	58.5%
Uncommon	37.0%	37.0%
Rare	9.0%	4.5%

Boss combat card rarity: No change (always 100% Rare)

Rarity growth rate (how much Rare probability increases each time you don’t get a Rare):

Stat	Normal	A7+
Growth rate	+1.0%/roll	+0.5%/roll

Upgraded card appearance rate Act scaling:

Stat	Normal	A7+
Upgrade chance increase per Act	+25.0%/Act	+12.5%/Act

In Act 1, there is normally a 25% chance (12.5% at A7+) for reward cards to appear upgraded (additive per Act). This scaling does not apply to Rare cards.

A8: Tough Enemies

All enemy monsters have increased stats. While HP and Block increases are most common, some monsters also receive damage increases at this level. The specific changes are individually set for each monster.

A9: Deadly Enemies

On top of A8, all enemy monsters receive additional stat increases — primarily to damage and debuff amounts. However, not every monster has A9-specific changes; some have all their adjustments applied at A8. The specific changes are individually set for each monster.

A10: Double Boss

In the final Act (Act 3: Glory), you fight a second boss in addition to the first. The second boss is randomly selected from the same Act’s boss pool, different from the first.

Stat	Normal	A10+
Act 3 bosses	1	2 (different bosses)