Welcome to the Ignite Shield Rush Forge Guard build guide. Covered in plate armour and wielding a giant Two-Handed Axe, this Forge Guard rushes into the battlefield and chaotically bounces around, setting everything in his path on fire. Use Shield Rush to brutally charge across the battlefield and Ignite your enemies. The Fire Damage Over Time this build dishes out is capable of burning the strongest foes to death.
Cast Sigils Of Hope to gain powerful buffs and use Volatile Reversal to regain Mana and apply debuffs to your enemies. Attack with Lunge to move quickly around the map and use Abyssal Echoes to further enhance the single target DPS.
While this setup doesn't require any Unique to function and is playable without them, Maehlin's Hubris is crucial to convert all Bleed Chance into Ignite Chance. Additionally, Bleeding Heart, Wings of Argentus and Throne of Ambition are amazing for the build.
Overall Ignite Shield Rush Forge Guard is a super fun build capable of defeating all the content in the game. It's easy to play, has great Damage, clears Echoes rapidly and is pretty tanky. If you are looking for a solid beginner friendly build with a crazy and fun playstyle, this setup is perfect for you!
This article assumes you have a Level 70 Character.
Reach Level 70 with our Forge Guard Leveling Guide.
If you are looking for a different playstyle, check all our Build Guides!
- Fun To Play
- Fast Mapping
- Great Single Target DPS
- Great Build for Beginners
- Very Chaotic Playstyle
- Heavy Buff Management
- Vulnerable To DoT Damage
- Potential Locked Behind Uniques
Skills
Shield Rush
Shield Rush is your main Damage. Dark Rush is needed as the build does not use a Shield. Combine the interactions between Desynchronous Charge, Mana Memory and The Rush of Sacrifice and the Damage from Consuming Path, Splintering Impact and Warrior's Entrance to weaponize it.
Alternative Skills & Tips
Passives
Passives provide powerful effects that dictate the playstyle of a Class and its Masteries. Remember that you can allocate Passives on the first half of all Masteries regardless of the one you chose.
- Take all the Strength, Ignite Chance and Health related Nodes.
- Armour Clad grants Damage Reduction and is crucial for any Sentinel's survivability.
- Juggernaut, Abyssal Endurance and Holy Symbol provide tons of Resistances.
- Smelter's Might, Phoenix Strike and Molded by the Forge are a big part of the build's Damage, especially when you get Maehlin's Hubris.
- Divine Bolt helps apply even more DoTs.
- Infinite Bulwark and Liquid Iron provide powerful defensive buffs on Potion use.
- Crushing Blows has great synergy with this Shield Rush setup.
Make sure to complete the Campaign to get all your Passive Points.
Gameplay
This Forge Guard uses Shield Rush to rapidly apply deadly Ignites and burn enemies alive. Make sure you are familiar with enemy mechanics to know when to use your Support Skills to stay alive. Pay attention to their telegraphed attacks!
Skill Usage/Rotation
- Cast 4 Sigils Of Hope for their buffs.
- Use Volatile Reversal to get the mana consumed by casting Sigils Of Hope back.
- Lunge into battle, hit as many enemies as possible to stack the Crusader's Fury buff.
- Spam Shield Rush at your enemies.
- Use Abyssal Echoes and Volatile Reversal on top of enemies for extra Damage. Make sure you do this without any overlap with Sigils Of Hope's Mana cost.
- Maintain 4 Sigils Of Hope up at all times.
Mapping
- Rush to the objective with Lunge.
- Shield Rush when you are close to enemies.
- Be careful not to backtrack when using Volatile Reversal.
- Group mobs before using Abyssal Echoes to maximize its AoE and chains.
- If enemies slow you, use Abyssal Echoes on them so the Freedom of Movement Node triggers.
Bossing
- Take advantage of all your defensive buffs and keep them active.
- Spam Shield Rush at Bosses to build up Ignite stacks and then Abyssal Echoes + Volatile Reversal on top of them to rapidly ramp your DPS.
- Keep a charge of Lunge for emergency situations or telegraphed Boss attacks.
Advanced Skill Tips
Learn more about how to maximize your gameplay in the Build Scaling section of this guide.
Gear
Gearing in Last Epoch revolves around finding Items and then using the powerful Crafting System to enhance them. As long as an Item has Forging Potential left, players can upgrade or modify their Affixes up to Tier 5. However, the powerful Exalted Tier Affixes are drop only and can't be modified by players.
Using the correct Item Bases allows you to make use of their amazing Implicits, this is fundamental for gearing efficiently. Combine Implicits, Passives, Idols and Blessings to cap your Resistances and other defensive layers, while fitting as much Health related Affixes or Endurance Threshold into your gear as possible. Plan ahead for your next upgrades and consider the final Blessings of your build while gearing. Finish up by farming Uniques with Legendary Potential and Sealing Affixes into Exalted Items to unleash all of your build's power!
Here are the Stat Goals for this build:
- Capped Resistances
- Capped Critical Strike Avoidance
- Capped Endurance
- 2000 - 4000+ Health
- 500 - 900+ Endurance Threshold
- 40% - 60%+ Armour
- 600% - 1500%+ Increased Damage
- 40% - 70%+ Movement Speed
Gear Progression
Milestone 1
Aim for good Item Bases with two valuable T5 Affixes. The defensive rolls on T5 Suffixes are very important at this stage as they can easily cap all your Resistances when combined with Item Implicits, Idols, Blessings or Passives. Get a Bardiche as soon as possible.
Milestone 2
Make sure your Critical Strike Avoidance is capped. Remember that Woven Flesh is always an option early on. It can be farmed by killing the Abomination in the Fall of the Outcast Monolith Timeline.
Milestone 3
Fit as much Health into your gear as possible. Hybrid Health and Health are extremely valuable, but can be hard to find early on. Use regular flat Health until you find them.
Milestone 4
Get a source of Life Leech. Use Avarice (obtained by completing Erza's Ledger Quest in the Campaign) for the Elemental Leech it provides until you find a Bleeding Heart, a very common Amulet.
Milestone 5
While you look for this basic set of gear, start farming your Empowered Blessings and look for any Idols that can help you cap all your Resistances momentarily or increase your Damage output.
Milestone 1
Look for a pair of Maehlin's Hubris. This Item is crucial to convert all sources of Bleed Chance into Ignite Chance allowing the build to fully focus on applying Ignites and scaling Fire Damage Over Time.
Milestone 2
Get Chance to Apply Frailty on Hit to decrease the Damage enemies deal to you. This Ailment is really important and should always be kept in mind. Keep looking for any useful Idols.
Milestone 3
When all your core Defenses are covered, start working on your Damage. Get Increased Fire Damage And Ignite Duration, Elemental Damage Over Time and Strength on your Prefixes to increase your DPS drastically.
Milestone 4
Level of Sigils Of Hope is also amazing for this build to get more value out of Sigils Of Hope.
Milestone 5
Thorn Slinger is a great addition for the build as it provides +1 Physical Skills and can be used to further increase Shield Rush's DPS. As you finish up your Empowered Blessings keep a decent Health pool, capped Resistances, Endurance and Critical Strike Avoidance. Your goal is to have items with 4 valuable T5 Affixes, also known as T20.
Milestone 1
Upgrade your T20 setup with Exalted items, high value Sealed Affixes or ideally both. Obtain the Affixes included in the Planner, but prioritize the indicated Item Bases for their Implicits. Make sure to Seal highly efficient low tier Affixes.
Milestone 2
Farm Wings of Argentus and Throne of Ambition in The Stolen Lance Empowered Monolith Timeline. They are both rare drops from God Hunter Argentus, so they might take a few tries to drop. These Items have great synergy with Ignite Shield Rush.
Milestone 3
Look for Maehlin's Hubris, Thorn Slinger and Bleeding Heart with Legendary Potential. Aim for the indicated Affixes in the Planner for each slot. Make sure to collect Exalted Items that might be useful in this process.
Milestone 4
Get all your Large Rahyeh Idol with Chance To Ignite On Hit or Chance To Cast Void Rift On Kill Prefixes and Fire Damage Over Time or Health Suffixes. Keep stacking as much Health, Strength and Elemental Damage Over Time on your gear as you can.
Milestone 1
Keep upgrading your gear with Exalted Items with Sealed Affixes. Get every stat in the right place and in the correct Item Base. Min/Maxing your gear in Last Epoch can be pushed to the extreme as Items with multiple Exalted Affixes are technically possible.
Milestone 2
Get as close to perfect rolls for all your Empowered Blessings and find all your desired Idols with the best in slot Prefixes and Suffixes.
Milestone 3
Continue farming Maehlin's Hubris, Thorn Slinger and Bleeding Heart with the maximum Legendary Potential you can find. Remember that some Unique Items are extremely hard to get with multiple Legendary Potential. Good luck with the chase!
Learn the basics for crafting gear with our Beginner Crafting Guide.
Check our Unique Item & Set Farming Guide and learn how to get them!
Want to know more about Legendary Items? Check our Legendary Guide!
Blessings
Completing a Timeline in the Monolith of Fate lets you choose one of several randomized Blessings from its unique pool. Their benefits are permanent and persist even outside of the Monolith of Fate.
Empowered Blessings are a fundamental part of all builds, so getting the correct ones for each is key.
The sooner you reach Empowered Monolith, the faster you can start farming your desired Blessings!
Normal Blessings are not important as they are eventually replaced by Empowered Blessings. However they can still be a great source of Resistances, Critical Strike Avoidance or Life Leech for your build early on.
Pick up these Normal Blessings on your way to Empowered:
- Flames of the Black Sun
- Bastion of Divinity
- Survival of Might
- Persistance of Will
- Vigor of Jormun
- Patience of Herkir
- Breath of Cinders
- Embers of Immortality
- Body of Obsidian
Note: Don't target farm Normal Blessings. Get to Empowered Monolith as fast as you can.
Reaching Empowered Monolith unlocks all the level 100 Timelines and the ability to farm Empowered Blessings. Unlike Normal Blessings, these need to be farmed until you get the desired ones for your build. It is extremely important to get this set up as fast as possible to free up affix slots on your gear. Remember, the more value you get from your Blessings, the easier it is to craft efficient gear!
These are the core Combat Empowered Blessings for this build:
- If you are lacking Critical Strike Avoidance, start with Grand Survival of Might. If you're building Reduced Bonus Damage Taken from Critical Strikes, go for Grand Hemmorage of Marrow or Grand Resolve of Humanity instead.
- Continue with Grand Bastion of Divinity for the Lightning Resistance.
- Grand Vigor of Jormun grants a good amount of Endurance Threshold.
- Once your core Defenses are sorted, grab Grand Flames of the Black Sun for the DPS boost.
- Finish up by farming the best rolled Grand Patience of Herkir you can get. It grants an insane amount of Flat Armour while channeling Shield Rush and has great synergy with Throne of Ambition and all the Strength the build has. Grand Breath of Cinders can also be good but the additional DPS is not really needed.
These Empowered Blessings are flexible and depend on your current needs and goals.
These are valuable Empowered Drop Rate Blessings for this build:
- Grand Sight of the Outcasts is valuable to help you find Large Rahyeh Idol with Chance To Ignite On Hit or Chance To Cast Void Rift On Kill Prefixes and Fire Damage Over Time or Health Suffixes. Once you find all your Idols, you can switch to the Grand Winds of Fortune and focus on Uniques instead.
- Grab Grand Grip of the Lance to help you find more Maehlin's Hubris Gloves or Grand Vision of the Aurora to help you find more Bleeding Heart Amulets.
- Lastly take Grand Favor of the Wengari to find more Two-Handed Axes.
Learn how to farm Blessings fast with our Advanced Monolith Strategies.
Idols
Idols grant your character bonuses when equipped in the dedicated Idol Container. Unlock all the slots of your Idol Container by completing the Campaign and some of its Side Quests. Remember that some Idols are Class specific and you won't be able to equip them with other non-compatible Classes.
These are the Idols recommended for this build:
- Find 3 Large Rahyeh Idol with Chance To Ignite On Hit or Chance To Cast Void Rift On Kill Prefixes and Fire Damage Over Time or Health Suffixes. Chance To Cast Void Rift On Kill is useful to proc Chance To Slow With Void Skills and extra Ailment stacks
- Get a Throne of Ambition. You can farm it in The Stolen Lance Empowered Monolith Timeline. It's a rare drop from God Hunter Argentus.
- Get 1 Humble Eterran Idol with Vitality and Void Resistance and 1 Stout Lagonian Idol with %Health and Health.
- You might also want 1 Grand Solar Idol with Damage Over Time Prefix and Chance To Slow With Void Skills Suffix, but this slot is flexible.
Other useful Idol Affixes
Make sure to complete the Campaign to get all your Idol Slots.
Learn how to be efficient with Idols with our Advanced Idols Setups Guide.
Build Scaling
This Forge Guard uses Shield Rush to brutally charge across the battlefield and Ignite your enemies. Scale your Ignite Chance and Fire Damage Over Time as much as possible. This build also has decent survivability thanks to the multiple defensive layers it can take advantage of.
- Ignite Chance: The more Chance you have, the more Ignites you apply.
- Bleed Chance: Thanks to the Maehlin's Hubris Gloves, all sources of Bleed Chance get converted to Ignite Chance. A flaming hot Bardiche is even deadlier than a regular one!
- Increased Fire Damage And Ignite Duration: This powerful Prefix extends the duration of your Ignites, allowing them to deal extra Damage for a longer period of time.
- Shield Rush: This ability has really high Damage Multipliers inside its Tree that greatly enhance the Damage of the Ignites applied by it.
- Strength: Shield Rush gains 4% Damage per point of Strength. Additionally it grants 4% Armour per point, which adds a nice defensive layer for the build.
- Elemental Damage Over Time: This powerful Prefix has some of the highest numerical values of any offensive Affix in the game. This is a priority when it comes to scaling this build and its main source of Increased Damage.
- Sigils Of Hope: They grant increased Damage and Ignite Chance with this setup.
- Crushing Blows: Great synergy with this Shield Rush setup high Mana cost.
- % Increased Damage: Anything that increases Fire Damage Over Time is welcomed.
- Throne of Ambition: Provides an insane DPS boost while fighting Bosses.
- Volatile Reversal: The Time Rifts and Harbinger of Dust Nodes apply a powerful debuff on your enemies that makes them take additional Damage.
- Abyssal Echoes: The Crumbling Node applies another great debuff on your enemies that makes them take additional Damage.
- Fire Penetration: Causes enemies to take extra Fire Damage. Get some with the Conviction Passive and gain even more while in combat thanks to Lunge's Crusader's Fury buff.
- Level of Shield Rush: Get this Prefix on your Body Armour to invest more Points into its Skill Tree. You can also get a point with the Thorn Slinger Belt.
- Grand Breath of Cinders: While not necessary, this Blessing allows you to apply 10 stacks of Fire Resistance Shred. 10 stacks increase the Fire Damage enemies take by 50% (20% for Bosses). If you decide to pick it up, make sure it rolls nicely (45%+).
- Armour Clad: Grants Damage Reduction and is crucial for any Sentinel's survivability.
- Channeling: Since Shield Rush is a channeled ability you have Stun Immunity while using it. Additionally, you can make use of the Grand Patience of Herkir Blessing.
- Protective Speed: This Node inside Shield Rush provides 20% Damage Reduction while rushing.
- Wings of Argentus: The Damage Reduction this Unique provides is incredibly powerful, especially since it can be fully utilized while attacking with Shield Rush or Lunge.
- Endurance: It 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.
- Strength: Grants 4% Armour per point.
- Armour Mitigation: This setup can get insanely high Armour. Combine the Armour from your Item Implicits, Grand Patience of Herkir Blessing, and all the Strength this build has to reach 40% to 60%+ Mitigation. Thanks to Throne of Ambition this Mitigation increases to 65%+ while Bossing. This is huge on top of all the other defensive layers the build has.
- Health: This build can stack a decent Health pool that can surpass the 4000 mark. Health is very effective when combined with all the other defensive layers, but be careful since this Shield Rush setup consumes 15% of your current Health on use.
- Leech: Bleeding Heart provides tons of Leech for the build. Use Avarice (obtained by completing Erza's Ledger Quest in the Campaign) for their Elemental Leech until you find the Amulet.
- Chill and Slow: Are Ailments that greatly reduce the Action and Movement Speed of your enemies. They are must haves on most builds, especially once you reach hard content with insane speed modifiers.
- Frailty: This Ailment reduces the Damage dealt by enemies by 6% for 4 seconds. Stacks 3 times.
- Ward and Ailment Cleansing on Potion Use: Cleanse all Ailments on Potion use.
- Abyssal Echoes's Freedom of Movement Node helps while mapping, turning Slows afflicted enemies apply into Haste, a 30% Movement Speed buff.
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.
Loot Filter
Loot Filters are critical in Last Epoch. Making sure you highlight all the related valuable Item Bases, Affixes, Uniques and Idols is crucial to ensure your character's progression. As your gear gets better, remember to hide the rules that are no longer useful to avoid screen clutter.
Here is the Endgame Loot Filter for this build:
Learn how to load and make Filters with our Loot Filter Guide.
Video Guide
Summary
This chaotic Forge Guard build brutally charges across the battlefield with Shield Rush and Ignites anyone that gets on his path. Overall this Forge Guard is an amazing setup capable of completing all the content in the game. It's fast, has great AoE, good survivability and is one of the most fun builds in the game.
- Use Shield Rush to charge across the battlefield and Ignite your enemies.
- Thanks to the Maehlin's Hubris Gloves, all sources of Bleed Chance get converted to Ignite Chance.
- Maintain 4 Sigils Of Hope up at all times for the amazing buffs they provide.
- Lunge into battle, hit as many enemies as possible to stack the Crusader's Fury buff.
- Use Abyssal Echoes and Volatile Reversal on top of enemies for extra Damage.
- While they are not mandatory, Bleeding Heart, Wings of Argentus and Throne of Ambition are great Uniques that you want to get to scale the build to its full potential.
Credits
Written by Lizard_IRL.
Reviewed by Aristotelian, McFluffin.