Path of Exile 2: Monk Class Complete Guide

With the Early Access launch of Path of Exile 2, players have six unique classes to choose from, ranging from the agile Ranger to the spellcasting Sorceress. While each class offers a diverse range of builds, few are as versatile and exhilarating as the Monk.

The Monk is a melee powerhouse, blending rapid attacks with elemental enhancements to create the ultimate spellblade experience. Whether you’re tearing through foes with lightning fissures, freezing enemies with devastating ice strikes, or amplifying your damage with the resonating power of Tempest Bell, the Monk delivers a dynamic playstyle like no other.

Mastering the Monk may seem complex at first, especially for newcomers, but once you grasp the core mechanics, the potential for incredible builds—both for leveling and the endgame—is unmatched. In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about the Monk class, from essential skills to build strategies, ensuring you’re ready to dominate Wraeclast. Let’s dive in!

Monk Class Breakdown

Core Attributes
• Primary Stats: Intelligence and Dexterity
• Ascendancies: Invoker, Acolyte of Chayula
• Starting Skills: Quarterstaff Attacks (Physical, Cold, Lightning)

The Monk is a melee-focused class that combines rapid multi-hit combos with elemental abilities to dominate the battlefield. Among the classes available in Path of Exile 2’s Early Access, the Monk stands out for its agility, offering some of the fastest attack speeds and an impressive arsenal of crowd-control effects. These range from freezing enemies with cold attacks to knocking down foes with powerful physical strikes.

Quarterstaff as the Core Weapon

The Monk relies heavily on the quarterstaff, a two-handed melee weapon that trades raw damage for exceptional speed and versatility. Many of Path of Exile’s iconic skills fall under the quarterstaff category, including Glacial Cascade and Flicker Strike. The Monk’s skills are broadly categorized into three playstyles:
1. Physical Skills
• Specialize in knockdown effects and large area-of-effect (AoE) damage.
• Ideal for crowd control and dealing with mobs.
• Tempest Bell is often used for its unparalleled single-target DPS against bosses.
2. Cold Skills
• Focus on chilling and freezing enemies to immobilize and weaken them.
• Shattered enemies explode for massive damage, rewarding precise timing and combo execution.
3. Lightning Skills
• Deliver fast, high-frequency attacks with a chance to shock enemies, increasing their vulnerability to damage.
• Many Lightning skills consume Power Charges, adding explosive effects to your abilities.

Power Charges: A Unique Resource

The Monk’s gameplay revolves around Power Charges, a special resource generated through specific quarterstaff skills. These charges can be consumed by other abilities to amplify their effects. For example:
• Flicker Strike teleports you to an enemy and strikes once, but consuming a Power Charge causes the skill to hit three times, greatly increasing its damage output.

Core Gameplay Loop

The Monk’s playstyle is built on chaining skill combos to maximize damage and utility. Here’s how it works:
1. Generate Debuffs and Power Charges: Use fast-hitting attacks to apply debuffs, build combo stacks, or generate Power Charges.
2. Capitalize on Opportunities:
• Freeze enemies and trigger shatters for massive AoE damage.
• Use Power Charges to unleash devastating Lightning abilities.
3. Dominate with Combos:
• Combine multiple attacks in quick succession. For example, use fast strikes to build a combo, then summon Tempest Bell to devastate bosses or tough enemies.

By weaving these mechanics together, the Monk delivers exceptional DPS, mobility, and utility, rewarding skilled players who can master its combo-centric playstyle. Whether you’re chilling enemies with Cold skills or tearing through foes with Lightning attacks, the Monk offers an incredibly satisfying and dynamic experience.

Monk Ascendancies Overview

In Path of Exile 2, the Monk class offers two unique Ascendancy options: Invoker and Acolyte of Chayula. These Ascendancies function as prestige classes, unlocking a second passive tree with powerful nodes to refine your build. Once chosen, your Ascendancy cannot be changed, so it’s crucial to pick one that aligns with your playstyle and goals.

Invoker Ascendancy

The Invoker is a versatile, elemental-focused Ascendancy that enhances your elemental damage while providing defensive solutions to mitigate the inherent unpredictability of evasion builds. This makes it an ideal choice for nearly all Monk builds, especially for players seeking a balance of offense and defense.

Notable Nodes
• Lead Me Through Grace
Grants significant Spirit generation based on your gear, allowing you to maintain multiple buffs or meta gems without running out of resources.
• Gain 1 Spirit for every 6 energy shield on body armor.
• Gain 1 Spirit for every 15 evasion rating on body armor.
• I Am the Blizzard
Adds 10% extra cold damage to all hits and creates chilled ground when freezing enemies, enhancing crowd control and damage output.
• I Am the Thunder
Adds 10% extra lightning damage and creates shocked ground with a 25% chance when shocking enemies, amplifying subsequent damage.
• …And I Shall Rage
Unlocks the Unbound Avatar skill, a core mechanic for elemental builds.
• Status ailments fill a meter that, when full, activates Unbound Fury for nine seconds.
• Gain 40% more elemental damage and apply debuffs 80% faster during this effect.
• Sunder My Enemies
Critical hits ignore enemy elemental resistances, vastly increasing damage against resistant foes.
• …And Scatter Them to the Winds
Unlocks Elemental Expression, a skill triggered on melee critical hits to deliver additional elemental attacks, similar to the Elemental Hit skill.

Playstyle and Utility

The Invoker Ascendancy is a fantastic all-rounder, excelling in elemental damage while fixing evasion’s inconsistency. The defensive node …And Protect Me From Harm combines your evasion and armor to mitigate physical damage, while The Soul Springs Eternal boosts energy reserves for extended fights. These tools make Invoker a reliable pick for leveling, mapping, and late-game content.

Acolyte of Chayula

The Acolyte of Chayula Ascendancy transforms the Monk into a chaos-damage specialist, focusing on Chaos Inoculation builds. This niche Ascendancy sacrifices HP for chaos damage immunity, relying entirely on energy shield for survival. While incredibly unique, it’s best suited for highly specific builds and advanced players.

Notable Nodes
• Ravenous Doubts
Grants instant mana leech, which pairs with Consuming Questions to convert mana leech into instant energy shield recovery, trading sustain for burst regeneration.
• Chayula’s Gift
• Increases maximum chaos resistance by 10%.
• Doubles your chaos resistance, making you nearly immune to chaos damage.
• Reality Rending
Provides a chance to gain bonus chaos damage with hits:
• 23% chance for 25% extra chaos damage.
• 13% chance for 50% extra chaos damage.
• 7% chance for 100% extra chaos damage.
• Waking Dream
Unlocks the Into the Breach skill, creating a chaos Breach that spawns shards. Shards provide buffs like increased leech or stacking chaos damage boosts.
• Embrace the Darkness
Replaces Spirit with Darkness, a new resource that redirects damage away from HP and energy shield. Damage absorbed by Darkness is reserved temporarily, offering a unique defensive mechanic.
• Grasp the Void
Converts unreserved Darkness into chaos damage, scaling offense with your defensive resource.

Playstyle and Utility

The Acolyte of Chayula is a niche Ascendancy tailored for Chaos Inoculation builds, making it less flexible than Invoker. Its strength lies in scaling chaos damage and leveraging Darkness for defense, but it requires precise energy shield management and specialized gear. Nodes like Waking Dream and Reality Rending provide damage opportunities, while Embrace the Darkness offers a unique mitigation system for advanced survivability.

Which Ascendancy to Choose?
• Choose Invoker: If you’re new to the Monk or looking for a versatile Ascendancy, Invoker is the clear choice. It enhances elemental damage, fixes evasion’s weaknesses, and works seamlessly with most Monk builds.
• Choose Acolyte of Chayula: If you enjoy unique mechanics and plan to create a Chaos Inoculation build, this Ascendancy offers powerful chaos damage scaling and innovative defensive options.

Both Ascendancies bring distinct playstyles, but Invoker is the more flexible and beginner-friendly option for Path of Exile 2’s Early Access.

Best Monk Builds in Path of Exile 2

The Monk class in Path of Exile 2 is versatile, offering a range of builds that capitalize on its agility, elemental damage, and combo-based gameplay. Whether you prefer dealing damage from up close or using the Monk’s elemental skills for crowd control, these builds provide a solid foundation for any playstyle.

1. Lightning Tempest Monk

Overview

This build revolves around Lightning-based skills such as Falling Thunder, Tempest Bell, and Storm Wave. It’s a fast-paced build designed to maximize Shock application and high attack speed, making it excellent for clearing maps and taking down bosses.

Core Skills
• Tempest Bell for single-target DPS against bosses.
• Storm Wave for AoE damage and reliable Shock application.
• Falling Thunder as a high-damage finisher, consuming Power Charges for extra impact.

Key Passives
• Focus on Lightning Damage, Power Charge generation, and Evasion nodes to boost damage and survivability.

2. Frostbreaker Monk

Overview

The Frostbreaker Monk focuses on Cold-based skills to freeze and shatter enemies, providing excellent crowd control and burst damage. This build excels at freezing mobs and capitalizing on shatter explosions for high AoE damage.

Core Skills
• Glacial Cascade as your main AoE damage skill.
• Frostbite to apply Cold debuffs and increase freeze duration.
• Tempest Bell to amplify single-target DPS with echoes of your Cold damage.

Key Passives
• Prioritize Cold Damage, Critical Strike, and Evasion nodes for freezing consistency and high damage output.

3. Elemental Combo Monk

Overview

This hybrid build uses both Physical and Elemental damage to maximize versatility. By combining skills like Flicker Strike, Tempest Flurry, and Elemental Expression, this build delivers devastating bursts of damage while maintaining excellent mobility.

Core Skills
• Flicker Strike for quick movement and multi-hit bursts, amplified by Power Charges.
• Tempest Flurry for sustained elemental damage and Shock application.
• Elemental Expression to trigger powerful elemental bursts on critical hits.

Key Passives
• Invest in Critical Strike, Attack Speed, and Physical Damage nodes to optimize your damage.

4. Chaos Inoculation Monk

Overview

For those seeking a unique playstyle, the Chaos Inoculation Monk relies on Chaos damage and energy shield mechanics to dominate the battlefield. This build sacrifices health for Chaos immunity, focusing entirely on energy shield and Darkness mechanics.

Core Skills
• Into the Breach to spawn chaos shard pickups that buff leech and Chaos Damage.
• Reality Rending for bonus Chaos Damage on hits.
• Embrace the Darkness to redirect damage to Darkness and provide defensive utility.

Key Passives
• Prioritize Energy Shield, Chaos Damage, and Darkness scaling nodes for maximum effectiveness.

5. Physical Tempest Monk

Overview

This build capitalizes on Physical damage and knockdown effects, making it a strong option for crowd control and sustained DPS. With skills like Tempest Bell and Sundering Strike, this build excels in both mob clearing and boss fights.

Core Skills
• Tempest Bell for massive single-target damage.
• Sundering Strike to knock down enemies and deal AoE damage.
• Falling Thunder to finish off weakened enemies with Power Charges.

Key Passives
• Focus on Physical Damage, Attack Speed, and Evasion nodes for consistent DPS and survivability.

Which Monk Build Is Right for You?
• Choose Lightning Tempest Monk if you prefer fast-paced, high-Shock gameplay.
• Choose Frostbreaker Monk if you enjoy freezing enemies and capitalizing on shatter mechanics.
• Choose Elemental Combo Monk for a versatile playstyle that blends Physical and Elemental damage.
• Choose Chaos Inoculation Monk if you like niche builds and unique Chaos-based mechanics.
• Choose Physical Tempest Monk for a straightforward, high-damage build with crowd control capabilities.

The Monk’s adaptability allows for a wide range of playstyles, so experiment with these builds and find the one that best fits your approach to conquering Wraeclast.

Conclusion

The Monk class in Path of Exile 2 offers a dynamic and rewarding experience for players who enjoy fast-paced combat, elemental versatility, and a focus on skillful combos. With its unique reliance on quarterstaff abilities, Power Charge mechanics, and a blend of Physical, Cold, and Lightning skills, the Monk delivers exceptional damage output and utility in both the campaign and endgame.

Whether you choose the versatile Invoker Ascendancy or dive into the niche but powerful Acolyte of Chayula, the Monk allows for diverse build possibilities that cater to different playstyles. From freezing enemies to shattering them with massive AoE attacks, or delivering lightning-fast strikes that shock and stagger foes, the Monk thrives as a spellblade capable of dominating Wraeclast.

Mastering the Monk may take time, but its high mobility, powerful crowd-control tools, and devastating combos make it a class worth investing in. Experiment with its skills, optimize your passive tree, and watch as your Monk becomes an unstoppable force in Path of Exile 2.

Explore the ultimate Path of Exile 2 Monk Class Guide. Learn skills, builds, Ascendancies, and tips to master this agile melee class and dominate Wraeclast.