What is the best Path of Exile 2 Monk build? If you’re after a class in PoE 2 that can deal immense amounts of damage, can utilize powerful abilities, and looks good while doing it, then the Monk is for you. A powerful magic user without the need for ranged spells, we have a full class breakdown for you right here.
There are many Path of Exile 2 classes, and each puts forward a compelling use case – the Sorceress can control the battlefield from the backline, while the Warrior thrives while in the mix, for instance. The PoE 2 Monk is for those who want a mix of both damage and aggression, and those who crave a certain amount of flair. You can also check out our dedicated PoE 2 builds guide for even more tips. For now, here is our Path of Exile 2 Monk class guide
Path of Exile 2 Monk overview
The Path of Exile 2 Monk is a melee class that can deal incredible amounts of damage. The Monk doesn’t have high defensive stats like the Warrior, so you can consider it more like a glass cannon than a bruiser.
The Monk can make excellent use of elemental attacks – especially ice – to crowd-control mobs and deal huge single-target damage to bosses. Freezing your opponents, creating totem-like objects that can be detonated to deal AoE damage, and dashing around the battlefield are all part and parcel of this deadly class.
There are two ascendancies for the Path of Exile 2 Monk:
- The Invoker: This ascendancy utilizes elemental magic in its attacks and can seemingly use abilities more often than its counterpart.
- The Acolyte of Chayula: A master of the Spirit of Darkness, the Acolyte of Chayula uses this magic to deal damage, and absorb power.
Path of Exile 2 Monk skills
The Monk class relies on constant motion and activity. You’ll need to hit your enemies with basic attacks to charge up your powerful skills, but once you’ve found that flow state, the amount of AoE damage and crowd control at your fingertips is astonishing.
All Path of Exile 2 Monk active skills
| Skill Name | Requirements | Effect |
| Falling Thunder |
Level 1 Uncut Skill Gem Quarterstaff |
Infuse your Quarterstaff with lightning, slamming the ground to deal damage in a large cone. Consumes Power Charges that will fire lightning projectiles forward. |
| Killing Palm |
Level 1 Uncut Skill Gem Quarterstaff Unarmed |
Dash to an enemy and strike them, killing them instantly if their life is low. Killing enemies in this way grants a Power Charge. |
| Glacial Cascade |
Level 1 Uncut Skill Gem Quarterstaff |
Sweep your Quarterstaff upward, releasing an icy fissure which deals damage. Frozen enemies are dealt heavy damage. |
| Frozen Locus |
Level 1 Uncut Skill Gem Quarterstaff |
Leap backward and crack the ground to spawn an ice crystal with chilled ground around it. If the crystal is destroyed it causes an icy explosion. |
| Staggering Palm |
Level 3 Uncut Skill Gem Level 6 Quarterstaff Unarmed 10 Dexterity 10 Intelligence |
Dash and strike an enemy. Heavy stunning an enemy with this skill grants a buff that causes your Quarterstaff and Unarmed attacks to fire projectiles. |
| Tempest Bell |
Level 3 Uncut Skill Gem Level 6 Quarterstaff 10 Dexterity 10 Intelligence |
Build a combo meter by striking enemies with other skills. When full, use Tempest Bell to drop a massive bell on enemies. You can hit the bell with your skills to cause shockwaves. |
| Vaulting Impact |
Level 3 Uncut Skill Gem Level 6 Quarterstaff 10 Dexterity 10 Intelligence |
Leap forward and slam the ground, sending out a shockwave that stuns enemies. |
| Wind Blast |
Level 5 Uncut Skill Gem Quarterstaff Level 14 20 Dexterity 20 Intelligence |
Strike enemies at a distance by generating a gust of wind, knocking them back. |
| Ice Strike |
Level 5 Uncut Skill Gem Quarterstaff Level 14 20 Dexterity 20 Intelligence |
Perform a fast icy strike. Using this attack three times causes a powerful final strike. |
| Tempest Fury |
Level 5 Uncut Skill Gem Quarterstaff Level 14 20 Dexterity 20 Intelligence |
Perform a series of strikes. The final strike calls down a shocking bolt. |
| Wave of Frost |
Level 7 Uncut Skill Gem Quarterstaff Level 22 30 Dexterity 30 Intelligence |
Flip backward and send forth a freezing wave. |
| Freezing Mark |
Level 7 Uncut Skill Gem Quarterstaff Level 22 30 Dexterity 30 Intelligence |
Mark a target, making them more susceptible to being Frozen. When they die, a cold nova erupts. |
| Siphoning Strike |
Level 7 Uncut Skill Gem Quarterstaff Level 22 30 Dexterity 30 Intelligence |
Dash to a target and strike them. If the target is Shocked, consume the Shock and release a lightning shockwave. Gain a Power Charge. |
| Storm Wave |
Level 7 Uncut Skill Gem Quarterstaff Level 22 30 Dexterity 30 Intelligence |
Sweep your Quarterstaff, projecting a bolt of lightning in a wave before you. |
| Charged Staff |
Level 9 Uncut Skill Gem Quarterstaff Level 31 40 Dexterity 40 Intelligence |
Consume all Power Charges and infuse your Quarterstaff with electricity, adding lightning shockwaves to your attacks. |
| Mantra of Destruction |
Level 9 Uncut Skill Gem Quarterstaff Level 31 40 Dexterity 40 Intelligence |
Build a combo by successfully striking enemies with other skills. After reaching the maximum, use Mantra of Destruction to apply Chaos damage to your next attack. If the enemy dies, it grants the Purple Flames of Chayula buff. |
| Hand of Chayula |
Level 9 Uncut Skill Gem Quarterstaff Unarmed Level 31 40 Dexterity 40 Intelligence |
Dash and strike an enemy with an unarmed attack, applying any socketed curses and marks with reduced effect. |
| Whirling Assault |
Level 11 Uncut Skill Gem Quarterstaff Level 41 52 Dexterity 52 Intelligence |
Advance while hitting enemies around you with a series of spinning strikes. |
| Shattering Palm |
Level 11 Uncut Skill Gem Quarterstaff Unarmed Level 41 52 Dexterity 52 Intelligence |
Dash and strike an enemy that causes a wave of cold, coating nearby enemies in ice. Dealing enough damage to these enemies will cause the shards to explode. |
| Flicker Strike |
Level 13 Uncut Skill Gem Quarterstaff Level 52 66 Dexterity 66 Intelligence |
Teleport to an enemy and strike them. This consumes Power Charges to perform additional teleporting strikes on nearby enemies. |
| Gathering Storm |
Level 13 Uncut Skill Gem Quarterstaff Level 52 66 Dexterity 66 Intelligence |
Flip backward and charge your Quarterstaff with lightning. Releasing the charge causes you to dash forward, damaging enemies. Releasing with perfect timing causes lightning shockwaves and shocked ground. |
All Path of Exile 2 Monk persistent Spirit buffs
| Skill Name | Requirements | Effect |
| Herald of Ice |
Level 4 Uncut Spirit Gem Level 10 Any Martial Weapon 15 Dexterity 15 Intelligence Reservation: 30 Spirit |
Shattering a Frozen enemy causes an icy explosion. |
| Herald of Thunder |
Level 4 Uncut Spirit Gem Any Martial Weapon Level 10 15 Dexterity 15 Intelligence Reservation: 30 Spirit |
Killing Shocked enemies allows subsequent attacks to release lightning bolts. |
| Ghost Dance |
Level 4 Uncut Spirit Gem Level 10 15 Dexterity 15 Intelligence Reservation: 30 Spirit |
Periodically gain Ghost Shrounds. If you are hit with them, immediately recover your energy shield based on evasion. |
| Barrier Invocation |
Level 8 Uncut Spirit Gem Level 26 61 Intelligence Reservation: 60 Spirit |
Gain energy when your energy shield is damaged. Using the invocation triggers socketed spells. |
| Lingering Illusion |
Level 8 Uncut Spirit Gem Level 26 34 Dexterity 34 Intelligence Reservation: 30 Spirit |
Create a short-lived illusory copy of yourself whenever you dodge roll. Copies destroyed by an enemy will grant a Power Charge. |
| Elemental Invocation |
Level 8 Uncut Spirit Gem Level 26 34 Dexterity 34 Intelligence Reservation: 60 Spirit |
Gain energy when you Freeze, Shock, or Ignite an enemy. Using the invocation will consume it all and trigger socketed spells. |
| Cast on Dodge |
Level 14 Uncut Spirit Gem Level 58 73 Dexterity 73 Intelligence Reservation: 100 Spirit |
Gain energy when you dodge roll and trigger socketed spells upon reaching maximum energy. |
| Charge Infusion |
Level 14 Uncut Spirit Gem Level 58 73 Dexterity 73 Intelligence Reservation: 30 Spirit |
Gain buffs based on active charges. Consumes a charge every few seconds. |
| Reaper’s Invocation |
Level 14 Uncut Spirit Gem Level 58 73 Dexterity 73 Intelligence Reservation: 60 Spirit |
Gain energy when killing an enemy with a melee attack. Use the invocation with sufficient energy to trigger socketed spells. |
Best Path of Exile 2 Monk build
The best mid-game Monk build is:
- Key skills: Falling Thunder, Killing Palm, Siphoning Strike, Storm Wave, Whirling Assault, Gathering Storm
- Key persistent Spirit buffs: Herald of Thunder, Lingering Illusion, Elemental Invocation
- Key passives: Essence of the Storm, Conservative Casting, Harmonic Generator, Stylebender, Overload, Deadly Force
- Ascendancy: The Invoker
Key skills
For most of your first run through the story, you’re going to rely on Falling Thunder, Killing Palm, Siphoning Strike, and Storm Wave to cycle Power Charges while shocking enemies. However, you may have to lean into some cold-focused skills to get around enemies that are resistant to shock damage.
This build truly comes alive when you unlock Lingering Illusion, giving you additional Power Charges when you dodge, something you’ll often be doing as you duck into and out of battle. When you reach Cruel difficulty, Gathering Storm becomes paramount to flip out of trouble and deal massive damage in return. We also recommend picking up Whirling Assault to make it easy to clear out weaker mobs.
Key persistent Spirit buffs
Herald of Lightning fits this lighting-focused build perfectly, while Lingering Illusion ensures you have enough Power Charges to power up your lighting-themed skills. Elemental Invocation is also vital as you’ll frequently apply Shock to enemies and have a chance at triggering socketed skills.
Key passives
This lightning Monk build is difficult to put together because the lightning-specific nodes are spread out from each other. Still, there are lot of great passives to take like Style Bender along the way before you reach the key lightning-based notables. You’ll want to start with grabbing Essence of the Storm and Conservative Casting before pivoting to the Harmonic Generator notable.
Head in the opposite direction to grab Overload and its surrounding nodes to penetrate lightning resistance on enemies – a very integral part of this build. Loop back and take the nodes leading up to the Deadly Force notable to greatly increase your chance to critically hit enemies. This is beneficial with your Ascendancy’s ability to send out elemental shockwaves on critical hits.
Ascendancy
To round out this lighting-themed build, we recommend going with the Invoker Ascendancy as it has the ‘I am the Thunder’ passive that allows extra lighting damage and your attacks to create shocked ground. Furthermore, you’ll get some nice extra elemental damage on top every time you land a critical strike.
Now that you know the best Path of Exile 2 Monk build, you can be confident going into any fight. Check out our PoE 2 Twitch drops guide so you can pick up some free goodies, and our most exciting upcoming PC games so you can see what else there is to look forward to.