Last Epoch Sentinel Build Guide for Leveling

The Sentinel is one of the classes you can choose to play as in Last Epoch, and it's a fine option for beginners. Here's a Last Epoch Sentinel leveling guide to get you started in the right direction.

Last Epoch Sentinel Leveling Build

Before we start, know that most builds you create in Last Epoch will be viable for leveling as it's designed to get you through the storyline. Don't think you broke your character because you put points into something you don't see here as that's not the case.

Related: How to claim Twitch Drops in Last Epoch – All rewards

Leveling builds like this Sentinel one are designed to make the process as easy as it can be, so we're focusing on ways you can wipe out enemies in a hurry. Let's go over the Passive skills first, and then we can look at why they were chosen.

Last Epoch Leveling Sentinel Passive Skills

These passives increase your damage output, give you better armor and damage reduction, and make it so your movement skills have quicker cooldowns. All of this will ensure a smooth leveling experience until you pick your Mastery.

• Overwhelm (5/5) - Your first five points can go into Overwhelm to increase your overall melee damage. This will be key in maximizing your damage output, but if you want to have survivability, you can swap with Juggernaut.
• Juggernaut (8/8) - Juggernaut gives you a passive bonus to both overall stats and resistances. You can take these first if you're looking for a tad more survivability, but it shouldn't make a huge difference either way.
• Armour Clad (5/5) - This passive gives you damage reduction and more armor, so it's a great skill to survive even the toughest enemies.
• Valiant Charge (5/5) - Movement skills have their cooldown lowered with Valiant Charge, so this is a passive that'll help you level and in the endgame.
• Gladiator (1/1) - This unlocks dual wielding. If you don't plan on doing that, go ahead and skip this point and put it into something else like Time and Faith.
• Time and Faith (1/5) - Using Rive, which will be a main skill in this build, restores Mana. It's important to have as running out of Mana is no good.
• Blademaster (5/5) - This increases your attack speed, and that means you're doing more damage.

On top of the class passives, you'll have skills to pick from that will be tailored toward your playstyle. For leveling, you'll want to focus on things that can do a lot of damage to many enemies at once while also keeping you alive.

This build in particular will take you up to level 30 as that's going to be around the point you pick your Mastery. It might happen sooner, but you can keep on putting in Sentinel passives after that point, so you can keep following the build.

Last Epoch Leveling Sentinel Skills

For leveling, we're going to focus on three abilities that you'll use as your rotation. You'll have no issue going through the story and fighting enemies with these until the point where you pick your Mastery class.

• Rive - Start with putting points into Outburst as that gives more AoE damage for the attack. Your first three points can go there, then put at least a point into Reclamation to ensure you'll heal up a little bit with every third hit of Rive. Just one point into Reclamation is enough if you don't need a lot of self-healing. You can fill up the Brutality passive to max for more damage on your third hit of Rive, and then grab Coup de Grace for an instant kill on low-health enemies.
• Shield Rush - Consuming Path gives you more damage, and you can put your first five points there for a 100% damage upgrade. Warrior's Entrance only allows four points, but you can fill that up for more damage. You need to grab the Dark Rush passive if you're not using a shield to ensure you can still use Shield Rush.
• Rebuke - This is our survival skill, so putting all your points into Bide and Regenerative Shell is a good way to spend your first several upgrades. From there, Mystic Aegis and Augmented Plating are good options to continue being tanky.

The biggest thing you'll want is Rive as that's a three-hit combo that can dish out damage to an entire group. In my case, dumping all your available points into Outburst, Reclamation, Brutality, and then Coup de Grace in that order proved to be very effective.

As for the rest of your skills, you'll want something that provides good mobility and something that gives survivability. Whether you're using a shield or not to level, Shield Rush is a fine option. You'll need to grab the Dark Rush passive if you're not using a shield as that lets you use this ability without one. Shield Rush charges at enemies, so it lets you cut back on downtime and get into the fray quicker.

For survivability, Rebuke is going to be the best choice as it lets you take 80% less damage while channeling it. When the channel ends, it'll do damage to all enemies around you. Going for the Bide passive makes the shield last longer, so you live longer and deal more damage. Regenerative Shell makes you recover health while channeling, so you heal and take less damage, and you'll see it's tough to beat a potent combo like that.

How to play Sentinel in Last Epoch

Assuming you're using Rive, Shield Rush, and Rebuke as your main rotation, playing it is quite simple. Rive is going to be your bread-and-butter move for all enemies as it'll be doing the most damage. When a mob of enemies is defeated, use Shield Rush to jump into the next pack and start using Rive again.

If you find yourself taking too much damage, pop a health potion or start channeling Rebuke. If you've put points into the Bide passive, keep the channel going to the end to not only reduce your damage taken but also send out quite a bit in exchange.

Best items for Sentinel leveling in Last Epoch

When it comes to leveling, it's tough to pick out exact pieces of loot that'll be good for leveling as you're going to be in a constant state of upgrades as you progress through the game. A good rule of thumb is to hang onto any Unique items you come across as those are far more powerful than any early piece of gear you find. Here's a look at some of the early random drops you can come across.

• Humming Bee - 1-handed sword. Requires Level 6.
• Bleeding Heart - Amulet. Requires Level 4.
• Grimoire of Necrotic Elixirs - Relic. Requires Level 1.

Related: Last Epoch Crafting Guide – Shards, Runes & Glyphs

Keep in mind there's no use in farming these Uniques as they are random drops. The key items you'll want to hang onto are ones that buff your Melee Damage and Physical Damage. On the flip side, defensive items are good to look for, and what you'll want to prioritize are things that give Health on Kill or Melee Damage Leeched as Health. Those two skills will allow you to stay in the fight longer and level faster.

You'll typically want to keep Idols you come across as well as those give you a nice passive boost. For Sentinels, finding something that gives Increased Healing Effectiveness, Health Regeneration, and Increased Stun Chance are good options. Again, these are random drops that you should take as they come. Don't worry about farming for anything specific until much later in the game.

You can ensure you only find useful items by putting on a loot filter. This will sift through the items that drop from enemies and only alert you to ones that might be valuable. Using Heavy'z Casual Loot filter as a template to go off is a fine option for leveling, and you're able to tailor it to your liking if you want changes.

What Sentinel Mastery should you pick in Last Epoch?

There will come a point in the Last Epoch campaign where you have to pick a Mastery. This is a big choice as it'll shape the direction your character goes in, so make sure you think about it. Sentinels have three different options: Forge Guard, Void Knight, and Paladin.

This decision will come down to personal preference as all of them are viable, but they will have different playstyles. Here's a brief breakdown of what you can expect and the type of builds each one of them will have.

Paladin Mastery in Last Epoch

The Paladin will be the most recognizable to many people as its builds will focus on staples like Hammerdin and Smite. These are popular options from the Diablo franchise, so if you're familiar with how the Paladin works there then it should feel right at home here.

Judgement, Healing Hands, and Sigils of Hope are three skills exclusive to Paladins. These all revolve around healing and buffing yourself and your allies while dealing damage to the enemies. If you want to be a symbol of hope, the Paladin is a good choice.

Void Knight Mastery in Last Epoch

Void Knight has a lot of magic-based abilities, and a lot of revolves around casting orbs. If you want to harness some spells while swinging around a big weapon, this is the Mastery for you. Some example builds include Devouring Orb and Echo Warpath, the latter of which is closer to a whirlwind cleave build.

Forge Guard Mastery in Last Epoch

For people looking for the tankiest of the tankiest, at least when it comes to Sentinel Masteries, then the Forge Guard is what you'll be looking for. However, it can still do quite a bit of damage in the right hands. The Manifest Armor skill works very well with Forge Guards.

For more Last Epoch news and guides, check out Best Last Epoch Steam Deck settings for better performance on Pro Game Guides.