Last Epoch: Best builds for every class

What are the best builds for every class in Last Epoch? The hottest ARPG in town right now has five classes to choose from, followed by a number of subclasses specific to each, meaning there is a lot of build variation possible. When you're first learning the game though, don't worry too much about your build specifics. The best builds here are best suited to players who have reached level 70 and want to tackle the endgame content, though you can work your way towards these by unlocking the right skills as you progress through the story.

It's an overwhelming game but with these builds, each of which we also have full dedicated guides for, it should be a little easier to manage. Here are the best builds for every class in Last Epoch, along with an alternative option for each.

Acolyte: Harvest Lich

If you want to channel the undead, our best Acolyte builds are what you need. This is a tricky class to play and as a result, maxing this build in particular out takes quite a while, so only go for this Harvest Lich if you're ready for the commitment. It uses the Reaper Form skill to literally transform you into the Grim Reaper, but in this form, your health slowly decays. When it depletes entirely, rather than dying, you're transformed back into a human at full health.

So the way to prolong Reaper Form is by using Harvest as much as possible on enemies, because with nodes such as Soul Maw, you can leech health from your foes. However, for a huge damage multiplier against bosses, you can use the Death Seal x Dance with Death combo which prevents you from healing for a short period in exchange for much more DPS. Then there's Transplant, which is your movement skill, teleporting you to a chosen location while an explosion occurs where you came from. Finally, Bone Curse allows you to mark enemies for additional damage.

Acolyte: Torment Warlock

Rather than turning into the Grim Reaper, this Torment Warlock uses spirits via Chthonic Fissure as its main form of dealing damage, which are essentially homing projectiles. These also inflict Torment Curse on every foe they hit, which slows and deals damage over time. This means the primary playstyle for the build doesn't require much precision, as you let these loose and let enemies fall around you as you make your way to the objective.

Spirit Plague is another skill that contributes to this as it also curses enemies to deal damage over time, while Wandering Spirits also deal damage over time, but the difference here is these spirits walk randomly rather than targeting specific enemies. Also, guess what? Profane Veil, the fourth skill, also deals damage over time to enemies around you, but it also ensures you dodge every hit that comes your way, with the only penalty being slower movement. Finally, this build also utilizes Transplant for movement, which allows you to dart all over the shop.

Mage: Hydrahedron Runemaster

The best Mage builds are a classic in ARPGs so if DPS is your aim, look no further than this Hydrahedron Runemaster build. This utilizes the Runic Invocation skill to combine one Lightning and two Fire runes to summon a Hydrahedron, which is an eight-sided fiery turret, essentially. You can then buff it with various other abilities to make it deal more damage, and while it's active, you can focus on some of your other skills such as Runebolt for more DPS, and Frost Wall to block off an area.

Whereas some classes and builds in Last Epoch want to be right in the thick of it, the Hydrahedron Runemaster wants to put as much distance between itself and the enemies as possible. Flame Rush is your movement skill which can help with that, as can Flame Ward, which offers immense defensive capabilities. Make sure you have the Dual Aegis node for Flame Ward though, as it provides you with an extra charge for especially dire situations.

Mage: Glacier Sorcerer

If you fancy channeling your inner Elsa instead of setting enemies alight, this Glacier Sorcerer build is for you. The primary skill here is Glacier, which causes three enormous ice explosions right in front of you, each one more powerful than the last. However, to make the most of this build, you want to group enemies up as much as possible, which can be done by using Teleport to manipulate their pathing.

Alongside these two essential skills, you'll want Ice Barrage to focus on individual targets such as bosses and elites, and thanks to Ice Shield, you'll be protected in the direction you're firing. Then, much like the Hydrahedron Runemaster, you can utilize Flame Ward for its defensive prowess. Finally, we have Focus, which takes you out of action momentarily as you channel 100% increased mana regen and additional ward, but is essential for that huge mana influx.

Primalist: Thorn Totem Shaman

The Primalist is essentially your classic Druid, and our guide to the best Primalist builds have all the finer details on how to play this nature-loving class. This Thorn Totem Shaman is all about transforming into a Spriggan, which is essentially a big tree. In this form, you want to summon lots of friends to help you out in battle, and they do most of the work for you as long as you summon them at the right times.

Summon Spriggan will conjure up a Spriggan companion that heals you and attacks enemies, and alongside Summon Thorn Totem, is your primary damage dealer. You can also summon Storm Totems - enabled by the Stormcarved Testament unique gear - which cast lightning storms around enemies and buff your movement. Then there are the Healing Totems you can summon, which heal all nearby allies. The final skill, Eterra's Blessing, provides a lot of healing to nearby allies and minions.

Primalist: Squirrel Beastmaster

Where the Shaman build is all about trees and totems, this Squirrel Beastmaster build loves summoning an army of bushy tailed rodents. Though funnily enough, the skill to summon said squirrels is Summon Wolf, thanks to the Herald of the Scurry unique helmet. Without it, you're just a plain old Wolf Beastmaster (which is, admittedly, still pretty strong). Cast your companion ability - Sciurine Rage for squirrels - to aggravate them, then summon Frenzy Totems to increase that even further.

Warcry is a skill that knocks back nearby enemies, so use Fury Leap to get yourself into the thick of the action and unleash Warcry to give yourself some breathing room. Swipe is the skill that will be your primary source of damage though, as you can cast it repeatedly to hit all enemies in front of you. This is a pretty simple build to run and has a high damage ceiling.

Rogue: Ballista Falconer

The Rogue is typically someone who operates stealthily, utilizing traps and other tools to their advantage, and our best Rogue builds follow suit. The first of which is this Ballista Falconer build that combines the mighty power of a summoned ballista - an ancient missile weapon that can launch huge bolts - with summoned falcon companions to fight alongside you. However, the ballistas are summoned by Explosive Trap, which must be a zero mana cost skill to ensure it generates mana instead thanks to the Sapping Strikes node.

Alongside Explosive Trap and Falcon Strikes, you also have Dive Bomb which instructs your falcon to dive bomb the ground at high speed, dealing area-of-effect damage to all enemies in the vicinity. You should equip a Decoy on your hotbar that will taunt and distract enemies since you don't need Ballista there though, and Smoke Bomb is your movement skill, blinding enemies and granting you haste. Overall, the Rogue Ballista Falconer build is a jack-of-all-trades sort of build, with high specific-target DPS and lots of AoE, you just need to stay mobile and use Decoys wisely.

Rogue: Shadow Bladedancer

This Rogue build leans even heavier into the stealth aspect of being a Rogue, with much faster movement. Umbral Blades is the main DPS dealer here, launching a series of shadow blades into your target, all guaranteed to deal critical hits. You've also got Synchronized Strike which sort of doubles as a movement skill, as you leap forward and cast shadow blades all around you.

Shadow Cascade is another circular blade-based attack, but your actual movement skill, Shift, will proc it every time you use it so you can replace it with a Decoy on your hotbar. Shift is a simple dash forward but the main bonus is that it gives you invulnerability for a second or two, while this build also uses Smoke Bomb, and thanks to the Smoke Blades node, grants additional damage while you're inside the smoke. This build is a little trickier to manage than the Ballista Falconer, but you are quick and can deal some ridiculous damage.

Sentinel: Nova Paladin

The Sentinel is possibly the best class to choose for ARPG newbies, as both of these best Sentinel builds are easy to learn and very consistent. The first is the Nova Paladin, which uses Hammer Throw to send out a flurry of hammers in all directions thanks to the Enra's Technique and Avatar of the Spire nodes. However, before you send them out, you want to cast Sigils of Hope a few times, which means your attacks deal extra damage and you have 30% extra health regeneration.

On the support side of things, you've got Holy Aura which gives 30% increased damage and +15% elemental resistance for you and your nearby allies. You'll want this active pretty much at all times because with the right nodes, it can grow significantly. There are also two movement skills here: Smite, when paired with the Descend node, teleports you to wherever the smite lands, while Volatile Reversal is sort of a reverse movement skill. Cast it to return to wherever you were two seconds ago, reverting all health and mana changes, so when you master it, you can charge in with all your skills active, then cast Volatile Reversal to gain everything back instantly. In short, you can deal lots of AoE damage, especially from range, but it's best used when playing with others thanks to the support effects.

Sentinel: Manifest Armor Forge Guard

As mentioned, this is also a beginner friendly Sentinel build, but it features on single target DPS instead of AoE like the Nova Paladin. The Manifest Armor skill summons a companion made out of copies of your own armor, but with specific nodes, these stats can be grown much higher. Much like the other build, you've also got Sigils of Hope here for damage buffs, but this time you're focused on primarily using the Javelin skill to get into the thick of the battle by converting it to a movement skill with the Surprise Initiative node.

To deal the most damage, you want to be casting Shield Throw, but the trick here is to cast it directly at your Manifest Armor, because doing so causes an AoE cleave attack around the armor. When the shield ricochets, it triggers it again, so you can basically act like the puppet master, sitting back while the armor does the work. When you do need to get into the action, you've got Void Cleave to attack enemies directly in front of you. Additionally, with the right nodes, this can buff your Manifest Armor's DPS even further. This Sentinel build is much better for dealing with individual targets, so roll with this if you have a teammate with excellent AoE.

There you have it, 10 of the best builds in Last Epoch, with links to all of our dedicated class guides that dive even further into each build.