Last Epoch -ARPG Catch All

I had an opportunity to play this last night when it released into early access in Steam. As a huge fan of ARPGs I am surprised I missed this one. Apparently it had a mildly successful Kickstarter last year. It's a small studio developing, think Grim Dawn. If you liked Grim Dawn, you'll probably like this. It's got some bugs to work out, but nothing that other titles like this haven't had their share of. The classes are interesting, the skills seem to be well implemented so far. Graphics are good, sound is underwhelming at this point. It met my playability test (I stayed up later than I wanted to, in order to keep playing). It's $35 ducats but I think that's fair for what I've seen. So if you've got some spare cash give it a whirl or at least check it out. I think there is a demo on their old Kickstarter page as well. I saw the videos on Steam and said hell yeah and clicked buy. [LINK]

Looks interesting, going to give it a shot. Thanks for the heads up SpyNavy!

Sure, I enjoyed it. There are some gameplay videos and streams out there as well for those who might need more.

I see this game will not alter your appearance based on what you wear? Thats sadly a no-deal for me. A huge part of the lootchase (for me) is to be able to change how I look through gear,just like in Grim Dawn.

Razgon wrote:

I see this game will not alter your appearance based on what you wear? Thats sadly a no-deal for me. A huge part of the lootchase (for me) is to be able to change how I look through gear,just like in Grim Dawn.

I believe that's still being implemented at least according to the various FAQs and Kickstarter info. Where did you see that specifically because I thought my appearance changed during my play?

The video on Steam shows a character appearance changing as gear is equipped...

Hmm - I dont know how to link to a steam forum, but here is the relevant info from the developer in the topic in steam fora

Hackalöken;1649917420731451327 wrote:

Hi there,

Sorry for the late reply (and you probably won't see me on the second page now).

We agree that having progression in your character's customization and liking your gear is very important. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to allocate as much time to making more gear sets yet as we only have so many modelers. This year we have already replaced all the character models, so when we did that they did effectively receive new gear models, so we have been doing work in this area.

This is from a thread where people complain that their level 1 character looks the same at level 20.

Its great though, if you guys have other experiences? Or its a work in progress?

I know my appearance has changed with different gear, but again it's early access and so any comparison with a fully complete game is likely to be misleading. I'd recommend reading the FAQs from their official site. Does a good job articulating various points of the game has various developer blogs embedded in certain parts for a more underneath the hood look.

I am loving my time with the game. I've spent about 4 hours playing a acolyte lvl 7 and lvl 15 primalist.
I love the pet classes. I love the primalists totems. The skill customization is nutty but much easier to follow that PoE's passive tree.
I really want to get into the crafting but I haven't seen any properties I've really wanted to steal or add to my current equipment.
I think this will scratch a D2 itch, a D3 itch and a PoE itch.

I am very interested in this as my next game. Hoping they get multiplayer going soon. Getting burned out on Grim Dawn. D3 will be in a new season soon but that will only be a couple of weeks delay.

I´ve put in 5 hours now, and levelled an Acolyte, a druid and a mage to between level 10 and 15. Besides getting a hat on, using a sword, shield, axe or rod, there is no change in clothing yet as we discussed earlier.

BUT - seeing that the game has a planned release at april 2020, I am not in the least bit worried. The gameplay loop is already fun, and the skill systems are interesting so far, although I´d have loved for the mage to get a companion as well!

Now comes the hard part - WAITING until release!

The mage has the runemaster specialization that isn't implemented yet. I hope that has both a pet/familiar/companion and traps/turrets/totems style skills.
Oddly I really want the acolyte to be my favorite as a minion master class, but the support skills and basic nuke while cool are a little undewhelming.

It is the primalist that I really enjoy so far. It is less pets (in the base class) but I love the poison dart totems. So I cannot wait until the rogue is released since that seems like it will have its roots in the trapassin.

The mage's lightning feels really good out of the gate. But I love that he has essentially arcane orb with talents that allow it to explode at your cursor rather than going a fixed distance.

The sentinel is fun too with blessed hammers, leap and whirlwind at early levels. The Rhykker youtube video pretty much sold me on buying this beta because of the hammerdin he was showing off.

That April 2020 makes it hard to get excited right now. I missed that when looking at info on it. Poop.

There is 4 of 5 classes, 2 and a half acts of 4 in the game right now. There are only 2 of the available class specializations missing. Itemization probably has a lot more room to grow but it is pretty deep already. Monster types are varied enough and will only get more diverse. Part of their end game is already implemented (greater rifts and dropped maps horde mode)

There is probably already close to 100 hours of game implemented. The combat loop is a lot of fun. The graphics are decent. I would put them on par with Grim Dawn and Path of Exile.

Now is a perfect time to jump in until something like Rebel Galaxy Outlaw or Rage 2 get released. Plus it is a pick up and play game so it fits in alongside other games well or if you can only spare 15-30 minutes to play.

I am sold. I hope they get multi in soon.

fangblackbone wrote:

I am loving my time with the game. I've spent about 4 hours playing a acolyte lvl 7 and lvl 15 primalist.
I love the pet classes. I love the primalists totems. The skill customization is nutty but much easier to follow that PoE's passive tree.
I really want to get into the crafting but I haven't seen any properties I've really wanted to steal or add to my current equipment.
I think this will scratch a D2 itch, a D3 itch and a PoE itch.

Pet classes are awesome. I'm playing a Shaman pet and totem hybrid. So far I've been able to reach level 30 Deathless, but it had taken me a few tries. My necro is around 16. It's amazing how much crafting impacts your ability to survive. I have found some decent orange drops and my first green. Still haven't found anything specific to my primalist, but I've crafted most of my stuff to the max. I really think the devs intend you to take a piece of gear and make it your own vice finding that perfect set. I'm digging it. I've put close to 25 hours in and I learn something each time. My biggest gripe is feedback on getting injured. I've died a couple of times where I had no idea I was even getting hit. For an early access game it is remarkably playable and fun.

Got it last night but have not played yet. Looking forward to giving it a whirl.

Picked this up last night and beat the first ... era? Act? Whatever it's called. Around level 25, the beastmaster is doing well. Level 25, 3 pets and 2 totems. No deaths and a lot of running around. I want to make a fun, lazy pet build. No idea if that's what I will play but it seemed the most fun when I started with zero knowledge of the game.

This game still has a ways to go but it's a lot of fun!

I've got three pets, 5 thorn totems, one lightning totem, and a tornado. Wicked fun.

Lot of promise here, but the maps are Booorrrriinngg!

Is it just me or does the game get butt ugly in the second act or whatever it's called?

It is not just you. So much potential. I hope they get it right when it gets released.

Ok so I played this through to the end of the available content. It isnt the prettiest game in the genre. On par with Grim Dawn, but just maybe. That being said the skill and crafting system is absolutely fantastic. The skill tree is easily the most interesting since D2. And... if you like to play summoner classes like Necromancers or Shamans, man the Necromancer class is so so good. So it has a ways to go - it is Alpha, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. Gameplay is A+, Graphics and Sound C-.

Grim updated their graphics so it looks a 100x better than this nor is it as repetitive.

ranalin wrote:

Grim updated their graphics so it looks a 100x better than this nor is it as repetitive.

Like I said - close. I also expect some graphics tweaking and changes to the types and variety of enemy mobs as it gets nearer to release 12-18 months off I suspect. Like all things taste and opinions differ. Id love to see their gameplay/skill tree coupled with GDs enemy variety and some graphical polish. Did I get everything I hoped for out of the alpha - yes and then some.

Bought this back it first went EA, just finally dropped my feet in for real yesterday.

Quite like it. I have a necromancer up to 33 now. Focused skills being skeletons, golem, AoE curse thing and a skull go hit things with dot thing....

Yea i know, i'm being lazy right now.

I had a blast so far and look foward to more of it for a while till i dive full speed into Bordlands 3.

Have the map layout/designs gotten any better or still a snooze fest?

No they haven't really improved the maps, but the skill development is still a blast. Necromancer is very cool, lots of nifty combos work the Shaman as well.

I bought this over the weekend and have played it a lot more than I expected to. I tend to do this a lot with ARPGs and burnout quickly. This one may not buck that trend but I have enjoyed it.

My first build has been a void knight with high heal on hit. He takes a bit to get a kill but will...not...die.

Gonna bump this up since 1.0 release is tomorrow, and it's looking great!

Very much looking forward to the new Falconer mastery.