FFXV Guide: Which Ascension Skills To Level First

In FFXV, there is a skill tree known as the Ascension system. Every player has a unique combat style but there are a few must-have skills that will help you excel during the beginning of the game and beyond. Each skill you unlock will also unlock additional skills within the tree and the cost of AP (Action Points) required to unlock those skills will go up. You can earn additional AP by partaking in more fights around the game world.

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Outside of sidequests and field battles, you can summon monsters using an item called the “Enemy Whistle”. If you summon numerous enemies in an enclosed location, you can turn that spot into a farming zone and use it to quickly earn more Action Points. This is especially useful later in the game when unlocking a single skill costs over 150 AP.

The following skills are recommended as being a priority over other skills:

Magic

Powercraft: Enhance potency by 10 when crafting spells. The effects of similar abilities do not stack

This is one of the best ascension skills you can obtain early into the game if you’re a magic user. When you craft a spell, you can use your elemental charges to select the amount of potency your spell should have. This ranges from 1 – 99. If you obtain Powercraft, you can gain up to 110 potency for each spell. This will also turn spells into their upgraded forms (ex. Fire to Fira) and deal more damage.

Elementalism: Absorb more energy from elemental deposits.

Throughout various dungeons and the open world, you will come across elemental deposits for Fire, Thunder and Ice magic. Absorbing energy from these deposits will give you the ability to craft a stronger spell. Each energy orb increases the potency of your spell, although the decision is up to you when it comes to how strong your spell should be when it is crafted. By obtaining this ascension skill, you’ll be able to craft increasingly potent spells with a lesser amount of elemental deposits.

Magic Level: Enhance magic of each party member by the number of levels gained. The effects of similar abilities do not stack.

As one would expect, increasing the magic level will also increase the amount of magic damage dealt to your enemies via level scaling. This is a must-have skill for every player, whether or not you strictly depend on magic during your battles. Your potency levels will not change with this ascension skill, but the amount of MP you have will increase and your party members will also perform more magic damage as everyone gains additional levels.

Combat

Stalker: Boosts Blindside Damage

You will be performing blindside attacks very often on enemies that are bigger and more susceptible from behind. This skill will really help you early on by increasing the amount of blindside damage that you perform on enemies, thus helping achieve a quicker victory. If you continuously use blindside attacks with success, your party members will help you out by performing a link attack.

Warp Factor: Boosts Warp Damage

Warp-Strikes are one of the abilities that you’re always using during each and every battle. The further the distance between an enemy and your warp strike is, the more damage you will do to them. Using a Warp Strike to finish off an enemy will reward you with 1 AP. This can also be used as a great way to farm Action Points faster, especially if you’re doing more damage with each Warp Strike.

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Static Edge: Significantly increase damage dealt after entering stasis.

When Noctis uses up all of his mana power, he will enter the stasis mode. In stasis you are not able to use any magic attacks. This skill will increase all the damage you output once you’re in stasis. When you’re done unleashing a barrage of powerful magic attacks, you’ll probably run out of mana but do more melee damage.

Techniques

Regroup: Brings allies together, rescues from danger and greatly restores hp

If multiple party members lose health and gain the danger status, using this technique will rescue all of them and restore their health back to normal. This is a much better alternative than spending your hard-earned gil on an arsenal of potions. I really recommend getting this skill early into the game, as you will be getting destroyed by foes twice your size until you’ve mastered the combat system.

Tech Strike: Add to the tech bar when Noctis lands attacks.

Your tech bar will deplete rather quickly if you’re constantly using techniques. With this skill, when you land an attack as Noctis, your tech bar will start to gradually fill up with each blow. Now you can focus more on the fight instead of worrying about your tech bar getting used up. Some of the late-game skills use over a quarter of your tech bar just to land a single move, so this is a skill you should start to consider getting once you’re at that point in the game.

Gravisphere: Draw enemies in an area closer together with machinery by creating a gravitational field.

This is a great skill for players looking to perform AoE combos on multiple enemy fights, such as those against Nilfheim troops. Your gravitational field won’t last for long, so make sure you plan ahead before using this technique. This skill should be used in combination with other skills such as Link-Up, so you can perform a surplus of damage at once against multiple foes.

Recovery

Hang-In: Increase HP Regeneration while hanging from a Warp Point

There are several Warp Points scattered throughout each combat zone. Noctis will regain health once he rests at a warp point in the midst of battle. By increasing the health regen rate, you’ll be able to swiftly move in and out of combat. This skill should help you out by reducing the fear of dying during battle, especially by knowing you can warp out at any given moment and rapidly regenerate your health.

Comeback: Fully restore an ally's HP after taking them out of danger.

If you’re planning to take on monsters who are several levels above you, then your party members will probably have a tough time hanging in there. That’s where this skill comes in hand. If you continuously take your party members out of danger and their health gets fully restored, there’s a good chance that you’ll rarely lose a fight.

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Savior’s Force: Boosts an ally’s attack after taking them out of danger.

This is a must-have skill for those struggling against a nasty group of enemies. Combining this skill with the above “Comeback” skill will produce significant results during your time on the battlefield. You press a single button to take your party members out of danger and end up fully recovering their health, as well as boosting their attack damage. Sounds pretty easy doesn’t it?

Teamwork

Link-Up: Boosts link strike damage

During combat, your party members will often help you tag team an enemy by performing a link strike attack. Since this skill is used often, it is vital to upgrade it early on into the game through this skill. As noted earlier in our guide, blindside attacks will lead to link-up attacks with your party members. Due to this, the Link-Up Ascension skill goes hand in hand with the Stalker (Combat) Ascension skill and you will end up doing more damage with both skills, as well as performing combos.

Analyze: Auto-scan enemy weaknesses during the beginning of the battle

This is a very important skill if you plan to strategize your fights and learn what each enemy is weak or strong against. For example, some enemies will take more damage from fire elemental attacks, while other enemies nullify fire damage. When you have this skill, you’ll be able to view this information as soon as the fight has initiated. This will save you time and resources during battle so you can focus on other things, such as exploring.

Deathblow: Deliver a devastating blow to a vulnerable enemy

If you’re looking to earn more Gil, XP and finish your opponent’s faster than ever before, this is the skill to get. When you get an enemy to a low amount of health, your party members will be able to instantly finish them off with this skill. Deathblow will also reduce the amount of time you spend in battle and thus your report card will also come back with a higher grade in the timing category.

Stats

Accessory Slot: Equip two accessories

There are several stat related skills to spend your action points on but this one stands out among the others. It has a low AP cost for each party member and you’ll be able to equip all those extra rings and pendants you find throughout your journey. You can purchase more accessories from various vendors scattered throughout the game world.

Health Level: Increase HP of each party member by twice the number of levels gained. The effects of similar abilities do not stack.

Your player and party health is crucial to successfully easing your way towards victory. This particular skill will increase your party’s health by taking the number of levels your party members gained and doubling that. The benefit of having an increased health bar includes sustaining attacks for a longer period of time and not relying so much on potions.

Strength Level: Enhance strength of each party member by the number of levels gained.

The amount of strength each party member has is a very important factor when determining how difficult your fights will be. Increasing the strength of your party will help you output heavy attack damage. If you’re fighting against a weaker opponent, then they will die faster. Although this skill costs a whopping 99 AP to level up, it is well worth the results.

Be sure to check out our full list of Ascension skills with our opinion and a rating for each here.

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