Overview
This is Peuget2’s 0.5 league-start plan for the Monk’s new Martial Artist ascendancy, built around the freshly added Oil Barrage skill. The character shape-shifts into a viper form and channels oil projectiles at the ground beneath enemies, which then fork, ricochet, and chain off the terrain. Because Oil Barrage targets the ground instead of the enemy directly, multiple projectiles from the same channel can stack hits on a single target, turning a base skill with no damage multipliers into a screen-covering clear and single-target tool once the full five-link is online.
Power charges are the core scaling mechanic. Early on, Devouring eats corpses or chilled enemies to generate charges, and later the Lingering Illusion drops charges on death so the build never runs dry against bosses. Defensively, the Martial Artist ascendancy transforms gloves into a hybrid evasion and energy-shield slot that scales with character level, and the second weapon set runs Whirling Slash for movement that ignores boot movement speed entirely, freeing the boot slot for pure defense.
The guide targets early, mid, and endgame in a single progression: rend and lightning arrow carry leveling through acts one to three, Oil Barrage takes over at act four when tier-four supports unlock, and the final endgame splits between a hybrid life/ES/evasion setup and a later Chaos Inoculation crit variant once Eye of the Chimera is affordable.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Oil Barrage covers the whole screen and clears two screens away thanks to off-screen chaining projectiles
- Strong single-target and clear from the same skill, no swap needed for bosses
- Way of the Stone Fist transforms gloves into a 1k+ evasion / ~600 ES hybrid slot that scales with level
- Power-charge generation is easy through Devouring early and Lingering Illusion later
- Weapon-swap Whirling Slash ignores movement speed, freeing the boot slot for defense
Cons
- Oil Barrage is a channeled skill, requiring you to stand still to fire
- Skill comes online late — Oil Barrage only kicks in around act four when tier-four supports are available
- Endgame CI crit variant depends on Eye of the Chimera, which the guide notes will be expensive
- Ascendancy and gem behavior may shift before 0.5 launch since the build is built on pre-release info
Key Skills
- Oil Barrage — Main clear and single-target; channels projectiles at the ground that fork, ricochet, and chain
- Devouring — Eats corpses or chilled enemies to generate power charges in early/mid game
- Rend — Leveling clear before Oil Barrage; grants a 50% lightning damage buff that carries over into Oil Barrage hits
- Whirling Slash — Weapon-set 2 movement skill, ignores movement speed for fast traversal
- Lingering Illusion — Drops power charges on death so bosses no longer require stun setups
Gear & Anointments
Gloves are the centerpiece: Way of the Stone Fist transforms any glove base into a hybrid evasion/energy-shield item that scales with character level, so the recommendation is to pick up every glove that drops and test which transformation rolls best. Pure armor, pure ES, armor/ES, and armor/evasion bases all work as test substrates. Boots can skip movement speed entirely thanks to Whirling Slash, freeing the slot for pure defense. The endgame transitions toward hybrid life/ES/evasion stacking, then later a crit Chaos Inoculation setup anchored by Eye of the Chimera. Weapon slot 2 wants a high-attack-speed weapon (ideally a spear) for the Whirling Slash mover. Specific uniques to be confirmed against the source video.
- Gloves — any base, transformed by Way of the Stone Fist
- Boots — defense-first, movement speed optional
- Weapon set 2 — high-attack-speed spear for Whirling Slash
- Eye of the Chimera (endgame CI variant) — expensive aspirational pickup
Endgame Notes
Endgame splits into two ascendancy paths. The early/mid endgame leans on Way of the Mountain — immobilize stacks give extra damage, stun threshold, and convert 40% of hits under 30% max life into reduced damage, which the guide notes covers the bulk of mapping incoming damage. Once gear improves, the build transitions to Runic Meridians, which lets the character slot extra runes as tattoos for stacked item-style bonuses; with 150 new runes arriving in 0.5, this slot is treated as the long-term scaling node. The fourth ascendancy point is held back until Eye of the Chimera and Martial Master are online, since rushing it earlier wastes ascend trials. Endgame links add a war-cry trigger setup with Echoing Cry and a rage generator for ~30% more damage on boss pushes, and Feral Furor finishes most boss encounters in a single window.
Credits & Source
Build credited to Peuget2. See the source video for the full build’s gameplay footage + voice commentary: Oil Barrage Martial Artist League Starter - Build Guide for Path of Exile 2 0.5.