I'm not saying this on a whim because no one uses them in closed beta, nor am I saying this because they don't look as good. I have done considerable research on everything a Monk does, and here's why combat staffs will be completely inferior to EVERY other weapon:
Sockets Item Level Dmg Range Atk Spd
CombatStaff_2H_204 Guru Staff 2 60 99 - 182 1.1
and compare it with this 2hder,
Sword_2H_206 Titan Sword 3 60 154 - 226 1.1
What's wrong with this picture? For the same item lvl (the 2h sword even has lower lvl requirement), the combat staff is SIGNIFICANTLY worse. It only does roughly 74% of the sword's dmg. You may think, "of course, monks can't use 2h swords so it's balanced for barbs." Take a look at this and think again:
Polearm_208 Dread Lance 3 60 209 - 249 1
Monks ARE able to use polearms. So in the end, why would anybody that want to hit harder with that skills even use a staff when you can just equip a 2h polearm (though hard to find) instead? Some may say that combat staffs have built-in stats tailored for Monks. Well, the 2h polearm is unlikely to have stats tailored for Wizards. A decent 2h polearm will have melee dmg stats and nothing else.
Dual wielding, however, doesn't suffer from this problem since the monk specific weapons are on-par in damage with all other 1h weapons.
Should I trust datamined information? I've watched countless streams and saw countless screenshots of weapons. I've concluded that the datamined list consists of weapons of either Gray or White quality, hence the low dmg range. Besides that, every item listed there is SPOT ON. For example:
Sword_2H_005 Nodachi 600 3 27 21 25 - 35 1.1
Rare Adept Nodachi Two-Handed Sword 2-Hand All 21 39.0 29-42 1.10 +[18 - 23] to all Atributes, +3 Random Properties
Adept = prefix for higher quality, hence the increased dmg.
Using a staff will probably gives you more DPS with lesser massive hits. Which will give a good monk player the ability to regenerate spirit faster and land bigger blows through skills. Check out my My link On the topic of the monk. Monks, like zerg, want to do massive damage over time instead of massive damage in short spurts like the barb.
Using a staff will probably gives you more DPS with lesser massive hits. Which will give a good monk player the ability to regenerate spirit faster and land bigger blows through skills. Check out my My link On the topic of the monk. Monks, like zerg, want to do massive damage over time instead of massive damage in short spurts like the barb.
Yes I realize that, but the problem is that there's absolutely no reason to use a staff now that you do much more dmg with a 2h polearm instead. The polearm is just about the same speed as the staff anyway, so the increased spirit regen is almost negligible.
DW vs. 2h however, is a whole different topic and I'm personally trying to find more information on that as well.
Got a source for that? I THINK it is true but I never saw a Monk use a 2H Polearm because I never saw one drop. The Beta Player in the "Ask a Beta Player" Thread couldnt confirm that the Monk can use 2H Polearms either because they never found one.
Also if you look at the Wizards Offhand Book it has stats like +17% for Wizard Skills. So I guess the Combat Staffs will have the same kind of stats for Monks so dunno, maybe that gives them a little advantage. Then again the Fist Weapons should have the same kind of Stats. The thing with the Dualwield is that it generates Spirit way faster because the "castspeed" for Meleeattacks is tied to the Weapons Attackspeed.
Also note that "The Guardian's Path" Works for every kind of 2H Weapons so it works with 2H Polearms (if the Monk can use them) so another point against the Combat Staffs. <_<
I wish staffs had the +% dmg to Monks but from ALL the staffs I've seen on beta right now, none of them have such a thing. The only thing worthwhile I've seen is Spirit/s regen, and 1 HP/Spirit spent.
I can't find the source for polearm usage anymore, but let's assume that Monks cannot use them. In that case, why would anyone bother using staffs at all? Take a look at this:
If you do some math, you'll see that the ONE hander does 140 DPS while the combat staff does 155 dps. I honestly do NOT believe that people concerned with killing speed will even touch the staff due to how underwhelming it is. You generate Spirit almost twice as fast with DW and only lose 15 DPS? Count me in.
Yes I know the staffs are 2hders. I guess I misunderstood your statement. Yes that passive works with 2h combat staffs but it's only 20%. To put it to perspective, this guy I'm watching right now does 1.88 atks per second. An average combat staff hits 1.1 times/sec. ALL of monks spirit gen skills are static. DWing essentially, in this case, increases your spirit gen by 71%. If anything, DW will be the only viable spirit regen build. The 20% on the passive? I understand it as a desperate way for Blizz to try to balance between 2h staff and DW by giving them a slightly higher Spirit regen. Keep in mind that Monk only fist weapons ALSO come with spirit/s stats.
Sigh, I may have to play a barb afterall. At least their Fury gen isn't too dependent on hitting with your combo attacks alone.
If you do some math, you'll see that the ONE hander does 140 DPS while the combat staff does 155 dps. I honestly do NOT believe that people concerned with killing speed will even touch the staff due to how underwhelming it is. You generate Spirit almost twice as fast with DW and only lose 15 DPS? Count me in.
This just in: ED% range on staves is triple that of fist weapons. Fist weapons can have up to 50% ED on each, staves can have up to 200% ED and 3 more stat slots than a fist weapon. This is just a random example, but Blizzard will balance them. Easily.
Also, to my knowledge, Monks can't use any 2H weapons other than staves. Even in the current beta, all the beta testers who have played monks can dual-wield most 1H weapons but can't equip any 2H axes, swords, etc.
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The final test of the Serpent's Form takes place in "The Pit of 12 Vipers." The initiates are not told about the 13th.
I think the real question is, which is correct:
Staffs or staves?
staves
The datamined info calls them Combat Staff so that's why I'm referring to them as staffs. But let's call them staves now to avoid confusion with the Wizard staffs.
And Peace, Blizzard cannot balance Fists weapons alone. Monks are able to use just about every 1h weapon in the game, just like Barbs. According to this website, staves only have 2 max sockets while every other 2hder has 3. DWing would yield you 4 in total. It's as if Blizz is treating staves like a 1h weapon right now with very slightly higher dmg than DWing and a lot less spirit gen.
Staves could have more or better affixes on them. Think about D2 Circlets versus regular Helmets. For the same level requirement, the Helmet had a crapload more Armor, but the Circlet had way better affixes.
Also, unlike the Barbarian (almost all of his abilities are based on Weapon Damage), the Monk has a handful of non-Weapon Damage abilities. If you use Wave of Light or runed Lethal Decoy as your main attack, you'll hit harder with high Spirit generation than with high melee damage.
Staves hit for a ton, and are way better than fist weapons. Let's not get caught up on comparisons of one 2hander to the next just yet, not enough info in that department.
The information obtained comes from http://wowbox.tw/d3/item.php?c=CombatStaff. Have a look at this combat staff,
Sockets Item Level Dmg Range Atk Spd
CombatStaff_2H_204 Guru Staff 2 60 99 - 182 1.1
and compare it with this 2hder,
Sword_2H_206 Titan Sword 3 60 154 - 226 1.1
What's wrong with this picture? For the same item lvl (the 2h sword even has lower lvl requirement), the combat staff is SIGNIFICANTLY worse. It only does roughly 74% of the sword's dmg. You may think, "of course, monks can't use 2h swords so it's balanced for barbs." Take a look at this and think again:
Polearm_208 Dread Lance 3 60 209 - 249 1
Monks ARE able to use polearms. So in the end, why would anybody that want to hit harder with that skills even use a staff when you can just equip a 2h polearm (though hard to find) instead? Some may say that combat staffs have built-in stats tailored for Monks. Well, the 2h polearm is unlikely to have stats tailored for Wizards. A decent 2h polearm will have melee dmg stats and nothing else.
Dual wielding, however, doesn't suffer from this problem since the monk specific weapons are on-par in damage with all other 1h weapons.
Should I trust datamined information? I've watched countless streams and saw countless screenshots of weapons. I've concluded that the datamined list consists of weapons of either Gray or White quality, hence the low dmg range. Besides that, every item listed there is SPOT ON. For example:
Sword_2H_005 Nodachi 600 3 27 21 25 - 35 1.1
Rare Adept Nodachi Two-Handed Sword 2-Hand All 21 39.0 29-42 1.10 +[18 - 23] to all Atributes, +3 Random Properties
Adept = prefix for higher quality, hence the increased dmg.
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Yes I realize that, but the problem is that there's absolutely no reason to use a staff now that you do much more dmg with a 2h polearm instead. The polearm is just about the same speed as the staff anyway, so the increased spirit regen is almost negligible.
DW vs. 2h however, is a whole different topic and I'm personally trying to find more information on that as well.
I wish staffs had the +% dmg to Monks but from ALL the staffs I've seen on beta right now, none of them have such a thing. The only thing worthwhile I've seen is Spirit/s regen, and 1 HP/Spirit spent.
I can't find the source for polearm usage anymore, but let's assume that Monks cannot use them. In that case, why would anyone bother using staffs at all? Take a look at this:
FistWeapon_1H_204 Pulverizer 1260 2 60 57 59 - 139 1.4
If you do some math, you'll see that the ONE hander does 140 DPS while the combat staff does 155 dps. I honestly do NOT believe that people concerned with killing speed will even touch the staff due to how underwhelming it is. You generate Spirit almost twice as fast with DW and only lose 15 DPS? Count me in.
Sigh, I may have to play a barb afterall. At least their Fury gen isn't too dependent on hitting with your combo attacks alone.
Also, to my knowledge, Monks can't use any 2H weapons other than staves. Even in the current beta, all the beta testers who have played monks can dual-wield most 1H weapons but can't equip any 2H axes, swords, etc.
staves
The datamined info calls them Combat Staff so that's why I'm referring to them as staffs. But let's call them staves now to avoid confusion with the Wizard staffs.
And Peace, Blizzard cannot balance Fists weapons alone. Monks are able to use just about every 1h weapon in the game, just like Barbs. According to this website, staves only have 2 max sockets while every other 2hder has 3. DWing would yield you 4 in total. It's as if Blizz is treating staves like a 1h weapon right now with very slightly higher dmg than DWing and a lot less spirit gen.
Also, unlike the Barbarian (almost all of his abilities are based on Weapon Damage), the Monk has a handful of non-Weapon Damage abilities. If you use Wave of Light or runed Lethal Decoy as your main attack, you'll hit harder with high Spirit generation than with high melee damage.
Staves hit for a ton, and are way better than fist weapons. Let's not get caught up on comparisons of one 2hander to the next just yet, not enough info in that department.
Looks pretty effective to me!
/end
(i'm speaking entirely about a dodge build with guardian's path, i haven't really looked at anything else for the monk)