Overview
Gigabonk is a Martial Artist Monk built around a single loop: generate combo, convert it into power charges, then dump those charges into Falling Thunder. The Martial Artist ascendancy is what makes the loop hold together — Way of the Stonefist rewrites the character’s gloves with powerful implicit effects, while Marshal Adept and Marshal Master double combo generation and let every attack hit build combo, which in turn keeps energy shield recharging permanently.
Falling Thunder slams the ground and releases projectiles based on power charges held. Stack roughly six charges plus one from the One with the Storm notable and the skill reaches around 730% more damage, with enough projectiles to be pushed 360° around the character via No Projectiles One — a single button that clears the screen and also deletes pinnacle bosses.
Charge sustain is normally the bottleneck for this pattern, and here Marshal Master solves it. Because all attack hits generate combo — including Falling Thunder’s own projectiles, Herald explosions and charged-staff projectiles — the Alish Chimes lineage gem can convert that combo straight back into power charges. Two casts of Shattering Palm refill to maximum, Falling Thunder spends them, and the cycle repeats indefinitely as long as something is being hit.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- One-button 360° screen clear from Falling Thunder’s projectile spread
- Roughly 730% more damage at full charges — one-shots rares and pinnacle bosses alike
- Self-sustaining charge loop that never runs dry while enemies are present
- Very tanky: ~6k energy shield, 70%+ evasion, capped 95% deflection chance
- Chaos Inoculation removes energy shield’s double-damage weakness to chaos entirely
- Runic Meridians grants five extra rune slots, making attribute and resistance fixing easy
Cons
- Monk has a rougher campaign than most classes, especially Act 1 — melee inexperience will hurt
- The build is gated on the Alish Chimes lineage gem, which drops from Derelict Mansion bosses and will carry a premium for the first few days of a league
- Requires an interim setup (Beyblade Hollow Form channelling Monk) to farm maps until that gem is acquired
- Depends on the Forgotten Warden unique body armour for its full defensive ceiling
Key Skills
- Falling Thunder — the payoff skill; slams and fires power-charge-scaled projectiles in every direction
- Shattering Palm — the combo generator that refills charges between slams
- Alish Chimes (lineage gem) — converts expended combo into power charges, closing the loop
- Siphoning Strike — leveling and bossing tool; dashes to a shocked target, grants a power charge
- Herald of Thunder — first spirit gem; its explosions also feed combo generation
Gear & Anointments
Gloves matter more than usual here — Way of the Stonefist augments whatever is equipped, so glove mods such as base critical hit chance, added defences, onslaught and explode effects are the build’s highest-value slot. Defensively the target is a mix of energy shield and evasion with deflection chance capped at 95%, anchored by the Forgotten Warden body armour: its companion absorbs 15% of deflected damage, and paired with Loyalty support the character takes only around 35% of what a deflected hit would normally deal. Chaos Inoculation is taken to remove chaos damage entirely. During the campaign the creator recommends armour bases instead, with life regeneration and resistances, before swapping into the evasion/energy shield setup once Hollow Palm comes online in Act 2.
Endgame Notes
Ascendancy order starts with Hollow Focus and is respecced once proper gloves are acquired. The full progression — budget variants, high-investment endgame variants and item-by-item targets — is documented in the creator’s build planner linked from the source video, alongside a separate campaign leveling guide.
Credits & Source
Build credited to FGKorbyn21. See the source video for the full build’s gameplay footage + voice commentary: PoE 2 - My Martial Artist 0.5.5 League Starter - Giga Bonk - Monk Build Guide.