Experimental affixes in Last Epoch are unique, powerful hybrid modifiers that appear exclusively on Boots, Belts, and Gloves. These affixes cannot be found anywhere else in the game and provide significant bonuses such as damage mitigation, ward gain on kill, increased haste, and other niche but impactful effects Last Epoch Gold.

How to Obtain Experimental Affixes
Experimental items drop from a specific miniboss called the Exiled Mage, who is trapped in Rune Prisons scattered throughout the campaign zones and the Monolith of Fate. Defeating an Exiled Mage guarantees at least one experimental item drop, identifiable by a blue-colored experimental affix. Only gloves, boots, and belts can have experimental affixes, and each item can have only one such affix.

Crafting and Upgrading Experimental Affixes
Once you have an experimental item, you can enhance and manipulate its affixes using special crafting materials:
1. Runes of Research: When socketed into an experimental item, this rune can "seal" the experimental affix into its own slot, freeing up another affix slot for additional modifiers. It also gives a chance to obtain a Glyph of Insight.

2. Glyph of Insight: This crafting tool allows you to forge an experimental affix onto a non-experimental item, provided it has an open prefix slot and is a glove, boot, or belt. The affix you get is deterministic based on the item’s condition value (such as item level) using a modulo operation against the number of experimental affixes available. This means you can predict which experimental affix will be applied.

3. Tier Upgrades: The tier of the experimental affix (up to Tier 5 through crafting) depends on several conditions met before using the Glyph of Insight, including whether the item is Exalted, has high-tier prefixes, sealed affixes, and multiple affixes of the same tier. Higher tiers improve the affix’s power.

Exalted Experimental Items
Experimental items can be upgraded to Exalted rarity if you are in the Circle of Fortune faction and have reached Rank 8. Exalted items retain their color but have higher-tier affix rolls, including Tier 6 and Tier 7 experimental affixes buy Last Epoch Gold, which are the strongest available. These exalted experimental affixes are essential for crafting top-tier gear with experimental bonuses.