Diablo IV killer Last Epoch coming out of Early Access shortly

With a third season having just arrived to a less than tumultuous welcome, Diablo IV is finding itself at a bit of a crossroads. Its player base – some of them at least – is getting a little fed up with bland seasonal content they are expected to purchase each time, and while Diablo IV probably has a shelf life of another decade, the team at Blizzard needs to correct this course and quickly before anybody steps in and takes advantage.

And by anybody, right now we mean Last Epoch – a potential Diablo IV beater that is coming out of early access on 21st February and is attracting a lot of attention from the ARPG crowd at the moment.

After being in Early Access for what seems like an eternity, Lost Epoch is now almost ready for primetime. We have Path of Exile 2 also approaching at some point, it seems Diablo IV will have to fight its war on two fronts, although each game may well have a slightly different audience at the fringes.

Last Epoch sits in a place that is perhaps slightly (just a little) more complex than D4 which will give it an opportunity to flesh out gameplay that Diablo IV has to gloss over.

The game, which contains five character classes, each with three masteries has just revealed its final mastery of the Acolyte Class – the Warlock, and it has gone down well with potential players.

There are a lot of D4 players who love to play as the Necromancer, twisting the dead into their minions, and we can see the Warlock being equally popular in Last Epoch.

Which Last Epoch edition should you get?

When the Last Epoch arrives it will come in the obligatory mult-edition format with its base edition costing $34.99 / 29.99. The base edition comes with the Golden Guppy cosmetic item.

The Deluxe edition meanwhile will set you back $49.99 / £41.99 and includes 50 Epoch Points, three cosmetics, and the soundtrack.

The Last Epoch Ultimate Edition is the be-all and end-all of Last Epoch and costs $64.99 / £54.99 and nets you seven cosmetics, 100 Epoch Points, and the soundtrack.

There are upgrade paths available so we would, as ever, head for the standard version and see what it has to offer before spending the extra unless you have played the EA and already decided that it is for you.

The Last Epoch arrives on Steam on 21st February.

Paul McNally

Gaming Editor

Paul McNally has been around consoles and computers since his parents bought him a Mattel Intellivision in 1980. He has been a prominent games journalist since the 1990s, spending over a decade as editor of popular print-based video games and computer magazines, including a market-leading PlayStation title published by IDG Media.

Having spent time as Head of Communications at a professional sports club and working for high-profile charities such as the National Literacy Trust, he returned as Managing Editor in charge of large US-based technology websites in 2020.

Paul has written high-end gaming content for GamePro, Official Australian PlayStation Magazine, PlayStation Pro, Amiga Action, Mega Action, ST Action, GQ, Loaded, and the The Mirror. He has also hosted panels at retro-gaming conventions and can regularly be found guesting on gaming podcasts and Twitch shows. He is obsessed with 3D printing and has worked with several major brands in the past to create content

Believing that the reader deserves actually to enjoy what they are reading is a big part of Paul’s ethos when it comes to gaming journalism, elevating the sites he works on above the norm. Reach out on X.