Notable Passives:

1. Juggernaut [6/8] - It adds Strength, Fire, and Void Resistance, all of these are of use, especially Strength which increases Warpath's Damage.
2. Fearless [8/8] - Vitality and Health Regen improves your survivability significantly
3. Armour Clad [5/5] - Adds Armor and reduces Damage taken from nearby enemies, which is good since the character is optimized for a close combat
4. Axe Thrower [5/5] - Warpath is a rapidly-hitting Skill with a short range so it makes a lot of sense to allocate this passive which grants you a chance to throw an Axe with each Hit.
5. Blademaster [5/5] - Increases the Attack and Cast Speed resulting in more Damage

The majority of the Passives allocated in this setup are defensively-oriented. If you require some more damage you can switch some of them and take Overwhelm or Relentless, but it's usually not worth going for these in the Sentinel Tree.

Void Knight Tree (5 Points)

Notable Passives:

1. Abyssal Endurance [5/10] - It's a very powerful passive that offers Health, Void, and Physical Resistance for your character

Notable Passives:

1. Conviction [4/8] - It's a boost to your Fire Damage and Fire Penetration, unfortunately, the other components are not as useful.
2. Phoenix Strike [10/10] - By far the best passive on this Skill Tree, it increases your Melee Ignite Chance by 120%, which is your main damaging component.
3. Divine Bolt [1/1] - Provides you with a small chance to cause Divine Bolt with each Hit dealing Fire Damage to a random nearby enemy.

Paladin Tree does not offer you much of outstandingly great passives but spending 20 Skill Points here unlocks Sigils of Hope Skill, which definitely justifies the investment. Get some of the basic nodes granting general damage and defenses.

Notable Passives:

1. Shield Breaker [6/6] - You're using only the Axe Throw from Sentinel Tree, it will Shred enemy Fire Resistance making you deal more damage.
2. Hammer and Anvil [5/5] - When you've recently thrown an Axe you deal more Damage and Take more Damage, and if you didn't, it's the opposite.
3. Smelter's Might [10/10] - It grants you a lot of Ignite and Bleed Chance - both are great since Bleed Chance will be converted into Ignite Chance via Warpath Passives anyway.
4. Infinite Bulwark [5/5] - Provides increased Armour on Potion use and more Potions when you've used any.
5. Osprixbane [8/8] - This makes you take less Fire Damage on BLock and increase the Fire Damage you're dealing by 80% after a successful Block.
6. Walls of Solarum [8/8] - Increased Fire Damage over Time and Elemental Resistance for as long as you're holding a Shield.

Forge Guard is the main Skill Tree where you will invest the majority of the Skill Points. Some of the most efficient Passives can be found here, especially for the Fire and Ignite Damage. Don't focus too much on the Damage of the Throwing Skills as you won't be using them, only on their utility purpose. We've spent around half of the points here on the offensive nodes and the other half on the defensive ones, but you can shape it according to your needs. If you need a more sturdy build invest in Battle Hardened and Might. For more damage pick Weapons Master and Flesh from the Forge.

Warpath - It is a Channeling Attack that allows you to move around while dealing damage to the surrounding enemies. Allocate Reckless Spin to lower the Mana Cost by in exchange lower your Elemental Resistance. The most important is the branch leading to Winds of Justice. Earsorcher converts your Bleed Chance into Ignite Chance massively increasing your DPS. Arsenal of Flame is also really beneficial to your overall damage. Winds of Justice will trigger Smite Skill each second when you're spinning, it's a very unique property that you should also include in this setup. The remaining points can be spent on some minor upgrades.

Volatile Reversal - This skill will put your character back into the position it was three seconds ago and restore its Mana to the point it was at that time. This setup focuses on creating two Void Rifts, which in itself deal only a small amount of Void Damage, but with Time Rifts allocated, these will also make enemies take increased Damage over Time, and that includes Ignite. Warped Time and Catching Up are here for extra Attack Speed and Movespeed.

Lunge - Lunge is a basic movement skill you can use to close the distance between you and the opponent of your choice. Dawn Charge is a node on the rights side of the Skill Tree which regenerates up to 40% of your Missing Health on use. It is followed by Juggernaut Dash for 100% extra Block Chance and Unstoppable for complete immunity to any damage while Lunging. Form a path to Double Strike which allows you to dash an extra time bypassing the cooldown. Cull the Weak will instantly kill any enemy that is below 15% of their Maximum Health - useful against bosses.

Sigils of Hope - Sigils last for some time, orbiting around your character and granting you additional Fire Damage and Health Regeneration. You can have up to three of them. With Iron Sigils and Enduring Hope, these will last for a total of 25 seconds and grant you 200 Armour per each active Sigil. The passives leading to Burning Sigil will provide you with much more damage in various ways. Last Wish is used for a chance to summon one of these Sigils on kill. You can transfer some of the skill points from the left to the right side for more damage.

Smite - Smite will be activated every second while Channeling due to the Warpath setup, but you will still need to pay its full cost each time. Holy Fire increases the Ignite Chance by 125%, it is obviously very good. Right next to it is Immolate which allows Smite's Hits to spread its Ignite to nearby foes. Putting 3 points in Panacea results in an 18% chance to cleanse you out of all negative effects each time Smite is being used, it is definitely worth allocating. Soothing Balm makes you regenerate more Health and Mana, and with Grace, it also heals allies which are Sigilis of Hope in this case. Don't cast it directly.

Stat priority:

This build is able to reach over 3000 Health with the right equipment, consisting primarily of Health and Vitality. Your secondary layers of defense are Armor and basic Resistances ao all kinds. For more Damage seek mostly Chance to Ignite with Melee Attacks and Fire Damage. Strength is also beneficial as it directly increases Warpath's Damage. There will be quite a lot of Unique Items that we can recommend, some of them are pretty much mandatory. You will also need a somewhat decent Critical Strike Chance, it's good when combined with the Unique Sword listed below.

1. Ignite/Bleed Chance
2. Increased Damage Over Time
3. Reduced Channel Cost (Helmet)
4. Health
5. All Resistances while Channelling (Relic)
6. Attack Speed
7. Strength
8. Vitality
9. Resistances
10. Critical Strike Chance
11. Fire/ Melee Damage
12. Armor

Recommended Unique Items: 

Range 2m Base attack rate 1.2 +38 Melee Physical Damage +(38-60)% Critical Strike Multiplier +(25-45) Melee Fire Damage +(100-200)% Chance to Ignite on Melee Hit (75-100)% Chance to gain a stack of Reen's Ire for 5 seconds on melee crit Each stack of Reen's Ire grants 5% melee critical strike multiplier and 5% increased fire damage over time

Eye of Reen - It's the Sword we recommend using, it is specifically designed to deal a lot of Melee Fire Damage and has a very high Ignite Chance on Melee Hits. Besides that, its unique property of stacking up Reen's Ire with Melee Critical Hits is extremely good, each stack grants you more Critical Damage and Fire Damage over Time.

+114 Armor +(5-14)% Lightning Resistance +(50-100) Armor 15% Less Damage Taken while wielding a Two Handed Melee Weapon (30-40)% increased Melee Damage (30-40)% increased Health You do not regenerate health

Titan Heart - A very good Body Armour for increased Health and Melee Damage, but if you want to regenerate your Health you will have to resort to some other Armour. Life Leech alone might be insufficient.

+90 Armor (15-18)% increased Movement Speed +(30-45)% Fire Resistance (15-20)% increased Movement Speed (25-35)% Increased Ignite Effect (25-35)% increased Fire Damage +(25-35)% Chance to cast Fire Trail when you are crit +(5-15)% Chance to Receive a Critical Strike (75-85)% less Bonus Damage Taken from Critical Strikes

Fiery Dragon Shoes - These boots are highly recommended - the increased Ignite Effect and Fire Damage alone are extremely good. When receiving Critical Strike, which you are more likely to, you cast Fire Trail - a path of burning ground that rapidly ignites all enemies on it. You also take less damage from Critical Strikes.

(5-15)% increased Melee Attack Speed (5-15)% increased Throwing Attack Speed (35-25)% less Health Regen (5-9)% of Damage Leeched as Health You are inflicted with bleed when you cast a spell

Bleeding Heart - Great Amulet when combined with Titan Heart, as the penalty of less Health Regen has no effect. it increases your Health Leech and inflicts Bleed on Spell Cast, it is however a tradeoff worth enduring. It increases Melee Attack Speed too.

+(28-45)% Fire Resistance (28-45)% increased Fire Damage +(40-80)% Chance to Ignite on Melee Hit (40-80)% increased Fire Damage Over Time +14 Melee Fire Damage +(4-10) Flame Reave Mana Cost

Sunwreath - A Ring that fits the theme of Melee Hits and Ignite Damage. It increases Fire Resistance, Fire Damage, Chance to Ignite on Melee Hit, Fire Damage Over Time, and Melee Fire Damage. Every aspect of it is extremely beneficial.

You gain a stack of Ambition when you hit a boss or rare enemy (1 second cooldown) 20% increased Fire Damage per stack of Ambition 20% increased Cold Damage per stack of Ambition 20% increased Armour per stack of Ambition 20 Maximum Stacks of Ambition You lose all stacks of Ambition if you go 4 seconds without gaining a stack

Throne of Ambition - One of the best Idols in the game which suits this build perfectly. With your rapid Warpath's Hits, you will quickly reach the 20 stacks of Ambition, which grants increased Armor and Fire Damage.

Idols:

Throne of Ambition is one Idol that you have to have, and for the other ones, we can recommend increased Resistance while Channeling and Health. Health will be by far the most crucial modifier to look for, and luckily it's found in the most basic Idols so there should be no problem with that. A Grand Solar Idol is able to extend your Warpath Area by up to 20%, which is good for clearing, but not so much for bosses.

Recommended Blessings:

• Patience of Herkir: it provides you with a massive bonus Armor while Channeling
• Breath of Cinders: Chance to Shred Fire Resistance on Hit is extremely good as it reduces Fire Resistance of an enemy
• Flames of the Black Sun: Bonus Ignite Chance on Hit is the core element of the build and no surprise, it is also useful as a Blessing
• Hemmorage of Marrow: It's very similar to the aforementioned Flames of the Black Sun, but this one grants a Chance to Bleed instead, which will be later converted anyway

END NOTE

This is the beta version of our Warpath Forge Guard Build for Last Epoch. We have tested various versions of Warpath, and this appears to be the single-best one out there. We hope Warpath receives the tweaks it deserves, and this becomes one of the best builds in the entire game, as with the vastly interesting mechanics it offers, it definitely should. Obviously, as the game gets new content updates, we will be updating this guide regularly, though it may be impossible to be done after each Patch.