Gear Walkthrough

Last Epoch is a game with a lot of gear. In fact, there are up to 41 gear slots (using 1x1 Idols) on a single character! Not having a basic understanding of how gear works makes trying to improve a character confusing and even at times frustrating, so in this article we're going to explain how it works. We cover everything from the gear slots themselves, to affixes and rarity of gear, Blessings and Idols and even smart loot!

Gear slots are where we place our gear to make it an active part of our character and receive the benefits that the gear provides. As we mentioned in the introduction there's a lot of gear in Last Epoch, but it can be broken down into 3 general categories:

We cover Idols and Blessings in a later section, but for now let's break down traditional gear a bit more. There are 11 slots for traditional gear:

Each slot will only accept gear that fits its description. Example: the relic slot will only accept relics like Spirit Catcher or Tome of Elements. The Off-hand is the only slot with multiple types that can fit. It will take a Shield, Catalyst, or for characters that can Dual-Wield it will take a 1 handed weapon that is appropriate for that class.

By breaking up items into color coded categories based on the properties of the item, rarity gives us a general idea of the kind of item we're looking at. It applies primarily to traditional gear, although one exception is that Idols can be Unique. Beyond that, blessings and idols are always the same rarity. However there are a number of rarities for traditional gear:

As far as gear goes everything except for Blessings is attached to a base item. Even Idols have base items that determine the size and class restrictions of that idol (more on this later). However this section will be devoted to traditional gear.

Each gear slot has a number of base items and each base has a different implicit. Example: Outcast Boots and Solarum Greaves are two base items for boots. We can see that Outcast Boots have implicits for armor, movement speed, and dodge rating while Solarum Greaves have higher armor and movement speed and also have fire resistance but no dodge. Some base items are also class exclusive. Example: Augury Helm can only be worn by Sentinels while Fiend Cowl is Acolyte exclusive.

The base item is the start of how an item will ultimately take shape, but it is far from the end. Once we've determined the base and its implicits we need to look at the affixes.

Explicit affixes are what really set an item apart from the others. These are affixes that aren't tied to the base item the way implicit affixes are. The right explicit affixes can be the difference between a best in slot item and one that isn't even worth picking up.

Items in this category can add one more affix, called a Sealed affix. This affix can be either a prefix or suffix, and can only be added by using a Glyph of Despair or finding an item that already has one in the Soulfire Bastion dungeon. When using a Glyph of Despair it moves an existing prefix/suffix to the sealed affix slot and opens up the other slot which allows us to craft a new affix in that slot.

One other stat you may have noticed on this type of gear is Forging Potential. While not technically an affix, this is still an important stat for affixes because it is needed in order to craft on an item. We suggest checking out our beginner crafting guide for more info, but the most important thing you need to know for now is that crafting on items uses Forging Potential and reaching 0 means the item can no longer be crafted on.

Affixes for sets work similarly to Uniques. The biggest difference comes from the set bonuses provided when wearing multiples of the same set. Sets can have anywhere from 1 to 3 bonuses and multiple bonuses usually require additional pieces of the set to be worn. The other difference is sets can't have Legendary Potential.

Idols that are 1x1, 2x1 and 1x2 are universal and can be used by any class. All others are class specific and can only be worn by the appropriate class for that Idol. All sizes have Idols for each class, so there isn't a scenario where a size doesn't apply to a certain class.

Most Idols are the same rarity and come with one prefix, one suffix and no implicits. Unlike traditional gear, these affixes don't follow a particular theme (like how suffixes are defense focused on traditional gear). Each size of Idol has a pool of prefixes and suffixes it can draw from, with class specific ones only drawing from the pool that applies to their class. Prefixes and suffixes are not linked together, meaning any combination of prefixes and suffixes that are in the pool for that Idol size can drop.

One exception to Idol rarity is Uniques. There are currently three: Singularity, Throne of Ambition and Trinity of Flames. These don't follow typical rules for Idols, instead taking on the rules for Uniques (except they cannot have Legendary Potential).

Blessings are a kind of 'gear' that is unique to Last Epoch and only found in the Monolith of Fate endgame system. The Monolith has a number of islands called Timelines that each have their own boss which must be killed to complete the Timeline. Upon killing the boss players are rewarded with a selection of Blessings. These Blessings range anywhere from increased power (i.e. Binds of Nature) to improved drop rates for certain items (i.e. Arrogance of Argentus). The Blessing is permanent and universal meaning it applies to every activity in the game, not just the Monolith.

Blessings only have one affix and one tier but their roll range is generally much higher than traditional gear. There are also two versions of them. The first has lower rolls and is found in normal Timelines while the second has higher rolls and is only found in Empowered Timelines which are much harder versions of the normal ones. If the Blessings a boss drops are not the right ones or the roll is low, the boss can be killed again to get a new set of Blessings. Selecting one of the new ones will override any previous Blessing so these can be farmed until the right Blessing with a sufficient roll drops.

While smart loot isn't gear, it does affect how gear drops. Smart loot applies to any gear slot that has class specific Common, Magic, Rare and Exalted items (helmets, body armor, relics, Idols and weapons). When an item drops for one of these slots, the game heavily biases the drop towards being an item that is wearable for the class you're playing on. Example: If you're playing a Primalist and body armor drops, it is far more likely that it will be Primalist specific body armor than Acolyte or some other class that isn't Primalist. This makes it much easier to gear a character since these slots that have a lot of items which aren't relevant to your class would otherwise only have a 1 in 5 chance of dropping something potentially useful. Smart loot does not apply to Uniques and Set items so you don't need to worry about farming those on the same class!