The Martial Artist is one of the standout Monk ascendancies introduced in Path of Exile 2: Return of the Ancients. Built around rapid combo generation, aggressive melee pressure, and explosive bell interactions, the ascendancy combines fast-paced gameplay with surprisingly strong defensive layering through Evasion, Energy Shield, and Power Charge scaling.
What makes Martial Artist especially appealing in 0.5 is how flexible the ascendancy feels throughout progression. It can comfortably level with Hollow Palm setups, transition into powerful Tempest Bell or Whirling Assault endgame builds, and even scale into advanced Facebreaker or Chaos Inoculation variants later on. While several slower melee archetypes lost power in 0.5, many of the Monk’s strongest leveling and mapping tools remained largely untouched, leaving Martial Artist in an excellent position for league-start progression.
In this guide, we’ll cover:
- The best Martial Artist ascendancy nodes and progression order
- Hollow Palm, Tempest Bell, and Hollow Focus mechanics
- The best leveling and league starter setups
- Endgame build archetypes and scaling paths
- Gear priorities, Power Charge sustain, and defensive layering
- The best Martial Artist skills, combos, and unique items
- Chaos Inoculation, Facebreaker, and Whirling Assault interactions in 0.5
Is Martial Artist Good in PoE 2?
Yes — it’s shaping up to be one of the top Monk ascendancy picks for 0.5.
The ascendancy’s biggest strength is flexibility. Hollow Palm Technique lets you bypass weapon-upgrade dependency entirely, making the build exceptionally stable during league start. On the defensive side, Way of the Mountain offers a large-hit damage reduction layer that scales well into the endgame. Then there’s Runic Meridians, which almost single-handedly solves early resistance gearing.
For players who want a melee build with strong boss burst, solid survivability, and multiple viable paths into endgame, Martial Artist is an excellent choice in the current patch.
Is Martial Artist a Good League Starter?
Absolutely. A few things make it stand out specifically at league start.
- Hollow Palm Technique removes weapon-upgrade dependency during the campaign entirely. Rather than swapping quarterstaves every few acts, your unarmed damage scales through passive stats and skill levels — which is far more stable when you don’t have a trade economy to lean on yet. Reaching Hollow Palm around Level 13 before Count Geonor is a strong early-game power spike that most Monk builds aim for.
- Runic Meridians compounds this advantage by covering most of your elemental resistance requirements through rune sockets alone, freeing up rare slots for offensive or survivability stats from the start of mapping. The combination of these two nodes means you can function well on modest gear, which is exactly what you want for a league opener.
Martial Artist Pros and Cons
Pros
- Excellent league starter — Hollow Palm removes early weapon dependency entirely
- Strong stun and freeze utility throughout the campaign
- Powerful defensive scaling through Energy Shield and Evasion
- Runic Meridians greatly simplifies resistance gearing
- Multiple endgame archetypes available (cold, physical, CI, bell-focused, Oil Barrage)
- Power Charge generation is reliable and consistent
- Exceptional burst potential against bosses
Cons
- Mechanically complex compared to most other Monk ascendancies
- Combo-point management takes some learning
- Hollow Form can drain mana fast if unsupported
- Some advanced setups are unique-item dependent
- Several interactions may see balance adjustments in future patches
Best Martial Artist Build Archetypes
Martial Artist supports several legitimate endgame routes rather than funneling you into one playstyle. Here’s a short overview of what’s currently viable.
- Hollow Focus Bell Build Best for: Power Charge generation, critical-hit scaling, boss burst damage. Revolves around spawning and detonating Hollow Focus bells to trigger guaranteed critical strikes, rapid charge generation, and overlapping Tempest Bell shockwaves. The strongest boss-damage configuration available to the ascendancy.
- Whirling Assault Build Best for: fast mapping, mobility, large-area clear. Whirling Assault remains one of the smoothest endgame mapping skills available to Monk, combining movement, combo generation, and Tempest Bell scaling into a single fluid rotation. One reason it dominates the current meta is how naturally it interacts with Hollow Focus bells — its wide circular hitbox detonates randomly spawned bells during normal movement, requiring far less positioning precision than more directional Monk skills.
- Chaos Inoculation (CI) Martial Artist Best for: survivability, Energy Shield scaling, endgame bossing. Pairing Chaos Inoculation with Way of the Mountain creates a permanent damage reduction layer on top of a large ES pool. The strongest defensive configuration available to the ascendancy and among the tankier melee options in the current patch.
- Facebreaker Hybrid Build Best for: advanced players, physical burst damage, combo-finisher gameplay. Combines Hollow Palm Technique with Facebreaker interactions to stack combo points using fast Monk attacks before swapping into high-damage mace finishers. Rewards players who invest time into the combo transfer mechanic. Some advanced versions also use Boneshatter to trigger overlapping Hollow Focus and Hollow Resonance shockwaves simultaneously, creating strong critical-strike burst without requiring heavy crit investment.
- Oil Barrage BuildBest for: single-target bossing, ranged hybrid gameplay, advanced scaling setups. Oil Barrage Martial Artist setups use Power Charge generation and projectile scaling to deliver extremely high boss damage while retaining many of the ascendancy’s defensive tools. More niche than the other archetypes, but worth knowing about if you enjoy ranged hybrid gameplay.
Best Martial Artist Ascendancy Order
Getting the node order right significantly smooths out your progression from campaign through early maps. Way of the Stonefist and Hollow Focus are currently the two most popular first-lab choices depending on whether you prioritize early defenses or Power Charge generation.
First Labyrinth — Way of the Stonefist
The right first pick for most players who want strong early defenses. Way of the Stonefist upgrades your equipped gloves to always contribute flat local Evasion and Energy Shield, which has immediate impact on your defensive stats and scales naturally with Hollow Palm builds. Every glove you find during the campaign becomes more useful from the moment you take it.
First Labyrinth (Alternative) — Hollow Focus Technique
Players who want to prioritize Power Charge generation and early bell combos can take Hollow Focus first instead. The guaranteed critical-hit priming on ghost bells enables consistent Falling Thunder loops and Killing Palm culling from the start of campaign bossing, at the cost of the early glove-scaling defensives that Stonefist provides.
Runic Meridians adds five dedicated rune-only sockets directly onto your gear. With resistance runes buffed to 18% per rune in 0.5, this node alone can cover close to 90% of your elemental resistances — effectively solving one of the most tedious parts of early gearing, and freeing up your rare slots for offensive stats. For league starters, it’s one of the single strongest quality-of-life nodes on the entire ascendancy tree.
One note: these body sockets only work with runes that have global modifiers. Local modifiers (such as runes that increase local body armor evasion) don’t function in these slots, but global options like flat attack speed, movement speed, or rage on hit work fine.
Third Labyrinth — Hollow Focus Technique
Hollow Focus periodically spawns spectral bells around your character — up to three simultaneously, each lasting 21 seconds. Hits against them are always critical strikes and always primed for stun, making them genuinely useful utility tools. Ice Strike‘s area-of-effect expands massively around them, and they let you stack full Power Charges before a boss encounter begins with minimal effort.
One limitation worth knowing: Hollow Focus bells spawn semi-randomly around the character. During mapping this usually isn’t an issue, but during boss encounters the placement can occasionally make precise combo setups less consistent than fully player-controlled Tempest Bell positioning.
Fourth Labyrinth — Hollow Resonance Technique
Hollow Resonance attaches an ethereal bell directly to your back. Every critical hit you land with another skill triggers it, dealing substantial stun buildup automatically. Combined with Hollow Focus‘s guaranteed crit priming on the ghost bells, these two nodes create a reliable stun loop that carries well into endgame bossing.
Hollow Form — Niche or Bad?
Hollow Form is a channeling skill that sends out astral clones of your character to attack while you move slowly. It’s visually one of the flashiest things the ascendancy can do, and it does have legitimate synergy with Meta skill nodes like Evocational Practitioner and Cast on Critical setups.
That said, it comes with real costs: the clones carry a minor attack speed and damage penalty, they can’t consume Power Charges independently, and the channel drains mana at a pace that requires active support. Hollow Form currently performs best in specialized setups focused on clone scaling or Power Charge generation rather than as a universal best-in-slot option — it’s not a trap, just a build that needs the right support around it.
One genuine advantage Hollow Form has in this ascendancy: Way of the Mountain‘s freeze and stun interactions help maintain Mountain’s Teachings stacks even while channeling, partially offsetting the vulnerability that normally comes with stationary playstyles. If you’re drawn to the setup, that defensive layer makes it more forgiving than it looks on paper.
Way of the Mountain — The Chaos Inoculation Interaction
Way of the Mountain covers you in Mountain’s Teachings stacks whenever you immobilize an enemy through stun or freeze. In 0.5, the buff duration was extended from 8 seconds to 20 seconds — long enough to carry into boss fights after a map clear. The damage multiplier sits at 15% (down from 20%), and the large-hit damage reduction is 40% less when you take a hit equal to or greater than 30% of your maximum life.
The most discussed interaction involves pairing this node with Chaos Inoculation. The theory: CI sets your maximum life to exactly 1, meaning almost every incoming hit would automatically cross the 30% threshold and trigger the damage reduction. Based on available pre-launch testing, many players expect the interaction to apply consistently — though some early reports suggest it may not function exactly as described in all situations. Until testing fully stabilizes after launch, treat the CI setup as potentially powerful but still partially unconfirmed.
If the interaction holds up, the transition still requires preparation. Most players will want roughly 4,000–4,500 Energy Shield alongside solid Evasion scaling and reliable recharge recovery before going CI comfortably.
Many late-game setups also transition into hybrid Evasion and Energy Shield scaling with meaningful Strength investment. Combined with Deflection sources from gear and passive nodes, this creates layered mitigation that handles smaller hits through avoidance while the CI layer absorbs the rest. Builds running Martial Adept’s Energy Shield recharge-delay reduction can sustain fast ES recovery while continuously spending combo points in combat — consuming large combo stacks rapidly lowers the delay before recharge begins, letting hybrid EV/ES setups recover much faster during active combat than most traditional melee builds.
Way of the Stonefist — Unique Glove Transformations
- Way of the Stonefist doesn’t just improve your gloves’ defensive stats — it also transforms the explicit modifiers on specific unique gloves, several of which were updated in 0.5.
- Hands of Wisdom and Action (HoWA) The unique lightning attack damage modifier becomes flat cold damage, the flat attack speed modifier is replaced with increased area of effect, and the glove continues to scale flat Dexterity and Intelligence. Strong for cold-scaling builds that want the stat bonuses without the attack speed complications.
- Treefingers Grants Giant Blood (two-handed maces in one hand) and Hollow Palm Technique directly from the item. Pairs well with physical stun-buildup configurations using Whirling Assault.
- Thunderfist Becomes “Coldfist.” Flat lightning damage converts to flat cold damage, and socketed skills like Glint Palm are converted to deal cold damage as well.
Runic Meridians — Free Resistances Explained
Less flashy than the bell skills, but the practical impact on early gearing is hard to overstate. For league starters, it’s one of the strongest quality-of-life nodes on the entire ascendancy tree.
Five rune-only sockets become available across your gear slots. Slotted with resistance runes — each granting 18% in 0.5 — you’re looking at up to 90% elemental resistance from rune slots alone. Your rare item slots are then free to chase offensive stats, survivability, or damage rather than resistance-patching.
The limitation: only runes with global modifiers function in these sockets. Local-modifier runes won’t work here.
Combo-Point Transfer: Facebreaker and Hollow Palm
A weapon-set retention node on the Martial Artist tree lets you build and retain combo points regardless of which weapon set is active. Martial Adept and Martial Master also allow combo generation from essentially any attack hit regardless of weapon set, which is what makes these hybrid unarmed-to-mace transitions feel so smooth in practice — you’re never waiting to start stacking.
Facebreaker unique gloves allow mace skills (like Perfect Strike) while unarmed. Previously, the problem was that combo points built through fast Monk attacks couldn’t survive a weapon set swap, making it impossible to cash those charges on high-damage finishers. With the retention node, the loop is clean: use rapid Monk attacks to stack maximum combo points, swap weapon sets, and execute a mace finisher boosted by Combo Finisher 2 (40% more damage) or Culmination. Applies to active skills with the melee attack tag — Perfect Strike works, skills without that tag won’t benefit.
Best Martial Artist Leveling Setup
Early Campaign (Act 1)
Glacial Cascade and Frozen Locus are the safest and fastest options during the opening acts. Glacial Cascade handles range and pack clearing, Frozen Locus creates ice crystals that detonate on contact and freeze-lock dense groups, and Herald of Ice chains shatter explosions across packs for noticeably faster clear. Prefer staying in melee range? Ice Strike teleports directly to enemies and freezes reliably — and freeze-focused builds synergize naturally with Way of the Mountain, since freezing enemies continuously refreshes Mountain’s Teachings stacks and keeps the ascendancy’s defensive mitigation active during combat.
Hollow Palm Transition
Reaching Hollow Palm Technique around Level 13 before Count Geonor is the most important leveling milestone. Weapon-upgrade dependency vanishes for the rest of the campaign — unarmed damage scales through passive stats and skill levels instead, which dramatically improves consistency during league start when currency is tight. Because Hollow Palm leaves your weapon slots empty, early damage scaling comes heavily from flat elemental or physical damage on rings, gloves, and amulets. Even modest flat damage rolls on jewelry become meaningful upgrades during campaign progression.
Tempest Flurry for Bossing
Tempest Flurry is a strong early bossing tool. Its final lightning strike always applies Shock, building damage multipliers through nodes like General Electric and Alternating Currents. A basic campaign boss rotation — Tempest Flurry to apply Shock, Frost Bomb for exposure, Frozen Locus detonation, Falling Thunder finisher — delivers solid single-target burst well into mid-campaign.
Best Martial Artist Endgame Setup
Whirling Assault Mapping
Most builds transition into Whirling Assault as the primary mapping skill once maps begin. Strong mobility, rapid combo generation, large-area clear, and Tempest Bell synergy in one package. Standard support setup: Rage, Embitter, Magnifying Area, and Pinpoint Critical. Because Whirling Assault naturally scales multiple damage types, it also integrates well with Trinity Support, giving the build a straightforward path into elemental penetration and stronger endgame damage scaling. Many endgame setups further integrate Mantra of Destruction, since the skill’s rapid multi-hit clearing style keeps the buff near maximum strength throughout dense maps.
Tempest Bell Changes in 0.5
The maximum active Tempest Bell count increased from one to three in 0.5. Running multiple overlapping bell shockwaves simultaneously against a boss is a meaningful damage upgrade for bell-focused builds — don’t underestimate how much this changed the ceiling. Most boss-focused setups now deliberately stack multiple bells before committing to burst windows, then trigger overlapping resonances with fast multi-hit skills like Whirling Assault or Falling Thunder. When it clicks, it’s the highest single-target damage spike the ascendancy can produce.
Power Charge Sustain
Reliable Power Charge upkeep matters more and more in endgame bossing. Common generation methods include Reaper’s Invocation with Profane Ritual, Killing Palm bell culling, Hand of Chayula setups, and Ailith’s Chimes combinations. Reaper’s Invocation is especially popular in mapping setups because melee kills automatically trigger Profane Ritual effects, creating a passive source of Power Charge sustain while clearing dense packs without any manual input.
Best Martial Artist Skills
- Whirling Assault — Best overall mapping skill. Combines mobility, large-area clear, combo generation, and effortless bell detonation into a single fluid playstyle, and scales exceptionally well with Trinity Support setups.
- Tempest Bell — Core boss-damage tool for bell-focused builds. The 0.5 increase from one to three active bells dramatically improved single-target scaling and makes it worth building around directly. Tempest Bell also synergizes naturally with the ascendancy’s rapid combo-generation tools, since its combo expenditure scales well with Martial Adept and Martial Master.
- Falling Thunder — One of the strongest leveling and burst-damage options available to Monk. Consumes Power Charges to deliver screen-wide elemental slams that scale well into maps. Some endgame setups pair it with Nova Projectiles Support to spread projectiles in a full 360-degree pattern, which dramatically improves map clear speed and Herald of Ice chain consistency.
- Storm Wave — Reliable Shock application and combo setup tool. Commonly paired with Siphoning Strike during leveling and early mapping for a clean Power Charge loop.
- Ice Strike — Strong melee leveling skill with excellent freeze utility and natural synergy with Way of the Mountain’s defensive stacks.
- Hollow Form — A niche clone-based skill that performs best in dedicated Power Charge or combo-generation setups. Needs deliberate support investment to function well.
- Charged Staff — A popular supplemental skill in Power Charge-focused setups, especially for builds chaining Falling Thunder rotations during boss encounters.
Best Skill Combos
- Early Campaign Frozen Locus → Frost Bomb → Quarterstaff attacks → Falling ThunderFreeze-locks packs, applies exposure, and delivers burst damage through the Shock multiplier.
- Storm Wave Mapping Storm Wave → Siphoning Strike → Falling ThunderStorm Wave applies Shock, Siphoning Strike consumes it for Power Charges and a secondary explosion, Falling Thunder cashes the charges for burst. Extremely fluid once the rotation clicks.
- Hollow Focus Bell Combo Spawn Hollow Focus bells → cull with Killing Palm → generate Power Charges → Falling Thunder or Charge StaffHollow Focus bells guarantee critical strikes on every hit against them, making them among the most efficient charge-generation tools on the ascendancy.
- Whirling Assault Boss Burst Infernal Cry → Tempest Bell placement → Whirling AssaultInfernal Cry’s added fire damage scales well with Whirling Assault’s rapid hit frequency, creating strong burst windows during boss fights when combined with overlapping Tempest Bell detonations.
- Devour Mapping Loop Clear pack → Devour corpses → generate Power Charges and sustain → Falling Thunder into next packA self-sustaining forward loop with good mobility and consistent healing throughout the mapping process.
Gear Priorities
- Gloves — The most important slot due to Way of the Stonefist. Target flat elemental damage, resistances, Energy Shield, Evasion, and attack speed. Unique options like Treefingers or Thunderfist can define the entire build direction. Some players are also experimenting with Arcane Surge on Critical Strike glove modifiers after transformation, since early testing suggests they may generate Power Charges more consistently.
- Weapon — Flat physical damage, critical strike chance, and attack speed. Many endgame Whirling Assault builds prioritize double- or triple-elemental Quarterstaffs to maximize Trinity Support uptime and scale Herald explosions more efficiently during mapping.
- Body Armor — Armor bases get you through the campaign. Endgame builds typically move into Evasion and Energy Shield hybrid bases to fully leverage Hollow Palm and critical strike scaling. High-end builds benefit from hybrid Evasion/ES bases combined with Deflection sources for layered mitigation.
- Rings — Flat cold or lightning damage, resistances, and attributes to compensate for lost flat damage during gear transitions.
- Amulet — Spirit implicits are strong here, letting you run multiple Herald and utility setups simultaneously without running short.
- Belt — Strength-based belts help meet late-game gem attribute requirements comfortably.
Martial Artist stands out as one of the most complete melee ascendancies in Path of Exile 2’s 0.5 expansion, combining smooth league-start progression, exceptional defensive layering, and multiple scalable endgame paths without locking players into a single playstyle. The combination of Way of the Mountain‘s defensive scaling, Runic Meridians‘ resistance coverage, and Way of the Stonefist‘s glove transformation engine gives the build both a reliable leveling path and a strong endgame ceiling.
If you’re looking for a league starter that functions well on modest gear but keeps rewarding you as your setup improves, Martial Artist is worth serious consideration. Few melee ascendancies in 0.5 offer the same mix of speed, survivability, and long-term scaling flexibility.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Martial Artist good in PoE 2 0.5?
Yes. Martial Artist is shaping up to be one of the strongest Monk ascendancies in Return of the Ancients thanks to its excellent league-start stability, strong defensive scaling, and multiple viable endgame archetypes. Hollow Palm leveling, Tempest Bell scaling, and Runic Meridians all contribute to a very smooth progression curve.
Is Martial Artist the best Monk ascendancy in Return of the Ancients?
It’s definitely one of the strongest options currently available, especially for players who enjoy aggressive melee gameplay with high mobility and combo management. Martial Artist stands out because it combines strong mapping, boss burst damage, and defensive layering without locking players into a single build path.
Is Martial Artist a good league starter in PoE 2?
Absolutely. Hollow Palm Technique removes weapon-upgrade dependency early, while Runic Meridians helps solve resistance requirements with extra rune-only sockets. That combination makes the build extremely stable during campaign progression and early maps even on modest gear.
How does Hollow Palm Technique work with Martial Artist?
Hollow Palm allows Martial Artist to scale unarmed damage through passive stats and skill levels instead of relying on weapon upgrades. This dramatically improves leveling consistency and pairs naturally with fast combo-generation skills and Power Charge setups.
Does Way of the Mountain work with Chaos Inoculation?
The interaction is currently one of the most discussed parts of the ascendancy. Many players expect the large-hit mitigation to work consistently with Chaos Inoculation because CI sets maximum life to 1, though some early testing suggests the interaction may not function perfectly in all situations. It’s powerful, but still partially unconfirmed.
What are the best Martial Artist builds in PoE 2?
The strongest archetypes currently include:
- Hollow Focus Bell builds
- Whirling Assault mapping builds
- Chaos Inoculation Energy Shield setups
- Facebreaker hybrid builds
- Oil Barrage ranged hybrids
Each focuses on different strengths like bossing, mapping speed, survivability, or combo-finisher gameplay.
What is the best Martial Artist leveling setup?
Most players level using Glacial Cascade, Frozen Locus, and Ice Strike early before transitioning into Hollow Palm around Level 13. Tempest Flurry is also excellent for bossing because it applies reliable Shock for large burst windows.
What are the best Martial Artist skills in PoE 2?
The most popular skills currently are:
- Whirling Assault
- Tempest Bell
- Falling Thunder
- Storm Wave
- Ice Strike
- Hollow Form
- Gathering Storm
- Charged Staff
Whirling Assault is generally considered the best all-around mapping skill.
Is Whirling Assault the best Martial Artist mapping skill?
For most builds, yes. Whirling Assault combines mobility, combo generation, large-area clear, and effortless bell detonation into a single fluid playstyle. It also scales extremely well with Trinity Support and multi-element setups.
How do Hollow Focus and Hollow Resonance work?
Hollow Focus periodically spawns spectral bells around your character that guarantee critical strikes and stun priming when hit. Hollow Resonance adds a permanent bell to your back that triggers additional stun buildup whenever you critically strike enemies. Together, they create a very strong stun and Power Charge engine.
How do you sustain Power Charges on Martial Artist?
Popular Power Charge generation methods include:
- Reaper’s Invocation + Profane Ritual
- Killing Palm bell culling
- Hand of Chayula setups
- Ailith’s Chimes
- Storm Wave + Siphoning Strike rotations
Most endgame builds rely heavily on reliable Power Charge sustain for boss burst damage.
What are the best support gems for Martial Artist builds?
Commonly used support gems include:
- Trinity Support
- Rage
- Embitter
- Magnifying Area
- Pinpoint Critical
- Nova Projectiles Support
The best setup depends on whether the build focuses on mapping, bossing, or elemental scaling.
How does Way of the Stonefist transform unique gloves?
Way of the Stonefist modifies both rare and unique gloves by transforming their modifiers into stronger alternate versions. Gloves like Hands of Wisdom and Action, Thunderfist, and Treefingers gain entirely new interactions that can dramatically change build scaling and playstyle.
Does Facebreaker work with Martial Artist?
Yes. Facebreaker works especially well with Martial Artist because Martial Adept and Martial Master allow combo generation across weapon sets. Players can rapidly stack combo points with Monk attacks before swapping into mace-based combo finishers for huge burst damage.
How do Tempest Bell and combo points interact?
Tempest Bell consumes combo points to scale its damage output. Martial Artist generates combo extremely quickly through skills like Whirling Assault and Storm Wave, making Tempest Bell one of the strongest bossing tools available to the ascendancy.
What are the best Martial Artist ascendancy nodes?
The most commonly prioritized nodes are:
- Way of the Stonefist
- Hollow Focus
- Runic Meridians
- Hollow Resonance
- Way of the Mountain
The order varies depending on whether the player prioritizes defense, combo generation, or boss damage.
How do Runic Meridians and extra rune slots work?
Runic Meridians adds five rune-only sockets directly to your gear slots. These sockets only work with runes that provide global modifiers, but they can massively simplify resistance gearing and stat management during early progression.
Is Hollow Form good in PoE 2?
Hollow Form is viable, but more specialized than other Martial Artist setups. It performs best in builds focused on clone scaling, Power Charge generation, or Cast on Critical interactions. It’s flashy and fun, but requires deliberate support investment to feel strong.
What weapon should Martial Artist use in endgame?
Most endgame builds transition into high-crit Quarterstaves with flat elemental damage and attack speed. Some advanced setups instead use Facebreaker hybrid configurations or Giant Blood mace interactions through Treefingers.
How does Martial Artist scale stun threshold and defensive value?
Martial Artist scales stun extremely well through Hollow Focus, Hollow Resonance, and Tempest Bell interactions. Defensively, the ascendancy layers Evasion, Energy Shield, freeze/stun utility, and Way of the Mountain’s large-hit mitigation to create surprisingly durable melee setups
