When I first started making monk builds, I usually based them around Seven-Sided Strike. But now that Blizzard has dealt SSS the one-two punch of upping its cost to 90 and dropping the spirit pool to 150, I think it will be used more for bosses (at least until we have endgame gear with huge spirit regeneration).
So I've now turned to Tempest Rush, the relatively unheralded but very badass indeed damage dealer. This skill is the monk's Whirlwind. For the same cost as the seven hits of SSS (135 w/Beacon of Ytar), you can send monsters flying for a full 10 seconds. With the Golden Rune that jumps up to 15 seconds.
The damage is substantially less than Whirlwind: 75% weapon damage/second compared to the barb's 110% damage/second if my math is right. But to compensate we get knockback and 50% slow, which should be helpful when beating back those flying space cows in Inferno.
I really like Tempest Rush, but i have problems finding a spot for it in builds, mostly because i like to use combo generators more than spenders.
Tho one thing i thought of would be to use it as a way to replenish life when low on hp by adding mantra of healing instead of mantra of conviction. This with Transcendense and obsidian rune into Tempest Rush (for 50% damage reduction) should allow you to move around dealing damage and healing at the same time (and you can pick up healing globes too)
Not so sure about golden rune in Tempest Rune when using Transcendense. The idea of that passive is kind of to use spirit (and generate) as fast as possible. Some other nice options to rune Tempest Rush with.
Crippling Wave (obsidian) for reduce damage plus Tempest Rush (Obsidian) and Resolve means a total of 83,75 reduced damage.
Sweeping Wind for ''dot aoe'' and also makes target to be affected by Resolve.
Mystical Ally (Golden) for some spirit regen and and additional 26% weapon damage per sec as aoe.
Lashing Tail Kick (Alabaster) for a stun once and a while.
Mantra of healing(golden) for more spirit regen (until end game) and the additional healing per sec. In end game ill either(when having enough spirit regen to not need the spirit per sec) use Mantra of Evasion with Obsidian (if i want more def) or Mantra of Conviction Indigo (for an additional damage per sec 18% weapon damage plus base effect).
Tempest Rush, while active, would give 381.2 hp per sec with Transcendance.
To sum it up:
540.4 hp per second with Tempest Rush activated
181% weapon damage per second around you with pet, 3 stacks of sweeping wind and tempest rush
83,75% reduced damage if ennemies are debuffed by Resolve and Crippling Wave(obsidian)while you have Tempest Rush activated
4.2 spirit per seconds with sweeping winds 3 stacks and mantra of healing activated
@Fice, I like your build, the only issue I see is that the Sweeping Wind Vortex buff only lasts 5 seconds and is only applied on the 3rd strike, so it doesn't seem like it will be easy (or even possible?) to keep it fully stacked while also taking advantage of Tempest Rush. With that in mind, I've replaced it with Indigo Exploding Palm - imagine throwing out 5 bleeds and then Tempest Rush to chain all the explosions!
I've also replaced the Mantra with Retribution, if only for the sake of conversation. If you're TR'ing through a big pack of monsters, it seems reasonable to assume that they're going to be hitting you multiple times per second, which would make the Golden Rune there much more efficient for gaining Spirit compared to Healing's flat rate per second. On the flip side, of course, it reduces your survivability and is only effective "in combat."
I've also added Blinding Flash and Breath of Heaven as more of utility skills runed to increase damage. One of them could - and probably should - be replaced with a good skill for single-target damage (probably either WotHF or Lashing Tail Kick). Blinding Flash doesn't necessarily play well with Mantra of Retribution since the idea is to get hit, though it's probably better than Breath of Heaven if you go with Mantra of Healing.
Thoughts?
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So I've now turned to Tempest Rush, the relatively unheralded but very badass indeed damage dealer. This skill is the monk's Whirlwind. For the same cost as the seven hits of SSS (135 w/Beacon of Ytar), you can send monsters flying for a full 10 seconds. With the Golden Rune that jumps up to 15 seconds.
The damage is substantially less than Whirlwind: 75% weapon damage/second compared to the barb's 110% damage/second if my math is right. But to compensate we get knockback and 50% slow, which should be helpful when beating back those flying space cows in Inferno.
Here's my bulldozer build:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#aiRTSd!aYg!ZaZbZc
Tho one thing i thought of would be to use it as a way to replenish life when low on hp by adding mantra of healing instead of mantra of conviction. This with Transcendense and obsidian rune into Tempest Rush (for 50% damage reduction) should allow you to move around dealing damage and healing at the same time (and you can pick up healing globes too)
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#T....g!Y!c....Z
Not so sure about golden rune in Tempest Rune when using Transcendense. The idea of that passive is kind of to use spirit (and generate) as fast as possible. Some other nice options to rune Tempest Rush with.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#ehQTYg!Yac!cbbcab
Crippling Wave (obsidian) for reduce damage plus Tempest Rush (Obsidian) and Resolve means a total of 83,75 reduced damage.
Sweeping Wind for ''dot aoe'' and also makes target to be affected by Resolve.
Mystical Ally (Golden) for some spirit regen and and additional 26% weapon damage per sec as aoe.
Lashing Tail Kick (Alabaster) for a stun once and a while.
Mantra of healing(golden) for more spirit regen (until end game) and the additional healing per sec. In end game ill either(when having enough spirit regen to not need the spirit per sec) use Mantra of Evasion with Obsidian (if i want more def) or Mantra of Conviction Indigo (for an additional damage per sec 18% weapon damage plus base effect).
Tempest Rush, while active, would give 381.2 hp per sec with Transcendance.
To sum it up:
540.4 hp per second with Tempest Rush activated
181% weapon damage per second around you with pet, 3 stacks of sweeping wind and tempest rush
83,75% reduced damage if ennemies are debuffed by Resolve and Crippling Wave(obsidian)while you have Tempest Rush activated
4.2 spirit per seconds with sweeping winds 3 stacks and mantra of healing activated
@Fice, I like your build, the only issue I see is that the Sweeping Wind Vortex buff only lasts 5 seconds and is only applied on the 3rd strike, so it doesn't seem like it will be easy (or even possible?) to keep it fully stacked while also taking advantage of Tempest Rush. With that in mind, I've replaced it with Indigo Exploding Palm - imagine throwing out 5 bleeds and then Tempest Rush to chain all the explosions!
I've also replaced the Mantra with Retribution, if only for the sake of conversation. If you're TR'ing through a big pack of monsters, it seems reasonable to assume that they're going to be hitting you multiple times per second, which would make the Golden Rune there much more efficient for gaining Spirit compared to Healing's flat rate per second. On the flip side, of course, it reduces your survivability and is only effective "in combat."
I've also added Blinding Flash and Breath of Heaven as more of utility skills runed to increase damage. One of them could - and probably should - be replaced with a good skill for single-target damage (probably either WotHF or Lashing Tail Kick). Blinding Flash doesn't necessarily play well with Mantra of Retribution since the idea is to get hit, though it's probably better than Breath of Heaven if you go with Mantra of Healing.
Thoughts?