After GGG’s reveal, Martial Artist ascendency looks like it combines all the best things that "melee" and Monk subclass have to offer. Just the bonuses from Way of the Stonefist are looking good enough to consider Martial Artist a strongest Monk ascendency. So I will share Ronarray’s Martial Artist Complete Leveling Build Guide with you.
Martial Artist Monk Mechanism
Martial Artist improves defenses with 5 additional rune slots or ES Recharge from Martial Adept. Also, Deflect is getting a BIG buff in 0.5 together with general evasion improvements (15% on gear in endgame bases), which buffs the build even further.
Martial Artist Monk can work with a great variety of skills, but for the Main setup, we will use Whirling Assault as a main skill together with Trinity to improve the damage significantly. Whirling Assault also synergizes great with Bells, boosting the damage further.
Since Power Charge Generation is much easier now than before, we can also use Falling Thunder + Charged Staff to offset the charges consistently. And as a final touch, Herald of Ice will provide satisfying explosions across the whole screen!
To melt bosses, we can also use a combination of Tempest Bell from Martial Artist nodes, Mantra of Destruction, and Falling Thunder + Culmination II. And since we have a lot of free charges, we can also add Rend to the second weapon slot for a huge 50% damage buff when we need it.
Pros and Cons
Pros
Great Clear with huge AoE + Explosions
Solid Bossing Potential
Looks Fun and Fresh
Tanky with buffed Deflect
Cons
Some Charges Management
Build Variants
In this guide, I will show the level 1-23 version and the early endgame version. There are also Act 3-6 versions and so on. You can watch Ronarray’s written guide to see more details if you need.
Level 1-23
In 0.5, the early leveling for Monk is easier with Spear and Twister. To get the Spear + a skill gem early, you can create a Huntress and drop Spear + Spear from her into your stash to use at your Monk Character. To maximize DPs - use Whirling Slash 3 times and Twister right after.
Equipment
-
- Ironhead Spear
- Iron Ring
- Azure Amulet
- Wrapped Sandals
At the Early Lvls, just focus on upgrading your Spear and use any pieces of gear you can find in PoE 2, perfectly preparing higher Evasion / Energy Shield Hybrid gear for lvl 22+ Swap. Iron Ring with rolled damage can help you with DPS, so try to get them at lower levels.
Skill Gems
We are going to start with Spear for a better early leveling experience. To get Spear + gems at level 1, just create a Huntress character and drop both gems + Spear into the stash. Do not level up Herald of Ash higher than Lvl 4.
❗IMPORTANT:
Use the following combo to deal proper damage:
-
- x3 Whirling Slash -> Twister -> Repeat
- Using Whirling Slash 3 times before Twister will allow you to get more wind from a single Twister cast and will improve your DPs significantly.
- After you get Ice-Tipped Arrows, replace Prolonged Duration I support with Frost Nexus in the Twister setup.
Early Game Supports
The first support you get should be Rage I, which you will use for Whirling Slash. After that, get Retreat I for Twister. Full priority: Rage I > Retreat I > Rapid Attacks I > Prolonged Duration I > Magnified Area I
Clear
You can use Whirling Slash to move around and use Twister occasionally to clear monsters.
Single target for Bosses and Rares
You can use a combo of Parry + Fangs of Frost at bosses to improve your damage; pretty often, it is not even needed. It will be replaced by Ice-Tipped Arrows + Frost Nexus at gem level 5.
Early Endgame
This is an aspirational version for Early T15+ Whirling Assault Endgame.
Equipment
Quarterstaff
For Quaterstaff we can use Double or Triple elemental version, so prefixes should contain 2 or 3 flat stats with elemental damage, most of the time Fire and Cold is in the priority. Last prefix could be elemental stat as well, or just "increased Elemental Damage with Attacks". As Suffixes, Aim to get at least +3 levels to melee skills and some crit chance/crit damage.
What about the Hollow Palm Technique? Hollow Palm can be a solid option even in the endgame, but it will require more testing to confirm it can beat the staff. Equip any Talisman (like Alpha Talisman, for example) in the second weapon slot if you want to use Rend to get a damage buff. It's not necessary, but very helpful.
Gloves
Since Martial Artist Monk build can use Way of the Stonefist, it is pretty important to roll the gloves for some particular stats. Perfectly, we will need to have Flat Physical Damage to attacks + 2 Flat Elemental Damage to Attacks (cold, fire, and Lightning) as prefixes, so Way of the Stonefist will give us Damage as Extra for Each.
Getting Arcane Surge on Crit (It is a Desecrated Modifier) is also pretty important because it will be transformed to Power Charges on Crit, which will make generation much easier!
Body Armour
-
-
- Get a Hybrid Sleek Jacket with base Evasion / Energy Shield as high as you can.
- Deflection % as a suffix is recommended; if you don’t have it on the body, get one on boots.
- Rest is just resistance.
-
Amulet
❗Important: You will need to get at least 60 Spirit on your Amulet to use all auras. If you don’t have enough, drop Herald of Ash.
-
-
- + 3 melee skills for more damage is very good to have
- Defensive stats like Global Defences, More ES from Body, and increased Maximum ES
- Instill Subterfuge Mask (it is nerfed, but still provides good upside)
-
Rings
-
-
- Focus on getting as much damage from attacks on the rings as you can
- MANA Leech is nice to have on one of the rings to feel better with the mana situation
- Take Resistances to the cap
-
Belt
For the belt, I recommend using Shavronne's Satchel. It is the best option for CI or ES based builds because, in combination with instant Life Flask or with Olroth's Resolve, it can regenerate your energy shield with flask spam.
❗IMPORTANT: For Shavronne's Satchel to work properly, your flask should have an Instant recovery modifier.
Headhunter is another belt option, but since it can be expensive, go for it only in the Uber Endgame version.
Jewel Stats
-
-
- Rares Jewels: Maximum Energy Shield + Critical damage bonus is the main goal there.
- At least 1 jewel should also have "recover 2% of Maximum Mana on Kill".
- Elemental Damage % is also a nice addition.
- For Heart of the Well: you NEED Damage as Extra Cold + Any other extra, Other 2 sats can be stun threshold related.
-
Skill Gems
1. Charged Staff (Level 21)
Prolonged Duration II - Blazing Critical - Innervate - Bhatair's Vengeance – Freeze
2. Whirling Assault
Rage III - Efficiency II - Pinpoint Critical - Blindside - Rigwald's Ferocity
3. Mantra of Destruction (Level 20)
Chaos Mastery - Prolonged Duration II - Ailith's Chimes - Charge Profusion II - Delayed Gratification
4. Trinity
Fire Mastery
5. Herald of Ice
Magnified Area II - Uul-Netol's Embrace - Armour Explosion - Uruk's Smelting
6. Falling Thunder
Culmination II - Ricochet II - Fist of War III - Nova Projectiles I - Pinpoint Critical
7. Wind Dancer (Level 7)
Maim
8. Tempest Bell
Magnified Area II - Ancestral Call II - Elemental Armament II - Durability - Close Combat II
9. Rend
Prolonged Duration II - Perpetual Charge
10. Hollow Focus (Level 20)
Blind II - Oisin's Oath - Magnified Area II - Cooldown Recovery II - Close Combat II
11. Hollow Resonance
Magnified Area II - Cooldown Recovery II - Blind II - Stun II
Final Thoughts
The Martial Artist is one of the most satisfying melee league starters in PoE 2 Patch 0.5, offering a perfect blend of speed, power, and mechanical depth. With this guide, you can comfortably progress from Act 1 to T15 maps on a fresh league start without relying on expensive gear.
