This next PTR patch is going to have a BUNCH of Monk changes headed your way. There's a lot to talk about here, so bear with me. This is gonna be a long one.
While we touched on Spirit Regeneration a little bit in the last patch, that was the tip of the iceberg. We're going over all the Monk Spirit Generators and making some significant changes.
Monks are quick strikers, and we wanted to increase the Spirit generation and damage of each Primary skill without just upping the numbers. We're addressing this by increasing the Attack Speed scalar of most Monk generators. This means that each will operate more quickly and scale better with Attack Speed. This is a change you won't see reflected in the tooltip or PTR data mining, but should experience in practice, especially if you already have a substantial amount of Attack Speed. This change addresses both concerns while further embracing that Monk fantasy of being fast and nimble.
We're also addressing some of the remaining Dodge mechanics that Monks have left in their kit. We're leaving a few options for players who really want to embrace the Dodge mechanic and focus on it, but others we're retooling to provide more consistent and reliable benefits. Mantra of Evasion is being replaced with Mantra of Salvation, and the base skill will now provide you and your allies within 60 yards a 20% bonus to All Resistance. We've moved the Dodge bonus to a new rune, Agility, and you'll find some other useful utility among the other new runes.
There are plenty of other changes coming as well, but I don't want to get too patch-notey here. Expect some quality of life and DPS boosts to spenders like Lashing Tail Kick and Wave of Light to make them more competitive and offer you additional options. The new Alabaster Gloves have been removed and replaced with a new Monk Seasonal Legendary Fist Weapon that increases the maximum stack count of Sweeping Winds by 5-7. Overall, there will be new toys to play with, and we're looking forward to seeing your feedback on these changes as we move into our next PTR patch.
New toys, new mechanic on attack speed generators and buff to wave of light and lashing tail kick... Also new fist that provides 5-7 stacks of sweeping wind... Sounds really really good!
EP is still a REALLY good skill on PTR. It's just not gamebreakingly required... Tagging small mobs then nuking packs is absolutely fantastic. I almost never apply it to anything I can't two shot. The increase to generator base attack speed is crucial to letting the monk hit and maneuver. The increased damage to LTK/WoL and honestly SSS is extremely needed. Hopefully the number match up to an actual overall increase of substantial proportions.
Perhaps it is their way of making Inna's viable again? With the new 20% res increase to mantra of salvation this give the 4 set bonus a lot more value and with the new increase to life regen?. Plus with the incraese of SW stacks this means it will probably take more time to get it to max stacks and then to keep it at max stack 24/7 just spam SW because of the Inna's 3 set bonus... I like
Does anyone know when this patch will be put in place. I haven't played my Monk for weeks because we were stuck in a rut and I didn't see any changes worth while coming... I'm glad that they are really looking at the class as a whole now and not just making a couple tweeks here and there to items etc. Monks are very fun to play as a whole and it will be nice to be able to group with people and do DPS on par with the rest of the group without getting pigeon holed in 1 or 2 builds using 1 or 2 items.
sounds ok, but ... i really hope its not only LTK and WoL they will touch .. i think SSS should be reworked for better CD and more AOE damage possibilities as the best spender. also adding 1-2 completely new skills will be nice too, since we have several skills less than all other classes ...
also some item that lets you have all allies at once would be nice, just as the pets from DH with m6 or barb. SW +5-7 stacks hm .. gonna make much damage i think, but maybe it will make Innas sort of mandatory... a weak vanilla set .. :/
Don't play till 2.1 is live... You will realice that they changed a lot the Monk.
The first PTR was fixing survivality (mostly), the second patch was increasing the regen of generators (mostly), and now is coming the DPS increase in Monks.
@Suriel666,
They added a few new passives and now you can play your Monks without using EP.
I think that SSS works really good with Madstone and a lot of CDR (first build) to do easily t1-t3 and start to arm your full end game build.
They added a few new passives and now you can play your Monks without using EP.
I think that SSS works really good with Madstone and a lot of CDR (first build) to do easily t1-t3 and start to arm your full end game build.
i know that, i own myself a good madstone equipment and run t6 with it, but i don't think its supposed be the only possible way to play this build with 65-75% CDR...
TR seems crap from what I have seen... with the exception of the cold rune, but that takes considerable time to build up to a decent bonus. I would have personally preferred all channeling skills to be streamlined. i.e regardless if it's moving or stationary skill, if channeled, build dmg over time (still fitting with the theme of short burst battles, so as not to impede GRift). Working off of that base level, I would have liked to then see higher dmg potential given to stationary channeled skills (higher risk = higher reward), and slightly lower dmg (in comparison to stationary skills, not in comparison to current dmg values) for mobile skills (TR, strafe, WW, etc.), as mobility itself is a good trade-off, providing faster clear speeds, and some evasion. This would basically bring all channeled skills in line, so that they don't feel underpowered. This also makes logical sense since a stationary skill would be more accurate, and therefore more powerful, as it is more likely you will hit your mark (vitals).
I'm so happy for the changes. I've always used 3 generator combination strike builds that run a mantra, sw and dashing strike. To me they have been the most fun and represent what a Monk should be, a fast paced swift attacker. I run 55% attack speed for the moment and I've been toying with the +attack speed rune on dashing strike and the new seize the initiative passive and liking them a lot! Making the generators natively faster and boosting sweeping wind is going to really make these style of builds shine.
On live servers I can faceroll T2 most of the time, on current PTR I feel just as comfortable doing T3. Hopefully these changes will bump me up to doing T4.
The only thing I'd ask for is being able to replace dashing strike with epiphany and some sort of mechanic that can allow you to extend it's uptime other than stacking 75% cdr witch will make you sacrifice everything thats needed to help make 3 gen builds strong (ar, cd, cc). Something like killing 10 enemies extending its duration for another second. When I test run the Wind Walker rune and get to 30 stacks he goes apeshit and his sheet dps goes up by over 50%. If there where a way to maintain the stacks for a longer period of time I'd be happier than a dog with two tails! I wouldn't mind a cap on the stacks, there is none right now, and if you stack 75% cdr I'm note sure if they stick after re casting. Getting to 30 stacks as you can do now before the 15 seconds are up really makes this build beastly probably unbalanced if you are a much higher DPS monk than I am, but say at least 10 or 15 stacks for an additional 30 or 45% ar boost and an extra second for every 10 kills?
I am loving the changes on the ptr for the most part. I have lost 10mil toughness on thr ptr not sure what I will need to shuffle around for that. I do not like the mantra change they are planning as I already get that 20% resists from using time of need. As a 4 set innas user all that happs for me in this is losing 17% dodge and I have to figure out what base mantra to swap to.
The good parts are the new lightening ep rune. I was just dicking around with MR passive and an 81% fist and I am getting 170mil explosion crits which is awesome to see. I love the generator damage buffs we have gotten. I like the legendary gem that gives 1% damage each time you spend spirit. Innas set really works well with this gem as you can keep it stacked with 5 spirit sw. Looking forward to further changes.
I am loving the changes on the ptr for the most part. I have lost 10mil toughness on thr ptr not sure what I will need to shuffle around for that. I do not like the mantra change they are planning as I already get that 20% resists from using time of need. As a 4 set innas user all that happs for me in this is losing 17% dodge and I have to figure out what base mantra to swap to.
The good parts are the new lightening ep rune. I was just dicking around with MR passive and an 81% fist and I am getting 170mil explosion crits which is awesome to see. I love the generator damage buffs we have gotten. I like the legendary gem that gives 1% damage each time you spend spirit. Innas set really works well with this gem as you can keep it stacked with 5 spirit sw. Looking forward to further changes.
Getting the 20% to all resist you need a space at your skill bar, now with full inna you don't need this space and you can replace with other skill, so in that point of view, it would be really usefull. Also it will have a rune with Dodge, so you can be happy for it too.
Getting the 20% to all resist you need a space at your skill bar, now with full inna you don't need this space and you can replace with other skill, so in that point of view, it would be really usefull. Also it will have a rune with Dodge, so you can be happy for it too.
what you say is true but if it were armor instead of resist wouldn't that be better? I am not disappointed in the loss of dodge so much as it is a big toughness loss (roughly 6mil toughness for mantra of evasion). I don't even know what I will be getting as an activate for the new mantra, and I like the shield I get with my current set up. I just don't think that a resist mantra was the right way to go.
New toys, new mechanic on attack speed generators and buff to wave of light and lashing tail kick... Also new fist that provides 5-7 stacks of sweeping wind... Sounds really really good!
What I could realice is that EP at low level (used for leveling) is really really OP.
I also want them to make a 4spiritgen Combination Strike build possible. P:
Perhaps it is their way of making Inna's viable again? With the new 20% res increase to mantra of salvation this give the 4 set bonus a lot more value and with the new increase to life regen?. Plus with the incraese of SW stacks this means it will probably take more time to get it to max stacks and then to keep it at max stack 24/7 just spam SW because of the Inna's 3 set bonus... I like
also some item that lets you have all allies at once would be nice, just as the pets from DH with m6 or barb. SW +5-7 stacks hm .. gonna make much damage i think, but maybe it will make Innas sort of mandatory... a weak vanilla set .. :/
Don't play till 2.1 is live... You will realice that they changed a lot the Monk.
The first PTR was fixing survivality (mostly), the second patch was increasing the regen of generators (mostly), and now is coming the DPS increase in Monks.
@Suriel666,
They added a few new passives and now you can play your Monks without using EP.
I think that SSS works really good with Madstone and a lot of CDR (first build) to do easily t1-t3 and start to arm your full end game build.
Here is explaned the build, gear and gameplay:http://www.diablofans.com/forums/diablo-iii-class-forums/monk-the-inner-sanctuary/90871-ptr-lighting-monk-season
On live servers I can faceroll T2 most of the time, on current PTR I feel just as comfortable doing T3. Hopefully these changes will bump me up to doing T4.
The only thing I'd ask for is being able to replace dashing strike with epiphany and some sort of mechanic that can allow you to extend it's uptime other than stacking 75% cdr witch will make you sacrifice everything thats needed to help make 3 gen builds strong (ar, cd, cc). Something like killing 10 enemies extending its duration for another second. When I test run the Wind Walker rune and get to 30 stacks he goes apeshit and his sheet dps goes up by over 50%. If there where a way to maintain the stacks for a longer period of time I'd be happier than a dog with two tails! I wouldn't mind a cap on the stacks, there is none right now, and if you stack 75% cdr I'm note sure if they stick after re casting. Getting to 30 stacks as you can do now before the 15 seconds are up really makes this build beastly probably unbalanced if you are a much higher DPS monk than I am, but say at least 10 or 15 stacks for an additional 30 or 45% ar boost and an extra second for every 10 kills?
The good parts are the new lightening ep rune. I was just dicking around with MR passive and an 81% fist and I am getting 170mil explosion crits which is awesome to see. I love the generator damage buffs we have gotten. I like the legendary gem that gives 1% damage each time you spend spirit. Innas set really works well with this gem as you can keep it stacked with 5 spirit sw. Looking forward to further changes.