Last Epoch Runemaster Reveal!

At Gamescom, Last Epoch developer Eleventh Hour Games unveiled the reveal for their brand new Runemaster Mastery for the Mage class! Today we're sitting down with Maxroll's McFluffin to take a closer look at the Runemaster Mastery from Runes of Power!

If you've played Invoker from DOTA2, or are a fan of Magicka then you'll love Runemaster! The Mastery combines Fire, Lightning, and Cold Runes to trigger 40 unique spells. Whenever you cast an Elemental Skill, the runic icon appears above your head (up to a maximum of 3). Then when you cast Runic Invocation it reads all 3 Runes and consumes them. Runemaster's theme involves combining elemental effects, so naturally Runemaster's skills are often tri-element, or can be converted between all 3 elemental types. Defensively, there's great access to Ward and Mana synergies, many of which come early enough in the passive tree that it can benefit all Mage builds.

Runic Invocation has 40 spell combinations because it reads the number, type, and order of your Runes to trigger its effect. For example, if you have 3 runes, Fire/Fire/Lightning this triggers a different effect from 2 runes, Fire/Cold or 1 Lightning rune by itself. Combinations of 3 runes like, Cold/Fire/Lightning or Lightning/Cold/Fire also trigger different spells due to the runes being in different positions. With so many possibilities, Runic Invocation can feel like a totally different spell each time you cast it, or you can use your spells in a rotation to ensure you trigger a specific effect each time.

Along with Runic Invocation, the Runemaster comes with several new skills. Some of these skills are available to all Mage builds, but require an investment into the Runemaster's passives. Here's some of what we saw as part of the Last Epoch Runemaster Reveal.

Creates a wall of ice that reacts when it makes contact with players (for example giving them Flame Ward) or enemies where it reacts by triggering spell effects including Fireball. Frost Wall also applies ailments to enemies and deals damage over time to those that pass through the wall. Like with many skills in Last Epoch you're able to customize the element so if you'd prefer to create great walls of Fire that's a totally viable option! The Frost Wall is a powerful utility skill available to Mages who invest points in the Runemaster tree.

Channel to sheathe yourself in Flames and rush forward, gaining Fire runes as you channel. Release the channel to cause a massive explosion which scales with the amount of time spent channeling. Skill enhancements change the way Flame Rush behaves, including a way to automatically trigger your Runic Invocation! All Mages who invest in the Runemaster Passives can gain access to this skill.

This is a Runemaster Exclusive Skill.

Rune Bolt rotates between Fire, Lightning, and Cold by default. There are powerful synergies between Rune Bolt, and Runic Invocation. For example, if you Invoke Rune Bolt's default Fire, Lightning, Cold combination you get a "Black Hole" type skill. However, there's also a lot of skill customization available via the Skill Tree. You can reverse the order, generating a different spell when invoked, or cause Rune Bolt to deal tri-elemental damage. You can also cause Rune Bolt to mirror the order of your Runic Invocation allowing for perfect customization!

This is a Runemaster Exclusive Skill.

Place a glyph on the ground, which deals damage over time as it builds up energy. When it fully charges the glyph explodes damaging nearby enemies. This is not only a damaging ability but it offers powerful utility effects including both offensive and defensive buffs for players who stand within the rune while it charges.

If you're looking for more content, we have an upcoming Last Epoch Roundtable where Rhykker, LizardIRL, Terek, and McFluffin share their thoughts on the upcoming Runemaster Mastery, Last Epoch going forward, and their experiences at Gamescom.

Maxroll's own Last Epoch Team members LizardIRL, McFluffin, and Terek sat down with Judd, Mike, and Karvarousku from Eleventh Hour Games to discuss player feedback, the upcoming Runemaster, and new Exiled Mages, Trade in Last Epoch, and EHG's plans to expand endgame and their plans for Cycles (Leagues/Seasons).

If this Last Epoch Runemaster Reveal made you hungry to play, you might want to brush up on your magecraft with a guide!

Stay tuned for more Runes of Power content, and maybe brush up on the game with one of our guides! Then head over to our Discord and select the Last Epoch role in #roles to stay up to date with our content development.