Overview
This build leans on Path of Exile 2’s companion and minion systems to create a budget “zoo” that clears maps while the player simply moves. The centrepiece is a Spirit Monkey companion whose naturally high critical chance lets it delete rare and unique enemies in a single hit, backed by a small pack of cheap skeleton minions and a battery of offerings that pump the monkey’s damage even higher. The whole package is built to come in under five Divine Orbs, making it an accessible way into the companion archetype for players who don’t want to pay end-game prices.
The build is framed as an early-to-mid mapping setup — comfortable from the first maps up through roughly Tier 10 — rather than a finished pinnacle build. Damage is layered: Master support turns a handful of low-cost skeletons into a large “more” multiplier for the monkey, Power Offering and Despair add burst and chaos-resistance shred, and a self-rolled Timeless Jewel supplies several minion attack-speed and reservation modifiers for the price of a single Divine. It plays as a fast, slightly glass-cannon zoomer that relies on companions to tank and one-shot ahead of the player.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Genuinely cheap — the full setup is pitched at under five Divine, with most gear around one Divine
- Very high clear speed; the monkey teleports to the player and one-shots packs and most bosses
- Strong single-target burst from a high-crit companion plus Power Offering
- Scales further later via a corrupted +1 level-21 companion gem and an “ultra monkey” with much higher crit
Cons
- Fairly glass-cannon; charging into large packs can still get the character killed
- Requires setup knowledge (companion farming order, Timeless Jewel rolling) that isn’t beginner-trivial
- Presented as a mapping build to ~Tier 10, not yet a finished end-game guide
- Several upgrades (level 81–90 gear, the “ultra monkey”) are deferred to future videos
Key Skills
- Spirit Monkey (Companion) — primary damage dealer; high innate crit one-shots bosses and packs
- Skeleton Minions + Master support — cheap minions that convert into a large “more damage” multiplier for the monkey
- Power Offering / Sacrificial Offering — burst damage and minion sustain
- Despair — chaos-resistance shred to amplify the build’s chaos scaling
- Wrath Reputation — defensive/offensive debuff making enemies take more damage
Gear & Anointments
The main hand is a minion-focused sceptre — a cheap +3 Rat Cage sceptre is recommended as a stepping stone toward a level-90 end-game sceptre — paired with a +2/+3 minion timber off-hand. Rings stack additional chaos damage, while the chest is a transitional max-resist piece used to hit the leveling resistance cap. The real budget sink is a self-rolled Timeless Jewel chosen purely for its minion attack-speed and reservation modifiers; base type doesn’t matter since no keystone is socketed. A From Nothing diamond jewel provides a cheap alternative to expensive crit pathing. Specific item rolls should be confirmed against the source video.
Endgame Notes
The creator explicitly stops at the early-mapping stage and plans future videos covering the jump to Tier 15, the level-81/90 end-game gear, and farming an “ultra monkey” with up to ~300% critical chance for the full zoo payoff.
Credits & Source
Build credited to Mattjestic Life. See the source video for full gameplay footage and item-by-item commentary: Best 5 Divine budget Spirit Walker monkey companion build.