The Ascent cyberdeck upgrade locations guide

(Image credit: Neon Giant)

Looking for the cyberdeck upgrade locations in The Ascent? If you've ventured far into the dystopian world of Veles, you'll know that there are specific mechanisms you can hack using your cyberdeck to help you on your journey.

The Ascent's cyberdeck is handy for opening locked doors, vending machines, or any turrets you might come across. But you've likely found some are inaccessible due to the level of your cyberdeck. Luckily, there are upgrades to be found throughout the game, so you'll be hacking your way to success in no time. Here are The Ascent cyberdeck upgrade locations.

The Ascent cyberdeck: How to upgrade

Cyberdeck upgrades are applied automatically whenever you pick them up, so if you can't find the item in the specified location, you may already have it. You can check if you've upgraded your cyberdeck by the name associated with it when checking the menu. You can check the upgrade ranks below:

TA Lifestyle
City Kicker
Peacemaker CD
Icepick
Plug
Visitor
Manta D
Diva
The Arcade
Ghost of Veles

The Ascent cyberdeck upgrade locations

You only need ten upgrades to max out your cyberdeck, and it doesn't matter which order you find them: each one picked up counts as a universal upgrade. You'll also pick up a few of them naturally as the story progresses.

Here are the locations we've found so far—you can check the video above if you want visual aid):

Cluster 13: West of the cluster of shops in the area. Keep heading in that direction and you'll find it on the floor, close to a railing.
No Man's Land: On the way to the Grinder, you'll find a small room with a crafting component inside. Look for the staircase outside and the upgrade is inside a chest here.
Black Lake Towers: Found during the main mission, Trading Places. It's in the doorway behind Noghead in Coder's Cave.
AG Vault: You should find this upgrade during the main mission that takes you here. It's on the floor next to a chest.
Corpzone: Found locked inside an Ice 1 chest. It's in the southwest, close to the edge of the map.
Cosmodrome: In the northwest corner of this area. It's found inside a red chest.
Nitroad: This one requires the ability to hack Ice 2 chests and doors. It's in the room labelled 'Storage 168'.
Lanier's apartment: This one's hard to miss as it's found in the security office when you visit the area.
ExMat Lab: You'll go here during the Trace Protocol main mission. Look inside one of the rooms to the northwest to find the upgrade.
The Glut: The Prison Break side quest takes you to this area. You'll find the upgrade inside the building with a glowing green door.
Arcology: Pinnacle: This upgrade is found during the main mission Syntax Error. It's located close to the edge of the outdoor area, by the railing.

Sarah started as a freelance writer in 2018, writing for PCGamesN, TechRadar, GamingBible, Red Bull Gaming and more. In 2021, she was offered a full-time position on the PC Gamer team where she takes every possible opportunity to talk about World of Warcraft and Elden Ring. When not writing guides, most of her spare time is spent in Azeroth—though she's quite partial to JRPGs too. One of her fondest hopes is to one day play through the ending of Final Fantasy X without breaking down into a sobbing heap. She probably has more wolves in Valheim than you.