Offenses 101

Core Offensive Concepts

In Last Epoch, your damage output hinges on several key elements:

1. Skills:

   • Every class has access to active skills that deal damage (e.g., Fireball for Mage, Hammer Throw for Sentinel). You pick up to 5 skills to slot into your hotbar.

   • Skills can be specialized (unlocked at level 4+) and upgraded via a skill tree. For example, you might turn Fireball into an explosive AoE or add chaining effects.

   • Each skill has a base damage type (Physical, Fire, Cold, Lightning, Void, Necrotic, Poison) and scaling tags (e.g., "Spell," "Melee," "Minion").

2. Damage Types:

   • There are 7 damage types, each with unique interactions:

     • Physical: Raw, untyped damage (e.g., weapon swings).

     • Fire/Cold/Lightning: Elemental damage, often tied to spells or procs.

     • Void/Necrotic: Dark, esoteric damage, common with Acolyte or Void Knight builds.

     • Poison: Damage over time (DoT), stacks for ramping damage.

   • Enemies have resistances to specific types, so matching your damage to their weaknesses (or penetrating resistances) is key.

3. Attributes:

   • Your primary offensive stats scale your skills:

     • Strength: Boosts Physical damage and melee-focused builds (Sentinel, Primalist).

     • Dexterity: Enhances Physical damage, critical strikes, and bow/thrown weapon skills (Rogue, Primalist).

     • Intelligence: Increases Elemental damage and spell power (Mage, Acolite).

     • Attunement: Improves Elemental, minion, and DoT damage (Primalist, Mage).

   • Each point in an attribute typically adds a small % boost to relevant damage (e.g., +4% per point of Intelligence for spell damage).

4. Critical Strikes & Multipliers:

   • Crit Chance: Determines how often you land a critical hit (base 5% for most skills).

   • Crit Multiplier: Increases damage on crits (base 100%, meaning crits deal double damage).

   • Gear and passives can boost both (e.g., "+20% Critical Strike Chance" or "+50% Critical Strike Multiplier").

5. Attack/Cast Speed:

   • Faster attacks or casts = more damage per second (DPS). Look for "Increased Attack Speed" or "Cast Speed" on gear.

6. Damage Scaling:

   • Skills scale with either Weapon Damage (melee/attack skills) or flat Added Damage (spells/minions).

   • Example: A sword with "10-20 Physical Damage" directly affects Hammer Throw, while "+10 Cold Damage" boosts a spell like Ice Barrage.

Building Offense: How It Works

To maximize your offensive potential, you’ll combine these elements based on your class and playstyle. Here’s the process:

1. Pick a Damage Focus:

   • Choose a skill and damage type to center your build around (e.g., Poison Flurry for Rogue, Lightning Nova for Mage).

   • Check the skill’s tags to see what boosts it (e.g., "Bow" + "Physical" for Flurry means Dexterity and bow damage matter).

2. Stack Relevant Stats:

   • For a Physical melee build: Prioritize Strength, weapon damage, attack speed, and crit.

   • For an Elemental spellcaster: Focus on Intelligence, cast speed, and "+Elemental Damage."

   • Use gear prefixes/suffixes like "+20% Fire Damage" or "+15% Critical Strike Chance."

3. Passives & Mastery:

   • Invest in your class’s passive trees (e.g., Sentinel’s Forge Guard for melee, Mage’s Sorcerer for spells).

   • Pick a Mastery (unlocked mid-game) to refine your offense (e.g., Paladin for holy Physical damage, Spellblade for melee + spells).

   • Example: The Primalist’s "Totem Damage" node boosts summoned totems’ offense.

4. Skill Tree Customization:

   • Spend points in your specialized skill trees to amplify damage. For Fireball, you might add "Ignite Chance" (DoT effect) or "Increased Area of Effect."

5. Crafting & Gear:

   • Use the crafting system to add offensive affixes to gear (e.g., "+Fire Damage to Spells" or "Increased Critical Strike Multiplier").

   • Look for Uniques that synergize with your build (e.g., "Ashen Crown" for Necrotic minions).

Example Builds

Here’s how offenses might look for different playstyles:

1. Physical Melee (Sentinel - Void Knight):

   • Skill: Devouring Orb (Void damage, scales with weapon).

   • Stats: Strength, attack speed, crit chance/multiplier.

   • Gear: High-damage two-handed weapon, "+Void Damage" affixes.

   • Passives: Void Knight tree nodes like "Abyssal Endurance" for more damage.

2. Elemental Caster (Mage - Sorcerer):

   • Skill: Lightning Blast (Lightning damage, spell tag).

   • Stats: Intelligence, cast speed, mana regen.

   • Gear: "+Lightning Damage to Spells," "+Cast Speed" on wands.

   • Skill Tree: Add chain lightning or shock chance.

3. Minion DoT (Acolyte - Lich):

   • Skill: Summon Skeleton + Poison procs.

   • Stats: Intelligence, Attunement, minion damage.

   • Gear: "+Minion Poison Chance," "+Necrotic Damage."

   • Passives: Lich tree for minion buffs and DoTs.

Advanced Offense Tips

• Penetration: Enemy resistances reduce your damage. Stack "Fire Penetration" or similar to bypass them.

• Ailments: Effects like Ignite (Fire DoT), Bleed (Physical DoT), or Shock (Lightning crit boost) amplify damage over time or on hit.

• More vs. Increased Damage:

  • "Increased Damage" (e.g., +50%) stacks additively with itself.

  • "More Damage" (e.g., +20% More) is multiplicative and rarer—prioritize it.

• Synergy: Match your skill’s tags with gear/passives. A "Melee" skill won’t benefit from "+Spell Damage."

Putting It Together

Let’s say you’re a Primalist building around Tornado (Physical + spell tag):

1. Pump Attunement for base damage.

2. Grab gear with "+Physical Damage to Spells" and "+Cast Speed."

3. Spec Tornado’s tree for more projectiles or AoE.

4. Add passives from the Shaman mastery for spell/physical boosts.

5. Craft "+Critical Strike Chance" on gloves to land big hits.

Your Tornadoes will shred enemies with layered Physical damage, scaled by your choices.