Build Video
Build Overview
The monk build 
Falling Thunder by FGKorbyn21 carries a nickname that says it all: Giga Bonk. You slam the ground, and the screen clears. Behind the joke, though, lies one of the most technical setups of patch 0.5.5, built on the Martial Artist ascendancy and a power charge loop nobody else can replicate at this price.
Falling Thunder fires more projectiles the more power charges you carry. With 
Nova Projectiles I, these projectiles fire out in a 360° spread around the character: a single press clears the entire screen. And since power charges also multiply damage, the button that wipes a pack of monsters is the same one that brings down a pinnacle boss.
The real question, then, is how to keep generating those charges without ever stopping. The Martial Master ascendancy node means that all of your attacks generate combo, including projectiles from Falling Thunder and explosions from 
Herald of Thunder. The lineage gem 
Ailith’s Chimes then turns every spent Chain stack into a chance to gain a power charge. 
Shattering Palm to recharge, Falling Thunder to spend, and you start over as long as there’s a target left to hit.
Strengths / Weaknesses
✅ Strengths
- 360° clear: Nova Projectiles I sends projectiles all around you — one button is enough to clear a screen.
- Closed charge loop: Martial Master and Ailith’s Chimes feed off each other — there’s no more dead time in the rotation.
- Very tanky: around 6,000 Energy Shield, over 70% evasion, and a deflection chance capped at 95%.
Forgotten Warden doubles down: the companion absorbs part of the deflected hits, and with the 
Loyalty support, you only take about a third of the damage on a deflected hit.
Chaos Inoculation removes Energy Shield’s historic weakness, against which chaos damage counts double.- Runic Meridians grants five extra rune slots: resistances and attributes are sorted out without sacrificing a useful affix on your stuff.
❌ Weaknesses
- The campaign is rough for the monk, Act 1 especially: little range, and plenty of hits taken head-on.
- Everything hinges on a single gem, Ailith’s Chimes, which drops from Derelict Mansion bosses and sells for a premium during the first two or three days of the league.
- While waiting for that gem, you have to play a backup version with
Hollow Form: it’s a second build to learn before reaching the real one. - Switching to
Herald of Ice requires enough cold damage to freeze. If misjudged, it costs more clear speed than it gives.
Skill Gem Setup by Step
This build offers 10 progression steps from leveling to the final build. Select a step to see the corresponding gem setup.
Act 1
9 skills • 16 gems
Rafale de ventWind Blast
Coup d'aileWing Blast
Grondement de tonnerreFalling Thunder
Paume meurtrièreKilling Palm
BondissementPounce
DéchirureRend
Bombe de givreFrost Bomb
EnchevêtrementEntangle
Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder
Act 2
8 skills • 22 gems
Vague orageuseStorm Wave
Grondement de tonnerreFalling Thunder
Frappe siphonnanteSiphoning Strike
BondissementPounce
DéchirureRend
DévorationDevour
Hollow FocusHollow Focus
Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder
Act 3
9 skills • 30 gemsVague orageuseStorm Wave
Grondement de tonnerreFalling Thunder
Frappe siphonnanteSiphoning Strike
BondissementPounce
DévorationDevour
Hollow FocusHollow Focus
Danseur du ventWind Dancer
Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder
DéchirureRend
Acte 4 – Hollow Form Temp Transition
9 skills • 34 gemsHollow FormHollow Form
Vague orageuseStorm Wave
Frappe siphonnanteSiphoning Strike
DévorationDevour
Hollow FocusHollow Focus
Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder
Danseur du ventWind Dancer
DéchirureRend
BondissementPounce
Interludes
10 skills • 42 gemsHollow FormHollow Form
Vague orageuseStorm Wave
Frappe siphonnanteSiphoning Strike
DévorationDevour
Hollow FocusHollow Focus
Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder
Danseur du ventWind Dancer
DéchirureRend
BondissementPounce
Régulation des chargesCharge Regulation
Early Endgame – Ailiths Chimes
8 skills • 33 gemsGrondement de tonnerreFalling Thunder
Paume fracassanteShattering Palm
Bâton chargéCharged Staff
Main de ChayulaHand of Chayula
Mantra de destructionMantra of Destruction
Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder
Danseur du ventWind Dancer
Régulation des chargesCharge Regulation
Mid Endgame – Chaos Inoculation Transition
9 skills • 48 gemsGrondement de tonnerreFalling Thunder
Paume fracassanteShattering Palm
Bâton chargéCharged Staff
Main de ChayulaHand of Chayula
Mantra de destructionMantra of Destruction
Spirit VesselSpirit Vessel
Héraut de la glaceHerald of Ice
Danseur du ventWind Dancer
Régulation des chargesCharge Regulation
Late Endgame Falling Thunder + Ailiths (Budget)
9 skills • 48 gemsGrondement de tonnerreFalling Thunder
Paume fracassanteShattering Palm
Bâton chargéCharged Staff
Frappe fulguranteFlicker Strike
Mantra de destructionMantra of Destruction
Héraut de la glaceHerald of Ice
Danseur du ventWind Dancer
Régulation des chargesCharge Regulation
Spirit VesselSpirit Vessel
High Investment – Giga Bonk
9 skills • 48 gemsGrondement de tonnerreFalling Thunder
Paume fracassanteShattering Palm
Bâton chargéCharged Staff
Frappe fulguranteFlicker Strike
Mantra de destructionMantra of Destruction
Héraut de la glaceHerald of Ice
Danseur du ventWind Dancer
Régulation des chargesCharge Regulation
Spirit VesselSpirit Vessel
Mirror Tier Investment
10 skills • 53 gemsGrondement de tonnerreFalling Thunder
Paume fracassanteShattering Palm
Bâton chargéCharged Staff
Frappe fulguranteFlicker Strike
Mantra de destructionMantra of Destruction
Héraut de la glaceHerald of Ice
Danseur du ventWind Dancer
Régulation des chargesCharge Regulation
Spirit VesselSpirit Vessel
BerserkBerserk
Recommended Equipment
Throughout the campaign, the monk build centered on Falling Thunder needs no unique items at all. The grid above shows it step by step: up through Act 3, you pick up whatever drops, prioritizing armour and maximum life in Act 1, then shifting toward evasion and Energy Shield once 
Hollow Palm Technique is allocated on the passive tree.
The first unique that actually changes something arrives in Act 4: 
Lochtonial Caress. These gloves normally share your charges with your allies, which nobody cares about. Except the Way of the Stone Fist node rewrites their effect entirely. They then give a chance to grant a power charge to allies within your presence on every hit, your own clones included. Your clones hit, you gain charges, you summon more clones. FGKorbyn21 prices them between 10 exalted and a divine on day one and advises buying them as soon as budget allows, without treating them as a requirement: he finished the campaign without them in SSF (Solo Self-Found).
In the endgame, the gear set settles around three pieces. Forgotten Warden serves as the body armour and drops fairly commonly from the Ritual pinnacle boss, which makes it accessible within the first few weeks. 
Shavronne’s Satchel pairs with an instant-recovery life flask to bring Energy Shield back up in one shot, a safety net against damage over time. 
Lavianga’s Spirits rounds out the set on the mana side. On the weapon, the Breath of Aldur rune converts all added damage to cold: it’s this rune that makes Herald of Ice playable.
The « High Investment » and « Mirror Tier » variants don’t invent anything new, they just stack budget: 
Mageblood, 
Rite of Passage, 
Nascent Hope, 
Kalandra’s Touch, a Time-Lost Sapphire with a wide radius, and a 
Megalomaniac. The build doesn’t change in nature, it just moves up in tier.
Gameplay Tips
The endgame rotation comes down to two buttons. Shattering Palm generates combo, Ailith’s Chimes converts it into power charges, Falling Thunder spends those charges. Chain Shattering Palm, Falling Thunder, Shattering Palm, Falling Thunder: as long as there’s a target to hit, you’ll never run dry.
During the campaign, the loop is different and worth drilling on its own. Build up the stun buildup bar with Wind Blast, wait for it to reach the break point, then land Wing Blast: the heavy stun grants you three power charges, and Falling Thunder immediately converts them into damage. From Act 2 onwards, Storm Wave shocks the target, Siphoning Strike grants you a charge on a shocked target, and Falling Thunder shocks in turn: the loop closes itself on bosses.
Before a boss burst, press Mantra of Destruction: the damage-to-chaos conversion boost can turn a fight around in one shot. Save the button for that exact moment rather than firing it off at the start of a pack.
Switching to Chaos Inoculation takes some judgment. FGKorbyn21 recommends waiting until you have 3,500 to 4,000 Energy Shield to feel comfortable; with Shavronne’s Satchel and an instant flask, 3,000 is enough, as long as you keep an eye on your bar. Switching too early makes you a one-HP target without the defenses to back it up.
How the Monk build keeps its power charges
The problem with every earlier version of this build came down to sustain: Falling Thunder eats power charges, and with no source of regeneration, you spend your time waiting. Martial Artist breaks that ceiling with two nodes.
Martial Adept doubles combo generation and refreshes your Energy Shield recharge. Martial Master, meanwhile, makes every single attack generate combo, and the nuance matters. It’s no longer just your quarterstaff hits that count, but also the projectiles of Falling Thunder itself, the explosions from Herald of Thunder, and the projectiles from Charged Staff. Every hit, no matter where it comes from, feeds the counter.
Ailith’s Chimes closes the loop: every Combo stack you spend grants a 25% cumulative chance to gain a power charge. Spending a lot of combo therefore means recovering a lot of charges, and since this build burns through combo constantly, it keeps recovering charges right along with it. It’s this loop, more than the raw power of the skill, that sets the Monk build’s Falling Thunder apart from its earlier versions.
Ailith’s Chimes: the gem everything depends on
Let’s be clear about this up front, because it shapes your entire league schedule: without Ailith’s Chimes, the end-game version of this build simply doesn’t exist. This lineage gem unlocks at level 65 and drops from Derelict Mansion bosses.
The issue isn’t rarity by itself, it’s the timing. During the first two or three days, everyone is focused on atlas progression, nobody is farming mansions yet, so supply stays close to zero while demand is already there. The price skyrockets. GGG has sped up fortress progression, which should fill the market faster than in the previous league, but you still need to plan ahead: either you farm it yourself, or you pay first-day prices.
The early-days plan B: the Hollow Form monk
This is FGKorbyn21’s answer to that gap in the leveling plan, and it covers a good half of the progression. From level 41 onward, you temporarily drop Falling Thunder for Hollow Form, a channelled skill that summons copies of yourself. These copies use the socketed attack skill, here Whirling Assault, linked with 
Armour Break I then with Magnified Area I for clearing, or with Heavy Swing for single target.
Hollow Form consumes power charges to summon additional clones. Without Lochtonial Caress, you recover them with Siphoning Strike on a shocked target, or by devouring the ghost bells from the Hollow Focus node at the entrance of a boss arena. With the gloves, the loop feeds itself and all you need to do is hold the button down.
This version holds up through the early endgame without trouble. It is not a makeshift stopgap: it is a complete build, documented variant by variant in the Mobalytics planner, which carries you through the early days of the league while the market fills up.
Deflection, companion and Chaos Inoculation: why you are so tanky
The monk doesn’t have the reputation of a tank, and yet the defensive layer of this build is probably its most polished part. It rests on three stacked mechanics.
Deflection first, capped at a 95% chance, which reduces the damage of a deflected hit by 40%. Then Forgotten Warden, which grants a companion that soaks up a share of the deflected damage before it reaches you; the Loyalty support adds another 10%. A deflected hit therefore only deals you about a third of its original value, and you deflect almost all the time.
Chaos Inoculation closes the setup. It sets your life to 1 and makes you immune to chaos damage and bleeding. Now, chaos damage counts double against Energy Shield: removing it eliminates, in one stroke, the only structural flaw in this defense. The price to pay is having zero life buffer at all, which is why the swap happens late, once Energy Shield is comfortable.
Switching from Herald of Thunder to Herald of Ice
The build starts on lightning and switches to cold, and this transition takes preparation. Herald of Ice clears noticeably better than Herald of Thunder, but it requires freezing targets to trigger, meaning a real buildup of cold damage.
The switch hinges mainly on the Breath of Aldur rune, which converts all added damage into cold. Three added damage affixes on the weapon thus become three cold affixes. You’ll need to round it out with cold nodes on the passive tree (Heavy Frost, Thin Ice, Exposed to the Cosmos for penetration) and possibly cold damage on the rings.
If you’re not freezing reliably after this conversion, don’t force it: stick with Herald of Thunder. A Herald of Ice that only triggers one time in three costs more clear speed than it gives back.
Skill Tree
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