Monk Best-in-Slot Thread

[crazyjeff]

A Little background on me

I'm currently a monk trying to get by in Act 3 Inferno, grinding away to try and get Pre-nerf inferno mobs on farm. My goal is to beat inferno (legitimately, elites and all) before patch 1.0.3, because I'm stupid and proud, and while I agree with the changes Blizz is making, i want to be able to say "Ha, I don't need your nerfs."

Now that I'm at a level of proficiency where I can solo Act 3 Semi effectively (Killing the easier elite-packs, and skipping Arcane Enchanted, Frozen, Extra Health, Molten *******s) I need to start thinking about what to spend my farmed gold on. Little upgrades won't do it anymore, I refuse to get a totally new piece of gear for 10 more resists and 30 Vitality.

My Stats: With Breath of Heaven and Enchantress

Str:385
Dex: 1756
Vit: 621
Int: 282
Resist: 719
Armor:7172
Attack Speed: 1.86
LoH: 550
DPS: 22859.34

So, in that spirit, I've decided to compile what I believe to be the Monk's "Best in Slot" items.

Desirable Stats

Dexterity > Attack Speed > Critical Hit Chance > Critical Hit Damage

Other Desirable effects: Movement Speed, Life on Hit, Life Steal, Spirit Regen, Life per Spirit Spent

Dex and IAS are most important for obvious reasons. Critical Hit Chance and Damage have some interesting side effects, if you can afford the passives that benefit them.

Fun Additional Effects: Increased\Reduced Elite Damage, Reduced Melee\Ranged Damage[/b]

So with further ado...

Helm

1. Mempo of Twilight (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/mempo-of-twilight)

Attack Speed is huge obivously, if this rolls with +Dex and one of the following: +Other Resist, +Armor or +Vit; this should be considered extremely valuable.

2. Andariel's Visage (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/andariels-visage)

Once again, obvious good helm is obvious. Crit Chance bonus is very nice. Roll an Andy's with 120+ Dex, and either +All Resist, +Vitality, +Armor. (This of course would require all your other gear to have Poison Resist and your “One With Everything stack)

3. Sexy Rare or Helm of Command
(http://us.battle.net/d3/en/artisan/b...ecipe/the-helm-of-command)

Since a sexy rare lacks attack speed, it’s not entirely ideal, but stick to the formula and you’ll be pretty well off. +Dex, +Vit, +Armor, +All Resist, +Other Resist

Chest

1. Tal-Rasha’s Guardianship (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/tal-rashas-guardianship)

It’s a close tie between this and Tyrael’s Might, because I like a chest piece to focus more on Defense, but the IAS is simply too useful with Life on Hit builds. Either is a phenomenal chest piece for monk. However, this needs a nice +Dex to roll.

2. Tyrael’s Might (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/tyraels-might)

I’ll be choosing Tyrael’s Might, because I want t sit in groups of 50 mobs and laugh because your damage is fail. If Tyrael’s Might rolls with +Other Resist, + Vitality, or +Armor, consider yourself a lottery winner.

3. Sexy Rare

Bracers

1. Lacuni Prowlers (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/lacuni-prowlers)

Are we seeing a theme here? IAS and Movement Speed are dominant. Granted, the armor on these is low for my taste, but the desired rolls should be apparent: +Dex and one of the following +All Resist, +Other Resist, +Armor.

2. Strongarm Bracers (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/strongarm-bracers)

I like these. They have some fun bonuses like knockback and Crit Chance. Sadly, there’s only one additional prop that rolls on these, so 70+ All Resist is really the only thing that can be in this position.

3. Hot Rare

100+ Dex; 100+ Vit; 70+ All Resist; 50+ Other Resist; Reduced Damage from Melee Attacks

Boots

1. Fire Walkers (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/fire-walkers)

I know, shocker, I put the IAS boots in second, but these are just bomb. You’ll have plenty of IAS in all your other slots. Get a +All Resist, +Armor, +Vitality bonus and you should be able to walk on water, in addition to walking through fire.

2. Zunimassas Journey (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/zunimassas-journey)

Why did you put these here CrazyJeff, are you crazy? NO, I’m not. Boj Anglers are stupid, and I won’t even put them #3, a sexy rare is infinitely better than Boj Anglers.

Zunimassa’s gives you +6% Poison Damage, Movement Speed, 15% IAS, and it can roll with a 150+ Dex and +All Resist. This is Best-in-Slot, so your Damage is going to be amazingly high. The think about +X% increases, is that these scale incredibly well with high damage. So all of a sudden that “Add’s 6% Poison Damage” is taking your DPS to new, unthinkable levels.

3. Sexy rare, Boj Anglers are a cop-out with no protection.

Belt

1. Sexiest of Rares

150+Dex, 150+Vit, 70+ All Resist, 50+ Other Resist, +Armor, +Flavour of your choice.

2. String of Ears (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/string-of-ears)

While not as useful as a perfectly rolled rare, this has a very nice additional effect. “Reduced damage from Melee Attacks 20%.” We are Monks, we take Melee damage, and the reduction granted from these is incredibly helpful, and makes up for the lower All Resist and level 52 Stat Rolls. Life on Hit is a nice bonus too, every little bit helps.

3. Hellcat Waistguard (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/hellcat-waistguard)

This is here for one reason. It’s a solid companion for your Firewalkers. Granted, this needs to roll an amazing +Dexterity bonus to be considered useful, but to be honest, there are way better rares that can roll.


Gloves

1. The Sexiest of Rares

15% IAS, 150+Dex, 150+Vit, 70+ All Resist, 50+ Other Resist, +Armor. Moving on.

Shoulders

1. The Sexiest of Rares

150+Dex, 150+Vit, 70+ All Resist, 50+ Other Resist, +Armor, +Flavour of your choice. Moving on.

Pants

1. The Sexiest of Rares

150+Dex, 150+Vit, 70+ All Resist, 50+ Other Resist, +Armor, +Flavour of your choice. Moving on.

Editors Note: You’ll hopefully notice that there are some similarities between the last 4 Item slots.. This is because Blizz goofed a bit on Itemization, and items are missing really fun flavor in this game. Hopefully the upcoming buff to Legendaries gives me a chance to put more interesting items in these slots, because that was boring.

FINALLY THINGS CAN GET FUN AGAIN

Amulet

1. Ouroboros (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/ouroboros)

This is just... Yes. If you find this with +Attack Speed, and a +All Resist\Other Resist, you are a lucky *******.

2. The (Insert Hottest Celebrity Here) of Rares

I think you know what goes here.

3. Flavor of Time (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-flavor-of-time)

Respectable, it’s like a baby version of the Ouroboros with the right rolls.

Rings

1. Skull Grasp (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/skull-grasp)

Your goal should be to farm these. These are awesome, seriously. If that +1 Random Property winds up being Attack Speed, put this in your jewelry slot and forget about it.

2. Natalya’s Mark (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/natalyas-mark)

Need I say more? If this rolls with Life on Hit and All Resist, put it in your slot and forget about it.

3. Screaming Chain (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/screaming-chain)

See above, but this doesn’t guarantee rolling Attack Speed, so a really nice Screaming Chain will have 15% IAS and Life on Hit.

4. Band of Fallen Heroes (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/band-of-fallen-heroes)

When paired with the above ring, you get a 15% MF and GF Bonus. If you are stupid-lucky, and roll this with +Dex and +Attack Speed. Its valuable.
5. Sexy Rare Ring.

Attack Speed, Life of Hit, Dex, All Resist. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.



NOW WHAT DO I PUT IN MY HANDS!

1. The Rare Fist Weapon\Dagger\Sword of your choice (In both hands?)

Ideal Stats:

DPS: 1100+
Dexterity 100+
Increased Attack Speed
Life on Hit 800+
Critical Hit Damage +100%

(This is Best in Slot Rememeber? I can dream)

2. Stormshield (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/stormshield)

If you’re into shields, the only thing that can beat this is a perfectly rolled rare that gives you a Massive Dex Boost, Vitality, High Block Chance, High Armor and Reduced Damage from Melee Attacks, and Resistance.

3. The Rare Staff to End All Rare Staffs

(You’re going to have ridiculous Attack Speed and protection, you probably don’t need a shield, and this baby is gonna hit HARD.)

Ideal Stats:

DPS: 2000+ (I think this is possible? Maybe?)
Dexterity 100+
Increased Attack Speed
Life on Hit 800+
Critical Hit Damage +100%



Now, to have a word on Legendary Weapons,

In theory, I think it’s possible for a Legendary\Set Item to roll with 1000+DPS.
(Even though I haven’t seen it yet)
Hopefully once legendaries get a buff, we can actually use Sets and Legendaries and have it seem like a viable Best-in-Slot scenario.

1. Hallowed Touch (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/artisan/b...hallowed-touch)
This just looks really awesome to me. A nice fat Dex Boost, both special Monk buffs, and if it rolls 500+Life on Hit, Attack Speed, and 1000+ DPS, I’d be ecstatic. With the set bonus, you get an additional 5% Attack Speed (I look forward to seeing the unstoppable Monk with 4.00 Attack Speed) so naturally, this would be partnered with:

2. Hallowed Barrier (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/artisan/b...llowed-barrier)

Ugggh, I want this shield to be good SO BAD. Partner this with your Hallowed Touch, and you’ll look like a glowing, angelic, demon slayer of heaven. The set bonus gives +40 All Resist on top of the 60 that the shield gives. A potential 25% chance to block, if this rolls with +Armor (for over 1000), 100+ Dexterity, and 100+ Vitality, I’m a pretty happy camper.



I think that’ll do it for now.

I’ll be updating and editing this guide periodically. Maybe I’ll do some Character Builder setups, so I can see the theoretical numbers of this super-monk.

I’d also like to try building a monk that uses Set Items exclusively, and see what his numbers look like, so will likely be an added section to this. I’d love to see\hear the Monk community’s suggestions\comments.

If you like this guide, and plan to keep coming back, request a sticky!

-CrazyJeff

[iESCAPISM]

Good stuff. Thank you for pointing out that +6% Poison Damage actually adds 6% dps, as opposed to increasing damage from poison based skills only.

...you are sure about that, right?

[Dym]

From your stats and preference Im assuming you are using some really slow 1h (only 1.86 aps and you are prioritizing ias on your gear) which was your main obstacle in beating inferno (because your @ and armor look pretty decent).

Here comes I hope constructive criticism:
1. BiS gear mainly depends on your play style and build. Item list without build is worthless and almost impossible to rate.
2. Diablo was always game of break points. You choose items with poor stats (compared to rare alternatives) just because they have ias which would be reasonable only to reach certain break point (allowing you for example to resign from LoH and taking other affix on your items or generate enough spirit to cast LTK once per second) yet again you dont provide explanation for your choices.
3. I dont understand your high value for crit % and crit dmg. Sure you need at least 1 item with crit % to keep up your BF or SW up but that is all there is to it unless you are using Quickening. Ias/Dex/Vit/@/OWEr/LPSS/SPS in most builds will beat crit % any day. If you have enough survivability you can switch your "tanky" item with ias alternative and get better results than pumping crit %.
4. You omitted monk specific bonuses in your gear choices (except for the belt) while with certain gear/skill choices they can change your play style entirely. For example lets say you have 2.4 attacks per second 4.12 spirit per second from items and and use FoT which gives you 2.4*1.45*6+4.12= 25 Spirit Per Second while attacking. With Transcendence and 88 Life Per Spirit Spent from gear you are standing on 150 LPSS. 25*150 = 3750 Life Per Second while dumping all your spirit on mantra or a little bit less if you are using your LTK (coz LTK stops your FoT for a moment). Im too lazy to count how much LoH you would have to get to reach this number with FoT (mainly because of 3rd strike aoe split and TC bug) but roughly it would be around 1000++. While you would need 4 affixes to get this kind of SPS and LPSS and only 2 for LoH lets not forget SPS in most cases also boosts your dps and isnt actually needed for LPSS to work on par/better than LoH.

Hope my post will help you improve your list.

[magicrectangle]

Ouroboros is okay as first choice ammy I guess so long as it rolls attack speed and something else good, but second choice is definitely Blackthorne's medal (roll dex + res). Sexy rare could theoretically actually be better than both, but realistic sexy rare goes in third, and flavor of time goes nowhere on the list - it is poor man's gear, which doesn't really belong in a "dream gear" thread.

[gblan]

4. You omitted monk specific bonuses in your gear choices (except for the belt) while with certain gear/skill choices they can change your play style entirely. For example lets say you have 2.4 attacks per second 4.12 spirit per second from items and and use FoT which gives you 2.4*1.45*6+4.12= 25 Spirit Per Second while attacking. With Transcendence and 88 Life Per Spirit Spent from gear you are standing on 150 LPSS. 25*150 = 3750 Life Per Second while dumping all your spirit on mantra or a little bit less if you are using your LTK (coz LTK stops your FoT for a moment). Im too lazy to count how much LoH you would have to get to reach this number with FoT (mainly because of 3rd strike aoe split and TC bug) but roughly it would be around 1000++. While you would need 4 affixes to get this kind of SPS and LPSS and only 2 for LoH lets not forget SPS in most cases also boosts your dps and isnt actually needed for LPSS to work on par/better than LoH.

Hope my post will help you improve your list.

Ok it's plain to see you have a good number cruncher grasp of the game. Ppl that have a deep understanding of the math beneath the game's face usually do quite well. How about writing a Monk guide for the common man? Take these skill/rune and gear/affix combos and break it down so we can understand it all.

[Such Violent Storms]

Ok it's plain to see you have a good number cruncher grasp of the game. Ppl that have a deep understanding of the math beneath the game's face usually do quite well. How about writing a Monk guide for the common man? Take these skill/rune and gear/affix combos and break it down so we can understand it all.

"Number cruncher" ... you mean, addition and multiplication... 6th grade?