The Sentinel’s holy guardian Mastery class in Last Epoch, the Paladin, places a strong emphasis on magic and defense. By use of its Mastery Skill, Holy Aura, the Paladin protects and amplifies personal and allied qualities, such as protection and damage.

Without the right build, leveling up as a Paladin can be difficult because of the build’s concentration on defensive, which makes switching to offensive strategies more difficult, especially when playing alone. However, there are a few strong builds that provide workarounds, like the one below that focuses on Healing Hands. Please bring enough Last Epoch Gold to find out with us!

An Overview Of Healing Hands Paladin Build

This Paladin build revolves around the Healing Hands skill, which at its core provides healing to nearby allies along with a heal-over-time effect. However, by specializing in Healing Hands, you can enhance it with the Searing Light node, introducing a damaging aspect to the skill.

Following this, there are two paths to take with Healing Hands - melee or ranged. In this particular build, we’ll focus on the melee version, although the ranged option is equally viable, albeit with a distinct skill setup.

The pivotal nodes essential for making Healing Hands your primary damage-dealing skill are Cleric’s Hammer and Seraph Blade. At four points, Cleric’s Hammer grants a 100 percent chance for Healing Hands to activate upon using a melee attack, while Seraph Blade transforms Healing Hands into a melee attack, allowing it to scale based on melee damage rather than spell damage.

Considering this, the general gameplay of this build leans towards tankiness and melee combat, utilizing Void Cleave to maneuver between enemy groups and dispatch them with Rive and Healing Hands. Overall, this build offers straightforward gameplay, requiring only one button for attacking and another for traversal.

Skills

As previously mentioned, the central skill of this build is Healing Hands.

When enhancing this skill, prioritize maxing out Cleric’s Hammer initially to ensure Healing Hands triggers with a 100% chance upon executing a melee attack. Subsequently, progress towards the Seraph Blade node. Following this, acquire Divine Barrier, Synthesis of Light, and Guardian’s Heart to generate Ward on the left side of the skill tree.

Next in focus is Rive, which serves the purpose of activating Healing Hands while inflicting damage. Within this skill tree, promptly unlock the Foe Cleaver node, then shift attention to the right side to obtain Challenge, subsequently progressing towards the Double Slash node.

For mobility, Void Cleave is employed. While Lunge is an alternative, Void Cleave enables movement without requiring a target and serves to trigger Abyssal Echoes for supplementary damage.

Within Void Cleave’s skill node, prioritize unlocking Gravity’s Edge promptly to enable Void Cleave to operate as a proper traversal skill, followed by acquiring the Hellish Chasm node to convert it into fire damage. Subsequently, focus on unlocking Resonating Cleave to ensure Void Cleave triggers Abyssal Echoes efficiently.

Abyssal Echoes serves solely for additional damage when utilizing Void Cleave and is not cast independently. Start by using the Void Purifier node to transform Abyssal Echoes into fire damage. Then, use the Embrace the Darkness and Vorpal Reverberation nodes on the left side of the talent tree to increase the damage.

Lastly, Holy Aura is addressed. Progressively enhance the Shelter from the Storm node for substantial Elemental Resistance, then bolster the skill’s damage buffs by investing in the Flame Burst, Fanaticism, and True Strike nodes.

While our primary focus in this build is on Rive, it’s worth noting that Vengeance offers alternative effects. Rive boasts higher attack speed, allowing more frequent triggering of Healing Hands, whereas Vengeance becomes preferable when seeking additional defense.

Passives

In this build, we’ll allocate passive points across the Sentinel, Void Knight, and Paladin skill trees.

Before unlocking your Mastery, prioritize investing points into nodes such as Juggernaut, Armour Clad, Valiant Charge, and Time and Faith in the Sentinel tree. Additionally, allocating points into Blademaster proves beneficial.

Within the Paladin tree, initial emphasis should be on upgrading Defiance, Valor, Conviction, and Holy Icon, offering a balance of defensive and offensive stats. Subsequently, prioritize enhancing nodes like Blinding Light, Divine Essence, Reverence of Duality, and Light of Rahyeh for increased damage output.

Lastly, in the Void Knight tree, consider acquiring the Abyssal Endurance node for supplementary Void Resistance, World Eater for lifesteal, and Void Corruption for a notable boost to critical damage.

Crucial Attributes

The paramount statistic for the Healing Hands Paladin build is Healing Effectiveness. Through the Bane of Evil node within the Healing Hands skill tree, this skill scales its damage in proportion to Healing Effectiveness, doubling its original healing augmentation function. Consequently, every percentage point of Healing Effectiveness significantly bolsters both survivability and damage output.

Considering this, here are the primary statistics to prioritize when upgrading your gear as you progress:

1. Healing Effectiveness
2. Levels of Healing Hands
3. Fire Damage
4. Attunement
5. Elemental Resistances of any kind

It's advisable to leverage crafting opportunities as you advance and acquire new gear. Utilizing shards imbued with any of these statistics, alongside more general defensive or utility attributes like health, mana, and armor, can enhance your gear for added potency.

Noteworthy Unique Items

Fortunately, this build doesn't heavily rely on specific Unique items, making gearing relatively straightforward.

Nonetheless, several Unique items offer notable power increases and should be integrated if you chance upon them while leveling:

• Volcanus: With a ton of extra Fire Damage, this two-handed sword is the greatest weapon in its slot for this build.
• Valeroot: This Chest Armor offers good defensive stats and the crucial Healing Effectiveness stat, even though Spriggan Form isn't applicable in this situation.
• Calamity: By adding additional fire damage, this helmet amplifies the healing power of Healing Hands.
• Advent of the Erased: Serving as a generally beneficial pair of boots, these boots expedite leveling through increased Movement Speed and Haste upon enemy demise.

Check out this new build guide for Warlock in Last Epoch 1.0, which is called the Torment Warlock. The Torment is an exceptional ailment that delivers a tremendous amount of damage with a single application. This build doesn't rely on special skill combos. If you’re new to the Warlock, this build is perfect for you.

Pros & Cons

The main reason to pick this build is the traditional gameplay of damage over time build that doesn’t require constant reapplying. You can achieve very high amounts of ward with a method to quickly recover it in case of danger, paired with access to a strong crowd control effect.

On top of that, your boss fights are very safe because of the high uptime of Profane Veil, which makes you almost immortal while your Torment continues to deal damage. You will have excellent damage with low gear requirements to start, and you will breeze through the campaign as soon as you unlock the Warlock Mastery.

Of course, this gameplay has some drawbacks that you should know of. The Chthonic Fissure skill has high mana consumption and requires proper skill usage management, which is especially noticeable during Echo. The single target damage is limited by the single stack of Torment, which can make boss fights a bit longer at higher corruption levels.

Gear Setup

Most of your ward comes from specific modifiers that are generated based on your missing health, available on specific unique and experimental items. But you don’t need it to farm low corruption levels. The more health you have, the more ward it will generate. The other items are very synergistic with the modifiers they provide, but are not required for functionality. You can decide which Uniques you need based on your amount of Last Epoch Gold.

The Marina's Lost Soul is a simple wand, but it grants you exactly what you need. It offers a lot of flat Necrotic damage for your spells and decently increases your spell and curse damage.However, it also lowers your maximum health a bit.

The Exsanguinous is one of the core items for your ward generation. It drains your health but restores a portion of your missing health as a ward, which you can then boost via ward retention or ward decay threshold. You will also gain a decent boost to your movement speed when you use a potion.

This pair of Last Steps of the Living boots offers the same modifier as the previous armor, further improving your ward generation. It also offers a decent amount of movement speed, but it is mostly negated because of the chill applied to you every 3 seconds. Your skills will cleanse negative effects on you, but not as often as those boots apply it.

This Boneclamor Barbute helmet offers plenty of intelligence and Necrotic Resistance and greatly increases your ward generation thanks to the resistance modifier you stack. It is fairly common, so getting one with good Legendary Potential shouldn’t be too daunting to acquire.

The most important modifiers to scale your damage are flat damage for spells, Necrotic Resistance, critical strike multiplier, and intelligence. You will also need some mana regeneration to comfortably spam your Chthonic Fissure during Echo, although it is not that important against bosses. The Necrotic Resistance and intelligence are also the major methods of improving your ward.

You will need an experimental mod on your gloves that grant you a ward based on the missing health, which is why you should improve your maximum health too. By increasing the health of your minions, you will improve the Vampiric Pool interaction. Capping your critical strike avoidance at 100% is mandatory for your survival.

Active Skills

Chthonic Fissure: This skill creates a rift in the ground that deals with a bit of damage and releases spirits upon contact. The spirits apply the curse of Torment, which is the major source of damage in this build. Most of your damage scaling comes from the Twisted Waves and Grim Tide, which grant you more damage per point of Necrotic Resistance or critical strike multiplier. You will also deal more damage against bleeding or poisoned enemies. The Stygian Coal, paired with the Gloom and Flames, increases the frequency of your spirits, making it easier to apply your Torment.

Spirit Plague: Inflicts your target with a curse of Spirit Plague, which deals with a small amount of Necrotic damage. In this build, it is used to buff your Torment damage even more. The Pestilence grants you global increased damage as you continue to cast the skill. The Enfeeblement weakens the enemies you hit, and the Anguish causes them to run in Fear.

Transplant: This is your movement skill. You should cast this as soon as it goes off cooldown as it also restores your mana and grants you the Bone Armor buff. The Acolyte’s Fervor also grants you Haste and Frenzy buffs for 3 seconds. The Azure Veins and Pale Blood restore your mana, but only if you hit at least one enemy. The Bone Armor and its upgrades grant you the Bone Armor buff, which reduces the damage you take.

Profane Veil: It is a very powerful defensive skill that makes you dodge any incoming hit when you keep channeling it. In this setup, it is also used to generate a lot of ward with the Vampiric Pool. You will consume your minions to get the ward based on their maximum health. You will also deal more damage to your Torment applied during channeling the Profane Veil. Thanks to the stream of profanity, you will lower the cooldown of the veil by spamming any curse skill.

Bone Curse: With this skill, you can weaken enemies and create a Bone Prison, providing a substantial ward increase when consumed. The Sigil of Mortality applies a Mark for Death on enemies, resulting in increased damage taken by them. With the Marrow Thief, you will occasionally gain Bone Armor when you kill enemies affected by the curse.

Passive Trees

Acolyte: Your basic Acolyte tree is focused mostly on defense. It will boost your ward resistance and intelligence. During leveling, you can pick Blood or a Blood Pact and Eye of Damnation to boost your damage, but it isn’t very effective in the endgame. The Stolen Vitality enhances the health of your minions, resulting in a greater amount of ward gained when you consume them.

Lich: The Survival of the Cruel is extremely useful during the campaign as it offers health leech. You may also opt for Dance with Dead and Grasp of Fate to augment your Necrotic damage. However, given your endgame setup, these passives are redundant and should be refunded. The Apocrypha is universally useful as it grants mana regeneration and intelligence.

Warlock: The Unholy Torment and Duskbringer are very valuable as they add flat spell damage to your Torment. The Doom Herald grants more damage when you channel the Profane Veil. You will take slightly less damage if you invest 5 points into Harrowing Armor, Dark Protections and Wither. With the Fleeting Crone, you will constantly have the Haste buff with an increased effect. Lastly, the Wreak Havoc grants you crit multiplier, which is converted into more damage.

Idols & Blessings

Then let's talk about idols in this build. You can use them to get more health, ward retention, stack more resistances, or improve your spell damage a bit. If you find yourself channeling to Profane Veil very often, you can try to get a modifier that generates ward for each second spent in the Veil.

For blessings, in the Black Sun timeline, you're faced with a choice between critical strike multiplier and void resistance. Opting for the resistance bonus is advisable, as it allows you to allocate more resources towards Necrotic Resistance elsewhere. In the Age of Winter timeline, you'll encounter a straightforward decision: cold or physical resistance, depending on your current needs.

Moving on to the Spirits of Fire timeline, you'll have the option to either reduce your enemies' Necrotic Resistance, particularly beneficial against bosses, or enhance your damage output by stacking more Necrotic Resistance instead. In the Reign of Dragons timeline, you can select one of the resistance bonuses or prioritize critical strike avoidance for improved survivability.

As you approach the end of the Storm timeline, choosing the Lightning Resistance blessing is a viable option, although ward-related bonuses should also be considered, especially if you lack the necessary Uniques combination.

I believe many players have noticed that there is a stat called Ward Retention in Last Epoch 1.0, which you sometimes see on gear and passive skills. Most notably, for every 1 point of intelligence you gain, you gain 4% Ward Retention, which I think is where most people’s Ward Retention comes from.

In fact, Ward Retention affects how quickly your ward decays over time. If you have a basic understanding of how Ward works, it’s not hard to see why a stat like this might be useful. In this guide, we’ll provide a brief overview of how Ward Retention works and explore how it affects Ward Decay rate.

Ward Decay Rate Formula

However, it is unclear how to judge the opportunity cost of Ward Retention modifiers. Fortunately, we have an equation:

Ward Decay Rate=0.4* (Current Ward - Ward Decay Threshold)/1+ (0.5*Ward Retention)

This means that Ward Decay rate depends on Current Ward, Ward Decay Threshold and Ward Retention. If you can invest some Last Epoch Gold to improve these stats, extending the duration of the ward will no longer be an issue.

For those not interested in math, here’s a summary: Just think of 2% Ward Retention as an increase of 1% Ward.

We will assume that Ward Decay Threshold is zero and ignore it. Because I want to focus the discussion on Ward Retention.

When you gain Ward, you gain some extra shield on your health bar, which decays exponentially over time.

With zero modifiers to ward, your Ward Decay rate is 40% of the current ward per second. This means that in order to maintain a certain number of wards, you need to generate 40% of the current ward value every second to offset the decay.

The Impact Of Ward Retention On Ward Decay Rate

Ward Retention reduces Ward Decay rate, but its implementation is a little unintuitive.

When you have Ward Retention, your Ward Decay rate is divided by 1 plus half of your Ward Retention stat. Because of this strange factor of 0.5, you actually need 200% Ward Retention to halve Ward Decay rate, which is 20% of the current ward per second.

In other words, 200% Ward Retention will extend the duration of your Ward by 100%. A Ward Retention of 400% extends the duration of Ward by 200%, and so on.

I’m not sure why the developers decided to put 0.5 into the formula here instead of simply dividing all Ward Retention values in the game by 2. This changes nothing except making Ward Retention value more intuitive and easier to understand.

For example, 100% Ward Retention means the ward lasts 100% longer. This seems more logical, but maybe we’re missing something.

The 2% Ward Retention Is Approximately Equal To 1% Ward

Even though you now understand how Ward Retention affects Ward Decay rate, there’s still a degree of separation between it and what we’re ultimately interested in, which is how does Ward Retention affect the total number of Wards you can maintain?

If you can generate 100 wards per second, you will reach a steady state of about 250 wards without any ward retention. Your Decay rate at that point is 100 wards per second, and since you can only get 100 wards per second, that’s the amount you can sustain.

On the contrary, if you have 200% Ward Retention, your ward will even reach 500. That’s because you now lose 20% of your ward per second instead of 40%. So you need to reach 500 wards first, and then your Ward Decay rate is equal to 100 ward gain rate per second.

Following the same pattern, 400% Ward Retention will triple Ward retention, and 600% Ward Retention will quadruple Ward retention. In other words, you can think of every 2% of Ward Retention as “a 1% increase in Ward.”

Anyway, this concludes this guide to Ward Retention mechanism. As always, if you have a different opinion, don’t forget to share it!

Today comes a new Last Epoch 1.0 guide that dives deep into the art of crafting an incredibly formidable Detonating Arrow Explosive Trap Marksman. I will provide you with all the essential information necessary to master this highly potent build.

Pros & Cons

Pros: It offers an outrageous amount of damage with easy access to scaling it further. You will have very fast movement speed thanks to an almost permanent haste buff with high effectiveness. You can easily reach high amounts of health paired with excellent health recovery and solid damage mitigation. A pair of commonly found unique daggers is the only requirement to start, and you can easily level up with bows.

Cons: There are also some disadvantages. The damage is inherently delayed by throwing the trap and waiting for the arrow detonation. The sources of health are fairly limited, and playing without gear and idols can be annoying.

Gear Setup

The only requirement is a pair of unique daggers, which are necessary to eliminate the Mana cost of your Detonating Arrow. Without them, you can use a traditional bow setup to level up, but it won’t be as powerful. The unique amulets offer useful defensive bonuses but are not required. This build is suitable for players who don't possess a substantial amount of Last Epoch Gold.

The Jelkhor’s Blast Knife is a unique dagger that converts the Detonating Arrow into a melee skill, offering an insane amount of damage for this skill and lowering its Mana cost. When you use 2 of them, you will gain tons of damage and eliminate the Mana cost completely, which is very important with such a high trigger rate. It is very easy to reach absurd amounts of damage, so you should focus mostly on your defense.

At first, the Bleeding Heart is a great amulet option to use. It enhances your throwing speed and provides you with a vital leech for sustenance. It is a common unique, so it is easy to get one with good legendary potential.

Omnis is a very convenient amulet that can grant you over 300% total resistances and boost the level of all your skills. It makes stacking health much easier as you don’t need to include that much resistance on your remaining gear.

To improve your damage, you should seek critical strikes, flat damage for melee attacks, and throwing speed. Do not get confused by throwing damage. It’s specific to Explosive Traps, not your Detonating Arrow. On your rings, it is essential to lower the throwing Mana costs. Ideally, you should source your health leech from the Stolen Tithe relic, but it might be hard to find one with good modifiers at first.

At later stages of the game, improving your survivability is much more important. Focus on increasing health, capping critical strike avoidance, improving dodge, armor, resistance, and endurance. It is possible to opt for the Ward version for better protection against single hits, but it has worse sustain and requires more unique items with good Legendary Potential bonuses to work.

Skills & Specializations

Detonating Arrow: The Detonating Arrow is your major source of damage in this build. We convert it into a melee attack, but since it is triggered by traps, you can essentially use it from a long distance. The Arcing Blast is a very important notable for your clear speed. It adds the Lightning Tendrils to the explosion.

The Weak Spot applies the Critical Vulnerability, making it much easier to cap your critical strike chance. The remaining notables are very straightforward. They just boost your damage, which is why additional levels of your daggers are very useful.

Explosive Trap: Upon detonation, this trap will activate adjacent traps, subsequently initiating the Detonating Arrow. Notably, the initial trap does not initiate the arrow's activation, necessitating the simultaneous deployment of multiple traps. The Explosive Trap notable is pivotal, facilitating the activation of Detonating Arrow.

You will also need the Traps corresponding conversion nodes and Clustered Explosives for 5 traps thrown at once. The Subtle Sabotage and Jelkhor's Blueprint are very helpful in reducing the Mana costs. The Trap Sprinkler and its upgrades grant a high chance to create a new trap upon detonation.

Shift: The Shift serves as an invaluable skill, swiftly propelling you toward a designated area while providing beneficial bonuses along the way. Shadowslip renders you impervious to harm during the shift. Through Swift Recovery, Shadow Recuperation, and Breathing Technique, you'll recover health and Mana.

The Molting effect will purify any adverse ailments affecting you. Following the use of the shift ability, you will experience a surge in speed, courtesy of the Arcane Momentum notable. Lasting Presence generates a shadow clone, providing supplementary damage.

Net: The Net stands as a powerful skill. When hurled, it enhances your DPS for a brief duration while slowing and enfeebling your adversaries. It can serve as a means to evade incoming attacks if preferred. The primary allure of this skill lies in the Leading the Hunt and Rapid Throws nodes.

Upon activation of this skill, your damage output increases by 10%, and your throwing speed receives a 20% boost for a duration of 6 seconds. Entangled adversaries will suffer reduced physical damage and acquire 3 stacks of Frailty, diminishing their damage output even more. The Bold Throw allows you to eliminate the backflip or modify jump behavior using alternative notables.

Smoke Bomb: The Smoke Bomb exhibits considerable potency as a defensive maneuver. It generates a veil of smoke that grants both offensive and defensive advantages, while also spawning Shadow Clones at regular intervals to emulate your actions. Enhanced melee damage is conferred by the Smoke Blades as you remain ensconced within the smokescreen.

The Umbral Assault generates shadow clones to further amplify your damage output. The Moonlight Bomb bestows upon you a stack of Silver Shroud, ensuring evasion of incoming attacks, even in the absence of natural dodge abilities.

Passive Skills

You’ll be using up most of your points in the initial Rogue skill tree. The Twin Blade holds the utmost significance in this build. It allows you to use 2 melee weapons at the same time at the cost of taking slightly increased damage when dual-wielding. You will gain all bonuses from each weapon.

• The Evasion provides a significant damage reduction, but only when you are moving. By wielding 2 daggers, Critical Precision provides a substantial increase in critical strike chance.
• The Sapping Strikes are very important early on, as you can use your Detonating Arrow manually to refill your mana to throw more traps.
• The Agility grants you haste on hit, which you will have almost permanently. The remaining passives will boost your glancing blow chance, dodge, health, or dexterity.

In the Bladedancer passive tree, you will get even more chance to receive a glancing blow and a bit of movement speed. With the Cloak of Shadows, your Glancing Blow chance is significantly boosted. You can convert your dodge chance of an even more Glancing Blow chance for a more reliable defense via Apostasy. The Shroud of Dusk grants you Dusk Shrouds when you’re hit. If you find yourself manually using the Detonating Arrow often in the beginning, the Veil of Night is a good option for you.

In the Falconer skill tree, you will gain minor bonuses to your attack speed, dodge, mana regeneration, and damage. The Raptor’s Wings grant you a chance to gain haste and improve your damage if you have that buff active. We didn’t spend a single point on the Marksman Mastery, as most passives there do not work with daggers. But you still need that Mastery to unlock the Detonating Arrow active skills tree.

Idols & Blessings

You can obtain a significant amount of health with your Stout Lagonian Idols, which can also grant resistance or armor. If you prefer to get more damage, look for critical strike chance or multiplier while dual-wielding, armor shred chance, throwing speed for explosive traps, or some increases to your damage.

The Health Leech blessings from the Black Sun are somewhat underwhelming, yet still preferable to having none at all. Alternatively, you can prioritize enhancing your leech rate or getting enough critical strike chance or multiplier.

While the blessing from the Age of Winter might serve as the sole means of boosting armor in this setup, you also have the option to select physical or cold resistance if those are more pressing needs. In the Spirits of Fire Timeline, you have the choice between fire resistance, armor, dodge, or endurance, depending on your current priorities.

The Reign of Dragons offers you the melee Health Leech, which you need for your sustenance if you don’t have it elsewhere. All options in the Ending the Storm Timeline are related to lightning, but you should aim for the Lightning Resistance Shred to significantly improve your damage against enemies.

Hi, gamers! Get ready as today I unveil the ultimate Plasma Orb runemaster build in Last Epoch 1.0, delivering the highest damage output. I’ll walk you through the best setup and the key nodes you should prioritize. Furthermore, I’ll detail the most potent gear, blessings, idols, skill rotations, and more. It's time to delve deeper into this.

Moving over to the build, and it’s called Plasma Orb runemaster. This build will blitz onto the battlefield, building fire and lightning. Because of the Runic Invocation, we will create Plasma Orbs that will hit all our enemies with lightning and do insane amounts of damage.

Skills

Let’s move on to the skills of this build. We will select the Flame Ward, Static Orb, Flame Rush, Runic Invocation, and Runebolt:

Flame Ward: This skill will give us a burst of 400 Ward, and then for the next 3 seconds, the enemy hits will deal 30% less damage. Because we will use the Astonish passive, this will make the skill automatically proc when you are stunned. So, we don’t have to put the Flame Ward on our actual action bar. So, we will use the Lightning Blast instead. By doing this, we will get 2 skills that we can use from one skill bar.

Static Orb: This will cast an orb that deals with lightning damage and pulls enemies that it hits towards it. In this setup, Static Orb serves as a support ability. So, we will use it to generate the cold runes for the Reowyn’s Frostguard. Static Orb passive will ensure that this lightning is always up 24/7. To make the setup work, make sure that you copy these exact allocated points.

Flame Rush: This skill will make your character turn into a ball of flame and launch yourself in the targeted direction. Flame Rush is our movement skill, and our setup will let the Flame Rush also cast a Static Orb when used. You will also gain Ward on use thanks to the Lunar Protection and a powerful damage reduction buff, which will be enhanced by the runic eclipse and Celestial Guidance nodes.

Runic Invocation: This is our main damage ability, and we will have to combine fire, lightning, and fire again, which is known as the F-L-F Runic, before casting the Runic Invocation.

So then we could cast the Plasma Orb. Plasma Orb is a secondary action of the skill that orbits around you and deals massive AOE damage to the enemies that it hits. Because we have selected the Copied Scrolls node, so once in a while, we will get to invoke twice as many Plasma Orbs as normal, thus doubling our damage output.

Runebolt: This is an ability that will fire piercing projectiles. The first part of the skill is fire, then the second part is lightning, and then the last one is cold. Runebolt’s major function in our setup is to enhance your Plasma Orbs and generate mana. Thanks to the Arcane Restoration node, it will guarantee that it only creates fire runes by grabbing the Searing Dart and Blazing Flare nodes.

Passive Skills

Next up, we have the passives, and they will provide powerful effects that dictate the play style of a class and its masteries. Remember that you can allocate passives in the first half of all the masteries, regardless of the one you choose.

For this build, we will mainly focus on intelligence, cast speed, and spell Critical Strike Chance. For the Spellblade, we don’t use anything. I recommend for you to fully complete the campaign so you could collect the remaining passive points.

Gear

Next, let’s turn to the gear. Of course, you can also use your Last Epoch Gold to get other items. For the endgame gear of this build, I recommend getting the following:

• Amulet: Omnis
• Wand: Shade’s Mad Alchemist’s Ladle
• Armour: Fundamental Criterion of Fortification
• Off-Hand Catalyst: Imbued Sealed Crystal Skull of Warding
• Ring: Scholar’s Sealed Opal Ring of Deflection
• Ring:Scholar’s Sealed Opal Ring of Life
• Belt: Cleansing Sealed Spidersilk Sash of the OX
• Gloves: Scholar’s Sealed Eternal Gauntlets of Acid
• Boots: Mercurial Morningfrost of the Giant
• Relics: Dexterous Twisted Heart of Unkeiros

Our main stat goal with this build is to cap resistance, get 100% reduced bonus damage taken from crits, get 100 plus intelligence, 500% plus Ward retention from 30 to 40% plus armor, 200% cast speed, 100% Critical Strike Chance, 500% increased damage, 2,000 plus health, and from 30 to 60% plus movement speed. But you will only achieve these stats by upgrading your setup to Tier 20 with Exalted items.

Blessings

When you complete a timeline in the Monolith of Fate, you have the opportunity to pick one blessing from a diverse selection of randomized blessings. Their benefits are permanent and persistent even outside of the Monolith of Fate.

Empowered blessings are a fundamental part of all builds in Last Epoch, so getting the correct one is a big deal. For the runemaster build’s blessings, we want to farm:

• Grand Sight of the Outcasts
• Grand Arrogance of Argentus
• Grand Hanger of the Void
• Grand Cruelty of Formosus
• Grand Light of the Moon
• Grand Hope of the Beginning
• Grand Resolve of Humanity
• Grand Memory of Masters
• Grand Resolve of Grael
• Grand Body of Obsidian

Idols

Finally, we have the idols. Idols will grant your character bonuses when equipped in the dedicated Idol Container. I strongly recommend you to unlock all the slots of your Idol Container as soon as possible, and you can do that by completing the campaign and some of its side quests.

As for our endgame setup, I recommend finding 4 Large Arcane Idols with the increased cast speed while you have Lightning Aegis and then the Elemental Resistance prefix. Then get 2 more Adorn Arcane Idols with the Ward Retention or Health on Kill prefixes.

Rotation

The Plasma Orb runemaster attacks enemies from close to long range, ensuring that all the skills at his disposal can hit the target from any distance. Before even attacking enemies, we need to combine the CFC by casting Static Orb, Runebolt, and then again, the Static Orb.

After this, cast the Reowyn’s Frostguard with the Runic Invocation. Then, we cast the Plasma Orb 2 times by repeating combining F-L-F Runics with the Runebolt, Lightning Blast, and Runebolt again, and then casting Runic Invocation. Engage your enemies with the assistance of the Plasma Orbs orbiting around you.

We only attack enemies by using the Flame Rush to move around the map and use the Static Orb, which will provide you with multiple buffs. Then, we cast more Plasma Orbs between Flame Rush and ensure that all the things orbiting you don’t go down.

Learn how to easily go through the 3 Tier 4 dungeons in Last Epoch by defeating bosses with this all-inclusive guide covering all the mechanics. By utilizing these strategies and sticking to the mechanics described in this guide, you can effectively defeat most endgame dungeon bosses and collect unique and fantastic treasures!

Lightless Arbor Dungeon

The Lightless Arbor Dungeon, known as the Mountain Beneath boss dungeon, offers a vault filled with unique pieces of gear, making it a worthwhile endeavor, especially if you aim to collect items from the Vault set. To progress through this dungeon, utilize the mechanic of launching fire orbs with the 'D' key to burn pathways open. Upon reaching the boss fight, be prepared to face 2 bosses, with the second one posing a greater challenge than the first.

During the boss encounter, focus on destroying the rooted areas on the 2 pillars flanking the boss. Throw your flame into designated spots on both sides, encasing the areas in flames to progress. Dodge attacks like rockfall, which can be lethal if not avoided. Beware of Shockwave, a potentially fatal attack that requires swift dodging to survive. In the next phase, evade Entangling Roots to prevent immobilization and endure significant damage.

Subsequently, face the Stone Titan’s Heart, confronting falling rocks and summon Titan flashes. Position yourself opposite the Spore Beam's split direction to evade damage effectively. Dodge the energy stone circling the Titan’s Heart and avoid the energy wave attack to minimize damage.

Lastly, stay close to the Heart during the Entangling Roots phase to evade damage, as being caught in this mechanic can lead to immobilization, which is deadly when combined with other attacks.

Upon reaching the dungeon's end, you'll gain entry to the Vault. Various options await, each requiring you to spend gold to obtain specific rewards, such as exalted items, unique items, and shards. By accepting these options, you invest in acquiring desirable drops from chests within the Vault. Declining an option causes the remaining choices to become progressively more costly. Opting to accept multiple options results in a larger loot haul upon entering the Vault and claiming your rewards.

Soulfire Bastion Dungeon

Next, we’re going to move on to the Soulfire Bastion dungeon. This will feature the Fire Lich Cremorus boss which is a mechanic not very simple and tell you that but there are quite a few mechanics in this boss fight that can be shot in one shot die you or kill you easily.

Once players obtain a Soulfire Bastion Key, they can access the dungeon by right-clicking on it. Inside, they'll find plentiful loot drops from the boss fight and encounter the Soul Gambler, who introduces a unique mechanic involving Souls. These Souls act as Last Epoch Gold to switch between fire and necrotic resistances, crucial for combating enemies that deal both types of damage, including the boss. Players collect Souls by defeating enemies, aiding in resistance management as they navigate through pseudo-randomly generated maps with diverse affixes.

Descending 2 levels leads players to face the formidable Cremorus boss, known for employing multiple mechanics simultaneously. A notable challenge is the alternating fire and necrotic floor areas, requiring players to match their resistance to avoid SwiftDeath. Cremorus also employs orbiting skulls dealing necrotic and fire damage, alongside a projectile skull inflicting moderate harm.

Evading his fire attack is possible by positioning behind him, while a wall of fire necessitates swift resistance adjustments or movement skills to evade. Dodging a barrage of skulls is crucial to avoid the 'Marked for Death' debuff, increasing damage vulnerability. Lastly, players must quickly adapt resistance to mitigate damage from Cremorus's necrotic Circle attack.

Upon reaching the Soul Gambler at the dungeon's conclusion, players encounter a list of loot tailored to the tier level being run. This loot includes items with sealed affixes, higher tiers of unique gear, and exceedingly rare items that can be gambled for. Such offerings make completing the dungeon highly rewarding.

Temporal Sanctum Dungeon

The last Tier 4 dungeon we’re going to go over is the Temporal Sanctum dungeon. In order to access this dungeon, it will be available through the Divine Era and the Ruined Era, both reachable through any points going throughout the campaign. All you’ll need is a Temporal Sanctum Key, which you can obtain by doing Monoliths. The Temporal Sanctum dungeon is known for the Eternity Cache.

The mechanic of this dungeon works to essentially switch you back and forth between realms. The way this works is you’re going to swap back and forth in order to navigate to the doors to continue on to the next level. Using this mechanic can actually save you if you get overwhelmed by enemies for the most part. But once you reach the last boss, these are the main mechanics you need to pay attention to:

• Catastrophic Implosion: Upon entering the area, the boss creates a collapsing portal that inflicts massive void damage. Quickly switch to the other realm by pressing 'D' and wait for her to follow. Dodge the impending AoE circle by running around the bottom of the screen and stacking the pools to avoid them later in the fight.
• Lightning Pillars: The boss summons 3 pillars that shoot lightning bolts capable of dealing with significant shock damage. Eliminate them promptly to prevent being one-shot.
• Healing Fountain: Occasionally, the boss summons a healing fountain, which steadily restores her health. Destroy it promptly to stop her regeneration.
• Conal Attack: The boss unleashes a powerful conal attack, dealing heavy cold damage that can one-shot you. Preserve movement skills for evasion during this phase.
• Signature Void Attack: 4 beams shoot outward with a safe zone in the middle. Stay within the circle to avoid damage and continue running in a circle to evade other mechanics.
• Mortar-like Lightning Attack: The boss performs a mortar-like attack that explodes on the ground, inflicting significant lightning damage in a wide area. Avoid standing in the affected area to prevent being one-shot, especially if lacking in the ward.

Once you’ve completed this dungeon, you can then use the Eternity Cache to turn your Uniques into Legendries. A big thing to note is make sure if you do not see any spots to actually put your Uniques and exalted items into the cache, you then switch realms and it will give you the spots open, and then you can switch realms back and your actual legendary item will be there for you to claim.

Conclusion

Defeating the bosses in dungeons yields rewards for gambling, potentially granting high-level uniques and items with sealed affixes. This system ensures that each dungeon run maximizes rewards, emphasizing the importance of mastering the mechanics to overcome the challenging bosses, even on Tier 4 difficulty.

Here are some major mistakes you might be made while crafting in the Last Epoch. For those interested in mastering crafting and creating top gear in the Last Epoch, this guide is a must-read. You'll be equipped with extensive knowledge on crafting high-quality gear, including examples. So, let’s discuss this topic in more depth.

The crafting basics thing for crafting in Last Epoch is you have to have forging potential. If you have zero, you can’t craft on the item. If you have any forging potential left, each upgrading of an affix costs forging potential. Once it hits zero, crafting on that weapon is done. Essentially, an exalted weapon means that it has a Tier 6 or Tier 7 affix on it. To ensure that you can craft more easily, it is a good idea to prepare a certain amount of Last Epoch Gold.

Prefixes & Suffixes

One major error in crafting within Last Epoch involves misunderstanding the distinction between prefixes and suffixes. Each has its own specific pool of affixes. For example, a suffix like 'Chance to Shock on Hit' cannot be applied as a prefix. It’s crucial to be aware of the primary affixes you’re targeting for your build and identify whether they are prefixes or suffixes. To potentially replace an affix with a better one, it’s essential to inspect your crafting materials. You can organize them by prefixes to see which ones are compatible with your weapon.

Remember, prefixes and suffixes are entirely separate categories. Upgrading either of them will only yield effects from their respective pools. You can similarly review suffixes, which differ from prefixes in their available options.

Proper Glyphs Utilization

The second common mistake in Last Epoch crafting involves an improper use of glyphs, particularly 3 specific ones. For example, let’s consider a scenario with a scepter containing a desired affix, such as the 31% increased damage affix. To preserve this affix, one might instinctively use the Rune of Shattering to obtain Shards from the weapon.

However, many players overlook the significance of saving such glyphs for rare affixes, like double stat affixes, which are harder to come by. Using the Rune of Shattering on rare affixes could result in a random distribution of Shards, with potential outcomes ranging from zero to the tier level of the affix.

A more strategic approach involves employing the Rune of Removal instead. This glyph maximizes the Shard yield for each affix based on its highest tier. By using the Rune of Removal on rare affixes, players can ensure they obtain the maximum number of Shards, optimizing their crafting potential.

Glyph Of Despair

Another crucial aspect to consider is the effective utilization of the Glyph of Despair. The Glyph of Despair can be applied to an affix below tier Level 5. When used, 2 significant outcomes are probable. The affix is upgraded by one tier, such as from Tier 3 to Tier 4. There’s a chance to seal the affix permanently onto the gear, effectively creating an additional slot for another affix of choice.

This innovative approach enables the transition from having 4 to 5 affixes on the gear, thereby enhancing its power significantly. The Glyph of Despair offers the flexibility to target specific affixes desired for inclusion on a piece of gear. No longer are players constrained to rely on random rolls to obtain the desired affixes.

This method eliminates the need to resort to the Glyph of Chaos and Glyph of Hope for a favorable outcome through randomization. Instead, the Glyph of Despair empowers players to precisely tailor their gear to their specifications, optimizing their crafting efforts effectively.

Utilization Of Runes

Another mistake often overlooked by players is the utilization of other runes that can affect affixes or implicits on their gear. Similar to affixes, implicits have roll ranges, and while each piece of gear typically has certain implicits, these roll ranges can be influenced.

Rune Of Shaping

Suppose you have a belt that’s otherwise ideal but has a lower roll on specific stats. In that case, you can employ a rune of shaping to reroll these implicits. Although it may seem trivial, optimizing these stats can significantly impact your gear’s effectiveness. For example, after using a Rune of Shaping, the belt’s mana increased from 28 to 23, demonstrating the potential for improvement.

Rune Of Refinement

The Rune of Refinement offers the ability to reroll the values of all affixes on an item within their tiers. This can be invaluable when dealing with gear with subpar rolls, allowing players to salvage otherwise lackluster items.

It’s essential to note that certain affixes, such as Tier 6 affixes, have fixed roll ranges beyond Tier 5, making them immune to alteration. However, the Rune of Refinement can still be employed to rectify undesirable rolls on high-tier affixes, regardless of their tier. While not frequently utilized, the Rune of Refinement can prove instrumental in salvaging or enhancing weapons and armor when the need arises.

Rune Of Ascendance

Now, let’s delve into the Rune of Ascendance, a powerful tool often overlooked by players. This rune, when applied to any piece of gear, regardless of its rarity, such as a belt, transforms it into a unique item of the same type. For instance, using the Rune of Ascendance on a belt would elevate it to a unique belt.

Rune Of Creation

Another rune that merits attention is the Rune of Creation, which you may not have encountered yet. This rune serves a unique purpose in the crafting process. Once you have meticulously optimized an item to your specifications, and it still retains forging potential, the Rune of Creation comes into play. When activated, this rune duplicates the item, resulting in 2 identical items with zero forging potential.

Imagine you have a ring with perfect rolls and another ring that’s decent but lacks the same level of optimization. By utilizing the Rune of Creation on the former, you can duplicate it, effectively granting you 2 rings with optimal stats. This allows you to equip your character with 2 top-tier rings, significantly enhancing their power. Keep this in mind as you navigate the intricacies of crafting in Last Epoch.

Affix Roll Ranges

The next aspect is being mindful of your affix roll ranges. Affixes or stats typically have a range within which they can roll. For example, an affix might provide a range of 30% to 40% increased physical damage. When you upgrade such an affix, it will roll within the new tier range, which may be Tier 3.

The Glyph of Order plays a key role. If you have a high roll on an affix, such as the maximum roll of 40%, the Glyph of Order allows you to maintain that high roll range when upgrading. By using the Glyph of Order, you ensure that your affix remains at the maximum roll range, preserving its potency.

When upgrading your gear, it’s crucial to pay attention to the roll ranges to maximize the power of them. Many players overlook the use of the ALT key, which provides the ability to view the roll range for each affix individually. By utilizing this feature, you can assess whether you’ve obtained a desirable roll before deciding to upgrade.

Eternity Cache

Lastly, let’s shed some light on the proper utilization of the Eternity Cache, a feature that many players still struggle to grasp due to the game’s relative newness. The Eternity Cache can be found at the conclusion of various dungeons.

Its function allows players to input both a Legendary item and an exalted item, each possessing exactly 4 affixes. Upon retrieval, the items are combined, resulting in the creation of a new piece of gear. If you have a Legendary 2-handed axe with one Legendary Potential.

To enhance it, you must pair it with an exalted 2-handed axe boasting 4 affixes. When the crafting process is complete, the Legendary item will absorb a certain number of affixes from the exalted item, contingent on its Legendary Potential. For instance, with one Legendary Potential, the Legendary item will inherit one random affix from the exalted item, thus augmenting the resulting unique gear.

The potential for enhancement extends further. Suppose you stumble upon a unique item with 2 or even 4 Legendary Potentials. Although items with 4 Legendary Potentials are exceedingly rare, they present a remarkable opportunity. By combining such an item with an exalted weapon using the Eternity Cache, the resulting gear will inherit all 4 affixes from the exalted piece.

It’s imperative to keep an eye out for items with higher Legendary Potentials, as they hold considerable value and rarity. Be sure to save them for opportune moments when crafting with the Eternity Cache.

Crafting is the key to get legendary items in the Last Epoch, but it’s not available everywhere. This process involves merging unique items with Legendary Potential and Exalted Items within the Temporal Sanctum.

While legendary items are not necessary for most endgames, such as dungeons, progress in Monoliths, and even push Corruption quite far and compete in the arena, they become essential for those seeking to minimize their characters for optimal performance. Having some Last Epoch Gold on hand can assist you in resolving some issues.

Temporal Sanctum Level Requirements

Let’s begin by delving into the process of crafting legendary items within the Temporal Sanctum. Upon entering, you’ll initially only have access to the first level. However, as you progress and defeat Julra at increasing difficulties, you’ll unlock subsequent levels. This progression is crucial because crafting a legendary item requires accessing a compatible cache, which is determined by the level requirement of the unique item you intend to use.

For instance, if your unique item is low level, like Bleeding Heart, with a level requirement of 1 or 2, you can access the necessary cache at any level. Conversely, if you’re working with a higher-level item, such as one requiring Level 60, you’ll need to reach at least Level 2 in the Temporal Sanctum. Some endgame items may even demand access to Level 4, which presents its own challenges. Tier 4 Julra, as she’s known, poses a formidable obstacle, necessitating not only skillful play but also a robust build to overcome.

Traverse The Sanctum Maze

Pass through the sanctum maze presents a unique challenge as it unfolds across 2 different timelines simultaneously. Utilizing a special dungeon ability to swap between these timelines is key, with customizable keybindings available for efficiency. Blocked passages in each timeline dictate your path, necessitating strategic swaps to uncover the route to the end. Multiple exits offer alternative paths forward, though each choice may impact the rewards received.

Beware, as encounters within the maze can yield valuable Exalted Items or some of additional buffs to Julra. Prior to venturing into the Temporal Sanctum, consider stocking up on prophecies for additional advantages.

Julra Boss Fight

Upon reaching the end of the maze, you'll face Julra in combat. This encounter proves to be quite frustrating, as she's incredibly powerful and particularly troublesome for melee-focused characters. At the onset of the battle, Julra unleashes a devastating room-wide ability with a considerable cast delay, typically around 10 seconds. To evade certain death, swiftly shift to the alternate timeline, where Julra will promptly join you, eradicating anything left behind in the previous timeline.

Once Julra appears, she'll unleash a persistent Damage Over Time effect, creating puddles that must be skillfully avoided and positioned towards the room's edge to minimize their impact. Following this, she'll employ additional abilities before activating her spinning beams. Accidentally stepping into these beams spells instant demise for most builds, especially on the challenging Tier 4 difficulty.

If your build excels at burst damage, you can strategically evade Julra's spinning beam phase by shifting into the alternate timeline and patiently awaiting her arrival. Once she appears, unleash your burst damage to steadily chip away at her health.

Or you can position yourself in specific areas where movement is slow and precise, minimizing the risk of being hit by Julra's beams. This method allows you to maintain consistent damage output while remaining in a safe zone throughout the encounter.

While the latter strategy does not rely on burst damage, it requires careful execution due to the potential for catastrophic consequences if mistakes are made. Strengthening your defenses against Void Damage is advisable to enhance your survivability during the battle.

Combine Legendary Potential With Exalted Items

To commence the crafting process, you'll first need to insert your unique item possessing Legendary Potential, along with the Exalted Item with which it will be combined.

Once both items are placed within the Eternity Cache, you seal it, initiating a warp to a future in ruins. It is where your legendary item live, forged through the fusion of these 2 components. During this process, one random stat from the base Exalted Item is transferred to the unique item per Legendary Potential.

If one of your items is tagged Circle of Fortune or Merchant's Guild, the other must either have the same tag or not be tagged at all. You cannot make an item that requires both the Circle of Fortune and Merchant's Guild.

Final Thought

You should keep in mind is that not all unique items are created equal. There’s actually a big difference between an item’s level requirement and its chances of rolling Legendary Potential. This is called LPL, or Legendary Potential level. The item’s level for rolling Legendary Potential is treated as different from the requirement to equip it.

Crafting a build in Last Epoch might seem overwhelming for those new to ARPGs. While the game excels at introducing players to its complex skill trees and progression systems, discovering a build that efficiently navigates the entire campaign and early endgame can prove challenging for newcomers.

For players seeking a swift and enjoyable spellcasting experience to dominate the campaign, the Runemaster build is an excellent choice. This build blankets the screen with powerful lightning bolts that deliver significant critical damage, effortlessly dispatching rare enemies and most campaign bosses. 

If you're a beginner in Last Epoch aiming for a solid leveling journey that familiarizes you with the Mage's fundamental mechanics, don't hesitate to give this build a shot.

Overview Of The Runemaster Build

The Runemaster build transforms your Mage into a mobile tesla coil, releasing a barrage of chained lightning strikes via the Lightning Blast skill. 

By prioritizing cast speed and Intelligence, this build achieves rapid casting of Lightning Blast, easily activating its multicast passives. While Lightning Blast may not excel in single-target DPS, the Runemaster's skills and passive tree compensate for this shortfall.

Runemasters benefit from robust sources of Ward generation, providing a substantial health pool that effortlessly tackles most of the campaign and early Monolith challenges. 

Moreover, you can enhance the Runemaster's skills to trigger additional lightning effects, significantly boosting damage against rare enemies and weaker bosses. This build is straightforward to play, boasts impressive speed, and avoids reliance on intricate mechanics.

How Does This Build Work?

Before delving into the specifics of this build's skills and passives, it's crucial to elucidate our approach to damage scaling. 

Lightning Blast benefits greatly from a potent passive node named Closed Circuit, which enables the skill to chain to you and nearby allies. Struck allies receive a temporary boost of +15% elemental damage and 40% critical hit chance. Not explicitly mentioned in the perk's description, this enhancement accumulates upon itself.

By prioritizing cast speed and Lightning Blast's multicast passives, you can sustain over a dozen stacks of Closed Circuit, granting you more than 480% increased critical chance and a significant amount of elemental damage. This allows for flexibility in allocating resources towards defensive enhancements or additional avenues for scaling damage—such as armor reduction, elemental penetration, critical damage multipliers, and so forth.

Suggested Skills For The Build

Lightning Blast serves as the cornerstone skill of this build, encompassing a wide array of functionalities. Initially modest in potency, it gains significant strength with the acquisition of Arcing Power, which grants additional chains. Closed Circuit is another crucial node to obtain, providing boosts to elemental damage and critical chances upon each skill cast. Overcharge and Hypercast further augment its effectiveness, enabling double and quadruple casting, respectively.

With added cast speed, accruing over a dozen stacks of Closed Circuit becomes achievable. Additionally, Shattershock, while recommended to acquire last, offers a multiplicative damage bonus easily triggered within the build's framework.

Flame Ward stands as the linchpin of the Mage's survival toolkit, offering substantial Ward generation and temporary damage resistance, bolstered further by Barrier and Prismatic Buffer. Its potential is enhanced with Dual Aegis, allowing for dual casting.

Static proves invaluable for swiftly dispatching rare enemies and early campaign bosses. Accumulating Static charges through movement and taking hits culminates in explosive electric detonations upon casting the skill, automatically triggering Lightning Blast with the Overload and Unlimited Power nodes.

Runic Invocation introduces complexity, granting a Rune upon each spell cast, which can be expended to unleash powerful spells. The sequence and type of Runes dictate the resulting spell. Typically, Ball Lightning is cast, offering formidable damage against resilient adversaries. Enigma is acquired to utilize Runic Invocation as a traversal aid.

Frost Wall assumes a new role with the Lightning Rod passive, transforming it into a tesla tower capable of autonomously casting Lightning Blast. Charged Pillars and Amplified Currents ensure consistent behavior. Additionally, Pyroglass and Brand the Invaders are chosen to debuff targets with Brand of Trespass, activating potent passives within the Runemaster's skill tree.

3 Distinct Passive Trees

This build employs 3 distinct passive trees, though initially, only the Mage and Runemaster trees are necessary. Upon advancing into the Monoliths, players have the option to allocate points into the Sorcerer tree.

The Mage tree offers the invaluable Arcanist node, enhancing Intelligence, Fire Resistance, and Lightning Resistance. Investing in Scholar and Reactive Ward facilitates progression towards Mage Flurry, amplifying cast speed. Allocating five passives into Warden enhances Ward Retention, while the remaining points are dedicated to Mastery trees.

The Runemaster tree boasts an array of potent passives. Arcane Focus stands out, providing substantial Ward regeneration with each spell cast. Runeword: Cataclysm amplifies damage against low-health targets, Inscribed Instruments offers significant critical multiplier bonuses, and Ancient Inscriptions reduce cooldowns based on Intelligence.

Further cast speed enhancements are achievable through Unsealed Mana and Rune of Dilation passives. Coupled with cooldown reduction from Ancient Inscriptions, Rune of Dilation remains consistently available. Celestial Damage augments overall damage output, particularly against branded targets, a status inflicted via Frost Wall. Additionally, Jagged Veil is selected for its multiplicative critical damage boost.

Sorcerer specialization is advisable for endgame progression. Calculated Destruction provides a notable increase in critical chance with a modest investment. Arcane Momentum and Essence of Celerity nodes amplify cast speed, elemental damage, and movement speed. Ceraunomancer and Afterglow are allocated initially, followed by maxing Rift Bolt for optimal effectiveness.

Key Items To Seek

During your journey through the campaign, be vigilant for these affixes:

• Cast Speed
• Intelligence
• +Critical Strike Chance (Note: The '+' symbol signifies it adds base crit, not % Increased Critical Strike Chance.)
• Critical Strike Multiplier
• Increased Spell/Lightning Damage

Furthermore, we advise prioritizing the clearance of Rune Prisons whenever possible. The Exiled Mages within have a chance of dropping the Mad Alchemist's Ladle, a Level 17 wand. This wand scales your cast speed according to Intelligence, a stat augmented through our passive tree and other items. With continued focus on scaling Intelligence and cast speed, this weapon will serve you well up to Empowered Monoliths.

In addition, consider utilizing typical leveling Uniques. Arboreal Circuit rings and boots with movement speed significantly enhance your mobility. For Deathless characters, incorporating Lessons of the Metropolis and Close Call can dramatically boost your Dodge rating during leveling.

Progression From Levels 1 To 15

The Mage's initial skill, Lightning Blast, becomes available right from the start, allowing immediate engagement upon character creation. 

Prioritize Lightning Blast as your initial skill specialization, followed by acquiring Arcing Power, enabling Lightning Blast to chain between targets. Allocate your first 3 skill levels to this node. As for passive points, prioritize maxing Arcanist initially, enhancing your Intelligence stat and consequently amplifying spell damage.

Upon reaching level 5, Glacier unlocks. Incorporate this skill into your hotbar and utilize it against formidable adversaries. 

Particularly noteworthy is the substantial damage dealt by the third and final explosion of Glacier at this stage. Elemental Nova serves as a viable option against large groups of enemies until you further develop Lightning Blast. As the second spell specialization holds minimal significance at this juncture, feel free to experiment with different options.

By the time you reach level 10, typically in Chapter 2 with access to The Council Chambers, prioritize completing Erza's Ledger quest and delivering the book to Erza. This completion rewards you with the Avarice Unique gloves, allowing for HP recovery by dealing damage with your spells.

Progression From Levels 16 To 30 

By this stage, you should have amassed a modest amount of Last Epoch Gold. Utilize it to procure Runes of Shattering from gear vendors whenever available. 

These Runes facilitate item dismantling, yielding a collection of affix shards for crafting purposes. Be vigilant for affixes enhancing spell damage, cast speed, and Intelligence when scavenging items. Adjust your loot filter settings to highlight these desirable items in a distinctive color.

Upon reaching Level 20, consider specializing in the Static skill and replacing Glacier with it. Utilize Static when in proximity to formidable foes, often resulting in their swift elimination and expediting the leveling process. Aim to progress towards the Unlimited Power node on the right side of the tree for Static, enabling it to cast Lightning Blast while in motion. Regarding Lightning Blast, begin directing your specialization towards Hypercast.

Upon completing Chapter 2, your Mastery class will unlock. Opt for the Runemaster Mastery, granting access to the Runic Invocation skill and the Runemaster skill tree. Respec your Mage tree to allocate only 20 points, then specialize in Runic Invocation within your third slot. Ensure that Lightning Blast, Static, and Runic Invocation are specialized. Begin allocating points into Unsealed Mana and Arcane Focus.

Furthermore, you'll encounter promising item bases at this stage. Keep a keen eye out for Birch Wands, Branded Skulls, and Copper Amulets. Utilize the forge to augment these items with damage affixes, resulting in a discernible increase in power.

Finishing The Remaining Challenges In The Campaign   

At this juncture in the Last Epoch campaign, the remaining challenges should be relatively manageable. Continue refining your skill trees and investing in the Runemaster passive tree. Utilize the affix shards you've acquired to craft superior items and prioritize completing side quests to unlock additional Idol slots and passive points.

Our primary recommendation is to ensure your elemental resistances are capped before reaching Chapter 7. While resistances may not carry as much weight in Last Epoch compared to similar ARPGs, the boss encounter with Lagon in Chapter 7 poses significant danger, predominantly dealing Cold and Lightning damage. By maxing out these resistances and bolstering your Armor and Ward, you should withstand most of the fight's onslaught, barring Lagon's beam attack.

Advancing In The Endgame

The endgame experience mirrors the latter half of the campaign, emphasizing the development of skill and passive trees alongside the acquisition of superior base items—particularly sought-after are Crystal Skulls, Siren Wands (available at Level 52), and Dragonhorn Wands (available at Level 77 and beyond). 

Additionally, prioritize scouting for Idols that enhance HP, Ward, and lightning damage. Notably, Large Idols have the potential to possess an affix granting Static charges per second.

While this build isn't specifically tailored for Corrupted Monolith runs, those aiming to tackle endgame challenges should seek items imbued with effects such as chill on hit, armor shred, and enhancements to specialized skills. Equip the Isadora's Tomb Binding belt for substantial armor, twin Invoker's Static Touch rings for additional flat lightning damage, and the Twisted Heart of Uhkeiros to convert a significant portion of your HP into Ward, significantly boosting survivability.

Last Epoch finds a perfect balance between being accessible to all players while offering considerable depth. From crafting to build creation to endgame content, every aspect of the game caters to a diverse audience.

Players have the option to engage in offline play, which offers certain quality-of-life enhancements such as a pause button but sacrifices some online features. Deciding between offline and online play can be a bit daunting, especially considering Last Epoch offers various offline modes to select from. Before making a choice, let's delve into how Last Epoch's offline modes operate and what sets them apart from online gameplay.

What Role Does Offline Mode Play In Last Epoch?

Last Epoch presents an unconventional approach to offline play, offering two distinct modes: Play Offline and True Offline. While one can be accessed directly from the main menu, the other requires selection before launching the game. These modes are nearly identical, differing primarily in chat functionality, as we'll detail in the following section.

Characters created in either offline mode remain exclusive to offline play and cannot be transferred for online use. For instance, if you create a character in Play Offline, it's confined to that mode or True Offline; transitioning to Online Play won't transfer the character . Essentially, characters crafted in offline mode are ineligible for cooperative play or item trading. This means you cannot get and use Last Epoch Gold at all.

However, offline play boasts certain advantages. Both modes enable pausing the game at any moment by pressing Escape, with no restrictions on frequency. Moreover, playing offline offers notable benefits like reduced load times and input latency. This results in more responsive combat and quicker transitions between zones.

Distinguishing Between Play Offline & True Offline Modes

Last Epoch offers two distinct offline modes, one of which curiously necessitates an internet connection:

Play Offline: Accessed directly from the Last Epoch main menu, although an initial internet connection is required for logging in. While in this mode, game chat remains available, yet player invitations and trading functionalities are inaccessible. It's essential to note that once logged in , an internet connection becomes optional. Play Offline mode disables co-op and trading, ensuring that hub towns are instanced, devoid of other players. However, global chat remains active if an internet connection is maintained during gameplay.

True Offline: Exclusive to the "Play Full Offline" option when launching the game via Steam. True Offline mode liberates players from the necessity of logging in, thus eliminating the requirement for an internet connection. Similar to Play Offline, most online features are disabled in this mode. Notably, game chat and co-op functionalities are inactive, rendering the Merchant's Guild obsolete since player trading is unavailable.

Distinguishing Between Offline & Online

While online characters may lack access to a pause button, they enjoy the benefits of cooperative gameplay with others and utilizing the Merchant's Guild for trading. For players inclined towards trading for top-tier gear, online play is the exclusive avenue for this experience. Additionally , if cooperative play in ARPGs is your preference, online play is the sole option available.

On the flip side, individuals who favor playing at their own rhythm may lean towards offline play. Offline modes offer the convenience of pausing the game instantly, catering to those with unpredictable schedules or intermittent internet connectivity. If you prioritize playing at your own pace or lack a stable internet connection, offline play presents the ideal choice.

Is Offline Mode Right For You?

In general, opting for offline play is advantageous for individuals grappling with sluggish internet speeds or those facing unpredictable schedules. The ability to halt the game at any given moment renders it considerably more accessible for certain player types. Nonetheless, the inability to engage in trading with offline characters represents a significant drawback, rendering the Merchant's Guild practically redundant.

For those who prioritize cooperative play or trading, we recommend creating an online character instead. Beyond this aspect, virtually nothing else in Last Epoch undergoes substantial alterations between the two modes. Therefore, there's no need to feel compelled to opt for a specific mode. The leveling process remains relatively straightforward, buildcrafting is notably less daunting compared to similar ARPGs, and no content, apart from trading, is restricted in either mode. If cooperative play or trading holds little significance for you, there's no harm in opting for offline gameplay .