S-TIER | BUILD MOINE MARTIAL ARTIST FALLING THUNDER (@FGKorbyn21) | SAISON 5

Build Video

Build Overview

This league starter build leverages the brand-new Martial Artist ascendancy for the Monk, introduced with Path of Exile 2 patch 0.5. The principle is simple to grasp yet devastatingly effective: stack power charges to turn Falling Thunder into a rain of projectiles, while keeping defenses maxed out through a combo system pushed to the extreme.

The core of the build revolves around two key ascendancy nodes: Marshall Adept doubles combo accumulation and reduces the Energy Shield recharge delay by 2 seconds per combo consumed, while Marshall Master allows all attacks — including heralds and projectiles — to generate combo. The result: you run at nearly permanent maximum combo, granting +40% constant damage, an Energy Shield that recharges on demand, and a pool of power charges that never runs dry.

For clearing, you alternate Falling Thunder (with Nova Projectiles I for 360° clearing) and notable Whirling Assault, triggering Herald of Ice and Herald of Thunder for chain explosions. For bossing, the new Tempest Bell (whose cap goes from 1 to 3 bells) combined with notable Whirling Assault deals massive damage, with Flicker Strike as a safety net. On the defensive side, the build targets around 80% evasion, deflection at cap (95%), and switches to Chaos Inoculation to become immune to chaos damage and bleeding — a true juggernaut that’s hard to take down.

Strengths / Weaknesses

Skill Gem Setup by Step

This build offers 9 progression steps from leveling through to the final build. Select a step to see the corresponding gem setup.

Falling Thunder + Bell Bonk Falling Thunder + Bell Bonk (Budget) Act 1 Act 2 Act 3 Act 4 Whirling Assault Transition Interludes Early Endgame Chaos Inoculation + 3rd/4th Trial

Falling Thunder + Bell Bonk

10 skills • 60 gemmes

Grondement de tonnerreFalling Thunder

Assaut tourbillonnantWhirling Assault

Bâton chargéCharged Staff

Cloche tempétueuseTempest Bell

Frappe fulguranteFlicker Strike

Mantra de destructionMantra of Destruction

Main de ChayulaHand of Chayula

Héraut de la glaceHerald of Ice

Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder

Danseur du ventWind Dancer

Falling Thunder + Bell Bonk (Budget)

11 skills • 62 gemmes

Grondement de tonnerreFalling Thunder

Assaut tourbillonnantWhirling Assault

Bâton chargéCharged Staff

Cloche tempétueuseTempest Bell

Frappe fulguranteFlicker Strike

Mantra de destructionMantra of Destruction

Main de ChayulaHand of Chayula

Héraut de la glaceHerald of Ice

Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder

Danseur du ventWind Dancer

Régulation des chargesCharge Regulation

Act 1

9 skills • 16 gemmes

Rafale de ventWind Blast

Coup d'aileWing Blast

Grondement de tonnerreFalling Thunder

Paume meurtrièreKilling Palm

Bondissement

Déchirure

Bombe de givreFrost Bomb

EnchevêtrementEntangle

Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder

Act 2

8 skills • 22 gemmes

Vague orageuseStorm Wave

Grondement de tonnerreFalling Thunder

Frappe siphonnanteSiphoning Strike

Bondissement

Déchirure

Paume meurtrièreKilling Palm

Cloche tempétueuseTempest Bell

Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder

Act 3

9 skills • 30 gemmes

Vague orageuseStorm Wave

Grondement de tonnerreFalling Thunder

Frappe siphonnanteSiphoning Strike

Bondissement

Paume meurtrièreKilling Palm

Main de ChayulaHand of Chayula

Cloche tempétueuseTempest Bell

Danseur du ventWind Dancer

Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder

Acte 4 – Whirling Assault Transition

9 skills • 35 gemmes

Assaut tourbillonnantWhirling Assault

Cloche tempétueuseTempest Bell

Cloche tempétueuseTempest Bell

Paume meurtrièreKilling Palm

Bâton chargéCharged Staff

Paume stupéfianteStaggering Palm

Main de ChayulaHand of Chayula

Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder

Danseur du ventWind Dancer

Interludes

10 skills • 39 gemmes

Assaut tourbillonnantWhirling Assault

Cloche tempétueuseTempest Bell

Cloche tempétueuseTempest Bell

Paume meurtrièreKilling Palm

Bâton chargéCharged Staff

Main de ChayulaHand of Chayula

Paume stupéfianteStaggering Palm

Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder

Danseur du ventWind Dancer

Reliquats de ManaMana Remnants

Early Endgame

10 skills • 48 gemmes

Assaut tourbillonnantWhirling Assault

Cloche tempétueuseTempest Bell

Cloche tempétueuseTempest Bell

Paume meurtrièreKilling Palm

Bâton chargéCharged Staff

Main de ChayulaHand of Chayula

Paume stupéfianteStaggering Palm

Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder

Danseur du ventWind Dancer

Évocation de RavageurReaper's Invocation

Chaos Inoculation + 3rd/4th Trial

9 skills • 48 gemmes

Grondement de tonnerreFalling Thunder

Assaut tourbillonnantWhirling Assault

Bâton chargéCharged Staff

Cloche tempétueuseTempest Bell

Mantra de destructionMantra of Destruction

Main de ChayulaHand of Chayula

Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder

Danseur du ventWind Dancer

Évocation de RavageurReaper's Invocation

Recommended Equipment

The equipment philosophy is that of a league starter: we prioritize hybrid Evasion / Energy Shield (ES/EV) gear on all slots, then progressively optimize toward a cold-oriented setup at the end of the progression.

• Gloves — Way of the Stonefist: the cornerstone piece. Thanks to the ascendancy, these gloves are worth a body armour in terms of defence, unlock 5 additional rune sockets, and provide power charge on critical hit which fuels the entire rotation.
• Weapon — Staff (Quarterstaff): aim for a staff with cold damage and critical strike. On a budget, an Essence of Abrasion or a staff with increased physical damage from the vendor works perfectly until mid-interlude maps.
• Rune — Breath of Alder: medium-term goal. It converts all your flat fire, cold and lightning damage to cold damage, making freeze trivial and permanently triggering Herald of Ice.
• Belt — Chiyou’s Satchel: combined with an instant-recovery life flask, it heals your Energy Shield on demand — a huge comfort before and after switching to Chaos Inoculation.
• Charm — Ailiths Chimes: consumes combo to generate power charges, essential for maintaining the charge cap effortlessly.
• Body Armour / Helmet / Boots: maximize Evasion + Energy Shield and resistances. The new 0.5 passive tree makes the deflection cap easier to reach, so focus offensive stats (elemental damage, critical) on the weapon and jewellery.

Gameplay Tips

• Keep the combo active at all times: regularly use your skills linked to Culmination I to restart your Energy Shield recharge. This is your primary survival mechanic.
• While clearing: drop Falling Thunder into the pack to take advantage of the 360° Nova projectiles, then follow up with notable Whirling Assault on tougher packs. The heralds will handle the rest.
• Against bosses: place your Tempest Bell bells (up to 3), then strike them with notable Whirling Assault to trigger them all simultaneously. Flicker Strike or Falling Thunder finish off Uber bosses with ease.
• Generate your power charges through critical strikes from your gloves and Ailiths Chimes. While leveling, Killing Palm on ghost spells and Siphoning Strike (consumes shock) get the job done.
• The right timing for Chaos Inoculation: wait until you have around 4,000 to 4,500 Energy Shield and a minimum of evasion before switching. You will then be immune to chaos damage.
• Manage your mana around downtime windows: take Mana Remnants or invest in mana efficiency on notable Whirling Assault if you are running low on mana.

The Build Engine: Combo and Power Charges

The entire build revolves around two resources that feed into each other. On one side, combo is amplified by the ascendancy: Marshall Adept doubles its accumulation, and Marshall Master allows all your attacks — heralds, Charged Staff, projectiles from Falling Thunder — to generate it. At maximum combo, you continuously benefit from +40% damage.

On the other side, the Culmination I support (brought to 10 combo in 0.5) reduces your Energy Shield recharge delay by 2 seconds each time a socketed skill is used. Since most of your skills map to Culmination I, your Energy Shield recharges literally on demand, just by playing normally. Power charges close the loop: sustained by the critical from the Way of the Stonefist gloves and by Ailiths Chimes, they increase the number of projectiles from Falling Thunder from six to eight stacked charges.

Act-by-Act Leveling Guide

The Martial Artist levels with a rotation that evolves each act. Here are the key milestones:

• Act 1: Quarterstaff Strike then Wind Blast (stun stacking + Impact Shockwave to clear packs). Falling Thunder for bosses after a heavy stun. Extras: Pounce (Mobility), Killing Palm (charges), Herald of Thunder as spirit.
• Act 2 (level 22): transition to Storm Wave + Siphoning Strike (consumes shock for power charges). We switch to Hollow Palm to bypass the weapon slot, and integrate Tempest Bell.
• Act 3: Storm Wave + Branching Fissures, adding Hand of Chayula to apply Elemental Weakness on bosses and tough rares. Wind Dancer as a second spirit.
• Act 4: the big swap to notable Whirling Assault + Tempest Bell, which comfortably carries you through T15 maps. We add Charged Staff, notable Staggering Palm and switch back to a real staff as soon as a decent one is found.

Switching to Chaos Inoculation

Energy Shield has a long-standing weakness: it takes double chaos damage. Chaos Inoculation (CI) fixes this by making you completely immune to chaos damage and bleed. The right time to make the switch is around 4,000 to 4,500 Energy Shield, with at least some deflection already in place.

Before the swap, sustain your Energy Shield with the Chiyou’s Satchel belt and an instant-recovery life flask. After the swap, that same combo continues to work for occasional manual top-ups, alongside the automatic recharge provided by Marshall Adept. This is what makes the build a near-unkillable tank once the transition is complete.

Endgame Optimization: The Cold-Oriented Budget Bonk

The build’s power peak arrives when you get your hands on the Breath of Alder rune. Socketed into a cold-oriented staff, it converts all your flat fire, cold, and lightning damage into pure cold damage. You then freeze enemies effortlessly, which triggers Herald of Ice in a cascade for spectacular clear speed.

At this stage, you also bring in Mantra of Destruction (8 base combo, raised to 20 with Delayed Gratification) which, paired with Ailiths Chimes, keeps power charges at maximum most of the time. Flicker Strike becomes an optional luxury for fun, and Charge Regulation can be slotted to gain skill speed, crit, and defense. The new 0.5 passive tree (deflection, ES recharge, double resistance) further strengthens the whole setup.

Skill Tree