Invoker Ice Strike Leveling Guide

Build Introduction

The Monk is a fantastic and powerful leveling class while not being a glass cannon. It has good damage while also having some good defensive layers and feels more sturdy than most other classes I played. The monk also excels as a solo self-found character as gearing for this class is easy to get going.

The Monk is incredibly lethal and will help you fly through the campaign while making bosses easy. As a Shatter Monk we Dash between enemies and Freeze them. The flow of this class feels amazing and excels with high damage and enough defenses to take a hit through our Campaign.

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Strengths and Weaknesses

Path of Building

Path of Building is a fantastic community made tool that lets you see how any change you make to your character’s skill tree, gear, or skill gems will impact you. If you haven’t used POB before, you can find a useful beginner’s guide here.

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General Advice for Leveling

Path of Exile II’s campaign is not meant to be taken lightly. The following tips are things to keep in mind throughout the campaign. This will help you have the smoothest leveling experience possible.

Picking up Magic(Blue) and Rare(Yellow) items is a great way to gather Gold so always try to have a full inventory when you return to town to sell or disenchant. It’s recommended to always identify yellow items as you may run into a valuable item that you can resell or upgrade your current gear with.

If you find any “Exalted Orbs” or “Divine Orbs” and you are playing the trade league, it’s advised to hold on to them as they are generally the currency used to buy items on the trade web site. For an in-depth guide on how to craft gear and trade please check here.

Check the Vendors in town often. Every time you level they will refresh their stock and may have possible upgrades for your gear or hold valuable items you can sell.

Always pick up items that have Sockets or items that have Quality on them. Disenchanting items with Sockets will give you crafting materials that will allow you to add your Sockets(Runes) to your gear and likewise, when we disenchant Quality(superior) gear you will receive crafting materials to add quality to your gear.

Do not skip the side quests during the campaign as they can provide you with good upgrades, skill or support gems, and passive points. Never be afraid to over-level in an area, but do keep in mind if you are too high or too low you will get an XP penalty, which is also referred to as Monster Level. It’s advised to stay around +/- 4 levels of your current character’s level. You can check the area level in the campaign on your area map or by pressing the “U” key.

Path of Exile 2 can feel very punishing at times. When you die, the area will reset and monsters will spawn fresh; see this as an opportunity to find more gear, become stronger, and gather more experience.

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Ascendancy

At the end of Act II, you can select your first Ascendancy. It’s not difficult, so we recommend doing it somewhere within the level range of 20 – 30. At this point in the Early Access, you’ll have an option between “Invoker” and “Acolyte of Chayula”. This choice is permanent and for this leveling guide, we recommend going for the Invoker Ascendancy, but Ice Strike can also be played when working towards the Acolyte of Chayula Ascendancy.

If you struggle to ascend on either your first or second ascendancy, complete more of the campaign and return once you have leveled more or acquired better gear. At this point in the Early Access, this choice is permanent and should be made with your endgame build in mind! However, it is worth noting that you can choose to respec the nodes within that specific ascendancy if you want to alter it later. If you need information about ascending, you can see PatrickHatTrick’s helpful guide here.

Invoker

We are starting with “I am the Thunder” to have more damage in the Campaign and we switch later to “and Protect me from Harm” for more Physical Damage to start the end game. After “I am the Thunder” we want to work towards “Lead me through Grace” for the additional spirit that allows us to run an extra Aura. After that, we are picking up “Sunder my Enemies” as by that point we should have built up a decent amount of Crit.

1. Shock Effect
2. I am the Thunder
3. Evasion and Energy Shield
4. Lead me through Grace
5. Evasion (respec Shock Effect)
6. And Protect me from Harm (respec I am the Thunder)
7. Critical Chance
8. Sunder my Enemies

After the second Trial, we respec out “I am the Thunder” and take “and Protect me from Harm”.

Optional: If you continue playing this leveling guide longer in the Campaign and want to do your fourth Ascendancy we recommend the following.

1. Energy Shield Recharge
2. Faith is a choice (Good for bosses, doesn’t work with Grim Feast)

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Gear Progression, Stat Priority and Atrributes

This section will cover upgrading our weapon and armour throughout the campaign. What items to look for while you are leveling and the best attributes that fit the play style of the Shatter Monk.

For our Attributes, you can follow the Passive trees we recommend for every Act, but keep in mind these are a guideline. If you need more Strength, pick up Strength, if you need more Intelligence, pickup more intelligence. Attributes are not set in stone so pick what benefits you the most.

There are 2 main aspects we need to keep in mind while gearing and that is offensive and defensive.

Offensive Scaling

• The damage of Ice Strike is scaled by % Damage, Flat Damage, Critical Strike, and Attack Speed
• Skill levels in Melee Skills increase your Damage. but it also scales your mana cost
• #% increased damage, #% increased cold damage significantly increases damage
• Attack speed.
• Increased Critical Chance and Critical Damage

Defensive Scaling

• Make sure you always have enough #% Fire, Cold, Lightning, and Chaos resistance to cap at 75%
• +# to Maximum Life
• +# Evasion so we can evade incoming damage
• +# Energy Shield as we will transition into Chaos Inoculation for an end game version.

Please keep in mind that having a high Melee skill level will also increase our mana cost. Early on we can solve this by taking “Conservative Casting” in the passive tree as explained in the Video which complements this guide.

The below items are an indication of what to look for while we conquer the Campaign.

Slot	Affixes	Notes
2h Quarterstaff	1. +% Increased Physical Damage 2. Adds # to # Physical Damage 3. #% Attack Speed 4. #% Critical Hit Chance 5. #% Critical Hit damage 6. #% Elemental Damage	Runes: 2 x Iron Rune for increased Physical Damage.
Off Hand	As we use a 2 handed Quarterstaff we don’t equip an offhand
Helm	+#Maximum Life +#% Cold, Fire, Lightning, and Chaos Resistance % Increased Evasion and Energy Shield +# to Maximum Energy Shield or Evasion Rating
Body Armour	+% Increased Evasion and Energy Shield +#% Cold, Fire, Lightning, and Chaos Resistance	We can ignore Life rolls to get more Evasion/Energy Shield as this is important for our Ascendancy “Lead me through Grace” to accumulate more Spirit.
Gloves	+#Maximum Life +#% Cold, Fire, Lightning, and Chaos Resistance % Increased Evasion and Energy Shield +# to Maximum Energy Shield or Evasion Rating	Gloves that have % increased Atack Speed and/or Increased Critical Bonus Damage are very good, but not a must.
Boots	+#% to Movement Speed +#Maximum Life +#% Cold, Fire, Lightning, and Chaos Resistance +% Increased Evasion and Energy Shield +# to Maximum Energy Shield or Evasion Rating
Rings	+#Maximum Life +#% Cold, Fire, Lightning, and Chaos Resistance +# Atributes +# Elelemtal/Physical Damage	Rings are a good place to add Attributes or mana you are missing.
Amulet	+#Maximum Life +#% Cold, Fire, Lightning, and Chaos Resistance +# Atributes	If you are lacking Mana Regeneration you can look for an Azure Amulet.
Belt	+#Maximum Life +#% Cold, Fire, Lightning, and Chaos Resistance +# Charm Slots

Flasks and Charms

For our Charm we recommend Thawing Charm as it prevents us from becoming Frozen.

Life Flask: Increased Amount Recovered and % Increased Charges Gained.
Mana Flask: Increased Amount Recovered and % Reduced Charges Use.

Ancient Vows Quest Rewards

You will get a quest called The Ancient Vows and you need to find two relics. The Kabala Clan Relic can be found in Keth, while the Sun Clan Relic can be found in The Bone Pits. Once we place the relics we get the option to pick between “30% increased Charm Charges gained” or “15% increased Mana Recovery from Flasks”. As we are upgrading our skills, the mana cost will increase so go for the “15% increased Mana Recovery from Flasks”. You can always swap between them if you feel Mana is no issue.

Venom Draughts Quest Rewards

In Act 3 there’s venom draught quest rewards of choice. We recommend you pick the following out of the 3 options.

In the end game guide, you will transition to Chaos Inoculation or CI. With that in mind, our choice of draughts is the following:

Act 3 Normal Difficult

• Grants 30% Increased Elemental Ailment Threshold

Act 3 Cruel Difficulty

• Grants 15% Reduced Slowing Potency of Debuffs on You

Jewels

Jewels might not be a priority while leveling, but here are some affixes to look for. Any combination of the following can work for the build.

Gain 1 Rage on Melee Hit (only one)

% Increased Attack Speed

Increased Melee Damage

Increased Elemental Damage

% Increased Maximum Energy Shield

% Crit Chance & % Crit Damage

Leveling Uniques

The following Uniques are not needed to make the build work, but if you already own these Uniques or got lucky with enough currency, they will speed up your leveling a lot.

Polcirkeln Sapphire Ring will greatly enhance our clear speed.

Hand of Wisdom and Action Furtive Wraps complement the build we are playing a lot and will greatly increase your Attack Speed.

Pillar of the Caged God Long Quarterstaff can be used from early levels and it will carry you through the campaign.

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Act I

Here we will outline what skills you will be using, and what Gems you want to cut in what priority order. Below are the recommended Skill Gems and Support Gems for Act1.

Skill Gem (In Order of Priority)	Support Gem 1	Support Gem 2	Optional
Quarterstaff Strike	Martial Tempo	Rage	–
Falling Thunder (Remove after getting Ice Strike)	–	–	–
Killing Palm (Remove after getting Ice Strike)	–	–	–
Glacial Cascade	–	–	–
Frozen Locus	Ice Bite	–	–
Tempest Bell	Close Combat	Glaciation	–
Herald of Ice	Magnified Effect	–	–
Ice Strike (At Level 14 move the support gems over from Quarterstaff)	Martial Tempo	Rage	–

At the early levels, our damage comes from our Quarterstaff Strike, using Killing Palm to close the gap to enemies and dropping Frozen Locus. The enemies will become frozen and our Quarterstaff Strike will shatter them.

At Level 14 we are getting Ice Strike. You can then remove Falling Thunder and Killing Palm as from this point on Ice Strike is your basic attack. You don’t do anything else. We remove the support skill Martial Tempo from our basic Quarterstaff Strike and place it on Ice Strike. We also add Rage.

From Level 14 onwards these are the skills we will be using till Act 2.

• Ice Strike
• Glacial Cascade (Just for some ranged hits)
• Frozen Locus
• Tempest Bell
• Herald of Ice

The rotation we use is fairly simple at this point: Ice Strike -> Frozen Locus -> Tempest Bell

Note: If you get more Skill Gems that you do not need for new skills, make sure you upgrade your main skills!

For help with bosses in Act 1, visit our bossing walkthrough here.

The below passive tree is our starting point, as I discussed in the above Video the Monk starting area is crazy good, so we grab those early points as they are outstanding value!

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Act II

Here we will outline what skills you will be using, and what Gems you want to cut in what priority order. Below are the recommended Skill Gems and Support Gems for Act2.

Skill Gem (In Order of Priority)	Support Gem 1	Support Gem 2	Optional
Ice Strike	Martial Tempo	Rage	Concentrated Effect
Tempest Bell	Close Combat	Glaciation	Heavy Swing
Herald of Ice	Cold Infusion	Magnified Effect	–
Frozen Locus	Ice Bite	–	–
Freezing Mark (For Bosses)	–	–	–

Having only the five skills above in Act 2 is more than enough. Every enemy we face will be frozen and shattered. The above combo is super powerful with the addition of Herald of Ice. In Act 2 we mainly focus on upgrading our skills. You can leave Glacial Cascade in if you prefer to have ranged skill.

You will gain access to the Trial of the Sekhemas after defeating Balbala in the Traitors Passage and collecting the Djinn Barya. We recommend you ascend as soon as you are able, to get access to “I am the Thunder” for a bit more damage while leveling.

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Act III

Here we will outline what skills you will be using, and what Gems you want to cut in what priority order. Below are the recommended Skill Gems and Support Gems for Act3.

Skill Gem (In Order of Priority)	Support Gem 1	Support Gem 2	Optional
Ice Strike	Martial Tempo	Rage	Concentrated Effect
Tempest Bell	Close Combat	Glaciation	Heavy Swing
Herald of Thunder	Lightning Infusion	Longshot	–
Frozen Locus (remove when we have Herald of Thunder)	Ice Bite	–	–
Herald of Ice	Cold Infusion	Magnified Effect	–
Freezing Mark (For Bosses)	–	–	–
Shattering Palm	Blind	–	–

At Level 36 we can take Herald of Thunder, which needs another 30 Spirit. By that level you should have killed the boss “Ignagduk, The Bog Witch in The Azak Bog” and as a reward, you will be granted a permanent 30 Spirit. We then remove Frozen Locus and swap some supports around so please look at the table above.

In Act 3 you will get access to your Second Trial. After finishing the Second Trial, we respec out “I am the Thunder” and take “and Protect me from Harm” as explained in the Ascendancy section.

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Acts I – III Cruel

Here we will outline what skills you will be using, and what Gems you want to cut in what priority order. Below are the recommended Skill Gems and Support Gems for Act1 to Act3 Cruel difficulty.

By the time you are in Cruel difficulty, you will have access to Level 3 Support Gems.

Note: We are changing a lot of support skills when going through Cruel difficulty!

Skill Gem (In Order of Priority)	Support Gem 1	Support Gem 2	Support Gem 3	Optional 1	Optional 2
Ice Strike	Martial Tempo	Primal Armament	Concentrated Effect	–	–
Tempest Bell	Close Combat	Glaciation	Heavy Swing	Overabundance	–
Herald of Thunder	Lightning Infusion	Longshot	–	–	–
Herald of Ice	Cold Infusion	Magnified Effect	–	–	–
Freezing Mark (For Bosses)	–	–	–	–	–
Shattering Palm	Blind	Execute	Momentum	–	–
Wind Dancer	Maim	–	–	–	–
Combat Frenzy	Profusion	–	–	–	–
Charged Staff	Perpetual Charge	Persistence	Conduction	–	–

If you are struggling with Mana cost consider swapping out Primal Armament for Inspiration on Ice Strike.

Remember, After you’ve taken “Lead me Through Grace” From your Ascendancy, you’re going to scale Maximum Spirit Via Body Armor ES/Evasion.

You need the extra spirit to fit in all the Auras. For this, You want to make sure you’re using an Evasion/ES Body Armor.

Combat Frenzy is going to generate Frenzy Charges on Freezing Targets, We take “Resonance” on the passive tree to convert these to Power Charges and we use Charged Staff to consume the Power Charges granting us bonus damage and a bit of extra range.

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Skill Rotation

We can initiate packs by using our Shattering Palm and this will debuff enemies making them explode, we follow up with Ice Strike.
On tougher encounters, we’ll drop Tempest Bell and try to position it so we can hit the monster & the bell at the same time. For bosses, we also want to apply Freezing Mark.
Make sure to consume your Power Charges by using Charged Staff. The bonus Lightning Damage helps a ton and this allows you to “Double Hit” the bell.

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Progressing into Endgame

This guide is mostly meant to get you to early maps, but also works fine for going deeper into the end game.

Due to the upcoming 0.2 Patch, we will post the end game guide at a later date.

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Changelog

March 28th, 2025: Guide created for Path of Exile II, Early Access