A pressure build is a build which continually deals damage or employs energy denial to tax enemy monks and eventually overcome their ability to heal. It could be considered the opposite end of the spectrum from spike builds. Common elements in pressure builds are warriors and rangers (for a consistent damage output), many sources of degeneration, or a large number of various hexes.
Even though their main focus is the opposite of spiking, pressure builds often have the ability to deal some spike damage. Once the enemy monks are near their breaking point, a moderate spike can easily kill.