The Martial Artist arrives in Path of Exile 2's 0.5 Return of the Ancients expansion as one of the Monk's three ascendancy options, alongside the Invoker and Acolyte of Chayula. Built around a distinct set of Hollow Form techniques, Runic body augmentation, and a unique glove transformation mechanic, this ascendancy offers a melee-focused playstyle with layers of resource management and customization that reward aggressive positioning and smart gearing choices.
PoE 2 0.5 Martial Artist Ascendancy Skills & Build Guide
The Martial Artist ascends from the Monk class after completing an Ascension Trial and focuses on three primary pillars: Hollow Form combat techniques that grant powerful attack states, Way of the Mountain and Way of the Stonefist passives that modify how you interact with enemies and gear, and Runic Meridians that open additional Rune sockets across your equipment. These mechanics were showcased during the Return of the Ancients Livestream on May 7, 2026, and the full ascendancy tree on PoE2DB currently shows 8 small passive nodes with several notable nodes still marked as [DNT-UNUSED], indicating more details may arrive closer to or after launch.
With that foundation in mind, let's look at the confirmed skills, a recommended leveling path, and an endgame build framework for the Martial Artist.
Martial Artist Skills
The six confirmed ascendancy nodes provide a mix of granted active skills, passive combat bonuses, and gear transformation effects. Here's what each one does:
Hollow Form Technique
This node grants the Hollow Form skill. While specific mechanics of Hollow Form haven't been fully detailed beyond the livestream, it functions as a combat stance or state that modifies your attacks. It is advantageous to slot in attacks that have AoE damage to cover the majority of the map while moving through enemy packs.
Way of the Mountain
You gain a 200% surpassive chance per enemy Power to receive Mountain's Teachings when you immobilize an enemy, stacking up to a maximum of 30. You lose a Mountain's Teaching when you are hit, or when you use or sustain an attack that benefits from Mountain's Teachings. This creates a rhythm of building stacks through crowd control and spending them on empowered strikes.
Hollow Focus Technique
This grants the Hollow Focus skill. Since it is possible to proc the Hollow Focus bells using attacks from Hollow Form, investing in both nodes will increase your effectiveness in combat while mapping—the two techniques feed into each other.
Hollow Resonance Technique
This grants the Hollow Resonance skill, adding a third layer to the Hollow Form system. The exact interaction with the other two Hollow techniques hasn't been fully documented yet, but it appears to serve as an additional combat modifier within the same framework.
Runic Meridians
This node allows you to tattoo Runes onto your body, gaining additional Rune-only sockets: 1 Helmet socket, 2 Body Armour sockets, 1 Gloves socket, and 1 Boots socket—totaling 5 extra Rune slots. This is a strong way to fill stat gaps or stack specific bonuses that Runes provide.
Way of the Stonefist
Gloves you equip have their Base Type transformed into Fists of Stone while equipped. Their Prefixes and Suffixes are converted into more powerful related modifiers. This means the better your gloves are before transformation, the stronger the resulting Fists of Stone will be.
Martial Artist League Starter Build for Leveling
Moving into practical application, here's how to approach the Martial Artist during the campaign and early mapping as a league starter.
Starting Class: Monk
You begin as a Monk and complete your first Ascension Trial to choose the Martial Artist path. During the early acts before ascending, focus on the Monk's base melee and quarterstaff skills to clear efficiently.
First Ascendancy Priority: Hollow Form Technique
Hollow Form should be your first pick. It provides an immediate power spike by granting a new active skill that changes how your attacks function. Pair it with AoE melee attacks to maximize pack clearing speed during the story.
Second Priority: Way of the Mountain
Mountain's Teachings stacks reward you for immobilizing enemies—something that naturally happens during leveling with stuns, freezes, or specific crowd control skills. The stacks provide a damage buffer that depletes as you use empowered attacks or take hits, so positioning matters even early on.
Leveling Tips
Prioritize AoE attack gems that work well inside Hollow Form's modified state.
Don't worry about Runic Meridians during the campaign—Rune availability is limited early, and the other nodes provide more immediate power.
Way of the Stonefist is worth picking up once you find a pair of gloves with strong affixes, as the transformation amplifies existing modifiers.
Keep an eye on your Mountain's Teachings stacks during boss fights. Since you lose stacks when hit, learning boss patterns early will let you maintain higher stacks for burst windows.
Skill Gem Setup (Leveling)
Use the Monk's available AoE melee attacks linked with damage supports. Movement skills are important for repositioning between packs and avoiding damage to preserve Mountain's Teachings stacks. As you gain access to Hollow Form, it becomes your primary combat mode—build around it rather than treating it as a situational buff.
Martial Artist Build for Endgame
Once you've completed the campaign and begin running Waystones, the Martial Artist scales through full node allocation, Runic Meridians stacking, and the Fists of Stone glove system.
Full Ascendancy Allocation
At endgame, you'll have access to all six confirmed nodes. The recommended order of allocation after your leveling picks:
Hollow Focus Technique – Adds the bell-proc mechanic that synergizes with Hollow Form attacks. Running both together multiplies your mapping clear speed.
Hollow Resonance Technique – Completes the three-part Hollow system for maximum combat output.
Runic Meridians – With 5 additional Rune sockets available at endgame, you can slot in resistance Runes, damage Runes, or attribute Runes depending on what your build needs most.
Way of the Stonefist – This becomes a major power source once you acquire high-tier gloves with strong Prefixes and Suffixes. The transformation into Fists of Stone amplifies those modifiers.
Gear Focus
Gloves are your highest-priority gear slot. Since Way of the Stonefist transforms glove modifiers into more powerful versions, investing currency into crafting or purchasing the best gloves you can find will directly amplify your build's output. Look for gloves with high-tier flat damage, attack speed, and any relevant elemental or physical modifiers.
Runes across all slots should be planned around your build's weakest points. The 5 extra sockets from Runic Meridians give you room to shore up resistances, attributes, or add offensive stats without needing to change other gear pieces.
Weapon choice depends on which Monk base skills you're using alongside the Hollow Form system. Quarterstaves and unarmed builds both appear viable given the Fists of Stone mechanic.
Playstyle at Endgame
Enter Hollow Form as your default combat state. Attack packs with AoE skills to trigger Hollow Focus bells and build Mountain's Teachings stacks by immobilizing enemies. Spend those stacks on heavy single-target hits against rare monsters and bosses. Way of the Stonefist keeps your unarmed damage competitive with weapon-based builds, and Runic Meridians provide the flexibility to adapt your stat profile to whatever content you're running.
Boss Strategy
Mountain's Teachings stacks are harder to maintain during boss encounters because you lose them on hit. Focus on dodging patterns to keep your stack count high, then spend stacks during safe damage windows. The Hollow Form and Hollow Focus synergy should give you consistent damage output even between burst phases.
The Martial Artist in PoE 2 0.5 introduces a layered combat system built around Hollow Form techniques, stacking Mountain's Teachings through crowd control, and a gear transformation mechanic that rewards investment into gloves above all else. While several nodes on PoE2DB remain tagged [DNT-UNUSED]—suggesting additional passives or adjustments may come before or shortly after launch—the six confirmed nodes already outline a clear playstyle: aggressive melee mapping with resource management and smart gearing. As more details surface following the Return of the Ancients release, expect this guide to expand with specific gem links, passive tree paths, and gear benchmarks.
