Primalist Leveling Build for Last Epoch (Patch 1.2)

Unlike some other classes, Primalist leveling gains their core skills immediately. This is huge for progression, as you won't need to respec at all upon unlocking Beastmaster.  Summon Wolf and  Swipe can be used immediately upon gaining access to them, and these skills will carry you all the way until the End of Time, where you then pick up your Mastery, Beastmaster.

Upon gaining your first skill specialization at Level 4, choose  Summon Wolf. Your priority here is to path into Safety In Numbers, as this allows you to summon more than a single Wolf. Minion AI in Last Epoch is typically very good, barring a few outliers. The Wolves are, thankfully, not the exception here. These furry companions will typically attack the same target all at the same time, and if needed can be commanded (default "A" keybinding) to attack a specific target.

From here, you'll soon unlock  Fury Leap. This skill is fantastic for mobility, and should be used constantly through the entire leveling process. Eventually we will specialize into this skill, but for the time being, just keep it on your bar unscaled and use it for the simple fact it makes you move faster through campaign maps.

Your next skill specialization should be  Swipe. Up until now you've only had access to  Gathering Storm, however at this point Swipe should be used for self damage. Swipe will allow us to ramp up our own personal damage, while at the same time supporting our minion's damage by applying ailments, which we'll discuss later in more detail. For now, all you need to be concerned about is the fact that you can help your Wolves kill enemies. Pathing down towards Feline Hunter and Lion's Strength should be your first move.

Below is the list for Passive Point allocation for the Acolyte Passive Tree. Don't bother spending more than the necessary 20 here, you'll want as many in Warlock as you can get beyond this.

• (Primalist) 8 points in Primal Strength: Strength for scaling and increased Health Regeneration. These two stats synergize very well within the beastmaster Passive Tree.
• (Primalist) 5 points in Hunter's Restoration: Increased Health, and a small amount of Health restored on hit every 3 seconds.
• (Primalist) 6 points in Survival of the Pack: Increases to yours and your Companions's melee damage.
• (Primalist) 1 point in Hunter's Emanation: When you heal yourself with Survival of the Pack, you give your Companions a small damage boost.

Unlocking Beastmaster, which usually happens around Level 16, allows you to specialize into  Summon Raptor. The Raptor will actually be our main source of damage for this build, as it hits extremely hard. The hits from  Swipe that we deal, and the support skill off  Summon Wolf, Howl, are in place to support the Raptor in dealing it's damage. Raptor damage scales off of enemies being afflicted with Bleed, which is something we apply with Swipe. Initially, path towards Broken Tooth and Scent of Blood to start the skill off.

The Beastmaster Mastery Bonus is fairly important for this build, as it adds a +1 to the Companion Limit, giving us access to an extra Wolf that Druid and Shaman just wouldn't have access to.

Reaching Level 20, you should have just enough points to place the following Passive Points into the Beastmaster Tree.

• (Beastmaster) 5 points in Ursine Strength: Our self damage, our Wolves, and our Raptor all scale off Strength. Since this build focuses on being a melee brawler, the reduced damage from this node is very useful.

With access to two different types of Companions and your own self damage with  Swipe, progressing through the campaign should be entirely painless going forward. Ramp your damage with Swipe, use Howl when necessary to deal with harder to kill enemies, and let your Companions rip and tear their way through maps.

When it comes to gear, keep your eyes open for a Cultist Chopper early on. This will provide you a much higher chance to apply Bleed onto enemies, boosting the damage your Raptor deals. Bearded Axes will also work, so if you happen to find multiple of these, simply equip the one that has the best stats at the time.

For stat priority, this build can utilize a wide variety of affixes. Strength is going to be our most wanted stat, as it's one of the only things that scales both our personal damage and the damage dealt by our Companions. Increases to Minion Damage, Minion Health, or Increases to Physical Damage and Melee Damage will be very useful as well. If you haven't yet, pressing the "F" key will open your crafting window and you can manually place these affixes on your gear so long as you have the shards to do so.

Node allocation to Level 35 should be as follows. This assumes you have 12 points in the skill. If you happen to have more due to additional skill levels on gear, just look ahead on this page to see where the next points are spent!

• 5 points in Aspect of the Panther: Grants a ramping damage buff every time you hit an enemy that lasts a short time period.
• 1 point in Feline Hunter: Each stack of Aspect of the Panther provides increased Attack Speed.
• 2 points in Lion's Strength: Aspect of the Panther gains two stacks at cap, and each stack grants you two Melee Damage.
• 2 points in Blood Beast: Swipe can now cause enemies to Bleed.
• 2 points in Rending: Each hit with Swipe has a chance to apply Physical Resistance Shred, boosting the damage we deal, as well as our Companions.

• 4 points in On the Hunt: Wolf Increased Attack Speed and Movement Speed.
• 1 point in Howl of Might: Pathing node.
• 1 point in Safety In Numbers: You can now summon Wolves up to your Companion Limit. This can be altered by Skill Points in this tree, Passive Points in Beastmaster, and gear you find off either Champions or Unique drops.
• 2 points in Lupine Endurance: Your Wolves have more Health.
• 2 points in Wolfen Recovery: Wolves have increased Health Regen.
• 1 point in Earthborn: Your Wolves have extra Armor and now Leech a portion of the damage they deal as health.
• 1 point in Pack Hunters: Allows you to summon an extra Wolf.

• 2 points in Tear Flesh: Raptor attacks have a chance to apply Bleed.
• 2 points in Cornered: Your Raptor deals extra damage, scaled off how much Health it's missing.
• 1 point in Broken Tooth: Your Raptor attacks faster, and also has a chance to lose 10% of it's current health on hit. This synergizes well with the previous node.
• 5 points in Scent of Blood: Your Raptor deals much more damage if the enemy has a stack of Bleed on it.
• 2 points in Ravage: Raptors have a higher chance to Critically Hit when enemies have Bleed on them, and those critical hits deal more damage.

At minimum, upon reaching Level 35, you should have another 15 Passive Points to spend since the previous level tier. However, it's likely you have more due to quest rewards. Thus, the following list will assume you have access to 20 extra points. If you have less, it isn't a big deal. You can always go back and finish optional quests after the campaign is finished.

• (Beastmaster) 8 points in Ursine Strength: Our self damage, our Wolves, and our Raptor all scale off Strength. Since this build focuses on being a melee brawler, the reduced damage from this node is very useful.
• (Beastmaster) 1 point in Savagery: Shared Increased Melee Damage.
• (Beastmaster) 1 point in Ambush: Grants us Aspect of the Shark on melee attack, which is a boost to Melee Damage and Attack Speed.
• (Beastmaster) 4 points in Boar Heart: This is half used for pathing, but Aspect of the Boar is great defensively. It's just the normally, we can apply it a better way later in the tree. This does give us coverage on it when attacked from range though.
• (Beastmaster) 1 point in Lamprey Teeth: Adds Leech to Companions, which is great for the Raptor to avoid having it kill itself from Broken Tooth.
• (Beastmaster) 5 points in Rending Maw: Aspect of the Shark now has grant 100% chance to shred Armor to us.
• (Beastmaster) 5 points in The Chase: Movement Speed and Attack Speed for Companions.

 Summon Frenzy Totem will act as an area of effect buff for both you and your Companions. This Totem has fantastic synergy with both the Wolves and the Raptor. While Frnezy Totem is active, the Howl from your Wolves will now grant all nearby allies 250% Increased Critical Chance. This is a big deal, because Critical rating for Minions early in the campaign can be hard to come by. Placing the Frenzy Totem will grant all those nearby with Frenzy and refresh all Companion abilities, ensuring Howl is off cooldown and ready to be used. Be aware, if this combo is spammed in quick succession, it can lead to Mana issues before we get more points in  Swipe. All of this will make your character and Companions very strong, so keep it limited to Rares and Bosses for the time being, until you have a better feel of the Mana situation.

While  Summon Frenzy Totem will start out at a lower level than your other skills, we'll still list out the first 12 points to place into the skill.

• 2 points in Rabidity Increases the effect of Frenzy.
• 5 points in Bestial Frenzy: Adds Flat Physical Melee Damage to allies, including yourself.
• 1 point in Furious Cry: Summoning the Frenzy Totem refreshes all Companion abilities.
• 4 points in Lead The Pack: Howl, the Wolf active ability, adds Critical Chance to all allies when Frenzy Totem is active.

With your Totem now active and functioning, this leveling build gains a huge amount of single target damage. This is perfect for this stage of the campaign, as tougher fights like Lagon are on the horizon. The Frenzy Totem and Howl combo will make short work of all bosses you'll face going forward. Though we mentioned it earlier, this is another good spot to check if you can craft a bit more on your gear. It's wise to fix your resistances at this point. Aiming to get most resistances to 50% by Level 50 is a good idea, and will carry you much further than just the campaign. While Primalist is known for being tanky, having a resistance at 0% can still result in being one-shot from certain enemies.

Upon reaching Majelka on your first character, you'll have the opportunity to to join a trade faction; either Merchant's Guild and Circle of Fortune, both providing a unique way to obtain loot and customizing your gameplay experience. Both have their pros and cons, and it's entirely up to the player to make the decision on which to choose.

Node allocation to Level 50 should be as follows. This assumes you have 16 points in the skill. If you happen to have more due to additional skill levels on gear, just look ahead on this page to see where the next points are spent!

• 5 points in Aspect of the Panther: Grants a ramping damage buff every time you hit an enemy that lasts a short time period.
• 1 point in Feline Hunter: Each stack of Aspect of the Panther provides increased Attack Speed.
• 2 points in Lion's Strength: Aspect of the Panther gains two stacks at cap, and each stack grants you two Melee Damage.
• 2 points in Blood Beast: Swipe can now cause enemies to Bleed.
• 2 points in Rending: Each hit with Swipe has a chance to apply Physical Resistance Shred, boosting the damage we deal, as well as our Companions.
• 3 points in Duality of Nature: Every time we land Swipe, we gain 9 Mana. This is absolutely massive for controlling our resources, as Companion abilities and Frenzy Totem can be expensive.
• 1 point in Way of the Hunt: Pathing node.

• 4 points in On the Hunt: Wolf Increased Attack Speed and Movement Speed.
• 1 point in Howl of Might: Pathing node.
• 1 point in Safety In Numbers: You can now summon Wolves up to your Companion Limit. This can be altered by Skill Points in this tree, Passive Points in Beastmaster, and gear you find off either Champions or Unique drops.
• 2 points in Lupine Endurance: Your Wolves have more Health.
• 2 points in Wolfen Recovery: Wolves have increased Health Regen.
• 1 point in Earthborn: Your Wolves have extra Armor and now Leech a portion of the damage they deal as health.
• 1 point in Pack Hunters: Allows you to summon an extra Wolf.
• 4 points in Savage Hunters: Large boost to Wolf damage.

• 2 points in Tear Flesh: Raptor attacks have a chance to apply Bleed.
• 2 points in Cornered: Your Raptor deals extra damage, scaled off how much Health it's missing.
• 1 point in Broken Tooth: Your Raptor attacks faster, and also has a chance to lose 10% of it's current health on hit. This synergizes well with the previous node.
• 5 points in Scent of Blood: Your Raptor deals much more damage if the enemy has a stack of Bleed on it.
• 5 points in Ravage: Raptors have a higher chance to Critically Hit when enemies have Bleed on them, and those critical hits deal more damage.
• 1 point in In for the Kill: Raptor deals more damage for each nearby bleeding enemy. With  Swipe being AoE, this provides a good chance for our self application of Bleed to provide a huge damage boost to the Raptor.

• 2 points in Rabidity Increases the effect of Frenzy.
• 5 points in Bestial Frenzy: Adds Flat Physical Melee Damage to allies, including yourself.
• 1 point in Furious Cry: Summoning the Frenzy Totem refreshes all Companion abilities.
• 5 points in Lead The Pack: Howl, the Wolf active ability, adds Critical Chance to all allies when Frenzy Totem is active.
• 3 points in Revitalizing Totem: All allies receive a boost to health Regeneration.

At minimum, upon reaching Level 50, you should have another 15 Passive Points to spend in since the previous level tier. However, it's likely you have more due to quest rewards. Thus, the following list will assume you have access to 20 extra points. If you have less, it isn't a big deal. You can always go back and finish optional quests after the campaign is finished.

• (Beastmaster) 8 points in Ursine Strength: Our self damage, our Wolves, and our Raptor all scale off Strength. Since this build focuses on being a melee brawler, the reduced damage from this node is very useful.
• (Beastmaster) 1 point in Savagery: Shared Increased Melee Damage.
• (Beastmaster) 1 point in Ambush: Grants us Aspect of the Shark on melee attack, which is a boost to Melee Damage and Attack Speed.
• (Beastmaster) 4 points in Boar Heart: This is half used for pathing, but Aspect of the Boar is great defensively. It's just the normally, we can apply it a better way later in the tree. This does give us coverage on it when attacked from range though.
• (Beastmaster) 1 point in Lamprey Teeth: Adds Leech to Companions, which is great for the Raptor to avoid having it kill itself from Broken Tooth.
• (Beastmaster) 5 points in Rending Maw: Aspect of the Shark now has grant 100% chance to shred Armor to us.
• (Beastmaster) 8 points in The Chase: Movement Speed and Attack Speed for Companions.
• (Beastmaster) 6 points in Natural Fortitude: Health Regen and Strength, boosting you and your Companions offensively and defensively.
• (Beastmaster) 5 points in Porcine Constitution: Doubles the mitigation granted from Aspect of the Boar, and allows us to activate it on melee hit. This is a massive node for our survival.
• (Beastmaster) 1 point in Hunters of the Deep: Aspect of the Shark now applies to Companions!
• (Beastmaster) 1 point in The Circle Of Life: A small chance to activate Aspect of the Shark on enemy death.
• (Beastmaster) 1 point in Dragon Slayer: Aspect of the Shark has a chance to activate on hitting Rares and Bosses.
• (Beastmaster) 3 points in Cry of the Lynx: Using a Companion ability grants you and Companions Aspect of the Lynx, boosting Critical Hit Rate.

At Level 50, you will finally specialize  Fury Leap. You've likely been using this skill since very early in the campaign, and it's finally time to give it some love within it's passive tree. Earlier in the guide we mentioned that you can control Minions with the "A" keybinding. You still can, however Fury Leap will do that for you, as this skill makes your Companions jump with you. Currently for you, this means you can direct your Wolves and Raptor to attack certain things. Later on if you continue to use a Companion build, this is crucial for making sure certain Companions get out of dangerous attacks from hard hitting enemies. As an added bonus, Fury Leap will cleanse ailments off you and pull enemies together, making it easier for your Companions to attack mobs, and for you to cleave with  Swipe.

While  Fury Leap will start out at a lower level than your other skills, we'll still list out the first 16 points to place into the skill.

• 5 points in Warrior's Entrance: Adds flat damage to us and our Campanions.
• 1 point in Pack Leader: Wolves and the Raptor now Leap with us.
• 1 point in Frenzied Onslaught: Leaping grants us and Minions Frenzy for 3 seconds.
• 2 points in Wings of Endurance: Leaping heals us.
• 1 point in Battle Bloom: Leaping cleanses ailments on us and Minions.
• 2 points in Panther Strike: Pathing node.
• 3 points in Ambush Predator: Pathing node.
• 1 point in Gravity: Fury Leap's landing will now pull enemies towards you.

It's around this point where we'll be finishing the campaign and entering the Monolith of Fate. Normal Monolith will be a breeze with this setup, mowing down groups of enemies the same as you were during the campaign. Having access to a scaled  Fury Leap adds a lot of support to your Wolf and Raptor damage while adding in some much needed crowd control. It will increase Mana consumption, so make sure you're still landing your own hits with  Swipe to keep the damage of the build high.

Congratulations on getting this far. Below, you'll find the remainder of the skill point and node allocations that you will need through to Character Level 70 and Skill Level 20.

• (Primalist) 8 points in Primal Strength: Strength for scaling and increased Health Regeneration. These two stats synergize very well within the beastmaster Passive Tree.
• (Primalist) 5 points in Hunter's Restoration: Increased Health, and a small amount of Health restored on hit every 3 seconds.
• (Primalist) 6 points in Survival of the Pack: Increases to yours and your Companions's melee damage.
• (Primalist) 1 point in Hunter's Emanation: When you heal yourself with Survival of the Pack, you give your Companions a small damage boost.
• (Beastmaster) 8 points in Ursine Strength: Our self damage, our Wolves, and our Raptor all scale off Strength. Since this build focuses on being a melee brawler, the reduced damage from this node is very useful.
• (Beastmaster) 1 point in Savagery: Shared Increased Melee Damage.
• (Beastmaster) 1 point in Ambush: Grants us Aspect of the Shark on melee attack, which is a boost to Melee Damage and Attack Speed.
• (Beastmaster) 4 points in Boar Heart: This is half used for pathing, but Aspect of the Boar is great defensively. It's just the normally, we can apply it a better way later in the tree. This does give us coverage on it when attacked from range though.
• (Beastmaster) 1 point in Lamprey Teeth: Adds Leech to Companions, which is great for the Raptor to avoid having it kill itself from Broken Tooth.
• (Beastmaster) 5 points in Rending Maw: Aspect of the Shark now has grant 100% chance to shred Armor to us.
• (Beastmaster) 8 points in The Chase: Movement Speed and Attack Speed for Companions.
• (Beastmaster) 6 points in Natural Fortitude: Health Regen and Strength, boosting you and your Companions offensively and defensively.
• (Beastmaster) 5 points in Porcine Constitution: Doubles the mitigation granted from Aspect of the Boar, and allows us to activate it on melee hit. This is a massive node for our survival.
• (Beastmaster) 1 point in Hunters of the Deep: Aspect of the Shark now applies to Companions!
• (Beastmaster) 1 point in The Circle Of Life: A small chance to activate Aspect of the Shark on enemy death.
• (Beastmaster) 1 point in Dragon Slayer: Aspect of the Shark has a chance to activate on hitting Rares and Bosses.
• (Beastmaster) 3 points in Cry of the Lynx: Using a Companion ability grants you and Companions Aspect of the Lynx, boosting Critical Hit Rate.
• (Beastmaster) 1 point in Life in the Wilderness: This adds your own Endurance to your Companions.
• (Beastmaster) 5 points in Axe and Claw: Adds flat Melee Damage to us and our Companions.
• (Beastmaster) 10 points in Viper Fangs: Grants Aspect of the Viper on melee hit, increasing the Melee Attack Speed of our Wolves, Raptor, and us by a considerable amount.
• (Beastmaster) 1 point in Nature's Embrace: +1 Companion Limit.
• (Beastmaster) 1 point in Serrated Claws: Aspect of the Lynx now boosts Critical Multiplier as well.

• 5 points in Aspect of the Panther: Grants a ramping damage buff every time you hit an enemy that lasts a short time period.
• 1 point in Feline Hunter: Each stack of Aspect of the Panther provides increased Attack Speed.
• 2 points in Lion's Strength: Aspect of the Panther gains two stacks at cap, and each stack grants you two Melee Damage.
• 2 points in Blood Beast: Swipe can now cause enemies to Bleed.
• 2 points in Rending: Each hit with Swipe has a chance to apply Physical Resistance Shred, boosting the damage we deal, as well as our Companions.
• 3 points in Duality of Nature: Every time we land Swipe, we gain 9 Mana. This is absolutely massive for controlling our resources, as Companion abilities and Frenzy Totem can be expensive.
• 2 points in Way of the Hunt: Pathing node.
• 3 points in Wengarian Reach: Increases the area in which Swipe hits, helping us to hit more enemies with each use.

• 4 points in On the Hunt: Wolf Increased Attack Speed and Movement Speed.
• 1 point in Howl of Might: Pathing node.
• 1 point in Safety In Numbers: You can now summon Wolves up to your Companion Limit. This can be altered by Skill Points in this tree, Passive Points in Beastmaster, and gear you find off either Champions or Unique drops.
• 2 points in Lupine Endurance: Your Wolves have more Health.
• 2 points in Wolfen Recovery: Wolves have increased Health Regen.
• 1 point in Earthborn: Your Wolves have extra Armor and now Leech a portion of the damage they deal as health.
• 1 point in Pack Hunters: Allows you to summon an extra Wolf.
• 5 points in Savage Hunters: Large boost to Wolf damage.
• 1 point in Legendary Bite: Massive boost to Wolf Melee Damage, at the small cost of 10% Attack Speed reduction.
• 1 point in Tundra Stalkers: Pathing node.
• 1 point in Frozen Fangs: Wolves now have the ability to use  Ice Bite, adding some much needed AoE damage to their attacks.

• 2 points in Tear Flesh: Raptor attacks have a chance to apply Bleed.
• 2 points in Cornered: Your Raptor deals extra damage, scaled off how much Health it's missing.
• 1 point in Broken Tooth: Your Raptor attacks faster, and also has a chance to lose 10% of it's current health on hit. This synergizes well with the previous node.
• 5 points in Scent of Blood: Your Raptor deals much more damage if the enemy has a stack of Bleed on it.
• 5 points in Ravage: Raptors have a higher chance to Critically Hit when enemies have Bleed on them, and those critical hits deal more damage.
• 1 point in In for the Kill: Raptor deals more damage for each nearby bleeding enemy. With  Swipe being AoE, this provides a good chance for our self application of Bleed to provide a huge damage boost to the Raptor.
• 4 points in Predator: Adds a ton of Critical Strike Chance to the Raptor's attacks.

• 3 points in Rabidity Increases the effect of Frenzy.
• 5 points in Bestial Frenzy: Adds Flat Physical Melee Damage to allies, including yourself.
• 1 point in Furious Cry: Summoning the Frenzy Totem refreshes all Companion abilities.
• 5 points in Lead The Pack: Howl, the Wolf active ability, adds Critical Chance to all allies when Frenzy Totem is active.
• 3 points in Revitalizing Totem: All allies receive a boost to health Regeneration.
• 3 points in Symbol of Haste: Summoning the Totem grants all allies 3 seconds of Haste.

• 5 points in Warrior's Entrance: Adds flat damage to us and our Campanions.
• 1 point in Pack Leader: Wolves and the Raptor now Leap with us.
• 1 point in Frenzied Onslaught: Leaping grants us and Minions Frenzy for 3 seconds.
• 2 points in Wings of Endurance: Leaping heals us.
• 1 point in Battle Bloom: Leaping cleanses ailments on us and Minions.
• 2 points in Panther Strike: Pathing node.
• 3 points in Ambush Predator: Pathing node.
• 1 point in Gravity: Fury Leap's landing will now pull enemies towards you.
• 3 points in Crater: Reduces the Mana cost on Fury Leap.
• 1 point in Heorot's Protection: You are now invulnerable while Leaping. This is great for things like the Moon Beam from Lagon if you find yourself out of place.