![[PoE 2] HUGE NEW Leveling Tech for Martial Artist - Monk League Starter Build - Path of Exile 2](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NasBtP17csQ/maxresdefault.jpg)
Overview
This is a leveling-tech breakdown for the Martial Artist Monk in 0.5, focused on a single counter-intuitive decision: take Hollow Focus before Way of the Stone Fist for your first ascendancy point. The argument is that early Monk leveling lives or dies by power-charge generation, and Hollow Focus spawns Bells around you that are primed for stun, can be called instantly, and always take critical hits. Killing Palm on those Bells then becomes a charge factory — one power charge per Bell, available consistently against both packs and bosses without ever needing to wait for Siphoning Strike’s shock prerequisite.
Once charges are reliable, the build layers buff stacking on top. Putting any talisman in the second weapon set and locking it to Wyvern form gives access to Rant, which grants 50% of damage gained as lightning for ~13 seconds with Prolonged Duration. From there, Three of the Kill and Blazing Critical (both naturally proc’d because Killing Palm always crits the Bells) stack lightning and fire damage on top. The core campaign rotation ends up being Rant → Killing Palm → Fallen Thunder, with optional Staggering Palm and Charge Stuff buffs for players who want bigger AoE.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Solves Monk’s early-game charge generation problem at the first ascendancy point
- Killing Palm on Bells works against bosses too — Bells spawn in boss arenas while you’re engaged
- Rant is extraordinarily strong for the setup cost (one talisman in the offhand)
- Most of the buff stack works automatically once Killing Palm is in rotation
Cons
- Needs Killing Palm aimed at the Bell, not the monster — a click-target learning curve
- Way of the Stone Fist still wants to be your second ascendancy, so glove power lags a few levels
- Three of the Kill requires the Bell to be shocked, which doesn’t always trigger cleanly
- Three concurrent buff windows (Rant, Staggering Palm, Charge Stuff) can be overwhelming — most players will run two
Key Skills
- Killing Palm — primary charge generator, hits Bells for guaranteed crit + one power charge each
- Fallen Thunder — early power-charge spender, doubles as clear and boss damage
- Rant (from offhand Wyvern talisman) — 50% damage gained as lightning buff, the biggest single-button DPS gain in the rotation
- Staggering Palm — optional projectile-stuffing buff via stunning the primed Bells
- Hollow Focus — first ascendancy notable, generates the Bells that make everything else work
Gear & Anointments
Gear-wise this is a leveling guide — the creator’s emphasis is on ascendancy order and skill setup rather than item targets, with the written guide handling the explicit stat shopping list. Support gem priorities are called out though: Killing Palm wants Charge Infusion plus Three of the Kill (if you can keep shock up on the Bells), with Life Drain and Blazing Critical as solid third-slot options. Prolonged Duration on Rant pushes the buff to roughly 12 seconds, which is what makes the rotation comfortable.
Credits & Source
Build credited to Ronarray. See the source video for the full ascendancy-order argument and Bell-targeting demos: PoE 2 HUGE NEW Leveling Tech for Martial Artist - Monk League Starter Build.