The Monk's auras

[Risingred]

From twitter:

@soundguy_99 The monk has auras but they are more like active skills as they have instant effects as well as timed buffs.

Well, that's not really an aura then, is it? :p
May as well call it something else.

[konfeta]

So... It's a Curse/Shout hybrid? Press button, monstahs feel down, players feel upsy daisy?

Could be interesting. I imagine this means an Aura isn't something we can cast every fight then, because then it would be an annoying "always keep it up" thing so might as well turn it into an actual Aura.

[Risingred]

Yeah, it sounds just like a shout in function.

[Apocalypse]

just what we need, more shouts. i hate duration buffs in these kind of games i much rather the skill be passive or if active then 1 at a time like the auras

[The Rockman]

Hmm I think it more like a pally aura in how it works when up, but you activate it like shouts so it a shora or an auts or some thing.

But if that correct I wish they take a book out of TQ arua skills and have them consume a part of your resource maximum (Spirit for a monk) and have it permanent, until you turn off the skill.

[Nekora]

If any of you play League of Legends, I'm kind of imagining a system somewhat like Udyr's stances.

For those of you who don't, Udyr revolves around 4 different stances, each of which cause his fighting style to diverge when using it. Activating a stance gives a powerful, short-lived bonus, and a constant effect that stays on even after the bonus goes away. For example, activating Turtle Stance absorbs the next [x] damage dealt to Udyr for the next 5 seconds, and causes his attacks to leech [y]% health an mana. Phoenix stance causes a fire aura that does [x] damage per second for 5 seconds around Udyr, and constantly turns his normal attacks into AoEs with splash damage. And so on.

I have the feeling the monk's 'Auras' might be something along these lines.

[Moonfrost]

I imagine monk auras primarily as defensive/offensive cooldowns with minor, timed buffs. You're encouraged to change them in combat when necessary, but they're not totally useless when the main effect has worn off.

I kind of wonder how they fit within the 7 hotkey limitation, though. With only so many hotkeys available, it'll no doubt be difficult to fit both several attack skills as well as the auras.

[konfeta]

Hmm, that is true. Out of all the classes Monk might feel the most constrained with this limitation.

On the other hand, every combo skill is 3 attacks in one, so he might be better off then the rest. Still...

2-3 Combos, 2-3 Finishers, 1-3 neither of those sounds like a decent mix. Would be a bit weird to fit in the auras when there is stuff like Impenetrable Defense.

[sirroman]

From twitter:

@soundguy_99 The monk has auras but they are more like active skills as they have instant effects as well as timed buffs.

Well, that's not really an aura then, is it? :p
May as well call it something else.

They stole my Druidic Bard (http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=731443) Nature's Body's Chant/Verse active-skills mechanic! Damn you blizz! =p

[AxeX]

I imagine monk auras primarily as defensive/offensive cooldowns with minor, timed buffs. You're encouraged to change them in combat when necessary, but they're not totally useless when the main effect has worn off.

I kind of wonder how they fit within the 7 hotkey limitation, though. With only so many hotkeys available, it'll no doubt be difficult to fit both several attack skills as well as the auras.

I don't see it as being a problem with the hotkey limitation, it kind of reminds me of the wizards armor spells, theres more than 1 of them and they all have their benefits, but you'll probably only want to use one or two that are relevant to the build your going with.

[Sass]

My question is if this is like a barb shout (foot aura look, but doesn't extend past unless he "gives" it to the player), or if it's a party-wide aura.

[AxeX]

My question is if this is like a barb shout (foot aura look, but doesn't extend past unless he "gives" it to the player), or if it's a party-wide aura.

My best guess would be party-wide, as it would seem stupid not too, but thats just me.

Another question, if it is party-wide, how close to you do they have to be to reap the benefits? Obviously across acts and whatnot it won't affect you, but if I'm in the same general area with my party, do they have to be on my screen to get my aura or can they be a little farther out? I'm thinking at least they should be visible on the minimap, but I'm hoping the range is farther than my screen.

[In the name of Zod]

If they give these type of benefits to one class then all classes should get them too. There was a reason that the paladin was the most played in D2.

Buff, and aura's are real end game material imo, it keeps the game going long after the love for the game has died off. I hope there is more of this with the expansion but less earlier on or it will become the weed in the garden that takes over.

[Flux]

The only previous mention of Auras, AFAIK, came from Jay Wilson when I got to phone interview him last October.


Diii.net: We saw 8 Monk skills at BlizzCon. All were melee offensive or defensive. Can you give us some idea of what other skills the Monk will have at his disposal?
Jay Wilson: Most of the Monk's skills will focus on combat skills and attacks, along with his various escape skills. And we talked at Blizzcon that we're likely to put some defensive and supportive abilities on him. Possibly Auras. We've not done the next round of skills on him yet so we’re not exactly sure.

Diii.net: Really? That's handy, since I was also going to ask if he'd have any co-op or party-boosting skills.
Jay Wilson: We definitely want to do that with one class. Whether or not it's the Monk hasn't yet been decided. The Monk does seem to be the logical choice. The only reason we might not do with him is that he's too logical.


So as of then, auras were going to be defensive and/or support abilities. Support = party shared, I assume.

As we know, things do change a bit during development, so there's no telling what Auras do now. As Bashiok said today, they're basically Warcries in their casting mechanism/duration. But since the whole point in D2 was that most auras shared to the party, or at least debuffed monsters in a way that everyone could benefit from, and since that's what Jay said they'd do last year... best bet is that they do something along those lines, still.

[TheMythe]

Bet we'll see that on Blizzcon 2010 s well than :)

[Telzen]

Maybe the finishers activate the auras. Spirit builds up when using combos right, and then gets used when using finishers. Maybe part of what makes finishers so good is that they activate short term buffs.

[Leugi]

Hmn... it would be awesome if auras worked either like party buffs or glyphs in DA:O

- The party buffs work pretty much like Paladin's auras but they require you to activate it first, once it is activated it lowers the energy cap (in some cases) so you'd better not have it active all the time...

- I'd love to see the Monk having something like the Glyph skills over at DA:O... You put a glyph on the ground which is a huge circle with a rune, and when someone is stepping the circle it receives the buff. Would fit him nicely IMO.

[Sass]

Well we've seen him with patterns at his feet, so this glyph thing can easily be done.

[cacophony]

Hopefully every class will have some sort of group synergy skill (or several), instead of stacking them all on three classes (warcries, curses and auras). Oh, and I guess druid ghosts, sort of. Anyway, if there are 25-30 active skills per class (not including runes), then at least 2 or 3 of them could be group buffs/debuffs that are helpful in a party. That's part of the fun of multiplayer; your group is more powerful than the sum of the parts. It shouldn't be limited to only a couple of classes.