Beginner Guide: Tips I Wish I Knew Before Playing

Master Last Epoch with our beginner's guide! Learn about realms, game modes, classes, campaign progression, leveling, and skills. Start your Eterra adventure right!

Welcome to the Last Epoch Beginners Guide, marking your first steps in the world of Eterra! Last Epoch offers a rich variety of character builds and gameplay options. If you're new to the world of Eterra, check out our Build Guides Section and consider starting with a Leveling Build. Our Leveling Builds are designed to be accessible and effective without requiring high-end gear and provide an easy way to cruise smoothly through the campaign.

Getting Started

If you are an ARPG veteran (especially if you're coming from Path of Exile or Diablo 4), there's a lot of familiar mechanics in Last Epoch. The first thing to do is choose your Realm, Game Mode and optional Challenges:

Offline / Online

• Online: A server authoritative environment, which let's you play with other players and trade. You have a maximum amount of 20 online Character slots.
• Offline: Requires no internet connection. A fully offline experience, with no limits on how many Characters you can create.

Choose between Online or Offline Play

Choose between Legacy and the current Cycle

Selecting a Realm

Cycle: Offers a fresh start in a new environment. There is a brand new economy and Leaderboards are reset.

Legacy: The place where you can access all of your previous characters and their stashes. No Leaderboards. Cycle characters are moved to the Legacy realm when the current Cycle ends. Cycles typically last around 3-4 months.

Game Mode

• Normal: The standard experience. Your characters persist through death. Last Epoch has no Experience penalty on death.
• Hardcore: for those seeking a true challenge, the Hardcore Game Mode introduces permadeath. Characters who die in Hardcore are sent to the Normal realm and can no longer compete on the Hardcore Ladder.

Challenges

• Solo Account Found: For Solo Players. Your Stash and Crafting Materials are shared between all of your Characters.
• Solo Character Found: For Solo Players. This Challenge is for those wanting a fresh start and a focus on a single Character at a time. Start with an empty Stash, no Crafting Materials, and no Gold. Often used for fair Races and Tournaments.

By far the most common way to play the game is the Normal Cycle Realm. Once a Cycle ends, your Characters and Stashes are migrated to the appropriate Legacy Realm. Think of this as a museum for your old builds!

Classes Overview

Before taking your first steps in the world of Eterra, you get to choose between 5 Classes; Mage, Sentinel, Acolyte, Primalist and Rogue. Then, early in the Campaign, you are presented with a choice of 3 Mastery. Don't worry if you're not sure about your Mastery choice at this point, you can respec it later if you want. You can also invest points into the bottom half of all the other Masteries in your Class. Therefore, you can still explore different abilities and tweak your character even though your mastery choice stays the same. Each Mastery gains access to a unique signature Skill. For example, the Sorcerer gets the iconic MeteorSkill. Pick carefully!

********Make sure to check our Class and Mastery Introduction to learn more about them!********

• [Resources
  
  Class and Mastery Introduction
  
  Once you've bought and installed the game, the first decision you need to make is what class you want to play. This decision is permanent for each character you make and choosing the right class for your playstyle can be the biggest determining factor in how much you enjoy your first experience...
  
  by amarathyMar 27, 2026](https://maxroll.gg/last-epoch/resources/class-and-mastery-introductions)

Campaign

Progressing through the Campaign in Last Epoch takes you across different timelines and eras within the world of Eterra. There are 9 Chapters to complete, and multiple Quest Rewards to obtain along the journey. These rewards include Passive Points, Idols Slots, and even Attribute Stats. Make sure to unlock them all as they provide your Character with Power!

Fortunately, there are more Quests than rewards, so you can obtain everything without having to do every single Quest. Press [m] to open the Map menu and look at your current rewards in the bottom left corner.

Quest objectives are displayed on the map, guiding you through the story.

************Make sure to check our Campaign Walkthrough to learn more about it!************

• [Resources
  
  Campaign Walkthrough
  
  Last Epoch's Campaign currently spans across 9 chapters through 5 different timelines, serving as an introduction to the game and its mechanics. This walkthrough guides you through each area, making sure you don't miss anything important for your progression. Please note that doing every chapter is...
  
  by terekMar 26, 2026](https://maxroll.gg/last-epoch/resources/campaign-walkthrough)

Leveling Up

Both you and your Character's Skills level up in Last Epoch. You gain Experience at the same rate, but each different Skill has its own Exp bar, which is separate from your Character's Exp bar. You gain Passive points with each level-up, allowing you to progress through the Passive Skill Tree. Chronomancer NPCs provide the option to respec Passive points at the cost of Gold. They are found throughout Eterra, most notably in The End of Time (the game's endgame hub). Look for an icon showing a head with its brain.

****************Check out our Experience Guide to learn more about it!****************

• [Resources
  
  Experience Guide
  
  Experience (aka Experience Points or 'XP') is the most fundamental form of progression in ARPGs and that's no different in Last Epoch. There are multiple ways of earning XP including quests, killing enemies and as rewards, so no matter what you do in Eterra you're probably gaining some. Once you...
  
  .gg/last-epoch/resources/experience-guide)

Skills

Skills in Last Epoch level up alongside your character. When a Skill accumulates enough Experience, an icon appears on the screen, indicating it's ready to level up. Each Skill has its own transformative Skill Tree, which massively influences the way it functions and the damage type it deals! Don't be afraid to experiment and play around with them, as respecs are only a few clicks away. Beware though, should you respec a Skill, you need to level it up again.

Each skill is associated with specific Tags that represent its properties. These Tags are crucial for understanding how to scale a Skill properly. Hovering your mouse over the Skill shows it's Scaling Tags, and pressing [Alt] reveals more detailed information about the actual scaling.

For a smooth experience, follow a reliable Build Guide to eliminate the guesswork in creating a functional build, letting you focus on learning the core mechanics of the game.

************************Check out ourPassives and Skillsand Respec guide to learn more about them!************************

• [Resources
  
  Passives and Skills
  
  Welcome to the Passives and Skills guide! Here we provide all the key information, tips and tricks to help you understand and maximize these game systems. Regardless of what build you decide to play, this article compiles everything you need to know about them. A character gains a Passive Point...
  
  by Lizard_IRLMar 27, 2026](https://maxroll.gg/last-epoch/resources/passives-and-skills)
• [Resources
  
  Respec Guide
  
  We all want to believe that we're always making the right choice for our build. But sometimes it doesn't work out that way; we need to make modifications or even change the build entirely, while not wanting to start a fresh character. That's where respeccing comes in. By respeccing, we can make...
  
  .gg/last-epoch/resources/respec-guide)