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Invoker
MonkI'll be adding a lot more information and making some modifications based on patch notes on May 21st. Will add the later acts as time goes on. May also upload a video as well similar to how GuythatDies structures his.
Enter the zone and immediately start looking for the Mysterious Campsite and open the Abandoned Stash for the LvL 1 Uncut Skill Gem. Ignore Mud Burrow unless you REALLY need the extra Tier 1 Uncut Support Gem. Once you've acquired the Uncut Skill Gem, locate Beira of the Rotten Pack for the 10% Cold Resistance Permanent Buff. The League Mechanic Drop is a Orb of Transmutation which is good early to use on your Weapon. Recommended Level 1-2 when leaving.
Enter the zone and immediately start looking for a Witch Hut so you can fight Areagne, the Forgotten Witch for the Tier 1 Uncut Support Gem and the 
Medium Life Flask / 
Medium Mana Flask. If she's too tough for you, skip and come back after The Red Vale. Once you kill her, start hunting down all of the Checkpoints / Waypoints for Red Vale, Grim Tangle, and the Giant Tree. You'll need these to progress our Campaign Quest. Ignore Brambleghast unless you need the Lvl 2 Uncut Skill Gem. Take some EXP here from Magic Packs or large groups of Normal enemies, don't actively seek it though as The Red Vale is great for EXP. The League Mechanic Drop is a Orb of Transmutation which is good early to use on your Weapon or Ring / Amulet. Recommended Level 2-3 when leaving.
Enter the zone and start clicking the Refined Arms as these will drop the next Tier of Weapons (
Long Quarterstaff, 
Nettle Talisman, 
Tense Crossbow, etc...). Feel free to reset the zone if you get unlucky and don't drop your next tier, the DPS upgrade here is massive so spend your Transmute and Augmentation Orb on your Weapon. Take EXP here as there is a LOT of pack size, aim to be Level 4-5 when leaving to ensure we stay on the EXP curve (EXP Guide). Locate the 3 Obelisks of Rust to fight The Rust King for the Runed Skull Cap. The League Mechanic Drop is a Uncut LvL 2 Skill Gem which we use for 
Frost Bomb. Recommended Level 4-5 when leaving.
Enter the zone and start moving to the exit ASAP. Kill only what's necessary as the next zone is great for EXP. If you're feeling semi-confident you can fight Ervig, the Rotten Druid for the extra Tier 1 Support Gem IF you come across him but don't spend time hunting for him. The League Mechanic Drop is a Uncut LvL 3 Skill Gem which we use for 
Wing Blast. Recommended Level 5 when leaving.
You'll start off with a 
Wrapped Quarterstaff but you'll want to upgrade to a Long Quarterstaff ASAP and use your Orb of Transmutation and Augmentation on it. This weapon will carry your Level 11 Base 
Gothic Quarterstaff.
Go for any Added or Increased Damage that you can, Attack Speed and Life on Hit are also great for QoL here. + Level of Melee Skills is nice but watch that Mana Consumption!
Take any Talisman that you can here as its important to use Wolf Form on Weapon Set 2 for Movement Speed. Wolf Form Passively gives 30% Movement Speed when not Sprinting which is great for Dodge Movement through zones. You will be using Talisman Skills once you hit LvL 5 so Affixes will be important LvL 5 and beyond.
Go for any Added or Increased Damage that you can, Attack Speed and Life on Hit are also great for QoL here. + Level of Melee Skills is nice but watch that Mana Consumption!
I prefer Armor over Evasion or Energy Shield early on as this mitigates a lot of the damage we'll take since we're in everything's face. Eventually we'll swap but this feels the best in early Acts.
Take any Armor with Maximum Life and + / % Armor first, then start worrying about Resistances and Attributes. Cold Resistance early on is great for making the Count Geonor fight easier. Stun Threshold is also an underrated pick since avoiding stuns early on when smacking stuff is great.
Take any Gloves 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.
I'd prefer an Armor Base but take any Added Damage early on, Maximum Life and Attack Speed is also really nice. + Level of Melee Skills is nice but watch that Mana Consumption!
I'd prefer an Armor Base here, try to get Maximum Life alongside some Resistances and Attributes. Stun Threshold is also an underrated pick since avoiding stuns early on when smacking stuff is great.
Take any Boots with Movement Speed as this will allow you to move through zones quicker and just make your QoL better.
I'd prefer an Armor Base here, try to get Maximum Life alongside some Resistances and Attributes. Stun Threshold is also an underrated pick since avoiding stuns early on when smacking stuff is great.
Take any Amulet that you get IF you get one this early. You'll get a guranteed one from the League Mechanic in the Tomb of the Consort.
I like getting Attributes here as managing our Strength, Dex, and Int early on can be a little tough. Any other stats are nice but I do like Maximum Life, Resistances, and possibly + Level of Melee Skills since we'll be going 
Hollow Palm Technique and this massively scales our DPS. Just gotta watch that Mana Consumption!
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.
Take any Belt early on IF you get one. I do prefer the 
Rawhide Belt to increase our Life Recovery from Flask but any is nice. Look for Maximum Life, Resistances, and Stun Threshold.
Overall Flask don't get a ton of attention, but early on they're very important and can make your Melee League Start SOOOO much easier.
If you have Extra Orbs of Transmutation or Augmentation, try to slam your Life Flask for something like Increased Amount Recovered, % of Recovery Applied Instantly, or Increased Recovery Rate. This will make those early fights feel a little less stressful.
Support Gem Requirements:
Str 10
Dex 5
Int 5
Quarterstaff Strike
Level 1
Falling Thunder
Level 1
Killing Palm
Level 1
Contagion
Level 1
Frost Bomb
Level 1
Your 1st LvL 1 Uncut Skill Gem from Renly after killing The Miller will be Contagion and then pick up your 2nd LvL 1 Uncut Skill Gem from the Abandoned Stash in Clearfell for 
Killing Palm.
You'll use Contagion on packs of monsters to cause a Chaos DoT that'll spread to nearby monsters when killed. This will supplement our monster clear speed early on. You'll drop this once we get Wing Blast.
You'll then a LvL 2 Uncut Skill Gem from completing the League Mechanic (Temple in 0.4) in The Red Vale. Use this on Frost Bomb as this applies Elemental Exposure which lowers the targets Resistances for More Damage from Falling Thunder.
You'll also get a LvL 3 Uncut Skill Gem from killing The Rust King in The Red Vale. Use this on Wing Blast for the next variant. If you're Level 5 and can equip this, proceed to the next variant.
You'll get a LvL 3 Uncut Skill Gem from the League Mechanic in The Grim Tangle, use this on 
Pouncefor the next variant. If you're Level 5 and can equip this, proceed to the next variant.
Your 1st Tier 1 Support Gem can be acquired from Areagne, the Forgotten Witch in Grelwood and should be used for Rage I on Quarterstaff Strike. This is our main DPS skill when we don't have Power Charges for Falling Thunder, Rage I will Multiplicativity increase our DPS by up to 30%.
Your 2nd Tier 1 Support Gem can either be random dropped or you can optionally fight Ervig, The Rotten Druid in The Grim Tangle for a guaranteed drop. You should spend this on Rapid Attacks I for Quarterstaff Strike to help generate Rage faster and up our DPS when Falling Thunder has no Power Charges.
If you happen to drop any extra Tier 1 Support Gems while running through the zones, I'd spend them in this order:
1. Fist of War I on Falling Thunder for 20% More Damage and AoE every 6 Seconds
2. Perpetual Charge on Falling Thunder for a 25% to not remove Charges
By the GRACE of the RNG Gods, if you have leftover Tier 1 Support Gems after this point, save them for the next variant or look ahead.
Monk early on is tough for a lot of people, its in the face of everything and everything hurts early on. You'll need to be cognizant of your HP and your Flask Charges, you'll be popping your Flask often. We'll be emphasizing "The Vision" and using many combos to maximize our League Start so if you don't like buttons, I would look for something braindead.
Mapping:
You should try to use Contagion on the closest monster in a pack, when you kill this monster the Contagion Chaos DoT will spread to ALL nearby enemies and help you clean up easily. Once you apply Contagion, look to hit the pack with Falling Thunder or Quarterstaff Strike.
When an enemy is low HP a Blue Orb is going to appear on them, this means if you hit them with Killing Palm they'll instantly die and grant you Power Charges. Normal / Magic Enemies will give 1, Rare's will give 2, Unique's will give 3 Charges.
You should be using these Power Charges with Falling Thunder on Large Packs of Enemies, Rare's, or Bosses. When you don't have Power Charges, use Quarterstaff Strike to build up Rage and finish off enemies.
Use Wolf Form from our Talisman to move around quickly, dodge roll while in Wolf Form to safely move through zones much faster than you would normally on foot.
Bossing:
Try your best to carry Power Charges into Boss fights like Beira of the Rotten Pack. You can Cull Enemies before entering the arena with Killing Palm. DO NOT FORGET Bosses have a massive Damage Reduction for the first 5 seconds of the Boss Fight! GGG put this in place to keep us from instantly nuking bosses so try to not dump any carried Power Charges within the first 5 seconds of fighting. Use this down time to build up Rage, apply Shock, or apply Elemental Exposure.
Use Frost Bomb to apply Elemental Exposure to lower the targets Resistances to increase our Damage with Falling Thunder. Try to drop this whenever its off cooldown. Whenever you're without Power Charges, use Quarterstaff Strike to build up Rage and beat the Boss down. Eventually we'll have another skill to combo to give us Power Charges in Boss Fights.
1. Falling Thunder - Main Bossing and Large Pack DPS
2. Frost Bomb - Level 2 will carry Act 1, can level a bit more if you want to keep it beyond Act 1
3. Killing Palm - Not required, we'll be swapping this for 
Devour later
4. Contagion - Don't level past 1, we drop this once we hit Ogham Farmland
Path towards 
Flow Like Water BUT you can take the +5 Attribute Node for Strength early on if you need it for the Nettle Talisman or 
Fur Plate.
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