Last Epoch

[FunkMonk]

The long awaited, near mythical version 1.0 comes out next week (21 February). The game looks incredible and fits the niche between Diablo and Path of Exile. Possibly my most anticipated release this year. Who else is waiting for this one?

[crazy canuck]

Me! 

[crazy canuck]

I like the new beginning areas.  Going to level the new Warlock class first.  Fun so far-maybe a tad on the easy side.  But that is my complaint about all ARPGs these days.

[FunkMonk]

Yeah I'm leveling a warlock first too. Only about 10 hours in and just lvl 33.

[frunk]

Gave it a try, and I like it.  Definitely has some nice elements.  I'm glad there's a fully offline version.  The bosses' telegraphs are generally pretty clear.  Probably one of the best crafting systems I've seen so far (lvl ~50) in an ARPG. I wish PoE had something like this rather than its dumb, labyrinthine, carpal tunnel gambling game.  The skill trees are really nice.

Annoyances are:
Hit boxes of the map transitions are way too big and invisible.  Too many times I've accidentally left a map during a fight near the exit, and once you leave the map mobs reset.
Other NPC hit boxes are small or somewhat unclear.
A more minor annoyance is it appears you can click on gold and not move. I wasn't trying to pick it up since it is auto collected, but if you click on it you don't move.

The passive tree respec is annoying.  The fact that I have to roll back most of the passive tree to change one low level point isn't that expensive, but it is frustrating that I have to remember how I had it all set up to put the points back again.  If they prorated the cost of the low level point respec rather than making me roll it all back I'd like that much better.

[FunkMonk]

I've been playing on Steam Deck and it's relatively smooth sailing for an indie game. Occasionally the game crashes in a zone change which is annoying but I am guessing an updated Proton will fix that.

Something I really like about this game is the sheer amount of builds even among mastery classes. Seems like everyone I see on YT or Twitch is playing kind of their own spin on a build. The variety is really cool and puts a game like Diablo 4 to shame.

D4 is still probably the best in the genre as far as combat feel but games like PoE and LE are vastly superior in game systems, mechanics, crafting, and itemization. It's these aspects of Last Epoch that have kept me interested in it over the years and with the 1.0 release I think I can say that these independent developers have succeeded in creating a video game better than Diablo 4.

[crazy canuck]

There are currently 42k people on twitch viewing this game being played.  Under 1k for diablo iv

[Tamas]

There are currently 42k people on twitch viewing this game being played.  Under 1k for diablo iv

I guess that explains why Diablo 4 is coming to Game Pass.

[FunkMonk]

Eh I'd say there are still way more people playing diablo 4 than Last Epoch. D4 sold a ton and is also available on consoles. But I'd say the twitch numbers reveal how much positive buzz this game is getting among the hard-core audience versus the disappointment of D4.

I think the steam charts peaked at close to 300k simultaneous players for LE though, which for a very small developer is absolutely massive I think. Huge success regardless of overall numbers compared to the giants of Diablo and PoE.

[crazy canuck]

Really really liking this game.  I am now suffering from character changeitis.  I am playing on hardcore mode.  And every class has been great.  Played the Warlock to level 40ish, she seems unstoppable.  I had some good minion drops so tried out the Necromancer.  She is also awesome and about mid 30ies. Played with care essentially indestructable and a fast killing machine.  Tried the Paladin (melee/fire based) less fun but unkillable tank - only about 25ish.  Now trying the falconer with the fast attack skill - loads of fun.

Now I have to settle on which one to play through the end game content. Decisions decisions.  I will probably tryout the Runecaster next 

[crazy canuck]

My Warlock died at level 48 - silly mistake, got distracted.  Hardcore characters revert to normal when they die, just like in POE. But just like that game I just start another hardcore character.  Been spending time on a Rive Paladin with healing hands procing on a melee hit and damage converted to melee damage.

It took a while to get going, but it feels very smooth and all that healing through healing hands and stacked regen makes this feel very tanky.

If this one dies I am going to try the smite/healing hands version.

[frunk]

My tankiest character so far has been SpellBlade with ward stacking. 

[FunkMonk]

I'm at 65 with my ghostflame/cthonic rift warlock. Spreading curses and dots feel good and burns through monolith pretty quickly.

I'm concentrating on ward as my main defensive layer but I need to fix my resistances. I've only died a couple times though. My lightning res is only like 20% and I got one shot by some random rare shooting a massive fuck off lightning beam 

Haven't burned out on this character yet so I will keep going with him. I still need to solve some defensive layers and mana regen. Haven't really thought of my next character though. Spellblade sounds fun but also runemancer looks really really cool. It will probably depend on what uniques I drop with legendary potential.

[crazy canuck]

Yeah, on this run through I am prioritizing resistances and defence layering.  It has not slowed down my killing rate much if at all, so I am beginning to think that is the intention of the game design.

[crazy canuck]

I'm at 65 with my ghostflame/cthonic rift warlock. Spreading curses and dots feel good and burns through monolith pretty quickly.

I'm concentrating on ward as my main defensive layer but I need to fix my resistances. I've only died a couple times though. My lightning res is only like 20% and I got one shot by some random rare shooting a massive fuck off lightning beam 

Haven't burned out on this character yet so I will keep going with him. I still need to solve some defensive layers and mana regen. Haven't really thought of my next character though. Spellblade sounds fun but also runemancer looks really really cool. It will probably depend on what uniques I drop with legendary potential.

There is a FunkMunk with a Warlock of that description currently ranked third over all on the hardcore leaderboard.