Art of Ascension

Art of Ascension is a free RPG modification for Half-Life 2. Art of Ascension combines the spirit of online role playing games with the faster battling pace of classical first-person shooters.

At first glance, Art of Ascension is deceptively simple. You begin gameplay just as in any HL2:DM game. You spawn in with a weapon and you attempt to kill your various opponents. But you immediately notice a couple of things:

1. Your beginning weapon set is weaker than normal.
2. Your opponents appear to be kicking your tush all over the place.

And you ask yourself, how did that guy kill me so fast?

As you continue playing, and gaining kills, you eventually notice that the game states you have ascended to Level 1. You patiently sit through the explanation that some helpful soul provides you with. Then you put the weapon and attribute points you just obtained into the weapons and attributes of your choice respectively. You'll notice a marked improvement in your damage dealing potential, and possibly also notice that you have done one of the following.

• Gain an ability
• Gain more hp
• Gain more ap

Rinse, Repeat.

Deceptively simple? Sure. Insanely fun in the long run? Definitely.

How can I become an AoA champion?

1. Kill opponents to gain experience points (XP)
2. Dedicate time to play and level up your character
3. Gain points for character attributes and weapons
4. Upgrade your weapon and select from special abilities

AoA-Unique Commands

NOTE: Enter commands in console!

aoa_begin - Enter the game to begin battling and Ascension

aoa_help - Provides help for beginner players

aoa_menu - Displays the AoA menu

aoa_weapon [weapon] [amount] - Raises the level of [weapon] by [amount]

aoa_attribute [attribute] [amount] - Raises the level of [attribute] by [amount]

aoa_spawn_weapon [weapon] - Sets spawn weapon to [weapon]

aoa_status - Displays player information in console

+aoa_user_stats - Opens a pane to view the stats of others on the server

aoa_fly - Toggles fly ability

+aoa_pogo - Uses pogo ability

aoa_invisible - Toggles invisibility ability

aoa_create_health - Uses create health ability

aoa_create_health_trap - Uses create health trap ability

aoa_create_armor - Uses create armor ability

Basic Character Building

NOTICE - this section is meant for reference only, and gives only a basic idea of what some good attributes are for a basic character build-up.

If you really want to be an AoA champion, you gotta have thick skin. And with weapons doing well over your base hp, you'll want to upgrade yourself to endure more damage while in battle.

As of now, upgrading your Intelligence is the best way to stay alive. Upgrading Intelligence causes Armor to resist damage and eventually regenerate armor automatically. Upgrading Stamina can make your hp resist damage, and vitality will make your health regenerate. Upgrading your spawn_ap and max_hp are not recommended at the moment, but can be useful, depending on your other stats.

Useful Skills:

Fly - Agility level 30

Invisibility - Alchemy level 90

Pogo - Charisma level 10

Mana Recovery Skills:

Respawn Mana - Aggression level 10

Mana Regen - Guile level 10 (recommended)

Victory Mana - Charisma level 30

Hints, Tips And Tricks

Try varying your spawn weapon with aoa_spawn_weapon [weapon] and see what works best for you.

When your character is low level try changing into the super soldier combine skin, higher levels MAY have pity on you.

Have a strategy on how to level your character.

When you find in-game objects to be cumbersome to maneuver around, try jumping and crouching while in the air, this raises your feet, allowing greater clearance over those objects your getting caught on.

Play when nobody is on the servers to familiarize yourself with item locations on maps. Knowing where your health, armor, ammo, etc. will spawn is crucial.

Look for chances to pick off a wounded high level player to level up even quicker.

Have fun and don't get pissed just because someone is owning you. Either you need more experience or more patience . . . or both.

Weapons

NOTE: For the exact stats on weapons, visit the official weapons page.

Crowbar

The Crowbar deals massive amounts of damage at short range with a minimal point investment. If your primary weapon is explosive or runs out of ammo easily, just a few points in this weapon can go a long way to save you in an emergency.

Stun Baton

The Stun Baton does not gain as much damage per level as the Crowbar, but gets a higher range increase. As a result, higher levels of the Baton are not wasted on damage overkill, while your range makes it much easier to hit in most situations. If you're feeling gutsy, The Stun Baton surpasses the Crowbar as a primary weapon. Get Stamina, Charisma, and/or Agilityso you can outrun your enemies, and some self-preservation skills so you can survive a few hits on your approach.

Since you spawn with the stun baton regardless of spawn weapon, You should try spawning with SLAMs; This way your opponent cannot stay out of range of your baton as easily without backing into a SLAM beam.

Gravity Gun

Most people are content with a level 0 Gravity Gun unless they level theirs just for the fun of it, however the extra power can come in handy when packing barricades or taking down enemies when you're out of ammo. Also works nicely in tandem with Grenades. If not your primary weapon, consider upgrading it to around level 10-20, it tends to make a surprising difference in strength.

Pistol

The pistol is a hyper-accurate, relatively powerful weapon that fires as fast as you can click. These traits make it incredible for some and horrendous for others. If you can get headshots, it's quite deadly. The downside is that while it spawns with more ammo than the Magnum, the default HL2:DM maps don't have any pistol ammo lying around, so be prepared to switch to other weapons if necessary.

.357 Magnum

It is slightly harder to begin AoA with the Magnum than the other weapons because it does not cary much ammo or deal much damage at low levels. However, it is extremely accurate and quickly gains strength when leveled; at high levels, most enemies fall in only two shots, and thats if you don't get a headshot!

Shotgun

The pump action shotgun has a wide spread pattern, and 7 pellets per shell. When facing one of these up close, be very afraid. At longer distances the spread is only able to nick the opponent with a few pellets, causing the 6 shot compacity to be less effective. When secondary fire is used it consumes 2 shells, you have a greater chance of hitting your target at further distances but with only 3 shots before reloading, be prepared to dance if you miss any shots. Because reloading 6 shells takes its fare share of time. On the sunny side, its possible to fire in midst of reloading.

Machine Gun

With near-equal firepower to the pulse rifle and with 1.5 times the rate of fire, the SMG is quite a force to be reckoned with. When properly aimed, the machine gun's secondary fire can take out entire roomfuls of your enemies. The machine gun makes an excellent starting weapon, as it is one of the most useful at low levels.

Pulse Rifle

The pulse rifle was recently modified. Somebody please fill in a description.

Crossbow

A slow moving bolt and even slower reload time is counteracted by sheer power in the crossbow. At low levels, even the most experienced players will fall in 2 hits. At high levels, all will fear your wrath. The crossbow is the only weapon that remains decent at low levels, even moreso than the machine gun. Even if you aren't planning to upgrade your crossbow, you will undoubtedly find it useful sometime.

RPG

The RPG no longer has the aiming system that it had in HL2:DM. If it did, it would be too overwhelmingly powerful. It also fires slower, making it harder to aim. At low levels, it is not very useful, but at high levels, it becomes so strong that you should get extra health to avoid suiciding with it. For some reason, it is the default spawn weapon when you first create a character.

SLAM

First things first. SLAMs make horrible primary weapons. When caught in combat, the best you can do with a SLAM is drop one, grab it with the gravity gun, and run at your opponent, hoping to kill them in the ensuing explosion that is your death. SLAMs do however, make great secondary weapons. Level them up a few times, and plant them all over the level. You can get quite a boon to your kills that way.

Grenade

Even level 0 grenades pack quite a punch. Tossing them with the gravity gun is one of the best strategies for getting through the low levels. An excellent secondary weapon, they can also make a powerful primary weapon if are adept at aiming them with the gravity gun. Grenade's power should not be underestimated. If you even hear one bouncing, immediately switch to the gravity gun and prepare to hurl it back, unless you are absolutely sure nobody on the server has upgraded grenades.

More Information

• Art of Ascension Attributes
• Official Site