Crafting a build in Last Epoch might seem overwhelming for those new to ARPGs. While the game excels at introducing players to its complex skill trees and progression systems, discovering a build that efficiently navigates the entire campaign and early endgame can prove challenging for newcomers.

For players seeking a swift and enjoyable spellcasting experience to dominate the campaign, the Runemaster build is an excellent choice. This build blankets the screen with powerful lightning bolts that deliver significant critical damage, effortlessly dispatching rare enemies and most campaign bosses. 

If you're a beginner in Last Epoch aiming for a solid leveling journey that familiarizes you with the Mage's fundamental mechanics, don't hesitate to give this build a shot.

Overview Of The Runemaster Build

The Runemaster build transforms your Mage into a mobile tesla coil, releasing a barrage of chained lightning strikes via the Lightning Blast skill. 

By prioritizing cast speed and Intelligence, this build achieves rapid casting of Lightning Blast, easily activating its multicast passives. While Lightning Blast may not excel in single-target DPS, the Runemaster's skills and passive tree compensate for this shortfall.

Runemasters benefit from robust sources of Ward generation, providing a substantial health pool that effortlessly tackles most of the campaign and early Monolith challenges. 

Moreover, you can enhance the Runemaster's skills to trigger additional lightning effects, significantly boosting damage against rare enemies and weaker bosses. This build is straightforward to play, boasts impressive speed, and avoids reliance on intricate mechanics.

How Does This Build Work?

Before delving into the specifics of this build's skills and passives, it's crucial to elucidate our approach to damage scaling. 

Lightning Blast benefits greatly from a potent passive node named Closed Circuit, which enables the skill to chain to you and nearby allies. Struck allies receive a temporary boost of +15% elemental damage and 40% critical hit chance. Not explicitly mentioned in the perk's description, this enhancement accumulates upon itself.

By prioritizing cast speed and Lightning Blast's multicast passives, you can sustain over a dozen stacks of Closed Circuit, granting you more than 480% increased critical chance and a significant amount of elemental damage. This allows for flexibility in allocating resources towards defensive enhancements or additional avenues for scaling damage—such as armor reduction, elemental penetration, critical damage multipliers, and so forth.

Suggested Skills For The Build

Lightning Blast serves as the cornerstone skill of this build, encompassing a wide array of functionalities. Initially modest in potency, it gains significant strength with the acquisition of Arcing Power, which grants additional chains. Closed Circuit is another crucial node to obtain, providing boosts to elemental damage and critical chances upon each skill cast. Overcharge and Hypercast further augment its effectiveness, enabling double and quadruple casting, respectively.

With added cast speed, accruing over a dozen stacks of Closed Circuit becomes achievable. Additionally, Shattershock, while recommended to acquire last, offers a multiplicative damage bonus easily triggered within the build's framework.

Flame Ward stands as the linchpin of the Mage's survival toolkit, offering substantial Ward generation and temporary damage resistance, bolstered further by Barrier and Prismatic Buffer. Its potential is enhanced with Dual Aegis, allowing for dual casting.

Static proves invaluable for swiftly dispatching rare enemies and early campaign bosses. Accumulating Static charges through movement and taking hits culminates in explosive electric detonations upon casting the skill, automatically triggering Lightning Blast with the Overload and Unlimited Power nodes.

Runic Invocation introduces complexity, granting a Rune upon each spell cast, which can be expended to unleash powerful spells. The sequence and type of Runes dictate the resulting spell. Typically, Ball Lightning is cast, offering formidable damage against resilient adversaries. Enigma is acquired to utilize Runic Invocation as a traversal aid.

Frost Wall assumes a new role with the Lightning Rod passive, transforming it into a tesla tower capable of autonomously casting Lightning Blast. Charged Pillars and Amplified Currents ensure consistent behavior. Additionally, Pyroglass and Brand the Invaders are chosen to debuff targets with Brand of Trespass, activating potent passives within the Runemaster's skill tree.

3 Distinct Passive Trees

This build employs 3 distinct passive trees, though initially, only the Mage and Runemaster trees are necessary. Upon advancing into the Monoliths, players have the option to allocate points into the Sorcerer tree.

The Mage tree offers the invaluable Arcanist node, enhancing Intelligence, Fire Resistance, and Lightning Resistance. Investing in Scholar and Reactive Ward facilitates progression towards Mage Flurry, amplifying cast speed. Allocating five passives into Warden enhances Ward Retention, while the remaining points are dedicated to Mastery trees.

The Runemaster tree boasts an array of potent passives. Arcane Focus stands out, providing substantial Ward regeneration with each spell cast. Runeword: Cataclysm amplifies damage against low-health targets, Inscribed Instruments offers significant critical multiplier bonuses, and Ancient Inscriptions reduce cooldowns based on Intelligence.

Further cast speed enhancements are achievable through Unsealed Mana and Rune of Dilation passives. Coupled with cooldown reduction from Ancient Inscriptions, Rune of Dilation remains consistently available. Celestial Damage augments overall damage output, particularly against branded targets, a status inflicted via Frost Wall. Additionally, Jagged Veil is selected for its multiplicative critical damage boost.

Sorcerer specialization is advisable for endgame progression. Calculated Destruction provides a notable increase in critical chance with a modest investment. Arcane Momentum and Essence of Celerity nodes amplify cast speed, elemental damage, and movement speed. Ceraunomancer and Afterglow are allocated initially, followed by maxing Rift Bolt for optimal effectiveness.

Key Items To Seek

During your journey through the campaign, be vigilant for these affixes:

• Cast Speed
• Intelligence
• +Critical Strike Chance (Note: The '+' symbol signifies it adds base crit, not % Increased Critical Strike Chance.)
• Critical Strike Multiplier
• Increased Spell/Lightning Damage

Furthermore, we advise prioritizing the clearance of Rune Prisons whenever possible. The Exiled Mages within have a chance of dropping the Mad Alchemist's Ladle, a Level 17 wand. This wand scales your cast speed according to Intelligence, a stat augmented through our passive tree and other items. With continued focus on scaling Intelligence and cast speed, this weapon will serve you well up to Empowered Monoliths.

In addition, consider utilizing typical leveling Uniques. Arboreal Circuit rings and boots with movement speed significantly enhance your mobility. For Deathless characters, incorporating Lessons of the Metropolis and Close Call can dramatically boost your Dodge rating during leveling.

Progression From Levels 1 To 15

The Mage's initial skill, Lightning Blast, becomes available right from the start, allowing immediate engagement upon character creation. 

Prioritize Lightning Blast as your initial skill specialization, followed by acquiring Arcing Power, enabling Lightning Blast to chain between targets. Allocate your first 3 skill levels to this node. As for passive points, prioritize maxing Arcanist initially, enhancing your Intelligence stat and consequently amplifying spell damage.

Upon reaching level 5, Glacier unlocks. Incorporate this skill into your hotbar and utilize it against formidable adversaries. 

Particularly noteworthy is the substantial damage dealt by the third and final explosion of Glacier at this stage. Elemental Nova serves as a viable option against large groups of enemies until you further develop Lightning Blast. As the second spell specialization holds minimal significance at this juncture, feel free to experiment with different options.

By the time you reach level 10, typically in Chapter 2 with access to The Council Chambers, prioritize completing Erza's Ledger quest and delivering the book to Erza. This completion rewards you with the Avarice Unique gloves, allowing for HP recovery by dealing damage with your spells.

Progression From Levels 16 To 30 

By this stage, you should have amassed a modest amount of Last Epoch Gold. Utilize it to procure Runes of Shattering from gear vendors whenever available. 

These Runes facilitate item dismantling, yielding a collection of affix shards for crafting purposes. Be vigilant for affixes enhancing spell damage, cast speed, and Intelligence when scavenging items. Adjust your loot filter settings to highlight these desirable items in a distinctive color.

Upon reaching Level 20, consider specializing in the Static skill and replacing Glacier with it. Utilize Static when in proximity to formidable foes, often resulting in their swift elimination and expediting the leveling process. Aim to progress towards the Unlimited Power node on the right side of the tree for Static, enabling it to cast Lightning Blast while in motion. Regarding Lightning Blast, begin directing your specialization towards Hypercast.

Upon completing Chapter 2, your Mastery class will unlock. Opt for the Runemaster Mastery, granting access to the Runic Invocation skill and the Runemaster skill tree. Respec your Mage tree to allocate only 20 points, then specialize in Runic Invocation within your third slot. Ensure that Lightning Blast, Static, and Runic Invocation are specialized. Begin allocating points into Unsealed Mana and Arcane Focus.

Furthermore, you'll encounter promising item bases at this stage. Keep a keen eye out for Birch Wands, Branded Skulls, and Copper Amulets. Utilize the forge to augment these items with damage affixes, resulting in a discernible increase in power.

Finishing The Remaining Challenges In The Campaign   

At this juncture in the Last Epoch campaign, the remaining challenges should be relatively manageable. Continue refining your skill trees and investing in the Runemaster passive tree. Utilize the affix shards you've acquired to craft superior items and prioritize completing side quests to unlock additional Idol slots and passive points.

Our primary recommendation is to ensure your elemental resistances are capped before reaching Chapter 7. While resistances may not carry as much weight in Last Epoch compared to similar ARPGs, the boss encounter with Lagon in Chapter 7 poses significant danger, predominantly dealing Cold and Lightning damage. By maxing out these resistances and bolstering your Armor and Ward, you should withstand most of the fight's onslaught, barring Lagon's beam attack.

Advancing In The Endgame

The endgame experience mirrors the latter half of the campaign, emphasizing the development of skill and passive trees alongside the acquisition of superior base items—particularly sought-after are Crystal Skulls, Siren Wands (available at Level 52), and Dragonhorn Wands (available at Level 77 and beyond). 

Additionally, prioritize scouting for Idols that enhance HP, Ward, and lightning damage. Notably, Large Idols have the potential to possess an affix granting Static charges per second.

While this build isn't specifically tailored for Corrupted Monolith runs, those aiming to tackle endgame challenges should seek items imbued with effects such as chill on hit, armor shred, and enhancements to specialized skills. Equip the Isadora's Tomb Binding belt for substantial armor, twin Invoker's Static Touch rings for additional flat lightning damage, and the Twisted Heart of Uhkeiros to convert a significant portion of your HP into Ward, significantly boosting survivability.