The Ascension Atlas is a system of advancement in Skyforge and contributes to part of your total prestige (three elements add to your pestige: your order, your equipment, and your ascension atlas). Prestige is the global stat that tracks how powerful your character has grown and what you can and can't participate in within the game. The Ascension Atlas is very simple to use, but is a very complex system with a lot of inner-workings.

The Atlas lets you customize which direction your character will specialize in, but at the same time providing enough general stats that you can never "gimp" your character really. There is a level of customization, but the game does keep you railed in by giving you all of the stats evenly as you navigate the different paths.

Let's get started on the basics:

Progression - Sparks

When you are out fighting enemies, completing quests, and doing other activities you can receive some form of spark as loot. There is a lot of sparks and they're all used for different things in the Ascension Atlas. There is also a cap on the amount of sparks you can earn each week, effectively limiting your ability to progress through the atlas. You can view which sparks you have in the currency tab. They're broken into two types of sparks, Sparks of Insight (red, blue, and green) and Class Sparks.

Progression - Nodes

Once you have earned enough sparks, you can unlock the next available node in a path. In the lower atlas, you will move right to left, in the upper atlast you will start at one of the three starter classes and move out from there.

Atlas Basics

There are four types of nodes: stat, skill, class, and special. Stat nodes increase your statistics and even after you change classes, these will exist. Skills are specific to each class, unless it's something lurking within the ascension atlas, which is available to all classes. Class nodes unlock classes and are available on the ascension atlas. Finally special nodes, like god form, give you special character enhancements.

Lower Level - Class Atlas

The class atlas, or lower level atlas, is available for every class. In it, there are class specific abilities and various stats (generally class aligned) throughout the atlas. You start on the far left and work right for your ultimate ability. After enough movement, you'll reach the ability to unlock the upper tier. Players who played the early betas may be familiar with this being where the ultimate skill is located, but it was moved much closer.

After you unlock the node that lets you access the upper atlas, you'll then be able to collect class specific sparks which can be used instead of regular sparks to unlock things for your class. This gives you the freedom to continue to improve your class while working towards one of your goals on the atlas itself.

The first section, before the path skill, is the primary atlas and the part after that is the extended atlas.

Upper Level - Ascension Atlas

This atlas is a bit different. You start either at Cryomancer, Paladin, or Lightwalker even with the Founder Pack unlocks. Which is fine, because the amount of sparks you get at the start is limited until you've unlocked maps and finished them, which lets them have a bonus to the amount of sparks rewarded, giving you a much better spark income. As you move throughout the upper atlas, you'll unlock additional stats for all of your characters as you make your way to one of the classes along with global talents.

You'll notice some "Sun Ether Slots" and similar nodes on the atlas. These let you slot various ether cores into your atlas to cutomize what stats those boost. It's another layer to cutomizing your character.

So you'll generally want to plot a course to the class you want to unlock first (you can demo them in the simulator) and then everything on the way there should be a happy little accident, until you have the class you want to play unlocked and you can either go unlock another or start focusing on stats you desire for your class.

To summarize, your atlas unlocks very early in the game. You spend sparks, which are gained from completing dungeons, quests, and as loot from enemies. These are spent on the atlas until you unlock your class path, which unlocks the upper level or the "Ascension Atlas" proper. After this point, you'll earn class specific sparks for the class you've reached the "path" with and can then improve your class with the class sparks and advance all classes on the upper atlas. Any stat you unlock anywhere, class or otherwise, is available to all classes. Class specific talents and skills stay with that class only.