Q: What does 'ascension' mean?
A: It means that after you defeat the Naughty Sorceress, your character will have the opportunity to 'ascend' to the afterlife, start over as a level 1 player.

Q: Start over?! Why would anyone want to do that?
A: You'll get to play through the game again with new challenges and more variety to gameplay. You'll see oodles of new ascension-only content. You also get the option to change your character class -- each class has its own challenges and special rewards.

Q: This sounds hard.
A: It doesn't have to be! Once you've moved on to the afterlife, you'll be able to choose the type of ascension you want to play. You can ascend casually, and maintain free access to all of your stuff. Or you can opt to go for a more challenging ascension, with limited access to the resources you acquired in your last life.

If you pick the more challenging route, you can also accumulate the skills of different classes over multiple ascensions - imagine being able to conjure dry noodles, make scrumptious reagents, and make your familiar heavier all at the same time!

Q: Do I have to ascend?
A: No, but if you don't, you're gonna miss out on some really, really cool stuff.

Q: What will happen to my familiars?
A: All of your familiars in your terrarium will stay there, but will revert to 1 lb.

Q: What happens to my campground?
A: Everything goes away except for your Closet and your Quest Log and, if you have them, your terrarium, trophy case, and your Certificate of Participation.

Q: If I don't go casual, what will happen to my stuff?
A: All of the non-quest items in your inventory (and closet) will be automatically stored for you at Hagnk's Ancestral Mini-Storage, on the Right Side of the Tracks. Quest items (those items whose descriptions have the "Quest Item" designation) will be removed, so you can gather them and complete the quests again.

Q: So I can get at all my stuff right after I ascend?
A: Not exactly. The first 1,000 turns after ascension you'll be a "ronin," a wandering, lone adventurer. You'll be able to take 20,000 meat or 20 items (or a combination of the two) out of storage per KoL day.

Q: What's a ronin? I'm gonna be Japanese for 1,000 turns?
A: "Ronin" just means that you're a loner, a badass who doesn't need help from anybody. You won't be able to receive items or buffs from other players, buy stuff from the Mall or flea market, take anything from your clan stash, or receive any clan benefits (extra calendar turns, meat-tree meat, training or buffs) during that time. You can still visit your clan gym, and you can still send items and buffs to other players, though.

Q: Why would you make it so I can't trade with people?
A: Because we hate you and want you to fail. No. Actually, we love you and want you to have as much fun with a challenging game as possible. Therefore, we made it so you can't take the easy way out and get everything you need from a friend or multi.

Q: What about my Mall store?
A: You'll get to keep your Mall store. During ronin or hardcore (see below) you can still add items to your store and manage the prices, but you can't take items out of it until you get to a point where you'd be able to receive them from other players.

Any Meat you would normally receive from Mall transactions while you're in ronin or hardcore will go directly into Hagnk's.

Q: And my collection in the Cannon Museum?
A: Same deal. The stuff in your collection will stay there. You'll be able to put stuff into it, but not take stuff out until you're out of ronin or hardcore.

Q: How is PvP affected by ascension?
A: PvP is available as an option during ronin and hardcore. In both cases, you may only attack for (or be attacked for) Rank or Flowers. Additionally, hardcore players may only attack or be attacked by other Hardcore players.

When you ascend, your hippy stone is glued back together and your ranking and win/loss records are reset.

Q: How does the skill retention work in normal ascensions?
When you ascend, you'll get to pick one skill to add to your "permanent skills" list. Each time you ascend, you'll start out with all of the skills on this list.

Q: What do I have to do to get ready to ascend?
A: You'll need to unequip all of your items, including the accessory on the familiar you want to keep. Then make sure you have no open trade offers and no items in the flea market, and take the plunge!

Keep in mind that your familiar weight (and kills) and your shore trips will be reset to zero. If you're working towards a certain total weight of familiars or number of shore trips, make sure you get there before you ascend.

Q: What's this I've heard about 'hardcore' ascension and different 'paths' of ascension?
A: These are ways to make ascension more challenging and interesting, as well as net you more and better rewards when you finish. A 'hardcore' ascension means you will have no access to any items or meat that don't drop while you're fighting monsters and having adventures. No clan stash, no mall, no flea market, no items sent in messages from other players, no buffs from other players. It's a very challenging way to play, but it's also a unique experience for most players and should be a lot of fun.

The 'paths' are other ways to make the ascension more challenging. The Oxygenarian path means you won't be allowed to eat any food or drink any booze through the course of your ascension. Boozetafarian means you can drink booze but can't eat (or drink non-alcoholic beverages), and Teetotaler means you can't drink booze at all. You can choose one of the three, or none of them. You can choose to add one to a hardcore ascension, or just have the 'path' without the hardcore.

If you chose either a hardcore ascension, or a path ascension, or both, you'll get more rewards when you complete the ascension, as well as be eligible for certain leaderboards. And, you'll know deep in your heart that you're cooler than those who didn't take the challenge.

Q: What if I start a hardcore ascension or a path and don't like it?
A: You can go back to a normal ascension and leave any paths you're on from your account menu. You won't be punished for doing so, but you won't get the rewards the hardcore or path ascenders get.

Q: What happens with Mr. As during hardcore ascension?
A: During a hardcore run, you can donate and receive new Mr. As. You can also pull Mr. As out of Hagnk's to use to purchase things from Mr. Store. However, you cannot equip Mr. As, or any other Mr. Store equipment, during a hardcore run.

Q: Wait, umm, what?
A: It means that you can donate for Mr. As, but you cannot equip a Mr. A, Ms. A, Mr. A Jr. or Golden Mr. A. It also means you can't equip your familiars with Maypoles, Tam O'Shanters, or other items that may come out in the future. You can buy *and* use any Mr. Store familiars though, and pull them out for immediate use.

Q: What about the Mr. Eh, eh?
A: Take off, ya hoser. No, sorry, those can't be worn during hardcore runs either.

Q: Why can't we use Mr. Store equipment during hardcore ascensions?
We don't want to make it so playing hardcore prevents you from getting the item of the month, if you're a collector, but we don't want to give donators an unfair advantage in hardcore.

Q: How does the skill retention work in hardcore ascensions?
The same as during normal ascensions, except that you only get to keep skills you've made permanent during prior hardcore ascensions.

Q: Can I still win radio contests or get birthday presents, etc., during a hardcore ascension?
A: While you're in hardcore (or ronin), people will be able to send you items using the Gift Shop in Market Square. The presents will go into your inventory, but you won't be able to open them until you're out of hardcore (or ronin).

Q: What's up with the zodiac signs?
A: These are moon signs that will subtly alter your destiny in the game. They all have minor effects on gameplay that will be useful for each character class -- magic, moxie, and muscle. Each set of three signs comes with its own unique content as well.

Q: So what do they all do?
A: Try 'em and see! None of them do anything bad, so pick your favorite small mammal and go for broke.

Q: How does the Hall of Records calculate days played in an incarnation?
A: The Hall of Records counts the number of rollovers that you have played through, and adds one to determine the number of "days" played for the Ascension Leaderboards. This count started when your character was created (for your first ascension), or when you step through the astral gash (for all subsequent ascensions).