Overview
This Martial Artist Monk pairs Flicker Strike with Falling Thunder to chase an infinite power-charge loop. The core idea is that Reaper’s Invocation + Profane Ritual feeds power charges as long as melee skills keep building energy, which means Flicker Strike (a melee skill) can both consume charges and indirectly regenerate them. Falling Thunder is the dump for excess charges when bursts of single-target are needed or when the screen fills with adds.
Unlike the Invoker version of this archetype, Martial Artist does not have Lead Me Through Grace, so body-armor spirit is off the table. The build leans on the 100-spirit campaign reward, a socketed amulet, and possibly cast-on-crit to maintain the energy income side. Quarter staff is the chosen weapon, with elemental damage scaling preferred over physical, and Mantra of Destruction explicitly left at zero quality to keep the combo threshold high (more power charges per pop).
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Flicker Strike + Falling Thunder produces an extremely fast, fluid playstyle
- Hollow Focus Technique bells guarantee critical hits — synergises with Hollow Resonance
- Charge Regulation provides simultaneous more crit, more skill speed, and more defense
- Mantra of Destruction with Delay Gratification + Alift Chimes restores charges on demand
- Quarter staff plus-five elemental damage rolls scale cleanly into the loop
Cons
- Power charge sustain is heavily gear- and spirit-gated — not a day-one build
- Quarter staff prices spike at league start; vigilance is needed to avoid overpaying
- Some interactions (Heightened Curses, prolonged duration on Charge Regulation) remain unverified
- The build runs in second-weapon-set Flicker, first-set Whirling Assault — discipline required on swap
Key Skills
- Flicker Strike — primary mapping and bossing engine
- Falling Thunder — power-charge spender, AoE add clear
- Reaper’s Invocation + Profane Ritual — power-charge generation core
- Whirling Assault — combo builder on weapon set one
- Mantra of Destruction (+ Delay Gratification, Alift Chimes) — combo-to-power-charge converter
- Herald of Thunder — aura clear and combo builder via Marshall Mastery
Gear & Anointments
Sinister quarter staff for top crit chance, prioritising plus five elemental damage flat, crit chance, and crit damage bonus rolls. Stonefist gloves on Martial Artist gain modifiers like 10% chance to gain a power charge on critical hit, and can roll exceptional defensive value. Mantra of Destruction is deliberately left at zero quality to keep its combo threshold high. Specific uniques and runes (Nutell’s embrace for chaos explosion is mentioned as an option) to be confirmed against the source video.
Endgame Notes
The endgame tree picks up Hollow Focus Technique, Marshall Adept (extra combo gain), Marshall Mastery (combo retained across weapon sets), Way of the Stonefist for the upgraded gloves, and clusters built around critical investment. Power-charge sustain on bosses comes from Whirling Assault → Reaper’s Invocation → Profane Ritual rotations, with Charge Staff layering lightning shockwave damage on top. The build estimates 100% crit chance on Flicker is reachable once the gear is in place, otherwise Pinpoint Critical is the substitute.
Credits & Source
Build credited to Kevlar Peterson. See the source video for the full skill breakdown, tree walkthrough, and infinite power-charge loop discussion: Flicker Strike + Falling Thunder Martial Artist Build Guide.