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PoE 2 Build

[0.5] Giga Bonk Martial Artist - Flicker / Falling Thunder Monk - League Starter to Endgame

presentationMonk
presentationMartial Artist
End Game
Starter
0.5 RotA
Creator
Updated on Jun 8, 2026
Jun 8, 2026

Build Overview

Here's my guide for my Martial Artist Bell Master League Starter and Endgame Build for Patch 0.5! This is a Work in Progress so expect rapid changes early on! I've included Leveling Variants and Budget Variants, just scroll through the Variants!

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🚨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!🚨

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🚨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🚨

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New Power Charge Tech Here

In the Endgame, we'll use Shattering Palm + Living Lightning II + Culmination II + Ailith's Chimes to generate Power Charges on Hit for FREE! We'll hit a target with Shattering Palm, this will trigger Living Lightning II minions to hit targets and build Combo thanks to the Martial Master node. This combo is then consumed by Ailith's Chimes for Power Charges. Simply enter map, press Shattering Palm a couple times and you have Charges!

Pick your favorite mapping skill to pair with this build! I suggest either Flicker Strike, Falling Thunder + Nova Projectiles I, or Whirling Assault + Tribal Fury. All are effective, just down to preference. I'll be using a hybrid of Flicker Strike + Falling Thunder.

The new Way of the Stonefist Ascendancy Node will allow our Gloves to be transformed into new and stronger versions of themselves! This will provide things like Explode Corpses for Damage, Onslaught on Hit, + to Crit Chance, and More!

We'll also use Martial Adept + Martial Master to build up Combo from ALL our hits and twice as fast. For every 1 Combo we consume, we reduce our Energy Shield Recharge Rate by 0.2 seconds, so 10 combo consumed = -2 seconds before ES Recharge starts. We spam Combo skill so CONSTANT ES recharge!

Our Defenses were Buffed in 0.5 with Deflection and Evasion getting some MASSIVE improvements. We'll be around 7K Energy Shield, 80% Evasion, and 95% Deflect on top of Chaos Immunity with Chaos Inoculation and Instant ES recovery with Shavronne's Satchel + Ultimate Life Flask with Instant Recovery.

Filter's I use (Shoutout Mr9Lives) - Here

Act 1 Regex - "i.+mov|^ad.*ph.*da|^\d.*ph.*da|^\+.*ills$|lacquered|studded|co.+res"

Act 2 Regex - "li.+res|^\+.*ills$|i.+mov|nymph's|o-wisp's|sylph's|\d [cfl].+da"

Act 3 Regex - "i.+mov|resi|^\+.*ills$|\d [cfl].+da|nymph's|sylph's|cherub's"

Act 4 Regex - "i.+mov|resi|^\+.*ills$|\d [cfl].+da|^\d.*ph.*da|^ad.*ph.*da|nymph's|sylph's|cherub's"

Strengths and Weaknesses

  • Nuke Bosses
  • Insane Clear Speed
  • Flexible Skill Choices
  • Flashy
  • Tougher League Start
  • Riskier Playstyle (Skill Diff, just lock in)
  • Squishy until CI

Build Variants

Please Read, Monk is not a braindead 1 Button Build for the most part. Lack of reading will make this a painful experience.....

New Power Charge Tech Here

This variant will start transitioning into the Endgame Variant by scaling our Critical Hit Chance towards 100% and getting our Auto-Power Charge Generation online with Ailith's Chimes.

We'll use Shattering Palm + Living Lightning II + Culmination II + Ailith's Chimes to generate Power Charges on Hit for FREE! We'll hit a target with Shattering Palm, this will trigger Living Lightning II minions to hit targets and build Combo thanks to the Martial Master node. This combo is then consumed by Ailith's Chimes for Power Charges. Simply enter map, press Shattering Palm a couple times and you have Charges!

We'll also be swapping from a Physical Staff to a Elemental Staff as this will make it easier to proc Herald of Thunder and eventually Herald of Ice. We'll re-spec our Ascendancy once we get Ailith's Chimes so we no longer need the Hollow Focus Bells for Power Chargees.

Once we have the Power Charge Generation, we can start using Falling Thunder / Flicker Strike in mapping and bossing. YOU MUST HAVE either Ailith's Chimes!

Take the 30% EV/ES/AR Shark Fin Reward in Act 4!

Equipment

item
1
item
6
item
4
item
3
item
9
item
5
item
1
item
2
item
7
item
8
item
item
item
item
item
Equipment Priority
+9

Quarterstaff:

DO NOT BUY THE Dreaming Quarterstaff !!!!!! This is a 0% Critical Hit Chance Base and will destroy your DPS!!!!

You'll want to swap to a Elemental Damage Staff around this time as we'll need our Herald of Thunder and eventually Herald of Ice to increase our mapping speed. You'll want to aim for a Lightning / Phys, Lightning / Cold, or Lightning / Cold / Fire staff. All work well but I'd prefer more Lightning than anything.

Any Added Damage to Attacks, + Level of Melee, +% to Critical Hit Chance are also nice. Damage type priority: Lightning -> Cold -> Phys -> Fire

I'll use 2 Soul Core of Topotante to give us 30% Elemental Penetration. This combined with Hand of Chayula + Elemental Weakness should handle all Elemental Resistances on Bosses / Pinnacles

Body Armor:

Take any Armor with Maximum Life and + / % EV/ES first, then start worrying about Resistances and Attributes. % of Evasion as Deflection is really solid early on for a potential 40% Damage Reduction. This will be the largest source of EV/ES so make sure to have a solid Body Armor.

We'll be swapping to Forgotten Warden once you can drop one or buy one. Very common drop and currently 20 Exalted Orbs on the trade site.

Gloves:

This is one of the most important pieces of our build now thanks to Way of the Stonefist.

Added Damage -> Gain Extra Damage as ____ - Increased Crit Bonus -> + to Base Crit Chance (Massive Increase) - +2 Level of Melee -> +1 Level of Melee & 10% to All Skill Quality - Arcane Surge on Crit (Abyss Mod) -> Power Charge on Crit - And Much More!

Go for Flat Damage, +2 Level of Melee Skill, Increased Critical Hit Chance, Arcane Surge on Crit (Abyss Mod), and any other needed Attributes / Resistances

The Glove slot can now provide nearly the same Defenses as a Body Armor, the reveal showed a pair of Gloves with 1100 EV and 350 ES which is INSANE!

Helmet:

They nerfed Subterfuge Mask so no more Pure ES Helmet!

We'll be going hybrid EV/ES with Maximum Life. Make sure to get any needed Resistances and Attributes. Deflection is also very good if you can get it.

Boots:

Take any Boots with 25-30% Movement Speed as this will allow you to move through zones quicker and just make your QoL better.

Try to get Maximum Life alongside some Resistances and Attributes. % of Evasion as Deflection is really solid early on for a potential 40% Damage Reduction.

Amulet:

Go for Increased Evasion Rating, Increased Global Defenses, Increased Maximum Energy Shield, Level of Melee Skill, Critical Hit Chance, and any needed Resistances and Attributes.

Anoint anything cheap that'll give an Offensive or Defensive boost.

Rings:

Take any Rings with Added Damage to Attacks, this will be one of our biggest DPS sources so any early on will make your Melee League Start experience a bit easier.

Any extra Maximum Life, Resistances, Attributes, etc... are going to be helpful early on. I'd say focus on Flat Damage the most though.

Anoint anything cheap to increase our Offense or Defense.

Belt:

Take any Belt you can get that has solid Maximum Life, Resistances, and Attributes. Things like Life Flask Recovery Rate are very slept on and turn your Flask into near instant heals so look out for that if you can!

Start looking at the prices for Shavronne's Satchel at this is a great belt to use when we swap to Chaos Inoculation!

Skill Gems

Support Gem Requirements:

Str 20

Dex 60

Int 35

1

Falling Thunder

Level 17

supportnovaprojectilesplayer
supportricochetplayertwo
supportculminationplayertwo
supportpinpointcriticalplayer
2

Shattering Palm

Level 17

supportculminationplayertwo
supportailithlineageplayer
supportlivinglightningplayertwo
supportchargeprofusionplayertwo
3

Charged Staff

Level 17

prolongeddurationsupportplayertwo
supportcullingstrikeplayertwo
supportblindplayertwo
supportoisinsoathplayer
4

Hand of Chayula

Level 17

elementalweaknessplayer
freezingmarkplayer
supportmarkofsiphoningplayertwo
prolongeddurationsupportplayertwo
5

Mantra of Destruction

Level 17

supportdelayedgratificationplayer
prolongeddurationsupportplayertwo
supportmobilityplayer
6

Herald of Thunder

Level 17

supportmagnifiedareaplayertwo
supportelementalarmamentplayertwo
supportelementalfocusplayer
7

Wind Dancer

Level 17

supportmagnifiedareaplayertwo
supportmaimplayer
supportblindplayertwo
8

Charge Regulation

Level 17

Gem Priority
+25

Mapping -

New Power Charge Tech Here

We'll use Shattering Palm + Living Lightning II + Culmination II + Ailith's Chimes to generate Power Charges on Hit for FREE! We'll hit a target with Shattering Palm, this will trigger Living Lightning II minions to hit targets and build Combo thanks to the Martial Master node. This combo is then consumed by Ailith's Chimes for Power Charges. Simply enter map, press Shattering Palm a couple times and you have Charges!

Once you have Charges, spam Falling Thunder or Flicker Strike to your hearts content. Feel free to use Mantra of Destruction to boost your Damage whenever needed as well. Remember, once we consume 20 total combo, our ES recharge will start INSTANTLY so spam these combo skills.

Bossing -

Bossing has a lot of options, I'll be using Falling Thunder. Simply walk into the Arena, get Power Charges from the Living Lightning II Tech, buff yourself with Charged Staff, get some more Charges, press Mantra of Destruction and then BONK with Falling Thunder. If whatever you hit lived, hit another Shattering Palm and go again.

Passive Tree

main:
123
123
set 1:
20
20
set 2:
20
20

This tree will start to transition us to what our endgame tree will look like. Make sure to check for what nodes we remove.

We focus on Nodes to Stack Maximum Power Charges like Overflowing Power and The Power Within. You'll need to get our Critical Hit Chance as high as possible with Nodes like Moment of Truth, True Strike, Struck Through, etc...

Stack ES, EV, and Deflection using, Enhanced Reflexes, First Principle of the Hollow, First Teachings of the Keeper, and Mindful Awareness so we have a sufficient Hit Pool when mapping. Build Blind usingDistracted Target to increase our DPS and help cap our Critical Hit Chance out. This will also increase our Evasion Rating and Accuracy against Blinded Targets.

We'll respec to Martial Adept and Martial Master once we hit Level 65 and can equip Ailith's Chimes. This enables near infinite Power Charges! This means we don't need Hollow Focus + Killing Palm anymore.

Atlas Tree

This setup is just what I went for initially, for sure not optimal so pick what you please. Will change once we know more.

Quest Rewards

Check which quests you’ve completed on your character
Clearfell — Beira of the Rotten Pack
+10% to Cold Resistance
Hunting Grounds — The Crowbell
Grants Two Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
Freythorn — The King in the Mists
+30 to Spirit
Ogham Farmlands — Una's Hut
Grants Two Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
Ogham Manor — Candlemass, the Living Rite
+20 to maximum Life
Keth — Kabala, Constrictor Queen
Grants Two Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
Valley of the Titans — Medallion
30% increased Charm Effect Duration
+1 Charm Slot
Deshar — Final Letter
Grants Two Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
The Spires of Deshar — Sisters of Garukhan
+10% to Lightning Resistance
Jungle Ruins — Mighty Silverfist
Grants Two Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
The Venom Crypts — Venom Draught
25% increased Stun Threshold
Jiquani's Machinarium — Blackjaw, the Remnant
+10% to Fire Resistance
The Azak Bog — Ignagduk, the Bog Witch
+30 to Spirit
The Molten Vault — The Molten Vault
Reforging Bench
Aggorat — Blood Sacrifice
Grants Two Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
Journey's End — Captain Hartlin
Two Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
Skill Gem(Lv 13)
Delirium Drop
Eye of Hinekora — Navali's Rest
5% increased Maximum Mana
Halls of the Dead — Yama The White
Grants Two Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
Halls of the Dead — Tawhoa's Test
+5% to Lightning Resistance
Abandoned Prison — Goddess of Justice
30% increased Mana Recovery from Flasks
Halls of the Dead — Tasalio's Test
+5% to Cold Resistance
Halls of the Dead — Ngamahu's Test
+5% to Fire Resistance
Wolvenhold — Oswin, the Dread Warden
Grants Two Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
The Khari Crossing — Akthi and Anundr
Two Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
The Khari Crossing — Molten Shrine
5% increased Maximum Life
Qimah — Tabana's Pillar
+5% to all Elemental Resistances
Kriar Village — Lythara, the Wayward Spear
+40 to Spirit
Howling Caves — The Abominable Yeti
Grants Two Weapon Set Passive Skill Points

Changelog

6/7/26 - Added link to new video, added new Body Armor Forgotten Warden (Cheap and OP). Updated descriptions further and corrected some typos.

6/7/26 - Added new Power Charge Tech which replaces Whirling Assault with Shattering Palm. Check the Tech out! Updated all Endgame variants to match. Added new info for Giga Invest variant revolving around Mageblood. Lots of other minor changes.

6/2/26 - Added new video going over New Power Charge Tech and the new Breachlord's Amalgam Lineage Gem. Updated Variants

6/2/26 - Did major updates to all variants to match the changes we've made due too the testing in 0.5. PoB file removed until I give it a full update, new YT video coming in a day or two to go over newest changes.

Video Guide

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