Build Video
Build Overview
This is a complete overhaul of the 
Flicker Strike build on the Monk in the Martial Artist ascendancy, and to put it plainly: this version has nothing in common with its predecessors. The author has entirely rethought the build’s interactions to fix all of its former flaws. The result is a build that is both extremely offensive (around 70 million DPS on boss) and surprisingly tanky, capable of doing everything — from the fastest Mapping all the way to Uber bosses in a six-player group.
The build’s entire power rests on two mechanics that feed into each other. The first is Low Life: by deliberately keeping yourself below 35% of maximum life, you unlock a cascade of conditional damage bonuses that can multiply your damage output by a factor of 3 to 4 (and far more on certain skills). The second is Rage stacking: by stacking Rage, you freely gain a massive amount of attack speed and additional cold damage, freeing up precious passive points for defense.
The trick is to make both systems coexist without putting yourself in danger. The Atziri’s gem lets you reserve exactly the right amount of life to stay Low Life, while Cannibalism and 
Convalescence provide ironclad sustain so you never kill yourself despite the life cost of Flicker Strike. A technical build, but devastatingly effective once mastered.
Strengths / Weaknesses
✅ Strengths
- Colossal DPS: around 70M on boss, Low Life multiplies damage by 3 to 4 (sometimes far more).
- Very tanky: deflection, Ghost Dance, automatic Energy Shield recharge, and Convalescence form multiple layers of defense.
- Versatile: excels at both map clearing and Bossing, all the way up to Uber bosses in groups.
- Reliable charge generation: with the support combo and Ravager evocation, you are almost never short on charges.
- Rocket mobility: 76% base movement speed, boosted further by Flicker Strike and smooth Mapping.
- All former flaws fixed: this is a polished overhaul, refined over multiple days of gameplay.
❌ Weaknesses
- High budget: certain key pieces (Atziri’s gem, Aldur Legacy helmet, +3 jewels, jewel unique Megalomaniac) are expensive.
- Complex to understand: the Low Life + Rage interactions require very precise gem placement.
- Vulnerable to bleeding and burning ground: while Low Life, a bleed is fatal; charms and Convalescence are needed to handle ignite.
- Life / Rage management: poor use of Flicker Strike can kill you, although Cannibalism makes this risk nearly non-existent in practice.
Skill Gem Setup by Step
This build offers 7 progression steps from leveling all the way to the final build. Select a step to view the corresponding skill gem setup.
LOW LIFE BROKEN VERSION
17 skills • 85 gemmes
Frappe au bâton de combatQuarterstaff Strike
DéchirureRend
Hollow FocusHollow Focus
TrinitéTrinity
Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash
Évocation de RavageurReaper's Invocation
Régulation des chargesCharge Regulation
Marque du tireur d'éliteSniper's Mark
Mantra de destructionMantra of Destruction
ConvalescenceConvalescence
Paume meurtrièreKilling Palm
Grondement de tonnerreFalling Thunder
Assaut tourbillonnantWhirling Assault
Danseur du ventWind Dancer
Bâton chargéCharged Staff
Danse fantomatiqueGhost Dance
Frappe fulguranteFlicker Strike
BOSS ONLY LOOK GEMS ON FLICKER
16 skills • 79 gemmesFrappe au bâton de combatQuarterstaff Strike
DéchirureRend
Hollow FocusHollow Focus
TrinitéTrinity
Frappe fulguranteFlicker Strike
Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash
Régulation des chargesCharge Regulation
Marque du tireur d'éliteSniper's Mark
ConvalescenceConvalescence
Mantra de destructionMantra of Destruction
Danse fantomatiqueGhost Dance
Bâton chargéCharged Staff
Assaut tourbillonnantWhirling Assault
Danseur du ventWind Dancer
Déclenchement lors de CritiquesCast on Critical
Paume meurtrièreKilling Palm
MAPPING V2
17 skills • 84 gemmesFrappe au bâton de combatQuarterstaff Strike
DéchirureRend
Hollow FocusHollow Focus
Hollow ResonanceHollow Resonance
TrinitéTrinity
Régulation des chargesCharge Regulation
Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash
Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder
Mantra de destructionMantra of Destruction
Téléportation foudroyanteLightning Warp
Marque du tireur d'éliteSniper's Mark
Assaut tourbillonnantWhirling Assault
Danseur du ventWind Dancer
Frappe fulguranteFlicker Strike
Bâton chargéCharged Staff
Paume meurtrièreKilling Palm
Évocation de RavageurReaper's Invocation
BOSSING V2
17 skills • 84 gemmesFrappe au bâton de combatQuarterstaff Strike
DéchirureRend
Hollow FocusHollow Focus
Hollow ResonanceHollow Resonance
TrinitéTrinity
Régulation des chargesCharge Regulation
Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash
Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder
Mantra de destructionMantra of Destruction
Téléportation foudroyanteLightning Warp
Marque du tireur d'éliteSniper's Mark
Assaut tourbillonnantWhirling Assault
Danseur du ventWind Dancer
Frappe fulguranteFlicker Strike
Bâton chargéCharged Staff
Paume meurtrièreKilling Palm
Évocation de RavageurReaper's Invocation
MAPPING
17 skills • 84 gemmesFrappe au bâton de combatQuarterstaff Strike
DéchirureRend
Hollow FocusHollow Focus
Hollow ResonanceHollow Resonance
TrinitéTrinity
Régulation des chargesCharge Regulation
Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash
Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder
Mantra de destructionMantra of Destruction
Téléportation foudroyanteLightning Warp
Marque du tireur d'éliteSniper's Mark
Assaut tourbillonnantWhirling Assault
Danseur du ventWind Dancer
Frappe fulguranteFlicker Strike
Bâton chargéCharged Staff
Paume meurtrièreKilling Palm
Évocation de RavageurReaper's Invocation
BOSSING
17 skills • 84 gemmesFrappe au bâton de combatQuarterstaff Strike
DéchirureRend
Hollow FocusHollow Focus
Hollow ResonanceHollow Resonance
TrinitéTrinity
Régulation des chargesCharge Regulation
Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash
Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder
Mantra de destructionMantra of Destruction
Téléportation foudroyanteLightning Warp
Marque du tireur d'éliteSniper's Mark
Assaut tourbillonnantWhirling Assault
Danseur du ventWind Dancer
Frappe fulguranteFlicker Strike
Bâton chargéCharged Staff
Paume meurtrièreKilling Palm
Évocation de RavageurReaper's Invocation
BUDGET
16 skills • 82 gemmesFrappe au bâton de combatQuarterstaff Strike
DéchirureRend
Hollow FocusHollow Focus
Hollow ResonanceHollow Resonance
Régulation des chargesCharge Regulation
Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash
Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder
Mantra de destructionMantra of Destruction
Téléportation foudroyanteLightning Warp
Marque du tireur d'éliteSniper's Mark
Assaut tourbillonnantWhirling Assault
Danseur du ventWind Dancer
Frappe fulguranteFlicker Strike
Bâton chargéCharged Staff
Paume meurtrièreKilling Palm
Évocation de RavageurReaper's Invocation
Recommended Equipment
The interactive grid below details the exact equipment for this build, slot by slot. Here are the most important pieces and the reasoning behind each choice:
- Weapon (staff) : the Charged Staff carries the build. We’re looking for high increased attack damage against rare and unique enemies, plus 5% damage to all elements.
- Helmet : the luxury option is an Aldur Legacy helmet that grants the Pain Attunement keystone (the core of Low Life), combined with Touched by the Crow for +1 power charge. The budget alternative: a corrupted helmet with +1 maximum power charge and a core with +4 maximum Rage.
- Body Armour : a hybrid armour with Spirit (to reach the required 210 Spirit) and most importantly deflection, which provides a massive defensive layer.
- Rings (×2) : it is essential to have mana on kill, resistances (ideally boosted on kill), and increased attack damage while Low Life (nearly guaranteed via an omen craft). One of the two rings is a Pinring that generates Rage via the breach tree, with a monkey talisman socketed inside.
- Boots : 21% movement speed, 15% crit bonus, some intelligence, and the Gaze of the Cronies (+10% MS while Low Life).
- Key Jewels : the jewel unique Megalomaniac (+8 maximum Rage + an Inner Power point that refunds talent points), a diamond Primal Hunger (+100% maximum Rage), +3 jewels (5 DPS points) and a Cadiga’s jewel for crit chance / crit bonus.
- Flasks & Charms : an instant recovery life flask (ultimate safety net), a mana flask that regains a charge on kill, and three defensive charms granting immunity to ailments (freeze, bleeding, curses) — the exact charms equipped are detailed in the grid above.
Gameplay Tips
- Stay below the 35% life threshold : adjust the Spirit invested in the Atziri’s gem to sit just below the threshold without going too low (Flicker Strike consumes life).
- Chain your combos : use Swirling Assault and the Ravager evocation to continuously generate charges — this is what powers the rest of your kit.
- Pop Falling Thunder when overwhelmed : in very large group maps, when your clear slows down, it explodes everything around you (up to 14M).
- Full DPS setup on bosses : replace 4 gems with pure damage options (Confrontation, etc.) to obliterate any Uber boss.
- Don’t panic about losing life : Cannibalism regenerates 2% life per kill; a few kills are enough to return to full life. As a last resort, the instant recovery flask brings you back up immediately.
- Manage ignite with Convalescence : on burning ground, trigger Convalescence to resume Energy Shield recharge without interruption.
The Low Life Principle: Multiplying Your Damage
The entire philosophy of this build starts here. Being considered « Low Life » means dropping below 35% of your maximum life. With a life pool of 1365 HP, the threshold sits at around 475 HP: below that, you benefit from all « while Low Life » conditional bonuses.
Rather than simply suffering this status, we control it to the precise HP thanks to the Atziri’s gem, which reserves an amount of life proportional to the Spirit we allocate to it (via Ghostly Dance and its support gems). By fine-tuning the Spirit, we sit exactly in the right spot — low enough to be Low Life, high enough to survive the life cost of Flicker Strike. The impact is spectacular: the author goes from 124,000 to 371,000 damage simply by activating Low Life. The bonuses stack everywhere: Desperate Strike (+70% and +50%), 25% increased attack damage per ring, +230% in the passive tree, and even a conditional crit bonus via 
Pain Attunement.
Rage Stacking: Attack Speed and Cold Damage
The second pillar of this build is Rage. Two gems exploit it: Batair’s Revenge, which converts Rage into additional cold damage (up to +38% at 76 Rage, across all skills), and a gem that converts Rage into attack speed (up to +75% at 76 Rage).
To reach such high Rage, two items are essential: the diamond 
Primal Hunger (+100% maximum Rage, raising the base from 30 to 60) and the jewel unique Megalomaniac (+8 maximum Rage). This brings us to 76 maximum Rage. The beauty of it is that all this free attack speed frees up the talent points we previously dedicated to attack speed — which we can now massively reinvest into defence.
Charge Generation and Support Combo
The engine of this build is charges. We generate them via a combo of three gems that must be placed in this exact order: Invigorating Lightning, Culmination and Chime of Ire (otherwise the insertion doesn’t work). Combined with the Ravager evocation, this combo ensures you are almost always at full charges in maps.
Another major change in this version: the Charged Staff now inherits 
Electrocution, which adds 25% damage as lightning across all your skills. And thanks to sufficient attack speed, Deadly Apple finally allows you to proc Thrill of the Kill without going through the old Lightning Teleport — one slot saved and a smoother gameplay.
Survival: Cannibalism, Convalescence and Life Management
Playing low life with a Flicker that consumes life might seem suicidal. That’s where Cannibalism comes in: 2% life recovered per kill is enough to stay in top shape — the author says they never killed themselves over several days of play. As a safety net, an instant recovery life flask brings you back to full life with a single press.
The real danger lies in damage over time. In low life, bleeding is deadly (you can’t afford an anti-bleed charm) and burning ground melts your life bar. The answer is Convalescence: by triggering it, you restart the Energy Shield recharge which no longer interrupts even under damage — enough to neutralize ignite and survive the most chaotic situations.
Gear Optimization and Budget
This build rewards investment but can adapt to any budget. The golden rule to keep in mind: you can only equip one Aldur Legacy piece. The choice is therefore between the helmet (which unlocks Pain Attunement, essential for low life) and the boots — and the helmet wins, because Pain Attunement then allows you to take the diamond Primal Hunger.
On the budget side, the Atziri’s gem is the most cost-effective purchase (250 to 350 divines) as it multiplies damage. For the rest, alternatives exist everywhere: a corrupted +1 power charge helmet instead of the crafted one, +4 to +8 maximum rage soul cores, or a 4-stat Cadiga’s jewel rather than a 6-stat one. If the budget is tight, simply trade off between damage and maximum rage — but the backbone of the build (low life + charge generation) remains accessible well before full optimization.
Skill Tree
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