Last Epoch features an impressive lineup of 15 Mastery classes, each acting as a specialized subclass that lets you hone in on specific build aspects. From classic roles like Sorcerer to unique choices like Falconer, where you soar across the map leveraging your avian companion for damage, the variety can be overwhelming. This Last Epoch Mastery tier list offers clarity to guide your choice.

How We Evaluated Last Epoch’s Strongest and Weakest Masteries

A Mastery’s strength hinges on how well it supports key build elements, balancing clearing speed (mapping), single-target damage (bossing), and defense. Some masteries outshine others with superior synergies or raw power.

For instance, ‘more’ damage multipliers outweigh increased damage ones, boosting a Mastery’s rank if it provides them. Always check passives for damage scaling details. Stats like critical hit chance, critical hit multipliers, flat damage, armor shred chance, and shred effect carry significant weight.

Defensively, critical hit damage reduction or avoidance is vital to counter random spikes, which can be deadly. Resistances, while obtainable via gear or idols, are valuable on a Mastery’s passive tree for flexibility. Damage reduction remains the top survival stat, though it’s rare. Recovery mechanisms (leech, health regen, health/ward on hit) and effective health (eHP) via Ward or Health are also critical. Masteries that efficiently deliver these rank higher.

Mastery skills are judged on their numerical strength and damage output for both clearing and bossing, with some consideration for playstyle feel. An S-Tier skill that feels clunky may slightly lower a Mastery’s rank, though players unbothered by mechanics like snapshotting might rank it higher.

Last Epoch Season 2 Mastery Rankings

Exceptional clearing, bossing, and defense with no major flaws

Strong in clearing, bossing, or defense, but weaker in one area

Solid in clearing, bossing, or defense, but lacking in one or more areas

Fair to good in clearing, bossing, or defense, but notably weak in some areas

Weak to decent in clearing, bossing, or defense, struggling in multiple areas

S-Tier Last Epoch Masteries

S-Tier: Void Knight

For devastating area-clearing with a massive purple sword and near-invincibility, Void Knight (paired with Erasing Strike) excels. It transitions smoothly into the World Splitter build, while the Warpath variant is equally potent and beginner-friendly.

Void Knight boasts enhanced mobility and effective health (eHP), delivering massive clearing and solid bossing damage. Its ability to move and deal damage simultaneously boosts DPS and feels seamless.

Numerically, it offers 200% added damage effectiveness across skills (600% for Erasing Strike), a benchmark for excellence. The passive tree provides Physical and Void resistance and penetration, leech, damage reduction, health boosts, slow and chill resistance, mana solutions, and attack speed. Key nodes like Sorrow & Steel (damage, armor, and AoE), Void Corruption (critical hit chance and multiplier), and Mortal Cleave (culling, damage, and crit chance) make Void Knight a powerhouse.

S-Tier: Paladin

Eleventh Hour Games (EHG) acknowledged overbuffing the Sentinel rework, evidenced by Judgement Paladin dominating four of the top five spots in the Terminate Uber Abberoth race. This Mastery undeniably earns its S-Tier status.

Like Void Knight, Paladin delivers colossal damage, high survivability, and potent skills. Judgement alone boasts 350% damage effectiveness, a 200% critical multiplier, a 15-mana cost, and a 4-second cooldown, blending healing and damage. Other skills like Symbols of Hope and Holy Aura combine offense and defense, while Healing Hands provides substantial boss-fight healing.

The passive tree offers unmatched resistances, recovery, damage reduction, mana, attack and cast speed, block, armor, and penetration. Standout nodes include Covenant of Light (enhancing Healing Hands and Holy Aura), Covenant of Protection, Reverence of Duality, and Covenant of Dominion, delivering massive damage, sustain, and defense.

Beyond Judgement, Bleed Hammerdin and Smite offer strong off-meta build options.

A-Tier Last Epoch Masteries

A-Tier: Falconer

EHG aimed to tone down overpowered builds to “just below OP,” and Falconer now sits in that sweet spot. Once overwhelmingly strong, it remains highly effective.

Its unmatched movement speed and top-tier damage stem from easy access to critical hit multipliers and Dexterity scaling. Aerial Assault lets you wield both, diving into combat with your bird for explosive impact.

Defense is its main weakness, relying on Dodge, Silver/Dusk Shrouds, or Glancing Blows to mitigate damage, demanding active play. Limited resistance options on the passive tree put pressure on gear, idols, and Blessings.

The Zero HP Ballista Falconer build hits hard but requires skillful damage avoidance, making it less suited for hardcore. Umbral Blades is a top build, transitioning from Shadow Daggers to a Dexterity-stacking version with Talons of Valor bow and Razorfall boots. It’s fast, flashy, and button-intensive for max DPS.

A-Tier: Bladedancer

While Falconer garners more attention, Bladedancer matches its strength and versatility. It excels in clearing, single-target damage, and defense, thanks to high-DPS skills, robust passives, and Lethal Mirage iframes. It’s ideal for a fast, melee-focused class.

Key passive nodes include Pursuit (damage and movement speed), Argent Veil (reliable dodge), and Death’s Door (damage reduction for low-life builds). Glancing Blows, Dusk Shrouds, and Dodge form a strong defensive core, with Dexterity stacking, crit, leech, Frailty, and armor shred available. It’s slightly outclassed numerically by top-tier Masteries like Judgement Paladin.

Builds include Shadow Daggers, Shadow Cascade, Chakrams (via the Shurikens tree), or Lethal Mirage with Black Blade of Chaos (requiring a 2H sword). The Chakram build is Uber Abberoth viable.

A-Tier: Beastmaster

A summoner Mastery, Beastmaster secured second place in the Uber Abberoth race, largely due to Storm Crows and its high DPS via snapshotting, enhanced by Summon Wolf buffs. It’s a proven archetype, though it starts slowly.

Focus on Poison Nova Scorpion (see CookBook’s version) for balanced damage and clear, but expect slower movement speed compared to Rogue. Mitigate this with Haste via The Scavenger belt or idols, though it remains a slower build.

The passive tree offers damage reduction, health, healing, companion endurance, crit support, and stun, though it lacks direct damage boosts, which you can source elsewhere.

A-Tier: Shaman

A melee and elemental Mastery, Shaman excels in Arena, pushing Waves 500-700+. Its clearing is fast, though not elite, with decent defense.

Tornado shines with surprising damage and a vacuum effect. Earthquake and Avalanche see less use due to high mana costs or clunky Spriggan Form, but Aftershock idols add damage. Summon Storm Totem is a solid decoy with decent damage.

The passive tree provides Penetration (via defensively weak Attunement), cooldown reduction, mana, auto-trigger skills, attack/cast speed, elemental damage with resists, and Haste. Key nodes like Fist of Stone (stun, Endurance, health regen), Lagon’s Answer, Conflux (auto-casting Storm Bolt with AoE and damage reduction), and Swirling Maelstrom (health, mana, Endurance) stand out.

A-Tier: Druid

The shapeshifting Mastery, Storm Werebear leads with strong DPS, capable of defeating Uber Abberoth, handling 1000 corruption, and reaching Wave 300-700 in Arena. Its solid eHP makes it engaging for combo playstyles, though it’s slower for farming.

Werebear replaces skills with bear-themed ones. Rampage and Maul blend movement and damage with Knockback, while Roar offers Knockback, Stun, and Rage sustain. The skill tree eliminates Rampage’s cooldown, triggers Storm Bolt, and supports Stun and health recovery.

Spriggan Form is defensively strong but better with Druid/Beastmaster synergy. Swarmblade is viable, while Entangling Roots feels clunky as a totem buff. The passive tree includes Spirit Warden (health, mana, sustain), Focused Wrath (damage, Rage buffs), Bush Stalker (crit, leech), and Impervious (melee damage reduction).

B-Tier Last Epoch Masteries

B-Tier: Lich

A high-risk, high-reward Mastery, Lich thrives with skills like Reaper Form and a robust passive tree.

Drain Life is underwhelming but useful with Hecatomb for minion-to-mana conversion. Aura of Decay suits poison builds but struggles with scaling damage taken. Death Seal shines with 300% damage effectiveness and halves incoming damage, balancing risk and reward.

Reaper Form offers 100% damage effectiveness (boosted via passives), AoE damage, health gain, and mobility, offset by health drain mitigated by recovery. The passive tree supports Intelligence stacking, mana, health, ward, and recovery, with nodes like Dance With Death, Hollow Lich, and Ageless Plagues for efficient damage, plus minion generation and speed buffs.

B-Tier: Marksman

The archetypal archer, Marksman shines with Hail of Arrows and Heartseeker. The former benefits from the Sanguine Hoard quiver for bleed combos, while Heartseeker excels with auto-targeting projectiles, transitioning to Icicle builds with gear.

Marksman’s strength lies in high HP-on-hit from frequent projectiles. Multishot starts weak but scales with passive nodes. Hail boasts 325% damage effectiveness and ignores crit, while Detonating Arrow lags numerically. The passive tree supports dodge, crit, movement speed, extra arrows, and recovery, with nodes like Heightened Senses (crit avoidance, multiplier) and Thief’s Quiver (health, leech). Defense is weaker, but damage and clear are reliable.

C-Tier Last Epoch Masteries

C-Tier: Necromancer

An undead summoner, Necromancer reaches Arena Waves 200-400 with strong skills and a versatile passive tree.

Summon Skeletal Mage reduces enemy health regen by 20% and can become a Traversal skill, focusing on a single strong minion. Sacrifice sees little use due to weak personal damage. Dread Shade boosts damage at a health cost, with options for explosions or Poison conversion. Assemble Abomination summons a tanky minion, improved by snapshotting, while Summon Wraith offers solid damage with Fire, Necrotic, or Bleed variants.

Notable passives like Elixir of Hunger (health, speed) and Rite of Undeath (resistances, damage) support recovery, minion tanking, and crit, but defense beyond recovery is limited.

C-Tier: Runemaster

A unique caster, Runemaster combines spells via Rune of Invocation for versatile, high-damage builds like Hydrahedron, viable at 1000 corruption. Defense is weak, requiring mobility.

Focus Autobomber leverages Brand of Deception and Runic Fortress for tankiness. Flame Rush offers movement and damage reduction, while Frost Wall boasts 400% damage effectiveness and Freeze. Runebolt and Glyph of Dominion add crit, mana regen, and slow. The passive tree supports Ward, mana, elemental debuffs, and speed, but falls short of top-tier Masteries.

C-Tier: Forge Guard

Forge Guard is solid but outclassed. Manifest Armor acts as a decoy, scaling with STR/armor. Shield Throw and Ring of Shields offer defense, while Smelter’s Wrath and Forge Weapon provide high damage effectiveness but feel slow or situational.

The passive tree’s Guardian node (health, stun, regen) stands out, alongside Steel Aegis and Iron Attunement. It supports damage scaling but lacks the flair of higher tiers.

D-Tier Last Epoch Masteries

D-Tier: Spellblade

Viable but defensively weak, Spellblade offers strong DPS and speed for magic-melee hybrids, though it risks one-shots without precise positioning.

Flame Reave has solid base stats but limited AoE and high mana cost. Enchant Weapon boosts DPS and enables instant Ignites. Firebrand is fun but struggles past mid-game. Surge and Shatter Strike provide mobility, crit, and debuffs. The passive tree supports Ward, resistances, and damage, with nodes like Flame Walker and Arcane Shielding, but lacks standout defensive options.

D-Tier: Warlock

Warlock focuses on damage-over-time and Curses, making it gear-friendly. Cthonic Fissure, Profane Veil, and Chaos Bolts drive Bleed or Witchfire builds, with Profane Veil offering temporary invincibility. Defense is limited to high eHP and recovery via nodes like Spiteful Decay and Spirit Leech, holding it back from higher tiers.

D-Tier: Sorcerer

The classic caster, Sorcerer is viable but unremarkable. Frostbite Frostclaw is a solid all-rounder but mana-hungry and slow. Static Orb and Black Hole offer vacuum utility, with nodes like Static Armor for defense. Ice Barrage auto-targets with Freeze potential, while Arcane Ascendance and Meteor are mana-intensive. The passive tree supports Ward, damage, and cast speed, but lacks the depth of top Masteries.