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Path of Exile 2 best Monk buildFreeze everything around you with this Cold Invoker Monk build
Freeze everything around you with this Cold Invoker Monk build
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Grinding Gear Games
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Grinding Gear Games
Looking for the best Monk build in Path of Exile 2?Relying on massive elemental damage, elemental ailment afflictions, and powerful melee attacks, the best Monk build can turn this quarterstaff-wielder into an evasive crowd-controlling warrior. All it takes is an oversized bell and very low temperatures.
It may not be one of thebest classes for beginners, but the Monk can become a powerhouse of elemental damage with the right abilities. After a tough first Act, the Monk will unlock more and more overpowered skills that allow him to crowd-control even the toughest bosses. In this guide, we’ll show you thebest Monk build in Path of Exile 2, focusing on the Invoker Ascendancy.
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Best Monk build in Path of Exile 2
The Invoker Ascendancy is the best choice for an icy Monk build. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Grinding Gear Games
While freezing enemies is obviously very useful, the main downside to this Monk build is how much effort it takes to get through the first part of the campaign. It’ll take a while to unlock the main attack, Ice Strike, leaving you with weaker options until then, but I promise you; the Monk’s freezing abilities are worth the struggle.
Monk Build: Best skills
As an Invoker Monk, you don’t have to stick to a particular source of elemental damage. If you’d rather use lightning damage as opposed to cold, that’s perfectly fine too. That said, since bosses in Path of Exile 2 can actually be frozen, a build capable of inflicting the Freeze ailment feels particularly useful. With that in mind, I recommend using the following skill gems for the Monk:
Tempest Bell
Ice Strike
This ability will become your core melee attack. Ice Strike is fast, deals good damage, and only costs 8 mana. What’s more, it converts 80% of physical damage to cold damage and has amazing freeze buildup, especially if you land the full three-strike combo. You’ll be using Ice Strike to charge Tempest Bell, too.
Quarterstaff Strike
This standard weapon skill won’t turn any heads, but it’ll strike enough of them in early game to be worth mentioning. Although you’ll eventually drop Quarterstaff Strike once you have more mana and better abilities, I’ve found it invaluable as a backup attack againstbosses in Act One. Like Ice Strike, you should use it to charge Tempest Bell.
Shattering Palm
Herald Of Ice
Hypothermia
Hand of Chayula
As a Meta Gem, Hand of Chayula allows you to socket Skill Gems into this ability, as long as they’re either Curses or Marks. Instead of equipping Hypothermia separately, you get the option to use it on Hand of Chayula instead, thus using the latter to strike an enemy and lower Cold Resistance simultaneously. Beware that Hypothermia will have a reduced effect when applied this way, so it’s really only viable if you socket Freezing Mark as well - this makes the marked target more susceptible to freezing, and causes Cold Nova eruptions when they’re dead.
Unbound Avatar
Wind Dancer
Monk build: Best support gems
You won’t make the most of the Monk’s skills without the best Support Gems. To further improve your abilities, I recommend the following for the Cold Invoker Monk build:
Overabundance
Leverage
Another one for the Tempest Bell; gain a 50% increased critical hit chance against immobilised (read: frozen) enemies.
Supercritical
Heft
Martial Tempo
As yet another means to boost your main attack, place Martial Tempo on Ice Strike to speed up its combo - and therefore its Freeze application.
Cold Infusion
This Support Gem boosts a skill’s Cold Damage at the expense of its Lightning and Fire damage. In other words, a perfect fit for either Ice Strike or Shattering Palm, both of which only deal Cold as elemental damage.
Heightened Curse
To further decrease your enemies' Cold resistance, place this Support Gem on the Hand of Chayula (or on Hypothermia directly, if you’re using it as a standalone skill). It heightens Curses, gaining 25% increased Curse effect.
Persistence
Granting 40% more skill effect duration, this is a very straightforward but useful buff to place on either Hypothermia or Unbound Avatar, with a preference for the latter.
Clarity
You will likely need better mana recovery, so place Clarity on a skill to receive 30% increased mana regeneration while the skill remains active. It’s best to put it on the persistent buff, Wind Dancer.
Vitality
Another one for the Wind Dancer buff; as long as the buff is active, you will recover 1% of Life per second. You could use Cannibalism too, but as this requires consistent kills, it may be less reliable when fighting against a boss.
And that concludes this Path of Exile 2 Monk build. If you’re new to the game, you might want to look at our list ofthings to do first in Path of Exile 2, and make sure you understand thecharacter attributes. Don’t forget to use thePath of Exile 2 crafting systemto get better gear, anduse the gemcutting systemto obtain new skills.
