The Monk is one of the six available classes in the early access build of Path of Exile 2. It’s a mixed melee and ranged class that has access to a few different types of builds, all of which are hugely rewarding if used properly. While the Monk seems fairly weak at the start of Path of Exile 2, it only gets stronger as the game goes on, culminating in an extremely strong endgame character.
If you want some tips on how to build your Monk or advice on what skills to use, we have everything you need in the guide below.
Monk Overview in Path of Exile 2
When you first start Path of Exile 2 as a Monk, you’ll have access to a constant quarterstaff melee attack, as well as some basic ranged, elemental skills. The Monk can make use of both lightning and frost damage as well as air skills that can damage and/or stun enemies. During the early game, you’ll want to use any skill that’s first presented to you, regardless of its damage type.
However, as you level your Monk into the teens, you can start focusing on one or two damage types to really synergize the build. This will help you establish a clear direction for your passive ability skill tree and make it easier to choose an Ascendancy for your Monk eventually.
Regardless of your level, you want to try to increase your Dexterity and Intelligence attributes as much as possible. The Monk is a mobile class that relies on dodging enemy attacks up close and from a distance. Dexterity helps keep your Monk as mobile as possible, while the Intelligence attribute ensures you have enough mana to cast all the elemental skills you can access.
After a while, you’ll likely want to ditch your basic quarterstaff melee attack to focus solely on those elemental skills. In the early game, though, those melee attacks will likely deal the most damage to enemies, so spam it whenever you get into trouble. Quarterstaff attacks also don’t use any mana, which is a nice bonus in the early levels but as you progress, you’ll usually have enough mana to spam other skills and still have some left over.
Best Monk Skills in Path of Exile 2
Now that you better understand the Monk in Path of Exile 2, it’s time to go over what kind of skills you want to use. Currently, the best route for a Monk is utilizing most of the lightning skills the class can use. However, you also want to pair those lightning skills with one or two air skills.
In the early game, feel free to mix the lightning and air skills with a frost skill, since you’ll have some space on your hotbar anyway. Glacial Cascade is the best frost skill that can be a highly effective boss killer for the Monk. This ranged skill creates a line of frost on the ground and explodes after reaching a certain point. Spamming this against bosses from a few meters away can deal tons of damage and also freeze the boss, opening them up to additional attacks.
We won’t be using Glacial Cascade in our final build, though, as that’s full of lightning and air skills that punish enemies up close and from far away. Here are the skills we recommend for a Monk in Path of Exile 2:
- Falling Thunder
- Killing Palm
- Staggering Palm
- Tempest Bell
- Tempest Flurry
- Whirling Assault
- Gathering Storm
- Flicker Strike
Your build truly starts when you reach level 12 and can unlock the Tempest Flurry skill. This can essentially replace your basic quarterstaff attack, as it’s a combo melee skill that inflicts lightning damage. After a full combo, the skill ends with a thunderous, AoE lightning strike.
You can use Tempest Flurry in concert with the Tempest Bell, which relies on you getting a four-hit melee combo. Once that combo is hit, you can throw down a large bell, dealing damage each time you strike it with an attack. The bell deals air damage by default but if you hit it with a lightning attack, it will deal the same type of damage.
Placing down the Tempest Bell and standing still to hit it will require a full shield/HP bar, though, as enemies will continue to hit you. If there are too many enemies around, using the Falling Thunder skill to clear out large groups is an effective strategy. Falling Thunder relies on the power charge system however, which gives you stronger attacks when fully built up. When enemies are at low health from your attacks, finish them off with Killing or Staggering Palm.
At the later levels, you unlock skills like Whirling Assault, Gathering Storm, and Flicker Strike. Flicker Strike, in particular, is a useful addition, as it allows you to jump from enemy to enemy dealing damage. This gives the Monk extra mobility to stay out of harm’s way. If you just want to clear out hordes of enemies, though, Whirling Assault is your best bet.
Best Monk Support and Spirit Gems
With the basic skills out of the way, you can now equip those skills with the right Support Gems. You’ll also start to receive Spirit Gems, which can be used to equip your Monk with extra buffs.
Here are some Support Gems we recommend for a few skills, as well as the best Spirit Gems to use:
Support Gems
- Perpetual Charge (Falling Thunder)
- Lightning Infusion (Falling Thunder)
- Ruthless (Tempest Bell)
- Magnified Effect (Tempest Bell)
- Life Drain (Killing Palm)
- Profusion (Killing Palm)
- Overpower (quarterstaff attack)
- Conduction (Tempest Flurry)
Spirit Gems
- Herald of Thunder
- Lingering Illusion
In general, you want to stick with the Dexterity Support Gems when looking to kit out your Monk. There are plenty of solid options for all your skills that increase elemental damage, improve potential charges, and give you more area of effect.
Best Monk Passive Skills
Every time you level up with the Monk, you’ll receive points to put into the Passive Ability skill tree. For the most part, you’ll want to stick with nodes that deal with lightning damage, but there are some specific nodes you should grab as soon as possible:
- Conservative Casting
- Killer Instinct
- Flow Like Water
- Step Like Mist
- Essence of the Storm
- Immortal Infamy
Best Monk Ascendancy
Finally, after leveling your Monk enough, you’ll have to pick an Ascendancy. As with all classes in early access, only two Ascendancies are available for the Monk in Path of Exile 2: The Invoker and the Acolyte of Chayula.
For our build, only The Invoker makes sense. This Ascendancy promotes the use of elemental attacks and buildup, meaning you’ll deal more damage with your lightning attacks and have a higher chance to shock enemies. Specifically, The Invoker has a passive ability called “I am Thunder” that grants you extra lightning damage and the ability to shock the ground around you.