Path of Exile 2 best Monk build

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 the best 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 the best Monk build in Path of Exile 2, focusing on the Invoker Ascendancy.

Best Monk build in Path of Exile 2

The best Monk build in Path of Exile 2 is what we'll call the Cold Invoker build. The idea behind this build is to maximise Cold Damage, critical damage, and the Freeze status. You will mainly rely on Ice Strike to charge the Tempest Bell, which you should then drop next to your toughest opponent. By hitting the Bell with strike abilities (again, mainly Ice Strike), you will deal even more Cold damage and apply more Freeze statuses to surrounding enemies.

This Monk build requires the Invoker Ascendancy, as it will greatly boost elemental damage, thereby making it much easier to freeze enemies. Since the other Monk Ascendancy, Acolyte of Chayula, focuses on Chaos Damage, it's unsuitable for this Path of Exile 2 build.

Physical damage and critical hit chance are by far the most important stats, but try to get better critical damage and attack speed as well. Stick to the Quarterstaff as your weapon (it's a requirement for most of the Monk's best skills). 'Moment of Truth', 'Critical Exploit', 'Deadly Force', 'Thin Ice', and 'Careful Assassin' are among the most important passive skill tree nodes.

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

Undoubtedly one of the oddest skills in Path of Exile 2, Tempest Bell requires combo buildup by hitting enemies with 'strike' attacks (including Ice Strike, Quarterstaff Strike, Hand of Chayula, and Shattering Palm). When full, drop the Tempest Bell onto the ground and hit it with other attacks to create shockwaves. Elemental ailments applied to the Bell (Freeze, in this case) will result in extra damage of that type. Although it may feel weird to hit a Bell instead of your opponents, the insane damage numbers are worth it.

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 against bosses in Act One. Like Ice Strike, you should use it to charge Tempest Bell.

Shattering Palm

More than just another strike ability, Shattering Palm dashes forward while covering nearby enemies with ice shards. It's a handy mobility skill if you need to close the gap between you and a boss, as well as a great way to deal some additional explosion damage.

Herald Of Ice

Since you're shattering frozen enemies left and right, this persistent buff will grant you an easy damage boost: shattering an enemy causes an explosion that will damage any nearby opponents. It won't make much of a difference against bosses, but it'll help you get rid of weaker enemies. If you need it, we've got a guide on how to get more Spirit in Path of Exile 2 so you can equip this ability.

Hypothermia

This amazing Curse hardly needs an explanation; by decreasing opponents' Cold Resistance, Hypothermia is a perfect fit for this Cold Invoker Monk build, which mainly relies on Cold damage. Just beware that this Curse is an 'elemental' Skill Gem, but you can use it with a Quarterstaff just fine.

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

An immense boost to elemental damage and Freeze application? Yes, please! With the Unbound Avatar Ascendancy Skill activated, you'll gain Unbound Fury stacks by inflicting elemental ailments, triggering an almost 10-second long 'Unbound' state that improves your Cold damage and makes it far easier to Freeze enemies.

Wind Dancer

Since you're always on the frontline, it's difficult to survive as a Monk without evasion-based defensive abilities. Wind Dancer is a great option as it increases your evasion upon being hit by melee attacks, ultimately leading to a knockback attack. Make the most of this lifesaver by adding HP and mana recovery through Support Gems (more on that below).

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

Arguably the most important combo in this build, Overabundance and Tempest Bell are a match made in Gem-socketing heaven. Normally, you can't build Combo stacks while the Bell is active, but by raising the Bell limit to two, you can. So while one Bell is on the field, your next strikes are already charging the second Bell.

Leverage

Another one for the Tempest Bell; gain a 50% increased critical hit chance against immobilised (read: frozen) enemies.

Supercritical

Offering a 100% critical damage boost, Supercritical has the potential to obliterate everyone around you when placed on the Tempest Bell. However, it also reduces the critical rate by 20%, so I would only use this if you have a very high critical rate stat.

Heft

This amazing Support Gem increases a Skill Gem's physical damage by 30%, making it absolutely perfect for our main physical-to-cold attack: Ice Strike.

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 of things to do first in Path of Exile 2, and make sure you understand the character attributes. Don't forget to use the Path of Exile 2 crafting system to get better gear, and use the gemcutting system to obtain new skills.