All I'm going to say is 3 healing abilities, and other classes have...none? So I really don't see how monk isn't superior in going into harder difficulties. In terms of getting 1 shoted...i'm curious what the hp of the people who are getting 1 shoted inferno is at. I'm also curious what their dex is as well. Because I would figure if I wanted to survive inferno super unique elite mobs, I would just find the hp that would allow me to NOT be 1 shoted. Be it 60k-100k.
The problem is, our heals don't scale. You can be a fresh 60 in Act 4 Hell, or a bleeding edge progression monk in Act 4 Inferno, and your heals will still only do ~6k. So yes, when you have 25k hp, a 6k heal looks huge. When you have 45k hp, it seems to lose its edge a little. When we eventually have 80k+ health, those heals are going to be pitiful.
In act 2 inferno, I have +430 resist all with 458 physical resist, which is ~60.42% damage reduction, and then I have 7901 armour which gives ~72.48% damage reduction, and those combined with the 30% monk/barb reduction means I have ~92.38% total damage reduction versus physical damage. And I still take 10k+ hits from some mobs in melee.
The big thing is... if you're not in Inferno, don't comment on Inferno. You can't speculate. You can't say "oh, well Hell is kinda easy now so I guess Inferno is gonna be the same". Its not. I can easily farm act 1 Inferno, where it was a massive wall when I first got there. Act 2 is the massive wall now. In 2 weeks, I may be comfortable in act 2 and start act 3. I'm just guessing that there is a massive wall inc there, too. However, I'm running out of places to add +resist all while keeping my damage over 10k...
I was keeping competitive all through NM in damage, but then our WD got a 200+ DPS weapon, popped Soul Harvest and got a 20k crit. Since then, I'm the tank, and glad to feel useful.
90% of your deaths in Hell will be to monster poo, like Molten/Desecreate/Plagued/Fiery Chains, so don't get too hung up on it. A quick finger on your Sanctuary button is worth more than all the armour in the game.
I expect Wizard to have the hardest time. Their survivability is balanced with decent defenses, but not as high as the barbs and monks, and decent snares and control, but not as much as DH or WD. This is the problem.
Monks and Barbarians have tricks, sure. Stuns, slows, leaps, teleports, knockbacks, sure. But when shit hits the fan, and they're copping hits, they're DESIGNED to take a few hits without going down. 30% passive melee reduction plus more passive and active reduction options than the other classes, even when their enemies are hitting them head-on, they will survive long enough for that cooldown to come back up, and get out of there.
WD and DH have the lowest passive reductions, however they have the most tricks. Abilities like Spirit Walk and Smokescreen are 100% you-are-fine mechanics - correctly used, you can not die while they are available. Between summons, slows, fear and their other tricks, like Vault, these classes will almost always have an answer when asked how you're gonna survive. If everything is on cooldown, they are at risk, but they won't be one-shot still. I expect many deaths to be with 1-2 sec left on that life-saving fear/smokescreen/vault, but the majority of the time they will be there.
Wizards have some damage reduction, and some tricks, but not as much as the others. It remains to be seen if they are actually the best, or if they struggle as I believe. My main concern is that wizards have too many snares, and not enough stuns, knockback or other mob removal abilities. If wizards rely too much on snares to survive, then inferno's snare reduction and faster monsters across the board will force them to play very cautiously and/or deploy more survival skills than they are comfortable with. Sure, a wizard with frost nova, teleport, time stop and arcane armour will survive inferno. The issue then is how are you going to kill anything?
If a DH/WD can stop enemies ever reaching them, and a Monk/Barb can survive mobs reaching them, then the wizard is in an awkward spot where they can *almost* keep things away, and then *almost* survive when they do, but probably do neither well enough. So, that's my call. However, a well-played Wizard will still solo inferno, it won't be impossible, and god knows that in a group they are amazingly powerful.
The problem is, our heals don't scale. You can be a fresh 60 in Act 4 Hell, or a bleeding edge progression monk in Act 4 Inferno, and your heals will still only do ~6k. So yes, when you have 25k hp, a 6k heal looks huge. When you have 45k hp, it seems to lose its edge a little. When we eventually have 80k+ health, those heals are going to be pitiful.
In act 2 inferno, I have +430 resist all with 458 physical resist, which is ~60.42% damage reduction, and then I have 7901 armour which gives ~72.48% damage reduction, and those combined with the 30% monk/barb reduction means I have ~92.38% total damage reduction versus physical damage. And I still take 10k+ hits from some mobs in melee.
The big thing is... if you're not in Inferno, don't comment on Inferno. You can't speculate. You can't say "oh, well Hell is kinda easy now so I guess Inferno is gonna be the same". Its not. I can easily farm act 1 Inferno, where it was a massive wall when I first got there. Act 2 is the massive wall now. In 2 weeks, I may be comfortable in act 2 and start act 3. I'm just guessing that there is a massive wall inc there, too. However, I'm running out of places to add +resist all while keeping my damage over 10k...
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#WcYfgQ!ZcY!ZYYabZ
May swap Circular Healing to Time of Need if I get more spirit regen on gear.
Monks and Barbarians have tricks, sure. Stuns, slows, leaps, teleports, knockbacks, sure. But when shit hits the fan, and they're copping hits, they're DESIGNED to take a few hits without going down. 30% passive melee reduction plus more passive and active reduction options than the other classes, even when their enemies are hitting them head-on, they will survive long enough for that cooldown to come back up, and get out of there.
WD and DH have the lowest passive reductions, however they have the most tricks. Abilities like Spirit Walk and Smokescreen are 100% you-are-fine mechanics - correctly used, you can not die while they are available. Between summons, slows, fear and their other tricks, like Vault, these classes will almost always have an answer when asked how you're gonna survive. If everything is on cooldown, they are at risk, but they won't be one-shot still. I expect many deaths to be with 1-2 sec left on that life-saving fear/smokescreen/vault, but the majority of the time they will be there.
Wizards have some damage reduction, and some tricks, but not as much as the others. It remains to be seen if they are actually the best, or if they struggle as I believe. My main concern is that wizards have too many snares, and not enough stuns, knockback or other mob removal abilities. If wizards rely too much on snares to survive, then inferno's snare reduction and faster monsters across the board will force them to play very cautiously and/or deploy more survival skills than they are comfortable with. Sure, a wizard with frost nova, teleport, time stop and arcane armour will survive inferno. The issue then is how are you going to kill anything?
If a DH/WD can stop enemies ever reaching them, and a Monk/Barb can survive mobs reaching them, then the wizard is in an awkward spot where they can *almost* keep things away, and then *almost* survive when they do, but probably do neither well enough. So, that's my call. However, a well-played Wizard will still solo inferno, it won't be impossible, and god knows that in a group they are amazingly powerful.