Inferno Diablo with Monk and I - Strategies/Thoughts and How to Progress Endgame

[Tenebris]

Gathered my mates and did an Act II almost full clear (4 in the party). My observations were that DR whilst providing great utility in dealing with troublesome situations it feels so slow as opposed to FoT. That's with a 1.89 AS. My impression is that my damage output suffered commensurably. This finding is independent of the fact that it was a co-op game.

Hence, in my opinion & feel free to correct me, I believe I have the following options; a. get myself an offhand weapon. The 15% AS bonus should offset the relative slowness of DR plus potentially offering more LoH/Crit Damage/stats. b. stick to FoT and 1-h and shield. Try to grab a ~ 10% crit one as well as more crit on other slots, aiming for a 20-25% overall crit chance. I'm at 10.50% atm.

Currently it feels like I'm at a crossroads, therefore I need to commit to a set direction.

PS- With MAlly and SW I had to take out LTC/Armada. Perhaps I came to rely on this skill too much or it is indeed very helpful in solo play (I hear good remarks about Dashing Strike too). Do you feel it can be missed as an escape/oh sh..t tool?

[Simfish]

I had a full reply written up before my computer decided to poop on me. Oh well.

In short: DR just feels safer to use, but I would assess where you are right now in your progression whether or not you need more defensive or offensive abilities.

I would stick with the one-hander and shield as the extra stats you can get help a lot, along with the 1000 armor that would otherwise be missing. If you were to consider going more damage, I would change your build but stick with the gear that you have been using. I know ZraveX, who is a Barbarian but whose advice is helpful anyhow, goes one-hander and shield but has since switched to more offensive abilities.

Here's a build that I like if you're comfortable with your defensive stats:

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...Xik!XYU!acYYZa

Trade out Infused with Light rune for Blazing Wrath if you're not too worried about spirit sustain and want even more damage, and trade out Seize the Initiative for Resolve if you're not taking melee hits well.

Lashing Tail Kick or Dashing Strike are really not even that necessary if you emphasize positioning well before the trouble occurs. Just always clear every single white mob up to a certain point before taking on an elite pack, and never have monsters chase you into areas that you haven't explored. The utility that you get from the other skills just far surpasses anything that LTK and DS could offer. The spirit regen from SW is just absolutely game breaking if your sustain is on the low-side. Earth Ally is an amazing tank. If I were to switch those two out, I would do so for more offensive abilities, not LTK or DS specifically.

[Tenebris]

Thx yet again for the valuable insights Sim!

Went for a shield upgrade after all, and did I see a difference! The general make up of the new shield is more or less the same (even lesser in the amount blocked) but with 8.5% Crit chance it has enabled me to clean Act II back-2-back, a feat I was huffing and puffing to achieve before. One death in total, with my build as listed! With 19% Crit chance the cyclones came into their own and I'm a very satisfied monk!

I can progress in the opening setting of Act III now, up to the keep depths with a few deaths here and there but it should be expected. I can only wonder what the situation would be with a Crit chance of 25%+ and Crit damage of 200%+ . Scouring the EU AH for such gear but it is insanely priced atm - without giving up too much on other stats ofc.

Really came to appreciate the Earthen MAlly, it is indeed a superb tool. I paid attention to positioning and managed to wiggle out of seemingly doomed predicaments. All in all, quite content with my monk for the first time post-patch.

A big Mantra of Blessings to all, till the next time!

[Terenas]

I can progress in the opening setting of Act III now, up to the keep depths with a few deaths here and there but it should be expected.

Hello, I'd like to know how things will be in "The Breached Keep" or whatever it is called (the quest ending with killing Ghom) because I encountered a lot of difficulties (had to park 2 elite packs, and that after restarting the game 5 times because of impossible elite combos). I've still to farm gold for a decent weapon though, I had no LoH on decent weapon before patch so yes, I might not be able to do much before 1.0.4 where they are probably going to nerf Crit Dmg and Crit % to oblivion. Unless they hotfix it before, that is.

Honestly though, any upgrade I might consider for my slots is 2M+ or more, except weapon which is far more (crit and LoH is probably in the 10 or 20M+ range on EU). I am trying to evaluate efficient farming options - at this point I'd be happy to know what you are doing to get the gold to update your monks (because like someone said, "you're doing it wrong").
Thanks

Edited to whine less.

[Ohlmann]

(crit and LoH is probably in the 10 or 20M+ range on EU)

Take Life on spirit spent instead of LoH ; avoid crit on weapon (it's way too expensive for now, especially since it's crit damage and not crit chance IIRC) ; and you should find something "cheap" and efficient.

[Terenas]

Take Life on spirit spent instead of LoH ; avoid crit on weapon (it's way too expensive for now, especially since it's crit damage and not crit chance IIRC) ; and you should find something "cheap" and efficient.

Yes, weapons have crit damage and not crit chance. Thanks for the advice. My current fist weapon is indeed a blue 828 dps with 50 LpSS. I still feel like it is not enough though. My current build. Currently trying to farm A2 (can do Maghda, ZK, but some elites just tear me apart like the fire constructs in the archives when they spawn with Arcane Waller Vortex Illusionist, or the Snake-like demons with Molten Plagued Teleporter Jailer... Also why can't we Dodge the arcane lasers (petition ??).

[Mefet]

We've all been there. Purgatory. The spot where you never know when you're going to make it out. Unlike some people, I did not abuse the Act 2 Chest farming, the goblin farming, the Act 3 Chest farming, or the cheesy Tyrael mechanic that allowed people to advance further in the game. I wanted to play in what I viewed was the most legit manner possible. I want to make one thing clear for everyone that's trying to look for a quick and easy solution to things: When you play legit, you reap all of the rewards and benefits. No one can say that my skill did not take me to Diablo. No one can say I did not earn my gear. I have not spent a dime on the RMAH, and I refuse to ever do so. And probably one big reason why I've been playing the Monk: Nobody can say I achieved the things that I did with an overpowered class (Secretly, I really do think it is overpowered, but the general masses definitely do not think so!). There are a few Demon Hunters and Wizards on my buddies list who have cheesed their way through Act 3 farming with Tyrael. Weeks later, they still have not downed Diablo.

It's not a critic but it would have been even better if you played fully legit (no Gold Auction House gearing). I'm personnaly at a point where my monk can start act II and it feels great to know that i did it by myself, worked to find my items and didn't buy the work of others. Yes i wont be killing Diablo before a long time but i'm not scared of playing the game for a long time as long as i'm enjoying it.

[MrNajsman]

Yes, weapons have crit damage and not crit chance. Thanks for the advice. My current fist weapon is indeed a blue 828 dps with 50 LpSS. I still feel like it is not enough though. My current build. Currently trying to farm A2 (can do Maghda, ZK, but some elites just tear me apart like the fire constructs in the archives when they spawn with Arcane Waller Vortex Illusionist, or the Snake-like demons with Molten Plagued Teleporter Jailer... Also why can't we Dodge the arcane lasers (petition ??).

Can anyone survive Arcane/Jailer/Imperial/Super-duper on late inferno?

Can we Dodge any of the effects arcane lasers, plague, molten or desecration?

[Ohlmann]

Can we Dodge any of the effects arcane lasers, plague, molten or desecration?

Yes to plague, molten, desecration, and I am near certain that arcane sentry can be dodged. The tricky part is that they hit a lot of time per second, so you won't ever escape an arcane laser or ground effect without some damage. And since arcane sentry damage are the most insane of the four...

[Simfish]

It's not a critic but it would have been even better if you played fully legit (no Gold Auction House gearing). I'm personnaly at a point where my monk can start act II and it feels great to know that i did it by myself, worked to find my items and didn't buy the work of others. Yes i wont be killing Diablo before a long time but i'm not scared of playing the game for a long time as long as i'm enjoying it.

Legit and untwinked mean different things, and to be fair, I actually did not twink my character with auction house purchases at all until I had reached Inferno. But that's probably harder to do today, as certain class mechanics were incredibly overpowered back then. Boon of Protection with the spammable 15% shield made resistances a moot point, and spirit regeneration was not an issue with Sweeping Wind and FoT crits. Wizards were also able to face-tank tough mobs and bosses with impunity by pressing a few buttons, and with no punishment at all for poor, undisciplined play. Those were certainly the days.

What I meant by legit was that I did not abuse Act 2 chest farming, Tyrael killing mobs in Act 3 that you couldn't do yourself, waypoint skipping to areas that you couldn't have made it to yourself, and other things that could be viewed as exploitative that have long since been patched. The way I think of it is that the ability to acquire gear is a skill in itself which was also emphasized in Diablo 2. The difference in Diablo 3 is that there is an intermediary to make things a little more convenient for all of us.

I think it is feasible to play completely untwinked - I certainly was able to do so up until a certain point. It would just take much longer to do so in a game that is all about chance and your ability to minimize those chance factors, and I certainly would not have experienced the hardest difficulties of Inferno in its hardest, pre-patch form. All said, I am considering an untwinked project playing through a new character with an IRL friend who had just purchased the game!

To answer a few of the questions recently posted, with about 900 resistances, you could survive about 2-3 seconds of Desecration in Act 3 Inferno pre-patch. It is probably much more lenient now. If you are standing in multiple ground effects at the same time, well, good luck to you!

Terenas, I'm actually getting ready to transition over to Hardcore by setting up a few dummy Softcore characters that I can practice on, but also, quite a few of my IRL friends have been progressing through the game pre-Inferno and it is fun to make new characters to play with them. Most of my Act 1 farming advice, while incredibly effective for me pre-patch, might be considered obsolete by now. I think THE best way currently to farm gold is to strap on some gold-find gear and mow through mobs in late Hell/NM. Of course, it depends on what you find fun. I found slaying mobs in Act 1 Inferno fun, and I did most of my runs in public games. As it stands right now, the drop rates on high-end gear are just too horrible, although Blizzard has stated that it is something they're looking into.

As for The Keep in Act 3, it's pretty terrible if you're a ranged DPS because there's not a whole lot of room to kite. Conversely, it's GREAT for melee because you can abuse mobs getting stuck at doorways with a little bit of creative positioning. The burst damage from the Soul Rippers and Swift Skull Cleavers was pretty insane pre-patch, and it was something you had to strafe/reposition constantly to deal with. I'm sure it's a lot easier now. The Keep was my place to go to build NV stacks pre-patch. If you have any specific questions about the place, let me know, since I know that place inside out by now (along with Act 1). Level 2 has those kamikaze, suicide bombers, so be careful.