[POE 2 0.5] Martial Artist Cold Monk - Hollow Palm and Whirling Assault League Start Leveling Guide

Overview

This build returns to the Monk class for patch 0.5 by leaning into the brand-new Martial Artist ascendancy. The core identity is a cold-leaning leveler that drops weapon dependency entirely by adopting Hollow Palm at the end of Act 1, letting fists scale through gem levels and passive nodes while every currency drop funnels into gloves, rings, and resistances. The campaign skeleton uses Glacial Cascade for range and Frozen Locus for AoE explosions, with Herald of Ice and Frost Bomb stitched in to keep packs frozen and chunked. A weapon-set swap to Tempest Flurry adds lightning shock as a more-damage multiplier against bosses, scaled by passive nodes like General Electric and Alternating Currents.

The pitch is a smooth, low-juggling league start. Hollow Palm removes the constant weapon-upgrade tax that plagues other melee starts, so the player can stack flat damage on rings, capped resistances on every slot, and high evasion or energy shield without agonising over a fresh quarterstaff every act. Once mapping begins, the build is designed to transition into a Whirling Assault and Tempest Bell shell — spinning through packs, generating combo points, and dropping multiple bells (up to three in 0.5) that ring out repeated cold and lightning hits.

Because Martial Artist is new and the gloves-and-bells interactions are untested at launch, the author frames this as a proven leveling and early-maps plan with experimental endgame branches. The leveling backbone is credited to A Guy That Dies, and the Whirling Assault endgame shell is adapted from FGK Corbin’s Flicker Strike build.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Hollow Palm removes weapon upgrade pressure through the entire campaign
Glacial Cascade plus Frozen Locus gives range, AoE, and easy freezes for safe leveling
Tempest Flurry weapon-set adds a strong shock-based boss damage layer from Act 1 onward
Smooth power curve with Martial Artist’s gloves, bell, and clone nodes scaling into maps
Flexible endgame: stays on Hollow Palm, swaps to Whirling Assault + Tempest Bell, or goes Hollow Form clones

Cons

Martial Artist is brand new in 0.5 — endgame interactions are unproven and experimental
Endgame ascendancy path is choose-your-own: no single optimal node order is established yet
Depends on quality rolls on gloves and runes to scale survivability and damage past mid-maps
Author plans to reroll if the Echenol shield drops, so this is explicitly a starter, not a forever build

Key Skills

Glacial Cascade — primary leveling skill, ranged cold AoE picked up in Act 1
Frozen Locus — secondary AoE for blowing up frozen packs while leveling
Frost Bomb — applies cold exposure for the multiplier on tough rares and bosses
Herald of Ice — chain shatter coverage during the campaign
Tempest Flurry — weapon-set swap that applies 100% shock with scaled magnitude for bosses
Hollow Palm — Act 1 keystone-style choice that drops weapon scaling for unarmed fist damage
Whirling Assault — endgame spin attack paired with Rage, Embitter, Magnified Area, Pinpoint Critical
Tempest Bell — endgame combo-point dump, with up to three bells active plus a back-mounted bell from ascendancy
Charged Staff — extra lightning damage layer during the Whirling Assault transition
Reaper’s Invocation + Profane Ritual — power-charge generator for the endgame Hollow Form clone shell

Gear & Anointments

The campaign loadout is intentionally basic because Hollow Palm covers the weapon slot. Aim for a high-physical, high-crit, high-attack-speed quarterstaff (Sinister Quarterstaff base preferred) ready for the Whirling Assault transition, but do not stress weapon upgrades during the campaign itself. Every other slot prioritises capped resistances, evasion, energy shield, and life. Body armour can roll Devout Guard for chaos resistance if the supply lets it.

The interesting slots are gloves and rings. Gloves want flat physical and elemental damage plus resistances, because Way of the Stone Fist transforms the gloves so flat damage converts and resistances push into max-resistance territory. Since gloves carry flat damage, rings should also stack flat cold and lightning rolls — any flat damage type is acceptable, with cold and lightning preferred. The belt covers strength requirements for gems, and the amulet wants spirit so the build can run Herald of Thunder, Herald of Ice, and Reaper’s Invocation simultaneously, with room to add Ghost Dance once spirit budget allows.

Ascendancy points are intentionally fluid. Way of the Stone Fist is the first pick to enable the gloves engine. The second point is either Way of the Mountain (Mountain Siege uptime against frozen enemies) or Runic Meridians (extra rune sockets), depending on how strong the 0.5 reworked runes feel during Act 1 and Act 2. The final two points branch toward Hollow Form clones, Hollow Focus bells, or Marshal Adept combo points based on what the player wants to scale.

Leveling Notes

Follow the standard Monk Act 1 opening with Glacial Cascade and Frozen Locus the moment they drop, supported by Frost Bomb and Herald of Ice. Pick up Hollow Palm at the end of Act 1 and stop worrying about weapons entirely — currency goes into rings, gloves, and resistance fixes instead. Slot Tempest Flurry into the weapon-set swap so boss rooms get the shock multiplier from Tempest Flurry’s third-strike lightning bolt, scaled by passive nodes like General Electric and Alternating Currents. The passive tree includes pre-planned act-by-act snapshots and a crit transition near the end of the campaign. After the campaign, decide whether to stay on Hollow Palm, transition into Whirling Assault plus Tempest Bell, or pivot to a Hollow Form clone variant once gear and runes are in hand.

Credits & Source

Build credited to Travic, with leveling guidance from A Guy That Dies and the Whirling Assault endgame shell adapted from FGK Corbin. See the source video for the full build’s gameplay footage and voice commentary: [POE 2 0.5] Martial Artist Cold Monk - Hollow Palm and Whirling Assault League Start Leveling Guide.