The Mage is your magic caster class in Last Epoch which allows you to manipulate the elements to your will. However, its masteries really change the way it plays, where one is pure melee while the other dives deep into the arcane caster that he is.
There is so much to discuss about this class and its masteries, and all of this shall be covered in this ultimate guide for the Mage class.
Mage – Base Class
The Mage is the master of the arcane and uses his knowledge to conjure powerful elemental attacks and shields. The Mage has some of the most satisfying spell effects in the game.
This includes Glacier, a three-part combo Frost spell that summons three different sizes of ice pillars that get bigger as it move further from you.
Disintegrate spell channels a lightning and fire beam a common spell seen in many other ARPGs. Volcanic Orb is a fiery orb that shoots out multiple fire projectiles as it moves. Focus is another channeling spell that gives you increased mana and Ward generation.
The Mage is intensely Mana-hungry at lower levels so you do want to be cautious at how many Mana-heavy spells you’re using.
For the most part, as long as you have some good Mana regen or specialized a Mana regeneration spell you can build yourself out of any Mana problems you may have.
Some spells and passives scale with Mana so you’re rewarded for building more mana and don’t have to give up on too much damage.
Another thing to keep in mind is that, depending on the skill, you can change the element of some spells to fit whatever build you want. If you want to make lightning blast a cold spell, you can do that, Fireball a lightning spell, you can do that, or Frost claw a fire spell, you can do that.
The only weakness of the class would be the Mana management and how squishy it is until you build some major defenses. Once you figure out how to generate a ward shield and have some good Mana regen you’ll be able to sustain some pretty powerful builds.
Mage Skills
Lightning Blast
Cast a bolt of lightning towards the target.
Fireball
Cast a ball of fire towards the target.
Snap Freeze
This ability enables you to freeze all enemies within a cone-shaped area in front of you. The effect lasts for 2 seconds.
Elemental Nova
This skill enables you to create a powerful nova of elemental energy that deals fire, cold, and lightning damage to all enemies in the area surrounding you.
Mana Strike
A frontal area melee attack that hits all enemies. Successful attacks will return 15 mana.
Flame Ward
Grants a burst of 400 Ward. Then for 3 seconds, hits deal 30% less damage to you and cause a retaliatory burst of flames.
Teleport
Teleport to target location.
Static
Static charges up as you move or when you get hit. Activate Static to discharge what you have built up, striking up to 5 nearby enemies with lightning.
Glacier
Creates three successively larger ice explosions in the target direction. Each explosion deals more damage than the last.
Disintegrate
Channel to create a beam of pure energy in the target direction. The beam deals fire and lightning damage to all enemies caught in it.
Volcanic Orb
It casts a fiery orb that spews burning shrapnel in all directions.
Focus
Channeling ability. While channeling you have 100% increased mana regen and gain 10 Ward per second. After channeling for exactly one second you gain a burst of 40 mana and Ward.
Runemaster – Mastery
Passive Bonuses:
- 30% increased elemental damage.
- 10% increased cast speed with elemental spells.
The Runemaster is one of the most complex class/mastery in Last Epoch but don’t let its complexity scare you away. The class is easy to learn yet hard to master.
Most of the complexity comes from the Runemaster’s signature ability Runic Invocation. This is a spell that you can cast to trigger one of 40 different spells depending on the combination and order of the runes that you’ve stored up.
The runes are generated based on the spells you use and correspond to that spell’s element. For example, Fireball will generate a fire rune, Lightning Blast a lightning rune, and Frost Claw a frost Rune.
You can store three runes in any order, but as you cast a fourth spell, the first Rune will drop off, and the fourth Rune will be added.
So as you attack enemies, you can change the spell that Runic Invocation will cast to fit whatever situation you are in. Some spells are AOE, some are powerful single targets, some are more defensive, and some offer ailments to enemies or your characters.
The complexity and beauty lie in being able to generate a specific Rune combination to trigger the right spell at the right time. With the number of combinations built into this class’s rune-casting system, you can keep evolving this mastery and never run out of build ideas.
Runemaster Skills
Flame Rush
You can turn into a ball of fire and propel yourself in any direction. The longer you channel, the slower you move, but the larger and more damaging the explosion when you stop.
Frost Wall
It creates a wall of frost that persists for 6 seconds. Enemies inside the wall take cold damage over time and receive a chill stack.
Runebolt
A combo spell that fires piercing projectiles. The first part of the combo is fire, the second is lightning, and the third is cold.
Glyph of Dominion
Places a lightning glyph on the ground that grows over time. Deals lightning damage over time and slows in its area. At full size it detonates, dealing large amounts of lightning damage to enemies within its area.
Runic Invocation
- Passive: Whenever you directly use an elemental skill, gain 1 Rune of the corresponding element. For channeled skills, you gain 1 rune per second instead.
- Active: Consume all your active Runes to cast a unique Invocation based on the combination and order of runes consumed.
- The last Rune in the sequence determines the damage type.
Sorcerer – Mastery
Passive Bonuses:
- +50 Mana
- Spells deal increased damage equal to their mana cost
The Sorcerer is a straight-up spell caster packed with flashy spells that look cool and take a lot of mana to cast. The sorcerer’s gameplay is all about using strong spell casting to make up for its lack of mobility or defense scaling all of its damage with how much Mana the spell costs.
This means you’re rewarded for casting big high-cost spells from a distance to keep yourself out of trouble and away from a potentially manaless close encounter with enemies.
The Sorcerer gets access to the Meteor spell, the ability to call down a meteor from the heavens to crush your enemies. This spell is probably the best selling point to choose this class. You conjure a massive flaming rock and it scales extremely well with fire damage and the Sorcerer’s Mana damage scaling.
As a big spell Sorcerer, you’re going to keep a watch on your mana and your defenses since if you get caught without either of them, you’re sure to have a bad time.
With the addition of Runemaster, the Sorcerer has become lackluster.
Sorcerer Skills
Static Orb
Casts an orb in a target direction that deals lightning damage and pulls enemies that it hits toward it as it travels. At the target location, it explodes, dealing lightning damage to enemies surrounding it and also striking up to 5 enemies further out. The further it travels the higher the damage and area of effect of the explosion, up to 100%.
Ice Barrage
Opens a rift that repeatedly shoots a barrage of ice shards in a target direction for 5 seconds.
Arcane Ascendance
Toggle to prevent movement and drain 25 mana each second. Mana drain increases by 1 mana per second. All spells cost +5 mana to cast. 100% increased spell damage and 50% increased cast speed. Also deals lightning damage over time to surrounding enemies.
Black Hole
Summon a powerful black hole at the target location that aggressively pulls enemies and deals cold damage over time to enemies within its reach.
Meteor
Call a meteor from the sky that deals a large amount of damage upon landing.
Spellblade – Mastery
Passive Bonuses:
- +4 Ward points for every melee hit that lands.
- Mana spent on melee attacks is converted to Ward.
The Spellblade is a melee magic user, getting up close and personal with melee attacks that have a specific elemental bonus for their source of damage.
The two signature abilities for the Spellblade are Shatter Strike, a cold melee attack that has a high chance to freeze enemies around you, and Flame Reave, a slow swing of your weapon that shoots waves of flames that cleave enemies in front of you.
The later unlocked Enchant Weapon spell is a must-spell that can heavily increase your weapon attack damage as long as you keep it up.
The Spellblade is one of the more interesting mage masteries as you would never expect this old spellcaster guy to be moving in and out of combat swinging around swords and maces. It all boils down to protecting yourself with good ward generation passives and zipping in and out of combat with your melee attacks.
If you manage to get the rhythm down of regenerating mana and filling up ward while dishing out punishment with your weapons, you will really click with this class.
Spellblade Skills
Flame Reave
A melee attack that releases a wave of flames from your weapon cleaving through enemies in a cone in front of you.
Enchant Weapon
- Active: Enchant your weapon with elemental power. Your melee attacks deal 50% more elemental damage for 5 seconds.
- Passive: Your melee attacks deal 15% more elemental damage.
Firebrand
A melee attack that grants you a stack of Firebrand buff if it hits an enemy. Each stack of the Firebrand buff increases the size of subsequent Firebrand attacks and adds melee fire damage.
Surge
Quick fixed distance dash which hits all enemies in the path with a lightning melee attack.
Shatter Strike
A sweeping melee attack that strikes enemies in a circle around you dealing cold damage and instantly kills frozen enemies below 100 health.
If spellcasting is your jam, the Mage is going to be your favorite class in Last Epoch. As a personal recommendation, if you are looking into choosing this class, pick the Runemaster. This class will continue to surprise you and keep a smile on your face while you experiment with a wide variety of spells that are not only deadly but a visual delight.