If you're diving into *Last Epoch*, you've probably already encountered the game's 15 distinct Mastery classes. Think of these as sub-classes that allow you to specialize in one particular aspect of your character's abilities. Whether you're drawn to the traditional roles like Sorcerer or something more unconventional like Falconer (who uses their trusty bird companion for aerial attacks), choosing the right Mastery can make all the difference in your gameplay experience. With so many options, it can be overwhelming, but our **Last Epoch Mastery Tier List** will guide you through the best choices.
Keep in mind that you're not locked into a single Mastery. Many optimized builds dip into multiple Masteries, allowing you to allocate points into the first half of another Mastery's passive tree. If you need to adjust your choices, head to the Respec NPC located in the End of Time zone.
How We Ranked the Best and Worst Masteries in Last Epoch
The strength of a Mastery depends on how well it meets the needs of various builds. A strong build excels in clearing content (like maps), bossing (single-target damage), and defense. Some Masteries excel in all three areas, while others may shine in one category but fall short in others. For instance, more damage multipliers generally outweigh increased damage multipliers, so a Mastery offering greater multipliers is likely to rank higher. Always review the passive descriptions carefully to understand how they scale damage—these details are crucial for optimizing your build.
Defensive stats like critical hit damage reduction or avoidance are essential since unexpected spikes can be deadly. Resistances are equally important, as they can be supplemented through gear and idols, but having them on the Mastery tree offers flexibility. Damage reduction is a rare but valuable stat, and recovery (such as leech, health regeneration, or health/ward on hit) is also critical. Any Mastery offering these stats in an efficient manner is more likely to appear higher on this list.
When it comes to Mastery skills, we evaluate them based on their numerical values and potential for both bossing and clearing, with a slight nod to how enjoyable they are to play. A skill might be technically strong, but if it feels clunky or unintuitive, it may affect the Mastery's overall ranking. That said, if you're comfortable with mechanics like snapshotting, you're free to rank a Mastery higher.
Last Epoch Tier List: Best Season 2 Masteries
Last Epoch Tier List: Best Season 2 Masteries
Contribute to the community Tier List by voting on the best Last Epoch Masteries!
Last Epoch Season 2 Masteries Tier List
S-Tier: Paladin, Void Knight
Best overall clear, bossing, and defense, with no significant weaknesses.
A-Tier: Falconer, Bladedancer, Shaman, Druid
Strong clear, bossing, and/or defense. Lacking significantly in one area.
B-Tier: Marksman, Lich, Beastmaster
Good clear, bossing, and/or defense. Lacking significantly in one or more areas.
C-Tier: Necromancer, Forge Guard, Runemaster
Decent to good clear, bossing, and/or defense. Lacking significantly in one or more areas.
D-Tier: Spellblade, Warlock, Sorcerer
Poor to good clear, bossing, and/or defense. Lacking significantly in multiple areas.
Our tier list explanations below feature example builds from our friends at Maxroll.gg.
S-Tier Last Epoch Masteries
S-Tier: Void Knight
Looking to dominate screens with a massive purple sword and stay alive while doing it? Void Knight (and its signature ability, Erasing Strike) is your go-to choice. This Mastery scales exceptionally well as you transition into the World Splitter version. The Warpath variant is also top-tier and beginner-friendly.
With improved mobility and effective health (eHP), Void Knight offers massive clear potential and respectable bossing damage. Its ability to move and deal damage simultaneously is a significant advantage for boosting damage per second (DPS). Plus, it feels incredibly smooth to play.
Numerically speaking, it boasts 200% added damage effectiveness on all skills (and a staggering 600% on Erasing Strike). That’s where you want to be. The passive tree includes resistance to and penetration for Physical and Void damage, leech and leech rate, damage reduction, increased health, slow and chill resist, mana solutions, attack speed, and more. Key nodes include Sorrow & Steel (damage, armor, and area of effect in one package), Void Corruption (critical hit chance and multiplier boost), and Mortal Cleave (culling, damage, and critical hit chance all in one). The list goes on, but you get the idea: Void Knight has it all.
For more Void Knight builds, check out Smite Void Knight (fast, tanky, and long-range) or Time Rot Void Knight (complex but highly sustainable and bursty).
S-Tier: Paladin
Developers at Eleventh Hour Games (EHG) admitted they went overboard with the Sentinel rework, which is why Judgement Paladin took four of the top five spots in the Terminate Uber Abberoth race. No doubts here—this Mastery deserves S-Tier status.
Similar to Void Knight, Paladin boasts extremely potent skills, immense survivability, and devastating damage. Judgement alone is absurd, offering 350% damage effectiveness and 200% critical multiplier at a 15 mana cost and 4-second cooldown. Combined with its healing and damage punch, it’s unmatched. Other skills like Symbols of Hope and Holy Aura follow the damage-and-defense theme, while Healing Hands provides massive healing, especially during tough boss fights.
The passive tree offers the most resistances in the game, along with recovery and damage reduction, mana, attack and cast speed, block, armor, penetration, and more. Key nodes include Covenant of Light (boosting Healing Hands and Holy Aura simultaneously), Covenant of Protection, and Reverence of Duality and Covenant of Dominion, which collectively provide ridiculous amounts of damage, sustain, damage-over-time mitigation, and defense. While Judgement steals the spotlight, Bleed Hammerdin and Smite are strong alternatives if you want to explore off-meta builds.
A-Tier Last Epoch Masteries
A-Tier: Falconer
EHG aimed to tone down overpowered builds by making them “just under OP,” and that’s exactly what happened with Falconer. When it launched, it was outrageously strong; now, it’s just plain ridiculous.
Movement speed is unmatched, and damage is top-tier, thanks in part to easy access to critical hit multipliers and Dexterity scaling options. Better yet, you can leverage both simultaneously using Aerial Assault: simply summon your bird and watch the fireworks begin.
Its main weakness lies in defense. You’ll need to rely on Dodge and Silver/Dusk Shrouds to mitigate damage, keeping you on your toes. The passive tree lacks resistance options, putting pressure on your Blessings, idols, and gear to compensate.
You can mitigate the lack of defense with a Zero HP Ballista Falconer build that hits incredibly hard but requires cheesing incoming damage using Silver Shrouds and Dodge. This build isn’t ideal for hardcore mode.
For a more balanced experience, try Umbral Blades or Talons of Valor with Razorfall boots. These builds allow you to slice through enemies while soaring across the map on your feathered companion. Just be prepared for button-intensive gameplay if you aim for maximum DPS.
A-Tier: Bladedancer
While Falconer is more popular, Bladedancer is just as strong and well-rounded. Clearing, single-target damage, and defense are all where you want them to be, thanks to high-DPS skills, powerful passive support, and useful iframes from Lethal Mirage. If you’re looking for a solid melee class, this is the one.
Key nodes on the passive tree include Pursuit (efficient damage and movement speed), Argent Veil (making dodge more reliable), and Death’s Door (damage reduction for low-life builds). Defensively, Glancing Blows, Dusk Shrouds, and Dodge form a robust layer. Offensively, you’ll find Dexterity stacking, crit, leech, frailty, armor shred, and armor shred effect—all on offer. In short, you have everything you need to succeed. The only thing holding Bladedancer back is its slightly lower numerical potency compared to top-tier options like Judgement Paladin.
Popular builds include Shadow Daggers, Shadow Cascade, Chakrams (with the Chakram node on the Shurikens tree), or
