I've been fiddling with this build for a while now, so I thought it was about time it be critiqued by people far more knowledgeable than myself.
Let me explain my thought process:
1) Exploding Palm with Essence Burn, used as the 3rd hit for 80% per second.
2) Fists of Thunder with Thunderclap, attack twice hitting everyone within 8 yards of the target for 75%. Also blinks forward a bit.
With those two, the Monk should be able to alternate the hits of the 3rd Exploding Palm as the mob is getting hit with 75% hits from Fists.
If you need to reposition you can stun the crowd and move to a more advantageous spot. I don't know how long the effect is supposed to last for the 45% reduction, as long as Tempest Rush is active?
5) Breath of Heaven with 20% damage boost
6) Mantra of Conviction with 30% damage reduction for monsters
With Transcendence and Resolve you get healed for Spirit use and reduce the damage of monsters you hit. Does Resolve apply to those hit with Fists of Thunder's Thunderclap rune? That reduces damage by 10% as well, for 2.5s.
With this build I wanted an AoE damager with Crowd Control abilities. While it's damaging, it mitigates monster output.
I was wondering if Crippling Wave would be better than Exploding Palm? With Obsidian, Crippling Wave reduces monster damage by 50% for 6s. Either for a second or third hit it will provide mitigation to monsters in front or around you. But there's no fiery Damage Over Time effect boosted by your Mantra and so on. So I don't know if it'll kill anything.
This might be a good place to clarify some things about Exploding Palm.
1) The third strike of EP does no damage other than applying the bleed effect, correct?
2) From the skill description it reads as if Alabaster runed EP had the cadaver explosion (% of HP) removed. Is that correct? If so, that would make this combination completely useless compared to Indigo runed EP, hell, even regular EP. What am I missing here?
OT: While I don't agree with all of your choices, I really appreciate the idea that you designed your build for fights against large groups of strong enemies. The recent videos from BC had me really worried concerning the monk's survivability in those kind of fights.
1) I don't think you do any damage beyond the bleed effect. But not completely sure on that.
2) Maybe it did, it's always in flux. My idea for this was to apply a stronger DoT since there wasn't a lot of damage in this build. Creeping Demise might be a good alternative.
Thanks, that was the worry I've had since they announced "Inferno" difficulty. I pictured small groups of heavy hitters with really large hitpoint pools. Hence the AOE and Mitigation.
I expect damage reduction stacks multiplicative (since I think it would be a little too powerful otherwise) which means it might not be worth taking Resolve when you already have Mantra of Conviction with the Alabaster runestone. I'd probably take Seize the Initiative instead.
I've been looking at something similar with Obsidian Crippling Wave and Alabaster Mantra of Conviction myself, but it's hard to say how much stacking the skills will be worth until we know more of the mechanics. Always fun to speculate of course, until Blizzard hurries up and ships the damn game so we can play!
This might be a good place to clarify some things about Exploding Palm.
1) The third strike of EP does no damage other than applying the bleed effect, correct?
2) From the skill description it reads as if Alabaster runed EP had the cadaver explosion (% of HP) removed. Is that correct? If so, that would make this combination completely useless compared to Indigo runed EP, hell, even regular EP. What am I missing here?
We won't know for sure until we get to play with runestones, but I'm pretty sure Blizzard will tune the numbers so all the rune versions are at least better than the unruned skill. Other than that it might be that the fire damage is on top of the physical damage from the basic corpse explosion. Most of the other versions of the skills doesn't explicitly say the explosion is still there either.
From what others have said, it's all multiplicative. Good point though, Seize the Initiative should be quite decent for a Mitigation build. It's passive for one thing, so you won't have to hit the target to reduce its output by 10%.
I actually have a variant build that replaces EP with Obsidian Crippling Wave. You have the balance of having effects around your character or directly forward for a nice mix, depending on the situation.
Currently trying to use Seven Sided Strike somehow. Being more or less invincible while the effect is playing should ramp up survivability, but it'll require changes to the Passives and so on.
Do you think Tempest Rush with the Crimson Runestone is too much, if coupled with both Obsidian Crippling Wave and Alabaster Mantra of Conviction? That's 45%, 50% and 30%.
That has to be multiplicative but how is that calculated?
2) From the skill description it reads as if Alabaster runed EP had the cadaver explosion (% of HP) removed. Is that correct? If so, that would make this combination completely useless compared to Indigo runed EP, hell, even regular EP. What am I missing here?
Alabaster Rune causes the bleed effect to "jump" to all other nearby targets if the original target is killed while bleeding. With the Rank 4 Rune, the jumping bleeds do 70% weapon damage per second for 2 seconds (total 140%) and, if those targets die, the bleed can jump again and again and again. Basically, the mechanic is similar, except the damage is done over time with Alabaster instead of up front with the base skill and, unlike the base skill, it can self-propagate. Also, since Alabaster's damage is based on weapon damage instead of monster HP, it's more consistent, though, depending on the monster that gets exploded, possibly less (or more) powerful. So it's definitely not useless.
Obsidian Crippling Wave and Many Sided Strike replace Exploding Palm and Tempest Rush.
The mitigation is only 65% but it's a lot more constant now. I'm thinking about using the Crimson Runestone for SSS: Teleport and deal 195% damage per hit. It'll let me jump around the place.
Oh, and it's using Beacon of Ytar. Is the added 50% spirit cost also factored into Transcendence? Because that would be nifty.
Oh, and it's using Beacon of Ytar. Is the added 50% spirit cost also factored into Transcendence? Because that would be nifty.
Since you are spending the extra spirit I'd be very surprised if Transcendence doesn't count it.
I expect you plan on using the two quick Fists of Thunder hits and the third combo hit from Crippling Wave? I'm still wavering on which two spirit generators to pick (my build will be as much of a jack-of-all-trades as I can fit since there's no chance I'll have the patience or inclination to swap builds before/after bosses and such). There's still a few months for deciding though
Sweet.
Here's my combo plan:
1) Mobs surround my monk
- 2 x Fists of Thunder, 3rd hit: Crippling Wave
- Seven Sided Strike as Spirit dump
- Lashing Tail Kick as needed
2) Mobs are in a group but not surrounding my Monk
- Crippling Wave, Fist of Thunder, 3rd hit: Fist of Thunder
- Same Spirit Dumps
The point is to focus the Forward damage and the AoE damage in their own combo strings.
Don't know how well it'll play out though. All I know is I saw that video of devs playing Inferno and they got killed constantly, so I want to mitigate that as much as possible!
1) Fists of Thunder (Alabaster) - This steps up Dodge chance, slightly. Can be replaced with Crimson to AOE Hit. First two hits of a combo start here.
2) Crippling Wave (Obsidian) - Cuts damage in half to everyone around the Mitigator. Meaning this guy needs some mobility.
3) Dashing Strike (Obsidian) - With a 21% boost to Dodge, and the ability to "charge" groups you can easily handle separate mob groups.
4) Seven Sided Strike (Indigo) - Extra Damage and hopefully a longer animation time means less time for you to get hit.
5) Blinding Flash (Obsidian) - So they're going to do less damage to everything, and they'll have an increased miss chance against you... why not let the damage potentially go to their friends instead of you?
6) Mantra of Evasion (Crimson) - 90% weapon damage as Fire damage everytime you dodge?
Passives:
Transcendence - With no dedicated healing spells this will be the primary means of regenerating health.
Beacon of Ytar - Seven Sided Strike has a boring 30s cooldown. I hope to use that as an effective damage dealer.
One With Everything - With high dodge and mitigation, Resistances will shore up the lack of other defenses. Considering "Seize The Initiative" but I don't know if Defense lowers damage from spells as well. I recall hearing it did, but only gameplay experience will show which is overall more useful.
Assuming the Monk has 0% Dodge chance and 0% Damage Resistance, this gives him a 51.6% chance to Dodge and mitigates 65% of the enemy's damage. If Blinding Flash is applied, it'll only increase survivability.
(44.7% Dodge chance without the Fists of Thunder Alabaster rune. With Crimson Rune Damage would go way up.)
I don't know if Blinding Flash's increased miss chance translates as "Dodging" for the sake of the Mantra of Evasion's Crimson Rune. Because that would be awesome. He'll stand in the middle of a group of mobs who'll keep missing him and they'll get fried and even hit each other. If they hit him, it'll be at 35% of their normal strength.
Math may be horridly wrong as it's 1am.
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I've been fiddling with this build for a while now, so I thought it was about time it be critiqued by people far more knowledgeable than myself.
Let me explain my thought process:
1) Exploding Palm with Essence Burn, used as the 3rd hit for 80% per second.
2) Fists of Thunder with Thunderclap, attack twice hitting everyone within 8 yards of the target for 75%. Also blinks forward a bit.
With those two, the Monk should be able to alternate the hits of the 3rd Exploding Palm as the mob is getting hit with 75% hits from Fists.
3) Lashing Tail Kick, 2.2 stun.
4) Tempest Rush with 45% damage reduction.
If you need to reposition you can stun the crowd and move to a more advantageous spot. I don't know how long the effect is supposed to last for the 45% reduction, as long as Tempest Rush is active?
5) Breath of Heaven with 20% damage boost
6) Mantra of Conviction with 30% damage reduction for monsters
With Transcendence and Resolve you get healed for Spirit use and reduce the damage of monsters you hit. Does Resolve apply to those hit with Fists of Thunder's Thunderclap rune? That reduces damage by 10% as well, for 2.5s.
With this build I wanted an AoE damager with Crowd Control abilities. While it's damaging, it mitigates monster output.
I was wondering if Crippling Wave would be better than Exploding Palm? With Obsidian, Crippling Wave reduces monster damage by 50% for 6s. Either for a second or third hit it will provide mitigation to monsters in front or around you. But there's no fiery Damage Over Time effect boosted by your Mantra and so on. So I don't know if it'll kill anything.
Thoughts?
1) I don't think you do any damage beyond the bleed effect. But not completely sure on that.
2) Maybe it did, it's always in flux. My idea for this was to apply a stronger DoT since there wasn't a lot of damage in this build. Creeping Demise might be a good alternative.
Thanks, that was the worry I've had since they announced "Inferno" difficulty. I pictured small groups of heavy hitters with really large hitpoint pools. Hence the AOE and Mitigation.
From what others have said, it's all multiplicative. Good point though, Seize the Initiative should be quite decent for a Mitigation build. It's passive for one thing, so you won't have to hit the target to reduce its output by 10%.
I actually have a variant build that replaces EP with Obsidian Crippling Wave. You have the balance of having effects around your character or directly forward for a nice mix, depending on the situation.
Currently trying to use Seven Sided Strike somehow. Being more or less invincible while the effect is playing should ramp up survivability, but it'll require changes to the Passives and so on.
Do you think Tempest Rush with the Crimson Runestone is too much, if coupled with both Obsidian Crippling Wave and Alabaster Mantra of Conviction? That's 45%, 50% and 30%.
That has to be multiplicative but how is that calculated?
Alabaster Rune causes the bleed effect to "jump" to all other nearby targets if the original target is killed while bleeding. With the Rank 4 Rune, the jumping bleeds do 70% weapon damage per second for 2 seconds (total 140%) and, if those targets die, the bleed can jump again and again and again. Basically, the mechanic is similar, except the damage is done over time with Alabaster instead of up front with the base skill and, unlike the base skill, it can self-propagate. Also, since Alabaster's damage is based on weapon damage instead of monster HP, it's more consistent, though, depending on the monster that gets exploded, possibly less (or more) powerful. So it's definitely not useless.
Someone in another thread on here showed that dodge stacking was multiplicative so I think its safe to assume this.
Hmm, nifty. And doh, I thought Tempest Rush would last longer. Now I need a more mobile option. Perhaps SSS?
EDIT:
Here's the modified alternative.
Obsidian Crippling Wave and Many Sided Strike replace Exploding Palm and Tempest Rush.
The mitigation is only 65% but it's a lot more constant now. I'm thinking about using the Crimson Runestone for SSS: Teleport and deal 195% damage per hit. It'll let me jump around the place.
Oh, and it's using Beacon of Ytar. Is the added 50% spirit cost also factored into Transcendence? Because that would be nifty.
Sweet.
Here's my combo plan:
1) Mobs surround my monk
- 2 x Fists of Thunder, 3rd hit: Crippling Wave
- Seven Sided Strike as Spirit dump
- Lashing Tail Kick as needed
2) Mobs are in a group but not surrounding my Monk
- Crippling Wave, Fist of Thunder, 3rd hit: Fist of Thunder
- Same Spirit Dumps
The point is to focus the Forward damage and the AoE damage in their own combo strings.
Don't know how well it'll play out though. All I know is I saw that video of devs playing Inferno and they got killed constantly, so I want to mitigate that as much as possible!
1) Fists of Thunder (Alabaster) - This steps up Dodge chance, slightly. Can be replaced with Crimson to AOE Hit. First two hits of a combo start here.
2) Crippling Wave (Obsidian) - Cuts damage in half to everyone around the Mitigator. Meaning this guy needs some mobility.
3) Dashing Strike (Obsidian) - With a 21% boost to Dodge, and the ability to "charge" groups you can easily handle separate mob groups.
4) Seven Sided Strike (Indigo) - Extra Damage and hopefully a longer animation time means less time for you to get hit.
5) Blinding Flash (Obsidian) - So they're going to do less damage to everything, and they'll have an increased miss chance against you... why not let the damage potentially go to their friends instead of you?
6) Mantra of Evasion (Crimson) - 90% weapon damage as Fire damage everytime you dodge?
Passives:
Transcendence - With no dedicated healing spells this will be the primary means of regenerating health.
Beacon of Ytar - Seven Sided Strike has a boring 30s cooldown. I hope to use that as an effective damage dealer.
One With Everything - With high dodge and mitigation, Resistances will shore up the lack of other defenses. Considering "Seize The Initiative" but I don't know if Defense lowers damage from spells as well. I recall hearing it did, but only gameplay experience will show which is overall more useful.
Assuming the Monk has 0% Dodge chance and 0% Damage Resistance, this gives him a 51.6% chance to Dodge and mitigates 65% of the enemy's damage. If Blinding Flash is applied, it'll only increase survivability.
(44.7% Dodge chance without the Fists of Thunder Alabaster rune. With Crimson Rune Damage would go way up.)
I don't know if Blinding Flash's increased miss chance translates as "Dodging" for the sake of the Mantra of Evasion's Crimson Rune. Because that would be awesome. He'll stand in the middle of a group of mobs who'll keep missing him and they'll get fried and even hit each other. If they hit him, it'll be at 35% of their normal strength.
Math may be horridly wrong as it's 1am.