Getting started
Ascensions Quest looks like Minecraft and does not play like it. This page is the shortest path from joining to understanding what you are supposed to be doing.
On this page
Joining
Add ascensions.quest in Minecraft: Java Edition. Any version from
Java 1.21.11 to 26.1 connects. There is nothing to install: no mod loader, no launcher,
no downloads.
Accept the resource pack. It draws the custom items, the monster models and the interface. Without it the game is technically playable and looks like vanilla Minecraft in a costume. Full detail on the joining page.
What is different from vanilla
| In vanilla | Here |
|---|---|
| E opens your inventory | E opens a 54-slot gear menu with armour, accessories and skill gem slots |
| Gear is gear | Gear drops unidentified. You cannot wear it until you reveal it |
| You mine and build to progress | You get XP from killing things. Mining and crafting give none, by design |
| Abilities do not exist | Forty skills, reached by slotting skill gems |
| Death costs your items | There is no XP penalty on death today |
| One world | Each floor is its own server. Your character follows you automatically |
Your first hour
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Play the tutorial properly
It is short and it teaches four things the rest of the Tower assumes you know. Skipping it costs you more time than it saves.
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Identify the helmet
Floor 1 hands you an unidentified helmet and a Tome. Use the Tome on the helmet. That interaction is the core loop of the entire game in miniature.
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Open the gear menu and look around
Press E. Note the four armour slots on the left, six accessory slots up top, and the two banks of skill gem slots. That is your character sheet.
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Slot your first skill gem
When one drops, put it in an active slot. The ability is yours immediately. Press F to enter cast mode, then 1–9 to use it.
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Spend your points
/attributeand/skill. You get one of each per level. Read the next section before you spend many. -
Help the Hermit
He is the only person on Floor 1 and his cupboard is empty. That is the quest line, and it ends with the way down into the mines.
Five mistakes worth skipping
- Putting points into Intelligence for spell damage. Intelligence buys mana and range. Fire damage scales off Vitality, ice off Agility, lightning off Wisdom. See attributes.
- Buying Base when you meant Power. Every core stat has a Power version that costs the same and does five times as much. If you are specialising, buy Power.
- Slotting a good gem into an unfortified socket. Failure destroys the gem. Fortify first.
- Spending a rare rune drop on Jump, Resistance or Strength. Those three currently do nothing. See runes.
- Selling unidentified drops. Identify first. Price is calculated from the item's actual stats, so an unidentified item sells for less than what it might have been.
What to do each time you level
Two decisions, every level, and they are usually easy:
- Got loot from the kill? Identify anything unidentified first. Refine the good ones, fortify their sockets, slot your best gems.
- Spend the skill point in
/skillon whatever you actually cast. - Spend the attribute point in
/attribute: Power version of your damage stat if you are pushing damage, Vitality Power if you keep dying, Mana Regen if you keep running dry mid-fight.
You can refund attribute points at any time for a small fee, so none of this is permanent. Experiment.
Next: the full skill list · how gear works · every command