Inferno - Act 3, 4 + Diablo - different playstyles
First post on this site.
I have recently made a monk and really enjoyed my way up to inferno. I managed to get past act 1 inferno without too many issues then as many of us found Act 2 came and hit abit of a brickwall until we increased our res.
I just want to know what playstyles people prefer to play as a monk and which is the most successful or does it even matter which playstyle you are? Is it just down to skill of the player?
Saw this vid on youtube today:
this monk managed to kill diablo inferno in relatively poor gear and states he didnt have much bother in regards to blue/yellow packs in act 4. Yes the fight did take up to 30 minutes but still shows a playstyle that worked for him and to not die with diablo smacking on you for 30 minutes is very skilful indeed.
There is also the dps option which is shown by this youtube video:
this monk just rocking 2 very fast one handers and absolutely blitzing diablo with attack speed. Again, this playstyle worked and obviously he must be a skilled player to have killed Diablo so quickly.
Which playstyle is most effective and does other monks have any other playstyles that are worth considering?
Hopefully i will kill Diablo someday but right now i have just hit a brick wall in act 2 and need to decide whether to go full on tanking like the first vid or go for pure dps and try and get lucky no gear.
I am not the most skilled player like the people in the youtube videos so i was just wondering which is the easier to gear towards. Any ideas would be helpful
I wouldn't take these videos that seriously for a few reasons:
1) Boss fights aren't even the hard part of this game. Beyond that I'd say that Diablo isn't anything to worry about compared to Izual or Rakanoth in act 4 inferno. The gentlemen who made these videos were likely rushing to get them recorded and posted just to be first on youtube, not to actually help people or increase skill in other players. If anyone figures out how to solo an inferno Morlu Incenerator boss pack and posts a video it will be time to get impressed.
2) 90% of the people who are posting guides are bragging about their gear. 950 DPS, 1.40+ speed, 500+ LOH 1her? Increased attack speed jewelery with 4 other relevant stats? Even if you read the guide twice you're not going to have items that good unless you're extremely lucky or have 20mil to drop in the AH (each).
3) Soloing inferno content for "progression" as a Monk is never going to be fast or interesting. You have to pick skills that are hard to use and are not fun (HEY SUP DEADLY REACH) just to overstack defensive buffs to survive. Even then you're not going to take hits from 4+ white mobs comfortably and MUST kite every elite pack. The first time I actually made progress (meaning I could kill an elite pack) in act 2 inferno I was moving at a glacial pace, constantly burning health potions as soon as the cooldown ended, spamming out sacrificial earth allies just for the transcendence life gain, actually dealing melee damage only with serenity on, and facing excruciating wipes to enrage timers. Those wipes were all 5-6 minutes of constant fighting and kiting under 50% health before seeing the enrage timer go off with 10% health left on the monster I was working down. You're forced to just die and let it regen to full. You don't see that on youtube, but it is reality.
be nice to know how the monks that specialise in a pure attacking dps set do in act3/4 inferno and what kind of stats are needed to really get some progress in those acts.
People posting videos of killing Diablo and "claiming" to have no problems with a4 champ packs make me skeptical. Having killed inferno Diablo recently myself I was unpleasantly suprised at how easy the fight was in comparision to actually clearing (i.e. not skipping) the elites on the way to the end of the game. I can think of a lot of champion packs that were harder than the final boss of the game, so I'm confused as to why people are posting videos of killing Diablo like it is some major achievement. For all we know they got the way point from someone else and skipped most of act 4. Like the poster above me said, I'd be much more impressed with people's builds and guides if their videos included them killing five a4 champion packs efficiently and then killing big D with 5 stacks of NV.
Since I last checked this thread, I've gotten enough new gear to fight through act 3 inferno. My preferred playstyle? Be in a group.
An ideal act 3 run will start on "the second heart" quest leading up to Azmodan. The goal is to get 5 stacks and get two boss kills as quickly as possible. Between the waypoint and Cydaea you'll get 3-5 boss groups, so you want to go to an earlier area of your choice to build up 2 stacks. Any additional elite groups you find before Cydaea and anything between her and Azmodan are for extra credit.
How long does it take an appropriately geared DH to do this run solo? 30 minutes to an hour.
How long does it take an appropriately geared monk to do this run solo? Easily double that and even longer if you're lucky.
Running a group to do this run will still take a bit longer than the solo DH, but will always be faster than doing it alone. Even if you're the best geared person in the group, you're still faster with that group. Having other people there also lets you not worry about damage as much as tanking and generally inconveniencing monsters as much as possible. You can drop abilities like sweeping wind and mystic ally for the extremely versatile blinding flash, to extend your invuln tank time, and the underrated sanctuary, to wall off elite packs at choke points while your DPS class buddies bomb on them with blizzard, bears, and elemental arrow. More people also lets you pull off the important MF gear swap more consistently and easily.
If you want the most effective inferno farming as a monk, your style should revolve around communication and teamwork ("Going in to tank with invuln now!") over stressing over which AH item to blow 10mil on.
I can tell you about my monk progressing through act2 :P. I just got to zolten kulle stuff and it's hasn't been to bad. I'll give you some things I learned along my travels.
1. Double dipping on resistance is awesome. (fire resistance+all res+ one with everything passive). Makes it so much easier to gear for inferno.
2. Your resists are important but don't forget armor.
3. Find the weak spots in your playstyle and try to combat them. (short range? low mobility? no cds?)
4. Try to stack hybrid skills. (personally I use FoL: Thunderclap and Cyclone Strike because they are so versatile. Thunderclap gives you mobility, speed and interrupts, cyclone strike can interrupt, do aoe damage, and move monsters where you want)
5. Learn to rotate your skills for different situations. What's a good rotation for damage? For defense? For ally support?
6. Healing yourself. Find a way to keep your health up. (personally I'm testing life regen atm and loving it, other options are life on hit, lifesteal and w/e else).
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