Best Early Game Primalist Build

The Primalist class in Last Epoch harnesses raw strength and the power of the elements to decimate enemies. It mixes elements of both the traditional Barbarian and Druid classes to provide players with multiple unique playstyles that fuse the things that make these two classic character archetypes so fun to play.

The following is a short guide covering one of the strongest and easiest ways to play the base Primalist class that lets it compete against the rest of Last Epoch’s classes, including some tips on how to transition into its mastery classes later on. This build is optimized for a level 20 character with basic gear and very little reliance on Unique items.

Last Epoch Primalist Leveling Skill Build

game Primalist in last epoch” src=”https://static0.gamerantimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/20240304160240_1.jpg”/>

The Primalist is a hybrid bruiser/caster class who makes use of raw physical strength and the power of nature to subdue enemies. One of the strongest ways to use the Primalist before unlocking a Mastery Class is to commit to a Physical Damage build with Swipe as the main damage dealer. Here are the skills and specialization passives you need for this build to work:

Swipe

• Aspect of the Panther: Hitting at least one enemy with Swipe grants an Aspect of the Panther stack, which increases Global Damage by +5% per stack.
• Feline Hunter: Gain increased global attack speed and cast speed when you have a stack of Aspect of the Panther.
• Lion’s Strength: Increase the maximum Aspect of the Panther stack count. Also gives bonus Global Melee Damage per stack.
• Way of the Hunt: Swipe deals more damage and leeches a portion of damage dealt as health.

These passives increase the overall damage dealt by Swipe by providing bonus damage, multiplicative damage boosts, extra attack speed, and a small amount of lifesteal. However, it will take time for your damage to ramp up since this setup relies on having max Aspect of the Panther stacks. Consider using effects and items that apply Ailments to supplement your damage.

Fury Leap

• Warrior’s Entrance: You and your minions gain bonus Global Melee and Spell Damage after landing.
• Frenzied Onslaught: You and your minions gain bonus attack and cast speed after landing.

These two passives greatly iincrease Swipe’s power at the start of a fight, and they are especially useful against bosses and elites. Once you get both of these passives, you’re free to spec into the other brances of Fury Leap’s specialization tree to further improve the skill’s effectiveness in other areas.

Warcry

• Juggernaut: Become Invulnerable after using Warcry.
• Berserker: Gain the Berserk buff for 1 second after using Warcry, giving you additional Melee Damage after hitting an enemy. Gain more stacks of Berserk by hitting targets, and all melee hits refresh all stacks.
• Brutality: Increases Berserker’s max stack count and increases the duration of each stack.
• Fury Strikes: Gain increased attack speed per Berserk stack, up to a maximum value.

Once you spec into the Berserker branch of Warcry’s specialization tree, you’ll get a skill that both stuns targets and provides you with substantial buffs to melee damage. Use this in conjunction with Fury Leap to maximize Swipe’s damage potential.

Third and Fourth Skill Slots

These slots are flexible — you can use any of the Primalist’s remaining abilities here without fear of losing out on any more damage or survivability. We highly recommend Summon Wolf for the Howl skill, which further improves your personal DPS output. Eterra’s Blessing is also a decent choice if you need emergency healing.

Related

Last Epoch Attunement Points Explained

If you’re wondering whether you should invest points into Attunement in Last Epoch, here, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about this stat.

Passive Skills

• Primal Strength (8/8): +8 Strength, +32% Increased Health Regeneration
• Harmony of Blades (1/1): Can equip Swords and Axes in your offhand; increases damage taken by 9% when dual-wielding.
• Hunter’s Restoration (5/5): +10% increased health; attacks restore health every 3 seconds.
• Survival of the Pack (4/6): Increases melee damage and melee leech for you and your minions.
• Tempest Bond (2/6): Increases your Physical, Cold, and Lightning damage. Bonuses are doubled if you have a minion.

You can dual-wield in Last Epoch as a Primalist by investing a point in the Harmony of Blades skill. This way, you can use twice the number of affixes to boost your build even further. Dual-wielding will not provide any other bonuses apart from the stats provided by your off-hand weapon.

Gear and Stat Priorities

Inspecting every piece of loot you find is one of the most common mistakes new Last Epoch players make. Instead of doing that, look for gear pieces that drop the stats as shown on the table above. This saves you the hassle of sifting through useless equipment and makes sure that every item you pick up contributes to the build.

As mentioned, this build does not require any unique items. However, if you get ones that provide significant bonuses to any of the stats listed above, then prioritze using those above everything else.

Best Mastery Class

Since this build focuses on Physical Damage, the best Mastery class players can take for this without changing much of the setup is the Druid. All polymorph forms (Werebear, Spriggan, and Swarmblade) benefit from Physical Damage, which means all your gear will remain relevant even once you start using different abilities. Werebear Form is especially strong with the build above as the skills you get after transforming into a Werebear benefit from War Cry and Swipe specialization passives.

Transitioning into either a Shaman or Beastmaster can still work, but you’ll need to be extra mindful about which scaling tags the abilities under these Mastery Classes use.

Last Epoch

Released

February 21, 2024

Developer(s)

Eleventh Hour Games

Publisher

Eleventh Hour Games (Video Game Company)

Genre(s)

Action RPG