If you’re starting a new Monk in , leveling can feel a little confusing because you unlock new abilities and talent rows at specific levels. Spending your points in the wrong places can also become expensive later, especially if you need to respec.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through the Monk from Level 1 all the way to Level 60, including where to put your talent points, which abilities to use, and which companions work best during each stage of progression. The idea is to give you a simple path that you can follow without constantly changing your build.
This is also a work-in-progress progression guide. The game is still receiving updates, so some skills, numbers, or interactions may change over time. If you find a better setup for a particular level range, it’s worth testing it and adjusting the build as you progress.
Deskrawl Idle ARPG Monk Leveling Guide – Level 1 to 60
Before getting into the level-by-level progression, there are a few important things I recommend keeping in mind.
Avoid Respeccing Your Talents
The biggest rule is simple: don’t waste gold on unnecessary talent resets.
Respeccing becomes increasingly expensive as you level. For example, resetting your talents can cost more than 2,600 gold around level 25.
The progression below is designed so that your talent points continue building toward the final level 60 setup. If you follow it, you shouldn’t need to spend gold on respecs.
Active Skills Are Free to Change
Your active abilities are much easier to experiment with.
Changing the skills on your combat action bar costs nothing, so don’t be afraid to change them depending on the area you’re fighting in.
For example, if you’re dealing with poison pools, heavy crowd control, or large groups of enemies, you can change your abilities to better handle that particular environment.
Monk Ability Unlocks
The Monk’s abilities unlock at fixed levels.
Basic Attacks
- Level 1: Threefold Strike
- Level 15: Furious Fist
- Level 30: Seismic Strike
- Level 45: Chi Bolt
Strong Attacks
- Level 5: Sacred Judgment
- Level 20: Piercing Lunge
- Level 35: Whirlwind Staff
- Level 50: Golden Palms
Special Attacks
- Level 10: Sacred Orbs
- Level 15: Spirit Stream
- Level 25: Charge
- Level 30: Spirit Twin
- Level 40: Wind Steps
- Level 45: Divine Thunder
With these unlocks in mind, we can build the leveling path around each major milestone.
Levels 1–14: Early Plains and Catacombs
During the first part of the game, you’ll mainly be fighting basic physical enemies such as zombies, skeletons, and the raptor miniboss.
At this point, you don’t need an overly complicated setup. Your main goal is to build Dodge Chance and Attack Speed while working toward your first capstone.
Talent Points
From levels 1 to 5:
Dodge Chance — 5/8
This gives you your first investment into Dodge and unlocks the next talent row.
From levels 6 to 9:
Attack Speed — 4/6
Attack Speed helps you attack more quickly and makes the early game feel much smoother.
At level 10:
Dodge Chance — +1, reaching 6/8
This gives you the 10 cumulative points required for the first capstone.
At level 11:
Mirror Steps — 1/1
Mirror Steps adds flat Physical Damage after you successfully dodge an attack.
Then from levels 12 to 13:
Dodge Chance — +2, reaching 8/8
Finally, at level 14:
Attack Speed — +1, reaching 5/6
Recommended Abilities
Use:
- Basic: Threefold Strike
- Strong: Sacred Judgment
- Special 1: Sacred Orbs
Sacred Judgment becomes available at level 5, while Sacred Orbs unlocks at level 10.
Companion
For your companion, you can use:
Grey Forest Wolf for Attack Speed
or
Orc Fighter for additional flat Strength.
Both are useful during this early stage.
Levels 15–19: Unlock the Infinite Mana Engine
Level 15 is a major milestone for the Monk.
You unlock Furious Fist and Spirit Stream, while also finishing your Attack Speed investment.
Talent Points
At level 15:
Attack Speed — +1, reaching 6/6
This maxes the Attack Speed node and brings you to the 15-point milestone.
From levels 16 to 19:
Zephyr’s Flow — 4/5
Zephyr’s Flow is one of the most important parts of the eventual Monk build because your Dodge Chance can now generate mana.
Recommended Abilities
Use:
- Basic: Furious Fist
- Strong: Sacred Judgment
- Special 1: Sacred Orbs
- Special 2: Spirit Stream
Furious Fist is a major improvement over Threefold Strike, while Spirit Stream gives you an additional way to sustain yourself.
Companion
Use either:
- Grey Forest Wolf
- Boar
The Wolf remains useful for faster attacks, while Boar becomes increasingly valuable as your survivability needs increase.
Levels 20–24: Surviving the Toxic Swamp
This is one of the first sections where you need to pay attention to the environment.
You’ll encounter Poison Swamp and Muddy Coast, where green poison pools can continuously damage you.
An important thing to remember is that Dodge Chance does not prevent environmental poison ticks.
So even though you’re building a Dodge-focused Monk, you still need enough health and sustain to survive the poison damage.
Level 20 Ability Unlock
At level 20, you unlock:
Piercing Lunge
This gives you a strong attack that can hit enemies from a little farther away.
Talent Points
At level 20:
Zephyr’s Flow — +1, reaching 5/5
You now have the full Zephyr’s Flow effect and your main mana sustain is online.
From levels 21 to 24:
Fundamentals — 4/10
Fundamentals directly improves your Basic Attack damage, which works particularly well with Furious Fist.
Recommended Abilities
Use:
- Basic: Furious Fist
- Strong: Piercing Lunge
- Special 1: Spirit Stream
- Special 2: Sacred Orbs
Spirit Stream is particularly useful here because of the environmental damage.
Companion
Use:
Boar
The Boar’s Vitality passive increases your Max Health, helping you survive the poison-heavy areas.
The additional health also makes your healing more effective because you have a larger health pool to work with.
Levels 25–29: Unlocking Charge
At level 25, you unlock Charge.
This is particularly useful against enemies such as poison spitters because you can rush toward them and stun enemies in an area.
Talent Points
Continue putting points into:
Fundamentals
Add five more points from levels 25 to 29, bringing it to 9/10.
This gives Furious Fist a substantial amount of additional Basic Attack scaling.
Recommended Abilities
Use:
- Basic: Furious Fist
- Strong: Piercing Lunge
- Special 1: Spirit Stream
- Special 2: Charge
Charge gives you an additional crowd-control option while Spirit Stream continues providing sustain.
Companion
Use:
- Boar
- Grey Forest Wolf
Choose Boar if you’re struggling to survive and Wolf if you want faster offensive progression.
Levels 30–34: Spirit Twin
Level 30 is another major Monk milestone.
You unlock Seismic Strike and Spirit Twin, while also reaching the second major talent capstone.
Talent Points
At level 30:
Fundamentals — +1, reaching 10/10
This maxes Fundamentals and brings your total investment to 30 points.
At level 31:
Gathered Force — 1/1
This is your second capstone.
After that, from levels 32 to 34:
Vigor — 3/8
Vigor increases your Physical Critical Strike Chance and prepares your build for the later stages.
Recommended Abilities
Keep:
- Basic: Furious Fist
- Strong: Piercing Lunge
- Special 1: Spirit Stream or Charge
- Special 2: Spirit Twin
Spirit Twin is extremely useful because it duplicates your attacks.
Once you have a fast-attacking setup, having a spirit copy those attacks can significantly increase your damage output.
Companion
Use:
- Grey Forest Wolf
- Skeleton Archer
Skeleton Archer provides additional Critical Strike Chance and becomes more useful as your offensive stats start scaling.
Levels 35–39: Whirlwind Staff
At level 35, you unlock Whirlwind Staff.
This is a great improvement for clearing groups because it sends out wandering tornadoes that can hit multiple enemies.
Talent Points
From levels 35 to 39:
Vigor — +5, reaching 8/8
This completes your Vigor investment and gives you the full Physical Critical Strike Chance bonus.
Recommended Abilities
Use:
- Basic: Furious Fist
- Strong: Whirlwind Staff
- Special 1: Charge or Spirit Stream
- Special 2: Spirit Twin
Whirlwind Staff is particularly useful when you’re fighting groups instead of single targets.
Companion
Use:
- Boar for additional survival
- Orc Fighter for more offensive stats
Levels 40–44: Wind Steps and Dodge
At level 40, you unlock Wind Steps, which is one of the most important abilities for the eventual Critical Dodge Monk build.
Talent Points
At level 40:
Heavy Hands — 1/5
This gives you the point needed to reach the next talent milestone.
From levels 41 to 44:
Enhance Spirit Twin: Duration — 4/6
The longer Spirit Twin stays active, the more value you get from having a second source of attacks.
Recommended Abilities
Use:
- Basic: Furious Fist
- Strong: Whirlwind Staff
- Special 1: Wind Steps
- Special 2: Spirit Twin
Wind Steps gives you a large temporary Dodge Chance increase.
Since Dodge becomes an important defensive and offensive stat later, this ability fits naturally into the build.
Companion
Use:
- Skeleton Archer
- Orc Fighter
Skeleton Archer is useful for offensive scaling, while Orc Fighter provides a more straightforward damage-focused option.
Levels 45–49: Chi Bolt and Critical Scaling
At level 45, two new abilities become available:
Chi Bolt
and
Divine Thunder
Chi Bolt can be useful when you need a ranged attack, while Divine Thunder provides a large area effect and Daze.
Talent Points
At levels 45 and 46:
Enhance Spirit Twin: Duration — +2, reaching 6/6
This completely maxes the Spirit Twin Duration upgrade.
From levels 47 to 49:
Heavy Hands — +3, reaching 4/5
Heavy Hands increases Critical Strike Damage for your Strong Attacks.
Recommended Abilities
Your main setup can remain:
- Basic: Furious Fist
- Strong: Whirlwind Staff
- Special 1: Wind Steps
- Special 2: Spirit Twin
You can also experiment with Chi Bolt if you need ranged sustain.
For larger rooms, Divine Thunder can be useful if you want additional area crowd control.
Companion
Use:
- Skeleton Archer
- Boar
Skeleton Archer works well for offensive scaling, while Boar gives you additional survivability.
Levels 50–59: Golden Palms and Hundred Hands
Level 50 is the final major ability milestone before level 60.
You unlock:
Golden Palms
This becomes your main Strong Attack for the final version of the build.
Talent Points
At level 50:
Heavy Hands — +1, reaching 5/5
This completely maxes Heavy Hands and unlocks the next row.
From levels 51 to 58:
Enhance Golden Palms: Damage & Mana Cost — 8/8
This increases Golden Palms damage while reducing its mana cost.
At level 59:
Exploit Weakness — 1/10
This gives you additional Critical Strike scaling and prepares you for the final capstone.
Recommended Abilities
Use:
- Basic: Furious Fist
- Strong: Golden Palms
- Special 1: Wind Steps
- Special 2: Spirit Twin
This is essentially the setup you’ll carry into the endgame.
Hundred Hands Rune Set
Once you’re at this stage, start assembling the six-piece Hundred Hands rune set.
The full set is a major part of the endgame Monk build because it improves Basic Attack damage, enhances Furious Fist, and works with Golden Palms.
Companion
Use:
- Skeleton Archer
- Orc Fighter
Both are good options while you’re finishing your journey to level 60.
Level 60: Formless and Paragon
At level 60, you finally unlock the third capstone:
Formless — 1/1
Formless is the key to the endgame Critical Dodge Monk.
It converts your total Dodge Chance into additional Critical Strike Damage.
So if you have around 70–80% Dodge Chance, that defensive stat also becomes a major source of offensive scaling.
First Paragon Priorities
Once Paragon becomes available, start with:
Life on Hit
and
Dodge Chance
Life on Hit becomes extremely powerful when your attack speed is high because you’re hitting enemies constantly.
Dodge Chance remains one of your most valuable defensive stats because Formless converts it into Critical Strike Damage.
Best Companion
For the endgame, use:
Lord of the Cinder
Its Ashen Wrath provides a large Critical Strike Damage boost, which works very well with the Formless setup.
Skeleton Archer is another option if you want additional Critical Strike Chance.
Monk Ability Progression
Here’s a quick overview of the recommended progression.
| Level | Basic Attack | Strong Attack | Special 1 | Special 2 | Companion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–14 | Threefold Strike | Sacred Judgment | Sacred Orbs | — | Grey Forest Wolf / Orc Fighter |
| 15–19 | Furious Fist | Sacred Judgment | Sacred Orbs | Spirit Stream | Grey Forest Wolf / Boar |
| 20–24 | Furious Fist | Piercing Lunge | Spirit Stream | Sacred Orbs | Boar |
| 25–29 | Furious Fist | Piercing Lunge | Spirit Stream | Charge | Boar / Grey Forest Wolf |
| 30–34 | Furious Fist | Piercing Lunge | Spirit Stream / Charge | Spirit Twin | Grey Forest Wolf / Skeleton Archer |
| 35–39 | Furious Fist | Whirlwind Staff | Charge / Spirit Stream | Spirit Twin | Boar / Orc Fighter |
| 40–44 | Furious Fist | Whirlwind Staff | Wind Steps | Spirit Twin | Skeleton Archer / Orc Fighter |
| 45–49 | Furious Fist / Chi Bolt | Whirlwind Staff | Wind Steps | Spirit Twin | Skeleton Archer / Boar |
| 50–59 | Furious Fist | Golden Palms | Wind Steps | Spirit Twin | Skeleton Archer / Orc Fighter |
| 60 | Furious Fist | Golden Palms | Wind Steps | Spirit Twin | Lord of the Cinder / Skeleton Archer |
Final Level 1–60 Talent Path
If you want to follow the progression without thinking about each individual level, the important path is:
Dodge Chance → Attack Speed → Mirror Steps → Zephyr’s Flow → Fundamentals → Gathered Force → Vigor → Heavy Hands → Spirit Twin Duration → Golden Palms upgrades → Exploit Weakness → Formless
The important thing is to avoid randomly spending points just because a different talent looks useful at the moment. The whole path is designed to eventually transition into the Critical Dodge Monk setup.
Tips for Leveling the Monk
Don’t Respec Just Because You Unlock a New Skill
Your active skills can be changed freely, so use that system instead of resetting your talents.
If you unlock a new ability that works better in a particular zone, simply put it on your action bar and test it.
Watch Out for Environmental Damage
Dodge is extremely strong against normal attacks, but it doesn’t solve everything.
The Poison Swamp is a good example. Ground-based poison damage can continue ticking even if your Dodge Chance is very high.
That’s why the Boar and Spirit Stream are useful during that section.
Keep Spirit Twin Active
Once Spirit Twin becomes available, it should become an important part of your setup.
The longer duration upgrades later in the talent tree make it even more valuable.
Start Building Your Rune Set Early
Don’t wait until level 60 before thinking about the Hundred Hands set.
If you find pieces while leveling, keep them and work toward completing the full six-piece set.
Use Different Companions for Different Problems
You don’t have to use the same companion throughout the entire game.
Use the Grey Forest Wolf when you want more Attack Speed, the Boar when you need additional survivability, and the Skeleton Archer when you’re ready to focus more heavily on Critical Strike scaling.
Level 60 Endgame Transition
Once you reach level 60, the leveling build naturally transitions into the Hundred Hands / Critical Dodge Monk setup.
Your final priorities become:
- High Dodge Chance
- Critical Strike Chance
- Critical Strike Damage
- Attack Speed
- Physical Damage
- Life on Hit
- Six-piece Hundred Hands
- Formless
- Wind Steps
- Spirit Twin
- Golden Palms
- Lord of the Cinder
The important thing is that you don’t need to completely rebuild your character when you hit 60. The leveling path is designed to gradually lead you toward this endgame setup.
The Monk’s leveling process is mostly about building the right foundation early and then gradually adding the mechanics that make the class powerful later.
Start with Dodge Chance and Attack Speed, unlock Mirror Steps, then work toward Zephyr’s Flow for your mana sustain. After that, build your Basic Attack damage with Fundamentals and start adding Critical Strike scaling through Vigor and Heavy Hands.
Once you reach level 40 and unlock Wind Steps, the Dodge-focused identity of the Monk becomes much more noticeable. By level 50, Golden Palms and the Hundred Hands rune set bring the build much closer to its final form.
Finally, at level 60, Formless ties everything together by converting your Dodge Chance into Critical Strike Damage. From there, you can move into Paragon and start optimizing the Monk for Inferno and endgame farming.
As the game continues to receive updates, keep an eye on talent values, ability behavior, and zone difficulty. If a patch changes the numbers or introduces a more efficient leveling route, this progression can be adjusted without changing the overall goal of the build.