[x5_Bard]

Ok first off I am really enjoying D3 and Monk play in general. This guide is a base for a super tanky in your face guy Monk that puts out some serious damage! For those of you who played WoW this build runs alot like a Prot Paladin. I came up with it when I hit Hell with my dual wield build and couldn't get a rare pack below 95% before getting trashed.

The Build

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...iTQ!eUZ!aZaYcc

Primary: Fists of Thunder (Thunderclap) - While this looks like a silly decision my reasoning is rather simple. I like it. It allows me to chase those pesky little treasure goblins and is the best spirit generator the Monk has. Any choice will do here, infact there are probably some better ones!

Secondary: Wave of Light (Explosive Light) - An AoE with good range, this ability will not only allow you to do solid damage to large packs it also allows you to peel for yourself due to the knockback. Use when your getting swarmed ^^

Note: For Boss fights I'll go with Lashing Tail Kick (Scorpion Sting). This is especially helpful if not essential on bosses like Diablo and is better single target damage than Wave of Light

Defensive: Serenity (Peaceful Repose) - This ability is crazy good, I honestly couldn't imagine picking any of the others. It allows you to break freeze/fear, avoid desolation/poison and can trivialize certain elements of boss fights.

Techniques: Sweeping Wind (Inner Storm) - Probably my favorite Monk ability. Basically you hit it, smash some mobs until full stacks then proceed to bounce around using Fists of Thunder to the next pack of mobs! For pre-Hell I would recommend using (Blade Storm) as the skill rune as you wont really need the spirit regen.

Focus: Seven Sided Strike (Fulminating Onslaught) - Although I'm not 60 yet I seriously cannot wait for this skill rune. 777% damage to every mob around me seems just a little overpowered! Before 60 any skill runes are worthwhile. Use this as a single target burn or an "oh shit" button, basically while you are doing a SSS you cannot be hit and your passive regen will heal you up. Also all crowd control effects will be ignored (but will not break).

Mantras: Mantra of Healing (Time of Need) - This is your spam button, treat it as a short duration heal that on intensive fights you should have running constantly. This is the reason for the high spirit regen abilities as it will allow you to chain this more effectively! Also the Skill rune is a must for Hell onwards due to the huge damage being thrown around. Pre-Hell however anything goes!

Passive Skills:

Pacifism: This is actually really key, it means that when a mob hits you with a freezing/fear w.e that you dont get smashed to bits instantly, swapping this in was one of the best things I did!

One with Everything: Simple really, allows you to max one resistance stat freeing up space elsewhere! While it can be hard to get all of one resistance, you'll be getting plenty of gear. What I did was kept all my resistance gear instead of getting rid of it. This way if you get lucky with a few drops you can really increase your resistance nicely. This stat becomes a priority during hell+ as not having any resistance=dead monk.

Resolve: A flat 25% damage reduction. Yes please!

Gear type: Sword and Board!

Stat emphasis: This build relies heavily on your gear, you cant tank damage if your maxed out in magic find and random stats. Try and prioritize Dexterity and Vitality, however Strength and Intelligence are fine too due to the increase in armor/resistance. Try and get gear with these on them as much as possible as they are the key! In terms of secondary stats any vampirism stat (preferably health on hit) or HP/sec is Ideal and Treat any gear with +Magic/Gold find or +XP as a bonus. The second key point is to try and build your resistances up. As I said earlier Resistance becomes very important at hell+. A good way to prioritize your gear is too look at the enemy damage reduction equipping said item does. If getting a piece that has +20 in your resistance stat is up against a piece that increases your strength by +20 then have a look at what increases your defense more in the stats tab (the resistance clearly comes out on top here).

Playstyle: The reason I enjoy this build is mainly because of Sweeping Wind, its so fun to run around constantly looking for something to hit to keep the buff running! Basically keep this buff running as much as possible, if your going to fall just short you can tap the ability again and the buff will refresh. Interesting to note is that if you hit an urn or something it will also refresh! When you hit combat what you want to do is make sure you have your mantra up. In an AoE situation (99% of the time) you want to be saving your spirit for Wave of Light to rip through everything. If your health starts to dip hit your Matra for a short heal. If the damage is intense pop Serenity/SSS and look for a way to kite/re engage. If your opponent has snares/slows you can always save Serenity to get out of them. What you will notice is that you should be able to keep your health at a nice level while you spam Fists of Thunder for spirit and then dump it into Wave of Light. This combined with sweeping winds really rips through mobs quickly.

In terms of how it fares I was able to go toe to toe with Diablo on nightmare mode, stand in his aoe on the ground and outheal his damage. I saved Serenity purely so I didn't have to run around to avoid his traps and when he used that big colourful flamebreath of his I just SSS to avoid it completly. All of my boss fights bar one (Tyraels old commander dude) ran exactly the same way as this. Its simple, easy and effective!

Quick Comments

	nirvAnA:	Bard thanks for writing this you freaking boss!!
	veteris:
	eCKo`Switch:	Epic! Just started with monk too :D
	JaFF:	MONK SO OP
	yongming:
	Jaywalk:	nice bard