In Last Epoch, you will find dozens of different affixes on your gear. Many of these are useless for your build. However, everyone needs a few specific traits: resistances. Some players even claim they are more important than damage.
What are these stats?
- Resistances are defensive values in Last Epoch. You typically find them as suffixes on an item.
- For each type of damage, there is a specific resistance with its own value. In certain cases, resistances are aggregated (for example, elemental, consisting of fire, lightning, and cold).
- The values form your main defense against most enemies, and from level 30 onwards, you should pay more attention to them.
Here you will find some tips for beginners in Last Epoch – especially if you are coming from Diablo.
This is how resistances work: Resistances reduce the damage you receive from attacks by a percentage value. The effective maximum is 75% – this is referred to as “capped resistances.” Thus, no more than 75% of the damage is blocked.
The uncapped resistances
refer to the absolute value, regardless of whether it is above or below 75%.
Every enemy, however, does not only deal pure damage with their attacks but also has penetration for their corresponding damage type. This corresponds to the level of the area you are in and is subtracted from your resistance. Simply put:
- If you have 75% resistance against a damage type and are in a level 75 area, you will receive full damage.
- If you enter a lower-level area, the enemies have less penetration. You will take less damage.
- If you enter a higher-level area, the enemies have higher penetration. You will take more damage.
Resistances are an important factor if you want to level up, especially later in the endgame. Unlike in Diablo, where defensive values are primarily relevant for hardcore characters, in Last Epoch, you always need a certain amount of resistances.
Resistances to the cap – is it worth it?
Generally, it is a good guideline to try to bring each resistance to 75%. You can even increase resistances further. This can be useful when you are fighting against higher-level enemies.
Enemy penetration is only subtracted before you take damage. You can raise your resistances above 75% to counteract the damage taken – however, no more than 75% of the damage will ever be blocked.
In the forums and on other social media, players are already giving advanced tips. For example, it is said: Once you reach a value of 65–70%, it is no longer worth increasing resistances. From then on, it is more sensible to improve other defensive values, such as:
- other resistances, if not already done
- armor, which is, however, not as effective against elemental damage (maximum 85%)
- dodge rating, which lets you completely avoid damage (maximum 85%)
- pure hit points (
health
), if you simply feel too squishy - shield, which grants you a shield, but is only found on certain items
More experienced players often explain that defensive values are more important for success than offensive values. At high levels or in new areas, it is not so much a problem to deal enough damage. Surviving is more important – then the enemies will fall too.
How exactly the endgame in Last Epoch looks like has been broken down by Pohx: Twitch streamer explains the endgame of Last Epoch in 58 seconds
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