Monk

[30ftSmurf]

A thread to discuss the popular US TV show starring Tony Shalhoub.

Hoping to see some serious variation in viable builds, let's see how different folks are playing. I am currently in a2 nightmare running the following build (I'm currently sticking to the blizzard simple mode skill types but have no issue running 2 of one type):

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#WZgdTh!Yde!ZZaZba

General vibe is a bruising slow/stun setup with closers & an oh shit button or two. Single target focus, but a decent set of cc abilities to allow me to stay in packs. I'm finding this really solid vs single boss mobs and 'steady' vs packs, though I imagine there's some serious damage one can dish out with an AE setup (If someone is running one, I'd love to hear about it). Similarly, I'm playing solo, if anyone is running a party-oriented setup I'd be keen to find out more.

Crippling wave - makes satisfying noises, been toying with the spirit regen (rising tide) since hitting 36, but mostly running concussion, the mitigation seems strong (but given I'm too chicken to change up and try other things who knows).

Lashing Tail Kick - 'Oh shit' button 1. Occasionally I use this as a spirit dump when corner trapping mobs. Mostly I use it to reset the battlefield, set it up the way I want it, or clear a path to some annoying giggling dude who is summoning crap from halfway across the screen. Given I am using it in this fashion, I've runed it with increased KB & slow.

Serenity - Early on I was using this to just sit in mobs and destroy everything. INVINCIBLLOLOLOLOL style. Now as stuff has got more 'refined' I am more selective. Good guaranteed spirit generation every 20 seconds, good ability 'dodge' for boss mobs and packs (I enjoy saying 'fu freeze' by hitting this just before the balls explode). Running with heal because I'm also a giant wuss.

Dashing strike - Mostly a closer on ranged annoyances, also occasionally an escape. Have been running this with the stun (works well in my wizard duo to peel mobs from him), but also ran it with the speed boost for a while as that allows me to chase mobs that really don't like being closed. I've actually found during long fights (most of the events) using this as a spirit dump keeps a really abusive stunlock, as a result I've got a couple of 'do x before y happens' achievements.

Seven Sided Strike - Dude, it just looks cool. Recently moved to the stun, but have been running this with teleport for the gap closing 'fu damage' that every comedy-drama detective needs in life. The stun gives me a lot of extra security during those hairy hero packs, too.

Mantra of Evasion - Armor and dodge, not really looked beyond it yet.

Transcendence/Guardians Path/Pacifism - Enjoying transcendence for keeping me in fights. Guardian's Path for more bruising, pacifism because I got screwed hard late in act4 with stuns & it's nice not to die when you're helpless.

Open to critique/suggestions, though mostly I think it's best to just discuss what you're enjoying and how you're playing it. I'm interested in speed-focussed spirit dumping builds, AE builds, heavy protection builds etc. What you got?

 

[Ginga]

I am running this build atm:

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#UZgiTQ!YXe!YYbZYb

I am running with a Barbarian so as 2 melee I can keep myself and him fairly well shielded and healed.
I don't use seven sided strike for aoe dmg but more of a defense escape and/or quick dmg on 1 mob.
I like the stun on Lashing Tail Kick to stop those casters and the extra spirit regen on the primary attack is good for spamming Mantra of Healing.
Serenity is great for those 'oh shit I am blocked in and the arcane lasers of doom are gonna nuke me' moments.

The negative side of this build is it's hard to close on the range mobs, but not struggling too much atm and we're nearing the end of Hell difficulty act III.

 

[30ftSmurf]

Made a couple of changes as I finished nightmare:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#aZgdTh!Yde!aYacba

Inspired by running into a meteor caster boss pack with extra health, jailer, who were giving me a bit of the runaround.

The stun on lashing tail kick was a great tip ginga, I picked that up & have found it super useful in groups for just keeping everything stuck to me. Additionally, as you point out, it's a really great interrupt.

I've also switched to fists of thunder with thunderclap. I'm finding teleport really useful for closing and shutting down the most irritating packs and the speed of spirit regen here is allowing me to sustain high amounts of CC and also get back into fights if I've found myself on the back foot (I'm also running a bit of spirit regen on weapons for this reason too).

 

[Ginga]

I have reached Inferno difficulty now and I have not found a decent spec to deal with elite packs. Prepare to be extremely frustrated on the monk at higher difficulties.

 

[30ftSmurf]

Due to other commitments I'm unlikely to reach inferno for a week or two. That said, I'm still really enjoying hell. I'm starting to find the need to really set up smart fights & pay significantly more attention to ability cooldowns (both mine and the elite packs) as well as my spirit in order to dodge abilities, split packs, offtank, burst individual targets etc. Additionally itemisation issues are starting to creep in: Damage/hp/resist tradeoffs are becoming much more delicate.

I can imagine that with inferno's increase in difficulty and gear requirements I may hit a wall in terms of progression for a fair amount of time. I'll use that time to practice my elite fighting skills.

 

[Gottaa]

Inferno should be pretty difficult though shouldn't it ? I'd hope at the highest difficulty I would have a much harder time of it.

Bring back the TV program though !

 

[Ginga]

Well have act I on farm in inferno, some elite packs are problematic but generally I can deal with them. The Butcher was only hard because of the enrage timer as I didn't have a decent weapon, scoured the AH to get a 600dps one at a reasonable price.
Running with a shield atm just to take the hits and using this spec now;

http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#aQYgTd!YVZ!YbYYbZ

I use a hit and run technique for dealing with elites. Dash in, serenity after that seven sided strike, get out, kite and wait for CDs. Not so much for act I, but act II is a step up where even the white trash can kill you in 2 secs.
Mainly farming act I now for better gear and gold.

I was not moaning at the level of difficulty in my earlier post but it is a steep learning curve after Hell and you really have to be on the ball to get anywhere, loving it!

 

[30ftSmurf]

So cool to see blinding flash with searing light in there, I've been using that more extensively on my US server monk to get a feel for the utility. I'm also starting to consider Beacon of Ytar too (makes sense with the hit & run technique, which I'm also employing, though at a significantly earlier stage!)

Had a fun pull in hell earlier today where I pulled a mortar knockback illusionist yellow and a 4 pack elite of vortex desecrate fast in a tight spot with two poison based mobs on top. I split and kited all over the shop & spent so long ducking in & out with burst that the final 2 elites hit their hard enrage (also caused by me stopping to chat with folks about how hilarious it was rather than doing any killing!). I can only begin to imagine the fun and frustrations that such stuff will involve in inferno

 

[Cullhaven]

Only got my monk to act 3 normal but finding it EZmode at the moment. Belial was so dificult with Wizard, died 6 or 8 times and had to go co-op in the end. Monk at Belial - I could have gone to sleep it was so easy. Usin the basic punch with teleport option to close, then blind em and seven sided punch when mobs whittled down a bit. Keep the knockback kick on RB and have the healing Aura on. Also have the thorns aura on, but only realy coz I have to have something on that button. I'm guessing its going to get a lot harder but so far its like playing a Skellymancer in D II - you can doze off for a moment while playing one and nowt much of any consequence happens to you.

 

[Ginga]

Useful Monk video for inferno tactics here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PEyk63UaBI4

 

[Emmon]

heh

 

[Ginga]

The thing is, that video pretty much sums up monks in inferno.
The class is great fun right up to inferno then you realise that you're gonna have to stack a gazillion resillence just to run into melee range of mobs, blow all your defensive skills and do 4 secs of dps while serenity is up, run out and kite for another 20 secs waiting on CDs.

I leveled with a Barbarian who quickly realised that once in inferno melee was not going to be fun, so he rerolled a DH and is now farming act 3 in inferno while I am still stuck in act 2. He only has to stack 3 stats, dex, %AS and some vitality and can kite and kill stuff pretty much with no problems.

Now I realise that you have to spend the time (or gold on AH) to get the gear, and I would be happy with that if it didn't only apply to monks and barbarians.

Each act is a gear check, the mobs aren't any more difficult to take down, they just hit harder. The gear you need to be competant in each act drops in the act above the one you are in, poor design. Well it's not poor design on the part of Blizzard 'cause it means you have to get gear from the AH, and once the RMAH is up they have a money earner cause no good gear will be selling for in game gold.

The rng of loot drops is most infuriating, you can work your butt off to take down an elite pack and see a rare drop and on identifying it, it is a lvl 51 bow with str/int on it.
I don't think I've ever played such a frustrating game, and for me I don't know how much life this game has.

 

[30ftSmurf]

I recently finished off hell & started inferno. Act1 is going ok so far, I'm not yet having to resort to the tactic in the video Ginga linked above, though I've been through phases of that in hell when my gear started to lag behind, so I'm sure I have that frustration to come

Current build:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#aZgdYh!YZX!aZaZZa

Some notes:

- I'm still running two fist weapons. I can forsee needing to move to a shield eventually for the extra armor and resistance I can get off it, but I want to try to hold out as long as possible.

- Most elite packs I've encountered so far (very early act1, so not many irritating mob types) have been fine to deal with. I can manipulate plague/molten/mortar style effects without much difficulty & can actually sit and tank stuff down fast enough thanks to my stats & serenity/mantra of evasion. I have around 5k defence and 300 resistance as well as around 700 life on hit with over 2 attacks per second, so I get fed life back fine so far.

- I am starting to see dps as an issue. I have what I gather is pretty low dps at around 5k. I was struggling to kill goblins in a4 hell & have not taken one down in a1 inferno yet. Similarly I've had a couple of elite combos enrage on me which dps would have helped to fix, though these were mostly bad tactics on my part (a nightmare, extra hp, illusionist, plague pack which I failed to dps the right mobs on because I'm blind). As such I'm looking for both better dps weapons and also a decent dps skill to use (my build feels pretty defensive!)

- I'd like to drop transcendence at some point, I have my eye on a few of the other passives for that slot.

- Fists of thunder is still a great closer for chasing stuff down, but I am toying with other spirit generators (crippling wave with concussion, deadly reach with keen eye) to stop jumping into the middle of packs like an idiot because I cannot click properly.

- Lashing tail kick has taken a bit of a back seat to blinding flash for CC & I'm only really using it as a spirit dump when finishing off packs atm. I may revise that slot (either go back to the knockback or perhaps even pick up the second spirit generator there as above).

- Solo I've started using the enchantress for the extra CC & armor buff (I'd used the templar through hell as I enjoyed the taunt, though I'd had the enchantress in normal)

Overall, still having a lot of fun. I can see some gearchecks creeping in and can quite believe the frustration folks are experiencing later on. I'm a very slow & pretty poor excuse for a gamer, which may be keeping me far enough behind the general curve to get the bulk of the irritation. It's also a diablo game, and melee was always a painful first character (I remember farming up all my ww druid & barb gear on my amazon & necro in early d2 )

 

[Cullhaven]

The fist weapon thing... I'd love to use them - nice "roleplayey" weapon for my class; but so far up to act 1 nightmare I am consistently finding that other 1-h weapons do much better dps and usually have better stats. I have no problem running round like a Shaolin with a sword or dagger in one hand and an axe in t'other, but I would love to use the weapons that are specific to my class.

Skills wise - fist of thunder + tele rune and lashing tail kick on mouse
blinding flash
Mystic ally - wind
Seven sided strike + Pandemonium rune for the stun
Conviction aura to boos my lowish dps (about 520 atm)

Pasives' Trancendence, sieze the initiative and chant of resonance.

Templar imo is the best minion all round for Monk.

Tactics: Blind em, whack em with fist and kick to cc, if there are any bosses/specials about I stun with seven sided and finish them off, blinding again if needed.

So far this has served well, not averse to changing it when I have to.

 

[Ginga]

Well I have act II on farm now and with a DH have cleared act III but it was a painful experience and I can't go into act III solo with too much success, though I am slowly getting better.

I have 18k dps and just shy of 800 resists using One With Everything and am running this build for act III;

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#abhXgY!UZX!acabYY

I do need more LoH and am saving up for a decent weapon with about 800 on it. Have my attack speed at 2.5 which means it would be pretty decent for self heals.

 

[Sheleph]

I'm running a pretty setup to your build, Ginga.

I'm level 60 and struggling in Act I with some elite packs, currently set up with this build.

I need Fists of Thunder/Thunderclap to teleport to mobs and to hit fast for Life on Hit (and the area effect damage is a nice bonus).

I need Deadly Reach/Foresight for ranged damage, to stand away from green goo/molten and attack from short range. Even without that, I use the 30 second +18% damage buff the rest of the time.

I need Serenity but am wondering if 4 seconds and no healing may be sweeter than 3 seconds and a small heal that Peaceful Repose is giving me. I like a second heal from Peaceful Repose but maybe Ascension (4 seconds of Serenity) would make for a more durable build.

I need Breath of Heaven/Blazing Wrath both as a heal and for the +15% damage bonus that I've got up all the time.

I use Sweeping Wind/Blade Storm to add to my DPS, having this up in all fights. Maybe this makes me less durable than having Blinding Flash, but I don't find I need to blind regular mobs and it didn't make enough of a difference on elite packs, so I figure dropping everything faster works better. I like that in packs I can focus on one and area effect damage from this, and from Thunderclap, and from Mantra of Evasion/Backlash, with the +15% and +18% damage bonuses, means the clutter's dropped by the area effect whilst I focus on the main target.

The mantra I've gone for is Mantra of Evasion/Backlash, for the +dodge and for the area effect damage it contributes.

Mostly it's working okay. Against clutter I'm faring well, usually not even dropping health. In Inferno Act I I'm fine against random groups but struggle against arcane and fire chains and plague elite packs. Oddly, bosses are okay so far, even the Skeleton King was a breeze.

What's letting me down now is kit. I've a terrible attack speed (1.4), terrible armour, low resists and have Life on Hit of 600 so far.

 

[Ginga]

I have been following this guys advice and find it pretty damn good:

http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/4211087360

I am struggling to get my LoH up, just waiting on the right weapon/amulet for the right price on the AH.
But as he explains the extra healing on serenity can be outweighed by an extra second on absorbtion if you have high LoH and a %AS above 2. It also gives you that extra second to get dps on the mob without taking dmg.

I think it's important not to underestimate the dmg reduction of our armour hence why Seize the Initiative passive can double your armour if you have high dex. Also the extra 20% from the rune on MoE is nice.

If I have the resistances at the right level for the act i will run with a different build, something like this:

http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#abgijk!XZU!acYYbY

As a resistance guide I think the rule of thumb is:

Act I 300-400
Act II 600
Act III 800
Act IV ? (not sure tbh)

If you get these at each act and aim between 5-6k armour each act becomes a doddle tbh. Also if you are struggling try to get a shield with 20% block on it with All Resistance (and/or specific resistance of your choice), Vitality and Dex.

 

[Sheleph]

I ran with Mantra of Conviction/Submission in Hell difficulty because it was a breeze and I didn't need the extra +dodge, but the extra damage (and passive area effect damage) was fantastic.

I looked at Mantra of Conviction/Reclamation but though 30% of 279 to 341 averages 93 life per melee attack. Is +12% mantra damage and +93 LoH worth it, against Mantra of Evasion +15% dodge and +35% weapon damage area effect on each crit? I'm still not sure.

My stats currently are :
Attacks per Second 1.40 (tragic, I know)
DPS 581.9 (damage 4 803 before +18% damage buff) low, but I rely on AoE damage too
Block 18% (for 1960 to 2794)
Dodge 33.1%
Damage reduction 55.6% (Armour 3 751, very low )
Resists (all) 513 (63.1%)
Life 23 630
LoH 762
Vitality 541
Dex 566

I'm using much the same build with much the same style youlinked to, just need the kit to get AS up, better armour, then more resists and LoH . . .

 

[30ftSmurf]

Having seen both of your builds I decided to swap out lashing tail kick for another spirit generator:

I briefly tried deadly reach but I just don't have the feel for it yet - stutter stepping with shift & moving correctly seems beyond me atm - I think I'll run my low lvl US server monk with it for a while to get used to it. I've opted for crippling wave with concussion, I used this most of the way through normal and nightmare so I'm very used to it & am loving the extra control I've gained not teleporting all over the place when I don't want to (i.e. I can now actually properly move around plague/desecrate packs without fatfingering into the middle of a pile of goo), plus I'm finding the extra damage reduction pretty noticable.

I'm finding a1 elite packs very tankable with my LoH and defensive stats atm, but a lot of fights take a long time due to my lowish dps (and the fact that most of it is single target - crippling wave has helped with this). I also don't have a hope in hell (hope in ferno?) of killing treasure goblins atm, even when I have a clear area for them :/

I've heard that one of the two attack speed affixes (the one not on weapons) isn't currently working correctly. If so, when they fix that up it'll be a nice boost as I have a couple of items with ias on them (ring, amulet, gloves). I've not verified that though.

 

[Git]

my build is generally running the heal, plus heal chant the aoe dmg and crippling wave, allows me to run into large groups of mobs solo or grouped,i also use the aoe knockback for when the fan is about to be hit, so i have a get out of jail, seems to work lovely in most cases, on the odd occasion i just get moooshed but that's not that often >.<

also use lots of spirit regen, the pet and a couple of other thingies, seems to allow me to keep running aoe dmg and heal chant most of the time, rarely do i run out of spirit unless i have to use my runaway button!