Welcome back, cookie enthusiasts! Are you ready to take your Cookie Clicker game to the next level? It’s time to talk about your first ascension, a crucial step in maximizing your cookie production and unlocking powerful upgrades. Forget about the Quintillion Cookies chapter for now; the real progression lies in resetting your game to gain prestige levels and heavenly chips.
Hold on! Don’t reset just yet! Before you hit that Legacy button, it’s vital to understand the process and the benefits. This guide, along with the next one, will walk you through everything you need to know about your first Cookie Clicker ascension.
Ascension, also known as using the Legacy button, is essentially resetting your game to gain a permanent boost. You might have been tempted to click that button already, and if you’ve resisted, congratulations! Impatience is a common pitfall for new players who often reset too early with too few prestige levels.
What the game doesn’t explicitly tell you is that ascension unlocks exclusive upgrades purchasable with heavenly chips – rewards you earn from resetting! These heavenly upgrades are permanent, sticking with you through every ascension unless you completely wipe your save. Therefore, ascending to accumulate a good amount of heavenly chips for these upgrades is incredibly beneficial.
Worried about losing all your progress? Don’t be! During ascension, you keep your achievements, stats, sugar lumps, building levels, Garden seed collection, and any unspent heavenly chips you already have. You will, however, lose your current cookie production, buildings, and upgrades from your current run – but the permanent boosts you gain are well worth it.
Ascending is a core mechanic in Cookie Clicker, and understanding the optimal times to do it is key to efficient progress. Many players have found success following established ascension guides. One of the most popular and helpful resources is Killua2Timez’s guide, compiled with contributions from experienced players. You can find it here: Killua2Timez’s Ascension Guide. This guide provides pathways for different playstyles, and we’ll be focusing on the “Standard” pathway for this walkthrough.
While we recommend Killua’s guide as a valuable resource, this article will delve deeper into why you should choose specific heavenly upgrades, helping you make informed decisions for your first ascension and beyond. There are alternative paths like the “Impatient to Ascend” path for quicker resets and the “Pro” path for long-term efficiency. However, for this guide, we will focus on the Standard path.
For your first ascension, the target is around 440 prestige levels, which typically requires baking approximately 85 quintillion cookies all time.
If you’re wondering how to reach such a high cookie count, remember the power of Golden Cookies, especially if you are an active player! Refer back to the Golden Cookies chapter if you need a refresher on maximizing their potential.
So, why aim for 440 prestige levels for your first ascension? It’s all about maximizing your initial heavenly chip investment in the most impactful upgrades. Let’s explore the essential heavenly upgrades you should prioritize for your first reset. No spoiler tags here – understanding these upgrades is crucial for efficient gameplay!
Essential Heavenly Upgrades for Your First Ascension
Here are the must-have heavenly upgrades for your first ascension, following the Standard pathway:
1. Legacy: (Cost: 1 heavenly chip)
This is the foundational upgrade, the trunk of your heavenly upgrade “skill tree.” The Legacy upgrade itself unlocks two basic cookie upgrades in your next run: +1% CpS and +10% CpS. While seemingly small, these are essential starting boosts. Think of it as unlocking the entire heavenly upgrade system – a necessary first step.
2. Heavenly cookies: (Cost: 3 heavenly chips)
A straightforward and incredibly valuable upgrade: Heavenly cookies provide a permanent +10% CpS boost. For just 3 heavenly chips, this is a fantastic return on investment. Always prioritize this upgrade – a permanent CpS increase is always beneficial.
3. How to bake your dragon: (Cost: 9 heavenly chips)
This upgrade unlocks the Cookie Dragon, a pet that appears in the bottom left corner of your screen. The Dragon offers a wide range of selectable boosts, adding a layer of strategic gameplay. It’s a complex mechanic we’ll explore in detail later, but for now, know that the Cookie Dragon is a powerful asset you don’t want to miss.
4. Boxes of cookies (Brand Biscuits, British Tea Biscuits, Butter Cookies, Macarons): (Total cost: 100 heavenly chips – 25 chips each)
The game’s description of these upgrades is vague, but their impact is significant. These “Boxes of cookies” unlock a plethora of new cookie upgrades within the regular store. These new upgrades act as CpS multipliers, substantially increasing your cookie production. CpS multipliers are always crucial for faster progression, making these boxes essential purchases.
5. Starter kit: (Cost: 50 heavenly chips)
The Starter kit grants you 10 free Cursors at the beginning of each ascension. While 50 heavenly chips might seem like a lot for just 10 Cursors, consider the early game advantage. These Cursors are effectively free – their price starts as if you had none, meaning you get 10 Cursors before the price even begins to ramp up. This jumpstarts your early game significantly and helps quickly achieve Cursor-related achievements and upgrades.
6. Heavenly luck: (Cost: 77 heavenly chips)
Heavenly luck increases the frequency of Golden Cookies by 5%. For active players who rely on Golden Cookie combos, this is a must-have upgrade. More frequent Golden Cookies mean more opportunities for Frenzies and Click Frenzies, leading to massive cookie bursts. It reduces the waiting time between Golden Cookies and increases the chances of chaining powerful effects together.
7. Permanent upgrade slot 1: (Cost: 100 heavenly chips)
This incredibly powerful upgrade allows you to carry one regular upgrade from your current run into every future ascension. The best upgrade to slot in here? Without a doubt, your most expensive Kitten upgrade. Kittens provide massive CpS boosts, and having one from the start of each ascension significantly accelerates your early and mid-game progress. While Cursor upgrades were once considered, the recent nerf making them multipliers rather than base CpS increases makes Kittens the superior choice for this slot.
8. Heralds: (Cost: 100 heavenly chips)
Remember the purple banner with the number 100? The Heralds upgrade is tied to that. If 10,000 or more players have the Steam version of Cookie Clicker open, this upgrade doubles your CpS – unconditionally! Given Cookie Clicker’s consistent player base, this is practically a permanent doubling of your cookie production, making it an incredibly efficient upgrade.
These are the essential heavenly upgrades to prioritize for your first ascension based on the Standard pathway. Make sure to acquire them all when you reset! And don’t worry, this guide continues beyond your first ascension.
Before you take the plunge and reset, be sure to check out the next chapter, which covers Challenge Modes and provides some final considerations before your first Cookie Clicker Legacy. See you there!
