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.
I just registered to this forum, and I would like to share my very limited experience playing as monk with medium gear.
DPS is of top priority, especially going up to higher acts, and I'd recommend 40k+ for shield and 45k+ for DW.
Unlike D2, in D3 we always in some engaging dynamic situation in which we dish out damage and receive hits.
There is no more stand still in god mode in D3, and your life will drain very rapidly standing among monsters.
The key to win is we can recover in the fight, but monster don't.
To survive, look at all the life gain elements; Globe, LOH, LPK, LGS, LS.
I treasure the life globe the most as elites and bosses always drop it. However, to make the best use of it, we have to do two things.
(i) +life on globe drop and (ii) +grap radius. I have +20000 to globe and grap radius 18 yeards, and any single globe will heal me to full HP of 50k. This is pretty cheap to achieve, much under value by now, and I seldom die engaging with elites with my 40k dps shield and 48k dps DW monk. A large grap radius save me a lot of walking too.
LOH is a much expensive route, and I don't have much experience in high DPS and LOH. I died more often with 30k DPS and 2000 LOH, as I couldn't take down the monsters fast enough. The chance of dying increases substantially if the fight persists in spite of any of the survival elements including LOH for various reasons.
Life per kill, LPK, is another attribute I would like to have on weapons, and again it is under value at the moment. I would easily sacrify 2k DPS for 2k LPK. One of my builds has 5k LPK, which turns all minions into walking potions. Hit the elites and kill a few minion to replenish.
Life generate per second, LGS, it is a nice attribute for wizards and less essential for melee players. However, it is nice to have some, say 200 LGS.
Life steal, LS, I haven't tried this out yet, but it is reported it is only effective at DPS=80k+.
Summing up, to survive without godly gear, take a closer look at all the survival elements, globes and LPK which are very effective but kind of undervalued at the moment. My present shield monk or DW monk runs with
+20000 life globe
+18 yard grap radius
750 LOH
2200 LPK
200 LGS
0 LS
As for resistance, it depends on the DPS, and I would say 600+ for shield and 700+ for DW.
As for armour, 6000+ and it is easily to achield with high dex and OWE.
I play with the cyclone build with 40 CC, but 30CC is fine. However, after 1.0.4, I found SSS a wonderful addon to the standard build, and I can drop the act I boss before his first charge with 40k DPS.
The usual sequence to fight elites: Pop MoC, BoH, SW, hit elites with FT, and within close distance BF, FT and finish them with SSS.
If they haven't drop, back off to review or FT for more cyclones if your health is still sound.
As what to give up for SSS, very reluctantly , I gave up serenity playing in softcore, but I would give up some buff playing in hardcore.
Finally, I also give up one passive for more spirit. I would like to next explore adding Wave of light on top. The only concern is that I don't want to kill the minions before the elites.
My monk will be very solid if I could increase 5k more DPS, as life globes will drop more often and sooner.
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Cyclone is generated by FoT, anyone knows if cyclone can be generated by SSS or other critical strike skills?
BTW, I use the teleport rune for SSS, as this allow me to counter strike or escape when I am trapped.
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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.
0
I just registered to this forum, and I would like to share my very limited experience playing as monk with medium gear.
DPS is of top priority, especially going up to higher acts, and I'd recommend 40k+ for shield and 45k+ for DW.
Unlike D2, in D3 we always in some engaging dynamic situation in which we dish out damage and receive hits.
There is no more stand still in god mode in D3, and your life will drain very rapidly standing among monsters.
The key to win is we can recover in the fight, but monster don't.
To survive, look at all the life gain elements; Globe, LOH, LPK, LGS, LS.
I treasure the life globe the most as elites and bosses always drop it. However, to make the best use of it, we have to do two things.
(i) +life on globe drop and (ii) +grap radius. I have +20000 to globe and grap radius 18 yeards, and any single globe will heal me to full HP of 50k. This is pretty cheap to achieve, much under value by now, and I seldom die engaging with elites with my 40k dps shield and 48k dps DW monk. A large grap radius save me a lot of walking too.
LOH is a much expensive route, and I don't have much experience in high DPS and LOH. I died more often with 30k DPS and 2000 LOH, as I couldn't take down the monsters fast enough. The chance of dying increases substantially if the fight persists in spite of any of the survival elements including LOH for various reasons.
Life per kill, LPK, is another attribute I would like to have on weapons, and again it is under value at the moment. I would easily sacrify 2k DPS for 2k LPK. One of my builds has 5k LPK, which turns all minions into walking potions. Hit the elites and kill a few minion to replenish.
Life generate per second, LGS, it is a nice attribute for wizards and less essential for melee players. However, it is nice to have some, say 200 LGS.
Life steal, LS, I haven't tried this out yet, but it is reported it is only effective at DPS=80k+.
Summing up, to survive without godly gear, take a closer look at all the survival elements, globes and LPK which are very effective but kind of undervalued at the moment. My present shield monk or DW monk runs with
+20000 life globe
+18 yard grap radius
750 LOH
2200 LPK
200 LGS
0 LS
As for resistance, it depends on the DPS, and I would say 600+ for shield and 700+ for DW.
As for armour, 6000+ and it is easily to achield with high dex and OWE.
I play with the cyclone build with 40 CC, but 30CC is fine. However, after 1.0.4, I found SSS a wonderful addon to the standard build, and I can drop the act I boss before his first charge with 40k DPS.
The usual sequence to fight elites: Pop MoC, BoH, SW, hit elites with FT, and within close distance BF, FT and finish them with SSS.
If they haven't drop, back off to review or FT for more cyclones if your health is still sound.
As what to give up for SSS, very reluctantly , I gave up serenity playing in softcore, but I would give up some buff playing in hardcore.
Finally, I also give up one passive for more spirit. I would like to next explore adding Wave of light on top. The only concern is that I don't want to kill the minions before the elites.
My monk will be very solid if I could increase 5k more DPS, as life globes will drop more often and sooner.