Dungeon Guide
Last Updated:February 15, 2024|Changelog
Dungeons are one of the main endgame systems in Last Epoch, making them an important activity after the campaign. They also provide substantial rewards to players who complete them. While each dungeon is unique, there are many aspects that apply to all dungeons. In this guide we will cover the basics of dungeons, including how they work, how to unlock them, and descriptions of each dungeon.
Dungeon Basics
Each Dungeon is designed to provide an experience that sets it apart from other content in the game. However the general design of each one is similar, which allows us to provide a general framework of what to expect when entering a dungeon.
Accessing the Dungeon
In order to enter a dungeon a key is required. Each dungeon has their own key (Lightless Arbor Key, Soulfire Bastion Key, Temporal Sanctum Key) that must be used to enter them.
Difficulty
Dungeons scale difficulty through two mechanics. The first and most significant is through tiers. Each dungeon has 4 tiers of difficulty that players can choose from, with tier 4 being the most difficult but also the most rewarding. Players usually must complete lower tiers in order to access the higher tiers (with some minor exceptions). Each tier also has a bonus reward that rotates daily, with higher tiers generally offering better daily rewards.
The other way difficulty is scaled comes from the modifiers found when opening doors. Doors come with a modifier that provides both rewards and increases to monster damage and health and the modifiers are different for each door. Better rewards generally have higher damage and health modifiers. Higher tiers of dungeons also grant better rewards at the expense of higher damage and health.
Special Mechanic
Every dungeon has its own special mechanic that is used in some way while traversing the dungeon and during the boss fight. Example: Temporal Sanctum has Temporal Shift, which allows the player to switch between two separate timelines at will. This skill can be used to avoid enemies and mechanics, traverse areas that are unpassable in one timeline or even find a door to the next map.
Dungeon Layout
All dungeons follow a similar layout that consists of two maps and a boss arena. Players must travel through each map to find one of two doors that lead to the next section. The first map leads to the second map and the second leads to the boss encounter. After killing the boss the dungeon is complete.
Randomization
The maps in dungeons aren't randomized but paths can be blocked in a randomized manner. Example: Upon running the dungeon the first time a path may be open and traversable, but on the second run of the dungeon the same path is now blocked. There will always be at least one path to the doors that lead to the next section, but which path(s) will change each run.
You only Get One Shot...
There are no extra attempts in Dungeons. If you die at any point in the Dungeon, you lose all of your progress and need to use a new Key to try again. You need to balance the risks of starting over with the rewards offered to you in order to maximize your Dungeon experience.
Uniques
The boss of each dungeon has it's own specific Unique drop pool, which features Uniques that are exclusive to that boss. that means the only way to acquire these items is by completing the dungeon. Many of these Uniques also require a minimum tier to drop which further incentivizes running higher dungeon tiers.
Special Dungeon Reward
Every dungeon has a unique special reward that is granted at the completion of the dungeon. Example: Lightless Arbor lets players spend gold to purchase modifiers that increase the value of the rewards inside the Vaults of Uncertain Fate. These rewards are very strong so they are often the primary reason for running a dungeon, but just like the Vaults they all have their own price to pay.
Acquiring Keys
Since we need keys in order to run dungeons we also need to know how to acquire them. There are several ways to obtain dungeon keys:
- As random loot from killing enemies.
- From killing Timeline bosses in the Monolith of Fate.
- As a reward for completing The Arena of Champions.
- Lightless Arbor Key can be a reward from the Vaults of Uncertain Fate, which is the special dungeon reward for Lightless Arbor.
However not all of these options are equal. We recommend hunting dungeon keys by killing Timeline bosses in the Monolith of Fate. They have a pretty high chance of dropping keys and that chance scales with Item Rarity. At high enough Item Rarity they often drop multiple keys. Keys can also drop from monsters that need to be killed in order to farm the stability needed to kill Timeline bosses, so this strategy offers multiple paths of key acquisition.
In contrast, Arena of Champions has one modifier that can be selected to drop a single dungeon key and the chances of seeing that modifier are relatively low. Enemies in the Arena of Champions also don't offer nearly as much loot as in the Monolith so the odds of getting a random key are much lower.
Dungeons as a Campaign Skip
Another purpose for Dungeons is as a campaign 'skip' for players who have multiple characters. Each dungeon is designed in a way that provides an entrance and exit that skip large parts of the campaign while not missing out on the main quests. This provides an alternative path through the campaign and some customizability for experienced players since they can choose which dungeons to complete and which to skip when completing the campaign, but since a new player will not have a key to enter they will not be distracted away from the campaign on their first playthrough.
Dungeon Descriptions
In this section we provide an overview of the unique features of each dungeon in Last Epoch. Each description also includes a link to the individual guide which goes into much greater detail (including boss mechanics and strategy) and is a must read for anyone who wants to get the most out of their dungeon experience!
Temporal Sanctum
Key: Temporal Sanctum Key
Boss: Chronomancer Julra
Dungeon Mechanic: Temporal Shift allows the player to switch between two Timelines at will which can bypass roadblocks, uncover doors and even avoid boss mechanics.
Special Dungeon Reward: The Eternity Cache allows players to combine a Unique with Legendary Potential and an Exalted into a Legendary
Uniques: Julra's Stardial, Somnia, Julra's Obsession, Vessel of Strife
For a complete guide on the Temporal Sanctum check out our Temporal Sanctum Dungeon Guide.
Soulfire Bastion
Key: Soulfire Bastion Key
Boss: Fire Lich Cremorus
Dungeon Mechanic: Soulfire Shield lets players spend Souls to switch between Fire and Necrotic damage immunity.
Special Dungeon Reward: Souls can be used to purchase items at the Soul Gambler. The items at the Soul Gambler will be affected by modifiers that are attached to the doors used to traverse the dungeon. Some of these modifiers are very powerful.
Uniques: Ashes of Mortality, Lich's Envy, Immolator's Oblation, Pyre of Affliction
For a complete guide on Soulfire Bastion check out our Soulfire Bastion Dungeon Guide.
Lightless Arbor
Key: Lightless Arbor Key
Boss: The Mountain Beneath
Dungeon Mechanic: Burning Amber illuminates the area around it. Enemies that aren't illuminated deal much more damage and take much less damage. Burning Amber is also used to destroy Pyres, and important dungeon mechanic.
Special Dungeon Reward: The Vault of Uncertain Fate provides players with the opportunity to spend gold on powerful modifiers that improve the rewards inside the vault. Rewards from the Vaults can be massive. However gold costs increase as players choose modifiers and modifiers are limited.
Uniques: Peak of the Mountain, Foot of the Mountain, Face of the Mountain, Core of the Mountain
For a complete guide on Lightless Arbor check out our Lightless Arbor Dungeon Guide.
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Summary
- Each dungeon is unique but they share a number of similarities.
- Accessing a dungeon requires a specific key.
- There are multiple ways to farm keys but we recommend killing Timeline bosses with high Item Rarity.
- Dungeons have four tiers of difficulty.
- Each dungeon has a unique boss, special mechanic, and reward. The boss also has its own pool of exclusive Uniques.
- Dungeons can also be used as a partial campaign skip.
Credits
Written by McFluffin.
Reviewed by Terek, Raxxanterax.