Forge Guard Mastery Leveling Build for Last Epoch (Patch 1.0)
This is the perfect leveling guide for new players wanting to start with Forge Guard! This page will cover everything and anything you could need to know about leveling the class, including which skills to use, what stats to prioritize, and what uniques are useful early in the game.
Build Introduction
This version of the Forge Guard's Leveling Build uses a full minion build in conjunction with the iconic spin-to-win playstyle to obliterate the campaign and early Monolith of Fate.
This build is perfect if you're looking for a low maintenance way to play the game. Warpath is used to summon Forged Weapons at a fast rate, up to a maximum of 12 Forged Weapons. A 13th minion is added to the mix through Manifest Armor. Our main purpose as the player is to buff the minions through Void Cleave and debuffing the enemy with stacks of Shred Armor.
Defensively, this build focuses on keeping the minions alive. Your job as a player is just to spin and avoid damage. Since Manifest Armor copies our stats at an increased rate and benefits majorly from Armor, we do have the ability to tank hits ourselves, however there is rarely a reason for this as the minions do all of the work!
Forge Guard Leveling Passive Trees
Sentinel Passive Tree
Sentinel is used primarily to provide a defensive boost to our character. Early Fire and Void Resistance (Juggernaut) is extremely helpful, as most enemies in starting zones will use these types of attacks. Armour Clad is great for this build considering we will want to be up close and personal with mobs while in combat. Valiant Charge will reduce the cooldown for both Lunge and Void Cleave.
Plan to only invest 20 points in this tree, as that's the minimum requirement needed to unlock the Void Knight passive tree.
This build will not utilize Void Knight passives at all. Instead, we prioritize almost every point into Forge Guard, with a couple points into Paladin for the Attunement gain and Penetration.
Forge Guard Passive Tree
To begin, drop 10 points into Weapons Master to scale Warpath and Void Cleave. This is extremely important early on before our minions ramp up. Iron Attunement is great for scaling minions, but the big node you absolutely want to rush is Folded Steel. At a single point, we gain a maximum potential of two extra Forged Weapons. This node also boosts minion damage by quite a bit, and should be maxed at 10 points as soon as possible.
At the point of reaching level 70, and you've finished all quests, you should have a total of 20 points into Sentinel 49 points into Forge Guard, and 14 points into Paladin.
This build will not utilize Void Knight passives at all. Instead, we prioritize almost every point into Forge Guard, with a couple points into Paladin for the Attunement gain and Penetration.
Paladin Passive Tree
The node here is pretty self explanatory. Defiance can be taken early as Attunement will scale both types of minions and the Resistance gain is always welcome.
At the point of reaching level 70, and you've finished all quests, you should have a total of 20 points into Sentinel 49 points into Forge Guard, and 14 points into Paladin.
Warpath
Channeling Warpath is how we will be moving through maps 99% of the time. The only time you should not be channeling Warpath is when you need to recoup Mana. Spinning is how we generate Forged Weapons, but getting close to enemies is also a good way of applying extra Armor Shred stacks.
Capping out Unchained is extremely important, otherwise the build absolutely bleeds Mana. Once this is done, path to and max out the node Moving Forge. The remainder of the points in Quicksilver Wind and Molten Path will be grabbed late in the leveling process.
Void Cleave
Void Cleave's main purpose in this build is to buff all 13 of the minions we have summoned. While it does decent damage on its own, the amount of extra damage it provides to the Forged Weapons and Manifest Armor is huge.
For the sake of leveling, take every node in Dark Pathway first. This will lower the cooldown and allow us to deal burst damage prior to scaling our minion count. Once that's done, head towards Scorching Path. The nodes on Armor Sunderer can be taken last.
Lunge
While Lunge is our main way of moving from group to group, it also makes is invincible while moving and heals us when used.
Prioritize grabbing Double Strike in order to have two charges of the movement skill, followed by Unstoppable Lead the Charge can be taken once you become more reliant on minions, as this node provides Haste to nearby allies.
Forge Strike
Forge Strike is how we will scale our Forged Weapons count. This skill will never be used manually. In fact, we don't even keep it on the hotbar. It is purely scaled to allow Warpath to automate summoning Forged Weapons.
Scaling Well Forged Weapons is the most important thing here, followed by Forged by Fire. Unfortunately, a lot of the nodes here are meant to scale the actual hit from manually using Forge Strike, so our options here are limited. Once the previous nodes are taken, cap out Heavy Strike followed by Forgemaster. The Attack Speed from Lightforge is more important than the increased Area from Engines of War
Manifest Armor
While we take this last, it certainly is not the worst skill in the build. Manifest Armor can be scaled into being an absolute monster. For this build in particular, we will be scaling the summon's Health, Armor, Melee Fire Damage, and Chance to Shred Armor.
First things first, grabbing Titan Sword is a necessity. This mirrors your own weapon's stats onto the Manifest Armor. As far as nodes dealing with increased gear effects, prioritize Platemail into Force of Impact. Burning Armor will likely be the last thing you scale. It adds some base damage to the minion, which scales well once you have Increased Minion Damage affixes on gear.
Damage Rotation
The rotation for this build may be one of the most accessible in the game. Prior to entering combat, ensure Manifest Armor is summoned. Then, all you need to do is spin with Warpath! It is suggested that you summon the maximum amount of Forged Weapons (this will be higher or lower depending on where you are in the leveling process) prior to engaging in combat. Head into battle, and let your minions take care of your enemies. If you need the extra boost, Void Cleave can be used to provide a substantial buff to your minions for a short time.
Unlike the endgame version of this build, we lack the ability to regenerate Mana while channeling Warpath. While the channel costs nothing to maintain, Void Cleave does cost Mana on each cast. With the proper affixes, even while leveling, you have a decent sized Mana pool, but depending on the length of the fight you may find 100% uptime on Warpath impossible.
For emergencies, Rebuke has been placed on the hotbar. It is unscaled, but still reduces damage taken by 80% when active.
Gearing and Affixes
This leveling build can only utilize two-handed swords or axes due to the requirement set by Void Cleave. With that being said, aim for two-handed axes, as early on you have access to axes with the implicit Increased Minion Damage. Below is a list of Affixes you should aim for to better suit the playstyle of this build.
Attributes | Offensive | Defensive |
---|---|---|
Strength Attunement |
Increased Minion Damage Added Minion Melee Damage Increased Minion Health Chance to Shred Armor |
Armor Resistances Health All Resistances While Channeling Mana |
Useful Uniques
Early on, coming across the unique belt Thorn Slinger is huge. +1 to Physical Skills affects Warpath and Forge Strike. This belt also increases Movement Speed, which is great for moving quickly through maps.
While you can't get this ring early, the unique Ribbons of Blood is a massive boost to minions. The drop rate is also extremely high, dropped from The Abomination in "Fall of the Outcasts" at 50%. You can equip this at level 53, and is useful all the way to level 100 and into higher levels of Corruption if you continue using a minion-based Forge Guard build.
Progressing to Endgame
This build will carry you all the way to the start of the Monolith, where you will need to decide on an Endgame build to follow. We have several options available for Forge Guard.
Changelog
- 23 Feb. 2024: Updated for Patch 1.0.
- 30 Nov. 2023: Guide added.
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.
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