Spellblade Spark Charge Endgame Build for Last Epoch (Patch 1.1)

Welcome to our Last Epoch Spellblade Spark Charge build guide for the Mage class. Here you will learn everything about the Spellblade play style, passives, skills, strengths, and weaknesses to conquer the world of Eterra.

TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THIS PAGE

Build Introduction

Are you looking for a simple to run Spellbade? This build revolves around automation and heavy defensive layering while being incredibly maneuverable. Incredible clearing and great visuals are the main draw to this build, as well as impressive single target damage with high crit. Mana is never an issue in this build, as Mana Strike is our primary way to apply damage. Spark Charge will be doing most of our heavy lifting, and Surge will keep us moving around the battlefield quickly, leaving lightning grenades in the pockets of your enemies as you pass through them. The video demo was pre 1.0, but conceptually remains the same, replacing flame rush with Surge. .

Strengths

Simple skill rotation
No Mana issues
Excellent defensive layering
Fast clear and comfortable bossing

Weaknesses

High end corruption requires T7 gear and LP
Can not face tank

Skill Selection

This Spellblade is an extremely simple to run, and can functionally clear large swaths of enemy with just a few attacks. We focus on picking up several nodes that empower both our offenses and defenses. We are able to gain significant Ward Retention in the passive trees, as well as massive gains in Ward generation and Damage Reduction. Our tree can also add to our primary damage source, Spark Charge, which will be further empowered by our unique Fragment of the Enigma and our primary attack skill Mana Strike.

Class and Skill Passive Trees

Class Passives Skill Passives

Our base class is Mage, which fills the role of a caster 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 Mage, you can choose between Passive Trees for Spellbade, Runemaster, and Sorcerer. Upon selecting a Mastery and placing 20 Passive Points into the Mage Tree, you'll then be able to place Passive Points into the Mastery Trees.

Spellbade is the Advanced Class used for this build, and also where the majority of our Passive Points will come from. The Spellbade Tree will focus around picking nodes that enhance our Attack Speed, apply Spark Charge, empower our defenses, and give us a significant cooldown to Surge. A lesser amount of Passive Points will come from Runemaster, focusing on more defensive layering with Ward as well as a significant boost to our Spell Damage output. Our Sorcerer nodes will focus around our Spell Critical Strike Chance. Each Passive Tree and their points are broken down below.

3.1.

Mage Passive Points

8 points in Arcanist: This node gives us Intelligence, which increases our damage and Ward Retention.
1 points in Elementalist: Traversal Point.
1 point in Reactive Ward: Traversal Point.
5 point in Arcane Current: As we move from pack to pack, we will hit them with Arcane Lightning (5 Second CD).
5 points in Warden: This node adds a nice chunk to our Ward Retention at 50%.
10 points in Knowledge of Destruction: These points can be skipped until the end of leveling the Sorcerer tree.

3.2.

Spellbade Passive Points

8 points in Arcane Warden: We gain a large portion of ward everytime we hit an enemy with this node.
6 points in Elemental Affinity: This node rounds out a large portion of our resistances.
1 point in Infused Weapon: This is a traversal node to move further into the tree. Our damage is coming from a spell Spark Charge, not direct damage.
5 points in Arcane Shielding: This node is to reduce the damage taken by enemy attacks.
5 points in Storm Blade: This node gives us a 25% chance to apply Spark Charge.
5 points in Shattered Aegis: This node converts Arcane Shielding to now give us significant gains our our Armor.
5 points in Essence Duel: This node further pushes our attack speed and ward generation.
5 points in Burden of Knowledge: This gives us a flat +20 damage to our spells that are being used.
8 points in Outrun and Outlast: We take this node to give us a large cooldown reduction to Surge.
10 points in Mental Fortitude: This will give us a large chunk of intel that will add base damage to our Spark Charge via Fragment of the Enigma.
5 points in Prodigy: This will give us 10 ward per second for every 10 Intelligence we have.

3.3.

Runemaster Passive Points

7 points in Quintessence of Triumph: This node gives us 7% more spell damage to enemies, if we have more ward then the enemy has health.
5 points in Runeword: Cataclysm: We take this so that we do 15% more damage to enemies with Low Health.

3.4.

Sorcerer Passive Points

8 points in Calculated Destruction: This gives us an increased 3% Spell Critical Strike Chance per Intelligence.

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.

Mana Strike

Mana Strike is our bread and butter, as it will apply ample amounts of Spark Charge. It will also generate a huge portion of our Ward and keep our Mana topped up to nearly 100%.

3.5.1.

Order of Skill Points

4 points in Swift Sap: Attack Speed is paramount, so this node is worth its weight in gold to us.
1 point in Arcanist's Blade: This node is a traversal point, but also helps alleviate any Mana issues we may have early.
1 point in Mana Spark: This is a traversal node.
4 points in Spark Charges: This node will make sure we apply a Spark Charge every attack with Mana Strike.
1 point in Mana Storm: Since Mana Arc is a spell, it will count towards our 100% chance to Shock enemies on hit. This will have a chance to trigger The Invoker's Static Touch's Ward gain. It will also apply a lesser Spark Charge from our Fragment of the Enigma, since it is a spell applying it, not a melee attack.
2 points in Rage Sap: This adds damage to any attack or spell we do, after using Mana Strike.
3 points in Rune Sap: This node will add significant Spell Damage, with a stacking 12% per hit of Mana Strike in the last 4 seconds.
5 points in Sprite Blade: We increase the area of effect for Mana Strike, thus increasing the amount of Spark Charge we can apply in an area.

Please note, you may not have as many skill points to use until you have the required targeted unique Fragment of the Enigma. All the player must do is remove a single point from the Sprite Blade node.

3.6.

Static

Static is fully automated and requires little or no interaction. However, it plays a significant offensive and defensive roll in the build. This will ensure any enemies that attack you are Shocked if you have 80 or more charges. This is imperative because of the way our unique armor, Static Shell, works. With this, you will have up to 175% more armor from the enemy that attacks you; effectively giving you more that double the listed Armor in your tooltip. This is not shown in the tooltip, but has been tested to ensure its functionality.

3.6.1.

Order of Skill Points

4 points in Reverberation: We take this to gain four charges of Static when hit. The magical number is 80 for both offensive and defensive purposes.
1 point in Overload: This node will cause us to automatically cast Zap at nearby enemies when over 80 charges.
5 points in Diode: These are traversal, but also serve a roll to increase our Spell Critical Strike Chance for Zap. Zap is also a spell, that can also apply Spark Charge, and allow us to gain ward via our The Invoker's Static Touch.
4 points in High Voltage: We increase the rate at which we gain Static charges while moving.
1 point in Shock Armour: This is our defensive node, ensuring we are Shocking anything that attacks us as long as we are above 80 charges.
4 points in Overcharge: This doubles the amount of Static charges we can have from 100 to 200.
3 points in Fulminating Blows: We gain six charges of Static when we hit an enemy with Mana Strike.

Please note, you may not have as many skill points to use until you have the required targeted unique Fragment of the Enigma and The Invoker's Static Touch. All the player must do is remove 2 points from the node Fulminating Blows.

3.7.

Enchant Weapon

Enchant Weapon is a massive boost to our DPS in a few different ways. Not only will it increase our attack speed by 50%, which in turn increased the rate at which we can apply Spark Charge with Mana Strike for 9 seconds. It will also hit all nearby enemies with Zap. This Zap will be able to apply Spark Charge (Small chance from the unique Fragment of the Enigma), however, it will Shock enemies, which is our primary defensive driver.

3.7.1.

Order of Skill Points

5 of points in Celerity: This node pushes our Attack Speed further with a 50% gain.
4 of points in Concentration: We add 4 seconds to our active duration of Enchant Weapon, making it a total of 9 seconds.
5 of points in Fulminate: This gives us a 25% chance to Shock when we hit with Mana Strike passively, 50% when it is active.
1 of point in Conduit: This node causes us to cast Zap at all nearby enemies.
4 of points in Capacitance: This causes Zap to hit significantly more times per second.
1 of point in Cleansed by the Elements: This node will ensure any negative ailments are removed from us when Enchant Weapon is cast.

3.8.

Surge

Surge will be the way we light up the battlefield, literally. This skill will not only directly apply Spark Charge to anything it hits. To round the skill out, it will also generate charges of Static for us and help us stay above 80 charges. This movement skill, is heavily cooled down and allows us to be invulnerable while we are using it.

3.8.1.

Order of Skill Points

1 point in Jolt: This node will ensure anything we Surge through will be Shocked, ensuring we have maximum defensive layering against them.
1 point in Expanse: This is a traversal node.
4 points in Charged Movement: We apply a Spark Charge to anything hit with Surge.
2 point in Shocking Blows: This is a traversal node, as we do not do much Melee Damage.
2 points in Conduit: This adds 2% more damage for every Static charge we have available.
5 points in Static Buildup: Whenever we surge, we gain 30 charges of Static.
1 points in Capacitator: This node will give us two charges of Static for every enemy hit with Surge.
2 points in Lightning Rush: This serves as a traversal point.
1 point in Shielding Advance: This give invulnerability while we are surging.
2 points in Dynamics: This increases the duration of the surge, allowing us to be invulnerable for longer.

Please note, you may not have as many skill points to use until you have the required targeted unique Fragment of the Enigma. All the player must do is remove a single point from the Capacitator node.

3.9.

Flame Ward

Flame Ward is our generic defensive posturing skill. This will give us 1000 armor when used, and allow us to take 54% less damage while it is active. It will automatically triggered if you are stunned, and is scaled with 2 charges. If you don't have a charge available, be sure to play defensively in nature.

3.9.1.

Order of Skill Points

3 points in Dilation: This increases the duration of Flame Ward, and decreases the mana cost for the skill.
1 point in Fire Aura: This is a traversal node.
1 point in Frost Ward: This is a traversal node.
5 points in Frostguard: This node will add 1000 armor while Flame Ward is active.
2 points in Stalwart Defense: This will give us ward when Flame Ward is activated.
1 point in Desperate Defense: We gain 12% of missing health as ward when Flame Ward is activated.
1 point in Astonish: Flame Ward will automatically be casted if we are stunned.
2 points in Fuel The Flames: Flame Ward, when triggered, will give us 20% more ward.
1 point in Dual Aegis: We gain an additional charge of Flame Ward.
3 points in Barrier: We take 24% less hit damage when Flame Ward is active. DoT's will not have reduced damage.

Image courtesy of Last Epoch Tools

Spark Charge Build Planner

Build Mechanics and Playstyle

This build is fast and fun to play. The build itself isn't very complicated to understand, nor does it have problems with resource management. The rotation is smooth, with most damage applications being automated. The offensive mechanics are fairly straight forward, so long as you take into account the damage is not directly coming from Melee Attack Damage. The build uses Spell Damage, almost exlusively, with ample Critical Strike Chance for spells. There's a potential for almost 400% Critical Strike Multiplier with 100% Critical Strike Chance if LP is acquired, and there is a good chance you will run into the unique.

This build will require both uniques to function, as the rolls they play are too vital to skip over. The Fragment of the Enigma gives our Spark Charge a massive increase to its AoE upon expiring. If rolled well, it can also more than double the damage Spark Charge can do. It also adds 2 base damage for Spark Charge per point of Intelligence.

The Static Shell is an incredibly defensive chest piece and we rely heavily upon its massive increase to our armor values. This will be broken down in the Noteable Defensive Mechanics.

Noteable Defensive Mechanics

Static Shell will quickly add 1000's of Armor to our base defenses. The only catch to this mechanic is that the enemy attacking us must be Shocked in order for us to gain this Armor value. In this build specifically, the average Armor value base is just shy of 2500. If the enemy is Shocked, this value jumps to almost 5000, or 63% Damage Reduction. If maximum Armor values are rolled, this skyrockets to just under 7000 or 72% Damage Reduction. This gives this build a very comfortable average of 8k EHP, or with maximum rolls, 12k EHP. Adding Flame Ward, and Sizeable Ward gain from our The Invoker's Static Touch, this EHP can reach the 30k's. In order to achieve this massive amount of Armor, this build hits an average of 100% Chance to Shock on Spell Hit; every single one of our skills will trigger a Spell Hit. We also take Shock Armour, which gives us 100% chance to Shock an attacker, so long as we are above 80 Static Charges.

Critical Strike Avoidance has been scaled to at least 70% on a low roll, but as you get deeper into Corruption, this value should be at 100%. Without LP, the one thing you should be wary of is your Health. Without the LP on the Static Shell, it will be difficult to clear 2000 HP.

While the build is scaled with ample amount of Ward generation and Armor scaling in order to feel extremely comfortable at higher Corruption, this does not mean you should face tank high end damage. A player should always avoid obvious high damage mechanics, and use Flame Ward when appropriate.

5.1.

Mobility

Surge should be used whenever there is enemies and it is off cooldown. Do not use this skill for generic movement, as the distance is not the impressive. However, the damage is. This skill also guarantees at least one application of Spark Charge from the skill itself, which hit extremely hard thanks to Fragment of the Enigma.

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
Dagger	Melee Damage Spell Damage Critical Strike Chance	Prefixes Increased Melee Attack Speed Critical Strike Muliplier Suffixes Chance to Shock Chance to apply Shred Armor
Off-Hand Catalyst	Fragment of the Enigma	Increased Spell Critical Strike Chance Critical Strike Multiplier
Helm	Armor Critical Strike Avoidance	Prefixes Chance to apply Spark Charge on Hit Lightning Crit Mulitplier Suffixes %Increased HP %Increased Armor
Amulet	Physical Resistance Necrotic Resistance	Prefixes Increased Spell Crit Chance Spell Critical Strike Muliplier Suffixes +%Chance to Shred Armor Needed Resistances Health
Chest	Static Shell	Increased Health Intelligence
Belt	Armor Potion Slots	Prefixes Increased Lightning Damage Ward Gain/Cleanse on Use Suffixes Increased Cooldown Recovery Hybrid Health
Gloves	Armor Armor Mitigation also applies to DoT	Prefixes Increased Melee Attack Speed Intel Suffixes Hybrid Health Needed Resistances
Ring	The Invoker's Static Touch	-
Ring	Increased Critical Strike Chance	Prefixes Increased Critical Strike Chance Intelligence Suffixes Needed Resistances
Boots	Armor Increased Movement Speed Cold Resistance	Prefixes Intelligence Increased Movement Speed Suffixes Hybrid Health Increased Cooldown Recovery
Relic	Elemental Critical Strike Multiplier	Prefixes Increased Spell Crit Strike Chance Crit Multiplier Suffixes Needed Resistances Endurance %

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

Uniques

This build will use and require two uniques and a single set item. Each of these have an explicit purpose and need for the build. These have mostly been explained in their corresponding sections. The Invoker's Static Touch is the major source of ward generation for the build, as we will have a chance to gain 75 Ward when we hit a Shocked enemy. Since enemies are continuously shocked and are hit several times per second in large areas, it would not be uncommon to see yourself gaining 8000 to 10000 ward against more tanky mobs while engaged with multiple enemies. It will also give most of our skills +1 and add a flat 13 Spell Damage to our Lightning spells.

7.1.

The Invoker's Static Touch

The Invoker's Static Touch: This is our main Ward driver and it can be aquired from the Timeline "The Age of Winter" at the "Unique or Set Ring" echo rewards. It is labled as "common"

7.2.

Static Shell

Static Shell: This is a major source of Armor value and damage mitigation. It is "uncommon" with a 19% chance to drop with 1 LP. This LP Goal should be for a high affix suffix of %Increased Health if 2 LP can be found (1% chance) the second target LP should be for Intel or Spell Crit Strike Chance (Doubled if over 300 mana). It can be farmed in the Timeline "Blood, Frost, and Death" at the "Unique or Set Body Armour" echo rewards.

7.3.

Fragment of the Enigma

Fragment of the Enigma: This is a massive boost to our Spark Charge that we apply via Surge and Mana Strike. It is "common" with a 34% Chance to drop with 1 LP and nearly 9% chance to drop with 2 LP. The LP Goal should be Spell Crit Chance and Crit Multiplier. It can be farmed in the Timeline "The Stolen Lance" at the "Unique or Set Wand or Catalyst" echo rewards.

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 selected for this build revolve around two major Mage-specific Idols; Grand Glass Idol 3x1 and Ornate Glass Idol 4x1. The former should have the best possible value of Increased Lightning Critical Strike Chance while the latter should have the best possible roll of Cooldown Recovery for Surge. All 4 of the Glass Idol should be rolled with Chance to Apply Spark Charge in the Suffix. The other slots should be filled with Physical Resistance, Armor, and Health.

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 Hunger of the Void	% of Spell Damage Leeched as Health	The Black Sun
Grand Chaos of Lagon	%Increased Lightning Damage	Ending the Storm
Grand Body of Obsidian	+Armor	Spirits of Fire
Grand Bulwark of the Tundra	%Increased Armor	The Age of Winter
Grand Survival of Might	+%Critical Strike Avoidance	Reign of Dragons

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.

10.

Changelog

19 Mar. 2024: Updated for 1.0. Modified the build defensively with Flame Ward, and modified Surge.
21 Jan. 2024: Loot Filter added.
30 Nov. 2023: Guide added.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

EMP1241 is a Marine veteran who is currently pursuing higher education in Aerospace Engineering. He spends much of his time outside of his studies playing ARPGs, Builders, and MOBAs. He is frequently seen on his Twitch channel discussing science, space, or video games.

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Spellblade Spark Charge Endgame Build for Last Epoch (Patch 1.1)

Build Introduction

Skill Selection

Class and Skill Passive Trees

Mage Passive Points

Spellbade Passive Points

Runemaster Passive Points

Sorcerer Passive Points

Mana Strike

Order of Skill Points

Static

Order of Skill Points

Enchant Weapon

Order of Skill Points

Surge

Order of Skill Points

Flame Ward

Order of Skill Points

Build Mechanics and Playstyle

Noteable Defensive Mechanics

Mobility

Equipment and Gear Affixes

Uniques

The Invoker's Static Touch

Static Shell

Fragment of the Enigma

Idols

Blessing

Changelog