Introduction
Building damage may be considered more exciting, but defense is the real star when it comes to pushing your build. Without good defense, you're more likely to be killed in one shot, more likely to be stunned, and struggle to regain HP when you get hit. The room for error in a poorly defended build is much smaller than in a well-built build, so understanding defenses is critical to your success in Last Epoch
In this guide, we'll cover the basics of defense, including the large number of options you have, as well as the fundamental equations that ultimately limit the damage you take and allow you to regain the health you've lost. Understanding the concepts presented here will leave you much better prepared to make decisions about how to best utilize the defensive options available to you.
HP (hanging points)
Hit Points, or better known as HP, is the most basic defense in Last Epoch. Simply put, the more HP you have, the more damage you can take before you die. For example, if you have 200 HP and are hit by an attack that does 300, your character dies. But if you have 1000 HP and get hit by the same attack, you will only lose 300 while still having 700 HP left.

HP is effective against all damage, meaning there is no source of damage that can nullify it or make it less valuable, so stacking HP is generally a good strategy. However, high amounts of HP can negatively affect sustain (leech, regeneration, healing) if your sustain is not high enough.
There are generally three types of HP build stats: added, augmented, and hybrid.
Added
Increased
Hybrid
Added health is always a fixed amount (never a percentage). Multiple sources of Added Health are added together. Extra Health resources can be found on equipment, in passives, and you get a small amount each time you level up. Each point of the primary Vitality attribute also grants 10 HP.
It's very easy to calculate multiple sources of extra health because you simply add them up. For example, if you have 100 added health and get an item with 50 added health, you now have 150 added health.

Increased health is a multiplier for your additional health. You can find sources of improved health on equipment and passive items.
A combination of your added health and increased health will give you the correct amount of HP. For example, if you have 150 added health, with 50% increased health, you have150 * (1 + 0,5)for a total of 225 HP

Hybrid Health can only be found throughHybrid health part, which provides additional and improved health. It is only found on or applied to gloves, boots and belts.

Department
Ward is very similar to HP, in that it increases the amount of damage you can take before your character dies. Actually, Ward goes above HP and acts as a "shield" for your HP. This means that any damage you take will be removed from your house before your HP. As long as you still have Ward, your HP will not be touched until you reach 0 Ward. Unlike Energy Shield in Path of Exile, nothing* can outclass Ward and damage your HP directly.
Generate department
You can generate a Ward from multiple sources. Here are some examples:
- Ward Per Second, poput čvora SpellbladeMiracle
- Ward on Hit, likeMana-aanvalknotStrike Department
- Ward on Use, such as the resulting burstFlame Ward
- Ward on Kill, poputLive lifeknotBarrier of death
This is not an exhaustive list. There are many interesting ways to generate Wards in Last Epoch. However, these are the most common ways and represent the general sense of the work of the Ward generation.
Every class in Last Epoch has the ability to generate a ward. However, Mage and Acolyte have the most natural support for Ward. So if you're looking for an intuitive option to create a Ward build, you should check out those two classes first.
The section has expired
Ward decays over time. This happens even when you are standing still. Moreover, the more departments you have, the faster your department expires. This makes the barrier up and how many Wards you can collect at any given time. It is possible to slow Ward decay through Ward Retention. These statistics can be obtained from:
- passive
- equipment
- Skills
- Intelligence (4% neighborhood retention per point)
If you're a build that relies heavily on Ward, you'll want to invest in enough Ward Retention to maintain a sufficient Ward level.
Persist
Sustain includes all mechanisms that restore HP after taking damage. There are four types of maintenance in Last Epoch:
Leech
Regeneration
healing
On action
Leech takes a percentage of the player's damage dealt to enemies (after all enemy defenses/restrictions) and returns it as health to the player. For example, you have 5% leech and deal 100 damage to an enemy. Your leech amount is:
100 * 0,5 = 5
The amount of Leech a player gets is not instantaneous. Instead, it reverts to a 3 second period.

Leech is a very strong source of sustain, especially on a high damage build or a build with a high percentage of Leech. There are sources of leeches for all types of damage, including DoTs. However, it is important to be aware of the specific type of leech you are using as not all sources of leech work on all types of damage. For example, many leeches' resources are 'On Hit', meaning they don't work for DoTs at all. There are also many resources that are exclusive to melee, making them ineffective for spells and ranged attacks. Here are some easy sources from Leech for different types of upgrades:
- A unique amuletA bleeding heartfor builds without Spell
- Leech health shard in meleeon melee weapons and gloves
- Passives and skills for all classes. For example, the Sorcerer passive nodelava mancer
- Greetings from TheBlack sunTimeline:The hunger of emptinessURage Rahyeh
You can also increase your Leech Rate through resources such asThirst for the sun. Note that this doesn't actually increase the total amount of Leech you receive, it just shortens the time on Leech by 3 seconds, giving you the full amount faster.
Excess damage (when your damage exceeds the enemy's HP) does not count for Leech purposes unless you use an item such asTextured meat, which specifically provides Overkill damage.
HP regeneration gives the player a fixed amount of HP per second. All characters start with 6 Rain, but there are two stats that can improve the amount of Rain you have: Added Health Regen and Increased Health Regen. Added rain is a number where all resources are added to your base rain and then multiplied by the total % of increased rain you have. For example, let's say you have 10 added health regen and 20% increased health regen. Your total health regeneration is:

(6 + 10) * 1,2 = 19,2
Like most stats, you can also get additional and increased health regeneration through various sources, the most common being equipment and passive resources. You can also get a BlessingThe rhythm of the tidefromThe end of the stormTimeline.
Healing in Last Epoch works the same way other games do. Generally, an ability, sub-ability, or other event will trigger healing, restoring a certain amount of HP to the player. HP can be restored instantly or over time (HoT). There are many sources of healing, but the main source is through skills.

You can increase your healing through healing efficiency. All sources of healing efficiency are added together and then multiplied by the base amount of healing. For example, let's say we useAether's Blessing, which has a base healing of 100. We also have 7 pointsBlessed spring, which gives us 49% healing efficiency.Aether's Blessingnow a cure for:
100 * 1,49 = 149
Note that there are currently no stats that can increase resource base healing. Because of this, the healing value is highly dependent on the source itself. Some resources will be significantly better than others simply because their base healing is better.
This category is best described as "When I do X, I get health". These actions are often mechanically similar to healing, but do not count as healing and therefore do not match the effectiveness of healing. Here are some notable examples:
- For rogue states:Subversive strikesUDrain arrows. With a high enough attack speed, it can be the primary support for an archer
- For the guard:Time and faith
- General resources:Health on the shard of a blow in the crowdUHealth on the Kill Shard

Otpornici

Resists are considered the most basic form of defense in the game. They provide protection against the type of damage that matches the resistance. For example, if you havenecrotic resistance, you take less necrotic damage. The complete list of resistors is:
- Physically
- cold
- Fireworks
- Lightning bolt
- Poison
- Necrotisch
- Emptiness
Resists protect against both hits and DoTs, including harmful ailments. SoPhysical resistanceprotects againstBleedUVatrootporanprotects againstFor the light, enz.
Cover resistors
All resistances are capped at 75%, and there is no way to increase them. Any resistance above the limit is not a solution, but it can prevent Shred from dropping your resistances below the limit.
As a general rule, we recommend covering Resistance with an early-mid monotone. To do this, focus on the resistance(s) that protect against the most common types of damage in the content you're doing. Chapter 1 is for exampleEmptinessUPhysically, while chapter 9 is largelyPoison.
Breakthrough of enemy resistance
All enemies gain penetration to all resistances from level 1 and it increases by 1% each level, eventually ending at 75% at level 75 (this is the enemy's level, not your level). Penetration is subtracted from resistance, meaning that in the level 75 area, if you have 75% resistance, you actually have 0%. Your resistances can also be negative, so if you're in the level 75 area and have no resistance, you're actually at -75% resistance. Now take 75% more damage!
armor (armor)
Armor allows to reduce impact damage. It offers no advantage against DoT. Armor also provides greater reductionPhysical damagefrom other types of damage, with a maximum of 85% for itPhysicallyand 59.5% for all other types of damage. Exactly how much you get depends on two things:
- Amount of armor you have (scaled through 'added and' increased' resources)
- Enemy level
Armor can be scaled from all typical resources, including equipment, blessings, skills, and passives. Sentinel has the most natural support, but every class has at least a few.

Smartness
Dodge has a chance to dodge the blow entirely, negating any damage it would take and any ailments it would cause. DoTs cannot be dodged.
Avoid the 85% chance cap. Diminished returns make it impossible to reach the cap (although you can get close). There are some securities that may temporarily exceed this limit (i.e.Silver cover), but these effects are beyond the usual Dodge calculation. Exactly how much you get depends on two things:
- Amount of evasion you have (scaled across 'added' and 'increased' sources)
- Enemy level
Dodge can be scaled from all the typical resources, including equipment, blessings, skills, and passives. Rogue has the most Dodge support. Primalist also has good support.

Endurance
Endurance is a unique layer of defense that provides significant one-hit protection. Triggers after the player reaches a certain HP threshold and then provides damage reduction for all types, including DoTs. Scalability is achieved through two metrics:
- Endurance: This increases the amount of damage reduction the player receives, up to a maximum of 60%. It has a base value of 20%.
- Endurance threshold: This is the amount your HP must be lower to receive Endurance Damage Reduction. It has a base value of 20% of the player's total HP, meaning that this number increases as HP increases along with the stat itself.
Stamina can be scaled from all typical resources, including equipment, blessings, skills, and passive abilities. Primalist has the most support, while Acolyte has class-specific gear.

Block
Blocking offers an opportunity to reduce the damage from the hit. As with Armor, it does not apply to DoTs. Blocking does not require a shield, but is much less effective without it. It has two parts:
- Block the opportunity: Determines the chance to block a shot against you.
- Block efficiency: The amount of damage reduction you get from a block.
Block chance is pretty straightforward, and each increase in block chance is additive. Example: We have a 30% block chance and add a 10% block chance resource. We now have a 40% chance to block.

Block Effectiveness works similarly to Armor. There is a formula that is determined by both the amount of block effectiveness you have and the level of the area. Block effectiveness is limited to 85% damage reduction.
One more thing: there is also a stat called Less Damage Taken From Block. This is an additional damage reduction on Block. It is therefore multiplicative with Block Effectiveness.

Avoiding critical hits
Enemy critical hits deal double damage, making them even more deadly. Dodging a critical hit reduces the chance of an enemy taking critical hits, and 100% dodging means you can never take critical hits. We recommend covering Critical Avoidance as soon as possible, especially on Hardcore!
Critical hit avoidance is found through equipment, BlessingThe survival of the government, some class passives and primal idols. You can also directly limit your criticism avoidanceTextured meat, which has a 50% chance of losing weight fromHorroruThe fall of the outcastTimeline.
An alternative to dodging critical hits is Less Extra Damage from Critical Attacks, which reduces the amount of damage dealt by a critical hit. At 100%, critical hits do no extra damage. The downside of this trait is that it can only be found as a suffix on some two-handed weapons (axe, mace, spear, sword).

Looking at the shot
An exclusive rogue defense, Glancing Blows reduce damage from blows by 35% (DoTs cannot be Glancing Blows). Like critical hit dodge, Glancing Blow chance is capped at 100%. Scaling resources usually come through Rogue Passives and the Rogue buff Dusk Shroud.

Avoid stunninge
Stuns prevent the player from moving or using abilities. Scaling Stun Avoidance reduces the chance of being stunned by hits (DoTs cannot stun). Sources of stun avoidance can be found in equipment, skills, and passives.
While stun avoidance is useful, stun avoidance doesn't scale well, and stun chance can also be reduced by reducing the damage you take or increasing your HP/Ward pool. Since those options also improve your survivability, we recommend avoiding Stun Avoidance and choosing this one instead.

Class damage reduction
While the above are (mostly) general layers of defense that each class can incorporate, there are also damage mitigation resources that apply only to one class. These are usually found in passive trees and skill trees, but can also be found on certain class-specific loadouts.
The list of options is too large to cover individually here, but we provide a few examples for each class that are a good representation of the general options available to you.

altarpiece
- Elixir of Death indicates damage reductionPhysicallyUNecrotischPotion damage.
- Aura of decayreducesPoisonDamage received while active. knotVaccinationfurther reducedPoisonInjury. Note: This skill is also continuousPoisonplayers, so it is an advantage compared toPoisonstacks you receive.
- Seal of Deathreduces the damage you take from low health.
Mage
- Flame Wardprovides rapid impact damage reduction when used. The ability can be further upgraded to provide more damage reduction from hitsObstacleand can provide even more diverse damage reduction viaPrismatic bumperUSpiritual protection.
- Arcane Shielding grants global damage reduction per stack.
- A broken crownconverts the percentage of damage taken into mana instead of health as long as the player has mana. The conversion is 1 mana for every 5 health, making it a very powerful source of damage reduction. This statistic can also be found via prefixDamage dealt to mana before healthand previously mentionedFlame WardknotSpiritual protection.
primalist
- FromA madmanpassively provides global damage reduction while low on health.
- Bear Power reduces all damage taken by nearby enemies.
- Aspect of the Boar is a buff that provides global damage reduction when active. The degree of reduction, duration of the enhancement, and method of activation can be changed with passive and primalist-specific prefixes.
villain
- Avoidgrants worldwide damage reduction while moving.
- Prolonged death reduces damage from DoTs while wielding a bow.
- Crimson Shroud is a buff that reduces damage from DoTs.
guard
- The hammer and anvil provide global damage reduction if you're not using a throw attack, but also deal less damage.
- Reprimandreduces damage taken by 80% while channeling abilities.
- Osprixbane reduces fire damage from a blocked shot.
Combining sources of damage reductionN
Now you know the different types of damage reduction available to you, but what happens when multiple layers work together? Example: You are a rogue and you get 50% off Blocking, 35% off Glancing Blow and another 25% off while moving. All of that gives more than 100% reduction, so does that mean that if you block and land a Glancing Blow while moving, you won't take any damage? No, because the damage reduction layers are multiplicative, not additive.
DebuffS
While not technically a defense layer in the traditional sense, some debuffs cause enemies to take less damage and therefore belong in any discussion of defenses. There are three debuffs that directly affect the amount of damage you take:
Vulnerability
When applied, this debuff reduces all damage taken by the enemy by 6% and can be stacked up to 3 times, resulting in a total damage reduction of 18%. The main sources of vulnerability can be found on Gear, Skills andCurse of brimstoneBlessing. This is a great general debuff for any build.
Chiland
Reduces the enemy's attack, throw and movement speed by 12% and can be stacked up to 3 times.Coolis a double advantage for players because:
- Lowering attack and casting speed causes enemies to deal less DPS.
- With a lower movement speed, players can avoid enemies more easily.
SourcesCoolcan be found in equipment, skills, passives andA heart of iceBlessing. Like Frailty, this is a great debuff for any build.
BoosD
Halves critical strike chance and affects ranged enemies' ability to aim, resulting in erratic projectiles. While this debuff sounds powerful, the strange behavior of distant enemies can actually make it difficult to avoid their attacks, especially in large groups. If you have limited critical hit avoidance, you don't need this debuff and it will often do more harm than good.
Crowd Control-debuffovi
Chill and Blind fall into this category, but have an additional component that provides instant damage reduction. These are debuffs that only allow crowd control. The nature of their work prevents enemies from inflicting damage, so they should be taken into account when planning your defense:
- Stun: Prevents movement or skill use for the duration of the stun.
- Freeze: Like the stun, prevents movement or skill use for the duration. Freeze has 3x the base duration of stun (0.4 vs 1.2 seconds)
- Fear: Makes enemies flee for 0.5 to 0.9 seconds. They cannot use any skills during this time. An enemy can only be feared once.
- Spore: Reduces enemy movement speed by 20% and can be collected up to 3 times. Enemies can be slowed down andChilledAt the same time
Continue
- HP is your most important stat. Reach 0 and you're dead.
- You need added and boosted resources to properly scale your HP.
- Ward acts as extra HP, but decays over time and damage is taken from Ward before HP.
- Resistors are very important. You'll want to capture them, but it's not as necessary as some other games (like PoE) due to the enemy's resistance to penetration.
- Other main defensive layers are: Armor, Dodge, Stamina, Block, Critical Hit Avoidance, and Glancing Blow
- Instead of investing in stun avoidance, invest in HP and defense as they also reduce the chance of being stunned
- Each class also has special ways to reduce damage that are exclusive to the class.
- Debuffs are an important layer of defense; especially vulnerability andCool.
Video
Merits
WroteMcFluffin.
RatedHagedis_IRL,Aristotelian.
List of changes
- August 17, 2022
A construction manual was created.
FAQs
How does Ward work in the last epoch? ›
Ward is one of the Character Stats which is a temporary magical shield that protects your health pool, as in Combat Calculations it takes damage before health. There is no maximum to how much ward you can have. Ward also disappears over time. It disappears faster the more you have.
What does endurance do in last epoch? ›Endurance is a defensive mechanic that allows you to take less damage while below a certain health value. While your health is less than your Endurance Threshold, you will take less damage equal to your Endurance value. This reduction applies to health, but does not apply to ward.
What is elemental resistance in the last epoch? ›Elemental Resistance is one of the Protections which mitigates Cold Damage, Fire Damage, and Lightning Damage during Combat Calculations. The amount of Elemental Protection is additive to the Protections Cold Protection, Fire Protection, and Lightning Protection.
What is low health in the last epoch? ›Characters are considered at low health when their health drops to 35% (or below) of their maximum health.
Does Ward stop sacrifice? ›Ward and Sacrifice
For example, ward can't stop Diabolic Edict because Diabolic Edict targets a player, not a creature. Whether that player decides to sacrifice a ward creature to Diabolic Edict is up to them, but the ward ability will not apply.
If your WardPower stays above 0, you fully block the spell. If your WardPower goes below 0, your ward breaks and you may take some damage from the spell depending on how much ward power you had left relative to the strength of the spell.
What is the corruption limit in Last Epoch? ›Normal Timelines have their own area level, start at zero Corruption and can only increase their Corruption to a maximum of 50. Empowered versions are all level 100, start at 100 Corruption and can scale Corruption infinitely (providing you can handle the challenge.)
What does frostbite do in Last Epoch? ›Frostbite : A DoT that deals Cold Damage and increases chance to be Frozen by 20%. It has 36 base damage and lasts 3 seconds. Can stack with no limit but only the first 30 stacks increase chance to be Frozen .
What is the skill cap in Last Epoch? ›Skill Experience
Each skill has a base Level cap of 20 that can be increased through items.
Items → Affixes
Affixes have 7 tiers, with tier 1 being the lowest and tier 7 being the highest. However, only tier 1 through 5 can be created through crafting.
What is lightning aegis in Last Epoch? ›
Lightning Aegis is a buff which grants 50% increased lightning damage and 25% less damage taken. Lightning Aegis causes an explosion of lightning damage when you lose 25% of your health or after 10 seconds. Mana Cost: 7.
How do I get more corruption in the Last Epoch? ›CORRUPTION FARM STRATEGY:
Path your Echoes to get as far away as possible from the Starting Node of your Echo Web. If you fill up your Stability, defeat the Timeline Boss to gain a Gaze of Orobyss . Reach the edge of your Web and defeat a Shade of Orobyss that grants at least +15 base Corruption .
Ward is a defence type introduced in content patch 3.15 that absorbs the damage taken from a hit equal by the amount of ward. After being hit by any amount of damage, ward will deplete, recharging after 5 seconds. Unlike energy shield, taking damage will not interrupt ward restoration time.
What happens on wards? ›People are transferred from the intensive care unit to a general ward when medical staff decide that they no longer need such close observation and one-to-one care. For many people, this move is an important step in their progress from being critically ill to recovering.
How does Ward save work? ›Ward save, also known as Damage resistance, is the only universal damage-mitigation resistance in the game and, as a result, the most powerful protection any unit can have. It reduces damage from all damage channels and interacts with all attack channels.
How does Arcane Ward work? ›Arcane Ward- When you cast an abjuration spell of 1st level or higher, you can simultaneously use a strand of the spell's magic to create a magical ward on yourself that lasts until you finish a long rest. The ward has hit points equal to twice your w izard level + your Intelligence modifier.