The Judgment expansion is coming December 20, disciples. Now’s the time to learn about Esper Ascension, because when it launches, you’ll be able to get more specialization than ever from your Esper!

(Are you up to date with our previews, our trailer and microsite?)

When Judgment launches, you’ll be able to upgrade your Espers in three new ways: Esper Ascension, adding more skills to your Esper, and customizing your Esper’s primary skill. All of this will be done at the new Ronnek NPC in Sunstream City, next to the Esper Mystic.

Esper Ascension works similarly to your own Ascension: Once your Esper reaches level 30, you can Ascend it back to a lower level. Ascension upgrades a number of features, including the percentages and other variables in its Esper skill.

To ascend your Esper, you’ll need to get an Esper Ascension Orb from one of the main bosses in JD. There’s a full list of bosses below, but most of the Shura bosses drop Orbs – it’s not a 100% drop rate, but with a little patience (and an agreeable party), you’ll have an Orb pretty quick.

To get your Esper up to level 30, you’ll need to upgrade its Proficiency. You can increase this by using the Esper’s skill, or by catalyzing it with Tiamat and Wyvern Blood in the Marketplace.

After ascending your Esper, you’ll be able to start customizing its skills. The simplest customization you can do is grafting additional Esper skills onto it – you could have a Firmus with both Megabane and the Gambler Cube’s Blissful Misfortune skill, for example. (This isn’t a combination of effects; this is having access to an additional skill.)

To get this, you’ll need your main Esper, plus the Esper with the skill you want. Both Espers must be Ascended. Make sure that the Primary Esper is the one you want to keep. Your Esper’s new skill will show up in the Esper toolbar, and will automatically be Rank 3.

If you really want to customize your Esper’s skills, you can start modifying the bonus effects. Things like the Vim’s Profane Bash +4, the Firmus’ Dragon Roar +3 – these bonus effects can now be grafted onto other Espers’ skills. With this, you’ll be able to get effects normally restricted to certain factions grafted onto your Esper. Specialize your Esper to buff your Lupin’s Crit stats, or strip away the target’s Raja before casting a Thunderblade.

If you fuse skills in this way, you’re altering the skill’s statline. These effects will trigger as part of the skill, just like normal, and they’ll show up in the Esper’s tooltip. It may be helpful to think of these bonus effects as slottable, and skill fusion as scrambling and slotting different effects.

You’ll need the primary Esper, plus the entire Esper + Tome + Accessory set of the Esper you want to cannibalize. Only the primary Esper needs to be ascended, and only the Esper's primary skill will be fused.

When you take all of these to Ronnek, you’ll be given a list of the Esper’s effects and how the fusion will change them. If you were fusing with a Vim Esper, you may have lost one of the effects but gained Profane Bash to decrease the target’s Defense. Just like with upgrading Soulstones, you can choose whether to accept or decline the changes.

Bosses that drop Esper Ascension Orbs:

King of Orchids

Windfire Chief

Vanti the Etherblade

Betrayer Jun

Maao

Judge of Glacier

Vicious Vanguard Tao

Pest King

Cocoon Queen

Lord Earthforce

Fusoir

Betrayer Yu

Yinmu

Madame Chimes

Vicious Vanguard Kai

War Lord•Dragon Su

Master of Pain

Kunlun Slave

Mr. Gho

Agent•Yon

Yin-Yang Priest

Elder Blackheart

Betrayer Ton