Overview
This is a deliberately brain-dead mana stacker built around the Twisted Empyrean mace, where the only button that matters is a basic mace attack and the screen still disappears. The unique converts a slice of maximum mana into added cold damage on attacks, so every point of mana is simultaneously more damage and — thanks to the mace’s second line — more effective health, since damage is taken from mana before life. Stack mana, cap that conversion at 100%, and the build funds both halves of the character from one stat.
The damage ceiling comes from a second unique pairing: Crown of Eyes turns increases to spell damage into attack damage, which makes a cheap Cultivated Wrath Pith an enormous multiplier, and the Mystical Rage anointment double-dips rage into both spell and attack damage. Running Wrath Pith forces the Giant’s Blood keystone, which triples the mace’s attribute requirements — handled with a Flesh Crucible jewel, two Soul Cores of Zantipai to convert strength into intelligence, and an attribute-heavy Morior Invictus.
Martial Artist is the ascendancy of choice largely for Way of the Stonefist, which juices gloves enough to make Herald of Ice chain explosions do the clearing that a single-target mace swing never could. Freeze buildup on the mace implicit ties it together: frozen enemies take more damage and stay off you, and Way of the Mountain pays out constantly because freeze counts as immobilisation.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Genuinely one button — no rotation, no combo windows, just walk and swing
- Very tanky for the investment: Mana Remnants overflows maximum mana and the mana-before-life conversion turns the damage pool into an effective health pool
- Herald of Ice plus Wind Dancer clears screens without you needing to hit anything directly
- Constant freeze makes most map content harmless and feeds Way of the Mountain
- Works with any mace skill — Forgehammer or Molten Blast turn it into a safer ranged variant while staying one button
Cons
- Gated behind uniques: Twisted Empyrean (with the freeze-buildup implicit from rune forging), Crown of Eyes, Wrath Pith, Flesh Crucible
- The showcased version cost roughly 2,000 divines with full lineage gems, though the creator stresses a much cheaper version works
- Herald of Ice does not trigger on Delirium monsters, so 200% Delirium and Simulacrum are the build’s weakest content
- Juiced Grand Expeditions punish melee — rares that drain mana can kill you outright without a Headhunter or a ranged skill swap
- Giant’s Blood makes attribute requirements a real gearing puzzle rather than an afterthought
Key Skills
- Mace Strike — the default light attack, used as the main damage skill purely for the bonk feel; supported with Vorana’s Siege, Rakiata’s Flow, Elemental Armament, Rage and Gokhan’s Resolve
- Forgehammer / Molten Blast — recommended swaps for anyone playing this seriously; ranged, safer, still one button
- Herald of Ice — the clear engine, supported with Armour Explosion, Magnified Area, Eiric Smelting and Armour Break
- Wind Dancer — defensive layer that also detonates packs you walk past
- Mana Remnants — mandatory spirit skill; overflows maximum mana and carries survivability
Gear & Anointments
The weapon is non-negotiable: a Twisted Empyrean with the increased freeze buildup implicit, obtained through rune forging. Crown of Eyes and a Cultivated Wrath Pith supply the damage multiplier, Flesh Crucible enables Giant’s Blood, and Morior Invictus covers attributes plus leftover resistances. Beyond that, prioritise attributes, maximum mana, resistances and flat attack damage — no Headhunter or Mageblood required.
- Anoint: Mystical Rage, so rage grants both spell and attack damage bonuses
- Jewels: sapphires with critical hit chance and critical damage suffixes, spell or cold damage prefixes, and as much “damage taken from mana before life” as needed to reach 100%
- Passives: the critical cluster near the Martial Artist start, Eldritch Battery for maximum mana, and Heavy Frost for freeze buildup
- Optional: a Megalomaniac with Storm’s Rebuke (broken armour takes increased cold damage), Time-Lost jewels in the nearby sockets, Spirit of the Wolf on a Rite of Passage, and Blasphemy + Temporal Chains if spirit allows
Endgame Notes
The showcase footage is a Tier 16 waystone at 200% Delirium with all three tablets rolling increased deliriousness, and the build handles it — just not smoothly, because Herald of Ice does not chain off Delirium monsters. Juiced Grand Expeditions are the other stress test and are far more comfortable with Forgehammer or Molten Blast than with Mace Strike. Simulacrum is the one piece of content the creator advises against farming on this build. Hollow Focus is taken as the final ascendancy point mostly to hit bells before pinnacle fights for pre-stacked rage; Hollow Form is an equally valid pick.
Credits & Source
Build credited to lilbotq. A written guide and the build file are linked in the video description. See the source video for the full build’s gameplay footage + voice commentary: 1 BUTTON. 1 MACE. EVERYTHING DIES! PoE 2 Twisted Empyrean Martial Artist Bonk Build.