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The Warlock is the Acolyte’s dark spellcaster Mastery Class inLast Epoch. Using a variety of Necrotic, Fire, and Physical spells, the Warlock can inflict enemies with dozens of damage over time and debuffs, growing stronger herself in the process.
The Warlock is one of the Acolyte’s strongest Masteries, and a great choice for leveling through the campaign. Below, we’ll take a look at a leveling build for the Warlock, including which skills and passives to focus on, and some recommended stats to look out for on your gear.
This build relies on a variety ofdamage-over-time effectscombined withChthonic Fissureto spreadmassive damage over a large area. In the Chthonic Fissure Specialization tree, we haveChaotic Rupture, which gives the skill a chance to replace the released spirits withChaos Bolts.
Then, in the Chaos Bolts tree, we can use theExacted Libationnode to give each Chaos Bolt a chance to castRip Blood, dealing Physical Damage in an even larger area. This createscascading waves of damagejust from casting a single Chthonic Fissure, applying a number ofDoTs and debuffs.
This is combined withSpirit PlagueandInfernal Shadeto provide evenmore damage overtime.
For defense, we have a few stacking layers, includingWard generation from Rip Blood, through theArcane Fortressnode, as well as thePutrid Recoverynode in the Spirit Plague tree, which grants Ward when hitting enemies afflicted with Spirit Plague.
Overall, this build hasexcellent offense, defense, clearing speed, and mobility, making it perfect for running through the campaign and getting started in Monoliths early.
Skills And Passives
You won’t unlock the main damaging abilities for this build until you unlock the Warlock Mastery. Until then, you can SpecializeRip BloodandSummon Skeletons, then use these alongside Bone Curse and Wandering Spirits. These will get you through the early game, which is fairly straightforward in its own right.
Around level 20, and once you have Warlock unlocked, replace your Skill Specializations withChthonic Fissureand thenChaos Boltsonce you unlock it in the Warlock Passive tree. Also, SpecializeSpirit Plaguenow. We’ll be re-specializing Rip Blood later, but for now, Chthonic Fissure, Chaos Bolts, and Spirit Plague take precedent.
While we don’t Specialize in it, make use ofTransplantthroughout the leveling process to get around a lot faster.
Once you have these two skills unlocked, you’ll be able to start to see how the build is played. For now, simply castingChthonic Fissurewill be enough to clear most packs of enemies, while sprinkling inChaos Boltsas needed. For bosses, applySpirit Plaguefirst for more damage over time.
Once you unlock your next Skill Specialization slot at level 35, slot inRip Bloodagain. This tree will focus on increasingRip Blood’s Splatterchance and size, while also getting theArcane Fortressnode to convert Rip Blood to Ward instead of health.
The final Skill Specialization slot unlocks at level 50, and we’ll slot inInfernal Shadehere. This skill is mainly used against bosses forhigh damage over time, so we’ll use the Skill Specialization tree to reduce its area while increasing its damage through the Heart of Fire node.
Passive Trees
For the Passive Tree, we’ll be putting 20 points into the base Acolyte tree, then everything else into Warlock. For the Acolyte tree, focus on boostingBlood AuraandForbidden Knowledge, then theUnnatural Preservationnode for extraResistances and Ward Retention.
In the Warlock tree, we’ll be getting a mix of damage and defense-boosting nodes. For damage, some of the most important nodes come later in the tree, in the form ofInfernal Lash,Chains of Ruin,The Ashen One, andGrimhilde’s Domain. These will all increase Fire, Necrotic, and Elemental Damage, as well as grant the Witchfire DoT, contributing even more damage.
For defense,Ward of Malevolenceis a strong option that pairs well with Chaos Bolts, andDark Protectionsgrants high Ward per Second.
Soul Stealer is an important node to put points into to help with this build’s high mana cost. When combined with theDevour the Damnednode in the Chaos Bolt tree, your Mana will slowly trickle back as you attack and go about your rotation.
Cauldron of BloodandCrimson Favorsare also important, improving your Bleed Chance and damage. Since Rip Blood is automatically cast by Chaos Bolts and subsequently Chthonic Fissure, these passive nodes buff your overall build by quite a bit.
Important Stats And Uniques
This build is luckily verygear-independent. Most of the build’s damage comes from a combination of Chthonic Fissure’s raw power and the strong Passive and Skill Specialization nodes available. Because of this, your gear is really just to make your abilities a little stronger, and doesn’t necessarily enable a part of the build.
As you get drops throughout the campaign, be on the lookout forDamage Over TimeandElemental Damage Over Time, as these contribute the highest DPS gain to your skills.Fire DamageandSpell Damageare good options as well.
For defense, anything that boosts your Ward will be good, soWard Per SecondandWard Decay Threshold. Be sure to boost up yourResistancesas well, and anyIntelligenceyou can get will help with a few aspects of the build, likeWard of MalevolenceandExacted Libation.
Here’s how you should prioritize your gear’s offensive stats.
And for your defensive stats, here’s what to look out for.
Uniques To Look Out For
While there aren’t any Uniques that are required for this build, there are definitely a few that can make it stronger, if you happen to find any of them while leveling.
If you get aRune of Ascendance, use it on a pair of boots to try to getAdvent of the ErasedorBlood of the Exile, as either one of these will greatlyincrease your campaign clear speed. This build is so strong, that you’ll hit a point fairly early on where more damage doesn’t necessarily make you faster, as enemies already die in one or two seconds.
This is why Movement Speed is so strong, as it lets youspeed through the campaignand start demolishing Normal Monoliths around level 45 or earlier, depending on your gear.
