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[Videos] Tele-bells, an ultra-fast 2.1.2 (PTR) T6 farming spec for monks

by last updated Jan 5, 2015 ( Patch 2.1 )
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Skills

  • Wave of Light Explosive Light
  • Sweeping Wind Inner Storm
  • Dashing Strike Way of the Falling Star
  • Mystic Ally Air Ally
  • Mantra of Conviction Annihilation
  • Epiphany Desert Shroud
  • Fleet Footed
  • Momentum
  • Seize the Initiative
  • Beacon of Ytar

Items

More Details

  • Legendary Gems

    • Bane of the Trapped
    • Bane of the Powerful
    • Gogok of Swiftness
Thanks for checking out another one of my builds and guides, I hope you enjoy it. Be sure to vote before you leave, and feel free to comment.

tl;dr: watch the vids, no other monk build wrecks T6 like this

At the bottom of this guide is an in-depth breakdown of all skill and item choices.

**UPDATE** I've created a dual wield perma-epiphany version of this that has even lower gear requirements! It includes a few more crafted items, which means it's easier to get the items if you want to try out this playstyle. Here's a link to the dual wield version, which includes two videos: http://www.diablofans.com/builds/9152-videos-2-1-2-tele-bells-dual-wield-crafted

Now, on with the build's introduction...

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This is the **new & improved** Monkey King's Garb set that is coming out with 2.1.2 - it is being changed retroactively, which means your current SWK pieces will reflect these changes immediately after the patch goes live:

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(2) Set Bonus

Casting Cyclone Strike, Exploding Palm, Lashing Tail Kick, Tempest Rush, or Wave of Light causes a decoy to spawn that taunts nearby enemies and then explodes for 1000% weapon damage
Decoy explosion now deals the damage type of your highest +% Elemental Damage


(4) Set Bonus

When your decoys explode, you gain a buff that increases the damage of Cyclone Strike, Exploding Palm, Lashing Tail Kick, Tempest Rush, and Wave of Light by 500% for 3 seconds
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This is a complete overhaul to how the set previously worked, and I've found the new set to be ridiculously fun and powerful. There are tons of builds popping up, and my goal here is to create a highly efficient farming build. I love continually improving my average rift time and increasing my legendaries/xp per hour.

With the changes to SWK set, the updated 4 piece set bonus essentially has an "on" and an "off". You turn the bonus "on" by casting one of the 5 abilities, and it turns "off" after 3 seconds unless you cast one of the 5 abilities again. The 500% damage bonus means that they deal an additional 500% more damage than they normally would. So an 800% weapon damage ability gains an additional 4,000% weapon damage when the set buff is active, dealing a total of 4,800% weapon damage for a true 6x skill damage multiplier!

So that's a massive buff that's worth keeping turned "on", which means it's a good idea to find something to attack ASAP after you killed the last thing in order to have the buff still active so you deal massively increased damage.

It just so happens that being able to move around quickly was already a strong strategy for clearing rifts quickly...

So this build is centered around mobility. This build has it in the form of cooldown reduction for mobility abilities (Epiphany and Dashing Strike) and in the form of movement speed-increasing abilities. An earlier version of this build could get self-buffed Wave of Light crits for over 1.1 billion and attack over 2 times per second, yet the version I show in the video(s) is even faster for T6 rifting.

Dex is a priority stat for every piece of gear, except perhaps SWK amulet (where fire % is more DPS on a non-ancient amulet) and Unity/SoJ (where CHD or CC are more dps on non ancients). You can go for +% damage to Wave of Light on helm and boots, but it isn't necessary. CDR vs CC/CHD on rings is debatable. My testing seems to indicate that for T6 CDR is better.

The first item listed for each slot is the optimal choice based on my testing to this point, and the build works well with a variety of gear. I've optimized this build over hundreds of T6 rifts, and yet I am certain there is room for improvement. So let me hear about any changes you make that work for you in the comments :)

I've tested versions of the build with Crudest Boots, Tzo Krin's Gaze, and Reaper's Wraps, and they don't work as well as the top choices I've listed above. The short version of my findings are 1) this build doesn't need more spirit regen and 2) the increased mobility Leoric's Crown gives is better than the ranged bells TKG gives.

Paragon Priorities

Core

Movement Speed
Primary Stat
Vitality
Maximum Resource

Offense

Cooldown Reduction
Critical Hit Damage
Critical Hit Chance
Attack Speed

Defense

Resist All
Life
Armor
Life Regeneration

Utility

Resource Cost Reduction
Area Damage
Life on Hit
Gold Find
Paragon points are flexible. I've ordered them according to what I think is most important, and I don't think that order is universally correct. I strongly recommend maxxing movement speed from gear + paragon (25%). You can max RCR since we're not using Inna's + SW to make Taeguk stacks.

Build Guide

New vid! This is my current live gear with a handful of 2.1.2 upgrades - it's similar to what my gear will look like after a few hours of playing the new patch.

Here's a link to the old vid, a faster run where I'm wearing a ton of ancient legendaries: http://youtu.be/7kZPaP5gM10
(note: the sound is busted in the old video - it's out of synch due to my compression newbness - the vid is not sped up)

And here's the dual wield vid. The gear includes exactly 1 2.1.2 item that isn't crafted, and I'm intending to have a separate guide up for the dual wield build within a couple days.: http://youtu.be/W8kcolvYl3o




The way I play it is to move around by holding left click down, and clicking Force Standstill (mapped to spacebar) to cast bells. This has one of 2 things happen:

1. If Epiphany is active and there's a target-able at your cursor, you will teleport to that location and cast Wave of Light. Hence the build's name, "Tele-bells".
2. If there is no target-able and/or Epiphany is not active, you will cast Wave of Light at your current location. This is perfect when you are already in good position.



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Item breakdown:
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Head:


Leoric's Crown - No single item makes a bigger contribution to CDR. Because of the way CDR is calculated, increasing the CDR granted by a FR diamond by ~12.5% is worth about the same as adding 8% to 2 slots.


Sunwuko's Crown - This is a good alternative to Leoric's Crown for a few reasons. Most of those reasons have to do with what you could use in your glove and amulet slots if you use SWK's Crown to complete the set instead (eg having an amazing hellfire amulet but very poor SWK amulets). It's a big loss in mobility though, so I recommend comparing it to Leoric's over a few runs to actually see the difference.


Shoulders:


Sunwuko's Balance - There's really no competitive alternative. Trying to squeeze a different set piece into this slot (like Aughilds shoulders) means losing something better.


Amulet:


Sunwuko's Shines - In 2.1.2, the SWK ammy will drop with a guaranteed socket instead of IAS. This makes it a zillion times easier to get a good one. When 2.1.2 goes live, this is the first item I intend to gamble for.


Torso:


Cindercoat - It increases damage, it reduces the need for spirit regeneration - it's awesome in this build.


Aughild's Rule - Aughild's is so strong all around that I don't want to rule it out entirely. For this build, the Aughild's set's purpose would be to increase toughness (or act as an acceptable filler until you get a usable Cindercoat). Dropping Cindercoat means you need to do some gear/skill swapping to gain some spirit regen.


Wrists:


Warzchecian Armguards - In my testing, these outperformed every other bracer for speed runs. My average clear time improved by a modest amount while using these instead of a nice pair of Lacuni Prowlers, which are much more rare. Keep Sweeping Wind turned on to passively break things as you move through empty areas.

Aughild's Search - As much as I hate to drop Warzchecian Armguards, if I use Aughild's set this is the best slot to use it in to get the 2nd piece on.

Reaper's Wraps - These are here because they're actually useful if you don't yet have an Incense Torch or a good Cindercoat.

Nemesis Bracers - Swap for shrines and pylons. Use caution though - we're squishy.

Hands:


Sunwuko's Paws - Since we're in love with wearing Leoric's Crown in the head slot, these are required to complete the SWK 4 piece bonus.


Magefist - I recommend these + SWK Crown when when you need more damage (eg low-mid 30's GR). The main issue I've found with them is that it's damn near impossible to get a pair with CC, CHD and CDR because they always drop with IAS.

Gloves of Worship - I never do bounties or normal rifts without having these and SWK Crown in my inventory available to swap. Even a bad pair will increase clear times with an Empowered Shrine buff.


Waist:


The Witching Hour - Hard to get, even harder to get a good one. It'll give you the most bang for your buck.

Vigilante Belt - There's a point with this build where more damage isn't as good as more mobility. A fraction of a second can make the difference between attacking with a 6x damage buff or not (SWK 4 piece). WH is listed as the top belt while Vigilante Belt is a very suitable alternative. For bounties, I like Vigilante belt better than WH because we spend more time running around looking for things than actually fighting them.


Legs:


Captain Crimson's Thrust - These are there to complete the CDR set. They are BIS for T6 in this build, and being able to craft them as ancient is a nice bonus.

Hexing Pants of Mr. Yan - Like Magefist, these were in an earlier version of the build. They get better as trash mobs get more HP.

Feet:

Captain Crimson's Waders - See Captain Crimson's Thrust above.

The Crudest Boots - These are still nice, they just don't offer as much to the build as Captain Crimson's set. Combined with Hexing Pants, they give some disgusting spirit regen with Air Ally. This will allow you to keep a Mantra Active at all times.

Rings:

Ring of Royal Grandeur - No ring is better than Leoric's Crown, so RoRG is BIS. In lower-CDR variants of this build, using Magefists to replace SWK gloves is better than replacing RoRG with a higher DPS ring.

Stone of Jordan - Easy choice in group play, there's nothing better for T6. SoJ becomes even better as Ancient items bring more toughness, and the difference it makes vs the RG make it better for me in my mostly 2.1.1 gear.

Unity (double Unity + Immortal follower) - Unity vs. SoJ is an interesting choice for solo play. It boils down to this - do I clear faster by doing more damage or do I clear faster because of improved positioning? I never have to dash to a health globe, I don't have to move out of a molten explosion, and I can handle the punishment from using Nemesis bracers and spawning a Horde/Fast elite group. Without Unity, I often immediately use DS to get some distance from the group I spawn. These defensive maneuvers reduce clearing speed, and wearing Unity means I don't need those maneuvers. In terms of clearing the rift, Unity seems to be slightly faster than SoJ. The extra 25% elite damage from SoJ is a huge boon vs the RG.

Weapon:

Incense Torch of the Grand Temple - The build doesn't work nearly as well without it. Using the Torch means you don't need a spirit regen passive, and you can forego Crudest Boots and/or Reaper's Wraps for Captain Crimson's and Warzchecian Armguards. You probably won't need healing on it for T6, so DMG and CDR are my faves. I went with IAS since I haven't found one yet that can get both of those. If you do want a healing affix on the weapon, go with Life on Hit - it will heal you more than LpSS while attacking with this build because of all the resource cost reduction we're using.

Legendary Gems:

Bane of the Trapped - Since the idea of this build is to hop into the crowd, this gem is perfect since the debuff is always on at level 25+

Bane of the Powerful - We want the best bang for our buck for legendary gems. It and BotT are the best ones for T6.

Gogok of Swiftness - Treat this gem like a random passive bonus to CDR and IAS. I tend to cast epiphany asap to begin hopping around instead of waiting for some amount of Gogok stacks. This one is less obvious than the previous 2 - it's not automatic to get and maintain stacks with WoL. However, the bonuses are so nice that it's my 3rd favorite gem for T6 here. Teleporting into a big group and casting WoL will net 4-8 stacks instantly, and the build has enough mobility to find another group within the 3 second window.

Boon of the Hoarder - I like this one better than Gogok for bounties since I can slow down for a second and kill a trash mob in order to gain the movement speed bonuses from this gem and from Annihilation.

Taeguk - Use this instead of Bane of the Powerful or Gogok when mob HP is what's slowing you down; this gem gets better as fights get longer. Throughout the guide I've mentioned a few gear and skill swaps to increase the build's damage, and Taeguk fits right in with those changes. Use Chant of Resonance along with 2 - 2.5 second Mantra activations to keep it up between fights.

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Skill breakdown
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Wave of Light: Explosive Light - This is what does all your damage. It turns wave of light into a massive AoE. If mobs are on the screen, this will probably hit them.

Sweeping Wind: Inner Storm - It serves 2 purposes in this build: spirit regen and breaking things passively (for the Warzchecian Armguard bonus). It has a long enough uptime that it only drops occasionally. The 8 spirit per second this gives matters quite a bit to this build - without it up, you'll occasionally run out of spirit during normal play.

Dashing Strike: Way of the Falling Star - The movement speed bonus makes this the all around best rune for this build. Blinding speed is an excellent rune for higher GR's where surviving is more of a concern.

Mystic Ally: Air Ally - Kinda like Sweeping Wind: Inner Storm, this skill gives you "just enough" spirit to cast as many bells as you need to. That said, this is one of the skills I've examined the least; there might be room for big-time optimization around this slot.

Mantra of Conviction: Annihilation - The movement speed bonus on kill is just sick. The extra 10% damage is gravy.

Epiphany: Desert Shroud - I use Desert Shroud because I know it works, and I haven't noticed the need for a different one. It doesn't need more spirit regen - the Insight rune would just overfill my bubble, and the extra damage from the fire rune seems minor compared to double toughness. There's likely room for optimization there if someone clever were to experiment :)

Fleet Footed - An always-on 10% movement speed bonus is perfect for this build. The only downside it that it pails in comparison to the other movespeed buffs this build has.

Momentum - This has really high uptime in this build. Combined with Mantra of Conviction and Bane of the Powerful, we get a 50% damage bonus that multiplies with the bonuses from Bane of the Trapped and SWK's 4 piece bonus.

Beacon of Ytar - Absolutely a requirement for this build. It's the second-largest source of CDR for Monks.

Seize the Initiative - This is essentially another multiplicative damage bonus. It has very high uptime in this build since you're always finding new full-health monsters to hit. With Epiphany up, it increases the frequency you can teleport around.

***Extras***
Empowered Shrines are your friend - swap to Gloves of Worship + SWK Crown for 3-4 rifts worth of perma epiphany.
The build is glassy. Don't stand in molten or arcane, even on T6.
Dropping movement speed abilities from this build for more damaging abilities is generally a mistake for GR 30 or lower.

Thanks for reading and watching, I hope you enjoyed it. Be sure to leave a comment and vote on the build!