Falling Thunder Invoker
Welcome to the Falling Thunder Invoker Endgame guide. This build combines a multitude of Quarterstaff skills. You have easy Power Charge generation from Combat Frenzy and the Resonance Keystone. With enough Power Charge generation you can maintain full uptime on Charged Staff and spend any excess on Falling Thunder for massive area damage.
So if you want to go lightning fast, ring your bell, and play with a double ended light saber, this build is for you.
This in an Endgame build that deals Cold and Lightning Damage in order to freeze enemies. Freezing and Electrocuting enemies automates Power Charge generation via Combat Frenzy.
You do not need specific resistances on any item, just get the required total resistances amongst all gear combined. You need to cap your Resistances at 75% unless otherwise specified in the guide!
Path of Exile 2 is currently in early access, this means rapid development including frequent changes to builds as there are balance fixes and we learn more. Pin this page to be notified of any updates.
This guide assumes you are at least level 68 and have completed Act 3 Cruel, to learn more about the leveling process check out our leveling guide (coming soon).
Skills
- Charged Staff adds a large flat Lightning Damage buff. It also causes your attacks to produce a shockwave, this drastically improves the quality of life for your Tempest Flurry. Maintain this buff at all times.
- Tempest Flurry attacks rapidly to take advantage of this build's mechanics.
- It is linked with Electrocute to begin generating Power Charges.
- Charged Staff fires a shockwave dealing Attack Damage on every Attack.
- Tempest Bell deals a large amount of area damage every time it is hit.
- Falling Thunder can be considered your "spender" ability, to use your over abundance of Power Charges. It deals massive damage in a huge area of effect, whilst primarily strong for open layouts, Ricochet gives it consistency in more linear waystones.
- Tempest Bell should mainly be used against high Health targets. It can also be used when being swarmed by enemies to deal large AoE damage.
- Herald of Thunder linked with Cold Infusion, Ice Bite and Glaciation is your main source of Freezing enemies as having a high uptime on Ice Bite significantly helps with your chance to Freeze.
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Skill Rotation
Start of Map
Single Target
Passives
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Ascendancy
Learn how to complete the Trial of the Sekhemas and Trial of Chaos to earn your first 2 Ascensions with our Ascension Guide!
- Lead me through Grace… causes you to gain Spirit per Energy Shield and Evasion on your Body Armour. This should be one of the first gear pieces you craft or purchase to reach enough Spirit to use all of your Passive Skills.
- …and Protect me from Harm is crucial for defence, allowing you to gain additional Physical Damage Reduction based on your Evasion Rating.
- Sunder my Enemies… is a huge Skill Point save once you have enough Critical Strike Chance, as it allows you to remove all Lightning Penetration Nodes.
- I am the Blizzard… adds additional Cold Damage and makes it easier to Freeze mobs.
Gearing
This is how to build your Tempest Flurry Invoker
Offensive Scaling
- Cold Damage is essential to be able to Freeze enemies, this can be obtained through multiple sources;
- # to # Cold Damage on your Quarterstaff is good early on but is out performed by +% Increased Elemental Damage with Attacks later.
- Damage added as Extra Cold Damage from Essence of the Mountain.
- # to # Cold Damage added to Attacks on your Rings and Gloves.
- Melee Skill Levels massively increase your damage but substantially increase your Mana Costs.
- Critical Strike Chance increases your damage greatly due to Critical Strike Damage Bonus and Sunder my Enemies…
Defensive Scaling
- Your suffix modifiers on your gear are very important as they have to fill a lot of mandatory rolls for the build to perform well.
- Cap your Fire, Cold, Lightning and Chaos Resistance.
- +# to Dex or Int to reach attribute requirements.
- +#% Physical Attack Damage leeched as mana.
- …and Protect me from Harm is a very powerful defensive tool for Invoker Monks. It sets your Physical Damage Reduction to that which it would be if you had as much Armour as you have Evasion Rating.
- Subterfuge Mask allows you to get a sizeable amount of Energy Shield from your helmet without negatively impacting your overall Evasion Rating.
- Your Body Armour is also important due to Lead me through Grace…. To reach the minimum spirit requirements of 180 for this build you need a hybrid Evasion/Energy Shield Body Armour that gives at least 600 Evasion Rating and 240 Energy Shield. If you only have 180, remove Cannibalism and Clarity.
- Energy Shield is huge for mitigating damage from 1 shots. Evasion can only help you against Strikes and Projectiles, for everything else you're relying on your pool of Health and Energy Shield.
- Grim Feast allows you to overcap you Energy Shield in maps to up to 2x the value making you much more durable to ground effects and slams that are otherwise unable to be evaded.
- If you are still struggling check out our Survival Guide for additional useful information!
There are 2 solid options for your Falling Thunder Weapon,
Option 1 (Best in slot);
- Expert Crescent Quarterstaff or Expert Gothic Quarterstaff
- +% Physical Damage
- Adds Physical Damage
- +% Elemental Damage with Attacks
- + to Critical Strike Chance
- +% to Critical Strike Damage Bonus (This is a multiplier to your Critical Strike Damage not additive)
- Attack Speed
- 2x Iron Rune
Option 2 (Close in overall DPS);
- Expert Crescent Quarterstaff, Expert Crackling Quarterstaff or Expert Gothic Quarterstaff
- Adds Fire/Lightning/Cold Damage
- Adds Fire/Lightning/Cold Damage
- +% Elemental Damage with Attacks
- + to Critical Strike Chance
- +% to Critical Strike Damage Bonus (This is a multiplier to your Critical Strike Damage not additive)
- Attack Speed
Use a pure Energy Shield helmet to get the most value from Subterfuge Mask.
- 250+ Maximum Energy Shield
- Critical Hit Chance
- Resistances
- Increased Rarity of Items Found
Atziri's Disdain with a Power Charge corruption is the best in slot for this build as it grants a massive amount of Energy Shield. However, it does cause a percentage of damage taken to bypass Energy Shield. Make sure you're using Cannibalism or allocate Life from Death to sustain any damage dealt to life.
The best in slot amulet is Serpent's Egg. It grants many more Power Charges and makes the build feel much more comfortable.
Despite making the build feel worse, if you want to run additional defensive modifiers or Increased Item Rarity. Use a Rare Amulet with the following modifiers;
- +% Maximum Energy Shield
- +% Evasion Rating
- Increased Rarity of Items Found
- All Attributes
- Resistances
- Critical Hit Chance
- Catalyse with 20x Carapace Catalyst.
The best 2 Passive Skill to anoint are;
- Stormcharged for more damage.
- Doomsayer for larger Herald area of effect, improving your screen wide clear.
Rings are an amazing slot in Path of Exile 2 due to Ingenuity and Breach Rings..
This build uses one Unset Ring to gain an additional Skill Slot. The other Ring can be any Base Type with a Breach Ring being the best to be used with Ingenuity in the future. They can also benefit greatly from Catalysts as "to All Elemental Resistances" has a Fire, Cold and Lightning tag.
Ring 1 - Try to get matching Resistance and Damage types to gain more from Catalysts.
- + to Maximum Life
- Fire/Lightning/Cold Damage added to Attacks
- +% to All Elemental Resistances
- Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance
- Increased Rarity of Items Found
Ring 2 - Get a different Elemental type from Ring 1 and again try to get matching damage and resistance types.
- + to Maximum Life
- Fire/Lightning/Cold Damage added to Attacks
- +% to All Elemental Resistances
- Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance
- Increased Rarity of Items Found
The Body Armour for this build is very important due to Lead me through Grace….
To reach the required spirit cost for all Skill Gems, excluding Cannibalism and Clarity, you need a body armour with at least 600 Evasion Rating and 240 Energy Shield.
Blink is a very nice addition as you don't have the greatest movement speed. This requires an additional 60 Spirit bringing the needed spirit up to 210 to socket this skill.
For the remainder of your gear look for;
- Resistance (ideally this should be whichever individual Resistance you didn't get on your Rings)
- Dexterity / Intelligence
- Chaos Resistance
- Maximum Life
Gloves offer many offensive modifiers for an Armour slot. Look for a hybrid Evasion and Energy Shield base with the following stats;
- Fire/Cold/Lightning Damage added to Attacks
- Attack Speed
- + to Melee Skill Levels
- + to Maximum Life
- Increased Rarity of Items Found
The best in slot late game are the Hand of Wisdom and Action from Xesht.
For your Boots, prioritize Movement Speed, as more often than not you'll be backtracking through piles of enemies to pick up all your loot.
- +% Movement Speed
- + to Maximum Life
- +% Chaos Resistance
- +% Elemental Resistance (ideally this should be whichever individual Resistance you didn't get on your Rings)
Jewels are very powerful in Path of Exile 2 early access. For this build there are 2 very good modifiers;
- Get 1 Ruby with "Rage gained on Melee Hit" and "Area of Effect"
- Get 1 Sapphire with "2% Mana gained on Kill", "Critical Hit Chance" and "Area of Effect". This allows you to remove the Siphon Passive Skill.
- Look for Emeralds with the following mods in order of importance.
- Critical Hit Chance
- Damage against Rare and Unique enemies
- Attack Speed with Quarterstaves
- Attack Speed
- Critical Strike Damage Bonus
- Damage with Quarterstaves
- Projectile skills have a chance to chain when colliding with Terrain
The best in slot belt for this build is Ingenuity but it is very expensive. Until you can afford a well rolled one, use a Rare Belt with the following modifiers;
- + Charm Slots
- Thawing Charm
- Stone Charm
- Silver Charm
- Elemental Resistance
- Chaos Resistance
- + to Maximum Life
The best in slot belt is Ingenuity as it grants a ton of Elemental Resistance and a large amount of additional flat damage from your Rings. If you have good rings, then look for one of these with a roll of at least 50%.
Atlas Passives
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Learn about the endgame activities available to you in Path of Exile 2 with our guide!
FAQ
Find answers to commonly asked questions and dive deeper into the Tempest Flurry Invoker Build's mechanics.
Reaching 50% Crit is the goal for mapping. Ambush causes your Falling Thunder to always crit since it typically off screens all the enemies. This can be difficult to achieve without great gear, so select a Notable with Critical Hit Chance.
- Stormcharged
- Vulgar Methods
- Overwhelming Strike
- Tainted Strike
A Physical Damage staff is much more damage in the Endgame. Early, the highest DPS staff you can find more than suffices.
This build does a good job of destroying screens of enemies in seconds, as well as one shotting Rare Monsters, but it's very easy to get overwhelmed in higher level maps. These are the things you can do to increase defense;
- Cap your Elemental and Chaos Resistance.
- Increase your Life pool.
- Use the highest Tier Evasion/Energy Shield Armour Bases. A higher Evasion Rating value also grants additional Physical Damage Reduction due to …and Protect me from Harm.
These are the best sources of Cold Damage;
- Flat Damage Rolls on Rings or Gloves
- Essence of the Mountain
- Cold Infusion
- Ice Bite
- Cold Damage on Quarterstaff
Remember that all your sources of "Extra Damage as Cold Damage" is scaled by all of your total damage. So simply having higher DPS from Jewels and Levels can make a big difference.
Mana sustain can be made very easy with a few different choices within the build;
- A "Physical Attack Damage leeched as Mana" affix on your Gloves or Ring
- Inspiration support as your 6 link with Tempest Flurry
- Siphon
The simple answer is, no. Serpent's Egg reduces the interval between casting full Power Charge Falling Thunders.
With Serpent's Egg you typically gain 3 Power Charges every 1.7 seconds. This is due to Profusion and Combat Frenzy quality. One with the Storm then makes a 6 Power Charge cast count as a 7. So on average you can attack with a fully charged Falling Thunder every 3.4 seconds.
Without Falling Thunder, it takes 5.1 seconds for a fully charged attack. Which is still completely manageable outside of the highest level of mapping content.
- Relic: 15% increased Mana Recovery from Flasks
- Venom Drought: Stun Threshold
- Cruel Relic: 15% increased Life Recovery from Flasks
- Cruel Venom Drought: +10% Chaos Resistance
Video
For basic explanations of the build and choices, check out Milkybk_'s update video.
IMPORTANT: Refer to the written guide in case of any inconsistencies due to the things changing since the time of recording.
Summary
- Tempest Flurry is a fast-hitting Melee skill that triggers shockwaves from Charged Staff to deal massive lightning damage to surrounding enemies.
- Additional Power Charges are spent on Falling Thunder for massive area damage.
- Place Tempest Bell whenever available on bosses for a massive damage boost.
- Evasion and Energy Shield allow you to utilize Ghost Dance as well as granting you Spirit from your Body Armour to enable all of your Passive Skills.
Changelog
- January 6, 2025
Added endgame gear to the Gear section. Added disclaimer about inconsistency with some out of date choices in linked video.
- December 14, 2024
Updated for Path 0.1.0d - Added Storm Wave Skills/Links as an earlier game alternative
- December 12, 2024
Added respec variants
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