The Sentinel is one of the most durable and beginner-friendly classes in Last Epoch, boasting powerful melee skills, high armor scaling, and natural sustain. Whether you're a new player tackling the campaign for the first time or a veteran pushing toward your endgame Mastery, the Sentinel makes leveling both fast and efficient.

In Season 3, Sentinel remains one of the easiest classes to level thanks to its early access to strong melee skills, life recovery mechanics, and superior defenses. This guide breaks down the best Sentinel leveling build, covering skills, passives, gearing priorities, and Mastery selection to get you through the campaign smoothly.

Why Level as Sentinel in Season 3?

Before diving into specifics, let's highlight what makes Sentinel one of the best leveling classes in Last Epoch:

·High survivability - Natural armor and life scaling make it tankier than most classes.

·Consistent damage - Reliable melee skills like Rive and Judgement provide solid DPS throughout leveling.

·Mobility - With Lunge as your core movement skill, Sentinel clears maps quickly.

·Self-sustain - Access to Healing Hands and later Judgement ensures strong healing while dealing damage.

This combination of durability, sustain, and damage means the Sentinel can level comfortably without heavy reliance on gear.

Best Skills for Leveling Sentinel in Season 3

Leveling as Sentinel revolves around transitioning through key skills as you progress through the campaign. Below is the optimal leveling skill order:

Early Game (Levels 1-15): Hammer Throw + Lunge

·Hammer Throw: Your first damaging skill. Take Force of Impact for increased damage and smoother clear speed.

·Lunge: A must-have mobility skill. Use it for map traversal and engaging enemies quickly.

This combo helps you breeze through the first few acts while staying safe at range.

Mid Game (Levels 15-35): Rive + Healing Hands

Rive: Unlocked at level 5, this becomes your bread-and-butter melee skill.

·Specialize in Foe Cleaver (AoE), Double Slash (extra hits), and Executioner's Strike (finisher damage).

·Healing Hands: Combined with Cleric's Hammer, Rive will automatically trigger Healing Hands on impact.

This provides passive sustain without interrupting your attack rhythm.

With this synergy, you can spam Rive for both damage and healing, making mid-game leveling extremely smooth.

Late Game Campaign (Levels 35+): Judgement Core Setup

1. Judgement: Becomes your primary damage skill in the second half of the campaign.

·Take Urgent Inquisition (damage), Flaming Soul (fire scaling), and Purifying Flame (AoE clearing).

2. Symbols of Hope: Grants a healing aura and buffs allies (or yourself if solo).

·Specializing in Meditation, Empowering Symbols, and Polygram.

·Multistrike: Secondary utility skill for mobility and damage procs.

·Take Bladed Focus, Perfect Steel, and Relentless Advance.

At this stage, you should rely primarily on Judgement for bossing and pack clearing, with Rive and Multistrike as backup damage.

Final Leveling Setup (End of Campaign)

·Judgement (Primary DPS)

·Lunge (Movement skill)

·Rive (Backup damage + Healing Hands trigger)

·Symbols of Hope (Healing aura + buffs)

·Multistrike (Utility/filler DPS)

Optional: Holy Aura for additional fire damage and defensive scaling. Take nodes like Firestorm, Rahyeh's Fury, Redemption, and Shelter from the Storm.

Sentinel Leveling Gear Guide

Leveling Sentinel doesn't require specific uniques, but proper affix prioritization makes your journey smoother.

Key Item Slots & Priorities

·Weapon (Axe preferred) → Look for implicit melee damage and chance to bleed.

·Amulet (Jade Amulet) → Damage implicit, scales well with melee attacks.

·Helmet → Prioritize physical damage implicit.

·Rings (Silver Rings) → Movement speed and healing effectiveness.

·Body Armor → Armor implicit, stack health + vitality where possible.

·Boots → Movement speed, vitality, and health.

·Relic → Flat health rolls.

·Shield → Prioritize healing effectiveness and armor.

Tip: You can use Last Epoch gold to purchase items. If your Last Epoch gold is not enough, please go to eld.gg to buy Last Epoch gold.

Notable Early Crafting Affixes

·Increased melee damage

·Added fire/physical damage to melee attacks

·Healing effectiveness (synergizes with Judgement and Healing Hands)

·Vitality + Health

·Movement speed

Even with basic rares, these affixes are enough to cruise through the campaign.

Best Sentinel Mastery for Leveling (Season 3)

The Sentinel has three Masteries: Paladin, Void Knight, and Forge Guard. While each has strong endgame builds, the best leveling Mastery in Season 3 is Paladin.

Why Paladin?

·Grants Judgement, Symbols of Hope, and Healing Hands - core leveling skills.

·Natural synergy with fire conversion + healing effectiveness.

·Strong mix of damage, sustain, and defenses for campaign play.

Paladin Passive Progression

·Defiance + Honor (early tankiness and damage)

·Heaven's Bulwark - Shield scaling and armor boost

·Holy Icon - Spell damage per active buff (great for Judgement scaling)

·Righteous Firebrand - Fire damage scaling

·Covenant of Light - Healing effectiveness

·Sanctuary Guardian (5 points) - Armor + endurance threshold

·Shield Wall (4 points) - Defensive uptime

Additional Passive Allocation (Other Sentinel Trees)

Forge Guard (Secondary Tree)

·Weapon Master (5 points) → Extra melee damage

·Iron Resilience → Armor scaling

Base Sentinel Tree

·Juggernaut (maxed) → Core defensive node

·Armor Clad (5 points) → Flat damage reduction

·Time and Faith (5 points) → Sustain via healing and mana restore

·Fearless (1 point) + Stalwart (1 point) → Early defensive picks

This allocation ensures a balanced mix of offense and tankiness while leveling.

Leveling Playstyle & Tips

The Sentinel's gameplay flow during the campaign is both simple and effective:

1. Use Lunge to initiate fights and close gaps.

2. Spam Rive in early levels for both damage and sustain.

3. Transition into Judgement once unlocked-use it as your main bossing and pack-clearing tool.

4. Keep Symbols of Hope up for passive healing and buffs.

5. Use Healing Hands (triggered via Rive) and Holy Aura (optional) to further enhance survivability.

This loop makes campaign progression fast, with minimal downtime between packs and excellent sustain in longer fights.

Strengths & Weaknesses of Sentinel Leveling

Strengths

·Extremely beginner-friendly

·Natural durability with high armor scaling

·Strong healing sustains throughout the campaign

·Fast clear speeds with Judgement + Lunge combo

·Low gear dependency

Weaknesses

·Early Hammer Throw feels weak before transitioning into Rive

·Slower than ranged classes in Act 1-2

·Needs investment in cooldown reduction later for smoother Judgement spam

Final Thoughts

The Sentinel leveling build in Last Epoch Season 3 is one of the most comfortable and beginner-friendly ways to experience the campaign. By starting with Hammer Throw and Rive, transitioning into Judgement, and fully committing to the Paladin Mastery, you'll enjoy a smooth progression into endgame.

With excellent sustain, near-unkillable defenses, and powerful melee scaling, the Sentinel remains a top-tier leveling option for new and returning players alike.

Once you finish the campaign, you'll already have a strong foundation to pivot into various endgame Paladin builds-from Judgement Paladin nukes to support-healing fire auras.

If your goal is to level quickly and comfortably while learning Last Epoch's mechanics, the Paladin Sentinel is the perfect choice in Season 3.