Last Epoch: Getting Started With Your First Character

Last Epoch gives you one character and asks you to commit. The first session is not about seeing everything; it is about learning how the action RPG loop feels, how loot changes your plan, and whether you want to play solo or in online co-op.

Before the first character

Decide what you want the character to do. Clear groups quickly, survive long fights, or support a friend in co-op — the answer shapes every later choice, and it is cheaper to decide now than to rebuild after a season change.

The first character, in order

1. Pick one damage plan and stay with it. An action RPG punishes a character that does a little of everything and nothing well.
2. Replace gear often. Early upgrades are stepping stones, not heirlooms; wearing a better item now is worth more than saving it for a character you have not made.
3. Put early improvements into what you actually use. If a choice does not touch your main plan, it can wait.
4. Play the loop instead of reading about it. Fight, loot, improve, repeat — the first character teaches more in an hour of play than an hour of guide reading.
5. Test co-op early if you plan to use it. Online co-op is supported, and learning the pace together is easier than catching up later.
6. Treat the first character as a lesson. It does not have to be the character you keep; it has to be the one that teaches you the game.

Reading loot without a spreadsheet

An action RPG throws gear at you faster than you can read it. Judge each item with one question: does it make the thing you actually do better right now? If not, it is weight. The exception is an item that opens a new plan you want to try — but decide that on purpose, not because the item looks rare.

Co-op, controller and seasons

Steam lists online co-op and full controller support. Co-op is easiest when both players start at the same point and agree on pace. A controller is a supported way to play, not a compromise.

Seasonal updates mean the live game moves. Before you rebuild an old character, check what the current season changed, and expect any guide older than the season to be at least partly wrong. The stable advice is the same at any patch: commit to a plan, read your gear, and play the loop.

The hub covers the release history, the seasonal model and the supported modes.