Last updated on Mar 27, 2024 at 00:00 by GhazzyTV and Lavender
Welcome to our Last Epoch Forge Guard Forgebreath build guide for the Sentinel class.
Here you will learn everything about the Forge Guard play style, passives, skills, strengths, and weaknesses
to conquer the world of Eterra.
Due to the changes seen with 1.0 and the increased difficulty scaling,
we can no longer suggest this build or concepts related to it. While the build still does moderately
well in Boss encounters, the increased density in maps has made this a non-viable option. It is
very likely we see a Forge Guard rework in the future, and if a similar concept can ever be created,
we will restore this page and update it accordingly.
Armor given life, the Manifest Armor erupts in a fiery blaze, scorching
those naive enough to approach. The Manifest Armor is capable of spitting
streams of magma at foes, alongside exploding in a retaliatory attack that is
sure to leave enemies with 1st degree burns.
Strengths
Both the player and Manifest Armor are extremely tanky
High burst healing on demand
Player can focus on survival rather than dealing damage since Manifest Armor handles most of the heavy lifting
Weaknesses
Manifest Armor may need to be resummoned to deal maximum damage due to needing to be in melee range for Fire Nova
While very safe, clear times will be slower due to the nature of how Manifest Armor attacks
Strict rotation to keep up ailments and maintain healthy Mana pool
2.
Skill Selection
Unlike most Forge Guard builds, this entire build is based around
Spell Damage. Manifest Armor scales two attacks this way,
Forgebreath and Fire Nova. Forge Breath is a conal-shaped
AoE the Manifest Armor will use repeatedly, so long as it is in range of
an ememy. Fire Nova, on the other hand, is a retaliation attack, and requires
the Manifest Armor to take damage in order to activate.
For support, this build uses Sigils Of Hope, Void Cleave,
and Abyssal Echoes in order to buff and heal the Manifest Armor as
well as debuff enemies. The final skill taken in this build is Rebuke,
used for Mana recovery and an emergency button for when you over extend and
need a moment of near-invincibility.
3.
Class and Skill Passive Trees
Class PassivesSkill Passives
SentinelForge GuardPaladinVoid Knight
Manifest ArmorVoid CleaveAbyssal EchoesSigils of HopeRebuke
Our base class is Sentinel, which fills the role of a knight in Last Epoch. Upon finishing Act 1
in the campaign, your character will be offered an opportunity to select an Advanced Mastery. Each base class has three
possible Masteries to choose from. For Sentinel, you can choose between Passive Trees for Paladin, Forge Guard, and Void Knight. Upon
selecting a Mastery and placing 20 Passive Points into the Sentinel Tree, you'll then be able to place Passive Points into the Mastery Trees.
Forge Guard is the Advanced Class used for this build, and also where the majority of our Passive Points will come from. The Forge Guard Tree will
focus around picking nodes that increase Attunement and defensive layering. A lesser, but still substantial amount of
Passive Points will come from Paladin, focusing mainly on Attunement and Healing Effectiveness, but also rounding out our Resistances.
Void Knight is taken almost entirely to gain access to Abyssal Echoes, but also provides a boost to both Physical and Void
Resistance. Each Passive Tree and their points are broken down below.
3.1.
Sentinel Passive Points
8 points into Fearless.
2 points into Juggernaut: Used to get 20 points into the Passive Tree, minor Resistance gains.
5 points into Armour Clad: 10% Damage Reduction from nearby enemies.
5 points into Valiant Charge: Void Cleave is converted into a traversal skill, so that is
where the Cooldown Reduction is applied.
Our base class is Sentinel, which fills the role of a knight in Last Epoch. Upon finishing Act 1
in the campaign, your character will be offered an opportunity to select an Advanced Mastery. Each base class has three
possible Masteries to choose from. For Sentinel, you can choose between Passive Trees for Paladin, Forge Guard, and Void Knight. Upon
selecting a Mastery and placing 20 Passive Points into the Sentinel Tree, you'll then be able to place Passive Points into the Mastery Trees.
Forge Guard is the Advanced Class used for this build, and also where the majority of our Passive Points will come from. The Forge Guard Tree will
focus around picking nodes that increase Attunement and defensive layering. A lesser, but still substantial amount of
Passive Points will come from Paladin, focusing mainly on Attunement and Healing Effectiveness, but also rounding out our Resistances.
Void Knight is taken almost entirely to gain access to Abyssal Echoes, but also provides a boost to both Physical and Void
Resistance. Each Passive Tree and their points are broken down below.
3.2.
Forge Guard Passive Points
10 points into Battle Hardened: Increases defensive layering if taken damage in the last 4 seconds.
5 points into Guardian: Health and bonus Stun Chance, mostly used for traversing to the next node.
8 points into Thornmail: Gain 240 Armor. Retaliation damage is nice, but not the reason for the node.
6 points into Crushing Blows: Taken for the Mana Regen.
8 points into Iron Attunement: Attunement and Armor for you and the Manifest Armor.
6 points into Might: Extra Health. Strength is useful for increasing our Armor, and also scaling the Manifest Armor's Health pool.
Our base class is Sentinel, which fills the role of a knight in Last Epoch. Upon finishing Act 1
in the campaign, your character will be offered an opportunity to select an Advanced Mastery. Each base class has three
possible Masteries to choose from. For Sentinel, you can choose between Passive Trees for Paladin, Forge Guard, and Void Knight. Upon
selecting a Mastery and placing 20 Passive Points into the Sentinel Tree, you'll then be able to place Passive Points into the Mastery Trees.
Forge Guard is the Advanced Class used for this build, and also where the majority of our Passive Points will come from. The Forge Guard Tree will
focus around picking nodes that increase Attunement and defensive layering. A lesser, but still substantial amount of
Passive Points will come from Paladin, focusing mainly on Attunement and Healing Effectiveness, but also rounding out our Resistances.
Void Knight is taken almost entirely to gain access to Abyssal Echoes, but also provides a boost to both Physical and Void
Resistance. Each Passive Tree and their points are broken down below.
3.3.
Paladin Passive Points
8 points into Defiance: Rounds our Resistances out, provides extra Attunement for Manifest Armor.
10 points into Valor: Healing Effectiveness is extremely potent in this build and should not be skipped.
7 points into Holy Icon: More Healing Effectiveness.
5 point into Prayer: Healing Effectiveness if you have healed yourself or an ally recently. For this
build, you will be healing constantly, so this is a permanent buff.
10 points into Dedication: Attunement gains and Mana Regen.
Our base class is Sentinel, which fills the role of a knight in Last Epoch. Upon finishing Act 1
in the campaign, your character will be offered an opportunity to select an Advanced Mastery. Each base class has three
possible Masteries to choose from. For Sentinel, you can choose between Passive Trees for Paladin, Forge Guard, and Void Knight. Upon
selecting a Mastery and placing 20 Passive Points into the Sentinel Tree, you'll then be able to place Passive Points into the Mastery Trees.
Forge Guard is the Advanced Class used for this build, and also where the majority of our Passive Points will come from. The Forge Guard Tree will
focus around picking nodes that increase Attunement and defensive layering. A lesser, but still substantial amount of
Passive Points will come from Paladin, focusing mainly on Attunement and Healing Effectiveness, but also rounding out our Resistances.
Void Knight is taken almost entirely to gain access to Abyssal Echoes, but also provides a boost to both Physical and Void
Resistance. Each Passive Tree and their points are broken down below.
3.4.
Void Knight Passive Points
10 points into Abyssal Endurance: Forced to take for Abyssal Echoes, but adds Health and Resistances too.
In this section, we will break down each skill and highlight the key passives we have selected to make the skill shine in the build.
While some of these skills do allow for some variation to exist depending on your own custom choices, we recommend utilizing the skill
trees as presented until you have a strong understanding of the build itself.
3.5.
Manifest Armor
This whole build is all about Manifest Armor. Unlike traditional Forge Guard builds,
this build focuses on the minion's Spells rather than its physical stregnth. To ensure proper
damage output, Manifest Armor will gain the stats off our equipped weapon ( Volcanus)
and scale majorly into nodes dealing with Fire Spell Damage and increases to Forgebreath.
3.5.1.
Order of Skill Points
1 point into Iron Grasp: Traversal node.
3 points into Redistributed Steel: Increases Manifest Armor's damage, but also reduces its survivability.
1 point into Titan Sword: Copies the stats from Volcanus.
4 points into Great Helm: Copies the stats from Calamity, but at an increased rate of 240%.
3 points into Burning Armour: Boosts Spell Fire Damage.
1 point into Blast Forge: Allows the Manifest Armor to attack with Forgebreath.
5 points into Bellow: Increases the damage and area of Forge Breath.
2 points into Forged Fire: Placing both points into this removes all melee attacks from Manifest Armor so Forge
Breath is now the only attack that can be used.
3 points into Platemail: Scales stats off of our chest gear at 120% increased effect.
Getting 23 points into Manifest Armor requires Legendary Potential on Calamity, so before you're able to do that, remove points from
either Platemail or Bellow. Its up to the player to determine which, as one effects defensive layering and the other reduces
damage output.
In this section, we will break down each skill and highlight the key passives we have selected to make the skill shine in the build.
While some of these skills do allow for some variation to exist depending on your own custom choices, we recommend utilizing the skill
trees as presented until you have a strong understanding of the build itself.
3.6.
Void Cleave
Void Cleave is used as a support action in the build. The action itself will apply both
five stacks of Fire Resistance Shred and two stacks of Critical Vulnerability,
but also automates Abyssal Echoes, which is converted into a heal. Mana consumption is low for Void Cleave,
feel free to use it on cooldown to keep damage output high.
3.6.1.
Order of Skill Points
3 points into Dark Pathway: Cooldown reduction, required to meet 100% uptime on debuffs.
5 points into Fraying Strikes: Converted to Fire Resistance Shred.
1 point into Resonating Cleave: Automates Abyssal Echoes. This spell is cast at the end of Void Cleave's animation.
1 point into Riftflame: Traversal node.
1 point into Hellish Chasm: Converts Void to Fire for Void Cleave, as well as any Void ailment to a Fire ailment for the sake of this skill.
3 points into Abyssal Walker: The beginning of changing this into a mobility skill.
1 point into Gravity's Edge: Converts Void Cleave into a mobility skill.
2 points into Into the Depths: Traversal node.
1 point into Precognition: Void Cleave can now never be dodged, ensuring all ailments are inflicted.
2 points into Rift Maker: Applies two stacks of Critical Vulnerability on hit.
In this section, we will break down each skill and highlight the key passives we have selected to make the skill shine in the build.
While some of these skills do allow for some variation to exist depending on your own custom choices, we recommend utilizing the skill
trees as presented until you have a strong understanding of the build itself.
3.7.
Abyssal Echoes
Just like Void Cleave, Abyssal Echoes is a full on support spell in this build.
This is the main way we heal Manifest Armor, as this spell has it's Void tag ripped from it
and replaced with a Fire tag. On top of the healing it provides, Abyssal Echoes will also
Shred the Armor off any enemy the initial burst hits.
3.7.1.
Order of Skill Points
5 points into Deep Expanse: Doubles the area that Abyssal Echoes can hit.
1 point into Fiery Chasm: Traversal node.
1 point into Potent Corruption: Used to scale healing.
1 point into Void Purifier: Converts the spell from Void to Fire, and tacks on the
ability to heal. The nodes Potent Corruption and Vorpal Reverberation now scale healing as well as damage dealt.
1 point into Heavenly Gift: Scales Abyssal Echoes off Attunement rather than Vitality.
5 points into Vorpal Reverberation: Used to scale healing.
5 points into Rippling Corrosion: Shreds Armor with initial burst on hit.
1 point into Tides of Rust: 20% gain to Armor Shred with Abyssal Echoes. Basically equates to an extra
stack on enemies, considering we always apply five stacks.
In this section, we will break down each skill and highlight the key passives we have selected to make the skill shine in the build.
While some of these skills do allow for some variation to exist depending on your own custom choices, we recommend utilizing the skill
trees as presented until you have a strong understanding of the build itself.
3.8.
Sigils of Hope
Sigils Of Hope is used to provide healing as well as increases to Fire Damage. At
maximum Sigils, this is equal to an added 12 base Fire Damage and 100% increased damage for both you
and Manifest Armor, as well as an extra 48% Healing Effectiveness.
3.8.1.
Order of Skill Points
5 points into Empowering Sigils: Damage boost per active Sigil.
3 points into Decree of Flame: Bonus Fire Damage per active Sigil.
1 point into Last Wish: Chance to generate a Sigil on kill. Great for traversing maps.
2 points into Word of Alacrity: Traversal node.
1 point into Exigency: Becomes an instant cast. Removes clunky interactions.
2 points into Invigorate: 12% increased Healing Effectiveness per active Sigil.
5 points into Quiet Mind: Cuts the Mana cost in half. Necessary.
1 point into Polygram: Increases Sigil count from 3 to 4.
In this section, we will break down each skill and highlight the key passives we have selected to make the skill shine in the build.
While some of these skills do allow for some variation to exist depending on your own custom choices, we recommend utilizing the skill
trees as presented until you have a strong understanding of the build itself.
3.9.
Rebuke
Rebuke is the final skill this build will use. It scales Mana Regeneration and Healing nodes
to create a way to replenish resources, while at the same time shrugging off most damage instances.
The only things to be mindful of, do not use this in try and tank DoT puddles, specifically
if they're long duration. When Rebuke runs out, you will likely fall over. In the case of something
like Poison Damage, each stack will reduce your Poison Resistance and by the time Rebuke ends you may just be dead
from the Poison Shred on your character.
3.9.1.
Order of Skill Points
4 points into Battle Meditation: Doubles Mana Regen while channeling.
4 points into Redemption: Adds healing to Rebuke's channel.
1 point into War Priest: Scales Rebuke's healing off Attunement.
4 points into Accelerated Healing: Rebuke heals more the longer it is channeled.
2 points into Bide: 24% duration increase.
3 points into Infinite Guardian: 45% duration increase, but also increases cooldown.
2 points into Inner Focus: Mana gain every time you take a hit while channeling.
The entire playstyle of this build revolves around setting up the Manifest Armor to deal damage for us.
The only real reason we even exist is to heal and buff the Manifest Armor, and debuff enemies to keep damage
high. The rotation forces us to manage our Mana appropriately, as even with more than 300 Mana, long boss fights will
drain us completely if not managed properly. Void Cleave can, and should, be used on cooldown to keep Fire Resistance Shred and
Critical Vulnerability on the enemy at all times. Abyssal Echoes can be manually casted, but doing so will start to deplete Mana,
so this should be done sparingly, or in moments when you or the Manifest Armor require a burst heal and Void Cleave is on cooldown.
Sigils Of Hope should be kept capped at all times, however, you do not want to summon all four at once. Instead, summon two at a time.
This will allow a smooth rotation where we then place Rebuke in between casts. A full rotation will look like the following, assuming
Manifest Armor has always been summoned:
This rotation can be performed indefinitely in a vacuum, assuming Manifest Armor does not need to be resummoned and
Abyssal Echoes does not need to be manually casted.
4.1.
Manifest Armor and Fire Nova
As of patch 0.9.2, the Manifest Armor's retaliatory attack Fire Nova does not have an accessible tooltip in game.
For a lot of bosses, we will be relying on this attack to quickly take Health bars down, as it will activate every 200 Health that
the Manifest Armor loses. The base stats for Fire Nova can be seen below:
Base Damage: 20 Fire
Cooldown: 0 seconds
Critical Chance: 5%
Critical Multiplier: 200%
Added Damage Scaling: 100%
Counts as a Hit
Fire Nova is best taken advantage of during channeled attacks by bosses, such as Elder Gaspar's
Tri-Elemental rotating attack. Because we've scaled Manifest Armor so well defensively, and the healing
we provide is top notch, it's fair game to purposely leave the minion inside of these attacks to active the
damage off Fire Nova. Likewise, when these channeled attacks are targeted, such as Heorot's Freezing Ice attack,
using Rebuke to aim the attack directly at Manifest Armor and tank the hit alongside him is worth doing.
The only drawback in the way Manifest Armor attacks is the fact that Forgebreath is a ranged attack, meaning
Fire Nova will not reach when Manifest Armor is at max distance. There are two ways to deal with this:
Opt to remove a point in Forged Fire in the skill tree, which will force a single melee attack between Forgebreath, but reduce damage output.
Resummon Manifest Armor on top of the boss right before a channel attack is about to start, which is the default solution for this build.
5.
Equipment and Gear Affixes
For this build, we will be focusing on several main affixes for each piece of non-unique gear, as well as working towards acquiring the specific Uniques needed
to make this build operate correctly. Our equipment will focus on these specific affixes for the Implicits and Modifier stats.
Gear Slot
Implicits
Modifiers
Two-handed Sword
Volcanus
Prefixes Increased Critical Strike Chance
Head
Calamity
Prefixes + Levels to Manifest Armor
Amulet
Death Rattle
Prefixes Increased Minion Damage
Chest
Armor
Prefixes Attunement Increased Fire Damage, Increased Ignite Duration
Suffixes Health
Belt
Armor
Prefixes Increased Minion Damage Increased Minion Health
Suffixes Health Needed Resistances
Gloves
Julra's Obsession
Prefixes Increased Critical Strike Chance
Ring
Increased Minion Damage Increased Minion Health Increased Critical Strike Multiplier
Prefixes Attunement Increased Minion Damage
Suffixes Health Critical Strike Avoidance
Ring
Increased Minion Damage Increased Minion Health Increased Critical Strike Multiplier
Prefixes Attunement Increased Minion Damage
Suffixes Health Critical Strike Avoidance
Feet
Movement Speed Armor Fire Resistance
Prefixes Attunement Increased Movement Speed
Suffixes Hybrid Health Critical Strike Avoidance
Relic
Code of an Erased Sentinel
Prefixes Attunement Increased Minion Damage
Suffixes Health Needed Resistances
A loot filter made specifically for the gear table above may be copied by pressing the button below. Once in
the Loot Filter portion of the in-game menu, choose the "Paste Clipboard Contents" option to import the code.
Copy Loot Filter to Clipboard
Press the Copy 📋 button to copy the following text to your clipboard
The items used in this build are not for us. Instead, they should all be considered part of the Manifest Armor's
gearing. Missing any item on here will lead to a weakened state for the Manifest Armor.
6.1.
Volcanus
Volcanus: The best way to scale Spell Damage for Manifest Armor, but also provides Health Leech for you and your minion, since
Manifest Armor will be copying the stats on this weapon. Target farm in the Monolith Timeline "Reign of Dragons". If you manage
to find this sword with Legendary Potential, socket on Increased Critical Strike Chance.
6.2.
Calamity
Calamity: Taken for the increased Spell Damage, Manifest Armor will also take on the stats from this helmet.
This can be target farmed in the Monolith Timeline "The Black Sun". Legendary Potential is heavily suggested on this, with
at least Tier 6 +3 to Level of Manifest Armor. The build will function without this, but Manifest Armor will deal less damage because of it.
6.3.
Death Rattle
Death Rattle: Provide a substantial boost in Critical Chance and Multiplier for Manifest Armor. The increased damage taken affix
can be somewhat ignored, since this build makes Manifest Armor have an incredibly large Health pool, and it will
deal more damage by taking damage. This can be target farmed in the Monolith Timeline "The Age of Winter".
6.4.
Julra's Obsession
Julra's Obsession: These gloves will also apply all stats on them to your Manifest Armor. On top of this, they will always come with at
least 1 Legendary Potential. Prioritize Increased Critical Strike Chance, followed by Cast Speed. You must kill Julra in Tier 3 or Tier 4 to
obtain them.
7.
Idols
Idol slots are gained through the campaign, unlocking small bonuses and unique affixes for the player to discover and augment their builds with. The Idol screen
consists of a grid system for the player to fill out with different sized Idols, eventually filling in every part of the grid. As the Idol shape increases (1x1, 1x2,
1x3, 1x4, etc.) the stronger an affix you might find for your build.
The Idols used for this build should be very easy to obtain, as they are all either Stout Lagonian Idols or Small Lagonian Idols. They must have Shared Fire Damage on them,
with a secondary affix of ideally Armor or Health.
8.
Blessing
Blessings are permanent buffs that are applied to your character. These come in two different powers, Standard and Grand. Grand blessings are significantly
stronger than the Standard Blessings. In total, there are 10 Blessing Slots, one for each Monolith Timeline. When you complete a Monolith and defeat the final boss you
will be awarded a choice of three blessing with a random value.
Blessing Name
Affix
Timeline
Grand Memory of Light
Health
The Black Sun
Grand Light of the Moon
Increased Mana
Ending the Storm
Grand Body of Obsidian
+ Armor
Spirits of Fire
Grand Bulwark of the Tundra
% Armor
The Age of Winter
The Blessings listed above cover the most important slots, with the remaining Blessing Slots being filled
with whatever the player may be lacking for stats.
9.
Changelog
27 Mar. 2024: Build retired.
12 Jan. 2024: Loot Filter added.
29 Dec. 2023: Guide added.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
GhazzyTV is a professional content creator that knows all about theory crafting builds in
Path of Exile and Last Epoch and has been teaching players how to build their characters
for over 9 years. He is a huge Blizzard fan with thousands of hours invested into Diablo 3 and 4
and is a frequent World of Warcraft Classic player. His builds will be helpful content for new players
and veterans alike. You can find his PoE Vault Guide Hub
here and his LE Guide Hub
here. You can follow him on Twitch, YouTube or Twitter.