Out of the many missions The Ascent has to offer, Anabolic Express could be one of the easiest to complete if not for some annoying bugs and a misleading quest description. It sounds odd as we put it this way, but if you are here, it means you’ve actually had trouble completing this mission, as pretty much everyone else. Let’s find out why.
How to complete the Anabolic Express quest in The Ascent
Your task is very simple. Head to The Node, another one of the game’s hub areas, and speak to Merle in order to acquire certain boosters. A very easy fetch quest that can be done in mere minutes, recommended for a level 2 character as the mission’s info suggests. However, due to the mission’s wrong data, you will be scratching your head as to why you can’t complete it.
In order to get to The Node, all you have to do is to follow your quest marker and head to the elevator that takes you there from Cluster 13, the main hub area of The Ascent. After you reach the area, just follow again your objective tracker and find Merle. But, and that’s a big but, everyone’s issue is that the elevator, is not actually working. At first, it seems like a bug, as the door of the elevator can literally open, but there is no button prompt for being actually able to use it. Which leaves you aimlessly wander around and see why this is happening.
The reason why, is because the recommended level of the mission is very misleading. The elevator becomes available after you reach level 10, and if you approach it at that specific level onwards, it will actually show the button you need to press in order to be transported to The Node. Now, this was found due to lots of players’ reports, and it actually happened for me as well, and it is either a bug, or an intended instance with wrong info provided. Or, which is quite a stretch, there are some hidden requirements for the elevator to be available, that are not identified yet.
Update: We’ve gotten a couple of emails that have countered the experience we had with their own. Some are saying that instead of it being specifically level gated, there are different requirements. At least level 6 and that you’ve completed the first part of the Trading Places mission where you are directed to go to Highstreet. Let us know what works for you and thanks to those that sent in responses.
All we know and pretty much all that matters, is that after you reach a certain level, which in our case seems to be level 10 as mentioned, the elevator does become available to use. Therefore, just keep playing the game until you level up enough, and then head over to The Node to continue on with the quest, which is as simple as mentioned above. Find Merle, take the items, go back to Atticus (the NPC that requested the items) and claim your reward. Only be careful of some high level enemies that can be found right before the elevator.
The Ascent is available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Microsoft Windows. For more related content about the game, feel free to check out the rest of our guides right here.
