Overview
This is a Monk leveling guide built around the new Martial Artist ascendancy, designed to carry a character smoothly from Act 1 through to the end of the campaign. The creator’s editor took the new subclass through a full campaign run and shares the skill choices, ascendancy order, and gearing priorities that made the journey fast and forgiving. The core of the build is melee Ice Strike paired with Frozen Locus for pack clear, the Tempest Bell for single-target damage, and the Hollow Palm Technique node, which the creator treats as effectively mandatory because it converts evasion into attack speed and removes any need to chase a strong weapon.
Damage during the campaign comes primarily from flat added damage on rings and gloves plus levels of melee skills on the amulet, rather than from a quarterstaff. Hollow Palm Technique frees the weapon slot, so the build leans into evasion and energy-shield hybrid gear, freezing enemies consistently and killing quickly. The creator notes that no campaign boss posed a real problem once the build was online.
The guide is explicitly a leveling and early-maps resource. The author had only just reached maps at the time of recording, flagging the endgame as experimental and survivability as the main open question once the heavy investment in offense and evasion runs out of campaign-tier safety margins.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Hollow Palm Technique removes weapon dependency entirely, making gearing cheap and flexible during leveling.
- Strong, consistent campaign damage with reliable freezes, so packs and bosses melt quickly.
- Frozen Locus gives near-effortless pack clearing that works regardless of which skill procs it.
- Cheap to gear early: flat-damage rings are commonly dropped or bought for a single Exalt thanks to the league mechanic.
- Smooth, mobile playstyle using Pounce for traversal across the campaign.
Cons
- Act 1 is rough, as it is for any Monk, before key nodes and skills come online.
- Limited defensive layers beyond Way of the Mountain raise survivability concerns heading into maps.
- Mana sustain is awkward and still being tuned by the creator.
- Several signature ascendancy payoffs (Hollow Resonance) arrive late, so early game feels stat-stick heavy.
Key Skills
- Ice Strike — The main melee attack and combo generator, picked up at level 14; freezes enemies and feeds the Bell.
- Frozen Locus — Bread-and-butter clear tool; dashes back and leaves an ice spike that explodes to wipe packs.
- Tempest Bell — Primary single-target damage; combo points let you slam it repeatedly, and Overabundance allows stacking multiple bells.
- Shattering Palm — Later pack-clear enabler (around level 40+) that pairs with Frozen Locus for instant pack detonation.
- Hand of Chayula & Frost Bomb — Boss-opener debuffs (curse plus exposure) that significantly raise damage on tanky targets.
Gear & Anointments
The build is a Monk martial weapon archetype that intentionally ignores the quarterstaff thanks to Hollow Palm Technique. Gearing priorities during leveling are, in order: rings with flat added damage to attacks (cold, physical, fire, lightning), gloves with flat damage and attack speed, and an amulet with plus levels of all melee skills (plus one early, plus two later). Remaining slots want high evasion, since Hollow Palm converts it into attack speed, with hybrid evasion/energy-shield bases preferred. A stun-and-freeze immunity charm is recommended early. The creator’s late, lucky additions included a pair of Thunder Fists gloves and an Ingenuity belt, but those are not required for the campaign; specific uniques to be confirmed against the source video.
Credits & Source
Build credited to Zizaran. See the source video for the full build’s gameplay footage + voice commentary: This Build DESTROYED the campaign! - Martial Artist Leveling Guide.