Broken Oath vs Last Epoch — Which ARPG Fits?

Broken Oath (Steam app 5452900) is a single-player action RPG from Crater Studios, set in the Dwarven Realms universe. It has no release date and no price. A request-access playtest (app 5461470) has been live since 30 October 2026, and the store lists Early Access with a six-to-twelve-month estimate. What you can play now is an alpha, not a launch build.

The pitch is checkable: six classes, skill gems with support gems that change behaviour, a passive tree with notables and keystones, and Ruptures — randomised maps with weather, time of day and eight danger bands, capped by Guardians. Loot runs from magic and rare to red unique and Primal; the Forge uses rune stones found in each land and recipes learned from Edda Ironhand.

Last Epoch is the released comparison: a $34.99 PC ARPG from Eleventh Hour Games, 1.0 on 21 February 2024 after a 2019 Early Access run. It is on patch 1.5.4, and Season 5: Rage of the Frostborn has been live since 1 October 2026. Five base classes ascend into 15 masteries, and the official copy claims 120+ skills, each with its own augment tree.

It is Windows-only on Steam, single-player with online co-op, and carries full controller support and Deck Verified status. The 2026 model is a season drop with a new boss, not a paid expansion; the paid DLC are cosmetic supporter packs.

Last Epoch's build layer starts with commitment. You pick one of five base classes, then a mastery, which the store describes as the point where the class gains specialised abilities and build options. Your equipped skills each have an augment tree, and the official line is 120+ skills with their own trees. A build has a name before it has a plan, and the work is tightening it.

Broken Oath is gem-first. Skills are gems, and support gems link to them and change behaviour; the store's examples are a Cyclone that fires Ember Bolts while channelling, a burning legion, and arrows raining in a chosen element. Beneath that sits a passive tree with notables and keystones, plus Blessings and Curses — Vows for power, Woe on a pack, a mark for the strong. The alpha shows a plan-then-apply tree with paid refunds. Tree size and support count are not published.

Crafting is where the two games talk most directly. Last Epoch's Forge opens anywhere. Shards add a chosen affix or raise an existing affix's tier; runes and glyphs reshape the craft; Forging Potential is a finite budget, and when it runs out the item cannot be altered further. That is deterministic affix targeting with a hard stop, not infinite rerolls. Broken Oath creator Stoic called its Forge “deterministic crafting akin to Last Epoch” — a creator's comparison, not a developer claim. In the alpha the Forge is recipe-driven: Heartblood teaches a maximum Life prefix for free, Ox Brand adds Strength for one Ember and one Heartwood. Materials and recipes are the constraint. Failure cases are unpublished.

Last Epoch's endgame is the Monolith of Fate: alternate timelines, Echoes inside them, and Quest Echoes that let you conquer a timeline and open the next. The Arena is the other pole, endless waves with leaderboards. Seasons reset the ladder and give everyone a fresh start; when a season ends, characters move to Legacy with progress intact. The trade: a clean economy for a character you may not touch again.

A season asks for a new character, not a new account: campaign, mastery, then Monolith until the build clears what you want or hits a wall. Offline changes the calculus. Last Epoch has a True Offline Mode launched from Steam's launch options, and the boundary is one-way: offline characters cannot be transferred online, and online characters cannot be moved offline, because the save structures differ and offline saves are editable.

Broken Oath's endgame is Ruptures: randomised maps across forests, deserts, snow peaks, swamps and the Underrealm, with weather, time of day, eight danger bands and Guardians that gain attacks and phases. The 5 November news announced a weekend push past Rupture Level 150, reset online heroes for a rebuild and left offline characters untouched. That is a test cadence, not a seasonal model. Deeper endgame is on the Early Access plan; its shape is not announced.

So the time ask differs. Last Epoch asks you to accept a reset for the ladder, or stay in Legacy and skip it. Broken Oath asks you to tolerate wipes while the alpha is rebuilt. One is a design choice; the other is a testing schedule.

Last Epoch is not unbeatable; it is finished enough to have a floor. Broken Oath has to clear it in public:

• Breadth with a shape. Fifteen masteries is a lot of build space. Six classes and linked gems match it only if the support pool runs deep.
• A crafting ceiling it is willing to explain. Recipe costs are legible; players still need to know what a craft cannot do, and whether an exhausted item can be reworked.
• Offline terms before launch. Last Epoch's one-way door is documented. Broken Oath's playtest already has offline characters; the retail rule is unannounced.
• An endgame summit. Monolith plus Arena is a spine. Ruptures and Guardians are a good shape; the ladder needs a top.
• Controller and Deck support that actually ships, not just a roadmap line.
• A price and a date.

None of this is a prediction. It is the checklist the next public build has to answer.

This is not a close call on completeness. Last Epoch has a price, a date, a documented endgame and a documented offline mode. Broken Oath has a live alpha, a store page and an Early Access estimate. If you need something to play this week, the released game is the one you can actually play.

The interesting comparison is upstream of release. Both games put the build in the skills and both give the Forge a say in which affix you get. Last Epoch's constraint is a finite budget it explains. Broken Oath's constraint looks like materials and recipes, but the ceiling is still hidden. That is why the gem-link pitch is worth watching and not yet worth ranking.

If you want a settled ARPG with seasons, trade and true offline play, choose Last Epoch. If you want a single-player ARPG with gem links and Rupture runs and you are willing to wait for a date and a price, wishlist Broken Oath and wait.