Patch Guide
Ascension 6 now uses Inflation instead of Gloom. The live ladder moves the A6 tax out of map generation and into Merchant card removal pricing.
That changes how you plan shops. The first removal now starts at 100 Gold, each extra removal climbs by 50 more, and lazy cleanup lines get punished much earlier.
This is the only comparison that matters: the older A6 pressure lived on the map, while the current A6 pressure lives in the Merchant screen.
Before
Gloom squeezed map recovery by trimming Rest Sites.
Now
Inflation makes Merchant card removal more expensive instead of changing map nodes.
The live A6 breakpoint is now a shop-economy problem, not a campfire-routing problem.
The live pricing is simple. Once A6 is on, the starting cost rises and the repeat tax doubles.
Below A6: 75 + 25 × previous removals
At A6 and above: 100 + 50 × previous removals
Cost if you buy that removal at the Merchant.
Cost if you buy that removal at the Merchant.
Cost if you buy that removal at the Merchant.
Cost if you buy that removal at the Merchant.
These are the three reads that keep players from treating Inflation like flavor text.
If the deck needs one premium removal, the cleaner line is usually to plan that shop earlier instead of assuming late-shop cleanup stays cheap.
The real punishment is not the first cut by itself. The jump from the second removal onward is where casual deck-thinning starts burning too much gold.
Cards, relics, potions, and one decisive removal now compete harder. A6 pushes shop judgment away from autopilot and back into actual run context.
1. Run impact
The ladder still hits the same late breakpoints at A7, A8, A9, and A10. What changes at A6 is where the pressure lives.
Route plans no longer need to treat A6 like a campfire-compression modifier.
Deck cleanup becomes a budget problem, especially if the shell wants multiple removes before Act 2 is over.
Gold-starved runs feel the change hardest because Poverty at A3 already trimmed income before Inflation shows up.
2. Shop judgment
Inflation does not ban removals. It forces you to decide whether the cut is worth displacing something else you could buy right now.
One early remove can still be correct when it fixes a bad opener or unlocks a thin deck plan.
Repeated removals need to justify the rising tax against relic buys, premium cards, and fight-saving potions.
Runs that only wanted speculative cleanup lose the most value because A6 punishes indecision, not necessity.
3. Ladder context
Inflation replaces Gloom at A6, but the steps around it still read the same once you move deeper into the ladder.
A7 is still Scarcity, where reward quality and upgrade odds drop.
A8 is still the lasting enemy-HP breakpoint.
A9 still sharpens damage, and A10 still closes Act 3 with two bosses.
Open the next page that answers the next question instead of bloating one patch guide into three different jobs.
Open the dedicated A6 page once the real question is exact removal pricing, cumulative tax, and clean shop judgment.
Open pageRead the full A0 to A10 ladder once you want the complete modifier stack and breakpoint view.
Open pageCheck which cuts are actually worth paying for before you spend inflated shop gold on them.
Open pageUse a narrower tool when the real question becomes whether one reward fixes the shell better than one expensive removal.
Open pageShort answers for the mistakes that still show up after the A6 swap.
A6 is now Inflation. Merchant card removal costs 100 Gold at the start and each extra removal increases the price by 50 more.
No. The live A6 rule no longer changes Rest Site count or unknown-room count. That older map-pressure read is gone.
Below A6, Merchant card removal starts at 75 Gold and each extra removal adds 25 more.
No. Inflation replaces the old A6 slot, while A7 through A10 keep the same late-ladder order and pressure profile.
