Wanna cheap and safe POE 1/2 currency or other game gold ? We provide 7x24 service. Contact us

Choose your country and currency

Country / Region:

United States

Currency:

USD

USD

EUR

GBP

CAD

AUD

Shopping Cart
Total items

Subtotal:

Discount: -

Continue shopping

Your cart is empty !

Continue shopping
Surplus Stock:

Categories

POE 2 Currency POE Currency Diablo 4 Items WOW Classic Last Epoch Diablo 2 Resurrected Dark and Darker Help Center Sell To Us Affiliate Member Discount About Us News Guide AUP Policy Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Refund Policy AML Policy

Send60s

I want to get information about activities, sales and personal offers

loading

Why Was The Unique Body Armor In Path Of Exile 3.25 Forgotten By Players? - Reasons & Effects

Sep 13, 2024 Author: POECurrency.com

As always, the arrival of a new league brings with it a number of new changes, but the most notable addition to POE 3.25 is the addition of 60 new Base Types, spread across Helmets, Armor, Boots, and Gloves slots. These new Base Types were introduced primarily to balance out the fact that characters previously had mostly basic defensive stats.

The change nerfed Defensive Auras and indirectly nerfed a number of unique items and builds. This was especially true for Archetypes that lacked investment elsewhere to scale defensive stats, as these specific builds relied heavily on using Auras combined with a decent amount of Aura effect scaling to get reasonable defensive power. This meant that a lot of players would use important unique items in these situations, with a good example from previous patches being Lightning Coil.

However, the addition of these new Base Types and the subsequent nerf to Defensive Auras ended up significantly nerfing the use of these unique items. Because these PoE items are not compensated in any way by the nerfs to Auras.

It is very likely that GGG will move some unique items to the new Base Type without changing their stats, effectively buffing these items with updated base defense stats. After all, they have done this before for other unique items.

Here, we will take a look at the impact of these changes to get a better understanding of what things will be stronger in Settlers of Kalguur League.

Why Was The Unique Body Armor In Path Of Exile 3.25 Forgotten By Players? - Reasons & Effects

Why Is There A Sharp Drop In The Usage Of Unique Body Armour?

The usage of unique items has dropped sharply in PoE 3.25, especially Unique Body Armour. When comparing PoE 3.24 Necropolis and PoE 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur, we can see that the gap is staggering.

In Softcore Trade League, the usage of Rare Body Armour has almost doubled, from 27% of all characters in PoE 3.24 to 48% of all characters in PoE 3.25 now. This is of course not 100% because of the new Base Types and Aura Nerfs, but is influenced by another important factor: what exactly is popular and what builds are being played?

For example, Deadeye is the most popular class in Necropolis, and across all those Deadeye builds, over 80% of builds use Unique Body Armour. Whereas for the most popular class in Settlers of Kalguur, Slayer, only 26% of builds use Unique Body Armour.

But if we isolate Deadeye for a moment, we can see that Unique Armour usage has dropped significantly across both leagues for builds with similar classes, down 26%.

The core reason for these shifts is of course the increased power level of Rare Body Armour relative to these Unique choices. More importantly, using Unique Armour in POE 3.25 means you give up a lot of Defensive stats, which you could previously make up for by using Defensive Auras, but now these nerfs are not compensated. This trend can be seen across Unique Body Armours with only a few exceptions.

Examples

Here we’ll take two specific Unique Armours as examples. These two Body Armours have been a big part of the meta for many build Archetypes for a long time before this patch, Lightning Coil and Fourth Vow.

Lightning Coil

Lightning Coil usage has dropped from 8% of Necropolis characters to 2% of Settlers of Kalguur, a 75% reduction in characters using Lightning Coil.

A big factor here is that there are half as many Pathfinder characters in Path of Exile 3.25 as there were in POE 3.24. But the reason for this is not the introduction of those new Base Types, but another change to Damage Taken As, which significantly nerfed Taste of Hate and other stats, making it impossible for characters to achieve 100% Physical Damage Taken As Elemental.

This was a very popular way to deal physical damage before. In older leagues, this, combined with the nerf to the monster Overwhelm, made traditional ways of defending against physical damage like Armor and Endurance Charges much more reliable. This is why using Lightning Coil, while not mandatory for many builds, is still very useful and still very popular.

But overall, the change in POE 3.25 from a purely damage-focused defense setup to a hybrid multi-layered defense setup has seen Lightning Coil usage decline somewhat.

Path Of Exile 3.25 Lightning Coil

Fourth Vow

This is an interesting unique for Fourth Vow. Fourth Vow has always been the go-to for defense setups, and by combining it with Divine Flesh and stacking a lot of armor, it can completely mitigate the upcoming Elemental Hit.

But from POE 3.24 to POE 3.25, the usage of Fourth Vow has dropped from 6% to 0.7%. There are some very important factors at play here that you may not immediately recognize just from the usage rate and the builds that use it.

While the percentage of Necromancers using the item as a percentage of the class usage has increased, the number of Necromancers actually using it has decreased significantly because of the nerf to Detonate Dead. Meanwhile, the nerf to Champion Ascendancy didn’t help Fourth Vow much either.

But those two factors only affected the number of builds that could use Fourth Vow. There were three other very big changes that had an enormous impact on the item.

The first and probably the biggest change is that they removed Divine Blessing Support, which had incredible synergy with Fourth Vow. Since it combined with Divine Flesh would make Energy Shield almost useless since all damage would bypass it, these builds would use Eldritch Battery to solve the mana cost and grant it Energy Shield, allowing the use of the extra Aura with Divine Blessing. But Divine Blessing is gone now, and with it these builds lose a lot of power from the extra Aura.

The second big change is of course the nerf to Determination. 99% of Fourth Vow builds in POE 3.24 used Determination, while only 91% did so in POE 3.25. While the percentage drop isn’t huge, the actual number of people using Fourth Vow is much lower. And this nerf to Determination is one of the key factors for this. It also means that these builds now need to invest more POE Currency to achieve the same level of armor as before.

The third major change is about Juggernaut Unbreakable. Unbreakable Ascendancy Passive Skill no longer provides 8% armor applied to incoming Fire, Cold, and Lightning. Now it has 15% armor applied to incoming Chaos damage as well.

Juggernaut Unbreakable has incredible synergy with Fourth Vow and Divine Flesh, allowing the character to split incoming elemental damage into multiple types to apply armor to each type to mitigate the damage. But the new Juggernaut relies more on Endurance Charges to mitigate elemental damage.

While you could argue that the new Unbreakable simply provides a new option to run a crafted Rare Body Armour and Divine Flesh to achieve similar results, the fact is that you gain an enormous benefit against physical damage by doing so. You’ll have access to more base armor and an extra PDR Suffix, not to mention the powerful Eldritch Implicit. Because of this change, the use of Fourth Vow in Juggernaut builds has dropped dramatically by over 50%.

Path Of Exile 3.25 Fourth Vow

Some Unique Body Armours Still Popular

While Unique Body Armour usage has dropped overall, not all Unique Body Armour has dropped. In fact, some Body Armour remains just as popular as they were in previous leagues, while some have even increased in popularity.

Cloak of Flame usage has remained around 8% in POE 3.25 leagues. This is thanks to the increased Chieftain play rate, which has increased the number of characters using Cloak.

Surprisingly, despite Battlemage’s Cry nerf, Iron Fortress Strength Stacking Body Armour has remained popular among Settlers of Kalguur.

One of the biggest winners, Cloak of Defiance, saw its usage increase by nearly 400% from POE 3.24 to POE 3.25.

Outro

Overall, Unique Body Armour usage has indeed dropped, which could change the focus of many players when creating builds. However, whether GGG makes any changes to these items in future leagues, whether it is buffing their unique stats, or simply moving them to a stronger Base Type, or perhaps they are also happy to make these items more niche, only time will tell.

Recommended Article

View More
Is The Last Lament Lich Build Feasible On A Low Budget In Path Of Exile 2 Patch 0.3.0?
Is The Last Lament Lich Build Feasible On A Low Budget In Path Of Exile 2 Patch 0.3.0?

The Last Lament Crossbow Lich build performed very well in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.3.0, offering extremely fast clearing speed, high single-target damage, and significant tanking power through its low health mechanics and high movement speed.

This build is considered S-tier for end-game content, including mapping and bossing, and is a popular and powerful choice within the community, allowing you to blast away at small enemies while running quickly.

The only drawback to this build is its cost; completing this setup requires at least several hundred Path of Exile 2 Divine Orbs. This makes it an end-game build, unsuitable for leveling or starting in a league due to its high item cost.

So, why is this build so expensive? It's because it requires a unique weapon - The Last Lament Desolate Crossbow. This weapon, when paired with Lich Ascendancy, effectively mitigates disadvantages, making it highly sought after. 

This build boasts incredible speed and tankiness, but it requires a significant gear investment to fully realize its potential. Besides the aforementioned unique Crossbow, it also requires a variety of gear, including Stellar Amulet, Death Articulated Ornate Gauntlets, and Headhunter.

Our goal here is to make this build playable while still spending less on Divine Orbs. Of course, there are some obvious differences between a low-cost build and a more expensive one: slower movement speed, lower damage, and lower defense, but this should be enough to avoid certain monsters in the map and keep you alive. If you're interested in trying it, read on!

Now, I'll walk you through some updates to this Last Lament Lich build, including its mechanics, how to reduce health, how to use skills, and how to play with it.

Temporal Chains & Cursed Ground Synergy

First, we've added Temporal Chains, a curse that slows down enemies, which is very useful. It's like slowing them down, reducing their ability to attack you. With your energy shield so low, it's your best defense.

Temporal Chains' defensive power is much better than I expected. When you're in a tight space, like when you're trapped in a Ritual or about to open a Breach to fight a boss, you can quickly cast it to slow down enemies.

At the same time, we also cast Cursed Ground, which is mandatory. This uses Temporal Chains as a ground debuff, similar to other ground effects like Chilled Ground or Consecrated Ground, slowing enemy movement and slowing down other effects.

Then, I added Ritualistic Curse, Focused Curse, and Heightened Curse, which make the curses more powerful, last longer, and regenerate more quickly.

If you have extra skill gems, you can also add things like increased duration.

How Does It Work?

Now, let's explain how this build works. First, we mentioned earlier that this is a low-life build. This is because the unique thing about this build is that Last Lament has a 300-life cost to avoid consuming the last bolt, allowing you to fire continuously without reloading. This means that as long as you maintain low life, you can perform an unlimited number of attacks without reloading, effectively converting your life into infinite ammunition.

Lich Ascendancy's Eternal Life node allows players to maintain their health while maintaining a certain amount of energy shield. Combining these two, the health cost of Last Lament is essentially negated, meaning you won't lose health to avoid reloading.

Not only that, this build leverages the low-life mechanic, gaining significant bonuses from passive skill tree nodes and support gems, creating a character with incredible speed and immense power.

How To Maintain Low Life?

So, if we're currently at full health, how can we return to low health?

  1. First, equip Eternal Life node; this is crucial; it prevents your life from scaling while you have energy shield.
  2. Next, remove any gear that provides energy shield, or use a helmet with Eldritch Battery effect to convert your energy into mana. This is crucial because it allows your life to be affected by your actions.
  3. Be careful about using skills that drain life, such as those with Lifetap support gem, to quickly deplete your life until it drops below 35% of your maximum health.
  4. Finally, quickly re-equip your standard helmet to lock your life at its current low health state. Your life will now be permanently low, and you can benefit from Eternal Life node.

Gear Selection

For this build, we've significantly reduced the original PoE 2 currency budget, so some of the gear may not be the best options for your current Last Lament Crossbow Lich build, but it does offer the best value.

  • Weapon: The Last Lament Desolate Crossbow
  • Helmet: Constricting Command Viper Cap
  • Ring: Rune Grasp & Kraken Eyes
  • Amulet: Rune Scarab
  • Body Armor: Pandemonium Skin
  • Gloves: Vengeance Claw
  • Belt: Shavronne's Satchel
  • Boots: Invasion Spark

Gameplay

Finally, to clear maps and defeat bosses with the Last Lament Crossbow Lich build in Path of Exile 2, you'll need to utilize its powerful single-target ability, Compose Requiem, and ensure you always have low health and the necessary resources.

Additionally, focusing on acquiring a high-quality wand with high spell damage and cast speed is crucial for boosting your damage output against bosses.

Then, strategically allocate your Lich Ascendancy points to unlock key nodes like Necromantic Conduit and Crystalline Phylactery to reap the full benefits of this build.

Remember to prioritize defensive abilities like energy shield and high evasion, as these synergize perfectly with Lich's Eternal Life node, keeping you permanently at low health. Finally, remember to collect and re-cultivate areas to acquire better gear to boost your damage and survivability.

That's all for this low-budget Last Lament Crossbow Lich build. If your inventory is overflowing with orbs, you don't need to worry about this at all. However, if you're low on currency or want to push your limits, this Last Lament Lich build might be worth a try!

How Does The New Asynchronous Trade System In Path Of Exile 2 Patch 0.3.0 Work? | Selling And Trading Details
How Does The New Asynchronous Trade System In Path Of Exile 2 Patch 0.3.0 Work? | Selling And Trading Details

While Path of Exile's complex skill tree system and challenging endgame mechanics are both fascinating, one flaw it often criticizes is its cumbersome and rigid trading system.

Yes, in PoE, if you want to trade an item with another player, you and the seller must be online at the same time. This means that if you encounter a seller who's offline or unresponsive for a long time, you'll have to rely on luck to secure a perfect deal!

On the other hand, the in-game trading system can also be inconvenient for sellers. When you're desperate to sell an item, you have to constantly monitor the chat screen. If someone actually expresses interest in trading, you'll have to drop your map or whatever you're doing to sell it.

Sometimes, you'll receive a message to sell an item, drop what you're doing, only to find that the other party either doesn't show up or tries to sell it for less than you originally requested. It's really frustrating!

But all that's a thing of the past with Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.3.0. The new Asynchronous Trade System in The Third Edict will surprise you every time you log back in!

Here, we'll explain how to unlock and use the brand-new Asynchronous Trade System in Patch 0.3.0. Let's take a look!

How To Unlock Asynchronous Trade System?

Creating A Hideout

To unlock Asynchronous Trade, you must first enter Path of Exile 2 Act 4. Here, you'll meet an NPC named Ange, who will give you a quest called Hostile Takeover, which requires you to find a suitable location to build a hideout.

If you don't have a suitable hideout yet, you can travel to Wakapanu Island, defeat Diamora, and then speak with Ange again in Kingsmarch to unlock Shoreline Hideout. Don't worry, we've got a detailed Diamora boss guide here.

Read More: How To Defeat The Final Boss In Path Of Exile 2 Act 4 Whakapanu Island? - Diamora, Song Of Death Boss Guide

Talking To Ange

Once you have a hideout, head there, and Ange should automatically appear. You can interact with it and perform Asynchronous Trade, which allows you to sell items for a fixed price without having to trade online.

Obtaining Or Converting To Merchant Tabs

To sell items, you need some Merchant Tabs, which can be obtained in-game through the microtransaction store. However, if you own Premium Stash Tabs from before the 0.3.0 update, you can also convert some of them into Merchant Tabs through the official Path of Exile 2 website.

Please note that upgrading tabs is permanent; this system wasn't available in Path of Exile 1. Therefore, if you upgrade here, you will temporarily lose access to these tabs from POE 1.

Also, it's worth noting that the old trading system is still available in-game. Therefore, if you want to continue using this system for any reason, please do not upgrade every Premium Stash Tab you own.

How To Trade Using This System?

Selling Items

After you obtain these Merchant Tabs, click Manage Shop button. You should see your Merchant Tab and an additional Earnings Tab there. To sell an item, place it in Merchant Tab and set a price.

However, it's worth noting that Asynchronous Trade System currently doesn't allow you to set a price for an entire tab like Premium Stash Tab does. I imagine this is to prevent accidentally listing an item in the wrong tab without knowing it.

Also, only items that can't be exchanged for PoE 2 currency can be placed in Merchant Tab. Therefore, items like Currency, Shards, Fragments, Essences, Socketables, and Gems must be sold through Currency Exchange or the legacy trading system.

Once an item is placed in Merchant Tab and priced, you have approximately 30 seconds to freely adjust the price or remove it. After that, it will be registered on Marketplace, locking in its position and price for a short period of time.

Before setting a price, it's recommended to research the selling prices of items with similar attributes to avoid overpricing or underpricing, which could result in unnecessary losses.

If you're still unsure, I recommend setting a slightly higher price. If the item doesn't sell for a long time, you can always lower the price. Regardless, it's recommended to check and lower the price of any unsold items every one or two days to increase your chances of a successful trade.

If someone is interested in an item while you're in hideout, you'll see it appear next to the hideout, ready for players to trade.

If you're online, you'll receive a small notification in the bottom right corner of your screen indicating a successful sale. Even if you're offline, players can still access and trade items, so when you log back in, you'll receive a bonus of POE 2 currency!

If you want to see which items you've sold, you can view your sales history in the top right corner of the merchant window.

Trading Items

If you want to acquire an item, you have two options. You can use the new Asynchronous Trade Marketplace or Currency Exchange in Path of Exile 2.

To open Trade Marketplace in-game, select it from the menu. From there, you can enter exactly what you're looking for and search.

When you find an item, you can click Travel to Hideout to instantly teleport to that player's hideout and trade there.

Alternatively, if you're using the old trading system, you can click Direct Whisper. The other options are essentially the same.

My Thoughts

Honestly, I think the new Asynchronous Trade system is a vast improvement in PoE 2. The old system was notoriously bad, and a real hindrance for both buyers and sellers.

The only problem with the new system is that it requires players to enter Act 4 of the new league before they can trade, which is why some people still use the old system. I really hope this changes, at least by making it available in towns in the early stages.

How To Defeat Tavakai The Chieftain Final Boss In Path Of Exile 2 Act 4 With Three Phases!
How To Defeat Tavakai The Chieftain Final Boss In Path Of Exile 2 Act 4 With Three Phases!

Today, our guide to the final boss fight in Path of Exile 2 Act 4 is finally here! This mysterious boss is Tavakai, the Chieftain, and he's the most dangerous enemy in the campaign so far.

This three-phase boss fight is quite lengthy, and Tavakai's powerful attacks will definitely put your build and gear to the test. Therefore, I sincerely recommend that you upgrade your character to at least level 56 or higher before attempting Tavakai, unless you're willing to invest a large amount of POE 2 currency in crafting a complete set of crafted gear.

Preparation is also essential before every brutal boss fight, and you'll have to ensure you have auto-recharged life and mana flasks; otherwise, you'll have a hard time surviving. If you're ready, follow along as we tackle the final battle in Path of Exile 2 Act 4!

How To Find Tavakai?

To find Tavakai, you'll first need to travel to Whakapanu Island. Next, you'll need to fight your way through two of Path of Exile 2's largest and most challenging maps: Ngakanu and Heart of the Tribe.

So, take your time and explore every corner. You'll find him in Heart of the Tribe area.

Phase 1 - Tavakai, the Chieftain

Once you've found Tavakai, the Chieftain, Phase 1 begins.

Honestly, this is the easiest phase, so your goal is to use as few flasks as possible to advance to the next phase, as you'll need them later.

Tavakai's attacks in this phase are very simple, primarily using his axe for physical attacks. Fortunately, these attacks are easily dodged, as he moves slowly, allowing you to counterattack with Momentum.

His powerful attack creates Jade Crystals, which then explode. Stay away from them to avoid the explosions, which provides another opportunity for a counterattack.

The key to completing this phase quickly is to dodge attacks and counterattack, allowing you to continue stacking damage on the boss.

Note that when Tavakai's health reaches 50%, he stops attacking and transforms into Tavakai, the Fallen. When this transformation occurs, a shockwave will hit you, knocking you to the ground. This officially begins Phase 2.

Phase 2 - Tavakai, the Fallen

Follow Tavakai, the Fallen to another arena, where you'll find Makoru in Altars. This is where the final battle begins.

In Phase 2, Tavakai becomes even more powerful, regenerating his health. Additionally, he gains new attacks that deal significant damage. Let's take a look at them.

  • His first move is to swing his axe skyward, followed by a rain of jade spikes. This attack covers the entire arena, so try to watch where it lands to avoid being hit.
  • Tavakai can also summon three to five jade statues that explode when they get close to you, dealing area damage.
  • Another powerful attack occurs when he says, "Lend me your hunger, Father of Chaos!" A pool of blood will appear on the ground, and he'll stomp on it, dealing area damage.
  • Then, when he says, "Weakness becomes you!", several bloody tentacles will sprout from his hands. If these tentacles hit you, they'll inflict Shock, Ignite, and Fire Resistance debuffs.
  • Another powerful attack during this phase occurs when he says, "Unleash yourself, Valako!" He'll slam his bag into the ground, creating several waves of jade spikes that fly upward. The best way to avoid this attack is to stay close to Tavakai, as it covers the entire arena.

You May Like: Path Of Exile 2 Patch 0.3.0 Changes To Witch Hunter Ascendancy Class' Passive Skills

However, the problem with phase 2 is that Tavakai's boss attacks continuously, making it impossible to predict the exact timing of your counterattack. However, during our testing, he would first unleash waves of jade spikes, then summon jade statues, followed by blood tentacles, and finally a rain of jade spikes. It felt like everything was happening simultaneously. It was complete chaos.

However, my advice is: you must deal damage first, then pause and run away to survive, then return to attack. Of course, the problem with this is that you'll never be able to stack a significant amount of damage, and the battle will be stretched out again, but it's the only way to survive.

This is also where your auto-recharged flasks come in handy; they're invaluable, otherwise a few combos from the boss will easily kill you.

Anyway, keep fighting, and soon Tavakai will unleash his most powerful attack of this phase: Daughter of the Moon. This is when a massive beam or icicle strikes the ground for several seconds. If you're hit, your chance of death is very high.

Phase 3 - Tavakai, the Consumed

Continue to deal damage, and as Tavakai's health drops to 25%, the final phase begins. At this point, the boss transforms into his final form, Tavakai, the Consumed. He's fully healed again, which is terrible.

Unsurprisingly, the final phase is the hardest, as his attacks are once again buffed.

  • Tavakai's first attack is a weapon combo attack, culminating in a series of Leap Slams. You'll want to dodge these attacks and avoid counterattacks.
  • He also has an attack that opens rifts, from which Shadow Dragons spawn. They're clearly from another dimension, as you can see stars within the rifts. These dragons will inflict debuffs on you, so stay away from them.
  • Next, Tavakai will cover the entire arena with greenery. Standing in it triggers Tawhoa's Forest debuff, which essentially reduces all damage taken while you're there. The only safe zone is in the center of the map, but Tavakai is likely there.
  • The boss also has a new attack during this phase: he summons a series of exploding blood crystals from the ground. Try to avoid standing on or near them.
  • If you're tempted to head to the center of the arena, think twice, because Tavakai summons a small sun that rises and explodes there. The explosion leaves behind an even smaller sun and burning ground. Once the sun hits the ground, it deals massive area damage.
  • If all these attacks aren't enough, he can also summon an erupting volcano that spews flames onto the ground. And the more health you deplete, the more attacks the boss will have, making the fight more difficult. So, you can see why this fight is so frantic.

However, the real problem is that you can't attack continuously, which is why defeating Tavakai is so difficult.

Basically, you need to constantly survive, wait for things to cool down before striking back. Then interrupt your attacks again, and repeat this process, making sure your life and mana flasks don't run out.

Towards the end of the fight, Tavakai will also cast lightning bolts that chase the player. These attacks will shock you and slow you down, making you more vulnerable to all his other attacks.

All in all, it's a tough fight, and I think a bit of luck is ultimately required. Because your life and mana flasks are crucial to your survival!

When you finally defeat Tavakai, the Chieftain, The Hooded One will appear, and Tavakai will return his weapon to him. The Hooded One will rescue Makoru and restore Tavakai to his mortal form.

Yes, that concludes our guide to the toughest bosses in Act 4 campaign! Enjoy your victory!

How To Build Acolyte Of Chayula Hollow Palm Monk League Starter In Path Of Exile 2 Patch 0.3.0? - For Leveling, Campaign & Endgame
How To Build Acolyte Of Chayula Hollow Palm Monk League Starter In Path Of Exile 2 Patch 0.3.0? - For Leveling, Campaign & Endgame

Today, we'd like to share our league starter build for Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.3.0: Acolyte of Chayula Hollow Palm Monk.

The core of this build is the new Hollow Palm Technique Keystone, added in The Third Edict update. This grants physical damage based on your skill level and attributes, creating a powerful unarmed build.

Players earn Keystones by progressing through the passive skill tree and can build around it, utilizing skills like Ice Strike or Storm Wave to deal massive damage through stacked attack speed and critical hits even without a weapon equipped.

This flexible build allows players to focus on stacking evasion and energy shield to unlock massive damage, creating powerful unarmed melee or spellcaster builds.

Especially for a class like Monk, Hollow Palm Technique can be used to become a powerful unarmed fighter, stacking evasion and energy shield to gain massive attack speed and critical chance.

I expect this Acolyte of Chayula Hollow Palm Monk build to be fairly easy to level up throughout the campaign and scale well into the late endgame. Let's take a look at how to maximize this build's potential during the different stages of The Third Edict!

Ascendancy Class

I imagine your first question is why play this Hollow Palm Monk with Acolyte of Chayula Ascendancy? Is it the best Ascendancy class in PoE 2? Personally, I think it's definitely not; it's just slightly above average.

If it were in Patch 0.2.0, I would definitely say the best Ascendancy for Hollow Palm Technique would be Deadeye without a doubt.

However, in PoE 2 The Third Edict, the developers gave Acolyte of Chayula a major overhaul, adding mechanics like Volatility, which deals a significant amount of chaos damage when detonating stacks, and the ability to leech chaos damage via the renamed Sap of Nightmares node. So, I'm really curious to see how it performs.

So, I'm going to talk about some of the advantages that Acolyte of Chayula has in Hollow Palm.

First, in PoE 2 patch 0.3.0, Acolyte of Chayula now grants chaos damage via Volatility mechanic, granting 1% increased chaos damage per stack of Volatility detonated. So, essentially, I think Acolyte of Chayula is a good starting class for leagues, as it does deal a lot of free damage, right?

On top of that, we'll also get the leech effect of Sap of Nightmares node. Honestly, I think in this league, if you're playing a melee, offensive character, Energy Shield is pretty hard to come by outside of a few specific classes. So, as a melee Monk character, a class that can leech Energy Shield, this is quite viable.

But the main reason I chose Monk Acolyte of Chayula as my starting Ascendancy class is because it has the closest skill to Hollow Palm Technique on the skill tree. So if you want to master it as quickly as possible, then Acolyte of Chayula is the one for you.

However, if you want a smooth leveling experience, this might not be the best approach. Quarterstaffs generally don't truly master Storm Wave until level 22, and before then, you might struggle to stack more critical damage into your build.

Leveling

If you're looking for fast leveling with this build, I'd recommend starting with Spear instead of Quarterstaff, as I find it easier to level up than Quarterstaff. Especially since Frozen Locus skill gem, a key item for Quarterstaff build damage stacking, was significantly nerfed in 0.3.0, reducing its damage range at all gem levels. This makes Quarterstaff no longer always a must-have for Monk builds.

In the early game, to obtain and maximize Spear, it's recommended to first head to Clearfell Encampment and spend a small amount of PoE 2 currency from the vendor there to obtain a Hardwood Spear, which will allow you to use Whirling Slash and obtain Uncut Skill Gem from Renly.

After that, when you reach the next map, you can travel to Abandoned Stash, pick up Twister, and start using Whirling Slash Twister.

Next, head to Mud Burrow and find Frozen Locus dropped by Devourer boss to obtain the next Uncut Skill Gem.

From there, you can start leveling up. This is until you reach level 13, when you begin to unlock Hollow Palm Keystone.

Campaign

However, if your goal is to complete the campaign, you can actually start using more Quarterstaff-based skills, such as Ice Strike, Tempest Bell, and Glacial Cascade.

This is because the developers reworked the mechanics of Wind Blast and Vaulting Impact in patch 0.3.0. Furthermore, Vaulting Impact triggers a skill called Broken Stance, which allows you to deal more damage with smaller attacks.

Therefore, we'll be using Ice Strike and Wind Blast for a lot of minor attacks to help us gain an advantage in single-target attacks going forward.

This will now be how we level throughout the campaign, starting at level 13, and we'll continue using these skills until the endgame begins.

Endgame

Right now, I've chosen to use Ice Strike as my primary skill for leveling, and we'll eventually switch to Storm Wave. However, during the endgame, we'll still use Ice Strike for single-target attacks.

This build has a lot of single-target options, since Hollow Palm isn't really a skill-based build, but more of a playstyle, right? So you can use a lot of skills with it, but for the foreseeable future, I'd choose Ice Strike as my primary single-target skill.

However, you don't have to use Ice Strike and Tempest Bell exclusively for single-target attacks. In fact, I do think skills like Falling Thunder, which deals damage based on Power Charges, can be very useful when paired with fast-paced skills like Flicker Strike, which consumes Power Charges to quickly teleport to the enemy and deal damage. Therefore, these two skills might be more suitable for late-game boss fights.

For endgame mapping, we'll rely on Shattering Palm, which has undergone a bit of a redesign and no longer has its own damage, but the nice thing about it is that it scales with our weapon's damage. Since weapon damage in this build is provided by Hollow Palm Technique, I suspect Shattering Palm will be even more powerful than before. This way, we can truly rely entirely on Shattering Palm to clear the map.

That's it for this Acolyte of Chayula Hollow Palm Monk build guide. This build is a great choice for everything from early leveling to campaign and endgame challenges. We'll see how it performs!

backup
live chat loadings