Hey, Travelers!

Trasochi has posted our latest Developer Blog; Overhauling Defenses in Last Epoch.

Developer Blogs are when members of the team take a deep dive into a particular aspect of Last Epoch's design, explaining not just changes that will be made, but the reasoning behind those changes. This latest Developer Blog focuses on changes to items and class passives coming in Patch 0.7.8.

Unlike most of our posts, Developer Blogs are only available on the game's official forum. We sincerely hope you take the time to check out the post and leave us your feedback. We'll see you there!

Want to get more involved with the community? Join us on the official forum!



Our next update, Patch 0.7.10, includes a new Spellblade skill!

Firebrand is a high level Spellblade skill which can be used either as a primary damage skill or as a supporting ability woven into a build using other melee skills, with which it synergizes strongly.




Firebrand’s unspecialized tooltip



Here’s some examples of nodes from Firebrand’s tree!


Incineration (0/1)
Your next melee attack, that is not Firebrand, consumes all stacks of Firebrand and deals more damage per stack consumed (multiplicative with other modifiers).

Illuminating Fire (0/1)
Consuming 3 or more stacks of Firebrand with Incineration guarantees a critical strike.



Fumination (0/3)
Firebrand attacks faster per stack of Firebrand, up to a maximum.

Inferno (0/5)
Stacks of Firebrand also grant Increased Fire Damage Over Time.

Firebrand has a chance to inflict Spreading Flames when hitting an ignited enemy.

(Spreading Flames deals Fire Damage Over Time and spreads to nearby enemies after half a second. Enemies cannot have multiple instances of Spreading Flames at once.)



Brand of Arcanus (0/1)
Stacks of Firebrand add Adaptive Spell Damage rather than Melee Fire Damage.

Pyre (0/1)
If Firebrand hits at least one enemy, it consumes 10 Mana to cast Flame Wave, a spell that deals Fire Damage in a line.



Crossfire (0/3)
You have global Ignite Chance per stack of Firebrand.

Exothermic (0/3)
Flame Reave consumes stacks of Firebrand to add Ignite Chance per stack consumed.

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• Patch 0.7.10 includes Loot Filters! Our initial post about Loot Filters can be found here and provides an overview of the functionality we are working on implementing. We plan to publish an additional post focusing on the different types of rules.
  
• Patch 0.7.10 includes sweeping changes to defenses in Last Epoch, with Glancing Blows being repurposed, Protections being replaced by Resistances, and other changes. We are working on a Developer Blog to share with you in the near future.
  
• We've made significant changes to Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, as well as visually updating parts of Chapter 6. We have posted some before & after screenshots here.

• We are making changes to skill respecs to have them feel less punishing. We have provided an overview of these changes here.
  
• We're making changes to crafting. These include the introduction of 'Critical Successes' as a positive equivalent to Fractures, and the removal of Destructive Fractures. See this post for a brief introduction to Critical Successes.

• In the campaign dying during a boss fight will reset the fight.
  
• After dying to a boss during the campaign you now respawn at the boss instead of at the start of the zone.

• This patch adds Firebrand, a new Spellblade skill.
  
• This patch adds Infernal Shade, a new Acolyte skill which replaces Cremate.
  
• This patch adds Shield Bash, a new Sentinel skill.
  
• This patch removes Defile, Ice Ward, Manifest Weapon, and Molten Blade.

• All of the Acolyte's animations are being replaced.

• In Patch 0.7.10 it will be possible to view the specialization trees of skills belonging to mastery classes that have not yet been unlocked. The Skills window will also show the damage types of skills, with currently inactive types included but greyed out. We have posted a sneak peek of these changes here.

• Patch 0.7.10 includes a new set of armor models for the Acolyte class. We have posted concept art and a preview of the armor set here.

Patch 0.7.9 implemented Monolith of Fate updates from Phase 4 of our Early Access Forecast, and Patch 0.7.10 includes Loot Filters from Phase 4. Our next update, Patch 0.8, will stick with the '4' theme, albeit in a different way - it features four items from Phase 3!

(Multiplayer is still being tested internally and won't be included in our next update.)

Hey, Travelers!

It's Last Epoch's turn in IGDA's Indie Showcase, live on Twitch's home page!

They're streaming Last Epoch and Dan from Eleventh Hour Games is doing an AMA.

Here's the link to the stream. Come say hi! https://www.twitch.tv/igda

Last Epoch is being featured in tomorrow's Indie Showcase by the International Game Developers Assocation! The Indie Showcase begins at 12pm PT. Expect to see us around 1:30pm.

They'll be streaming Last Epoch on Twitch, and we'll be participating in an AMA if you've any questions about either Last Epoch or Eleventh Hour Games. Catch it at https://www.twitch.tv/igda.

We hope to see you there!

Want to get more involved with the community? Join us on the official forum!




Our next update, Patch 0.7.10, includes a number of changes which will improve the appearance of the game world. We’re focusing our efforts on touching up some of the oldest areas in the game so that they reach the standard of our more recent content such as Chapter 8.

The zones featured below are presented in the order in which you encounter them as you play through the game. The first four are from Chapter 2, while the last is from Chapter 6.

Each screenshot is in 2560x1440 resolution.

Want to get more involved with the community? Join us on the official forum!



Our next content update, Patch 0.7.10, includes a new Sentinel skill!






Shield Bash’s unspecialized tooltip




Here’s some examples of nodes from Shield Bash’s tree!


Double Bash (0/1)
You gain an additional charge of Shield Bash, but it has a longer cooldown.

Fusillade (0/1)
Using Shield Bash consumes all charges and deals significantly more damage per charge consume (multiplicative with other modifiers).



Hindrance (0/3)
Shield Bash now also slows enemies on hit.

Staggering Punch (0/3)
Shield Bash now also knocks enemies back, if Shield Bash has a cooldown.



Rebounding (0/1)
Your next Shield Throw can ricochet 5 additional times after using Shield Bash.

Conjurer (0/1)
Shield Bash has a chance to cause one enemy to drop a potion if Shield Bash has a cooldown.



Dazed (0/5)
Stuns caused by Shield Bash last longer.

Wall of Shields (0/1)
If Shield Bash is used while Ring of Shields is active, the shields form a wall which increases the width of Shield Bash, based on the number of active shields.






Shield Bash’s default visual effect





Shield Bash specialized with the Wall of Shields node

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We are considering a number of potential changes to crafting. Please note that these are being discussed at an early stage of development, and there is consequently a greater than normal likelihood and scope for these changes to be revised prior to their inclusion in a patch. We also plan to introduce new Runes and Glyphs, however these will not be in Patch 0.7.10.



Since the core of Last Epoch's crafting system was implemented in Patch 0.4 in January 2018, items in Last Epoch have changed dramatically. We've added several new rarities: Unique Items in Patch 0.4.1, Set Items in Patch 0.6, and Exalted Items in Patch 0.7.9. Set Affixes for regular items were also added in Patch 0.6, and as we've created content for higher level characters we have been creating more powerful Unique Items with higher level requirements.




The game calling out that a fracture has occurred.


Minor, Damaging, and Destructive Fractures were implemented in Patch 0.4, and were intended to prolong the item hunt by introducing an element of risk on player's journey to the holy grail... which at the time was four Tier 5 non-set affixes on a piece of equipment.

As higher-end equipment options become available, the need to gate access to less powerful items diminishes. We are currently experimenting with making some adjustments to both Damaging Fractures and Destructive Fractures, but not Minor Fractures.


Current Functionality

• Damaging Fracture
  • Item can no longer be crafted on.
  • All affixes are reduced by 1-5 tiers.
    • Affixes reduced below Tier 1 are removed.
• Destructive Fracture
  • Item can no longer be crafted on.
  • All affixes are removed.

Potential New Functionality

• Damaging Fracture
  
  • Item can no longer be crafted on.
    
  • One affix has its tier reduced by 1-2.
    
    • This cannot bring an affix below Tier 1.
• Destructive Fracture
  
  • Item can no longer be crafted on.
    
  • Between two and four affixes have their tiers reduced by 1-2.
    
    • This cannot bring an affix below Tier 1.

We'll be looking at Glyphs after making these changes.




An issue with crafting we wish to address is that fractures inherently highlight a craft going particularly poorly, however there is no equivalent for a craft going spectacularly well. This leads to crafting feeling worse, as there is undue focus on the potential for being unlucky.




A mockup of a callout for the 'critical success' feature.


We are thus experimenting with the addition of a counterpoint for fractures, which we are tentatively terming a 'critical success'. A critical success will be called out similarly to a fracture, and will cause an affix to be upgraded to a higher tier. This is most likely, but not guaranteed, to be the affix you had been crafting at the time. Please note that a critical success cannot raise an affix above Tier 5, which is the highest tier that can be crafted.

A critical success cannot occur if it would raise an item's level requirement above your current level. We're still discussing how much instability (if any) a critical success will add.

Want to get more involved with the community? Join us on the official forum!




We’re revamping the Skills window to implement a range of quality of life improvements!




Fury Leap has the Lightning Damage icon active as we’ve taken the Lagon’s Wrath node.



The improved Skills window will list all skills available to your base class and each of its mastery classes. Skills not yet unlocked will show how they are unlocked for convenience - so you know if you need to reach character level 30, or spend more points in Druid passives.



We’ve performed significant code refactoring so that skills unlocked by spending points in class passives can have their specialization trees viewed prior to being unlocked.



Additionally, icons beneath each skill are shown to represent damage types. Active damage types will be displayed in color while other available damage types will be grayed out.

Want to get more involved with the community? Join us on the official forum!




We plan to polish skill respecs in our next update.

In the current version of the game, it is possible to either remove individual points from a skill’s specialization tree or to completely delevel the skill and start over from scratch - usually with a different skill entirely. While we will be retaining the current respec system, there are a couple of pain points with the current implementation that we plan to address.




Any skill placed in the slot on the left will immediately be set to level 7.


Currently, despecialized skills placed in a specialization slot are always set to level 1. Starting with Patch 0.7.10, this minimum skill level will scale with character level. This is intended to make respecs feel less punishing, while still preventing hot swapping of skills.

We are also looking at skills taking longer to respec for lower level characters than higher level characters, which is something we have always wanted to change. We believe the opportunity cost of respeccing skills should be greatest for high level characters, and so we are exploring various potential changes we can make to have skill respecs be less punishing at lower levels.