Beginner Arena Guide

The Endless Arena is the main competitive game mode. It's all about how high you can get on the Ladder!

An Arena Key is needed in order to enter; there are two different kinds. Using an Arena Keys starts the run from Wave 0. An Arena Key of Memory starts from Wave 100 or half of your previous run, whatever is higher.

While you might get some upgrades, the other endgame activities are far superior for gearing up your characters. The Endless Arena isn't for everyone due to its punishing, competitive and repetitive nature.

The Endless Arena is very demanding. It requires good game knowledge, patience, amazing gear and perfect mechanics. Only the best players can reach the top.

Do you have what it takes?

All of our Build Guides are suited to Challenge the Endless Arena!
Want to reach the top of the Ladder? Check our Arena Tier List for the most competitive builds.

The Endless Arena Location

Understanding The Basics

The Endless Arena is a never ending battle where players face infinite hordes of enemies, defeating Wave after Wave of foes until they either choose the dishonour of retreat or die in glorious combat.

Each Wave consists of 4 groups of enemies that spawn on the designated spawn points of each Arena map. The number of enemies spawned in each group scales with the Wave number and the player's Level. Normally, weaker enemies spawn in greater numbers than stronger enemies.

Once there is only one enemy left from the 4 groups of enemies of the current Wave, the next Wave spawns automatically. After every fifth Wave, the next does not start automatically. Instead, a number of Barrels are spawned that scale with the player's Level, as well as the Wandering Blacksmith and the Stash. To continue to the next Wave the player must click the Start Next Wave UI button. Upon doing so, all Items on the ground disappear, as well as the Wandering Blacksmith and the Stash. After every 10 waves completed, the Arena selects a new random map.

As players complete Waves without dying the Wave counter goes up. As the Wave counter goes up the Health, Damage and Speed of the mobs increases, as well as the Experience that is awarded for killing them.

Dying or exiting the Arena ends the run. Your progress is tracked on the Ladder so you may see where you stack up against the other players who have braved the Endless Arena.

Mastering The Endless Arena

The Endless Arena appears really simple at first glance. Just kill all the monsters, right?
While the premise of the game mode is straightforward, the Endless Arena is the hardest content in Last Epoch.

These concepts are fundamental to understand:

• Infinite Scaling: Enemies in the Endless Arena scale differently than in the rest of the game. This game mode has its own scaling ramps for different attributes such as Health, Damage and Movement Speed. This scaling ramp includes both %Increased and %More modifiers that quickly turns any enemy into a deadly threat. Unlike in the Monolith of Fate, there are no additional modifiers that can disable certain playstyles.

• Spawn Points: All Arena maps have at least 4 spawn points where enemies spawn at. Some maps only have 4 spawn points and others have more; adding a layer of randomization to the spawn location of enemy groups.

• Enemy Aggro: All enemies in the Endless Arena automatically aggro the player the moment they spawn. The player is forced to engage with incoming enemies that attack from all directions; instead of the player being the one who approaches the enemies to aggro and engage them from a favourable direction.

• Positioning: Learn all the Arena map layouts and their spawn points to learn where to position yourself for each Wave. There are spots on every map that are highly advantageous and allow the player to fight a single group of mobs a time. Your goal is to always position yourself on these beneficial spots to avoid getting surrounded by enemies.

• Wave Management: Each wave consists of 4 enemy packs that you always have to keep track of. These enemies rush at you from their spawn point using the shortest route. You can use their pathing AI to manipulate the way they move around the map. New Waves do not spawn as long as there are two enemies of the current Wave alive. Be sure to eliminate the highest threats first, keeping at least two easy enemies alive. Finish them up at the right time!

• Terrain: The terrain gaps and obstacles of each map layout are crucial to the strategy of each one of them. Choke points are great to funnel enemies into. Dead ends can be the end of your run. Some walls, rocks and pillars block projectiles while others don't. There are gaps that can be crossed and others that can't be dashed over. Familiarize yourself with the terrain and use it to your advantage.

• No Wave Is The Same: Due to all the randomized elements in Arena, a player has to be ready to quickly adapt and react to the state of each Wave. It's very easy to become lazy and start playing sloppily, or to lower your guard during a long run that has not presented anything dangerous yet. The worst combination possible might spawn at any moment. Stay alert and treat every Wave as your last!

Adjusting your playstyle to the build you are playing is mandatory to reach high Waves. Use the easy early Waves as a practice tool to develop good habits and mechanics. Learning the concepts above and limit testing your build are very important to become a better Endless Arena player.

Credits

Written by Lizard_IRL.
Reviewed by Terek and Aristotelian.