The reliable answer on 2026-08-13 is limited: Final Ascent adds ten badges and cosmetics, but the update note does not publish their names or requirements.
Officially confirmed
The Final Ascent patch announcement confirms ten new badges with associated cosmetics. It also adds Ascent 8 and deliberately withholds its description as a spoiler.
The same update adds Gloom and The Citadel as variant biomes and says they will be featured exclusively for two weeks before joining the daily rotation.
How to see the real requirement
Community wiki documentation says the pause menu’s Accolades screen shows the badge grid; locked badge names appear as question marks. Earned badges display on the sash.
Use the live Accolades description and the end-of-expedition Scouting Report as the primary verification path for a new unlock.
Early community finding
Community report, not official: a day-one thread calls one secret unlock the “Rule 0 Badge” and links it to four amulets, a summit statue, and a different ending.
This guide does not promote that claim to confirmed because no official requirement or independent reproduction was captured here.
What remains unknown
Unknown: the complete ten-name list, exact criteria, solo or co-op restrictions, and whether every early report survives the next patch.
Do not use an older wiki list as proof of the new ten; the indexed badge page checked here predates the Final Ascent release.