I really like this build for solo play, and am planning on this being the first character I make.
Basically how I plan on playing is laying down my combo Hundred Fists, Deadly Reach, Exploding Palm. This combo offers physical, holy, and fire damage, so should be decent against resistances. I presume Hundred Fists is AOE so I am laying down 275% damage to all the units I hit with my first attack, then AOE Deadly Reach for 130%, followed by Exploding Palm for 334% damage to my target. That is 749% damage (with potential for crits) to my first target, with the potential to explode and spread most of that damage to units near it.
After I lay down my combo I have enough spirit to use Dashing Strike. I aim for casters and ranged attackers, in the process slowing down the melee enemies and lowering my chances of getting surrounded. Lay down another combo, rinse and repeat. Lashing Tail Kick and Seven Sided Strike are there for additional damage as needed.
I think my passives give me the extra survivability/damage utility that will be needed playing by myself.
This playstyle should compliment pretty much any weapon I find, whether wielding a slower 2 hander, going dual wield, or getting a shield if I need the extra protection. Laying down the combo shouldn't take too long, and as long as I am going from one part of the screen to the other every couple of seconds I should be fine. I don't believe this build is for the lazy as I am expecting to be going through 4 of my skills every 2=3 seconds, and illustrates the complexity with which the monk can be played.
The cooldown on Seven Sided Strike just kind of turns me off to it a bit. I would probably replace it with a mantra. I'd probably go with Mantra of Conviction, but that's more down to playstyle. You might prefer something else.
I am not sure how useful Mantras will be when playing solo. If I was playing in groups all the time I would definitely make a switch like that, but for solo play I think SSS might be more useful since it will provide healing with Transcendence, and temporary invulnerability while dishing out a bunch of damage.
The build I plan on using is pretty similar, except I replaced Exploding Palm with Manta of Regeneration with an Alabaster rune. The bonus resistance is too good to pass up (Though I did notice that I put both One with Everything and the runed resistance mantra...I should switch something out!). I also have Breath of Heaven for more heals Can't have too many heals available, you know?
I would sacrifice Fleet Footed for Seize of the Initiative. Why? Since You have Dashing Strike You can sacrifice mobility over survivability. Imagine situation in where on every screen You have 20 enemies(i'm guessing), You stand Your ground and now ...This Passive somehow wastes himself since Dashing strike does the hard work for You. - You just need to develop in Yourself reading of the battlefield - where to Dash in order to run/ strike/ ect and You end up with original taken "Fleet Footed" passive replaced with similiar skill that give You additional defense.
Transcendencion - Its great for You since You will be spamming Dashing Strike, Lashing Tail Kick, Seven Sided Strike But... You need to think for a second - do You want heal once over time for more hp or small portions of health during battle. I would've chosen the both.How?
Dashing Strike and Seven Sided Strike in order for small portions of healing and second get Wave of Light(with any kind of rune only not the gold one since You want something similiar to "breath of life") skill but as spirit spender. So Lashing tail out .. Wave of light in.
Dashing strike 15 spirit
7 sided attack 50 spirit
Wave of light 100 spirit
x 118.6 life
Nice gamma of healing - versatile as much as it can be for You to decide whenever use one soft or hardcore healing (I understand the main dps as spirit generator will still come from Exploding Palm - cool stuff )
Six Sense - Great stuff but very Item-Build-depended. If You will lack of proper items that would increase Your dex reconsider using this passive as "Changeable" that You will be changing it to adapt onto the battlefield.
- Guardian Path
- One With Everything
- Near Death Experience
On the top last change - Since You're not using Combination Strike as a Passive I would stick with two spirit generates - Way of a Hundred Fists (1) (2) and Exploding Palm (3) And put in this slot mantra of Evasion (if Guardian Path for more dodge), Mantra of Conviction - or another Mantra. You find suitable for Your build.
May Ytar guides You
Edit: some cosmetic changes to the text
You make a good point about Fleet of Foot. I just wasn't sure if I would need to be repositioning myself after using Dashing Strike to make sure that I keep enemies in front of me to make sure my generators are getting the most out of their AOE.
Sixth Sense is obviously item dependent. If I am getting crap for drops then I am going to have to go another option, but I do like the idea of having a fairly high crit chance for this build.
As for swapping Wave of Light in for Lashing Tail Kick, I am not sure if it would be all that more useful. The way I have LTK runed might actually deal more damage per spirit spent than WoL, since it is straight line that goes pretty far. I just am not familiar enough with WoL right now to know if it would be superior. Also, LTK casts pretty quick, so I could get 3 off and still get about the same heal as WoL.
I am not a big fan of Mantras in a solo build. In this build, after laying down my first combo I would probably just use Hundred Fists followed by 2 attacks with Deadly Reach to soften enemies next to the one with Exploding Palm on it so there is a better chance that the burn effect will chain. If I had low + crit chance then I would probably just switch Sixth Sense for Combination Strike anyways.
Thanks for the input, always nice to see how other people think.
Im more curious as to how you think you will survive alone, when you have no dodge, no armor buffs par Seize the initiative and no -dmg modifiers on enemies. I think you should invest in more defensive passives / procs if this build is aimed at solo-ing hard content.
Transendance wont prolly keep up with the incoming damage stream.
I would use either the Enchantress of the Scoundrel for some extra damage types and disables.
Most of my damage mitigation comes from me avoiding enemies. I will be constantly using Dashing Strike to shift positions as I focus on ranged attackers first, and the melee ones should be slowed enough that I don't have to worry about them getting to me until after I have dealt with the priority targets.
Also, I will be looking to get +Dexterity items which will increase my dodge.
You do make a good point about -damage modifiers though, I might look at swapping Crippling Wave with Concussion in for Deadly Reach to help survivability.
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I really like this build for solo play, and am planning on this being the first character I make.
Basically how I plan on playing is laying down my combo Hundred Fists, Deadly Reach, Exploding Palm. This combo offers physical, holy, and fire damage, so should be decent against resistances. I presume Hundred Fists is AOE so I am laying down 275% damage to all the units I hit with my first attack, then AOE Deadly Reach for 130%, followed by Exploding Palm for 334% damage to my target. That is 749% damage (with potential for crits) to my first target, with the potential to explode and spread most of that damage to units near it.
After I lay down my combo I have enough spirit to use Dashing Strike. I aim for casters and ranged attackers, in the process slowing down the melee enemies and lowering my chances of getting surrounded. Lay down another combo, rinse and repeat. Lashing Tail Kick and Seven Sided Strike are there for additional damage as needed.
I think my passives give me the extra survivability/damage utility that will be needed playing by myself.
This playstyle should compliment pretty much any weapon I find, whether wielding a slower 2 hander, going dual wield, or getting a shield if I need the extra protection. Laying down the combo shouldn't take too long, and as long as I am going from one part of the screen to the other every couple of seconds I should be fine. I don't believe this build is for the lazy as I am expecting to be going through 4 of my skills every 2=3 seconds, and illustrates the complexity with which the monk can be played.
Any suggestions, questions, points to discuss?
You make a good point about Fleet of Foot. I just wasn't sure if I would need to be repositioning myself after using Dashing Strike to make sure that I keep enemies in front of me to make sure my generators are getting the most out of their AOE.
Sixth Sense is obviously item dependent. If I am getting crap for drops then I am going to have to go another option, but I do like the idea of having a fairly high crit chance for this build.
As for swapping Wave of Light in for Lashing Tail Kick, I am not sure if it would be all that more useful. The way I have LTK runed might actually deal more damage per spirit spent than WoL, since it is straight line that goes pretty far. I just am not familiar enough with WoL right now to know if it would be superior. Also, LTK casts pretty quick, so I could get 3 off and still get about the same heal as WoL.
I am not a big fan of Mantras in a solo build. In this build, after laying down my first combo I would probably just use Hundred Fists followed by 2 attacks with Deadly Reach to soften enemies next to the one with Exploding Palm on it so there is a better chance that the burn effect will chain. If I had low + crit chance then I would probably just switch Sixth Sense for Combination Strike anyways.
Thanks for the input, always nice to see how other people think.
I probably should have included follower builds as well. http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/follower#0000!1000!1011
I would use either the Enchantress of the Scoundrel for some extra damage types and disables.
Most of my damage mitigation comes from me avoiding enemies. I will be constantly using Dashing Strike to shift positions as I focus on ranged attackers first, and the melee ones should be slowed enough that I don't have to worry about them getting to me until after I have dealt with the priority targets.
Also, I will be looking to get +Dexterity items which will increase my dodge.
You do make a good point about -damage modifiers though, I might look at swapping Crippling Wave with Concussion in for Deadly Reach to help survivability.