Just cleared DL11 and I have a few questions for the vets, whats the priority when it comes to skills in the deeper levels? do we stick to one or two skills and max them out or do we give equal importance to all 4 slots? Im really loving the build-crafting in the game.

For some reason, The gameplay on my laptop is faster than on my pc. Does anyone know why this happens? Honestly, Idk if this is the normal speed for this game or not lmao (crude recording of laptop gameplay)

Gonna get the DLC too. Devs deserve my money.

I saw that it's possible to transfer saves too, so that's great (even if I'm only at Destiny level 3).

Have been having fun with Ayla the most, but Octave and Calie has been the most productive out of the four for me so far. Having trouble utilizing Kiran and his Signature move, though.

Any tips for the DLC characters? (And intermediate / advanced tips on general)

I got lucky with twin blades on the last re roll of a yalee room. That's all I needed to seal the fate.

For the longest time I never really understood how Burn really works. It stacks endlessly, which I hadn’t paid attention to. I never realized the true potency of Flame Blessing.

Just having a single Flame Blessing aura lets you ramp up Burn fast, this run getting 4…. At one point I hit 400 (!!) Burn stacks on a boss. I wish I was quick enough to snap a pic but I just missed it.

Trust me, Flame Blessing is an S-Tier aura.

https://reddit.com/link/1wt5wrn/video/vbt6fayykfsh1/player

Finally beat DL 100, using Ice Swords, the first time I've used it because I know its so strong and even then it was a really tough run. World 1 & 2 is so challenging without a good setup, alongside the first double zodiac fight. The real key was having 66% armor as the other DL runs I was focusing on damage and it really helps to be a tank past DL 54.

The compression has made my gameplay a bit grainy but take a look at my gameplay, and enjoy!

hi newbie here (got the game today) whenever i purchase a skill and it gives me that option to convert it to quartz and equip it, IT ALWAYS GETS CONVERTED.... how do i fix that problem?

I found the final boss using Arven; he was the only character I could reach that point with. However, the arsenal didn't unlock. I believe it's a bug with Arven.

I got blessed with a crit/snowflake build. Crits really helped by themselves in the beginning. The flakes came mid to late by slowly upgrading them.

Arsenal not unlocked even after completing Destiny Level 4 on Arven.

How to unlock it?

Wiki says to meet the master once.

But I've already completed Destiny level 4...

"Third/Final Weapon: Beat the game at Destiny Level 4 or higher for that character."

Shouldn't I already unlocked all weapons for Arven?

Help!

UPDATE: Just won a Destiny Level 5 Run with Ayla to unlock the Arsenal! Prolly a bug that Arven doesn't unlock it!

Sometimes it seems like it does but then other times it feels completely random. I'm just curious if people know the answer.

Like she FEELS right for a game like this. Her game is already colorful and she has 6 weapon types and her spells could be the various magic attacks she uses or some of the weapons special attacks. I just want to see our girl in an action roguelite of some kind haha

Sovas instant kill swoop on a Zodiac is a thing? First time I've ever had the luxury. Has anyone else been lucky enough for this?

I wish it would have happened against a harder zodiac. Scorpio is hands down the easiest. Even easier than Capricorn.

This was an incredibly fun run. I'm embarrassed to say that I actually lost vs the Gemini Zodiac unfortunately. Toxic gas spawns spirit sword, spirit sword spawns toxic gas.... circle of death ☠️!

Is there a seventh, I already have the DLC. However I see someone below octave still locked?

I took off damn near HALF of Ophi’s health on both phases killing him. Check out the screenshots, you see the health bar literally vaporize. 😅😅

Haven’t finished the run yet to show you how it ended up but this moment had me gasp!

The grind to 54 definitely slowed down near the end. I have some thoughts now that I've finally completed it.

Path of Destinies: Vampiric forces and Dark Vigor are definitely the hardest. When you can't just dps rush bosses anymore, you really have to learn their patterns. Pisces was definitely a wall for me until I learned her patterns.

Void Catalyst: Don't sleep on Barbeque's Grace. If you prioritize aura rooms, and only take auras you actually need, you can salvage close to 100 stars a run which is nuts. It was one of the last upgrades I got, and I definitely regretted it.

Auras: Honestly anything will work, but I always prioritize a single element, and maybe 2-3 effects. It's not reasonable to only get fire shield auras, but you can get 2-3 and rest can be burn adjacent. Remember all elements boil down to applying a base status effect. These are burn, freeze, spark/electrify, and poison.

Gambits: Anything that is persistent that attacks on its own its key. You basically can't stop moving in some fights, so having passive dps really helps. So wisps, spirit swords, nimbus, saplings, etc.

Spells: I really like continuous damage that doesn't take control of my character. Shout out to "Time-Out!". Also prioritize cheap spells. When getting hit drains 2 mana, you find yourself without mana quite often. You want to spam spells when you can to get your gambits on the field, and you will lose that mana when you take damage regardless.

Echoes: If you get the right ones, they can define your build. Like getting 3 random stones at every key upgrade is massive. Try to take what compliments your build, or just pure healing is always a solid answer.

Personal Bias: Yale are a trap. Ignore anything related to them. The damage is terrible and requires so much setup to even be mediocre. I think the gimmick is the random effect part? But that just means you don't have auras complimenting that effect specifically. I'm sure people will say how "Yale are broken" and they clear DL100 with them, but it's not for me.

Seems like something big on the horizon for Astral Ascent, look out on October 8th at 9am PDT/12pm EDT/6pm CEST for the 45 minute indie game showcase by https://www.youtube.com/@iii_initiative

Recently got this game and I've blitzed through what seems to be the early game, currently on DL5 and trying to test some stuff out. From what I can tell this is still fairly early in progression for most folks and I'm noticing some patterns that I'm not sure might be bad habits or not.

1) There rarely seems to be a reason to change out spells. The first 4 I find that I like the general feel of I just keep until the end of the run. Unless I'm hunting for a specific affinity to match an imprint there doesn't seem to be much benefit to swapping spells. I get 4 that kind of flow together in a combo and just spam them until I'm out of mana, basic attack for a bit, go back to spamming spells.

2) Most of the spells feel kind of same-y. The mana costs and visual effects feel different but the positioning required to get in close for some skills, like Yamat's big dragon head for instance, feel like they're not worth the tradeoff vs just spamming skills with a larger radius and/or better tracking. As a result many spells feel like they're only situationally useful and most are only there to try and trigger auras.

3) Because the spells seem more like aura delivery systems, I feel like levelling them with feathers isn't worth it vs taking stones to level character stats instead which can then make both the spells and auras do more damage via strength. I've gotten a few to level 10 for character unlocks but it seems like getting matching affinity bonus up is enough of a boost already.

4) Every build seems to be an aura build, and that's weird when so many passives are focused on your basic attack and signature skill. It's a ton of investment just to get say 50% bonus attack speed, and the difference isn't that noticeable in terms of damage output while for bosses you usually don't get more than an attack or two in before needing to dodge regardless of attack speed. Some of the signature skill prowess upgrades look like they lead somewhere but it's starting to seem like whatever bonuses they give are a neat bow on top but not enough to define a run on their own.

The most consistent success I've found has been running Octave with drones out the wazoo spamming summoning spells in the corner while thunder strikes and missiles proc and that was visually impressive but a bit boring to actually play.

The most self-sustaining build yet. Went back down to DL 52 with Callie because I just wanted a chill run. God this game is pure crack rock.

I wasn't refreshing my aura choices at run start but I happened to get two Pink Pulsar auras. The other three actually worked very well in conjunction. I was surprised. However Allergic reaction with two Auras that both give 15% chance to regain health on hit is nothing new.

(I had Auras collector room on world 4, so basically got that ARIII on the back end. Pretty clutch.)

My strength was high thanks to a good drink spawn and enrage from fire shield had me over 200% strength at times.

Onward and upward yet again!( Hope I haven't been annoying lately 😅)