[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

[nirvAnA]

And there you have it, SC2SEA's first Diablo 3 class guide!!!

Awesome work man! Hoping to see more class specific guides too, guys share your experiences! nirvAnA's axe wielding battle wizard tank guide will come soon. Maybe. lol

Quick Comments

veteris:

Looking forward to the Battle Wizard guide!

[Asrathiel]

Originally Posted by Bard

Gear type: Sword and Board!

I love my claw class weapons too much to use anything else!!

Haven't tried Serenity in any of its forms yet, will give that a go. I'm still on normal though, long way to go!

[yongming]

looks good. im still hoping for dual wield to be viable at higher difficulty.

[x5_Bard]

Originally Posted by yongming

im still hoping for dual wield to be viable at higher difficulty.

I'm really hoping that too ^^ Once I get my resist up to a reasonable level I'll give it another shot!

[x5.NotoriouS]

Cool write up Bard how long have you been a monk for?

[Cyanide]

I think i'm having relative success at the moment. My build is very similar to yours in fact. Only difference is Way of a hundred fists.

If you want more mitigation, perhaps you should look at Crippling Wave/Concussion but that would mean getting Spirit Regen from your Monk Class items.

I'm hoping that gear wise, you can just stack vitality over your block from your sword and shield. Perhaps increasing your dodge could work better.

In my opinion, why tank like a prot pally when you can just evasion tank. I think a monk is more suited towards it. I haven't reached hell yet, but i'll give more thought when I reach higher levels. Still a bit too early to tell what's truly viable. But this build, has definitely been working well so far, takes a bit of smarts and kiting too.

[x5_Bard]

In nightmare I was running a dual wield build, I rarely died and when I did it was usually my own fault. I then hit hell and as I said I couldn't get a elite pack below 95% before dying, I swapped to this and I can actually clear the content ^^

In terms of "stacking" are you talking about gemming? As you should be gemming pure dexterity in gear with a weapon/helm gem of choice. Infact you should be aiming for mainly dexterity lol

Also the issue I found with the dodge procs from abilities is the fact that you rarely have the spirit to keep them running 100% while healing yourself.

I dunno, my gear drops have been absolutely terrible lately, I'm still rocking alot of lvl40ish gear so once I upgrade that I might have a better indication of how a dual wield build will fare in hell. At the moment though, this surpasses a dual wield build with similar gear by a large margin!

[Jaywalk]

in the realease version does the monk actually use his weps or does he just hold them and punch things like he did in the beta?

Quick Comments

Cyanide:

He just uses hist fists

[Baldie]

With Sweeping Wind you can also just use the ability again to refresh the stack - although it does use another 75 spirit, it retains the 3 stacks and if you know you will be in combat within another 6 seconds you might as well keep it at 3!

It's such a baller skill and easily looked over..

[ROCCAT_Savior]

wait you fight diablo at the end -.- wow k thanks for spoiler.

[Asrathiel]

Originally Posted by ToREchoFive

in the realease version does the monk actually use his weps or does he just hold them and punch things like he did in the beta?

That's why you use claw weapons!

[Churlz]

This build is not really optimal for inferno group play bardy boy
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...gYQ!fXc!aZbacb
Swapped to this around ACT 3 hell and it made a huge difference in the groups survivability
Sword and board as well some of the stats on sheids is amazing

Quick Comments

	Cyanide:	hmm, this is really party-centric. but there doesn't seem to be a spirit dump. which kinda sucks, aside from spamming mantra.
	x5_Bard:	This is aimed at solo play, not co op

[inFeZa]

Here's my barbarian guide :

Click Click Click Click Click Click Click Click Click Click Click Click Click Click Click Click

[Cyanide]

I think we can really expand on this as a Monk guide, instead of a particular build only. We need to add stuff and build a database for fellow Monks.

I read somewhere that Monk DPS alternates between MH/OH weapons. So it is actually better for your weapons to be roughly the same DPS (preferably 15% max difference). if not you'll start losing dps whenever you go to the weaker weapon such that it is better to just use the higher dps weapon and a shield instead OR your OH is actually a huge stat stick.

Edit: Also, I think we could include Skills and situational explanations for ALL monk skills. A little bit of theory-crafting involved and open to debate. I'll read up in the D3 forums and then try to come up with a write-up shortly.

For example, you've already done Serenity (peaceful repose)
Serenity (Reap what you sow): Good if you're still at Nightmare, the absorb+damage is pretty decent and helps with DPS.

Quick Comments

x5_Bard:

Yep, I'll be updating this as I go. Still working on completing the game first!

[Jaywalk]

has anyone experimented with elective mode? opens up your options a lot more!

Quick Comments

Cyanide:

Yes, as a tank monk, i'm using 3 of the 4 defensive spells that I have.

[NvRossi]

hi im a monk

[Cyanide]

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...iXQ!ZXU!aYaYYa

Here's a build that ensures more survivability. I'm playing hell mode at the moment.

Primary: Fists of Thunder (Thunderclap) - Same reasoning.

Secondary: Blinding Flash (Searing Light) - Blind has a 60% chance to work on elite mobs. Blind also disables any channelling spell or attack that mobs are executing. Try to cycle between this and Serenity. This ensures that the mobs don't attack you for about 3 seconds each time you use 1 of these spells.

Skill Slot 1: Serenity (Peaceful Repose) - What's not to love about a 6.2-7.8k heal? Switch to tranquility if you have a party that needs help getting out of CC doing that means you lose the heal though.

Skill Slot 2: Sweeping Wind (Inner Storm) - Once this gets up to max stacks, it's a spirit generator. This allows you to start spamming spells. Fights really depend on this to get to max for you to survive. When possible, get this going on normal mobs before engaging any elite/rare mobs

Skill Slot 3: Breath of Heaven (Infused With Light) - More spirit regen! And more importantly, your other heal

Skill Slot 4: Mantra of Healing (Sustenance) - A lot of people seem to be telling me take Mantra of Evasion over this. I'm still a bit torn over this. I chose this because a base 930hps is decent at best, but refreshing the mantra gives you an additional 1824.4hps for 3 seconds! Here's your spirit dump because most fights will have you at full spirit a lot of times.

[Insom]

This is what im using currently on my hc monk
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...ZigfQ!Yd!abaaa

Its more aimed at solo play, i can tank large amounts of mobs, and using the mantra of healing too dump spirit (in conjunction with transcendence, heals me) along with serenity for the "oh shit" moments.I was partied with UHF last night, and we could easily take on 40+ mobs at a time, and not really be worried, and also had minimal downtime.

Also note im only level 28, so this might also mean nothing too you guys

[iMSystem]

So, I am playing a Monk and am currently having no difficulty whatsoever with anything so far.

Is the game still ment to be easy in Nightmare mode? When does it become hard? :P

I have to resort to going into a public game with 4 people and just running ahead where I can still solo everything without an issue T_T

[crAzerk]

Originally Posted by System

I am using the most OP class of the game atm and I find it too easy. Blizzard nerf us soon!

10 char . . . .

Quick Comments

iMSystem:

you so cute ~

[Cyanide]

Monk is OP only up till Nightmare. Once you reach Hell, you won't survive pulling everything you see together. A lot of kiting involved and smart playing.

[iMSystem]

Originally Posted by Cyanide

Monk is OP only up till Nightmare. Once you reach Hell, you won't survive pulling everything you see together. A lot of kiting involved and smart playing.

Ok, yay!

Now I gotta rush to hell!

[iM SundeR]

Yo, good guide, I just want to clear up that by Inferno dual wielding will far surpass sword and shield, but up until then the flat DPS and armor increase achieved from sword and shield is pretty necessary.

The amount armor decreases damage in Inferno won't be enough to keep the Monk alive long enough to kill shit, you're going to have to max dodge as much as possible to completely mitigate attacks rather than just soak up ~1k damage. I don't think the whole DPS/attack speed mechanic has been properly fleshed out - dual wielding end game inferno will be much, much better for the Monk archetype. The +15% dodge is much better than any armor you get from a shield as armor/shields have really bad diminishing returns, considering that you are geared to all hell by Inferno.

'Super base damage' is not the same as 'attack speed + damage', which I think is getting confused with all this sword and shield discussion. 2handers will probably be even less useful later on, not sure.

[Churlz]

In response to Sunder unless you get really lucky with drops you will have to use sword in board. I am in Act 3 inferno and sword and board actually increases my damage rather than trying to dual wield with a shitty 2nd weapon.

Dodge is not as important as you think it is sure it is nice but don't stack for it. Maxing out resistance is probably the most important for surviving then dex for the armor + dodge.

[iM SundeR]

Ya it seems dual wield is very very item dependent, its something like you need less than 13% difference in weapon damage or the attack speed doesnt make up for the base damage drop etc etc. lots of viable styles depending on equipment!

[Cyanide]

Agreed, after clearing hell, and looking at the drops, dual wielding or 2H is actually very viable. Just need to get the dodge up. Sword and board is an easy way to stack your HP. Still farming for drops actually, hoping to get lucky. Also, with regards to skills.

Mantra of Healing scales with your dmg. So if you can manage to get your dodge up without mantra of evasion, I think that is a pretty damn huge plus! I don't mind forgoing that 20% armor for a decent constant heal in mantra of healing.

For breath of heaven, i'm actually using the rune that fears. That's another 1.5s of mobs not hitting you. A huge plus over an extra 1-2k heal imo.

[x5_Bard]

Dual wielding is definitely better if you have 2 equal DPS 1h weps. However what your forgetting Sunder is that you dont actually get +15% dodge from mantras/spec etc. Dodge suffers from DR too so even though it says 15% its actually around 10% if not lower depending on your gear. Considering you should be getting gear with as much dexterity on it as possible this will already be pretty high. Overall it really depends on your own spec/preference along with your drops. For instance I'm dual wielding quite comfortable atm with 2 500 DPS+ fists with +% damage on them!

I'm going to rewrite this soon for Inferno+ as everything is pretty different at 60. For instance I don't even use "One with Everything" anymore as my gear is Resist all and I'm sitting at roughly 380 resist. I would go so far as to say just about anything is legitimate if you have the right gear for it. I had great fun this morning redoing act 1 with that 2h staff thingy, seven sided strike was eating shit alive

[Cyanide]

You resist is that high across the board? You seem to be sacrificing a lot of dps if that's the case. At that level, you should be looking at close to 6k DPS if you are DW.

[yongming]

is there an ideal build in terms of stats? im not too sure what stats to focus on.

[x5_Bard]

Actually Ive sacrificed my magic find, my DPS is at 7k.

With the level 60 buff plus gold basically equaling gear I find it much easier to just grind gold and then buy the item I want from the AH. sometimes I'll get lucky and actually get something useful too ^^

[Insom]

I think he's talking about the passive that gives you +15% dodge when dual wielding? Not just from gear/stats

[x5_Bard]

It doesn't give 15% dodge... Which is what I was talking about. it gives a flat 15% dodge before DR, which after DR becomes around 10% due to your dexterity increasing dodge as well. So at inferno when you have bucketloads of dexterity (which you should) this becomes less worthwhile, which is the point I was trying to make.

Also yong what you want to focus on while leveling and before level 60 is Dexterity, Resist (either resist all or pick 1 and go One with Everything) and vitality. You will get armor naturally from gear anyway so its not something you should focus on. I would recommend sword and board because its simply easier. Once you hit 60 and your resist and armour are over 50% on each you want to start focusing on stats such as "decreases melee/ranged attacks by %" as this is the next form of damage reduction. Since armor/dodge/resist are all pretty high at this point the DR makes the stats not as worthwhile as earlier. Pick the weapon with the Highest DPS as you want it for damage, not damage reduction. I'll go into stats more when I redo the OP!

[Jaywalk]

chant of resonance + exulted soul seem like a pretty good combo, going into every fight with a huge and full spirit pool is nice. if you get tempest rush + tailwind as well, u can pretty much move around the map at max speed with unlimited spirit.

just something nice for low difficulties so you can rush around faster.

[Jman2012]

In normal I used chant of resonance, exalted soul and finally transcendence once I hit lvl30. Played most of NM with that spec too. I'm almost at diablo in NM now lvl 51 and I've switched to a spec simular to Bards, with great results. I was thinking about how well intellience affects resistances, and it seems while you can get resist all to elemental stats on gear. Intelligence also gives physical resistance. I was planning on testing out resist all + det/int/vit gear. But now I'm more interested in playing with bards idea of using One with Everything. Stack One type of resist and let the passive skill do the rest.

[neKo]

Monk is the baby class!