LizardIRL has been playing Last Epoch at a high level for years. He has invested a huge amount of time learning the game, theory crafting builds and making educational content. By the time LE Multiplayer launched, he already had thousands of hours driven by his competitive nature and desire to improve. His builds and min/maxing rules have shaped the meta, establishing him as a top build maker and theory crafter. LizardIRL livestreams his Rank 1 Arena pushes and has dominated both SC and HC ladders. Learn how to scale your Damage and Defense in the Explosive Thorn Totem Shaman Build to reach the different Endgame Activities like the Monolith, Dungeons and Arena.
Build Scaling
This Shaman uses permanent Spriggan Form and stacks Cast Speed related buffs to unleash explosive Totems against its enemies. It mainly deals Physical and Poison Minion Damage and aims to reach 100% Critical Strike Chance with Summon Thorn Totem. This build also has decent survivability thanks to the defensive layers it can take advantage of.
- Minion/Totem Flat Damage: You want to get as much Minion or Totem Flat Damage as possible. Avatar of Thunder, Rune of Awe and Totem Adaptive Spell Damage are crucial to build it up.
- % Minion/Totem Damage: Anything that increases Minion or Totem Damage is welcomed.
- Cast Speed: The faster you cast Summon Healing Totem the more Rotten Core explosions from Summon Thorn Totem.
- Chance To Shred Armour on Hit: Each stack of this Ailment reduces enemy Armour by 100 for 4 seconds and stacks infinitely. Enemies have 0 Armour by default and it can go into the negatives. At -1000 Armour a target takes 23.7% increased Physical Damage, while at -4000 Armour it takes 57.2%. With the amount of hits the build has, the stacks ramp up quickly. You need to get Julra's Obsession with Chance To Shred Armour on Hit for your Totems to apply it.
- Attunement: Summon Thorn Totem gains 4% Damage per point of Attunement.
- Intelligence: Ferebor's Chisel turns Intelligence into a reliable source of Totem Critical Strike Chance.
- Minion/Totem Critical Strike Chance: Combine Ferebor's Chisel and the Lethal Thicket Node to cap your Summon Thorn Totem's Critical Strike Chance. It's easy to cap once you get the Set Dagger.
- Minion Critical Strike Multiplier: Increases the Damage your minion's Crits deal. Build as much as you can on your gear. Death Rattle provides up to a 100% on its own.
- Level of Summon Thorn Totem: Get this Prefix on your Helmet for the Increased Damage it provides and to invest extra Points into its Tree.
- Ursine Strength: Grants 16% Damage Reduction against Nearby enemies.
- Aspect of the Boar: Combining Boar Heart with Porcine Constitution grants it 30% Damage Reduction. Proc it with Swipe and Maul thanks to Primal Strength.
- Berserker: Provides 25% Damage Reduction when you are below 35% of your total Health. Invest in it if you don't need points in Protective Circle.
- Armour Mitigation: This setup can get insanely high Armour. Combine the Armour from your Item Implicits, Grand Body of Obsidian Blessing, Thorn Shield and Thorn Barrier to reach 60% to 80%+ Mitigation. This is huge on top of all the other defensive layers the build has.
- Health: This build can stack a huge Health pool that can surpass the 5000 mark. Health is very effective when combined with all the other defensive layers the Druid has access to. Primalist has access to Large Nomad Idols with %Health; not all Classes have access to these amazing Idols!
- Endurance: A defensive mechanic that allows you to take up to 60% less Damage while below a certain Health threshold. Your base Endurance Threshold is 20% of your total Health.
- Cast Speed: This setup has no access to Leech and relies on Death Rattle and Spirit Warden for sustain .The faster you cast Summon Healing Totem the more Health sustain you get from them.
- Health Regeneration: Build as much Health Regeneration as possible to boost your sustain. Make sure to farm high rolls for your Ferebor's Persistence and Grand Rhythm of the Tide Empowered Blessing.
- Healing: Eterra's Blessing and Summon Healing Totem provide a low amount of healing to aid you with sustain.
- Frailty: This Ailment reduces the Damage dealt by enemies by 6% for 4 seconds. Stacks 3 times. You need to get Julra's Obsession with Chance to Apply Frailty on Hit for your Totems to apply it.
- Cleanse: Available with Ward and Ailment Cleansing on Potion Use and Purge.
Our Damage Explained Article covers all you need to know to scale Damage.
Learn all you need to know to scale Defense with our Defense Explained Article.
Recommended End Game Activities
Last Epoch has multiple end game activities with completely different roles and rewards. All the builds in Maxroll.gg have been tested and are designed to complete all available content. However, not all builds excel at doing the same activities. Make sure you are familiar with the end game strengths and weaknesses of your character.
The Monolith of Fate is the main end game system. Most of your character gear upgrades are found here. Once you get all of your desired Empowered Blessings, you can start pushing Corruption to increase your chances at finding incredible Exalted Items. The Monolith of Fate rewards speedy builds that are able to target farm Echo Reward Nodes or stack Timeline Stability as fast as possible.
This Shaman is a decent Monolith of Fate farmer. It has amazing AoE but lacks mobility. Since it's also a pretty simple and tanky build, it's a good setup for farming Corruption with a comfy playstyle.
Monolith Goals
Your goals in the Monolith of Fate will differ greatly depending on what build you play and what stage your character progression is at. Here are the objectives you should aim at when playing this build:
- Reach Empowered Monolith as fast as possible.
- Farm your Combat Empowered Blessings. Prioritize gaining Timeline Stability and fight the Timeline Bosses as often as possible. Once you are done with one Timeline, move to the next one. Reach 200 Corruption to farm your desired Blessings faster, as it unlocks a 5th option to choose from after you defeat a Timeline Boss.
- Finish up your Drop Rate Empowered Blessings.
- Farm for key Uniques and Set Items.
- As you farm for Uniques, stack Corruption as high as your gear can handle. The higher Corruption you do, the more Items you find. Get your character ready for the other end game activities.
Monolith Modifiers
Every time you choose an Echo a Modifier comes attached with it, adding difficulty and changing how enemies behave. These Modifiers stay active for a maximum of 6 Echoes and stack with each other. Some Modifiers can handicap your build immensely while others can almost be ignored. Monolith Modifiers scale with Corruption and increase the Item Rarity of Echoes. Ideally you want to do the hardest content possible, without delaying your clear times. Keep up Item Rarity as high as you can without it slowing you down.
Easy Modifiers
- Enemy Critical Strike Chance (Once you have 100% Critical Strike Avoidance).
- Enemies heal if they have not been damaged recently.
- Rare enemies have high speed and crit chance until approached.
- Rare enemies regenerate health.
Avoid these Modifiers
- Enemy chance to receive a Glancing Blow.
- Enemy Critical Strike Avoidance.
- Enemy chance to Dodge.
- High health enemies take less damage.
- High health enemies deal increased damage.
- Increased enemy Movement Speed.
- While bossing: enemies Enrage at half health and enemies gain Frenzy and Haste when hit.
Learn more about the Monolith of Fate with our Empowered Monolith Guide.
Dungeons are another important end game activity. All of them have an unique reward system attached that can only be accessed by defatting the Boss guarding it. They are divided by 4 Tiers of difficulty; it might take you some time to have a character strong enough to defeat Tier 4. Remember, Dungeons require specific Keys to enter them.
This Shaman is a decent Dungeon farmer but lacks survivability when facing some T4 Bosses. It can't facetank some mechanics and Silvafrond is highly recommended for these encounters.
Dungeon Tips
When it comes to Dungeons, each build has different needs and should focus on the ones that fulfill them. Remember, each Dungeon comes with an unique Dungeon Skill. Make sure you are familiar with the different Dungeon Skills, Boss fights and Rewards before you attempt them.
Recommended Dungeons for this build:
- Temporal Sanctum: You need to interact with the Eternity Cache to upgrade all the desirable Uniques you find with Legendary Potential. The Boss fight against Chronomancer Julra is fairly easy as long as you do the mechanic properly and you have to defeat her in T3 or above for her to drop Julra's Obsession. Silvafrond helps a ton in emergency situations.
- Lightless Arbour: The gold sink in the Vault of Uncertain Fate is not necessary for this build to progress. Duo to the lack of mobility, it struggles against The Mountain Beneath huge AoE attacks if you don't have Silvafrond. The Stone Titan's Heart is easier, just make sure to avoid its moving lasers. Run this Dungeon when you have some excess Gold, be careful as it gets expensive really fast!
- Soulfire Bastion: Make sure you pay attention to the Damage type on the floor while fighting Fire Lich Cremorus and use Silvafrond to Teleport over the big telegraphed attacks. Overall this Dungeon and the Soul Gambler are low priority as nothing attached to them is relevant for the build.
Remember that T4 Dungeons are hard pinnacle content that can only be defeated with well geared characters. If your build struggles against a particular Dungeon you can always dedicate a different setup that shines against it to earn its reward. This is not possible if you play in any of the Solo Game Modes.
Check all of our Dungeon Guides if you want to learn more about their Bosses and rewards systems.
Use everything explained in the Gameplay and Build Scaling sections of this Build Guide to defeat them.
The Endless Arena is the main competitive game mode. It's all about the Ladder! While you might get some upgrades, the other end game activities are far superior for gearing up. The Endless Arena is not for everyone and only the best builds and players can reach the top. You need an Arena Key or an Arena Key of Memory to enter.
This Shaman build is not the best for competing in the Endless Arena, specifically because its lack of mobility and sustain. However, it clears lower Waves extremely fast and performs greatly in the Arena Echos inside the Monolith of Faith.
Endless Arena Tips
Adjusting your playstyle to the build you are playing is mandatory to reach high waves. Use the easy early waves as a practice tool; learning about wave management, developing good habits and limit testing your build are very important things to become a better Endless Arena player.
Tips for playing this build in Arena:
- Make sure you always keep track of all 4 enemy packs. New waves do not spawn as long as there are two enemies of the current wave alive. Finish them up at the right time!
- Fight 1 spawn at a time, manipulate the enemy pathing with your positioning and engage on your terms.
- As a ranged build it is crucial to be far away from the spawns and the enemies. Find a safe spot!
- Enemy homing projectiles are really dangerous for this build. Hide behind terrain or your Totems before enemies fire at you. You can also juke them if you have Silvafrond.
- Target ranged threats first. Deal with the rest of enemies once the ranged ones are taken care of.
- Use Thorn Shield for its buffs while you wait for enemies.
- Command your Summon Spriggan pressing the "A" key on your keyboard to ensure it's always properly positioned and out of danger.
- The buffs provided by Summon Spriggan stay active even when it's downed. Make sure you fully resurrect it after all threats are neutralized.
- Use Thorn Shield to summon a single Summon Healing Totem thanks to the Ancestral Renewal Node inside Eterra's Blessing.
Eager to get competitive? Check our Arena Guide!
