S-TIER | BUILD MOINE WHIRLING SLASH TWISTER (@Travic) | SAISON 5

Build Video

Build Overview

The return of the Monk in patch 0.5 « Return of the Ancients » comes with a brand new ascendancy, the Martial Artist, and it’s the perfect opportunity to dust off one of the most reliable league starters in Path of Exile 2: the Whirling Slash + Twister combo. Travic has been playing it for several leagues and the verdict is clear: it’s a league start that blasts through the campaign and early endgame with ease, regardless of your chosen ascendancy.

The concept is simple but deadly. We cast Whirling Slash to build up power, then unleash our Twisters which spiral across the entire screen. The more we maintain Whirling Slash, the harder the Twisters hit — without it, they are almost completely inert. The scaling layer then comes from Frenzy Charges: combined with Barrage, they unleash a massive swarm of additional Twisters, turning every damage spike into a storm of projectiles.

Where this build truly excels is in its self-sustaining engine: Ice-Tipped Arrows infuses the Twisters with cold for a few attacks, Herald of Ice chains freeze propagation, and Combat Frenzy regenerates Frenzy Charges endlessly from those freezes. The result is an elemental damage cycle that sustains itself from Act 1 onwards. One important note though: despite looking like a melee skill, Whirling Slash is a ranged skill — it deals no melee damage, you must play it like a tornado caster.

Strengths / Weaknesses

Skill Gem Setup by Step

This build offers 6 progression steps from leveling to the final build. Select a step to view the corresponding skill gem setup.

79-92 Full Crit 62-79 Weapon Transition Setup Act 4 – Interludes Act 3 Act 2 Act 1

79-92 Full Crit

9 skills • 33 gemmes

TrombeTwister

Taillade tourbillonnanteWhirling Slash

Tir de barrageBarrage

Héraut de la glaceHerald of Ice

Flèches à pointe de glaceIce-Tipped Arrows

Frénésie du combatCombat Frenzy

Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder

Danse fantomatiqueGhost Dance

Danseur du ventWind Dancer

62-79 Weapon Transition Setup

9 skills • 33 gemmes

TrombeTwister

Taillade tourbillonnanteWhirling Slash

Tir de barrageBarrage

Héraut de la glaceHerald of Ice

Flèches à pointe de glaceIce-Tipped Arrows

Frénésie du combatCombat Frenzy

Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder

Danse fantomatiqueGhost Dance

Danseur du ventWind Dancer

Acte 4 – Interludes

9 skills • 25 gemmes

TrombeTwister

Taillade tourbillonnanteWhirling Slash

Tir de barrageBarrage

Bombe de givreFrost Bomb

Nova de glaceIce Nova

Étendard de guerreWar Banner

Héraut de la glaceHerald of Ice

Flèches à pointe de glaceIce-Tipped Arrows

Frénésie du combatCombat Frenzy

Act 3

9 skills • 20 gemmes

TrombeTwister

Taillade tourbillonnanteWhirling Slash

Tir de barrageBarrage

Bombe de givreFrost Bomb

Nova de glaceIce Nova

Étendard de guerreWar Banner

Héraut de la glaceHerald of Ice

Flèches à pointe de glaceIce-Tipped Arrows

Frénésie du combatCombat Frenzy

Act 2

8 skills • 18 gemmes

TrombeTwister

Taillade tourbillonnanteWhirling Slash

Tir de barrageBarrage

Bombe de givreFrost Bomb

Nova de glaceIce Nova

Étendard de guerreWar Banner

Héraut de la glaceHerald of Ice

Flèches à pointe de glaceIce-Tipped Arrows

Act 1

6 skills • 10 gemmes

TrombeTwister

Taillade tourbillonnanteWhirling Slash

Tir de barrageBarrage

Bombe de givreFrost Bomb

Nova de glaceIce Nova

Étendard de guerreWar Banner

Recommended Equipment

This build’s gear rests on two absolute priorities throughout progression: flat damage on as many slots as possible, and a spear that you upgrade relentlessly. Here are the key pieces to aim for.

• Weapon (weapon set 1) : Sky Sliver, the fastest spear in the game — ideal for keeping Whirling Slash going with attack speed and movement speed
• Weapon (weapon set 2) : Tangle Tongue, the hardest-hitting spear for burst damage on bosses (the author’s favourite)
• Off-hand : a sceptre that grants Spirit to stack auras — the « malice » version is favoured as it also provides critical strike chance
• Boots : Wake of Destruction (Level 16, base secured leggings) — create ground that solves the terrain effect problem and provide flat damage ; worth chancing right at league start
• Rings : flat damage mandatory — the difference is enormous in-game, upgrade them constantly
• Gloves : flat damage as well, or « gain damage » via the Way of the Stone Fist ascendancy node
• Runes : lightning damage runes in the spear — the new league distributes them in every zone through the league mechanic

Gameplay Tips

• Always maintain Whirling Slash: cast it 2-3 times before releasing your Twisters — without it, Twisters do almost nothing
• Play at range: Whirling Slash deals no damage in melee range, stay back like a caster
• Pre-cast your Twisters: anticipate incoming packs by keeping Whirling Slash ready to stack damage in advance
• Manage your Frenzy Charges: spend them with Barrage right after a Whirling Slash to explode the number of Twisters
• Ice-Tipped Arrows for cold: press it to infuse your Twisters with frost for 4 attacks, then chain into Barrage for a swarm of ice tornadoes
• Snipers Mark on bosses: apply the mark to generate charges faster against single targets
• Use weapon sets early: the campaign distributes weapon set points, take advantage of them to configure both weapons from the start

The Whirling Slash + Twisters combo explained

The entire build rests on a loop that’s simple to understand but demanding to maintain. Whirling Slash is your priming skill: every cast stacks power onto your Twisters. If you trigger the Twisters without having cast Whirling Slash beforehand, they are completely inert and deal virtually no damage. A single Whirling Slash begins to empower them, two already make them noticeably more dangerous, and keeping the skill going continuously holds your tornadoes at peak power.

In practice, while mapping, you keep Whirling Slash ready and release the Twisters on contact with packs. The centerpiece of the burst is Barrage: combined with frenzy charges, it unleashes a massive wave of additional Twisters. On a boss, you can literally shotgun the target by chaining charged Barrage into the Twisters.

Generating infinite frenzy charges

Frenzy charges are the build’s fuel: they power Barrage and multiply the number of Twisters. The key is generating them automatically. From the campaign onwards, we combine freezing enemies with Combat Frenzy to continuously produce charges, and Herald of Ice chains frost explosions as soon as a frozen enemy dies.

The Ice-Tipped Arrows tech completes the engine: one press infuses your Twisters with cold for the next four attacks. Combined with Barrage, you unleash a swarm of ice tornadoes that freeze everything, which re-triggers Herald of Ice and Combat Frenzy: the cycle sustains itself. Against bosses, Snipers Mark allows you to accelerate charge generation where packs are scarce.

Surviving Act 1 without Parry

Act 1 is the build’s most awkward stretch: generating frozen ground there is tedious. The game suggests a setup based on Parry, but the author isn’t a fan. His solution: use Frost Bomb, which applies exposure and leaves an ice infusion behind with each cast. We stack these cold infusions while bosses do their RP, then instead of pressing Parry, we trigger Ice Nova to generate frozen ground.

The real lasting solution arrives at level 16 with the Wake of Destruction boots: they automatically create the ground needed for terrain effects and provide very welcome flat damage. They will likely be expensive early in the league (everyone is playing Whirling Slash Twisters), but you can chance them fairly easily given their common base.

The Martial Artist ascendancy: experimental plan

The Martial Artist is entirely new in 0.5 and everything remains experimental — play at your own risk. The author’s plan starts with Way of the Stone Fist, which makes your gloves extremely powerful: with flat damage on rings and the spear, plus « gain damage » on gloves, the goal is a solid damage foundation.

For the second choice, two options: Way of the Mountain, a damage multiplier paired with defenses that is easy to maintain since we are constantly immobilizing enemies (freezing and shocking), or Runic Meridian if the league mechanic distributes runes powerful enough to justify it. Further down the line, an intriguing synergy takes shape around the bell: since the spear counts as both a melee AND ranged weapon, we could generate combos via Martial Master and ring multiple bells on a boss for devastating burst. All of this remains theory until the ascendancy is tested under real conditions.

Skill Tree