I've read a lot of posts on these forums with other players listing their stats and the statement "I can pretty much farm all of Act 3 no problem with this!" and the subtle differences start to become a little daunting. I know there has to be other players like me that are trying to get our characters to the place we see other folks at in YouTube videos. I know they have high-end gear and positively reinforce you that you can too, one day. But I, like others, probably have some gold to invest and want to spend it wisely.
It seems the variance in suggestions all over is either between Armor, Resistances, or LoH.
I think anyone can agree that Dex, Vit and Crit Chance/% are key. But its the first three that I'm asking for advice.
I see a lot of people commenting that they Dual Wield with the Enchantress armor buff. If the intent is to get high Crit %, than why not the Scoundrel? I'm assuming that the armor increase from the Enchantress is a must OVER the 3% additional crit. Which leads me to believe that if I can get my armor number up higher, I might be able to survive Act 3.
Right now I can handle Act 2. I think a lot of people can - this is the first stepping stone. Once I set foot into Act 3, I get destroyed by elemental damage. My dps doesn't seem to be strong enough to burn mobs down. So I know where to look for that - Crit %/Dmg. But I also die so fast to any bare touch of elemental damage. The trash in Act 2 with a base ability of fireballs that burn on the ground like Desecrator drop me almost faster than Desecrator does.
So this leads me to think I need higher Resistence.
But so many say "get 1k LoH and you can take the elemental damage - I have 600 resists and I do just fine."
So what is it? I want to Dual Wield in Act 3. I have no base MF and that's another journey of over-priced AH adventures to try and get that going. I apologize for this - but here are my stats:
40K health
26k Dps self buffed
1.56 attack speed
636 Resistences
30.5 Crit Chance (Scoundrel included in that)
228 Crit Damage
659 LoH
253 Str
1405 Dex
605 Int
954 Vit
4318 Armor
I can safely say that I can not farm Act 3 at all. I can maybe survive a pack if they have no elemental damage. And I do not face-tank. I only face-tank for four seconds with Serenity. Otherwise I make sure to kite like a ranged character.
To anyone that has read this far, thank you so much. So what's the "aha - you just need to increase this!" bits of advice that anyone can offer? I got this gear by farming and spending about 5m on the AH for weapons. So I'm assuming that most in Act 2 are probably at a crossroads like me and trying to figure out how to to join the Act 3 club.
Armor/resists and LoH can certain offset each other. Personally I think you're low on them all: armor, resists and LoH. Another thing that confuses me a bit is that you have extremely high crit chance and dmg, but your self-buffed dps seem rather low.
I think basically you're in no-mans-land right now. Your dps isn't anywhere near high enough to blow the elites away, and your def stats are very low for act 3. If you're gonna keep those def stats, I think your dps needs to be upped at least 50%, and probably more. If you're gonna keep the dmg, I think your armor needs to go up by some 1-2k, and resists by 150-200.
You also need to take into account what skills you're using. I for instance die a lot in act 3 if I use MoC Overawe. But if I change to MoE Hard Target, I do a lot better.
I agree that the dps is low - I'm using a 1h axe with total 110 crit damage on it and some small amount of dex on it in the main hand. That has like 898 dps on it. Off hand I have a 720 dps with 230 LoH and small amount of dex.
i see people saying all the time in posts that you can find weapons with LoH and low DPS for moderately affordable prices on the AH. THey are talking in the 600 to 700 dps range. So there is an item on the AH I've been looking at that I is up tonight and its a 900 dps weapon with 40 crit on it and a socket. But this would mean that I would be dropping my LoH to almost nothing. Which as I've stated, everyone says to have some to help.
Short of going sword and board, I have no idea how to up my armor to the 7k/9k numbers that many talk about. I prefer Dual Wield, but I'll do what I have to to progress. I can get more resistances, but I have to lose about 10 to 15 crit to do it.
Suggestions?
Edit: Forgot to mention, I do use MoC - Overawe. I tried MoE while using a shield early on in Act 2. But again, I keep reading that DPS is key. So MoC makes more sense. Just explaining my thought process.
What I did to get my armor up is three things.
1) Enchantress.
The enchantress is a must imo because she gives you more armor AND more attack speed. If you are surviving off of your LoH, more attack speed is always good
2) Lots of Dex. I bought weapons with lower damage (700) but 300 dex. This gives me more dodge chance and helps my 3rd step.
3) Seize the Initiative.
Dex = Armor.
I haven't cleared act 3, because I've spent all my gold on my other characters, but I defeated everything up to and including Ghom.
Dual wield of course.
Edit: ok here are my stats, and remember I couldn't complete a3
1900 dex
32.7k hp
640all res
800 LoH
39% dodge
17.7k dps unbuffed
20.4k dps buffed
4865 armor
1.92 attacks per second on average
174 life regen http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#aYgikX!ZXU!acYZab
I think this build is pretty solid, and would work better if I had maybe 500 more LoH, more attack speed and more damage.
I honestly don't know how to balance def stats and crit, I haven't managed to do it myself yet. I run with 5% crit and 50% crit dmg, and got 25k dmg shown in character sheet unbuffed.
As for armor, I hit 7k with enchantress. Hard Target brings that up to over 8k. I DW, but I have +1000 armor on my gear. 4318 armor simply sounds very low. You are using Seize The Initiative I assume?
i've been using the Scoundrel and I will give the Enchantress a try. Based on your feedback and Coaster_Man I feel like the progression is going for higher armor/res/loh. I can get gear with high dex, some vit and dual resists - but no crit. for that magic combo on one piece is like four hundred gahzillion gold )
Build wise I'd recommend either transcendence or guardian's path over resolve. The dangerous things tend to be elemental stuff on ground, and resolve doesn't help against that. If you're struggling you should also give MoE Hard Target a try, it's a huge difference compared to running MoC.
Gear wise, definitely try to find +armor on your future upgrades. Many people will see it as a useless stat, and sell rather cheap.
Im in a dilemma between the enchantress or scoundrel.. I have 23% crit rate with the scoundrel but a slightly more atkspeed and armor with the enchant..
I wanted to check in real fast, before I fall out of my desk chair and sleep on our dirty office floor, with some information that has helped me significantly.
I was watching one of Newtiunplugged's videos this afternoon and he commented on five rules, so to speak, to help you make choices for gearing. As I've read the great post/guide from Thaya: http://www.diablofan...pdated-for-103/ they mention a great break down of stats to look for on items. But one thing that didn't set in with me is the absolute priority of stats to look for first on each item. I got the impression from the guide that you could pick two or three of the six or seven stats listed to be in the right place.
Newtiunplugged said as the first rule; all pieces of gear must have Dex, Vit and at least your chosen resist on them. The higher the dex, the better. That was sorta standard for me anyway, but its relevance was clear to me with the second rule; go for Attack Speed on your rings and not crit. If you can find a ring with both (also with Dex, Vit and Resist) great - but Attack Speed first. His reasoning was that Attack Speed has a higher % value on Rings than Crit does. So go get crit on your gloves, ammy and bracers - attack speed on your rings.
I took a look at my gear and I had 3 pieces that broke the first rule - they had Dex and Vit, but not at least my chosen resist. Mainly my two rings and my chest. So I dropped some gold and got rings with Attack Speed at 7% a piece and Dex, Vit, Resits. He also talked about weapons with high dex on them and no LoH. He doesn't care for it and I understand why. I still do, but I took a look on the AH and found a 790 dps weapon with 224 dex and 48 crit% with an open socket. Nabbed it for 1.5m and my DPS went from 28k to 36k buffed. I also followed the advice from folks who responded to this thread and switched to the Enchantress and I'm very pleased with the Armor and Attack Speed buff.
Suffice to say that I haven't ventured into Act 3 yet today - I did run Act 2 significantly faster and only died 3 times, to the stupid tall spinning mobs that look like the things from the 8-bit Zelda. I got my res up to 700 and with a health increase to 42k, I definitely can see the difference.
Hope it helps and thank you all again for the advice!
One thing that I think is huge from Shinna's post is the AH buying. There are so many good items that people put up for small amounts of gold and no buyout. This means that you are going to have to be patient, set a schedule/reminder when that auction is coming up and bid on it at the last second. You should know what your max bid threshold should be for the item, by comparing to the others with buyouts. I've gotten a couple of nice items, because I was willing to wake up at 5:00 a.m. and buy the item and then go back to sleep
Again, I stress that the information that I have found made a HUGE difference for me in Act 2 - I have yet to set foot into Act 3 again and most likely will not until I have a new weapon or at least 40k dps.
I'd also not underestimate the power of Vit - I made a couple of gear switches last night and it dropped me from 44k to 38k and I was feeling that pressure and died a few more times than was normal because of the difference. I think having a helm or another piece with Vit and % to life is very helpful.
i currently have an amulet with 200+ dex vit, fire resist, I am thinking of switching it over to blackthorn that i already bidded, though it has no dex, but has fire res, 6% attack speed, 4% crit, 400 loh, 12% life etc, not sure if it'd be a good dps upgrade, but it has more crit and loh for survival, also allow me to remove my loh gem from my weapon
Random question, wrg to molthen. I have noticed that when I attack elites with molten, I always get burned with some elites! I can visually see that the molten is only behind the mobs. Is this a bug or is it expected behavior?
Midoree: If the molten mobs move sideways when fighting you, the molten spawns also right under them, which is close enough for you to take damage from it. So if you see the mobs repositioning themselves around you, you'll know it's time to get moving again.
I tried using a shield today since I looted a sacred shield with 13% blockrate, 144Vit, some str and int with 8%crit.. there was like a 4086dps drop on the stat sheet but I barely felt the dps loss, the durability of my character increased like 3 folds! Didnt expect shields could do such wonders!
@EarlZO88: Without knowing your gearsets its kinda hard to give u an answer.
Helm,Chest,Rings,Amulet,Weapons are looted stuff
For the weapons, I alternate between both fists depending if I can face tank the elite or not.
700 Resist
23.50% Critical Chance
138% Hit Damage
5.6K armor
24.3k dps with the life leeching fist
30.4k dps with the other fist
I tried act 3 again last night, this time with 42k hp, instead of 31k hp and was able to get to ghom (didn't attempt him was 2 late). Kill all elites except (crazy affixes)
My stats are:
42k hp
529 resists
18500 dps unbuffed
4.2k armor with enchantress (not with hard target)
700 LOH
28% crit chance
+-120% crit damage
what speed is optimum for a monk weapon ? ive been using a 1.50 attacks per sec Fist is this decent ? I was always under impressions 1.4-1.6 is good but reading some comments around im begining to wonder.
It seems the variance in suggestions all over is either between Armor, Resistances, or LoH.
I think anyone can agree that Dex, Vit and Crit Chance/% are key. But its the first three that I'm asking for advice.
I see a lot of people commenting that they Dual Wield with the Enchantress armor buff. If the intent is to get high Crit %, than why not the Scoundrel? I'm assuming that the armor increase from the Enchantress is a must OVER the 3% additional crit. Which leads me to believe that if I can get my armor number up higher, I might be able to survive Act 3.
Right now I can handle Act 2. I think a lot of people can - this is the first stepping stone. Once I set foot into Act 3, I get destroyed by elemental damage. My dps doesn't seem to be strong enough to burn mobs down. So I know where to look for that - Crit %/Dmg. But I also die so fast to any bare touch of elemental damage. The trash in Act 2 with a base ability of fireballs that burn on the ground like Desecrator drop me almost faster than Desecrator does.
So this leads me to think I need higher Resistence.
But so many say "get 1k LoH and you can take the elemental damage - I have 600 resists and I do just fine."
So what is it? I want to Dual Wield in Act 3. I have no base MF and that's another journey of over-priced AH adventures to try and get that going. I apologize for this - but here are my stats:
40K health
26k Dps self buffed
1.56 attack speed
636 Resistences
30.5 Crit Chance (Scoundrel included in that)
228 Crit Damage
659 LoH
253 Str
1405 Dex
605 Int
954 Vit
4318 Armor
I can safely say that I can not farm Act 3 at all. I can maybe survive a pack if they have no elemental damage. And I do not face-tank. I only face-tank for four seconds with Serenity. Otherwise I make sure to kite like a ranged character.
To anyone that has read this far, thank you so much. So what's the "aha - you just need to increase this!" bits of advice that anyone can offer? I got this gear by farming and spending about 5m on the AH for weapons. So I'm assuming that most in Act 2 are probably at a crossroads like me and trying to figure out how to to join the Act 3 club.
Thanks for the help!
Monkalicious: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/OptimusPrime-12194/hero/79139477
I think basically you're in no-mans-land right now. Your dps isn't anywhere near high enough to blow the elites away, and your def stats are very low for act 3. If you're gonna keep those def stats, I think your dps needs to be upped at least 50%, and probably more. If you're gonna keep the dmg, I think your armor needs to go up by some 1-2k, and resists by 150-200.
You also need to take into account what skills you're using. I for instance die a lot in act 3 if I use MoC Overawe. But if I change to MoE Hard Target, I do a lot better.
I agree that the dps is low - I'm using a 1h axe with total 110 crit damage on it and some small amount of dex on it in the main hand. That has like 898 dps on it. Off hand I have a 720 dps with 230 LoH and small amount of dex.
i see people saying all the time in posts that you can find weapons with LoH and low DPS for moderately affordable prices on the AH. THey are talking in the 600 to 700 dps range. So there is an item on the AH I've been looking at that I is up tonight and its a 900 dps weapon with 40 crit on it and a socket. But this would mean that I would be dropping my LoH to almost nothing. Which as I've stated, everyone says to have some to help.
Short of going sword and board, I have no idea how to up my armor to the 7k/9k numbers that many talk about. I prefer Dual Wield, but I'll do what I have to to progress. I can get more resistances, but I have to lose about 10 to 15 crit to do it.
Suggestions?
Edit: Forgot to mention, I do use MoC - Overawe. I tried MoE while using a shield early on in Act 2. But again, I keep reading that DPS is key. So MoC makes more sense. Just explaining my thought process.
Monkalicious: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/OptimusPrime-12194/hero/79139477
1) Enchantress.
The enchantress is a must imo because she gives you more armor AND more attack speed. If you are surviving off of your LoH, more attack speed is always good
2) Lots of Dex. I bought weapons with lower damage (700) but 300 dex. This gives me more dodge chance and helps my 3rd step.
3) Seize the Initiative.
Dex = Armor.
I haven't cleared act 3, because I've spent all my gold on my other characters, but I defeated everything up to and including Ghom.
Dual wield of course.
Edit: ok here are my stats, and remember I couldn't complete a3
1900 dex
32.7k hp
640all res
800 LoH
39% dodge
17.7k dps unbuffed
20.4k dps buffed
4865 armor
1.92 attacks per second on average
174 life regen
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#aYgikX!ZXU!acYZab
I think this build is pretty solid, and would work better if I had maybe 500 more LoH, more attack speed and more damage.
As for armor, I hit 7k with enchantress. Hard Target brings that up to over 8k. I DW, but I have +1000 armor on my gear. 4318 armor simply sounds very low. You are using Seize The Initiative I assume?
Here is my build: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#aXYkig!ZXU!abcacY
i've been using the Scoundrel and I will give the Enchantress a try. Based on your feedback and Coaster_Man I feel like the progression is going for higher armor/res/loh. I can get gear with high dex, some vit and dual resists - but no crit. for that magic combo on one piece is like four hundred gahzillion gold )
Monkalicious: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/OptimusPrime-12194/hero/79139477
Gear wise, definitely try to find +armor on your future upgrades. Many people will see it as a useless stat, and sell rather cheap.
I wanted to check in real fast, before I fall out of my desk chair and sleep on our dirty office floor, with some information that has helped me significantly.
I was watching one of Newtiunplugged's videos this afternoon and he commented on five rules, so to speak, to help you make choices for gearing. As I've read the great post/guide from Thaya: http://www.diablofan...pdated-for-103/ they mention a great break down of stats to look for on items. But one thing that didn't set in with me is the absolute priority of stats to look for first on each item. I got the impression from the guide that you could pick two or three of the six or seven stats listed to be in the right place.
Newtiunplugged said as the first rule; all pieces of gear must have Dex, Vit and at least your chosen resist on them. The higher the dex, the better. That was sorta standard for me anyway, but its relevance was clear to me with the second rule; go for Attack Speed on your rings and not crit. If you can find a ring with both (also with Dex, Vit and Resist) great - but Attack Speed first. His reasoning was that Attack Speed has a higher % value on Rings than Crit does. So go get crit on your gloves, ammy and bracers - attack speed on your rings.
I took a look at my gear and I had 3 pieces that broke the first rule - they had Dex and Vit, but not at least my chosen resist. Mainly my two rings and my chest. So I dropped some gold and got rings with Attack Speed at 7% a piece and Dex, Vit, Resits. He also talked about weapons with high dex on them and no LoH. He doesn't care for it and I understand why. I still do, but I took a look on the AH and found a 790 dps weapon with 224 dex and 48 crit% with an open socket. Nabbed it for 1.5m and my DPS went from 28k to 36k buffed. I also followed the advice from folks who responded to this thread and switched to the Enchantress and I'm very pleased with the Armor and Attack Speed buff.
Suffice to say that I haven't ventured into Act 3 yet today - I did run Act 2 significantly faster and only died 3 times, to the stupid tall spinning mobs that look like the things from the 8-bit Zelda. I got my res up to 700 and with a health increase to 42k, I definitely can see the difference.
Hope it helps and thank you all again for the advice!
Monkalicious: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/OptimusPrime-12194/hero/79139477
So far lots of useful posts.
Again, I stress that the information that I have found made a HUGE difference for me in Act 2 - I have yet to set foot into Act 3 again and most likely will not until I have a new weapon or at least 40k dps.
I'd also not underestimate the power of Vit - I made a couple of gear switches last night and it dropped me from 44k to 38k and I was feeling that pressure and died a few more times than was normal because of the difference. I think having a helm or another piece with Vit and % to life is very helpful.
Monkalicious: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/OptimusPrime-12194/hero/79139477
Helm,Chest,Rings,Amulet,Weapons are looted stuff
For the weapons, I alternate between both fists depending if I can face tank the elite or not.
700 Resist
23.50% Critical Chance
138% Hit Damage
5.6K armor
24.3k dps with the life leeching fist
30.4k dps with the other fist
No enchantress/Scoundrel buffs included.
My stats are:
42k hp
529 resists
18500 dps unbuffed
4.2k armor with enchantress (not with hard target)
700 LOH
28% crit chance
+-120% crit damage
Build (for progression I use hard target though)
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#aiXYgh!XUd!acbcYc