Last Epoch Gear Guide: A Complete Breakdown of Gear Slots, Affixes, and More

Introduction

Last Epoch is a game with an extensive gear system. In fact, a single character can have up to 41 gear slots (including 1x1 Idols)! Without a solid understanding of how gear functions, trying to improve your character can quickly become confusing and frustrating. In this article, we'll break down how the gear system works, covering everything from gear slots, affixes, and item rarity, to Blessings, Idols, and even smart loot!

Gear Slots

Gear slots are where you place your gear to make it an active part of your character, unlocking the benefits that each piece provides. As mentioned earlier, Last Epoch offers a large variety of gear, which can be grouped into three general categories:

1. Traditional Gear: This includes items such as helmets, boots, jewelry, and weapons.
2. Idols: These are special items that fit into their own dedicated slots and can be combined in various ways.
3. Blessings: Permanent upgrades obtained from bosses in the Monolith of Fate. Each boss has a unique pool of Blessings, and each character has a Blessing slot for each boss, allowing you to choose one from each.

In the inventory window, traditional gear is displayed in yellow, while Idols are shown in red.

In a separate tab, we can view our Blessings.

We'll cover Idols and Blessings in more detail later, but for now, let’s focus on traditional gear. There are 11 slots for traditional gear:

1. Weapon
2. Off-hand/Second Weapon
3. Helmet
4. Body Armor
5. Belt
6. Gloves
7. Boots
8. Relic
9. Amulet
10. 2 Ring Slots

Each slot is designed to accept specific types of gear. For example, the relic slot will only accept relics such as Spirit Catcher or Tome of Elements. The Off-hand is the only slot with multiple options—it can hold a Shield, Catalyst, or, for characters that can Dual-Wield, a one-handed weapon that is appropriate for that class.

Rarity

Rarity helps categorize items into color-coded groups based on their properties, giving us a general idea of the type of item we are looking at. It mainly applies to traditional gear, although one exception is that Idols can be Unique. Aside from that, Blessings and Idols always have the same rarity. There are several different rarities for traditional gear:

• Common: The item has no affixes.
• Magic: The item has 1-2 affixes.
• Rare: The item has 3-4 affixes.
• Unique: A special item with unique stats and/or effects. If a Unique has Legendary Potential, it can also be combined with an Exalted item to create a Legendary.
• Set: Similar to Unique, but offers additional bonuses when wearing multiple parts of the same set. It cannot have Legendary Potential and therefore cannot be used to create a Legendary.
• Exalted: A Magic or Rare item that has at least one Tier 6 or 7 affix.
• Legendary: An item created by combining a Unique with Legendary potential and an Exalted item of the same type, or by leveling up an item with Weaver's Will. It retains the properties of the Unique item and gains one or more affixes from the Exalted item.
• Experimental: Items with a special affix that only drops from Exiled Mages. They can also be any of the other craftable rarities that have at least one affix, including Exalted.

All of these rarities share two common features: they are all connected to a base item with implicit affixes, and they all (except for Common) have additional affixes beyond the implicit ones. In the next two sections, we will explain how these work.

Base Items & Implicit Affixes

When it comes to gear, everything except for Blessings is attached to a base item. Even Idols have base items that determine their size and class restrictions (more on this later). This section will focus on traditional gear.

Each gear slot has a set of base items, and each base item comes with different implicit affixes. For example:
Outcast Boots and Solarum Greaves are two base items for boots. Outcast Boots have implicits for armor, movement speed, and dodge rating, while Solarum Greaves provide higher armor, increased movement speed, and fire resistance but no dodge. Some base items are also class-exclusive. For instance, Augury Helm can only be worn by Sentinels, while Fiend Cowl is exclusive to Acolytes.

The base item is just the beginning of how an item will take shape, but it’s far from the final step. After determining the base and its implicits, the next step is to consider the affixes.

Explicit Affixes

Explicit affixes are what truly distinguish one item from another. These affixes are not tied to the base item in the same way that implicit affixes are. The right explicit affixes can make the difference between a top-tier item and one that isn’t worth picking up.

Magic, Rare, and Exalted Affixes

For magic, rare, and exalted items, affixes are divided into two types: prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes are located at the top of the affix list and are typically offensive, utility, or class-specific. Suffixes are at the bottom and are usually defensive in nature. These items can have up to two prefixes and two suffixes (with one exception, which we'll discuss shortly). Each affix has a tier that determines its power:

• Tier 1 is the weakest, and Tier 7 is the most powerful.
• Only Exalted items can have Tier 6 and Tier 7, while Magic and Rare items can have up to Tier 5.
• Affixes can also be crafted up to Tier 5, but crafting requires Forging Potential.
• Each tier also has a roll range, meaning that even if two items have the same affix at the same tier, they may not roll the same values.

For example, the exalted boots here have two prefixes and two suffixes, marked by arrows on the left (prefixes) and right (suffixes). The prefixes are Tier 6 (Exalted) and Tier 2, while the suffixes are Tier 4 and Tier 2. Also, notice the roll range for each affix. Normally, hovering over an item will show less information than what you see here. To view this detailed information, press and hold 'Alt' while hovering over the item.

Items in this category can add an additional affix, known as a Sealed affix. This affix can be either a prefix or a suffix and is typically added by using a Glyph of Despair, empowering a Nemesis, or finding an item that already has one in the Soulfire Bastion dungeon.

When using a Glyph of Despair, it moves an existing prefix or suffix to the Sealed affix slot and opens up the other slot, allowing you to craft a new affix in that slot.

Nemesis is the only method for sealing a Tier 5, 6, or 7 affix on an item, while Glyph of Despair and Soulfire Bastion can only seal up to Tier 4.

Another important stat you may notice on this type of gear is Forging Potential. While not technically an affix, it plays a critical role in crafting, as it is required to craft on an item. For more details, we recommend checking out our beginner crafting guide. For now, the key takeaway is that crafting uses Forging Potential, and once it reaches 0, the item can no longer be crafted.

Unique Affixes

Affixes on Unique items don’t follow the same structure as those on Common, Magic, Rare, or Exalted items. Each Unique item has fixed affixes—Tempest Maw, for example, will always have Melee Lightning Damage, Spell Lightning Damage, Totem Mana Cost, Strength, and Attunement. However, when comparing different Unique items:

• They don’t have a consistent number of affixes.
• They don’t use prefixes or suffixes and don’t have tiers.
• They often have roll ranges.
• They cannot be crafted on.

There are two additional "affixes" specific to Unique items: Legendary Potential and Weaver's Will. These stats determine whether a Unique item can be transformed into a Legendary, and if so, how many affixes it will receive. We will discuss these in more detail later in the article when we cover Legendaries.

Set Affixes

Affixes for sets function similarly to those on Unique items. The main difference lies in the set bonuses granted when wearing multiple pieces of the same set. Sets can provide anywhere from 1 to 3 bonuses, and typically, wearing more pieces of the set is required to unlock additional bonuses. The other key difference is that sets cannot have Legendary Potential.

Legendary Affixes

Legendaries are a hybrid of Unique and Exalted items, and their affixes reflect this combination. There are two ways to create a Legendary item: through Legendary Potential or Weaver's Will.

Legendary Potential

When a Legendary item is created, it retains all the affixes from the Unique item (including the original rolls) and adds 1-4 affixes from the Exalted items. The number of affixes added is determined by the Legendary Potential on the Unique item used. The rules for Unique affixes apply to the portion of the Legendary that comes from the Unique item, while the rules for Exalted affixes apply to the Exalted portion.

It's important to note that once a Legendary is created, it cannot be crafted on, but the Exalted item used in the process can be crafted before it’s made. To create a Legendary item, players must complete the Temporal Sanctum dungeon.

Weaver's Will

Weaver's Will functions differently from Legendary Potential. It does not require an Exalted item to craft. Instead, items with Weaver's Will are 'leveled up' by wearing them and killing monsters. As the item levels up, it gains either a new Affix or an upgrade to an existing Affix's Tier. Up to 4 new affixes can be added (two prefixes and two suffixes), and they can be upgraded as high as Tier 7.

Whether a new Affix is added or an existing one is upgraded is random. Each upgrade reduces the item's Weaver's Will by one. This process can continue until the Weaver's Will is completely depleted from the item.

Idols

Idols are a unique type of gear that share similarities with Diablo 2's Charm system. The main difference is that, unlike Charms, which occupied inventory space, Idols have their own dedicated slots that must be filled in order to activate them. There are a total of 20 slots that can be unlocked through the campaign.

Idols come in various shapes and sizes, which must be taken into account when deciding which ones to use. Larger sizes will limit how many total Idols can be equipped, and some shapes may be incompatible with others or limit how many can be used. The sizes include:

• 1x1 (e.g., Small Lagonian Idol, Small Eterran Idol)
• 1x2 (e.g., Stout Lagonian Idol)
• 2x1 (e.g., Humble Eterran Idol)
• 1x3 (e.g., Large Rahyeh Idol)
• 3x1 (e.g., Grand Majasan Idol)
• 1x4 (e.g., Huge Arcane Idol)
• 4x1 (e.g., Ornate Heorot Idol)
• 2x2 (e.g., Adorned Immortal Idol)

Idols that are 1x1, 2x1, and 1x2 are universal and can be used by any class. However, all other sizes are class-specific and can only be worn by the appropriate class for that Idol. Each size has Idols for every class, so there's no situation where a certain size isn't applicable to a specific class.

Class-specific 2x2 Idols are as follows (from left to right):

• Sentinel
• Acolyte
• Mage
• Primalist
• Rogue

Most Idols have the same rarity and come with one prefix, one suffix, and no implicits. Unlike traditional gear, these affixes don’t follow a particular theme (e.g., defensive suffixes in traditional gear). Each size of Idol has its own pool of prefixes and suffixes that it can draw from. Class-specific Idols only draw from the pool that applies to their class. Prefixes and suffixes are not linked together, meaning any combination of prefixes and suffixes from the available pool for that Idol size can drop.

Two Sentinel Idols with the same prefix but different suffixes.

One exception to Idol rarity is Uniques. There are currently three Unique Idols:

• Singularity
• Throne of Ambition
• Trinity of Flames

These Unique Idols don’t follow the usual Idol rules and instead adopt the rules for Unique items (with the exception that they cannot have Legendary Potential).

Blessings

Blessings are a unique form of "gear" in Last Epoch, exclusive to the Monolith of Fate endgame system. The Monolith is made up of several islands known as Timelines, each with its own boss that must be defeated to complete the Timeline. After defeating the boss, players are rewarded with a selection of Blessings.

These Blessings vary widely, ranging from increased power (e.g., Binds of Nature) to improved drop rates for specific items (e.g., Arrogance of Argentus). Once obtained, the Blessing is permanent and universal, meaning it applies to all activities in the game, not just those within the Monolith.

Blessings

Blessings have only one affix and one tier, but their roll range is typically much higher than traditional gear. There are two versions of Blessings: the first has lower rolls and can be found in normal Timelines, while the second has higher rolls and is exclusive to Empowered Timelines, which are more difficult versions of the standard ones.

If the Blessings dropped by a boss aren't what you need, or if the roll is too low, the boss can be defeated again to obtain a new set of Blessings. Selecting a new Blessing will override any previous one, allowing you to farm until the desired Blessing with an adequate roll is obtained.

Smart Loot

While smart loot isn't technically gear, it significantly influences how gear drops. Smart loot applies to any gear slot that has class-specific Common, Magic, Rare, and Exalted items, such as helmets, body armor, relics, Idols, and weapons. When an item drops for one of these slots, the game heavily favors items that are wearable by the class you're playing.

For example, if you're playing a Primalist and body armor drops, it is much more likely to be Primalist-specific body armor than Acolyte or any other non-Primalist class. This makes it easier to gear up your character, as these slots, which often contain items not relevant to your class, would otherwise only have a 1 in 5 chance of dropping something useful.

Smart loot does not apply to Uniques or Set items, so you don’t need to worry about farming them for the same class!

Summary

Last Epoch features 11 traditional gear slots, plus Idols and Blessings.

• Traditional gear always includes a Base Item with Implicit Affixes.
• Magic, Rare, and Exalted items can have Explicit Affixes, which can be crafted and max out at 5 (one of which can be Sealed).
• Each Explicit Affix has up to 7 tiers, determining the roll range for that affix.
• Unique items also have Explicit Affixes but cannot be crafted, aren't limited to 5, and don't have tiers.
• Legendaries are created by combining a Unique with Legendary Potential and an Exalted item of the same type.
• Idols are a unique type of gear similar to Charms in Diablo 2.
• Blessings are special gear obtained by defeating Timeline bosses in the Monolith of Fate.
• Smart loot makes it easier to acquire gear for slots with class-specific bases.