By
Charlie Biggerstaff,Brandon Morgan,Jen Rothery,+4 more
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As with any ARPG, Last Epoch features complex mechanics that allow players to fully immerse themselves in loot rarity, build diversity, and item affixes to help them surf through the endgame without a care in the world. To new players, these mechanics often appear confusing, which leads to them being wholly ignored. In our Last Epoch Beginner’s Guide, you’ll find everything from the basics, like control schemes, to the more involved, such as utilizing the Forge to the full extent.
Don’t worry, though! Last Epoch offers the perfect balance between the complexity of Path of Exile and the accessibility of Diablo 4. The fresh perspective is part of the reason we gave Last Epoch an 8 in our review!
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Choosing Your Class
Before you delve into the world of Eterra, you must first choose your class. Last Epoch offers five Base Classes and a total of 15 Master Classes, with three available to each of the five Base choices. These include:
- Sentinel
- Paladin
- Void Knight
- Forge Guard
- Acolyte
- Warlock
- Necromancer
- Lich
- Primalist
- Druid
- Beastmaster
- Shaman
- Rogue
- Falconer
- Marksman
- Bladedancer
- Mage
- Runemaster
- Sorcerer
- Spellblade
Best Classes for Beginners
Technically speaking, picking a starting class in an ARPG primarily revolves around your intended playstyle and preferences. If you want to focus on close-combat melee, a Sentinel is the go-to choice. But for a magic user, the Acolyte or Mage is the best choice.
As far as the best classes for beginners, we recommend picking the Acolyte, specializing in the Necromancer Mastery Class. The Necromancer relies on summoning undead companions, including the Wraith, Skeletal Mages, and the Abomination, to manage mobs. In time, with enough points placed into minion skills, you will run through areas, clearing mobs of enemies without lifting a finger.
How to Play Last Epoch
Last Epoch is an action RPG, which means it focuses more on slaying mobs and collecting loot than on meaningful choices that alter a storyline. For the most part, the story in Last Epoch is linear, though skippable after completing it with your first character. The endgame is where the mechanics and gameplay truly open up.
You’ll take control of a hero cast into a world clearly under assault by forces unknown. As you move through the environment, using your controller or mouse and keyboard (primarily the mouse) to control your movement and cast spells/abilities, you’ll run into low-level enemies that often come at you in groups. These are known as mobs. They’re meant to slow your progress through a zone and provide the perfect fodder to help you earn EXP to level up, become stronger, and invest points into your skills.
In Last Epoch, your abilities have unique skill trees. Suppose you find a favorite ability, such as Tempest Strike, a melee attack that deals cold, physical, and lightning damage in a single swing. In that case, you can specialize in that ability and alter it further with points earned through use.
As you use your abilities to slay mobs and bosses, you’ll note an abundance of loot on the ground. These items, alongside your abilities, help to increase your power level and allow you to move through each area swiftly, taking down enemies as you go. The stronger you become, the less time it takes to kill a mob. It’s all about efficiency. The minor tweaks to your character build, and the loot you equip, are why so many fans stick with ARPGs for years to see their character turn from a weakling to the ultimate hero.
Like any good RPG, Last Epoch features quests and stories to follow, but they often fall by the wayside while the loot, class builds, and progression take center stage.
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How Progression Works
Overall, the progression in Last Epoch follows a relatively set path for your first character. You’ll follow the storyline through the 9-Act Campaign, which should take you to approximately level 55.
At this point, the focus is on finishing the story and leveling up to the halfway point. You don’t have to focus on gear or many mechanics, like The Forge, unless you’re finding it difficult to deal with some of the main bosses. Lagon is particularly troublesome for new players!
But once you finish the campaign, that’s where Last Epoch opens its doors and sucks players into the fold. Here, you’ll unlock The Monolith of Fate, available from Level 50. This unique endgame activity should bring you to somewhere between levels 80-90. Now is when you want to focus on your gear by identifying your overall build, such as concentrating on lightning damage or companion skills.
The endgame varies. You can focus on Empowered Monolith of Fate, Empowered High Corruption Monlith of Fate, Arenas, Dungeons, or just start an alt character and level to 100 again!
Traversal in the World of Eterra
Your primary means of traversal in Eterra is simply walking, using the left mouse click to indicate where you want your character to move, or by holding down the left mouse button and dragging it to your destination. Alternatively, you can use a controller and its joysticks to directly control your character's movement.
Eventually, as you level your chosen class, you’ll unlock additional traversal skills that pair quick movements with damage-dealing attacks. Every class receives at least one traversal skill, with some Mastery Classes unlocking additional traversal and movement abilities upon specialization.
The most common traversal skills you’ll use include:
- Fury Leap (Primalist)
- Teleport (Mage)
- Lunge (Sentinel)
- Transplant (Acolyte)
- Shift (Rogue)
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Dungeons and Additional Content
You’ll primarily focus on leveling for your first character by tackling the game’s main questline. It will lead you through the various eras and zones, introducing game mechanics, enemies, and the world itself. But there’s a slew of side content, including side quests, dungeons, and an endgame system known as The Monolith of Fate.
- Dungeons: Dungeons provide high-level players with competent gear and a chance to tackle unique endgame-level challenges to acquire unique rewards not found anywhere else in the game. Every dungeon requires a key, and if you lose your key, you must begin again.
- The Monolith of Fate: The main endgame activity in Last Epoch, The Monolith of Fate unlocks following the main storyline and consists of multiple Timelines. Each Timeline has a set layout and enemies and quests within, and you can earn unique items and permanent buffs for your character.
- Arenas: Last Epoch features two types of Arenas: The Endless Arena and The Arena of Champions. The former sends waves of enemies that become increasingly difficult as you progress, and everything is tracked via a Ladder. The Arena of Champions, on the other hand, features a handful of waves and a Champion-level boss, and if you best the whole lot, you’ll receive significant rewards.
- Side Quests: Last Epoch features a modest number of side quests spread throughout the various zones in the game. You’ll stumble upon the blue icon hovering over an NPC’s head out in the wild, but primarily within towns and camps. When you speak to them, they’ll explain their woes, and you can choose to tackle their side quest to retrieve items or slay enemies in exchange for EXP, gold, and occasionally better perks, such as Passive Skill Points and Idol Slots!
Can You Respec in Last Epoch?
It is possible to respec a portion of your skills in Last Epoch. To clarify, you can respec your Passives and Specialization Skills, but you cannot choose a new Master Class once you’ve selected yours. For example, if you choose a Necromancer, you cannot swap to Warlock. But choosing a Master Class does not completely lock you out of the other Masteries. You can still place points into either of the other two Masteries up until about the halfway point.
To respec your skills in Last Epoch, visit the Chronomancer at The End of Time or The Council Chambers. She’s the NPC with a “Brain” icon over her head. It’s important to note that it will cost you some gold to respec, though the price isn’t exorbitant, and you likely won’t use gold for much else.
Understanding Loot Rarity in Last Epoch
As an ARPG, much of the gameplay in Last Epoch revolves around crafting the perfect build to clear zones with minimal effort. For the most part, your skills play the most significant role in this task, but your chosen equipment enhances your abilities, resistance, and movement. As such, it’s important to better understand loot rarity in Last Epoch.
- Common (White): An item with no affixes.
- Magic (Blue): An item with 1 or 1 affixes, including prefixes, suffixes, or both.
- Rare (Yellow): An item with 3 or 4 affixes.
- Unique (Orange): An item with stat and effects not found on lower rarity items.
- Set (Green): Set items prove bonuses for equipping other portions of the same set, typically 2 to 4 pieces per set.
- Exalted (Purple): Exalted items have one or more Tier 6 or Tier 7 affixes.
- Legendary (Red): Exceedingly rare items crafted in the Eternity Cache, a combination of Unique and Exalted items.
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Essential Last Epoch Tips and Tricks
- Completing the main story quests on your first playthrough is a priority to unlock additional game mechanics, earn EXP, and level up quickly. Once you complete the campaign on one character, you can create an alt character and skip the story quests entirely.
- Alongside the main story quests, you’ll find plenty of side quests to complete. Some offer EXP, gold, and items upon completion. Some, however, provide you with Passive Skill Points and Idol Slots. You’ll want to focus on these side quests to increase your power, but don’t skimp on the rest of the side content. Besides the stories, they’re a fantastic way to level up.
- When it comes to equipment, actively seek our items that increase your survivability and enhance your primary skills. You want additional health, resistances, and attributes that complement your build, such as intelligence for a magic user. If you’re focusing on a Lightning Druid, for instance, use the game’s built-in Loot Filter to prioritize + Lightning Damage affixes.
- You will inevitably wind up with too much equipment unless you actively use the Loot Filter, and then you must sell items to merchants to earn gold. To return to the last town you visited, use your Town Portal (hotkey: T) to quickly and easily offload junk items. It’s important to note that upon returning through the portal to your previous zone, the enemies will respawn around you. Prepare for a fight!
- In combat encounters, keep an eye on your health bar in the bottom left. It’s the red circle. Beside it, you’ll note the Potion icon, with a small number on the right-hand side indicating how many Potions you have available. Do not hesitate to pop a Potion mid-fight to avoid death. They take time, so we recommend using a Health Potion at around half Health. Once you run out of Health Potions, the game is quite forgiving about providing more through enemy loot drops.
- Regarding Mana, Last Epoch features a unique mechanic known as negative Mana. You can cast spells and abilities that require Mana past your available amount down into the negatives, but then you cannot cast again until it regenerates into the positives. It’s a nice way to escape tough situations in a pinch!
- Each Base Class in the game features nine Skills unlocked through leveling up, with additional Skills unlocked upon choosing a Mastery Class. Before you even think about your Mastery, try out all of the Base Skills. You can specialize in them, further enhancing their usability and effectiveness in combat, but some don’t “feel” as good as others.
- Speaking of skills, spam your Specialized Skills the moment the cooldown ends. If you’re actively in combat, your Specialized Skills will help determine the outcome of each mob encounter. If you’re slowly taking down single targets using your primary attack, you’ll find it takes too long to clear encounters and thereby reduces your effectiveness.
Up Next: Last Epoch Beginners Guide and Tips
Top Guide Sections
- Last Epoch Beginners Guide and Tips
- Last Epoch Cycle vs Legacy Explained
- Last Epoch Progression and Leveling Guide
- Alternate Leveling Paths Explained
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Last Epoch
Eleventh Hour Games
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OverviewLast Epoch Beginners Guide and TipsLast Epoch Cycle vs Legacy ExplainedLast Epoch Progression and Leveling Guide