You're not locked in forever. If you want to Last Epoch gold try the other faction later, you can switch. Many new players lean toward Circle of Fortune, since it rewards playing rather than trading.
Crafting Basics
Crafting is one of the most important systems in Last Epoch. To understand it, enable Always Show Mod Ranges in the Gameplay settings. This displays the possible roll values for each stat on an item.
Implicits – the fixed base stats an item always has (e.g., swords grant melee damage).
Affixes – randomized modifiers that come in two types:
Prefixes (damage, attack speed, etc.)
Suffixes (resistances, utility, on-hit effects).
Items also have Forging Potential (FP), which is the number of times they can be modified. Each craft consumes FP, and when it reaches zero, the item can no longer be upgraded.
Affixes range from Tier 1 to Tier 7, with T6–T7 considered Exalted. You can sometimes find sealed affixes, which act as an extra hidden modifier in addition to the four main affixes.
Glyphs and Runes
Crafting uses glyphs and runes:
Glyph of Hope – 25% chance crafting won't consume FP.
Glyph of Chaos – rerolls an affix into another from the same pool.
Glyph of Order – upgrades a stat without rerolling its value.
Rune of Shattering – destroys an item, giving you affix shards.
Rune of Removal – extracts one random affix from an item.
Shattering is your main way to collect affix shards, which you'll use to upgrade other gear.
Note: Some affixes are drop-only (shown in blue text). These cannot be obtained through shattering.
Loot Filters
ARPGs shower you with loot, and sorting through it all can waste time. Thankfully, Last Epoch includes a built-in loot filter.
Press Shift + F (or navigate through Settings) to create rules:
Highlight items with specific affixes you want.
Recolor loot beams for easy recognition.
Hide irrelevant gear types (e.g., bows if you're a melee Rogue).
Filters are fully customizable and save you from scanning every single drop.
Endgame: Dungeons and Monoliths
Once you finish the campaign, the endgame opens up:
Dungeons – accessed with dungeon keys. Each has unique bosses and mechanics, as well as paths into legendary crafting. You can even combine keys into charms to skip straight to bosses (not recommended until you know the fights).
Arena of Champions – a challenging combat arena (advanced players only).
Monolith of Fate – the primary endgame system, similar to mapping in Path of Exile.
The Monolith consists of timelines, each with branching paths. Completing nodes advances you toward the timeline boss. Beating bosses unlocks Blessings, permanent buffs that enhance future runs.
Eventually, you'll unlock Empowered Monoliths, the core of true endgame progression. Here, difficulty ramps up, but so do rewards.
Final Thoughts
For new players, Last Epoch offers an excellent entry point into ARPGs. Its systems may seem complex at first, but once you understand classes, skills, crafting, and loot filters, the game becomes incredibly rewarding. It would be more convenient to have enough cheap Last Epoch gold to buy Last Epoch gold help you.