Ascension 4 is kicking my ass

I’m usually a completionist when it comes to video games. I’ve gotten most of them by now with 13 left to go after 100 hrs. I appreciate that the game is hard and I’m reading/watching guides on how to improve my play.

So far ascension 4 is kicking my ass. Usually I will abandon my run at some point on act 2 when I realize my damage output is abysmal. Assuming I didn’t already die to the act 1 boss. I almost got to Donu and Deca using a snecko eye build on Clad earlier today but then Reptomancer killed me right before the final bonfire.

Generally speaking I think my deck was okay? I had barricade and 2nd wind to stack up block while scaling dmg with spot weakness and demon form. Then I just had to get lucky with energy costs to either play heavy blade, body slam, bludgeon, etc.

I think my loss came down partly down to bad rng but also probably not enough aoe? Hard to say. But at this rate I am feeling pretty discouraged about ever getting to ascension 20 with anyone 😅

Is this a situation where I just need to play way, way more? I’d assume so! But I’m wondering if I should keep banging my head against the wall at ascension 4 or practice some more on a lower ascension?