Beginner’s Crafting Guide for Last Epoch: From Basics to Better Items
This guide will walk you through the basics of crafting in Last Epoch, explain the materials you’ll use, and show you how to turn simple items into powerful equipment. By the end, you’ll know how to confidently craft your own gear and avoid some common mistakes.
Crafting Materials and Shards
The foundation of crafting in Last Epoch is shards. These are the materials you’ll find constantly while playing. When they drop, you can click on them to vacuum them straight into your crafting inventory.
At the moment, you must press the “Transfer Materials” button to move shards into your crafting stash.
Starting with Season 2 (April 2nd), this will happen automatically, making the system even smoother.
Shards are used to add or upgrade affixes (stats) on your gear. You’ll quickly accumulate a large collection, so don’t worry about running out early on.
Item Rarities
Before crafting, it helps to understand the different rarities of items:
Common – no affixes.
Magic – up to 2 affixes.
Rare – up to 4 affixes.
Exalted – at least one affix at Tier 6 or higher.
Set / Unique / Weaver’s / Legendary – special types with their own rules.
For this beginner guide, we’ll focus on common, magic, rare, and exalted items, since these are where most of your early crafting happens.
Using the Forge
Crafting can be done anywhere—you don’t need to visit a town or NPC. Just press F to open the Forge.
A few key points to understand:
Each item has forging potential (FP), which determines how many times you can modify it. Think of it as the item’s “crafting stamina.”
Items have two prefix slots (left side) and two suffix slots (right side). Prefixes usually boost offense, while suffixes focus on defense or utility.
As long as the item has at least 1 FP left, you can continue crafting on it.
Adding Affixes
To start crafting:
Place your item into the Forge (Shift + Right-Click is a shortcut).
Select an available prefix or suffix slot.
Choose the affix shard you want to add.
For example, you might add:
Fire Damage (prefix)
Intelligence (prefix)
Health (suffix)
Void Resistance (suffix)
Each successful craft consumes FP, but you can boost your efficiency with Glyphs.
Glyphs: Your Best Friends
Glyphs modify crafting outcomes. The two most important ones are:
Glyph of Hope – 25% chance to avoid consuming FP on a craft. Use it almost every time.
Glyph of Chaos – replaces one affix with another random affix. Great when an item rolls stats you don’t need.
Later, you’ll also encounter Glyph of Despair, which can “seal” an affix and open a fifth slot on an item. Sealing higher-tier affixes is difficult, but when it works, it’s extremely powerful.
Crafting Example
Imagine you pick up a plain ring.
After adding Fire Damage, Intelligence, Health, and Void Resistance, it now has four Tier 1 affixes.
You can then upgrade affixes up to Tier 5 (the maximum for most crafted stats).
With some lucky Glyph of Hope procs, you might turn this basic ring into a solid mid-game piece.
As items get rarer, they start with more FP. Magic items often begin around 20 FP, rares in the 30s, and exalted items can have 50+ FP—giving you much more room to experiment.
Advanced Tricks
Once you’re comfortable with the basics, try these techniques:
Sealing with Glyph of Despair – Allows an affix to move into a sealed slot, freeing up room for another modifier.
Using Chaos to reroll – Don’t like Strength? Use Glyph of Chaos to transform it into something useful, like Critical Strike Chance.
Shattering items – If an item is “bricked” (out of FP or has bad stats), you can destroy it with a Rune of Shattering. This refunds some of the shards used, letting you recycle materials.
Shattering is especially valuable early on, when you’re hunting for specific affixes to fuel future crafts.
Viewing Crafting Materials
Inside the Forge, click the Crafting Materials button (top left). Here you can:
Search for affixes by name (e.g., “Health” or “Minion”).
See which item types each affix can apply to.
This is an excellent way to plan your builds and check if you already have the shards you need.
Why Crafting Matters
Unlike many ARPGs, where crafting feels random, Last Epoch offers a deterministic system. You pick exactly which affixes to add. The only randomness comes from FP consumption and critical successes, which can sometimes boost affixes by multiple tiers.
This makes the system both approachable for beginners and rewarding for experienced players. Even if you don’t find the perfect drop, you can craft an item tailored to your build and keep progressing.
Having enough Last Epoch gold can also help you move forward.
Final Tips for Beginners
Always use Glyph of Hope when crafting—it’s free efficiency.
Don’t hoard materials. You’ll gather tons of shards and glyphs just by playing.
Experiment often. Even if you “brick” an item, you shatter recycled materials.
Start with rares. They give the best balance of FP and flexibility for early crafting.
As you move into the endgame, exalted and legendary items will take center stage. But the core principles remain the same.
Conclusion
Crafting in Last Epoch might seem intimidating at first, but once you understand shards, affixes, and forging potential, it becomes one of the most satisfying systems in any ARPG. With just a few glyphs and some practice, you can take basic gear and turn it into powerful equipment that perfectly suits your character. Having enough cheap Last Epoch gold can be of great help to you.
Master the basics now, and you’ll be ready to dive into more advanced crafting strategies when you reach endgame.