PoE 2 Best Monk Builds - Best Monk Leveling & Endgame Builds in Path of Exile 2
Path of Exile 2 introduces the Monk, an agile and versatile class that revolves around elemental damage, critical strikes, and creative skill interactions. In this guide, we'll set up the best leveling and endgame builds for Monk, including skills, ascendancy choices, gear recommendations, and more.
Path of Exile 2 Best Monk Builds
Monks are versatile and powerful melee fighters with access to high elemental damage scaling, lightning-fast attacks, and unique mechanics revolving around power charges, ailments, and elemental damage. Below, we’ll break down the best Monk builds in detail, organized into Intro and Overview, Skill Gems, Ascendancy, Gear, Passive Tree, and Gameplay Tips.
Best Monk Leveling Build - Lightning Shock Invoker
The Lightning Shock Invoker is an excellent leveling build that focuses on lightning-based attacks and the powerful Shock ailment to deal massive damage. It utilizes the Cast on Shock mechanic to auto-cast powerful spells like Storm Wave and later transitions into Ball Lightning or Comet for endgame scaling.
This build is beginner-friendly and adaptable, offering both ranged and melee options to tackle different situations. Its core strength lies in high damage output and crowd control through shock.
Skill Gems
Core Skills:
Storm Wave: A high-damage ranged lightning attack for safe clearing.
Tempest Flurry: A melee lightning combo skill used for bosses and single targets.
Herald of Thunder: A persistent buff that triggers lightning bolts upon shocking enemies.
Support Gems:
Crescendo: Adds a second final strike to Tempest Flurry, significantly boosting damage.
Marshall Tempo: Increases attack speed for smoother gameplay.
Concentrated Effect: Boosts area damage at the cost of reduced AoE.
Lightning Infusion: Increases lightning damage on your main skills.
Utility Gems:
Enfeeble: A defensive curse that reduces enemy damage.
Vaulting Impact: Provides mobility and gap-closing potential.
Transition to Cast on Shock:
Once you unlock Cast on Shock, pair it with Ball Lightning or Comet for automatic spell casting when you shock enemies.
Add Conduction to enhance shock chance and synergy.
Ascendancy
The Invoker Monk ascendancy specializes in elemental damage and shock scaling. Key points to take during leveling:
Bonus Critical Hit Chance: Increases your crit potential.
Sunder My Enemies: Critical hits ignore enemy elemental resistances.
Shock Effect: Amplifies the damage taken by shocked enemies.
Ion the Thunder: Grants bonus lightning damage and creates Shocked Ground for additional AoE shock application.
Future Path:
Once you transition to Cast on Shock, reallocate points to Triggered Spell Damage and Soul Springs Eternal to enhance meta-skill efficiency and energy generation.
Gear
Weapons:
Focus on flat Lightning Damage, Attack Speed, and Critical Strike Chance.
Look for modifiers like +levels to Melee Skills to increase damage scaling.
Armor:
Prioritize Energy Shield and Evasion hybrid armor for survivability.
Cap your elemental resistances as early as possible.
Accessories:
Amulets and Rings: Seek Dexterity, Intelligence, and Flat Lightning Damage.
Boots: Movement speed is essential, along with resistances.
Spirit Gear: Equip items that provide Spirit to activate key Spirit-based skills like Herald of Thunder and Cast on Shock.
Runes:
Use Storm Runes for bonus lightning damage.
Equip Iron Runes early for added physical damage, which converts to elemental damage later.
Passive Tree
Early Game:
Flow Like Water: Boosts attack and cast speed while providing Dexterity and Intelligence.
Essence of the Storm: Adds lightning damage and increases shock chance.
Allocate points to Dexterity for bow skills and Intelligence for elemental abilities.
Mid Game:
Echoing Thunder: Increases elemental damage after shocking enemies.
Crashing Wave: Boosts crit damage and critical hit chance.
Late Game:
Focus on Triggered Spell Nodes to enhance Cast on Shock setups.
Pure Power: Grants bonus lightning damage based on Intelligence.
Lightning Mastery: Increases shock duration and damage penetration.
Gameplay Tips
Early Levels:
Use Falling Thunder and Killing Palm for ranged lightning attacks and power charge generation. Switch to Lightning Arrow and Lightning Rod for safer ranged combat until you unlock Monk-specific skills.Transition to Monk Skills:
Once you unlock Storm Wave and Tempest Flurry, switch to a hybrid playstyle. Use Storm Wave for ranged clearing and Tempest Flurry for high single-target damage.Boss Fights:
Utilize Tempest Bell, which reverberates damage to nearby enemies when struck. Combine it with Tempest Flurry for devastating melee combos.Positioning and Survivability:
Lightning builds excel at ranged damage. Stay at a safe distance and kite enemies with Storm Wave. Use Herald of Thunder buffs to clear groups efficiently.
2. Best Monk Endgame Build - Ice Strike Invoker
The Ice Strike Invoker is an endgame powerhouse that focuses on freezing enemies and dealing massive critical damage. This build excels at both single-target boss-killing and clearing large packs of enemies through Ice Strike and Tempest Bell. It takes advantage of freeze mechanics to completely disable enemies while scaling cold damage and critical strikes.
Skill Gems
Core Skills:
Ice Strike: The primary attack skill that delivers a powerful four-hit combo, freezing enemies and dealing massive cold damage.
Tempest Bell: Used to amplify damage and create AoE freezing explosions.
Support Gems:
Cold Infusion: Increases cold damage and provides multiplicative scaling.
Marshall Tempo: Boosts attack speed for faster combos.
Glaciation: Enhances freeze buildup and damage.
Utility Gems:
Frost Bomb: Applies cold exposure to reduce enemy resistances.
Combat Frenzy: Generates frenzy charges when freezing enemies.
Herald Buffs:
Herald of Ice: Adds massive AoE shatter explosions upon killing frozen enemies.
Ascendancy
The Invoker ascendancy provides unmatched synergy for freezing mechanics and burst damage:
Unbound Avatar: Grants bonus elemental damage and ailment application when fully charged.
I Am the Blizzard: Amplifies cold damage and freeze chance.
Soul Springs Eternal: Increases meta-skill energy efficiency for smoother gameplay.
Gear
Weapons:
A high physical damage Quarter Staff with Cold Damage Conversion and +Melee Skill Levels. Look for modifiers like Attack Speed and Crit Chance.
Armor:
Use Evasion/Energy Shield Hybrid Armor for survivability.
Equip gloves or boots with Flat Cold Damage for Ignite synergy with Bell.
Accessories:
Amulets and rings with Cold Damage, Crit Chance, and Life.
Spirit bonuses on amulets are essential for running multiple buffs.
Runes:
Cold-specific runes like Frost Runes for additional freeze and cold damage.
Passive Tree
Early Game:
Focus on Attack Speed, Crit Chance, and Cold Damage nodes.
Allocate points to Evasion and Energy Shield for survivability.
Mid Game:
Add Power Charge Scaling and Critical Multiplier nodes.
Invest in Heavy Frost for elemental resistance penetration.
Late Game:
Prioritize Critical Strike Scaling and Cold Damage Mastery.
Take Ice Mastery nodes to enhance freeze duration and damage.
Gameplay Tips
Mobility:
Use Shattering Palm for quick dashes across the battlefield while freezing enemies in your path.Boss Strategy:
Place Tempest Bell near the boss and repeatedly strike it with Ice Strike to maximize damage.Freeze Everything:
Freeze mechanics allow you to completely disable enemies, making it one of the safest builds for endgame.Burst Combos:
Activate Unbound Avatar during tough fights to significantly boost damage output.
These are two of the best Monk builds in Path of Exile 2, offering different playstyles for both leveling and endgame content. Whether you prefer shocking enemies with lightning or freezing them solid with cold, the Monk class provides endless possibilities for creative and powerful builds.
