The Harmony Engine

Five blows to build the rhythm. One perfect cast to spend it.

Harmony Engine is a keystone of the passive tree (Keystones). Any vocation can take it; it is the monk's native way of fighting, and every monk should look at it first.

Building harmony. Every melee swing, or spell cast, that hits at least one enemy adds 1 harmony, once per swing or cast and not per target. The maximum is 5. After six seconds without a hit you lose 1 harmony every four seconds. Dying or leaving the area clears it.

The Harmony Spender. Choose one active spell in the spells window and mark it as your Harmony Spender. Only spells with a base cooldown of 12 seconds or less qualify. You may change the mark freely in a hub, never in combat or in a map.

The monk's Virtue of Harmony, Virtue of Justice, Virtue of Sustain and Flurry of Blows always count as spenders, and you may mark one more.

The price. Your other spells cost 20% more mana. The spender is exempt at every stage.

With the Signature Spell keystone the spender may also be your signature spell (Keystones), but the 15% penalty to your other spells still applies. You can hold only two keystones at once.

The ascendancy. Way of Equilibrium (the monk's second path) raises harmony gain to 2 per hit and removes the extra mana cost (Ascendancies).

Tip. A spender with a short cooldown and a big effect is best: five quick hits, then a free critical cast, again and again (Glyphs, Spell types: active, passive, triggered).

Related: Vocations, The passive tree.