The launch of Last Epoch 1.0 has been met with tremendous excitement, bringing in a massive influx of players eager to dive into the world of Eterra. However, this overwhelming popularity has presented some initial challenges regarding server stability. If you’re experiencing issues connecting or playing online, you’re not alone. This article provides the latest updates on the Last Epoch Server Status, keeping you informed about ongoing maintenance, known issues, and temporary workarounds to ensure you can get back to slaying monsters as smoothly as possible.
Current Server Status and Ongoing Issues
Since the initial launch, the developers have been actively monitoring and working tirelessly to address server instability issues. The primary challenges have revolved around handling the unexpectedly high player volume, which has strained matchmaking services and caused various connectivity problems. Here’s a breakdown of the key issues players have been encountering and the team’s efforts to resolve them:
Matchmaking Overload and Scene Transition Problems
The initial surge of players heavily impacted the matchmaking system, leading to slow or failed scene transitions, particularly in town zones. This issue also extended to the initial login process, as loading into the game also involves scene transitions. The development team quickly identified this bottleneck and focused on scaling the matchmaking infrastructure to accommodate the massive player count.
Updates on Matchmaking Stability:
- Initial Response (around Feb 21st – 22nd): The team acknowledged the “humbling” volume of requests hitting the matchmaking services and immediately began working on stabilization. This included deploying launch arguments for full offline mode as a temporary alternative for players wanting to avoid online issues.
- Web API Service Failures (around Feb 22nd): A critical web API service responsible for matchmaking experienced failures, further disrupting login and scene transitions. Restarting this service became a priority.
- Stability Improvements and Monitoring (Feb 22nd – 23rd): While progress was made in stabilizing matchmaking, fluctuations and intermittent issues like LE-61 errors persisted. The team continued to monitor the situation closely and deploy further backend improvements.
- Transition Time Issues (Feb 23rd – 24th): Even as stability improved, longer than expected scene transition times remained a concern. Investigations pointed towards logging processes as a potential cause, leading to further diagnostic efforts and service deployments.
- Event Matchmaking Service Updates (Feb 24th): Deployments specifically targeted at the event matchmaking service were implemented to potentially enhance scene transition speeds.
- Web Matchmaking API Issues Reoccur (Feb 24th): The web matchmaking API experienced another failure, causing infinite loading screens. The team swiftly worked to stabilize it once again.
Character Selection and Login Difficulties
Some players reported encountering a blank character selection screen upon login. This issue was addressed with a client build aimed at resolving this visual bug. A temporary workaround was identified: restarting the game client could often resolve the blank character selection screen before the patch deployment.
Updates on Login and Character Selection:
- Character Selection Hotfix (around Feb 22nd): A hotfix was deployed to address the blank character selection issue, particularly when selecting “Cycle” from the modal. This update also enabled notifications on the login screen.
- Addressing Character Select Screen Stucks (around Feb 25th): Backend deployments were conducted specifically to tackle instances where players were getting stuck at the character select screen.
EU West Server Issues and Region Selection
Players choosing EU West servers during login were sometimes being incorrectly placed on US Central servers. This region-specific issue was identified and addressed with a backend deployment.
Updates on EU West Server Region:
- EU West Server Fix (Feb 28th): A backend deployment specifically targeted the EU West server issue, ensuring players selecting EU West were correctly placed in that region. Players still experiencing this were advised to reload and submit in-game bug reports if the problem persisted.
Party Play and Group Transition Problems
While solo play experience saw improvements, party play introduced new challenges. Players in parties sometimes found themselves arriving at different scenes after transitioning zones, and LE-61 errors were also encountered by parties.
Updates on Party Play Stability:
- Party Transition Fixes (around Feb 24th): Updates were deployed to improve transition times for all players, with a focus on solo play initially. However, the issue of party members arriving at different scenes was acknowledged and slated for immediate resolution. A temporary workaround was suggested: one player loads into the new zone, and party members teleport to them.
- LE-61 Error Fix for Parties (around Feb 25th): A potential fix for the LE-61 errors specifically affecting parties was in development and included in backend changes aimed at improving transition times.
Temporary Workarounds and Solutions
While the development team continues to work on permanent fixes, several temporary workarounds can help you play Last Epoch with fewer interruptions:
- Full Offline Mode: For players primarily interested in single-player gameplay, Last Epoch offers a robust Full Offline Mode. This mode bypasses the online server issues entirely.
- Accessing Offline Mode:
- Right-click on Last Epoch in your Steam library.
- Select “Properties.”
- In the “General” tab, find the “Launch Options” section.
- Use the dropdown menu to choose “Launch Last Epoch in Full Offline Mode” or “Ask me every time I launch the game.”
- Offline Mode Features & Limitations:
- Bug Report and Support Ticket buttons are removed.
- Chat item linking is disabled.
- Region Selection dropdown is unavailable.
- Online character tab is hidden.
- Returning to the Landing Zone page after selecting “Play Offline” is not possible.
- Switching between Offline and Online modes requires a full game restart.
- Accessing Offline Mode:
- Restart Your Game Client: For various issues, including blank character selection screens or prolonged loading times, restarting the Last Epoch client can often resolve temporary glitches and reconnect you to a more stable server instance.
- Patience and Persistence: During periods of high server load, connecting to online services may take multiple attempts. If you encounter “online play unavailable” messages, it doesn’t necessarily mean the servers are down. Keep trying to connect, as it might just require more than one attempt to be assigned a game server.
- Report In-Game Bugs: If you encounter specific errors or issues, especially region-related problems like the EU West server placement, submitting in-game bug reports is incredibly helpful for the development team to identify and address problems quickly.
Looking Ahead: Continued Improvements and Stability
The developers are committed to enhancing the online experience in Last Epoch. They are actively deploying updates, scaling infrastructure, and working with service providers to diagnose and resolve the root causes of the server instability. Judd, from the Last Epoch team, has personally apologized for the launch issues, acknowledging that while they anticipated high player volume, the reality exceeded expectations.
The team is planning a post-mortem to analyze the launch issues and implement preventative measures for future updates and content releases. They are also preparing a “thank you” item for players to acknowledge the community’s patience and positive attitude during these initial challenges.
Expect continued updates and improvements to server stability throughout the coming days and weeks as the team works diligently to provide a seamless online experience for all Last Epoch players. Keep checking back for the latest Last Epoch server status updates to stay informed.
