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 Reign of Winter Bowmage Marksman Build to reach the different Endgame Activities like the Monolith, Dungeons and Arena.
Build Scaling
Icicle is a Subskill and has no access to the usual "More Damage" Nodes in regular Skill Trees. This makes scaling Damage more complex than your usual "stack as many More Damage Nodes as possible". Do not worry, the Bowmage can still good DPS and AoE while also being surprisingly tanky.
The Icicle Spells are the main Damage are for this build, hence the name Bowmage. Anything not related to enhancing the Damage of the Icicles is not valuable. Stats like Bow Damage or Frostbite Chance are mainly useless for the Bowmage.
- Dexterity: Luckily for us, the Icicle Spell scales with Dexterity, gaining 4% Damage per point. Additionally it grants 4 flat Dodge per point, which ads a nice defensive layer for the build.
- Mourningfrost: Since the build stacks Dexterity, it can make use of this amazing pair of Unique Boots. They grant 1 flat Cold Damage to all Attacks and Spells per point of Dexterity, that includes the Icicle! Mourningfrost come with a downside of also reducing your Cold Resistance and Physical Resistance per point of Dexterity. A finished build has around 85 Dexterity, so keep an eye on your Resistances as you gear up and make sure they stay capped.
- Bow Attack Speed: The faster you attack the more Icicle you proc! The goal is to spam your skills without ever thinking about mana. Detonating Arrow has a cost of 8 mana, so make sure to have enough Mana Regeneration on your gear to spam it. Depending on how fast your Bow Attack Speed is, you need between 14 and 18 Mana Regeneration to be able to spam non-stop.
- Grand Rage of Winter: Since the build attacks so fast and has so many hits, it is extremely easy to apply 10 stacks of Cold Resistance Shred to your targets. 10 stacks increase the Damage enemies take by 50% (20% for Bosses). This Blessing plays a big part on your Damage output, so make sure you roll it nicely (45%+) and as early as possible.
- 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 16.5% increased Cold Damage, while at -4000 Armour it takes 40%. With the amount of hits the build has, the stacks ramp up quickly.
- Throne of Ambition: Specially important while Bossing. The Cold Damage and Armour Multipliers are insanely powerful for the build.
- Critical Vulnerability: Unique to the Rogue this Ailment adds 2% flat Critical Strike Chance to your targets per stack (max 10 stacks). Get it from Wound Maker and Weak Spot. Since Marksman's don't have easy access to Flat Spell Critical Strike Chance, Critical Vulnerability is a great way to get some Crit.
- Peak of the Mountain: This item is great to scale your Icicle's Crit Chance with a single Item.
- Critical Strike Multiplier: Increases the Damage your Crits deal. Fully stacked Perfect Aim provides 75% on its own. Build as much as you can on your gear.
- Glancing Blows: Thanks to Arrowguard and the Marksman Passive Tree, you can easily get 80% permanent Glancing Blow chance, and reach 100% chance when using Smoke Bomb thanks to the Dusk Shrouds it provides. You take 35% less damage from Hits with Glancing Blows.
- Dusk Shrouds: Each grants 5% Glancing Blow Chance and 50 flat Dodge.
- Smoke Bomb: Can be used as an extra gap closer that leaves a persistent Slow on the ground for easier kitting. It provides Dusk Shrouds while standing on the fog. Additionally it has a Cleanse and gives Silver Shrouds on use.
- Silver Shrouds: As long as you have one up, the next hit you take is Dodged instead. You also gain 100 Ward per Silver Shroud once they proc to Dodge the incoming attack. Since they last 10 seconds each, you can time Smoke Bomb and Covering Fire apart to make sure you always have one Silver Shroud active, or quickly recover them if they proc. If you do this properly you can always have this protection against hits that can be Dodged, including some major Boss mechanics!
- Dodge: Dexterity, Dodge, %Dodge and the extra Dodge provided by Dusk Shrouds, allow you to reasonably reach between 20% and 40% permanent Dodge, on top of Silver Shrouds. The Elusive Node on Shift provides a massive Dodge boost for 1 second and can provide up to 80%+ Dodge for the duration.
- Shift: This dash gives immunity frames while it's used thanks to the Shadowslip node. Time this Skill properly to avoid incoming damage or potential 1 shots. It provides a massive boost of Dodge and procs 5 Shurikens on use.
- Shurikens: Can be used as an extra gap closer for a total of 3 different dashes on this build. Thanks to the Stagger node they also Root anything that gets close to you. This is an amazing last resort defensive layer against melee enemies that rush the player. They also grant a ton of %Armour while active thanks to Bladed Armor.
- Armour Mitigation: Surprisingly this build can get a ton of Armour too. Just with the implicit Armour from your gear, the Grand Body of Obsidian Blessing and Shurikens your Armour easily reaches 35%+ Mitigation. Thanks to Throne of Ambition this Mitigation increases to 45%+ while Bossing. This is huge on top of all the other defensive layers the build has.
- Decoy: Crazy support skill. Aside from its multiple temporary buffs, it Taunts. While Taunted, enemies focus the Decoy instead of attacking you. Additionally you can instantly Fear anything inside its AoE on use.
- Health: Rogue has access to Large Shadow Idols with %Health. Not all classes have access to this amazing Idols, so take advantage of it.
- Health on Hit and Crit: Draining Arrows and Perfect Aim provide the build with insane sustain. With the amount of hits and how easy it is to Crit thanks to Critical Vulnerability, the build can recover all of its HP instantly.
- Evasion: The Damage Reduction while moving is great while escaping from threats.
- Chill and Slow: Are Ailments that greatly reduce the Action and Movement Speed of your enemies. They are must haves on most builds, specially 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.
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.
The Bowmage is a superb Monolith of Faith farmer. It's super fast, safe and has decent single target, perfect for rushing Echo Reward Nodes and defeating Bosses for their Unique drops and Blessings.
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. Defeat the Shade of Orobyss to gain and transfer Corruption between Timelines.
- Farm your first Drop Rate Empowered Blessing in The Stolen Lance Empowered Monolith Timeline. Here you should also farm Throne of Ambition until you get it.
- Finish up the rest of your Drop Rate Empowered Blessings.
- Farm for key Uniques.
- 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 Avoidance (Ignored thanks to Critical Strike Vulnerability).
- Enemy Critical Strike Chance (Once you have 100% Critical Strike Avoidance).
- Enemy chance to Dodge (Ignored thanks to Focus Fire).
Avoid these Modifiers
- Enemy chance to receive a Glancing Blow.
- 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.
The Bowmage is a decent Dungeon farmer but it requires Boss knowledge and can't facetank their mechanics. It has an easy time with the Temporal Sanctum and the Lightless Arbour but requires perfect gameplay to clear the T4 Soulfire Bastion.
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: Since its a Unique heavy build, the Bowmage requires to interact with the Eternity Cache often in order to upgrade any desirable Uniques you find with Legendary Potential. The Boss fight against Chronomancer Julra is very easy for any Marksman, as many of her telegraphed attacks can be dodged with Silver Shrouds.
- Lightless Arbour: While the gold sink in the Vault of Uncertain Fate is not necessary for this build to progress, the Bowmage has a great time dealing with The Mountain Beneath and, thanks to Silver Shrouds, his most dangerous attacks can be trivialized. The Stone Titan's Heart is also easy, just make sure to use Shift to go through its moving lasers. Run this Dungeon when you have some excess Gold, be careful as it gets expensive really fast!
- Soulfire Bastion: The Bowmage struggles a bit here. The fight against Fire Lich Cremorus is chaotic and for that reason is hard get value out of your Silver Shrouds. The Damage Over Time present in this Boss room makes things even worst, as the build revolves around running away from threads and here you are completely trapped. Luckily, this Dungeon and the Soul Gambler can be ignored as nothing attached is relevant for the Bowmage.
Remember, if you struggle to do a particular Dungeon you can always dedicate a different character 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.
The Bowmage is a good Marksman build for competing in the Endless Arena. The range of the Icicles allows the Bowmage to stay away from danger and its defensive layers protect it even against the most dangerous threats.
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. Use Decoy or hide behind terrain before enemies fire at you. You can also juke them with your multiple Movement Skills or time Shift for its Immunity Frames.
- Use Shift, Shurikens and Smoke Bomb to kite your enemies. Make sure to always keep one of them off cooldown in case you spawn enemies with leaps or dashes.
- Hold your Decoy for emergency situations. You never know what enemy types are coming next.
- Time Smoke Bomb and Covering Fire to make sure you always have one Silver Shroud active.
Eager to get competitive? Check our Arena Guide!
