Last Epoch Falconer build guide

The best Last Epoch Falconer build has amazing damage potential, but it requires a bunch of strong Falcon attacks and a lot of careful manoeuvring. With this bird-whisperer, the Falconer is still a Rogue class relying on quick movement abilities while the birds attack from out of harms way. So it's all about helping you to stay alive while your bird goes on a killing spree - here are some tips to get the best Last Epoch Falconer build.

And if you want to see what other options you can try, I've also got a Last Epoch Class tier list ranking everything, and some Last Epoch best leveling builds to help you advance further. 

Last Epoch Falconer builds explained 

The Last Epoch Falconer class is a Rogue mastery that essentially combines minion gameplay with explosives. Your Falcon companion comes with a wide array of attacks, of which the Dive Bomb is one of the strongest. Key to a strong Falconer builds is the ability to buff your Falcon’s attacks and reduce its cooldowns. 

However, you'll still likely be quite vulnerable to damage, so a good Last Epoch Falconer build should contain a movement speed ability. Shift is a great option in early game, but this guide will swap Shift for Aerial Assault. You should use an additional field of effect ability, Smoke Bomb, to reduce damage taken and buff your attacks.  

Best Last Epoch Falconer skills

• Falconry: upgrade Is It a Bird, Avian Stamina, and Go for the Eyes to improve the Falcon’s damage and crit chance, and upgrade Marking Strikes and Avian Arsenal to apply Falconer’s Mark on your opponents and deal more damage to them. Fully upgrade Side by Side to reduce Falcon Strike’s cooldown and consider using Watchful Eye to prioritise opponents near you. 
• Dive Bomb: fully upgrade Focused Hunter, Rushing Wings, and Devastating Dive to deal more damage and use Rush of the Hunt to decrease Dive Bomb’s cooldown. Upgrade Cloud Gatherer to extend the duration of your Smoke Bomb.
• Explosive Trap: fully upgrade Tinkerer’s Design, Ash Compartment, and Umbral Saboteur for better damage. Use Minefield and Trap Sprinkler to get more Explosive Traps, upgrade Jelkhor’s Blueprint for less mana cost, and unlock Free Lofting Bird to reduce Falcon cooldowns whenever a trap explodes. 
• Smoke Bomb: fully upgrade Lingering Fumes, Generosity, Shrouded in Darkness, and Enfeeblement to make your Smoke Bomb larger, last longer, and reduce the damage taken within. Fully upgrade Smoke Blades to gain a damage boost - combine it with Blood Bandit if you need more health recovery.
• Aerial Assault: fully upgrade Avian Hunter, Skyward Swoop, and Refreshing Resolve to reduce the cooldown and recover some mana. It’s highly recommended to add Healing Gust and Aerial prowess to turn this skill into a healing ability. Finally, get Coordinated Assault to reduce the cooldowns on Falconry and Dive Bomb.

The Falconry skill automatically summons your Falcon minion, but you’ll need to use the skill to perform a rapid Falcon Strikes attack. However, your main damage stems from Dive Bomb, which deals lots of physical damage in a large area-of-effect. In between Falcon attacks, you’ll be throwing Explosive Traps to deal even more damage and reduce the cooldowns on your Falcon skills. 

As this Falconer build is vulnerable to damage, use Smoke Bomb to dodge attacks and buff your own abilities while you’re inside its field of effect - naturally, upgrading its size and duration is extremely helpful. That leaves Aerial Assault as the best movement ability for this build as, with the right passives, it can be used to quickly move across the battlefield, reduce cooldowns, and even restore HP. You can swap this ability for Shift if you prefer (and Shift can also be upgraded to recover HP). Whatever you choose, just make sure you keep moving.  

Best Last Epoch Falconer passives

• Rogue passives: divide the first points across Steady Hand and Guile, then fully upgrade Evasion to become more evasive upon moving. Get Agility for haste, and upgrade Dodge and Parry if you need more protection.
• Falconer passives: upgrade Wilderness Scout and Stamina of the Rover if you still need more HP and dodge rating, but focus on Agile Hunt, Handler, and Tactician for damage. Relentless Talons is a particularly great way to buff your Falcon and regain some HP upon hitting an enemy. Other highly recommended upgrades are Blast Radius, Intuitive Connection, Needle-like Precision, and Finesse Them. 

The best passives for my Last Epoch Falconer build are quite straightforward; anything with increased minion damage and minion crit chance is good. Because your character will alway be vulnerable., it’s important to invest in some HP-recovery and dodging passives as well. Particularly the ones that automatically buff you as you fight, such as Relentless Talons and Finesse Them. 

Last Epoch Falconer equipment

The Falconer uses a bow and quiver as their weapon of choice, with dexterity as one of the most important stats. You’ll also need mana regeneration, more HP, and higher resistance overall. Movement speed isn’t as important as you would expect, since this Falconer build can rely on a movement speed ability with reduced cooldowns, but still good to have. Any Falcon-specific bonus is more than welcome, but increased minion damage and minion critical rate are also fine.