The first details on Last Epoch patch 1.1 are here, as developer Eleventh Hour Games looks back on its first week of launch, its impressive player count, the server issues, and what the future holds. Jumping off from its fantastic player response, the team says it is “wholly committed to making the best ARPG in the genre,” as it looks to stand toe-to-toe with the giants of Blizzard’s Diablo 4 and Grinding Gear Games’ upcoming Path of Exile 2. That starts with the next Last Epoch update, which looks to resolve one of its most glaring absences.
“Wow, what an opening week for Last Epoch,” Eleventh Hour founder and game director Judd Cobler writes in a post to the game’s official forum. With a peak player count of 265,000 concurrent users on Steam, the launch week saw Last Epoch stand among the best RPG games on PC, placing it at number 39 on the all-time leaderboards despite the high load causing the Last Epoch server status to stumble, meaning players were frequently hit by ‘Online play unavailable’ messages and the notorious LE-61 error preventing travel between zones.
“We appreciate you all bearing with us as the load initially gave us trouble,” Cobler continues, “but we’re happy to say that we’re holding mostly steady above 200,000 players in-game and have made improvements each day in the backend infrastructure to support the demand. We’ll continue to monitor and address any issues that crop up – I want to take a moment to talk to you all about what’s coming next.”
First up are post-launch updates and hotfixes. Cobler says the plan right now is to aim for weekly patches, along with deploying additional hotfixes where required. He thanks players for making use of the in-game bug reporting tool: “This is the most optimal way to report issues,” he explains, “as it also sends us your player logs and a screenshot if you choose to include it, which helps us diagnose and address issues much more rapidly.”
Beyond that, however, is news of what we can expect with the first major update, Last Epoch patch 1.1. Cobler says this is designed in two parts. The first is a focus on player feedback – he notes that “throughout the 1.0 Cycle [Last Epoch’s seasonal rotation] we intend to release quality of life and bug fix patches regularly.” This includes improvements to the gamepad experience, which are coming ahead of 1.1. The second part is an expansion of the endgame content, with several different aspects in the works.
In the long-term, Cobler says the team has “plans to expand the Monolith, bring great new itemization options, and add more boss content, class and balance updates, campaign content, etc.” For Last Epoch 1.1 specifically, the focus is on pinnacle bosses. In my Last Epoch review, I noted that, while I have enjoyed quite a few of the endgame boss encounters, there’s currently nothing quite on the level of Path of Exile’s pinnacle and uber bosses.
For those of you who aren’t as familiar with PoE, its pinnacle bosses are unique boss fights that you’ll encounter in the late stages of its endgame. They, and their even tougher ‘uber’ equivalents, are designed to be the ultimate tests of your strength, and Diablo 4 now offers similar endgame challenges such as Uber Duriel and, more specifically, the Echo of Lilith boss fight.
I’ve been hoping for something similar as a goal to test my best Last Epoch builds. Cobler promises some of these “very hard fights that will give you challenges to aspire to” in patch 1.1, and says to expect more details on the patch “in the not too distant future.”
“It’s worth emphasizing that EHG has a strong focus on listening to the community, as it’s where our team came from,” he continues. “We are active in our forums, on Reddit, and on social channels, so if you want to see something, please voice it. You are not shouting into the void; nor do you have to amass an army to get us to take notice. We’re there and ready to have conversations with you all.”
In closing, Cobler writes, “While we’re continuing to receive high praise about the game itself, Steam reviews and sentiment took a heavy hit due to the initial turbulence of online services at launch.” He says the team is “committed to regaining that trust,” and that, while some players might be concerned to see the review score falling, “the team has always been committed to making a game that you can enjoy and expect updates from for years to come.”
“We’ve seen that passion reflected back at us in the community this past week, and it has bolstered our resolve to that goal even further,” he concludes. “Last Epoch is here to stay.”
Can’t decide which class to pick? Our Last Epoch tier list should help you figure out what’s right for you, although there really are a wealth of options at your disposal. Alternatively, we’ve picked out more of the best games like Diablo that you should play in 2024.
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