I prefer a more... balanced version of SSS build. Instead of going for max dmg concentrated over 1 atack, im going for survival and versatility (im HC player and monk is my only SC char, but old habits die hard).
Im forced to use healing mantra coz, sadly, i dont have eneugh regen gear or any kind of life leech. Feel free to switch to overweave if you do.
Foresight and blazing wrath gives a nice and consistent dmg buff, unlike blinding flash which i never liked and was forced to use it till 1.4.0. Am glad i can get rid of it now.
Peaceful repose is overlooked for the sake of ascension, but i still prefer it.
Earth ally is powerhouse, he tanks and often kills one of elites himself.
Chant of resonance is my own desperate choice, coz currently i dont have any spirit regen on my gear :/ Luckily, its eneugh to cower my low spirit needs. If you do have spirit regen on your gear, switch it for something else.
Beacon of Ytar is pretty good actualy, taking away 4,5 seconds from your SSS and also lowering your Breath and Serenity...
Kind of nice for a HC build i guess. But wouldn't killing trash be slow with this build? Even with BoY, once you blow your SSS, you have to wait like 25 sec for cooldown
I'm playing completely self-found/untwinked (http://us.battle.net...771/hero/850632) and this build just completely wrecks elites in Acts 1 and 2. It's also done a good job of getting me down to Ghom (who I've yet to make a serious attempt at) in Act 3. I typically tag one or two elites with Exploding Palm (which gives a 12% damage buff through Flesh is Weak ruin), and then pop SSS. If I've got a full spirit globe I'll also stack on overawe. Even if the SSS doesn't kill and elite, all but the toughest mobs can be pounded down with WoHF by the time the Flesh is Weak buff expires. And once exploding palm pops you usually have an instagib of the entire elite pack.
I've played around with both Sudden Assault and Fulminating Onslaught for SSS, and Sudden Assault seems a little more effective. I was predisposed to choose this ruin though, so that might just be confirmation bias.
Packs gone down too fast to for EP to be effective, also WoL is nice for trash, especially if you group them all together. The damage debuff from EP is nice, but I were to give up WoL, I would probably use BoH or Cyclone.
SSS:Fulminating Onslaught is the bread and butter of my build, it is the only skill out there with high enough dmg to aoe down a whole pack in 1 shot.
I tryed this build out, i liked it when clearing trash and elite packs, but as soon it get to boss's its weak in my opinion but nice with an other spec when Tonado build gets boring
Glad you liked it. Yea, it probably can't beat Cyclone build for single target damage on bosses, still worth it though since we spend most of our time killing trash / packs
How many bells combined with SSS are needed to drop the elites, along with any guess on DPS?
The monsters will get you if you're running out of arsenals.
My damage stats is in the OP.
Say in an ideal situation, e.g. pack is grouped nicely, no shielding, no defensive skill activated (you know, those huge armored mobs with claws), with my damage I can do something like this in a full act 3 clear:
1. SSS 1-shot 30% of the packs (mostly those in the beginning of act 3 up to Ghom)
2. SSS & spam 3 WoL kill another 30% of the packs
3. The reminding 40% are mostly left with 1 or 2 mobs and can be killed easily
Lots of different way to handle the 40% above. Tank / kite them with DR > WoL rotation. Or get enough spirit for Blinding Flash > MoC > WoL. Most importantly, Serenity is available when things get ugly.
So tempted to replace Serenity with BoH:BW, just for the extra dmg increase, haven't done it yet but it's definitely worth a try.
With your damage unbuffed and deadly reach allowing you to stay away from dangerous combinations i actually don't see a reason not to
Its a matter of personal preference i guess. Even for trash I tend to spam WoL and my spirit drains rather quickly, a 2 sp/sec regen rate seems "fit" to my play style. With Exalted Soul, the pool is larger and 1 sp/sec just seems too slow for me. Maybe I will give it a try with a Sp regen helm and see how that goes.
Tested Exalted Soul with a sp regen helm, total of 3 sp/sec, the result is awesome! I can spam WoL 3 times (sometimes 4 if I wait a bit or kick in a DR between each WoL) to finish off the left over from SSS. And I think the elite are immune to the knockback of WoL, so I could like stand there and spam 3 bells on them
i am sure without the sp regen helm would work, I just like a faster sp regen rate with that much sp pool
Also swapped Serenity with BoH:BW for some testing. Maybe I was unlucky, first two groups I encountered had frozen, and they both caught me right after I finished SSS, 1 yellow elite was left and I was killed their elemental attacks (arcane, molten, etc). Also, I could no longer charge rooms with those green bomber mobs inside without wasting SSS. But still, with some getting to used, BoH may fit better in this build.
I'm using SSS for elite packs as part of the standard build (dropped BoH). It's a great skill to drop elites. There are a few mob types where it is less efficient, namely ranged mobs and mobs that just like running away. Also it's somewhat less efficient with Illusionist and Shielding mobs.
I didn't feel comfortable with the bell (WoL), it seemed to be a bit laggy and somewhat interrupts the smooth playstyle that a monk has otherwise. I will have to try again when I test 2h builds, but for now I'm sticking with SW/Cyclone.
Yes, give WoL a try, I personally love it. Haven't tried using 2 hander with this build yet, but I can imagine higher hits if we one with decent crit dmg.
So tempted to replace Serenity with BoH:BW, just for the extra dmg increase, haven't done it yet but it's definitely worth a try.
With your damage unbuffed and deadly reach allowing you to stay away from dangerous combinations i actually don't see a reason not to
Its a matter of personal preference i guess. Even for trash I tend to spam WoL and my spirit drains rather quickly, a 2 sp/sec regen rate seems "fit" to my play style. With Exalted Soul, the pool is larger and 1 sp/sec just seems too slow for me. Maybe I will give it a try with a Sp regen helm and see how that goes.
SSS can be added on top of the classical cyclone build by giving up a buff or serenity. The cool down of SSS is just about right between batches of elites.
I gave up serenity as I probably don't need it with SSS, which immune to all attacks while it is in action, and usually there is enough time to treat if neccessary if the monsters haven't dropped.
If we have to add WoL on top, there is not enough button and we have to give up a buff. The up side of WoL is that it is a good defensive skill as well as monsters get stunted. There is no cool down for WoL if you have lots of spirit, and I dropped a passive for 100 more spirit as SSS and WoL are spirit spenders.
True, but I am actually trying to push SSS to the highest damage possible, which is the main point of the build. So tempted to replace Serenity with BoH:BW, just for the extra dmg increase, haven't done it yet but it's definitely worth a try.
EDIT: Alternatively, Chant of Resonance can be used for faster spirit regen
Got tired of the standard Cyclone build, been trying out different builds since 1.0.4 and came up with this. All of the crit chance / crit damage gear is reusable for this build, in fact, it just gets better with more crit you have.
The idea behind this build is to deliver as high dmg as possible the moment you encounter an elite pack, and even try to 1-shot them. Some pack are harder to 1-shot, but some like the skeletons in Act 3 are actually quite easy. Either way, packs should be pretty close to dead if the routine below is followed:
Mantra of Conviction:Overawe (+48%) > Blinding Flash:Faith in the Light (+30%) > Seven-Sided Strike:Fulminating Onslaught
Notes:
1. With Exalted Soul / Chant of Resonance, you have +1 or 2 spirit / sec, make sure there is enough spirit for the routine before engage.
2. With Deadly Reach:Foresight, you pretty much have a 18% increase to dmg at all time, you also want it activated before engaging a pack.
3. Pack should be near dead after SSS:FO, if not, spam Wave of Light until dead, the increase spirit pool and reduced spirit cost of WoL should make it quite easily spammable
4. Trying to keep the pack close together for SSS:FO to aoe is probably the hardest part of the build, some pulling back for better positioning may be needed from time to time.
Overall, it is a pretty solid build and a nice replacement for the cyclone build.
My Stats:
57k dmg unbuffed with entrancess
33% crit
350% crit dmg
35k HP
700 all resist
I asked him on his chat, he confirms that FoT is based on BOTH weapons.
So does it mean no matter how I put my weapons, what their attack speed are, when using FoT, I pretty much get the same result in terms of damage output?
everything seems fine to me, except your armor is little low with a shield. You should be able to progress in Act 2, just a little slow with that amount of damage, but its doable. Whats your build? and which part of act 2 are your struggling with?
As a monk, stacking dex will never get you wrong, but you need other basic requirements for the build to work
1. crit% is obviously important for a crit build, get around 20%+ and you will see cyclone proc like mad. With 30% I saw as many as 6-8 up at the same time. crit dmg at the other end is not as important, it is more like a nice-to-have stat once your crit% is high enough.
2. Look for a weapon with LoH, 600 dmg and 500 loh isn't cheap but its definitely affordable. If you find one with a open socket, put a crit dmg gem for added damage. With another 800 blue weapon, you should have close to (or more than) 15k damage, which is what you really need for Act 2. With 20k+ damage, mobs are dying rather fast in act 2. If you use a shield instead, pick one with high crit chance and dex to up your damage, All three pieces should cost you roughly 3 mil total, or less.
3. 450 all resistances seems to be the lowest for surviving in act 2, I would aim for roughly 600 if possible, but it all depends on play style. For armor, anything over 5.5k (with enchantress) is too much. Don't over stack defensive stats, you may need to in act 3, but definitely not in act 2.
0
0
please check your pm.
Kind of nice for a HC build i guess. But wouldn't killing trash be slow with this build? Even with BoY, once you blow your SSS, you have to wait like 25 sec for cooldown
0
Packs gone down too fast to for EP to be effective, also WoL is nice for trash, especially if you group them all together. The damage debuff from EP is nice, but I were to give up WoL, I would probably use BoH or Cyclone.
SSS:Fulminating Onslaught is the bread and butter of my build, it is the only skill out there with high enough dmg to aoe down a whole pack in 1 shot.
0
Glad you liked it. Yea, it probably can't beat Cyclone build for single target damage on bosses, still worth it though since we spend most of our time killing trash / packs
0
My damage stats is in the OP.
Say in an ideal situation, e.g. pack is grouped nicely, no shielding, no defensive skill activated (you know, those huge armored mobs with claws), with my damage I can do something like this in a full act 3 clear:
1. SSS 1-shot 30% of the packs (mostly those in the beginning of act 3 up to Ghom)
2. SSS & spam 3 WoL kill another 30% of the packs
3. The reminding 40% are mostly left with 1 or 2 mobs and can be killed easily
Lots of different way to handle the 40% above. Tank / kite them with DR > WoL rotation. Or get enough spirit for Blinding Flash > MoC > WoL. Most importantly, Serenity is available when things get ugly.
0
Tested Exalted Soul with a sp regen helm, total of 3 sp/sec, the result is awesome! I can spam WoL 3 times (sometimes 4 if I wait a bit or kick in a DR between each WoL) to finish off the left over from SSS. And I think the elite are immune to the knockback of WoL, so I could like stand there and spam 3 bells on them
i am sure without the sp regen helm would work, I just like a faster sp regen rate with that much sp pool
Also swapped Serenity with BoH:BW for some testing. Maybe I was unlucky, first two groups I encountered had frozen, and they both caught me right after I finished SSS, 1 yellow elite was left and I was killed their elemental attacks (arcane, molten, etc). Also, I could no longer charge rooms with those green bomber mobs inside without wasting SSS. But still, with some getting to used, BoH may fit better in this build.
0
Yes, give WoL a try, I personally love it. Haven't tried using 2 hander with this build yet, but I can imagine higher hits if we one with decent crit dmg.
0
Its a matter of personal preference i guess. Even for trash I tend to spam WoL and my spirit drains rather quickly, a 2 sp/sec regen rate seems "fit" to my play style. With Exalted Soul, the pool is larger and 1 sp/sec just seems too slow for me. Maybe I will give it a try with a Sp regen helm and see how that goes.
0
True, but I am actually trying to push SSS to the highest damage possible, which is the main point of the build. So tempted to replace Serenity with BoH:BW, just for the extra dmg increase, haven't done it yet but it's definitely worth a try.
0
EDIT: Alternatively, Chant of Resonance can be used for faster spirit regen
Got tired of the standard Cyclone build, been trying out different builds since 1.0.4 and came up with this. All of the crit chance / crit damage gear is reusable for this build, in fact, it just gets better with more crit you have.
The idea behind this build is to deliver as high dmg as possible the moment you encounter an elite pack, and even try to 1-shot them. Some pack are harder to 1-shot, but some like the skeletons in Act 3 are actually quite easy. Either way, packs should be pretty close to dead if the routine below is followed:
Mantra of Conviction:Overawe (+48%) > Blinding Flash:Faith in the Light (+30%) > Seven-Sided Strike:Fulminating Onslaught
Notes:
1. With Exalted Soul / Chant of Resonance, you have +1 or 2 spirit / sec, make sure there is enough spirit for the routine before engage.
2. With Deadly Reach:Foresight, you pretty much have a 18% increase to dmg at all time, you also want it activated before engaging a pack.
3. Pack should be near dead after SSS:FO, if not, spam Wave of Light until dead, the increase spirit pool and reduced spirit cost of WoL should make it quite easily spammable
4. Trying to keep the pack close together for SSS:FO to aoe is probably the hardest part of the build, some pulling back for better positioning may be needed from time to time.
Overall, it is a pretty solid build and a nice replacement for the cyclone build.
My Stats:
57k dmg unbuffed with entrancess
33% crit
350% crit dmg
35k HP
700 all resist
0
0
So does it mean no matter how I put my weapons, what their attack speed are, when using FoT, I pretty much get the same result in terms of damage output?
0
0
As a monk, stacking dex will never get you wrong, but you need other basic requirements for the build to work
1. crit% is obviously important for a crit build, get around 20%+ and you will see cyclone proc like mad. With 30% I saw as many as 6-8 up at the same time. crit dmg at the other end is not as important, it is more like a nice-to-have stat once your crit% is high enough.
2. Look for a weapon with LoH, 600 dmg and 500 loh isn't cheap but its definitely affordable. If you find one with a open socket, put a crit dmg gem for added damage. With another 800 blue weapon, you should have close to (or more than) 15k damage, which is what you really need for Act 2. With 20k+ damage, mobs are dying rather fast in act 2. If you use a shield instead, pick one with high crit chance and dex to up your damage, All three pieces should cost you roughly 3 mil total, or less.
3. 450 all resistances seems to be the lowest for surviving in act 2, I would aim for roughly 600 if possible, but it all depends on play style. For armor, anything over 5.5k (with enchantress) is too much. Don't over stack defensive stats, you may need to in act 3, but definitely not in act 2.
0