Last Epoch Warlock build guide: Skills, gear, leveling & gameplay tips

The first major decision in Last Epoch is which class to pick, before further defining that by selecting a Mastery a few levels later. One of those masteries is the Warlock and this guide contains everything there is to know about building a master of the dark arts.

Last Epoch’s full release is now out in the wild and players have been flooding the game in their thousands. It’s a little early to say which classes are thriving and which are falling behind, but the Acolyte is proving to be a popular option.

Acolyte is arguably the most versatile class pick in the game, offering excellent Necrotic and Poison damage, as well as significant bleed effects. Each class is then able to pick from one of three Masteries, one of which is the Warlock.

The Warlock adds impressive potential Fire damage to the existing Acolyte arsenal to create a uniquely malleable package. Read on for everything you need to know about building and playing as a Warlock in Last Epoch.

Complete Last Epoch Warlock guide

Happily, in the case of the Warlock, the general direction and build while leveling is similar to the optimal setup for the endgame. Of course, the gear will improve but the playstyle will remain relatively consistent. This has the added advantage of easing the transition into the game’s hardest content.

Note: The skills and passives listed in this guide assume a character Level of 70. Though a few points are unlocked after this, the below is a build designed to take the character through the entire endgame.

Warlock Passive choices

In Last Epoch, classes are set up in a layered system. Players are able to build into Passives tied to both the overall class and Mastery. This Warlock build selects Passives around a few key tenets that should see it strike a balance between high-volume damage and survivability. These priorities are as follows:

• Increasing baseline Intelligence as much as possible.
• Increasing both Bleed chance and duration.
• Keeping Mana Regeneration at sustainable levels
• Maximizing damage over time

The best way to do this is to build heavily into the Warlock trees alongside some nice general mitigation from the Acolyte tree.

The Acolyte Passive tree is built with general improvements to the class in mind. Maxing out Blood Aura and Forbidden Knowledge gives a great boost to damage output and Intelligence respectively. A further six points in Stolen Vitality is a significant help to the class’ overall survivability.

The Warlock tree is more complex to manage but it offers ample reward if built properly. The full list of Passives and their purpose is as follows:

• Spiteful Decay (5/8)
• Cauldron of Blood (6/8)
• Crimson Favors (4/6)
• Soul Stealer (4/8)
• Occultist’s Mind (5/8)
• Ward of Malevolence (5/5)
• Harrowing Armor (4/8)
• Imperishable (2/5)
• Doom Herald (8/8)
• Dark Protections (4/7)
• Wither (5/5)
• Encroaching Darkness (2/5)
• Malefic Body (10/10)
• Fleeting Crone (5/5)
• Vessel of Chaos (6/7)
• Aspect of Death (5/5)

Both Spiteful Decay and Vessel of Chaos provide significant boosts to damage over time. Cauldron of Blood and Crimson Favors are critical to increasing Bleed Chance, while maxing out Wither gives a 100% chance to apply the ailment, which in turn increases outgoing curse damage.

Aspect of Death, Malefic Body and Soul Stealer grant impressive increases to the most important stats for the class, including Intelligence and Mana Regen. The rest of the tree is designed to increase the effectiveness of Wards, the number of ailments and generally buff stats like Health and Armor.

Last Epoch Warlock Skills and tree breakdown

In the case of the Warlock, there are quite a few viable skills to take into battle. Picking one that suits your playstyle will usually be the optimal route, but there are some skills that are near necessities. At the time of writing, it’s difficult to see a viable Warlock build that doesn’t include allocations for Chaos Bolts, Harvest and the Mastery Skill of Chthonic Fissure.

In our build, we’ve gone for Rip Blood and Spirit Plague. Both are solid abilities in their own right and they grant important Bleed and DoT buffs.

• Chthonic Fissure: Opens an infernal fissure in the ground, dealing fire damage over time to enemies on top of it, as well as releasing Spirits from the fissure that seek nearby enemies. These spirits inflict enemies with Torment, a Curse that slows and deals necrotic damage over time.
• Chaos Bolts: A barrage of chaotic projectiles that land in an area around the target. The explosions deal necrotic and fire damage in a small area.
• Harvest: A melee attack that hits all enemies in an area in front of you, dealing double damage to those that are Cursed.
• Rip Blood: Rips blood out of a target enemy dealing physical damage to it. An orb of the blood is drawn back to you, restoring 10 health when it reaches you.
• Spirit Plague: Curses a target with a powerful necrotic damage over time effect which lasts 3 seconds. Spreads to a single nearby target on target death.

Chthonic Fissure

Chthonic Fissure is the centerpiece Warlock ability and for good reason. The ability is devastating and the right node priority only serves to increase its potency. Our build seeks to add as many potential afflictions as possible, hence the points in Fell Fire, Mantle of Flames, Blood Gulch and Beacon of Torment.

Of Gloom and Flames opens up a second fissure when the ability is used and it’s worth having for the additional output. Abilities like Fragile Crust add nice general class utility to the mix.

Chaos Bolts

Chaos Bolts are the foundational DPS of effective Warlock builds. They deal a ton of damage in their own right and our tree is designed to make that damage as extensive and varied as possible. Nodes like Chance of Snow, Call of Morditas and Mania in Flames add three potential ailments in Frostbite, Ignite and Chill.

A point in Reaper of Mayhem gives a chance at a Harvest proc, which itself is buffed by our choices below. Sanguine Revery and Condemned to Chaos add further ailments and Another Affliction casts Bone Curse when Cursed enemies are hit by Chaos Bolts.

Harvest

The main goal for the Harvest tree is to build into Bleed effects. Crimson Death, Blood Bringer and Double-Edged Scythe all do that, while Putrid Reaper gives a 20% chance to Poison. Mark of the Locust synergizes well with Spirit Plague, though it’s important to remember to cast that before Harvest to take advantage of the 100% chance to Wither the enemy.

Great Scythe buffs the area of effect for Harvest, while maxing out Finality turns the move into an execution for enemies under 12% health. Spirit Shards provide a huge damage increase when it triggers and Harrowing Blade is a very useful Necrotic Resistance debuff.

Rip Blood

Rip Blood is unlocked early and it’s worth keeping around thanks to the potential buffs from each tree. Arcane Absorption gives a stacking damage buff to all spellcasting. Rip Spirit converts the damage output to Necrotic Damage, allowing Rip Blood and Blood Splatter to scale better with other trees.

Spirit Plague

Spirit Plague dovetails well with the Necrotic damage conversion in the Rip Blood tree. Plague Burst and Agonising Expanse add to the class’ overwhelmingly good AoE. Nodes like Hemorrhage, Laceration and Exsanguination all add further chances to add Bleed stacks to enemies.

Hindering Affliction is a hugely useful utility that slows enemies, allowing the player to create separation. Enfeeblement adds Frailty affliction stacks and Plague of Eyes buffs Necrotic damage based on Intelligence.

Warlock gear and stat priority guide

The gearing system in Last Epoch leaves a lot of room for maneuverability. Though we won’t generally provide specific recommendations for gear items here, there are definite stat priorities. That said, there is one item that Warlock players should go for upon reaching Level 76.

The Unique Silver Amulet Omnis is a must-have for Warlocks aiming for Best in Slot. The amulet provides 45% resistance to every major damage type in the game and +1 to all skills. It’s difficult to argue for another unique item over this one at this time.

The approach to take when gearing a Warlock should be as follows:

• Intelligence buffed to at least 60
• Armor at 50% or more to increase overall survivability
• Bleed duration buffs
• Damage over Time increases

It’s important not to entirely glass cannon and building Health up to reasonable levels is important. From there, it should simply be a case of stacking Bleeds and Afflictions while keeping an appropriate distance.