Off Meta Build for Acolyte of Chayula Monk - Whirling Assault with Aftershock Procs + Cast on Crit with Eye of Winter Procs + Huge Chaos Scaling with Double Ming's Hearts

Hello

Returning PoE1 player here. I’ve been excited about the Acolyte of Chayula (aka “Chonk”) Ascendancy since the beginning of PoE2's EA, especially due to the prospects of double leech mechanics and crazy chaos-scaling potential. However, many of my original theorycrafted ideas didn’t pan out, especially once I realized how difficult it is to find a skill that scales well with physical damage (and therefore allowing mana leech). Judging by the fact that only around 1% of players chose this ascendancy, I’m guessing I’m not the only one who felt underwhelmed.

After plenty of experimentation, though, I finally landed on a build that works for me. Here’s the link to the full setup:
[Mobalytics Build] Acolyte | Whirling Assault + CoC + Chaos Scaling + Aftershock Procs

Short showcase on a level 82 map (Boss + Breach):
Acolyte of Chayula Whirling Assault/Flicker Strike YouTube Showcase

While it might not be the most powerful build mathematically, I’ve had a blast playing it and had no trouble with end-game content so far.

Short Summary of the build's mechanics:

• Whirling Assault is our main Attack Skill, we try to proc Heavy Stuns on it, which then trigger Aftershocks + Fully Broken Armour (+ possibly Armour Explosion). High Phys dmg skill, so we constantly get to leech off every attack
• By maintaining a high crit rate and utilizing the high hit rate we have on Whirling Assault + aftershocks, we are able to proc many Eye of Winter casts from Cast on Critical
  • Eye of Winter projectiles will then proc max Critical Weakness and Wither (-chaos resist) stacks onto mobs
• Drop Tempest Bell onto high HP units
  • High number of hits from Whirling assault + high number of projectiles from Eye of Winter triggers = a hell lot of hits onto Tempest bell, triggering even more hits and even more crits
  • This causes a cascading effect until all Tempest Bell hits are depleted - you get the idea.
• Chaos Scaling is achieved with Dual Ming's heart (90+% Damage as extra chaos Damage), Passive Tree Nodes such as Spaghettification, Event Horizon and Wither Away and picking up ascendancy nodes such as Reality Rending, Waking Dream or Lucid Dreaming
• For anything that doesn't get blown up immediately, drop Mantra (40%+ Damage as extra chaos) -> Flicker Strike on them

If you’re like me, struggling to find a viable “Chonk” build that isn’t either a poison gas arrow type or an expensive attribute stacker, give this a try and let me know what you think.

Good luck, and I’m happy to answer any questions. Please also let me know if you have feedback/recommendations on how this build can be improved! Clear speed is something I currently grapple with.