PoE 2 0.3 Best Unarmed Hollow Palm Builds (Ascendancy, Skills, Gear)

With a completely new keystone that brings a new archetype to the game, Hollow Palm builds are the talk of Path of Exile 2's 0.3 update, with many players excited to experiment with unarmed gameplay for the first time. With new mechanics that shift how you scale offense and defense, Hollow Palm builds have created a vibrant discussion around ascendancy choices, skill selection, and gearing approaches. This Hollow Palm build guide draws from leading community discussions to provide a detailed look at how to assemble a powerful unarmed Hollow Palm character, including advice on ascendancy selection, skill choices, leveling, and gear.

Hollow Palm Technique and Unarmed Attacks in PoE 2 0.3 League

The Hollow Palm technique is a fresh take on unarmed gameplay in PoE 2. By enabling you to attack as though using quarterstaff skills while leaving both hand slots empty, Hollow Palm opens up new build possibilities. Unarmed attacks that would use your quarterstaff's damage instead gain physical damage based on their skill level. The technique's bonuses include 1% more attack speed per 25 item evasion rating on equipped armor and 0.1% to base crit chance per 10 energy shield from armor.

This means stacking evasion and energy shield on gear directly increases both your speed and crit chance. The opportunity is especially strong in the current meta, as weapon crit bonuses and crit damage mods have been lowered, making unarmed builds far more competitive.

Flat physical damage from Hollow Palm scales with the level of your skill gems, so boosting skill gem levels through PoE 2 items like gloves and amulets is highly effective. For example, increasing the gem level on Shattering Palm can yield a damage increase of 10% or more per level. However, it’s important to note that while Hollow Palm offers solid flat damage, a high-rolled quarterstaff with several flat damage mods might still beat it in pure numbers at certain points. As a result, some players switch dynamically between Hollow Palm and a strong quarterstaff during leveling, depending on which currently gives better damage.

Best Skills for Unarmed Hollow Palm Build Setup

Choosing the right skills is key to maximizing your Hollow Palm build. The mechanic allows you to use quarterstaff skills unarmed, so you have access to a wide range of melee and elemental abilities.

Recommended Skills:

• Shattering Palm: Always strikes unarmed and offers strong clear potential. The added cold damage in the gem itself makes it a reliable choice from the start.

• Ice Strike: Converts physical to cold, offers fast hits and the ability to freeze opponents. It stacks well with Hollow Palm’s scaling.

• Storm Wave: Converts physical to lightning and brings solid clear. At higher attack speeds, Storm Wave might be outperformed by other options like Tempest Flurry.

• Tempest Flurry: Converts 60% of physical to lightning and is excellent for “dash” playstyles. It’s ideal for fast-paced clearing and benefits greatly from attack speed stacking.

• Flicker Strike: Can be used unarmed, mostly for bossing. However, Flicker Strike scales best from weapon levels, so unarmed Flicker is generally less effective unless you have very high investment.

For general mapping, Tempest Flurry is a popular pick due to how attack speed translates directly into movement speed. When it comes to bosses, Flicker Strike can be devastating if you have the right setup, but most players prefer Tempest Flurry or Shattering Palm for more consistent performance.

Best Ascendancy for Unarmed Hollow Palm Builds

Ascendancy choice shapes your build’s strengths and flavor. Here are the top options and how they fit Hollow Palm:

• Deadeye (S Tier)

Deadeye has become much stronger, primarily due to Tailwind and new mark automation with Eagle Eyes and Cold Shots. Tailwind grants substantial attack and movement speed, while automated marks boost offense further. Deadeye is great for fast, high-damage clearing and works especially well with skills like Ice Strike and Tempest Flurry.

• Invoker (S Tier)

Invoker (sometimes called Walker) is a stable defensive pick. It provides spirit from Lead Me Through Grace, easy resistance reduction with Thunder My Enemies, and strong energy shield sustain with Meditate. Invoker’s defenses are among the best, making it a safe choice for league starters and players looking for a balanced build.

• Acolyte of Chayula (S Tier)

Acolyte of Chayula offers high volatility stacking and chaos resistance, but relies on timed detonations for damage. While you won’t take self-damage due to new passives, the four-second detonation delay and need for consistent volatility generation can slow mapping. Chayula is solid for chaos-based scaling and leech but doesn't bring many other bonuses.

• Gemling Legionnaire (A Tier)

Gemling offers improved stat stacking, quality bonuses, and +2 skill levels from the ascendancy, which is huge for Hollow Palm scaling. Gemling outpaces other ascendancies in the endgame, especially when min-maxing for maximum damage. The downside is lower defenses compared to other classes. Gemling is the go-to for those who want the highest possible endgame damage.

• Ritualist (A Tier)

Ritualist shines in the endgame when you can leverage strong rings and amulets for flat damage. It also offers bonuses from corrupted life force and improved clear with Blood Boil. Ritualist is a good option for Flicker Strike or physical-focused builds, especially once you have access to powerful gear.

• Blood Mage (A Tier)

Blood Mage is more niche but has potential with bleed-focused builds. Although it was nerfed (now 1% bonus per 50 life), it remains viable and could even outperform some other ascendancies like Amazon in certain setups.

• Amazon (B Tier)

Amazon synergizes well with unarmed builds when stacking evasion, thanks to bonuses like Stalking Panther. However, Amazon has recently been nerfed, particularly with reduced crit bonuses, and lacks weapon-based penetration and accuracy benefits. It’s a solid early pick if you enjoy the playstyle, but other ascendancies may outperform it in the endgame.

Best Gear For Unarmed Hollow Palm Builds

Gearing is a major part of Hollow Palm’s success:

• Evasion and Energy Shield - Stack evasion for attack speed and energy shield for base crit chance. Hitting 500 energy shield on your gear matches the base crit of quarterstaves, but it requires high-level gear and investment.

• Flat Damage - Seek flat damage on rings and gloves. These rolls directly increase your unarmed damage.

• Melee Skill Levels - Get melee skill levels on gloves and amulet, as this pushes your skill’s damage further.

• Rare Gloves vs. Thunder Fist - Rare gloves offering +2 melee skill levels and triple flat damage are unmatched for damage. While Thunder Fist gloves are exciting, they’re unlikely to compete with well-rolled rares.

• Mana Leech - With high attack speed and boosted gem levels, mana costs rise quickly. Plan to secure mana leech from passive nodes, support gems, or gear.

• Dynamic Weapon Swapping - If you find a quarterstaff with outstanding damage rolls, it may outperform Hollow Palm temporarily during leveling. Don’t hesitate to swap to and from Hollow Palm as your gear changes.

More Tips for Setting Up Unarmed Hollow Palm Builds for Leveling & Endgame

• Don’t League Start Hollow Palm: Hollow Palm is weak early on, before you can ramp up crit chance and attack speed. Most players level with bows, spears, or staves, and only switch to Hollow Palm in the late campaign or early maps, once gear benchmarks are met.

• Mana Leech is a Must: The high attack speed and gem levels make mana costs substantial. Plan ahead to include mana leech, either from support gems, passive nodes, or gear.

• Gear Priorities: Flat damage on rings and gloves is always valuable. Melee skill levels on gloves and amulet increase your flat damage significantly, so prioritize these mods.

• Skill Gem Levels: Hollow Palm's damage scales with gem level, so use items that boost your primary skill's level as much as possible.

• Evasion and Energy Shield: Stack evasion for attack speed and energy shield for base crit chance. Reaching 500 energy shield on gear matches the base crit of quarterstaves, but this is challenging before high levels and good gear.

• Plan for Flexibility: Since we still don’t know exact damage values for Hollow Palm scaling, be ready to swap between Hollow Palm and weapon builds during leveling, depending on your drops and how damage feels.

• Speed is King: For skills with built-in dash (like Tempest Flurry), attack speed directly translates to movement speed, so push attack speed as high as possible for the best clear.

Hollow Palm builds in PoE 2 0.3 offer a new twist on unarmed play, letting you scale speed and damage with evasion, energy shield, and skill gem levels. Hollow Palm truly shines once you reach the gear and passive tree thresholds that unlock its full power.