Overview
This is the Hollow Palm Ice Strike Monk reworked for 0.5 and slotted onto the new Martial Artist ascendancy. Hollow Palm Technique removes weapon damage from the equation and scales attacks purely off dexterity, attack speed, and added damage on gloves/rings — which makes the build naturally well suited to SSF and league-start scenarios where a great quarter staff isn’t guaranteed. Ice Strike provides the freeze-and-shatter clear loop, Tempest Bell handles boss damage spikes, and Herald of Ice + Herald of Thunder chain through frozen packs once endgame spirit is online.
The Martial Artist ascendancy progression is the biggest 0.5 lever. Hollow Focus opens up a ghost-bell shock-wave layer; Hollow Resonance attaches a permanent bell that adds shock-wave AoE on every crit; Way of the Stone Fist transforms gloves into a hybrid offensive/defensive item that converts flat damage into more-multiplier; Wave of the Mountain provides the freeze-driven Mountain’s Teachings buff for 20% more damage and a 70%-less-damage taken on hits ≤30% of max life. The creator’s overall pitch is that the build is consistently strong from Act 1 through T15+ maps without major gearing breakpoints.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Hollow Palm completely removes the weapon-quality treadmill — a major league-start advantage.
- Tempest Bell now spawns up to three at base, so boss burst windows are massive even without Overabundance support.
- Freeze + shatter via Frozen Locust into Ice Strike is one of the most reliable clear loops in the game.
- Martial Artist’s Way of the Mountain converts freeze application directly into a flat 20% more damage plus a damage-mitigation floor.
Cons
- Ice Strike pre-Hollow Palm (levels 1–14) still requires the standard melee-monk pain in Act 1.
- Mana sustain becomes a real concern at higher Ice Strike levels; needs Ocean’s Oath or sapphire “mana on kill” to feel smooth.
- Builds that lean on freeze fall off against freeze-immune endgame content unless you commit to crit/lightning damage scaling.
- Glacial Cascade pre-level-14 has a specific optimal distance that takes practice to read.
Key Skills
- Ice Strike — Main attack from level 14 onward; primary damage and freeze applicator.
- Hollow Palm Technique — Keystone taken by level 14; removes weapon damage, scales off attack speed/dex.
- Tempest Bell — Triple-bell boss burst with Ancestral Call support replacing Overabundance.
- Frozen Locust — Pre-freeze projectile that auto-backflips for safer melee positioning.
- Glacial Cascade — Levelling skill replaced by Ice Strike at 14; works well with Frozen Locust setup.
- Pounce — Werewolf-form movement skill via Talisman; aggro-soak wolf summons on marked kills.
- Combat Frenzy + Resonance — Generates power charges off freezes; feeds Charge Staff for lightning conversion later.
Gear & Anointments
Levelling uses any quarter staff with attack speed, flat damage, and +melee-skills until Hollow Palm comes online at level 14, after which the weapon slot is essentially ignored. A Talisman is mandatory for the Pounce + werewolf movement loop. Endgame slots target hybrid energy shield + evasion bases to scale both defences off the same gear, with a pure-ES helm running Subterfuge Mask for extra evasion conversion.
For spirit gems: Herald of Ice with Cold Attunement comes online once Freythorn drops the spirit; Herald of Thunder is added in mapping; Ghost Dance gets slotted in as a recovery layer once 50+ extra spirit is on the chest piece + amulet. Specific unique items to be confirmed against the source video and the planner the creator links in the description.
Endgame Notes
Transitioning to endgame focuses on critical-hit chance and damage nodes (the build expects to crit Ice Strike for both clear and Hollow Resonance bell procs) and on building +50 spirit between chest and amulet to fit Herald of Thunder + Ghost Dance. Way of the Stone Fist is taken specifically when the campaign is over and the player starts hunting good gloves to feed the more-damage conversion.
Credits & Source
Build credited to MrRonit. See the source video for the full build’s gameplay footage and act-by-act progression: The ULTIMATE Ice Strike Martial Artist League Starter Guide (Hollow Palm Is NUTS) PoE 2 0.5.