Last Epoch: What is the Rune of Ascendance and how to use it?

In Last Epoch, Rune of Ascendance is a crafting material usable on any chosen item in the forge menu. Using a Rune of Ascendance, you can turn an item of any rarity into a random unique item or set item. The resulting unique item will be of the same slot and subtype, i.e. a two-handed sword will turn into a unique two-hander or a two-hander that is part of an item set.

On paper, the ability to turn a Common item into a Unique looks extremely lucrative. The catch is the RNG component, which makes Runes of Ascendence a sub-optimal way to farm specific unique items.

However, if you get one of these early on, it is an extremely lucky drop capable of improving your ease of leveling, should you get a favorable roll for your build. A Rune of Ascendence is one of the best ways in Last Epoch to get a power-bump in the mid-game when you do not have many avenues of getting uniques.

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How does a Rune of Ascendance roll in Last Epoch work?

If you got to the in-game guide in Last Epoch, the Rune of Ascendance entry only clarifies its basic function. However, there are several caveats you need to be aware of before you use this item:

• Using a Rune of Ascendance on an item will permanently decrease an item’s forging potential, meaning you cannot keep rerolling the same item.
• Uniques acquired from a Rune of Ascendance have Legendary Potential.
• Your item level and character level are immaterial for this process. The only thing that is considered in the process is the item’s broader type.
• Other than its general slot and weapon classification, further item subtypes do not affect the roll. In other words, using this rune on a Jade Ring does not guarantee you will get a unique Jade Ring in return.
• Last Epoch’s Rune of Ascendance cannot override an item’s intended drop chance. Its reward pool takes into consideration the rarity at which the item drops from its usual drop sources. In other words, rarer Uniques are harder to get with a Rune of Ascendance.
• The potential pool of items that can be granted by the Rune of Ascendance in Last Epoch does not contain boss-specific drops.

Here's how you can use it:

• Free the “F” key to bring up the Forge menu. Then, head to your inventory and select the item that you want to enhance.
• Drag and place the item in the space at the center of the menu. Make sure that the Rune has enough forging material to be able to change the modifiers.
• If it doesn't have the required potential, the process will not take place.
• Once you have met the requirements, you will need to click on the “+” button, which is located at the bottom of the screen.
• Now select the Rune of Ascendance and craft a new, random, but enhanced item.

While the Rune of Ascendance will not let you pick the gear that you want to make, the item is one of the best ways of making Legendary gear in Last Epoch.

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Check out our other guides on Last Epoch:

Last Epoch Mastery tier list || Which version of Last Epoch should you buy? || Major differences between Last Epoch Early Access and 1.0 || Last Epoch build tier list for levelling