Path of Exile 2: Monk Leveling Guide After 0.5 Patch

The Monk has always been one of the most satisfying classes in Path of Exile 2. The only caveat is that it also has one of the roughest early leveling experiences. Before the current 0.5 patch, leveling a Monk involved weapon swaps or even temporary bow leveling just to get through the first few acts efficiently.

With the release of the 0.5 update, however, that situation has changed considerably.

The Return of the Ancients has brought forth new balance adjustments, improved access to combo generation, better synergy between Quarterstaff skills, and the introduction of the Martial Artist ascendancy.

All these pushed Monk into one of the strongest campaign classes in the current meta. If you’re planning to league start as Monk, here’s a leveling guide for you.

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Leveling a Monk After 0.5 Patch in Path of Exile 2

There are a bunch of ways to level up a Monk in patch 0.5.

You can choose to go with the standard Quarterstaff skills and go with either Wind Blast or Falling Thunder. Alternatively, you can go for the Whirling Slash + Twister combo to run through the entirety of the campaign in a few hours.

However, if you want the current fastest method for leveling, I’d personally recommend going unarmed with the Hollow Palm Technique keystone.

In case you’re wondering, the Hollow Palm Technique lets you gain access to Quarterstaff skills without equipping a Quarterstaff in your main hand. At the same time, you get attack speed and critical hit chance that scales off the Evasion and Energy Shield stats in your armour.

With that in mind, let’s break down the leveling process act by act.

Act 1

In Act 1, you would be using Falling Thunder to destroy packs of enemies and campaign bosses. You can get this skill once you get to the Clearfell Encampment.

However, some fights can be challenging in melee range. If that’s the case, you want to switch to Glacial Cascade to stay at a distance. I’d still recommend Falling Thunder as your main skill, as it can benefit greatly from Power charges.

Use the Lightning Attunement and Elemental Armament 1 support gems on your Falling Thunder.

To get Power charges early on, you want to get the Killing Palm skill. Use it on a target as soon as it reaches its Culling threshold, which you can tell by an indicator at the top of its head. Doing so gives you 1 Power charge.

You can have up to 3 charges, and each stack you have will empower your Falling Thunder to deal massive damage and a bigger area of effect.

In this stage, prioritize a Quarterstaff with as high melee physical damage as possible alongside a + Level to all melee skills.

Also, get the Herald of Thunder skill once you have enough Spirit. You can get your first 30 Spirit by defeating the King of the Mist in Freythorn.

Act 2

Once you reach Act 2, switch to Storm Wave as your main skill. It allows you to move while attacking and can also shock enemies, causing them to take more damage from your hits.

Whenever you shock an enemy, use the Siphoning Strike skill to remove the shock and give you a Power charge. This will be your new source of Power charges. Once you have enough charges, simply use Falling Thunder for even more damage.

This applies to both normal mobs and bosses.

For bosses, you simply rotate between the three skills. Storm Wave to apply Shock, Siphoning Strike to remove Shock and give you a Power charge, then Falling Thunder for massive damage. Rinse and repeat.

For the support gems, socket Shock and Elemental Armament 1 to Storm Wave. Siphoning Strike will get Charge Profusion 1. Falling Thunder remains unchanged.

Act 3

By Act 3, you should have already unlocked your ascendancy. I recommend you go Martial Artist for this one. Then, go for the Hollow Focus notable which periodically summons bells near you.

Your hits will destroy the bells, which then causes them to create a shockwave that damages and stuns nearby enemies. At this point, you should also get the Charged Staff skill.

The rotation and gameplay are pretty much the same with that in Act 2 with just a few changes. This time, you want to use Killing Palm to cull the bells spawned by Hollow Focus and generate a Power charge.

Once you have 3 Power charges, cast Charged Staff. The buff lasts for 30 seconds, so make sure to refresh it every time it expires or gets close to it. You can support it with Prolonged Duration 1 to extend the duration.

If you have enough currency, buy Lesser Jeweller Orbs to add one more slot to your active gems. Prioritize Storm Wave and Falling Thunder, then socket Lightning Attunement and Lightning Penetration, respectively.

Don’t forget to defeat Ignagduk the Bog Witch in The Azak Bog to get +30 to your maximum Spirit. With this, get the Wind Dancer skill to get more evasion rating.

Also, complete the Trials of Chaos for your next Ascendancy points. Allocate them to unlock Hollow Resonance.

Act 4

In Act 4, we’re going to transition to an unarmed playstyle. You should have already allocated the Hollow Palm Technique keystone on the passive skill tree. This allows you to use Quarterstaff skills without a weapon.

You should also get your hands on a body armor with both Evasion Rating and Energy shield. Since Hollow Palm scales off both stats, doing so would make your character more powerful.

Moreover, you should get your hands on the unique gloves, Lochtonial Caress. You can buy it from players for around 2-3 Exalted Orbs on average. You should also respec your Ascendancy points by removing Hollow Focus and Hollow Resonance.

Instead, take Way of the Stone Fist and Hollow Form. Way of the Stone Fist will convert your Lochtonial Caress into a better version suited for this build. Meanwhile, Hollow Form will let you socket a melee skill that you’ll be using for the rest of the game.

You want to socket Whirling Assault, and then support it with Heavy Swing and Armor Break 2.

After you’re done, the build becomes a one-button playstyle and the rotation is stupidly simple. All you need to do is cast Whirling Assault, and that’s pretty much it.

This will then take you all the way to maps and the endgame once you start upgrading your gear.

Of course, make sure to upgrade your armor and look for ones that grant both Evasion Rating and Energy Shield. This should increase your damage and overall survivability.

Final Thoughts

And that’s how you level up a Monk in the current 0.5 patch in Path of Exile 2. As you can see, it has now become simpler and more efficient than it was back then. Thanks to the Martial Artist ascendancy, clearing packs of monsters has become a lot easier due to Hollow Form with Whirling Assault.

Hope you find this guide useful, and happy leveling!