Last Epoch - Action RPG

If it's a video game it goes here.

Moderators: LawBeefaroni, Arcanis, $iljanus

User avatar
KDH
Posts: 1309
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 2:04 pm
Location: California

Last Epoch - Action RPG

Post by KDH »

.
... By Eleventh Hour Games
.

Last Epoch .. A loot-based Action RPG featuring time travel, character building, crafting, and an item system that guarantees endless replayability.
.
... kickstarter ... Demo Available .. Pre-Alpha

All or nothing. This project will only be funded if it reaches its goal by Thu, May 17 2018 6:05 am EDT. ... 1048 backers .. $52,097 pledged of $210,000 goal
.
Spoiler:
. Enlarge Image
.
Enlarge Image
.
Enlarge Image
.
Enlarge Image
.
Enlarge Image
.

... <--- Rhyyker
... <--- Pohx Kappa
The planned pay model for Last Epoch upon release is for the game to be free to all players until level 20 with restrictions on player interaction in order to deter spamming. To advance beyond level 20, players may spend $14.99 to unlock the rest of the game's content and full social features! These restrictions on free players will go a long way to deter spam and botting accounts, which will help keep the game’s community and economy healthy. This one-time payment will be all that a player will have to spend to have the complete Last Epoch experience and be on the same footing as other players.
Last edited by LawBeefaroni on Wed Feb 21, 2024 4:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Title update by request
.
Ain't nobody got time for that
.
User avatar
rittchard
Posts: 1664
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:16 pm

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by rittchard »

Hey, there's actually a thread for this!!

After being a bit disappointed with the Warhammer Chaosbane beta, and still impatiently clamoring for the Grim Dawn expansion, I remembered this little gem from a year ago.

https://lastepochgame.com/

The game is proceeding along nicely in Alpha, and there is also a free demo you can try which I believe is a few builds behind. I remember playing it a long while ago and I think the current alpha content is quite different, but my memory is fairly hazy. Similar to other early access type of games you can get alpha access with a early $ pledge (preorder).

In any event, this game definitely scratches the HNS-LNL-ARPG (hack and slash, loot and level) itch much better than Chaosbane did. There's a lot more customization feel from the getgo, and even this early you can see you will be making a lot of choices as to how you want to specialize. There will be 5 base classes, and each will have 3 mastery classes. You have a limited amount of skills you can have active at a time, and as you level you can choose some of the skills to focus on. By focus on, I mean they have their own branching tree of customization. So for instance the simple summon wolf spell can be specialized to add more wolves, or make each wolf stronger, or add retaliation, etc etc. There's also a passive skill tree of your own that you can spend points in to unlock more skills and specialize.

Loot drops are your standard fare with multiple rarities, but there's a pretty cool customization/craft system that looks to be kind of a hybrid between Titan Quest/Grim Dawn and Diablo 3. You get drops that add prefixes or suffixes, and then you can apply these to different pieces of equipment. It looks like it could be a really nice system, perhaps simpler than the other games but more practical and functional.

I realize different people and companies have different definitions and expectations of an "alpha" but this is definitely one of the best, most playable "alpha" builds I've ever tried.

If you are in the market for a game of this type, it certainly wouldn't hurt to give the (free) demo a try.
User avatar
rittchard
Posts: 1664
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:16 pm

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by rittchard »

This game has evolved a ton since the first time I tried it and the latest Beta feels like a fairly polished game. Of course it's still in beta officially so it's missing some key elements.

I believe the current price of entry is $35 (Steam Early Access), so you may want to wait til it's further along or see if they release a demo again. I don't know if the long term plan is to be free to play or not, I kind of lost track.

Anyway, it's a hack and slash ARPG on track to competing in the Diablo space. I'd say in terms of complexity/build variance and item systems, it lands somewhere between Diablo 3 and Path of Exile. They are taking ideas left and right from all the big names, so you'll likely recognize gameplay elements from all of them. One of my favorites is the "idol" system which is essentially like Diablo 2's charms, except it's a separate box from your inventory and grows from quest completions. The crafting is simple and useful, so useful that it feels like it makes drops less useful, but of course this is the kind of thing that needs to get ironed out in beta.

The biggest thing missing right now, aside from a couple of classes, story conclusion and full endgame, is multiplayer. And of course that's a huge missing feature. If they can pull it off, as well as a decent economy and market/trade system, I'd say the skies the limit. That's no easy feat, and really no one has done it well. Now if you played tons of Grim Dawn and Titan Quest solo, it won't really affect you, and if that's your style, I'd say it's already good enough.

Devs seem very active, I think I've even seen them chatting online, so there's still time to influence the final product. Most people seem to say it's better than Wolcen, which I thought was pretty good myself. I'd probably agree it seems to have more depth and more potential, but only time will tell.

I've now tried out all 4 available core classes, and messed around with stuff in most of the available subclasses (contrary to what it may seem, you CAN mix and match even after choosing an "ascendancy" - your core subclass is fixed but you can still invest in other trees which is really cool). The amount of variation and replay value definitely seems good, even in it's current state.
User avatar
rittchard
Posts: 1664
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:16 pm

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by rittchard »

There's a 20% off sale for Cyber Monday today through various storefronts:

https://forum.lastepochgame.com/t/cyber ... -off/26553

Also coming on Friday 12/4 is a new patch featuring the Rogue class as well as a new logo and website:

https://forum.lastepochgame.com/t/rogue ... done/26492

https://forum.lastepochgame.com/t/all-n ... 2020/26534

Note the game is still in Beta/Early Access and is $35 to purchase ($28 today), and is still lacking Multiplayer. But if that doesn't bug you and you are a fan of the loot and level genre, this one is something special. It's much less complex and easier to get into than Path of Exile, but has better build depth than Diablo 3. The story/campaign is not at the Grim Dawn level, but instead leans more toward replaying with different character builds. If you like experimenting with different class builds, skills and weapons, etc, this game has a very friendly system that encourages replay. I've now played about 20 different builds, and they each have a unique feel to them (obviously with some overlap). There's one where you run around and everything around you just dies from poison/decay. One where you have a single pet that machine gun-like rips everything apart. Another where you turn into a were-polar bear and slaughter everything yourself. A caster with fireballs that fill the screen, a spellblade, that cuts things to pieces and while regenerating mana at the same time. Critical builds, totem builds, 50+ ghosts, 20 skeletons, multi-pets, etc etc. They've really done a great job with build variety and making sure many builds are viable, from melee to caster to hybrid to pet, there should be something for everyone. With the next patch we finally get bows and dual wielding so that's going to open up a whole new set of builds.
User avatar
rittchard
Posts: 1664
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:16 pm

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by rittchard »

Wow I haven’t updated this in over 2 years!

If you bought the game some time in the past and haven’t touched it in a while, there is an event starting on Thursday, Feb 2nd you can join in on but you need to do a signup via Steam. I think you get pretty much all the content available to current testers, maybe some endgame stuff will be disabled…

https://events.lastepoch.com/event/login

Another event open to anyone (basically an open beta server test) will happen in a couple weeks but it will have very little content, probably just the first couple of Acts I think.

Multiplayer functionality FINALLY launches officially with the 0.9 patch on March 9th:

https://forum.lastepoch.com/t/multiplay ... 2023/51128

Some caveats: after all this time, the devs decided NOT to implement a true Trade/Market system, which will likely be a big disappointment to many. They are implementing a very confined Trade system which you can read about, basically you can only “gift” items to people you are currently grouped with or something like that. Besides that they haven’t really added much in the way of MP bells and whistles, so the MP experience is essentially just in the actual gameplay of having up to 4 people play the game together. It’s a big disappointment for some of us, but it’s still a fantastic game in its own right IMHO.
User avatar
rittchard
Posts: 1664
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:16 pm

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by rittchard »

FREE Open Beta this weekend if anyone wants to demo LE. It's limited in terms of content but you can try the currently available classes and the (rudimentary) multiplayer. You just need to click on the link to opt-in and you should be able to download a special beta test client.

In the game use "H" (social functions) to add friends names to group. It's a little clunky but a good start. If you already have the game and stopped at the last patch, there have been some good changes and the game is looking much more polished.

https://forum.lastepoch.com/t/invite-yo ... team/51995
User avatar
rittchard
Posts: 1664
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:16 pm

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by rittchard »

A little more hype for Last Epoch - Convergence week!

MP capability finally releases for everyone on Thursday March 9th, and they are finally converging their single and multi player builds into one. It’s not a full blown MP experience, but at least you can play with friends fairly easily. So if you were holding out for that, the game is looking pretty good. A lot of polish the past year on top of the MP functionality as well, so worth another look if you tried it and stopped last year. Hopefully this release will go well the next few weeks and they can finally focus on the remaining content for “full” release.

Also, lots of updates and detail in the News section if you are interested in the nitty gritty:

https://forum.lastepoch.com/c/news/64
User avatar
rittchard
Posts: 1664
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:16 pm

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by rittchard »

And some massive patch notes just released…

https://forum.lastepoch.com/t/the-conve ... es/51975/2
Madmarcus
Posts: 3609
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:18 am
Location: Just outside your peripheral vision

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by Madmarcus »

I picked this up a couple of days ago. I didn't have anything to scratch my ARPG hack and slash looting itch and I'd heard good things. Plus while it wasn't on sale it did keep me from buying a number of other on sale Steam games that would have cost just as much but would have fed the backlog.

I'd tried it at the free weekend so I wasn't going in blind. Fun successor to Grim Dawn although I find many of the maps to be somewhat small; I worry that once I get a little higher in level I'll be constantly running the same few maps. I realize that's the end result in all of these games but in Grim Dawn I felt like much of the path to higher levels didn't involve much repetitive grinding other than the Cronley's Hideout.

Build diversity looks good although I have barely scratched the surface of my Rogue so far let alone actually started with alts.
User avatar
rittchard
Posts: 1664
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:16 pm

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by rittchard »

The maps in LE are definitely relatively small in scale. The good news is that there are a lot of different locales throughout the campaign, and these are later somewhat randomly utilized in the endgame. It makes for quicker sessions which can be a good or bad thing depending on your perspective. Ultimately the game is focused more on creating the “perfect” build (whatever that means to you, whether it’s for farming or for fun) and less so on the content itself (a la Grim Dawn). They’ve done a lot to polish the main campaign but it seems like the majority of regular players aren’t really interested, I always see people wanting to skip to the endgame as fast as possible. I don’t really understand that mentality since to me, it’s all looting and leveling and I can do it in the main campaign just as well as the endgame areas. Personally I enjoy repeating campaign content with new/different builds/classes since it gives me a fixed point gauge as to how much more or less or different my new creation is.

After seeing D4 beta this past weekend, I’m fairly confident/certain that LE’s skill system still shines as one of, if not THE best, in terms of allowing interesting/creative diversity within a fairly simple/compact system. Where other games seem to require multiple systems inter-mingling to allow for diversity, LE does it all within a single skill tree for each skill plus passive trees (and of course items). While it’s still early to tell exactly what D4 will be like, LE allows you to do all sorts of creative things and change skills up as well as mingle them with other skills. Often a single node in a skill tree can change up the way you play, which is something I really enjoy.

Here’s my favorite recent example with a Necro (I found the main idea in a build guide and then modified it for my own taste):
Spoiler:
I choose the Skeletal Mage skill as one of my specializations. One direction is to get as many of them as possible, I think the max is 4 or 5 without special items. The other direction is to go with a single “Archmage” which is what I like to do. I also grab a few other nodes and turn it into a single Arch-Cryomancer. So you can immediately see the diversity allowed, in one case you might have 5 skeletons shooting fireballs, in the other it’s one mage firing cold bursts. There’s also an option to turn them into melee Knights which I haven’t tried before. By focusing on minion cast speed everywhere I can (passives and other nodes), I can have my one dude shooting waves of ice bolts all over the place. That alone is a pretty fun specialization, but it gets even cooler when you add another skill into the mix. The Dread Shade can be used as a super buff to minions (as well as other things). In some cases you can throw it on multiple minions but it quickly drains their lives and there’s a whole playstyle that goes along with that. In this case, though, you can sacrifice some other things and only cast it on a single minion and with no health loss. A few more nodes and you can make it so it ALWAYS crits! This takes our Arch-Cryomancer minion to another level. Cast the buff on him and he goes crazy freezing and critting everything around him at an insane rate (the buff also includes additional cast speed boost). It’s really cool (no pun intended).
User avatar
rittchard
Posts: 1664
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:16 pm

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by rittchard »

Some updates on Last Epoch. Official 1.0 release coming next year: February 21st. They are finishing up the last couple of class specializations (Warlock and Falconer) and getting the new trade/bazaar system in place for release.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app ... ?l=english
User avatar
rittchard
Posts: 1664
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:16 pm

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by rittchard »

Time for a pimp bump for my favorite ARPG! The 1.0 release is just around the corner, next Wednesday the 21st! I'm cautiously excited as I really believe in these developers, but I'm also leery that pretty much every mulitplayer game has had problems at release. Maybe I'm over-estimating the potential server load, but it will be interesting to see. They just announced over 1 million sales, so even a small percentage of that showing up at the same time could be difficult to manage.

User avatar
rittchard
Posts: 1664
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:16 pm

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by rittchard »

Final PIMP before 1.0 releases on Wednesday!!!

Really cool "technical trailer":



Patch 1.0 Notes and a nice video overview by the Lead Dev:

https://forum.lastepoch.com/t/last-epoc ... otes/62536

There is no guild system at the moment but a number of The Wanderers will be playing at launch. If you are interested in playing together or have questions or are into discussing builds or trading or anything like that, send me a DM and I will get you a link to our Discord server. Unfortunately we don't have a dedicated forum any more, but the Discord is always very active particularly around any new games launching.

Hope to see you soon!!!!
User avatar
Daehawk
Posts: 63530
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:11 am

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by Daehawk »

Wasn't this supposed to come out in 2020?

I thought it looked very interesting but had forgot about it.

EDIT: Ok that last video you posted looked a lot better than the ones at the start of this thread from 2018.
--------------------------------------------
I am Dyslexic of Borg, prepare to have your ass laminated.
I guess Ray Butts has ate his last pancake.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/daehawk
"Has high IQ. Refuses to apply it"
Torfish
Posts: 871
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2005 2:29 pm
Location: Somewhere

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by Torfish »

I'll be playing. I bought the game yesterday and jumped in for a couple of levels to try it out before launch. Hope it's good or even great. End game seems fleshed out which is good to see.

Looks like you need to make three decisions at the start or close to the start of the game:

1) Pick a class to play
2) Pick a sub-class @lvl 15
3) Pick your Faction
User avatar
Hyena
Posts: 2279
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 4:14 am
Location: San Antonio, TX

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by Hyena »

Torfish wrote: Mon Feb 19, 2024 6:22 pm I'll be playing. I bought the game yesterday and jumped in for a couple of levels to try it out before launch. Hope it's good or even great. End game seems fleshed out which is good to see.

Looks like you need to make three decisions at the start or close to the start of the game:

1) Pick a class to play
2) Pick a sub-class @lvl 15
3) Pick your Faction
Same. Started a necromancer and WOW that opening blood spell is powerful. Takes out groups at a time after a few points have been added. Combine that with a few skeleton archers and a warrior, and I haven't been touched yet. Then I started a druid-type and have enjoyed it so far as well. Want to try the falconer when full release hits, but I think I'll also enjoy my necro for a while...
"You laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at you because you're all the same." ~Jonathan Davis

"The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives." ~Robert M. Hutchins
User avatar
Skinypupy
Posts: 20335
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 10:12 am
Location: Utah

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by Skinypupy »

I picked it up this morning and will be jumping in later today. Looks pretty awesome, been a long time since I played an ARPG on PC (last one was Grim Dawn, I think).
When darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come.
User avatar
Daehawk
Posts: 63530
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:11 am

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by Daehawk »

I want it but will have to wait on money as usual..or a sale..and it being new and all that will be a while I reckon.

The necro skeletons looks a lot better than the Diablo 4 ones.
--------------------------------------------
I am Dyslexic of Borg, prepare to have your ass laminated.
I guess Ray Butts has ate his last pancake.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/daehawk
"Has high IQ. Refuses to apply it"
Madmarcus
Posts: 3609
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:18 am
Location: Just outside your peripheral vision

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by Madmarcus »

Online servers are overloaded and down.
Jaddison
Posts: 1191
Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2010 4:24 pm

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by Jaddison »

Madmarcus wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2024 2:03 pm Online servers are overloaded and down.
Good to see so many companies embracing the lessons learned of other launches
User avatar
Skinypupy
Posts: 20335
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 10:12 am
Location: Utah

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by Skinypupy »

Madmarcus wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2024 2:03 pm Online servers are overloaded and down.
And it apparently doesn't kick you back out if it can't connect, it simply sits and keeps trying to load. I've tried twice and the loading screen just spun for 15-20 minutes until I killed the program. It will start a game with an off-line character

The game refuses to switch to Fullscreen for me. I also tried exiting the game and it hard locked.

Not off to a great start, tbh.
When darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come.
Madmarcus
Posts: 3609
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:18 am
Location: Just outside your peripheral vision

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG

Post by Madmarcus »

In this case my time with the early release helps. I already know the game is good. I'm fine with waiting a few days to get things sorted out. I hope others feel that same way but I wonder if they people who are currently pushing it to close to the top of the best sellers on Steam will be so patient.
Torfish
Posts: 871
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2005 2:29 pm
Location: Somewhere

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG

Post by Torfish »

It's about six hours since release and I still can't play the on-line version. :( Haven't been able to play once yet.
Madmarcus
Posts: 3609
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:18 am
Location: Just outside your peripheral vision

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG

Post by Madmarcus »

At 6pm Eastern I got in and ran a mage through for half an hour. I've logged out to eat but it seems to be working now.
User avatar
baelthazar
Posts: 4365
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2007 10:12 am
Location: Indiana

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG - (Kickstarter)

Post by baelthazar »

Skinypupy wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2024 5:08 pm
The game refuses to switch to Fullscreen for me. I also tried exiting the game and it hard locked.
Did you do Alt-Enter? That worked for me.
User avatar
Skinypupy
Posts: 20335
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 10:12 am
Location: Utah

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG

Post by Skinypupy »

I played the first couple hours and am a little surprised at how much it's NOT grabbing me. I'm typically a sucker for ARPG's, but this one is leaving me entirely cold so far.

The world seems very dull and lifeless. There's very little interaction with the environment (outside of the occasional breakable barrel) and it all just feels incredibly static and boring. I've come across 2 treasure chests in 2 hours and that's the only thing I can interact with. In other games where you have small touches like destructible scenery or items you can interact with, there's absolutely nothing in Last Epoch outside of mowing through mobs. Every NPC is simply rooted in place with minimal animations. The whole theme feels very much like "Ye Olde Generic Fantasy" without much personality at all. The only "unique" mobs I've seen are repeated over and over again and often don't even drop any loot. There's just nothing interesting about the world at all.

The skill system looks like it might be cool, although I'm a bit baffled at where I should be spending my points. If every single skill has it's own unique skill tree, should I try to buff up an early skill, or just hold off on doing anything until the better later skills get unlocked? Will probably need to do some reading up on builds to avoid analysis/paralysis.

Maybe I'm just not in the right mood to play tonight, but my first impressions are mostly that I'm just...bored. Which isn't at all what I expected. :?
When darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come.
Madmarcus
Posts: 3609
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:18 am
Location: Just outside your peripheral vision

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG

Post by Madmarcus »

The skill trees pull me in. You gain points fast enough and respecing is easy enough that I like trying new combinations. Even without a loot filter active it does feel like there is fairly little loot at low levels but there are more chests and shrines when you get to the End of Time and it's connected nodes.
Torfish
Posts: 871
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2005 2:29 pm
Location: Somewhere

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG

Post by Torfish »

Tried playing this morning hoping they fixed the on-line zone loading. Unfortunately, they did not. Still can't load into new zones. I'll try again once they post something that indicates they fixed the problem.

I'm not interested in off-line mode. I want player interaction and a feel of a living world.
User avatar
GreenGoo
Posts: 42239
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 10:46 pm
Location: Ottawa, ON

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG

Post by GreenGoo »

Youtuber I enjoy had relatively supportive things to say. He's a crpg guy mostly, but DII is one of his favourite games, and he said the game was DII with lots of tiny innovations and newish mechanics, the skill tree being particularly interesting.

It might be time to play another arpg. I enjoy them, but pretty much only every 5 years or so.
User avatar
Skinypupy
Posts: 20335
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 10:12 am
Location: Utah

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG

Post by Skinypupy »

GreenGoo wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2024 10:49 am Youtuber I enjoy had relatively supportive things to say.
That’s the weird thing. I almost always love ARPG’s and this seemed like a can’t-miss. Everyone else seems to be really loving it, but I just found the entire world to be SO incredibly dull and boring that I can’t get excited about it at all.

There must be something I’m missing here.
When darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come.
User avatar
GreenGoo
Posts: 42239
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 10:46 pm
Location: Ottawa, ON

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG

Post by GreenGoo »

I don't think you're missing anything. The quick impressions video I watched mentioned that the story was the weakest part of the game, but he also said that the story is always the weakest part of any arpg. If you're here for a story, this might be the wrong place.

Yes, Diablo does a good job of giving context and background to its games, but other noteworthy mentions are Titan Quest and Grim Dawn, of which I remember exactly zero of their stories. Both were excellent arpgs, imo.
User avatar
baelthazar
Posts: 4365
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2007 10:12 am
Location: Indiana

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG

Post by baelthazar »

Skinypupy wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2024 10:57 am
GreenGoo wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2024 10:49 am Youtuber I enjoy had relatively supportive things to say.
That’s the weird thing. I almost always love ARPG’s and this seemed like a can’t-miss. Everyone else seems to be really loving it, but I just found the entire world to be SO incredibly dull and boring that I can’t get excited about it at all.

There must be something I’m missing here.
I am not seeing anything here that is different from D4 or Grim Dawn. In fact, at least this world is colorful, whereas I think D4 feels like the devs only had access to the brown and gray areas of the palette. Enemy variety is a problem with all ARPGs, so that seems similar to me. I DO agree that loot drops are sparse, but I guess no loot is better than tons of crappy loot. The loot drops in the early game are also not overly exciting, and D4 ramped up quicker, at least that is my perception.

What I am digging a lot, by the time I have reached level 8, are the specialization trees. I am pouring over which direction I want to go as the larger "hexagons" in the trees drastically change how skills go. I am playing an Acolyte (after playing a Necro in D4) and I feel like my control is a lot better of what I can do. That really draws me in.
User avatar
GreenGoo
Posts: 42239
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 10:46 pm
Location: Ottawa, ON

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG

Post by GreenGoo »

No respecs, which I find a bit heavy handed in 2024. Yes, plenty that came before (diablo, specifically) had no respecs allowed, but I feel like if you make it rare and/or costly, that allows mistakes (in experimenting with character builds) without losing the original feel for decisions being important.

Plenty of people want unlimited respecs, and that's fine, but I'm more in the middle. This game has none. For now. :wink:
User avatar
Reemul
Posts: 2744
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 4:39 pm

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG

Post by Reemul »

It has full respec across the board except for the Mastery choice but you can still respec what you pick within it, you can also respec and chanegs the skills you specialise in and your main class as well.

SO no respec is not actually anywhere near correct
User avatar
GreenGoo
Posts: 42239
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 10:46 pm
Location: Ottawa, ON

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG

Post by GreenGoo »

Fair enough.

Not having played the game, I was going by 3rd party information and had no reason to believe it wasn't accurate. Perhaps I misunderstood. In any case, consider me corrected.
User avatar
Reemul
Posts: 2744
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 4:39 pm

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG

Post by Reemul »

Ah apologies, i didnt realise you hadn't played it.

It has loads of respec but if you pick a Rogue you can spend points in it that can repecced but at level 20ish you pick a mastery from a choice of 3. once you pick that mastery you cant swap it for another but you can respec within the tree itself.

Also you can pick skills and they each have their own skill tree and they can also be respecced as well. Loads and loads of options.

But as a class once you pick your mastery you are stuck with it. That would mean 3 play throughs per class to try em all.
Madmarcus
Posts: 3609
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:18 am
Location: Just outside your peripheral vision

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG

Post by Madmarcus »

In addition the mastery isn't completely exclusive. You have three possible choices. You can freely put points into the one you pick and as you place more points you will unlock new skills. In the two that you don't pick you can keep putting passive points but you are blocked out of the higher tier skills and might be limited as to how many passive points you can put in.

For example if I went Mage -> Runemaster I could still take the Flame Reeve skill from Spellblade if I put 5 passive points into Spellblade but I'd never be able to get the Firebrand skill.
Torfish
Posts: 871
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2005 2:29 pm
Location: Somewhere

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG

Post by Torfish »

Tonight I was able to play on-line pretty much uninterrupted. No errors or spinning. It still takes a few seconds to zone in. Hope that gets better.

Got myself up to level 7 before shutting down for the night.
User avatar
GreenGoo
Posts: 42239
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 10:46 pm
Location: Ottawa, ON

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG

Post by GreenGoo »

Reemul wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2024 5:47 pm Ah apologies, i didnt realise you hadn't played it.
No need to apologize. Clearing up misinformation is something I think everyone should do. :)
User avatar
rittchard
Posts: 1664
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:16 pm

Re: Last Epoch - Action RPG

Post by rittchard »

I have hundreds of hours in this game and honestly I can't really tell you much about the "world" or the "lore" or the "story" lol. If you are playing primarily for that, this may not be the right game for you; this is more of a spiritual successor to Diablo 2, I'd say. Where it excels is in what I would consider the best ARPG skill system out there, meshed with possibly the best crafting system (for an ARPG) as well. They are deceptively simple to get into, and allow for tons of experimentation and customization. Of course you can just follow a published build and roll through the game following that, but for me, a lot of the fun is in experimenting, and seeing how your choices matter (or don't), then adjusting one way with crafting/loot (or swapping skills or changing up passives) when you encounter something you hadn't planned for.

I may have posted something like this before, but here is just a small sample of customization from my current run through. I decided to base things on an old build I had worked on a couple years ago, to try to make as much of a "healer/support" as I could within the game, while still being able to solo confidently. The beginning is slow, I just used whatever was given to me like the wolf companion and Gathering Storm. After a while I realized the original offense skill I used in my build (ice thorns I think) had actually been replaced by Gathering Storm, so I was like uhhhh now what? Then I got a unique 2H axe drop which looked pretty strong at so low level, so I just went with it for offense and found it pretty strong. I noticed some nodes that synergized with Ravens, which I knew I was planning to use. I also noticed it could be converted to cold/freeze, which I wanted in order to add CC to a party (ice thorns used to this in the build). I took the main healing skill, Eterra's Blessing as soon as I could. I would not recommend this to most players as a healing spell is not the best for leveling. However I knew it would be a little slow going to I went with it. The nice thing is you can tweak it to also add buffs to either you or your companions (like resistances and Haste for faster casting) or convert it to a Heal over Time. Also for soloing you can use it to heal your pet or yourself. Soon I got my Ravens, which I hoped to rely on for a good damage boost - however going with the build I had in mind, I diverted some points to make them deliver an emergency heal. They do a pretty good job, and you can choose to invest points to make them able to do it more frequently. Every point matters - do I want a frequent heal, a stronger heal, etc. - all the while knowing every point in defense is at a cost to putting it in offense. Eventually I pick my advanced class, and I pick... Beastmaster! Not what I originally intended, but again, this game gives you a lot of things to choose from. This class gives me an extra companion as a baseline, and I know I'm gonna want that later. If I spend a ton of points in the tree, I can get another companion for a total of 4 in the endgame build. But for now, I need to get through the levels, so I invest the majority of my passive points in the Druid passives. Kind of weird, but I need all the boosts to healing and spell damage I can get there. Again, I get to make interesting choices at every turn...

I can keep going, but I think the point is that the synergies in this game are just outstanding, and they are between skills, between idols (kind of like D2 runes), the passive skill trees, and of course all the crazy loot. They recently added special passive skill bonuses in the tree if you put enough points into a given passive. Some of the classes aren't as fleshed out as others, but in general you should be able to find and define a play style unique to your own liking. The amount of customization is just crazy and fun to mess around with if you are into that sort of thing.
Post Reply