Among the many creative build ideas in Path of Exile 2, the Void Reflect Monk centered around Void Illusion stands out as one of the most unorthodox and thematic concepts you can try. Rather than relying on traditional melee or cast-on-hit strategies, this build exploits a POE 2 Currency unique mechanic from the Acolyte of Chayula ascendancy, creating explosive mirror images that detonate for massive damage while dodging through enemies like a phantom warrior.

Core Mechanic: Void Illusion

At the heart of this build is the Void Illusion skill, granted by the Illusory Void node in the Chayula Monk ascendancy. Unlike typical attack or spell skills, Void Illusion works by creating a short-lived copy of yourself whenever you dodge roll. These illusions have a tiny amount of life and, when destroyed by enemies, explode in a large area, dealing a percentage of your attack damage. This explosion can be scaled with gear, passives, and support gems, turning a simple dodge into a devastating explosion.

This mechanic makes the build feel like a chaos-infused reflection of the Monk, where every roll leaves behind a volatile echo that punishes nearby foes. It’s as much defensive as it is offensive, rewarding mobility and positioning while delivering bursting chaos damage.

Playstyle & Combat Loop

The Void Reflect Monk is fast and tactical. You dodge roll constantly, leaving behind illusory copies. Enemies will naturally target these decoys, causing them to explode and deal damage. Scaling this damage relies on boosting your weapon’s base damage, flat damage modifiers, attack damage increases, and elemental/chaos multipliers — a typical focus in many PoE 2 builds but applied here in an unusual context.

To augment this explosion damage, many players also include Trail of Caltrops as a supplementary skill. Caltrops shreds enemy armor and applies stacks of poison, which in turn enhances the damage of Void Illusion explosions when paired with supports like Arakali’s Lust, Exploit Weakness, and Rigwald’s Ferocity.

Defensive Synergy

Unlike many Monk builds that rely on heavy defenses, this setup leans on avoidance. Using abilities like Ab Aeterno enables near 100 % hit avoidance while rolling, meaning you effectively negate incoming damage by never being hit. Tools like Greatwolf’s Rune of Willpower can further help manage damage taken to mana before life, which is particularly useful since this build rarely spends mana on attacks.

Gear & Scaling Tips

Key gear considerations include:

Strong high-damage weapon (e.g., Marohi Erqi) to boost explosion damage.

Helmet with +skills, such as The Vertex, to increase Void Illusion levels and reduce cooldown.

Jewels that increase attack damage, poison chance/duration, and flat damage.

Since Void Illusion’s damage scales off your attack damage and various multipliers, this build’s output can feel surprisingly high when optimized, though it often requires more investment than mainstream builds to be competitive.

Final Thoughts

The Void Reflect Monk is one of Path of Exile 2’s most unique and experimental builds. It’s not a guaranteed meta contender, but it’s highly rewarding for players who enjoy unconventional mechanics, mobility-based combat, and splashy explosion effects. Whether you treat it as a fun league starter or a cheap Path of Exile 2 Orbs curiosity to be refined over time, it brings a flavor to the Monk class that few other builds can match.