Utilizing Legendary Potential in Last Epoch

Image via Eleventh Hour Games

Certain items possess the ability to attain legendary status.

Even prior to the release of Last Epoch in February 2024, items have been in a state of continual development. As early as 2021, the developers incorporated a new attribute known as Legendary Potential, which can manifest on Unique items.

Although Legendary Potential might appear complex, we have compiled all the essential details to help you understand this mechanism.

Understanding Legendary Potential in Last Epoch

Legendary Potential only appears on Unique items, though it’s not assured. Screenshot by Dot Esports.

Legendary Potential is a characteristic exclusive to Unique items in Last Epoch. When an item features the Legendary Potential attribute, it indicates that it can potentially be upgraded to a Legendary item.

It’s important to mention that transforming a unique item into a Legendary one requires combining the Unique item (which has the Legendary Potential attribute) with an Exalted item of the same kind. Furthermore, this transformation can only happen within the Eternity Cache found in the Temporal Sanctum dungeon. Technically speaking, you could access the Temporal Sanctum dungeon during the campaign and use it as a shortcut, but it’s advisable to postpone this until the late game, as the dungeon’s final boss is quite formidable.

Introduced in Patch 1.1, there’s also another method to obtain Legendary items via the newly added Nemesis system. In higher-level regions, your Nemesis can possess the Egg of the Forgotten among its four items. You can substitute it with a Unique item (lacking Legendary Potential) from your inventory or stash and then empower the Nemesis twice before ultimately defeating it. Following this, you can either end up with that Unique gaining Legendary Potential or acquiring a Legendary affix. This approach is indeed a gamble, but it can be valuable during early to mid-game Monolith farming.

The Egg is where you would place your zero LP Unique. Screenshot by Dot Esports.

For example:

You can merge a Unique Glove that has Legendary Potential with an Exalted Glove, but you cannot merge a Unique Glove with an Exalted one-handed Axe.

Additionally, not all Unique items carry Legendary Potential, and there are tiers associated with it. Therefore, some effort will be required to hunt for items possessing the desired Legendary Potential attribute and affixes for your character.

What does the number next to Legendary Potential signify?

Next to the Legendary Potential attribute on an item, you’ll notice a number ranging from one to four. This figure indicates the quantity of affixes from the Exalted item that will be randomly added to the Legendary item.

For instance, if your Legendary Potential is three, it implies that three affixes from the Exalted item will be integrated into the Legendary one. The affixes from your Exalted items will not replace those on your Unique item; they will enhance the existing affixes on the Legendary item or add new ones.

Methods to augment Legendary Potential in your Unique item

Since update 1.2, you can enhance the Legendary Potential of a Unique item that already has at least one LP.

If your Unique item possesses at least one Legendary Potential and you seek to increase it, you may gamble it using the Farsight Turtle Woven Echo. However, be wary, as a failed gamble results in the loss of all Legendary Potential for that Unique.

Tip:

Unlike the Nemesis method which applies only to Uniques with no LP, this tactic is applicable to Uniques that already have one to three LP.

Factors influencing Unique drops with Legendary Potential

Four primary factors determine whether your Unique will have Legendary Potential and the extent of it. These include:

Every Unique item is linked to a specific Legendary Potential level. A Unique of higher level is less likely to possess Legendary Potential.
The level of the zone also affects the likelihood of Unique drops containing LP. Higher-level zones tend to yield Uniques with LP more frequently.
Corruption, up to a certain cap (testing shows diminishing returns after 300), boosts the chance of acquiring Legendary Potential Uniques.
Achieving Rank Eight in the Circle of Fortune faction doubles the odds of dropped Uniques having Legendary Potential.

Techniques to acquire the best Exalted items for your Legendary Potential Uniques

An exceptional example of an Exalted item. Screenshot by Dot Esports.

Securing a high LP Unique of your preference is just the initial step in your pursuit of the ultimate Legendary item. The next step is to acquire the top Exalted items, ideally with Tier 7 affixes, that you wish to combine with your Unique.

To maximize the chances of obtaining your desired Exalted item, consider the following factors:

You should operate in areas above Level 90 for Tier 7 Exalted items to drop.
Increased corruption enhances the chances of acquiring superior Exalted items.
Circle of Fortune prophecies can yield a greater number of Exalted items, thus increasing your odds of getting your target. If you are part of the Merchant’s Guild, you can also purchase your desired Exalted item with gold.
The Weaver Tree from The Woven Faction, introduced in Patch 1.2, offers various methods to boost the drop rates of Exalted items. Imprinting nodes are particularly efficient for farming specific Exalted items.
The Lightless Arbor dungeon serves as an excellent farming ground for a substantial number of Exalted items once you have sufficient gold to intensify the vault.

The effort of reaching the Eternity Cache and merging two similar items (one being a Unique with Legendary Potential and the other an Exalted item) can be time-consuming. Nevertheless, acquiring a Legendary item is certainly worthwhile in your upcoming Last Epoch journey.