HOW GOOD IS LAST EPOCH?? - Last Epoch

Summary

Karion shares his thoughts on the recently released Last Epoch, an action RPG game that strikes a balance between Path of Exile's complexity and Diablo's accessibility. He praises Last Epoch for its carefully designed mechanics, finely-tuned character progression, and class diversity, offering both depth for dedicated players and approachability for casual ones. While acknowledging some outliers like the Ward mechanic needing adjustments and a relatively lighter endgame, Karion highly recommends Last Epoch (rating 8.5/10) for its exceptional build customization and unique class experiences, particularly for players seeking to craft their own builds.

Takeaways

• 😃 Last Epoch is a very good action RPG game that strikes a balance between complexity and accessibility.
• 🔑 It combines the intricate character building and fine-tuned mechanics of Path of Exile with the pick-up-and-play nature of Diablo.
• 🧠 The classes have deep complexity, but the damage and defense scaling is carefully controlled, allowing for builds that deviate from the meta without being severely underpowered.
• 🌟 The game delivers on key aspects like class identity, respec flexibility, and tackling content without feeling overwhelmed.
• ⚠️ Some outliers exist, like the Ward mechanic, which can grant excessive temporary health without proper capping.
• 🎯 While the endgame content is currently limited, the monolith system appropriately rewards playing at higher difficulties.
• 📝 Boss mechanics and telegraphing need some refinement, especially in preparation for planned pinnacle bosses.
• 🌐 The offline mode is well-implemented, allowing seamless play across devices via Steam.
• 💰 Despite server issues at launch due to unexpectedly high player numbers, the developers have delivered a solid experience.
• 👍 Overall, Last Epoch is highly recommended, especially for those who enjoy creating their own builds and exploring new class identities.

Q & A

What is Last Epoch?

Last Epoch is an action role-playing game (ARPG) that falls somewhere between Path of Exile and Diablo in terms of gameplay complexity and accessibility.

How does the author describe the complexity of Last Epoch compared to Path of Exile and Diablo?

The author states that Last Epoch has a high level of complexity similar to Path of Exile, with carefully designed mechanics and finely-tuned character details. However, it also shares Diablo's approachability, allowing players to pick up and play at their own pace.

What does the author think about the class design in Last Epoch?

According to the author, each class in Last Epoch plays very differently, even within the same subclass, offering a diverse range of playstyles. However, some classes are better than others.

How does Last Epoch handle character scaling and balance?

Last Epoch strikes a balance between Path of Exile's tightly tuned defenses and Diablo's more relaxed character scaling. It avoids extreme multipliers for offense and defense, allowing players to experiment with different builds without feeling too underpowered.

What does the author think about the Ward mechanic in Last Epoch?

The author believes that the Ward mechanic (temporary HP) is well-designed, but it should have a cap based on a percentage of the character's health, as some abilities can grant excessive amounts of Ward, making characters overpowered.

How does the author evaluate the endgame content in Last Epoch?

The author acknowledges that while the endgame content in Last Epoch is not as extensive as some players might expect, the Monolith system provides an appropriate challenge and rewards for playing at higher difficulties.

What concerns does the author have regarding the bosses in Last Epoch?

The author's main concern is with the timing and telegraphing of boss abilities, as some bosses can hit players before the animation plays, which can be problematic for high-difficulty bosses that can potentially one-shot characters.

How does the author feel about the trade and offline modes in Last Epoch?

The author praises the trade system and the well-implemented offline mode, which allows players to seamlessly transfer their save files between devices using Steam.

What is the author's overall impression of Last Epoch?

The author gives Last Epoch an 8.5 out of 10 rating, describing it as a fantastic game that delivers on what an ARPG should offer, particularly in terms of build diversity and class identity.

Does the author plan to continue playing or streaming Last Epoch?

While the author is currently focused on a Fortnite project, he plans to play and potentially stream Last Epoch during off-times and create a video showcasing his strength-stacked Beastmaster build, which he considers one of the best in the game.

Outlines

00:00

🎮 Karion's In-Depth Analysis of Last Epoch

In this paragraph, Karion provides an overview of the game Last Epoch, comparing it to other popular ARPGs like Path of Exile (PoE) and Diablo. He emphasizes that while Last Epoch shares similarities with both games, it is closer to PoE in terms of the game's carefully designed mechanics and fine-tuned details. However, like Diablo, Last Epoch offers a more approachable experience, allowing players to pick up and play at their own pace. Karion highlights the game's high level of complexity, with each class offering a unique playstyle, while also being accessible to players who prefer a more casual approach.

05:02

⚔️ Last Epoch's Balance of Complexity and Accessibility

In this paragraph, Karion delves deeper into Last Epoch's ability to cater to both hardcore and casual players. He explains that the game achieves this balance by carefully tuning the scaling of offense and defense, avoiding extreme multipliers that can make characters overpowered or underpowered. This approach allows players to experiment with various builds without feeling overwhelmed or underpowered. Karion also discusses the game's Ward mechanic, which he views as an outlier that needs adjustment, suggesting a cap based on a percentage of the player's health. Additionally, he addresses concerns about the game's endgame content, acknowledging that while it may be lacking compared to other ARPGs, Last Epoch rewards players for tackling higher difficulties through its Monolith system.

10:04

🌐 Last Epoch's Online Experience and Final Thoughts

In the final paragraph, Karion touches on Last Epoch's online experience and trade system, which he acknowledges has been well-received, despite server issues at launch due to unexpectedly high player numbers. He then shifts his focus to the game's offline mode, praising its seamless integration with Steam, allowing players to continue their progress across different devices. Karion concludes by wholeheartedly recommending Last Epoch, especially for players who enjoy creating their own builds and exploring unique classes. He rates the game an 8.5 out of 10 and expresses excitement for future updates, while also promising to share his thoughts on one of the game's best builds in an upcoming video.

Keywords

💡ARPG

ARPG stands for Action Role-Playing Game, a genre that combines elements of action games and role-playing games. Last Epoch is referred to as an ARPG, which means it features real-time combat, character development, loot, and customization. The video discusses how Last Epoch delivers on the core aspects of an ARPG, such as class identity, character progression, and engaging gameplay.

💡Class Identity

Class identity refers to the distinct playstyles, abilities, and mechanics associated with each character class in a game. The video highlights that Last Epoch has strong class identity, with each class feeling different and requiring different approaches. This allows players to experience varied gameplay experiences and find a class that suits their preferences. The script mentions that "every different class is different" and that they "have a very different thing about each one."

💡Complexity

Complexity in the context of Last Epoch refers to the depth and intricacy of the game's systems, mechanics, and character building. The video praises Last Epoch for its high level of complexity, which caters to players who enjoy theorycrafting and experimenting with builds. It suggests that mastering the game requires research and understanding of various combinations of abilities and mechanics. The script states that Last Epoch has "a really high level of complexity," satisfying players who "love the complexity" in ARPGs.

💡Accessibility

Accessibility refers to how approachable and easy to get into a game is for new or casual players. The video highlights that despite its complexity, Last Epoch is also accessible, allowing players to enjoy the game at their own pace without feeling overwhelmed. This is achieved through careful tuning of character scaling and damage/defense mechanics, making it possible to play with suboptimal builds without being severely underpowered. The script compares Last Epoch's accessibility to Diablo, stating that players can "just pick up the game and play it at [their] own will."

💡Defenses

Defenses refer to the mechanics and systems in Last Epoch that protect a character from taking damage or mitigate incoming harm. The video discusses how Last Epoch has finely tuned defenses, similar to Path of Exile, providing players with meaningful control over their character's tankiness. It specifically mentions the Ward mechanic, which acts as a temporary health buffer, and suggests implementing a cap based on a percentage of a character's health to prevent outliers.

💡Endgame

Endgame refers to the content and activities that players engage with after completing the main storyline or reaching the highest levels of progression. The video acknowledges that Last Epoch's endgame is currently a concern for some players, as it may not have as much depth or variety as other ARPGs. However, it praises the Monolith system, which provides a rewarding challenge for players who want to push their characters to higher difficulties.

💡Bosses

Bosses are powerful enemies or encounters that serve as significant challenges or milestones in a game. The video discusses Last Epoch's bosses, noting that while they are not as mechanically complex as those in Path of Exile, they are comparable to bosses in Diablo. It also mentions the potential for future updates to introduce Pinnacle bosses, which could provide more challenging and engaging boss encounters.

💡Offline Mode

Offline Mode refers to the ability to play Last Epoch without an internet connection or connecting to the game's servers. The video highlights that Last Epoch has a well-implemented offline mode, allowing players to seamlessly progress their characters across different devices through Steam's cloud saving system. This feature is praised as a fair compromise for players who prefer to play ARPGs solo, especially when the game's online servers are struggling with high player loads.

💡Balancing

Balancing refers to the process of adjusting and fine-tuning various game mechanics, abilities, and systems to maintain a fair and enjoyable experience for players. The video discusses how Last Epoch has carefully balanced character scaling, damage output, and defenses, preventing extreme outliers or builds that trivialize the game's difficulty. It also mentions that ongoing balancing efforts will be crucial to address any remaining outliers or issues, especially as the developers introduce new content or mechanics.

💡Builds

Builds refer to the specific combinations of abilities, skills, gear, and mechanics that players choose to construct and develop their characters around. The video emphasizes that Last Epoch excels in allowing players to create their own builds, experiment with different playstyles, and find unique character setups. It notes that the variety of viable builds contributes to the game's replayability and caters to players who enjoy theorycrafting and customizing their characters.

Highlights

Last Epoch is a game that combines elements of Path of Exile and Diablo, but is closer to Path of Exile in terms of its carefully designed mechanics and fine-tuned complexity.

Unlike Diablo 4, where the baseline difficulty is low, Last Epoch has a higher baseline difficulty similar to Path of Exile, but it's still approachable for casual players due to its well-tuned character progression and damage/defense scaling.

Last Epoch allows players to create their own builds and experiment with different abilities, while also catering to those who prefer to play at their own pace without extensive research.

The game launched successfully with over 200,000 players, likely due to its ability to satisfy both complexity-seeking and casual players.

The Ward mechanic, which provides temporary HP, is well-designed but could benefit from a cap based on a percentage of the player's health to prevent extreme outliers.

While the endgame content in Last Epoch is currently limited, the game rewards players for playing at higher difficulties through its monolith system.

The bosses in Last Epoch are on par with Diablo in terms of mechanics and coolness, but the timing of some boss abilities can be problematic, which may need to be addressed for future pinnacle bosses.

Last Epoch launched with a well-received trading system, but its online servers struggled to handle the unexpectedly high number of players at launch.

The game offers a seamless offline mode that allows players to continue their progress across different devices through Steam.

The speaker highly recommends Last Epoch, especially for those who enjoy creating their own builds and exploring new class identities, giving it an 8.5/10 rating.

The speaker plans to share their experience with a strength-stacked Beastmaster build, which they consider one of the best builds in the game.

Transcripts

hey guys how's it going karion here

today I want to give you guys just a bit

of a talk about last Epoch now this is a

game that I didn't really play that much

before it had its like 1.0 Like official

release a week and some change ago and a

lot of people have been asking me what I

think about the game but I didn't really

want to make this video Until I felt

like pretty comfortable that I

understand the game on a fairly deep

level to proper

you know give you guys this information

so overall how good do I think last

Epoch is I think it is very good it does

kind of go in between Poe and Diablo

which is how a lot of reviewers have

placed the game uh just a lot of

reviewers have placed the game kind of

in between the two presumably like in

the middle I would say it's very much

not in the middle between those two

games I think it is a lot closer to Poe

in the way that the game is kind of like

carefully designed like the Min the Min

in the game the details they are

extremely fine-tuned except for a few

examples of course um and it is like

Diablo in the fact that you can just

pick up the game and play it at your own

will so it has a really high level of

complexity uh every different class is

different uh For Better or Worse some of

them are certainly better and some of

them are certainly worse um the classes

just have a very different thing about

each one even though there is kind of

like the subclass that you start the

game off with um kind of branching out

into three usually those three play very

differently except for a few examples

unless you really want to kind of push

it out and do a very similar build and

while it has a lot of complexity on the

top end like the classes to really

understand the best combination that you

should be using actually you have to do

a fair amount of research and looking

into things which is great for someone

like me because I love figuring out and

making my own builds in these type of

games but the reason it's a game that is

approachable uh like Diablo 4 for

example um is because the game doesn't

really scale your character that crazy

so in Path of Exile we have this thing

where uh defenses are extremely tight

tuned there's no item in the game that

like doubles your effective Health in in

Poe there may be like one or two in very

specific builds that basically build

into those items and again very very few

in Diablo there's items that like

quadruple the uh effective health of

your character and it's easy to get one

you just get a chest piece that has four

defensive stats and then you get a

shield that has four defensive stats for

another quadruple and then you get a you

know leggings with four defensive stats

and another quadruple and while they

have tried to kind of tighten the knobs

on damage in Diablo I uh they haven't

really been very successful at doing

that and that's why Diablo 4 is pretty

casual because they make the game as a

baseline pretty easy and they do that

because they haven't really finely tune

the balance on either offense or defense

for a character so that's why when you

play Diablo 4 you can just play whatever

junk build you want because the Baseline

difficulty of the game is low so that's

why consider Diablo 4 pretty casual game

Path of Exile the Baseline difficulty of

the game is quite high for someone that

hasn't played it before it's extremely

high for anyone that tries to play the

game without looking up some information

about the build they're willing to play

so where does last Epoch fit into these

things last Epoch I say has um a about

as much control over defenses as Poe I

think if they fine-tune the ward

mechanic it would actually be even more

finely tuned than Poe in terms of

defenses and in terms of damage it's

also very T finely tuned I would say

that last Epoch has finally tuned

there's no like super crazy damage

scalers again except for very few

instances outliers that are probably

going to be addressed but for the most

part characters are not going to do do

million times more damage a few levels

later okay that's not how last Epoch

works and because you have a lot of

complexity in the characters um the fact

that the multipliers don't go too crazy

for offense and they don't go too crazy

for defense it means that you can just

play whatever trash build you want and

it's really not going to be that that

bad because even though you might be

doing everything wrong your character

might be like half as tanky and do like

a third of the damage but not like a

million times less damage like Diablo

and not a 100 times less tanky or damage

like Poe so because of that it's a game

that satisfies people who love the

complexity and arpg like myself and it

satisfy people who just kind of want to

play the game at their own pace this is

a game where you absolutely can do both

and they've been extremely careful to

kind of craft the mechanics in the game

for people to be able to do this and

honestly it's really impressive I think

that's why the game has done so well at

launch they had over 200,000 players I

think that's why the game has done

pretty well whenever I stream it you

guys seem to love me playing it and I

love playing it I think it's an awesome

game um and overall it's just a blast it

delivers on everything an arpg should

for the most part the class identity the

fun and actually just playing the

flexibility to Respec and try different

abilities uh the options that kind of

tackle the content without feeling

overwhelmed even if you don't do a lot

of the research it's overall pretty good

um there are some outliers and I don't

really know how big or active their Dev

team is and I feel like in cases like

these if outliers go unaddressed it can

kind of hurt the game over time uh like

right now they have a mechanic called

Ward which is pretty similar to barriers

in Diablo I it's kind of like temporary

HP now it's it's kind of like barriers

in Diablo 4 because they last like a

certain amount of time and you can scale

something called Ward retention to make

it degrade less it's not like barriers

where like you put it up and it lasts 5

Seconds no Ward naturally decays the

more you have the faster it decays but

the more Ward retention you have the

slower that decay rate is and there's

certain abilities that just grant you

ward so if you're taking advantage of

those of those abilities you can have

like 10 times the amount of Health that

you should have and for last Epoch that

is an extreme outlier so right now I

think the mechanic is actually pretty

welld designed for the one exception

that I think it should have a cap based

on a percentage of your health like I

don't think Ward should exceed double

your health for example in a rare case a

rare W for Diablo 4 I think Diablo 4 had

barrier mechanics right uh I think

temporary bar are pretty cool last

epoch's take on temporary is even cooler

I would say it's just the Caps not

existing in last Epoch uh make it a

pretty problematic mechanic overall uh a

lot of people have uh played last Tac

like a ton this week and some of them

have said that they don't really kind of

see the point in like going you know

crazy endgame like there isn't that much

endgame in last Epoch and that is the

main concern that I've seen in the

community over overall I think they are

uh unfortunately correct there isn't

that much endgame in lasty poac but if

someone really likes their character

really likes how it plays or they really

want to challenge themselves laso has a

system that appropriately rewards you

for playing at a higher difficulty which

again is so rare in games these days so

they have kind of like the monolith

system it's kind of like Maps you kind

of go node to node in a way kind of like

delve and Poe if you don't know what

that is that's fine it's basically you

go like you hop like location to

location e each of these locations are

uh varying difficulty varying rewards

and you know what the like the the big

chest reward at the end will be and when

you do enough of these you do the boss

of that monolith and there's like I

don't know 10 monoliths or something

like that so bosses they're actually

pretty cool uh but usually the bosses

are a little bit e easier than the mobs

in the nodes and I would say that the

bosses aren't quite as cool as they are

in Path of Exile they are pretty much on

the level of Diablo I in terms of

coolness and mechanics and all that kind

of stuff so pretty good but not really

mindblowing they have said that their

next big update will include like

Pinnacle bosses and that is pretty

exciting on one hand but on the other

having challenged a lot of the monolith

bosses that currently exist in the game

I would say that the timing for a lot of

their abilities is a little bit off and

just to be clear I play in offline mode

so it's not like the game is their

servers are lagging and then the boss

didn't properly Telegraph no it's like

the boss is going to drop the meteor and

I get hit by the meteor before the

animation of him actually dropping it

happens um you know there's a few

instances like that and when we're

talking about killing characters in one

hit or almost in one hit it's a little

bit problematic if we scale that up to

like a pinnacle level for bosses so that

might be a challenge and I do hope they

take that on well uh overall the game is

very cool they also launched with kind

of like the trade and that has also been

really well received if you want the

online experience and trade items and

all that you can have it um their

servers haven't really held up very well

that's where most of the complaints

happen I don't really have that much to

say about that uh because I generally

like to play args by myself these days

and they have offline mode uh which is

actually really good the files are saved

kind of through your steam so it's not

just like fully localized files you can

like play the game fully offline on your

computer then you can do it on like your

steam deck in a different location and

the locally saved files are actually

saved on Steam so you don't have to like

copy your character files over or any of

that it's very it's very well done it's

seamless it's a full offline mode so uh

like I don't know next time R and I go

on a trip uh maybe I'll take my steam

deck and play on the airplane uh I mean

last time I went to Bermuda didn't have

screens on the airplane Jesus 2024 am I

right anyway so I thought that was a

pretty fair compromise um even though

yeah they launch kind of Tanked online

they didn't really expect that many

people they had they basically had like

eight times more people than the maximum

of their stress test pre 1.0 and now

that I know how awesome of a game it is

I am not surprised um but I guess it's

pretty difficult for a fairly small

company like Theirs to take these things

into account quite at that magnitude

overall I do absolutely recommend you

guys try last Epoch especially if you're

one to kind of try your take at making

your own build and especially if you

just like learning an entirely new class

each time you roll a new character I

think last AAC is 10 out of 10 on those

two things in particular and overall I

think I'd give the game right now an

8.5 out of 10 I think it is fantastic

and I hope their future updates serve us

well and uh I probably will still play

in you know the the off times from time

to time maybe I'll stream the game a

little bit more right now we got a forge

night project um and I will do at least

one more video coming up in the next few

days where I go over uh my best creation

the strength stacked be Master build

that is actually maybe one of the best

builds in the game overall so hope you

guys enjoyed this video hope you guys

have been enjoying the last Epoch

streams and we'll see you next

time