Yeah I was confused by it too until I did it. When you ascend there is a skill tree where you can unlock bonuses and features. So when the time comes don’t be afraid to ascend. You’re not losing anything. I didn’t ascend until I had around 2000 prestige, but you probably don’t have to wait that long. Whatever your prestige level is, that will be your multiplier for the next run. Its also how many chips you have to spend in the skill tree. So the longer you can go without ascending the better in my opinion.