Overview
This build is Scorpius’ early-0.5 take on a Whirling Assault Monk, built around the Way of the Stonefist line and a double-bell setup. Whirling Assault is the engine that powers everything: spinning into a pack builds combo points, which then feed the heavy hitters — Tempest Bell, Falling Thunder and Mantra of Destruction. The result is a quarterstaff bruiser that crits hard (88% crit with Pinpoint Critical slotted) while layering lightning, physical and fire damage through bells, Herald of Thunder and charge-staff procs.
The headline trick is power-charge generation without an expensive enabler. Instead of buying a nine-divine Alless Chime, the build uses Reaper’s Invocation seeded with Profane Ritual to convert corpses into charges while mapping, and Killing Palm on its own summoned ghost bells to generate charges on bosses. Those charges fuel Charge Staff for sustained clear and a maxed-charge Falling Thunder to potentially one-shot pinnacle targets.
Because this was filmed three days into the league as a live build update, the creator stresses it’s a snapshot that’s still being tuned — uniques, megalomaniac jewels and Time-Lost jewels are deferred to a later late-endgame video.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Strong single-target: the boss rotation (Whirling Assault → Tempest Bell → Mantra → Falling Thunder) almost two-shot Zest on day three
- Fast, consistent map clear via Falling Thunder spam, Herald of Thunder triggers and Nova Projectiles
- Cheap to start scaling — the creator spent zero divines and nothing above ~40 exalted on any single piece
- Clever power-charge economy avoids the pricey Alless Chime enabler entirely
- Flexible: Hollow Palm is optional and gear-dependent, so a good quarterstaff can replace it
Cons
- Multi-skill combo rotation with charge management — not a one-button build
- Mantra of Destruction’s empowerment overlaps with Ancestral Call’s bonus, so its uptime is inconsistent
- Gear-gated for its ceiling (jewels, uniques and late-game scaling come later)
- 0.5 launch performance issues (stutter/packet loss) can hurt a melee-spin playstyle
Key Skills
- Whirling Assault — main combo generator and AoE/boss damage dealer; runs Ancestral Call, Rage, Magnified Area and Pinpoint Critical
- Tempest Bell — high-value bell with Concentrated Area + Ancestral Call for the boss burst
- Falling Thunder — boss nuke at max power charges; doubles as a spammable map clearer with Fist of War, Ricochet and Nova Projectiles
- Reaper’s Invocation (+ Profane Ritual) — corpse-to-power-charge engine for mapping
- Charge Staff — consumes power charges to empower strikes and feed Herald of Thunder triggers
Gear & Anointments
The weapon is a high-roll quarterstaff (increased/flat physical and elemental damage, crit chance, crit damage, +levels to melee, attack speed); a strong staff lets you drop Hollow Palm entirely. Armour is evasion/energy-shield hybrid across helmet, chest and boots — cap resistances first, then chase deflection or ES recharge. The amulet was crafted through the Genesis tree of the Breach for max ES, crit chance and intelligence; recommended anoints are Overwhelming Strike (~37–38 exalted) or the cheaper Serrated Edges (~15 exalted). Rings favour flat damage with leftover resistances. Specific late-game uniques and Time-Lost jewels are to be confirmed against the source video’s follow-up.
Endgame Notes
Shown clearing tier 14–15 maps with the full charge loop, and the boss rotation nearly two-shot Zest. Ascendancy path goes Way of the Stonefist → double bells → Way of the Mountain for stun-immobilise and extra defence; Runic Meridians is floated as a late-endgame swap.
Credits & Source
Build credited to Scorpius. See the source video for the full build’s gameplay footage + voice commentary: PoE2 0.5 Whirling Assault Martial Artist Endgame Build.