Path of Exile 2: 6 Best Ascendancies to try for Hollow Palm build

Even though The Third Edict does not introduce any new Ascendancies to Path of Exile 2, Hollow Palm Technique might as well be one of its own. This Keystone Passive is obtainable towards the upper-right quardrant of the Passive Skill Tree, and you can theoretically run it on any class or spec you want. However, not all of them would be a good fit for it.

In this guide, we'll list out what we find to be the best ones to try if you want to go all-in on a Hollow Palm build. These are not ranked in any specific order, and purely based on what the Ascendancy Trees themselves offer to this build.

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Best Ascendancies for Hollow Palm builds in Path of Exile 2

Location of Hollow Palm Keystone (Image via GGG)

Before we proceed with figuring out what the best Ascendancies for Hollow Palm are, lets rule out the bad ones that won't really work.

Right out of the gate, this is the Warrior and Mercenary Ascendancies (although you can make Witchhunter somewhat viable). Hollow Palm Technique is too far away from where these classes path on the Skill Tree, and while there are less travel nodes than before, it's still a lot of wasted space. Furthermore, you need Evasion and/or Spirit to make it work, and the Warrior specifically doesn't do that.

So, with that out of the way, here are our picks for Ascendancies that should work well for a Hollow Palm build in Path of Exile 2:

• Both Monk Ascendancies
• Gemling
• Deadeye
• Ritualist
• Blood Mage

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1) Invoker / Chonk

Invoker (Image via GGG)

The most obvious class dangling ahead of Hollow Palm enjoyers is the Monk. Although it's questionable whether you should make the transition early on (you can potentially do it by lvl 15), both Monk Ascendancies provide great synergy with Hollow Palm builds in different ways.

Invoker mainly gets treated as a Spirit stick so you can focus your gearing on getting Evasion and ES up, but Meditate is now stronger than ever as a core tool to regen ES. Meanwhile, the additional Energy gain from Soul Springs Eternal is good for leveraging Cast on Crit setup with Hollow Palm.

The Acolyte of Chaluya, meanwhile, will need to work out its ES regen, since Consuming Questions lost its ES leech. However, on the offside, it still offers a great base for a Volatility unarmed build (if you can get past the delayed-activation problem).

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2) Gemling

Gemling (Image via GGG)

Gemling is another somewhat stable option if you don't want to do a straight Monk Hollow Palm build in Path of Exile 2. You'll need to do some color-matching candy crush with the new Advanced Thaumaturgy and Gem Studded, and overall Gemling is a bit duller compared to how good it was in 0.2.

However, its endgame scaling is still solid with the +2 free Gem Level and extra Skill Quality. This is specifically good with an unarmed Ice Strike build, thanks to some more free Attack Speed from Quality.

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3) Deadeye

Deadeye (Image via GGG)

Those following the 0.3 meta won't really be surprised that Deadeye is on this list. With Tailwind and Wind Ward, Deadeye is actually pretty good of a vessel for a Hollow Palm build in PoE2. As for your latter Ascendancy points for endgame scaling, Deadeye got you covered with the auto-marking tech from Called Shots, plus the Critical Weakness on Bullseye (which was so strong that GGG nerfed it twice pre-patch).

Plus, Deadeye is quite close to the Hollow Palm Technique node with the Skills they usually take, so it won't be all too expensive if you transition to it from a traditional Lightning Arrow setup midgame.

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4) Ritualist

Riutalist (Image via GGG)

Before we get to this, a disclaimer for new players: do not start with a Ritualist Holllow Palm build for a League-starter in Path of Exile 2. With this Ascendancy, you get the additional clearing tool through Blood Boil, and then pure quantitative scaling through stronger Rings and an additional Ring slot. However, for this to really pay dividends, you would have to be deep into the new League, and it would be an overall expensive setup.

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5) Blood Mage

Blood Mage (Image via GGG)

Of all the possible bases listed here, Blood Mage is probably the most maverick Ascendancy for a Hollow Palm build in Path of Exile 2. Specifically, you would have to look at some sort of Bleeding Support to go alongside your Hollow Palm Skill, or potentially a new Lineage support that synergizes with the Aggravated Bleeding.

If that doesn't pan out, Blood Mage's Critical Damage through Gore Spikes is still good after the nerf (so much so it's potentially better than Amazon). On top of that, you're a much better Ascendancy right off the Trial of Sekhemas, because you get Sanguimancy for free now. With this unusual unarmed Blood Mage, your best shot is trying Flicker Strike or Tempest Flurry, since you'll be more geared towards ES.

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An honorable mention would have to be Amazon. She's still good after the Accuracy calculation nerfs, because Stalking Panther is potentially still great to get more juice out of Hollow Palm's Evasion/ES-based scaling in Path of Exile 2.

Check out our other guides on the game:

• Path of Exile 2 tier list
• 5 biggest changes in patch 0.3, The Third Edict
• 5 Deadeye builds to try in Path of Exile 2 The Third Edict (0.3)
• PoE2: Deflection mechanic guide