Use your favourite features in-game with our Desktop App

PoE 2 Build

[0.5] One-Shot Falling Thunder/Flicker Monk - Uber Endgame to Starter Build Guide

Monk

Invoker

Creator

Starter

End Game

0.5 RotA

By FGKorbyn21

Updated on May 25, 2026

May 25, 2026

Build Overview

Here's my guide for my Falling Thunder/Flicker Invoker League Starter and Endgame Build for Patch 0.5!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

🚨Work in Progress, be sure to come by the Twitch Stream for the Newest Skill Tree and Gems as I'm changing it to test new things!🚨

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

🚨I've included a League Starter Leveling Guide, Early Mapping Guide, and Endgame Guide to cover your run on Monk from Start to Finish. Click the appropriate Tab for Gear and the Passive Tree🚨

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We use Whirling Assault to clear packs and kick off our Power Charge Generation. We'll use Cast on Critical with a Low Level Profane Ritual to generate Power Charges when mapping to fuel either/both Falling Thunder and/or Flicker Strike for our main clearing skills.

Power Charges in Boss fights come from Mantra of Destruction + Ailith's Chimes. Build up 20 Combo on a NON Quality Mantra of Destruction + Delayed Gratification, use the skill to expend the combo to gain charges thanks to Ailith's Chimes.

Falling Thunder will use Nova Projectiles which no longer has the 40% Less Damage line on it. This means we'll be able to clear in a 360° circle without the damage reduction. This is HUGE for clear speed and allows us to clear giants packs of monsters very quickly.

Flicker Strike also becomes usable thanks to the INSANE amount of Power Charges we generate with Cast on Critical, Profane Ritual, and the newly buffed The Soul Springs Eternal which now has "Meta Skills have 50% increased Spirit Reservation Efficiency." This reduces the cost ofCast on Critical!

Our Single Target DPS is taken care of by Falling Thunder or Flicker Strike. We generate Power Charges in Boss Fights using Ailith's Chimes and Culmination II. We'll mix in Mantra of Destruction for 71% Extra Damage as Chaos, Elemental Conflux for 74% More Fire/Cold/Lightning Damage, and an optional Powertread Boot Swap on Ubers to ONE SHOT UBER PINNACLE BOSSES!

Currently we have 6.5K ES, 75% Evasion, and 70% Deflect. We'll use Chaos Inoculation to be Immune to Chaos damage and use Shavronne's Satchel + Ultimate Life Flask with Instant Recovery to Heal our Energy Shield on demand!

Permanent Buff's From Act Rewards Recommendations:

Valley of the Titans

- +30% increased Charm Charges

The Venom Crypts

- +25% increased Stun Threshold

Halls of the Dead

- +5% Lightning Resistance
- +5% Cold Resistance
- +5% Fire Resistance

Goddess Of Justice

+30% Increased Life Recovery from Flasks

The Seven Pillars

+5% to all Elemental Resistances (Interchangeable)
15% Increased Global Defenses (Interchangeable)

Strengths and Weaknesses

One Shot Bosses
Insane Clear Speed
Chaos Inoculation
TONS of ES/EV/Deflect
360° Clear

Melee is Tougher League Start
Riskier Playstyle (Skill Diff)

Build Variants

Giga Endgame Variant (High Investment)

Uber Endgame Variant (Chaos Inoculation)

Endgame Variant (Chaos Inoculation)

Early Endgame Variant (Pre CI)

Act 1

Act 1 (Crossbow Variant)

Act 2

Act 2 (Crossbow Variant)

Act 3

Act 4

Interlude Acts

This Variant will swap to Whirling Assault as its INSANE this patch for leveling with Quarterstaff. This plus Charged Staff and/or Shattering Palm is amazing for clear speed. Whirling Assault + Tempest Bell also melts bosses with ease!

We'll use Killing Palm to generate Power Charges when mapping. This is used to fuel Charged Staff for the Added Lightning Damage to activate Herald of Thunder. We'll use Mana Remnants to sustain all of our Mana as well.

Equipment

Giga Endgame Variant (High Investment)

Uber Endgame Variant (Chaos Inoculation)

Endgame Variant (Chaos Inoculation)

Early Endgame Variant (Pre CI)

Act 1

Act 1 (Crossbow Variant)

Act 2

Act 2 (Crossbow Variant)

Act 3

Act 4

Interlude Acts

Set 1

Set 2

Equipment Priority

Quarterstaff: (IF NOT Hollow Palm Technique)

Go for a High DPS QStaff, Physical is best but any damage helps early on. The most important stats are going to be Added or % Increased Damage, Attack Speed, and Level of Melee Skill if you can handle the Mana consumption. Socket in any runs that Add Damage to Attacks if you come across them.

Body Armor:

An EV/ES, EV, or ES Body Armor will work. Go for Maximum Life to bolster your survivability, Attributes, and any Resistances that you can get.

Gloves:

An EV/ES, EV, or ES pair of Gloves will work. Go for Maximum Life, Attack Speed, Attributes, and any Resistances that you can get.

Helmet:

An EV/ES, EV, or ES Helmet will work. Go for Maximum Life, Attributes, and any Resistances that you can get.

Boots:

An EV/ES, EV, or ES pair of Boots will work. Go for Movement Speed, Maximum Life, and any Resistances that you can get.

Amulet:

Any Amulet early on works but I would prefer either Stellar Amulet, Crimson Amulet, or Lunar Amulet. Go for Maximum Life, Maximum Energy Shield, Attributes, and any Resistances that you can get. Level of Melee Skill is an option if you can handle the Mana consumption.

Rings:

Getting Flat Damage of any type is important for a DPS increase, I combo this with a % Increased Elemental Damage Prefix to make sure I get the damage I want. Other good stats are Maximum Life, Attributes, and any Resistances that you can get.

Use the Rings to fill out any missing Resistances and increase needed Stats.

Act 1 Leveling Unique's:

Innsmouth for Mana Regeneration, Foxshade for Movement Speed, Luminous Pace for Movement Speed, The Everlasting Gaze for Mana and Defense, Northpaw for Damage, Wanderlust for Movement Speed, Blackheart for Damage, Meginord's Girdle for STR and Life, Goldrim for Resistances, Surefooted Sigil for Dodge Roll Distance, Greymake for Attributes, Crown of the Victor for Damage, Levinstone for Lightning Damage, Revered Resin for STR and Life, Ghostwrithe for Energy Shield, Horns of Bynden for STR and Rage, Wings of Caelyn for DEX and Rage, Pillar of the Caged God for Damage, Matsya for Damage, Grip of Winter for Damage, and Erian's Cobble for EVERYTHING.

Act 2 Leveling Unique's:

Astramentis for Attributes, Thrillsteel for Onslaught, Death Rush for Onslaught, Enfolding Dawn for Spirit and Resistances, Radiant Grief for Free Damage

Act 3 Leveling Unique's:

Polcirkeln for Clear, Atsak's Sight for Critical Hit Chance, Hand of Wisdom and Action for Attack Speed

Skill Gems

Giga Endgame Variant (High Investment)

Uber Endgame Variant (Chaos Inoculation)

Endgame Variant (Chaos Inoculation)

Early Endgame Variant (Pre CI)

Act 1

Act 1 (Crossbow Variant)

Act 2

Act 2 (Crossbow Variant)

Act 3

Act 4

Interlude Acts

Support Gem Requirements:

Str 45

Dex 35

Int 35

Whirling Assault

Level 11

Tempest Bell

Level 11

Killing Palm

Level 11

Falling Thunder

Level 11

Shattering Palm

Level 11

Charged Staff

Level 11

Herald of Thunder

Level 11

Mana Remnants

Level 11

You'll use Tempest Flurry as your main attack UNTIL YOU UNLOCK Whirling Assault! This skill is performing extremely well since the new buffs and will carry you.

Use Whirling Assault and Tempest Bell for single target DPS, drop both Bells and you'll shred any boss. You can still use Falling Thunder to clear large packs of enemies when you have 3 Power Charges. Shattering Palm is great for added AOE clear, strike a pack of enemies before using Whirling Assault and they'll explode.

We generate Power Charges either with Killing Palm. Be sure to NOT have Resonance! Use Mana Remnants to fix all Mana issues throughout the campaign and into Endgame.

Once you have Power Charges, you can use Charged Staff to Add Lightning Damage to Attacks and have a Shockwave when you Attack. This is great for activating Herald of Thunder and getting a lot more DPS out of Staff. The Added Lightning Damage to Attacks does NOT apply if using Hollow Palm Technique! Only the Shockwave!

Herald of Ice is for a clear speed boost with Ice Strike, optionally Herald of Thunder is for a clear speed boost with Whirling Assault or Tempest Flurry. If you decide to not use this skill then go with Wind Dancer for Defense.

Socket Priority -> Whirling Assault -> Charged Staff -> Falling Thunder -> Anything Else (Save Greater and Perfect Jewelers for later)

Quality Priority -> Whirling Assault -> Charged Staff -> Falling Thunder -> Herald of Thunder -> Anything Else (Save Gemcutter Prism for later)

Passive Tree

Giga Endgame Variant (High Investment)

Uber Endgame Variant (Chaos Inoculation)

Endgame Variant (Chaos Inoculation)

Early Endgame Variant (Pre CI)

Act 1

Act 1 (Crossbow Variant)

Act 2

Act 2 (Crossbow Variant)

Act 3

Act 4

Interlude Acts

main:

123

set 1:

set 2:

Work in Progress, be sure to come by the Twitch Stream for the Newest Skill Tree as I'm changing it to test new things!

We'll go with Crashing Wave to help start building Crit. Life from Death will provide us with some survivability when fighting large packs of enemies. Grab Concussive Attack for a Large DPS Increase.

I then grab Tenfold Attacks for the Attack Speed Boost to help Tempest Flurry. This can be removed once we swap to Whirling Assault since Attack Speed doesn't scale its DPS well.

We'll go with Killer Instinct for Free DPS when at Full Life and Low Life. You can branch down from there to where Hollow Palm Technique will be located, pick this if you want to go that route. I personally skipped it this league! I then go for Mindful Awareness for more Defense.

Echoing Frost and Echoing Thunder are really strong Elemental Damage Increases when League Starting to Increase our DPS.

I'll grab Crit nodes like True Strike and Deadly Force to start bringing our Critical Hit Chance up for a good DPS boost.

The First Set of Ascendancy Points will be I am the Thunder... if using Tempest Flurry or Falling Thunder. I'd then start going for Crit and using Sunder my Enemies....

Quest Rewards

Check which quests you’ve completed on your character

Clearfell — Beira of the Rotten Pack

Not Specified1 choice

Hunting Grounds — The Crowbell

Not Specified1 choice

Freythorn — The King in the Mists

Not Specified1 choice

Ogham Farmlands — Una's Hut

Not Specified1 choice

Ogham Manor — Candlemass, the Living Rite

Not Specified1 choice

Keth — Kabala, Constrictor Queen

Not Specified1 choice

Valley of the Titans — Medallion

Not Specified2 choices

Deshar — Final Letter

Not Specified1 choice

The Spires of Deshar — Sisters of Garukhan

Not Specified1 choice

Jungle Ruins — Mighty Silverfist

Not Specified1 choice

The Venom Crypts — Venom Draught

Not Specified3 choices

Jiquani's Machinarium — Blackjaw, the Remnant

Not Specified1 choice

The Azak Bog — Ignagduk, the Bog Witch

Not Specified1 choice

The Molten Vault — The Molten Vault

Not Specified1 choice

Aggorat — Blood Sacrifice

Not Specified1 choice

Journey's End — Captain Hartlin

Not Specified1 choice

Eye of Hinekora — Navali's Rest

Not Specified1 choice

Halls of the Dead — Yama The White

Not Specified1 choice

Halls of the Dead — Tawhoa's Test

Not Specified2 choices

Abandoned Prison — Goddess of Justice

Not Specified2 choices

Halls of the Dead — Tasalio's Test

Not Specified2 choices

Halls of the Dead — Ngamahu's Test

Not Specified2 choices

Wolvenhold — Oswin, the Dread Warden

Not Specified1 choice

The Khari Crossing — Akthi and Anundr

Not Specified1 choice

The Khari Crossing — Molten Shrine

Not Specified1 choice

Qimah — Tabana's Pillar

Not Specified7 choices

Kriar Village — Lythara, the Wayward Spear

Not Specified1 choice

Howling Caves — The Abominable Yeti

Not Specified1 choice

How it Plays

Watch YouTube Video!

How it Works

Watch YouTube Video!

Changelog

5-22-25 - Survived the 0.5 Patch Notes. Build still works fine

12-30-25- Added New Giga Investment version, updated other versions, added new video, added new PoB File, updated some text

12-23-25- Updated anoint section

12-22-25 - Added Uber Endgame Variant, updated build video and PoB File. Added some flavor text here and there.

12-19-25 - Updated ALL Variants to include build changes. Added new text, support/skill gems, reworked tree, and updated leveling variants. PoB file added but is subject to change, follow planner if you don't know what you're doing.

12-14-25 - Updated Variants to match 0.4 Changes, more changes to come as I progress

12-10-25 - Updated YouTube Video to latest, updated leveling variants and improved text descriptions

12-8-25 - Updated all Variants due to 0.4 Patch Notes. More Changes to come once we get the new Skill Tree

12-2-25 - Updated text and items to improve clarity

9-17-25- Fixed incorrect import on gloves

9-16-25- Added Link to Crafting Perfect +3 Level of Melee Amulet for Build, Added Heart of the Well since UI support for it was added, updated Gear to match the new Crafts that I've made, Updated Skill Tree to match new changes

9-14-25 - Fixed some wording and mistype's

9-11-25 - Updated to include Darkness Enthroned and Thunderfist since UI support for it was added. Variants updated to match newest YT Video and PoB File.

9-9-25 - Added Uber Endgame Variant and Early Mapping Variant. Updated all prior variants to match changes to Support Gems and Passive Tree. Added Section for Belts and Jewels. Added better Description to gear for Endgame Variants. Updated PoB File Link.

9-5-25 - Updated Endgame Variant to match changes from Twitch Testing

9-2-25 - Updated Endgame Variant to One Shot Falling Thunder Build

8-30-25 - Updated Passive Tree to match what we're following in the live build. Will continue to update as I play through

8-30-25 - Updated Support gems to match new changes, will continue to update as I make changes