[:1]I've had trouble finding info on the monk skills from the beta build that was at the press event. So far I've only found Blizzplanet to have any write ups.
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Monk
Spirit, defensive focused resource, base attacks generate spirit, precious resources, attacks have three stages to feel dynamic, can mix up abilities
Deadly Reach, hit enemies right before they reach you, control position
Exploding Palm, third hit is $$ applies a DoT, and if it kills them they explode + do damage to area
Mantras, ability unique to monk, buff extends to her and allies, big dodge bonus
Tempest , can�t get surrounded, slows enemies in path
Inner Sanctuary, monsters can�t pass through and creates choke points, etc. Allows for high control.
Seven sides strike, big spirit spender, invulnerable for short period of time does massive damage to groups of enemies.
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Thought I posted this earlier but it never appeared, sorry if it ends up double posting.|||Personally from watching the beta gameplay preview. Monk looked the weakest, especially compared to the barb who smashed EVERYTHING!
I'm still interested really interested in the Monk, my 2nd fave char after the Witch Doctor, and I'm not expecting balance issues to be resolved yet. Just wanted to state an observation.|||I have been a monk fan for a long time but this thing about the skills using spirit being mostly centered around defense I don't really like. I want to build up my spirit to unleash even better attacks not to use some kind of shield to protect me. Oh well, I know there are also spirit skills used for offense but the fact that the defensive ones are more just bothers me.|||A french site posted a list of the skills and passives:
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Monk
List of Actives:
Blinding flash
Fists of thunder
Breath of heaven
Lashing tail kick
Mantra of healing
Deadly reach
Dashing strike
Lethal decay
Crippling wave
Manta of retribution
Inner sanctuary
Exploding palm
Mantra of evasion
Tempest rush
Sweeping wind
Serenity
Way of the hundred fists
Mantra of conviction
Seven sided strike
Mystic ally
Wave of light
List and description of Passives:
Exalted soul (level 10): Increases maximum Spirit by 20%.
Frenzied attack (level 13): When wielding two weapons, the Monk has 20% increased critical strike chance and 30% increased critical strike damage.
Aggression (level 15): Increases attack by 20%.
Superior skill (level 15): Increases precision by 20%.
Expert defense (level 17): Increases defense by 20%.
Resonance (level 19): Increases the duration of auras by 120 seconds.
Untouchable (level 19): After dealing a critical strike, increases dodge chance by 10% for 10 seconds.
Counterattack (level 20): When the Monk dodges an attack, the next skill has its Spirit cost reduced by 40%.
Weak spot (level 20): Increases critical strike damage by 100%.
Strength in adversity (level 23): Healing effects are improved by 50% if the Monk is under 35% HP.
Near death experience (level 25): When the Monk receives a fatal blow, the Monk gains 30% HP and 30% Spirit. (TL's Note: not very clear, no idea if there is a cooldown or other rule)
Flawless technique (level 28): Skills that generate Spirit do 20% more damage.
Strength of spirit (level 30): Skills that require Spirit do 30% more damage.
Source
And translated in this thread
From what others are saying the monk felt the weakest in the demo, I'm guessing because their only spirit skill at that level appeared to Blinding Flash and Lashtail Kick. The good news is though that despite that weakness a lot of the reviews felt that the monk was the most fun, which to me is the most important.
Sidenote: I knew that Circle of Wrath was OP from the 2010 demo but it seems to not be on that list anymore. Talk about nerfing a skill into oblivion...|||I find it interesting that all the Auras were renamed to Mantras, I bet a lot of people are still going to call them auras.
Out of the list of skills I want to see Deadly reach, Dashing strike, Tempest rush, and Mystic Ally.
In the passives the ones I find most interesting are :
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Resonance (level 19): Increases the duration of auras by 120 seconds.
2 minute increase? I wonder how long they last normally.
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Untouchable (level 19): After dealing a critical strike, increases dodge chance by 10% for 10 seconds.
I go back and forth on deciding if this is a meh kind of passive, or if it is a good one.
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Counterattack (level 20): When the Monk dodges an attack, the next skill has its Spirit cost reduced by 40%.
Now this is interesting because it can be stack with the above passive causing someone to try a crit build for dodge in order to use Spirit using skills a bit more often. I hope we get an indicator when we dodge things.
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Near death experience (level 25): When the Monk receives a fatal blow, the Monk gains 30% HP and 30% Spirit. (TL's Note: not very clear, no idea if there is a cooldown or other rule)
What? So if the Monk dies... He doesn't die and instead gets 30% health and 30% Spirit? This sounds a bit too good to be true, there got to be a cooldown for this. And I wonder if this would be consider a must for HC Monks.|||I would love to know if anyone has been able to identify the skills used in the screenshots released in the press kit.|||First post on these forums though I've lurked for awhile. For me it's always been down to the barb and the monk because I like being in the thick of melee, but I've been leaning towards the monk because I like speed (I think the Flash was my favorite comic book when I was a kid, so go figure).
As for the general "weakness" of the monk in the beta, I think that it's very early in the game to be able to judge any class. Let's face it... Act 1 will be easy. Heck, Normal difficulty will be easy. Most characters in D2 really don't even reach the beginnings of thier full potential until somewhere in Nightmare.
Getting specifically to the skills of the monk as of today, this is what I think:
The fact that spirit is listed as "defensive" and yet Seven-sided Strike is a big spirit spender is interesting. It almost makes me think the SSS is the "signature skill" of the monk, like whirlwind for a barb. It seems similar to whirlwind in that it's a skill that affects a group of people and gives you something of an immunity to attacks (which whirlwind can do when it's timed right). Note that I don't say it's the best skill, just the signature skill. The fact that it uses a lot of our "defensive" resources says much to me about what Blizzard assumes it's effectiveness will be.
The big "bell" or "metal thumb" or whatever the heck it is that the monk drops in front of the enemy.. is that Inner Sanctum? Can someone please explain to me how that skill will be useful? I'm trying to wrap my head around how that skill makes my top 6 actives?
As for Near Death Experience... it seems obvious that it must have a cool down, or else you would never die. But I like it... I'd like to have a skill where I can be a bit reckless and aggressive with my monk and know that I get one "get out of jail free" card to play, where I can then quickly use an escape skill and regroup.
My biggest question right now is about weaponry: how do weapons affect your skill choices? Yes I know there are passives tied to different weapons, but are all actives good for all weapons? Does every attack take your weapon damage and speed into account? Are you faster with your hands or with dual wielding weapons as opposed to using a staff? What is the benefit to using a staff, which seems to me to be the signature weapon of a monk? Does a skill like long reach work better with a staff than with your bare hands?|||Quote:
Note that I don't say it's the best skill, just the signature skill. The fact that it uses a lot of our "defensive" resources says much to me about what Blizzard assumes it's effectiveness will be.
I don't think it gives an indication on how effective it will be. If you list all the skills that uses Spirit you will find that a large amount of those skills can be used defensively, including SSS with it making the Monk invulnerable while he is using it.
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The big "bell" or "metal thumb" or whatever the heck it is that the monk drops in front of the enemy.. is that Inner Sanctum? Can someone please explain to me how that skill will be useful? I'm trying to wrap my head around how that skill makes my top 6 actives?
It is a bell, the skill's name is Wave of Light. It is the Monk's ranged attack(like how the Barbarian's ranged attack is Weapon Throw, what I mean by range attack is that they could stand on one side of the screen, use the skill and hit the enemy on the other side of the screen without moving(if you had the resources to do so.). That is its purpose.
Now if it is useful or not... I am not sure, but since the Monk can only gain Spirit by using normal attacks or combo skills(which all have 0 to very short range)... Then the only way I think it can be useful is to hit enemies in the back(if you don't want to fight your way to them, or if you don't want to use the Monk's movement skill/movement skill is currently on cooldown.), or hit enemies pack in a corridor as it hits everything in a line.
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My biggest question right now is about weaponry: how do weapons affect your skill choices? Yes I know there are passives tied to different weapons, but are all actives good for all weapons? Does every attack take your weapon damage and speed into account? Are you faster with your hands or with dual wielding weapons as opposed to using a staff? What is the benefit to using a staff, which seems to me to be the signature weapon of a monk? Does a skill like long reach work better with a staff than with your bare hands?
Yes, everyone would like to the answers to these, but right now all we can say is "we don't know".|||Quote:
I don't think it gives an indication on how effective it will be. If you list all the skills that uses Spirit you will find that a large amount of those skills can be used defensively, including SSS with it making the Monk invulnerable while he is using it.
That's all true and I suppose it's more of a gut feeling to me, but I just feel like Blizzard is... I don't know, more... proud of this skill? Like it's a skill they like to show off? It seems silly for me to think that as I type it. It's an AOE and makes you invulnerable at the same time, which to me seems like a win/win. My feelings on this skill aren't very objective I suppose, just going more on instinct I guess.
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It is a bell, the skill's name is Wave of Light. It is the Monk's ranged attack(like how the Barbarian's ranged attack is Weapon Throw, what I mean by range attack is that they could stand on one side of the screen, use the skill and hit the enemy on the other side of the screen without moving(if you had the resources to do so.). That is its purpose.
Ah now I get it, well I suppose it's good that it does damage rather than act as simply a barrier. I suppose it could be useful if you were using your close range skills swarmed with melee and there were casters harassing you from behind them. But I think I would prefer it more if instead of it doing damage, it was more of a wide area "knockback/stun" effect where you could disrupt ranged attackers for awhile, use it to better slow down an incoming wave of melee, or simply to break up a pack of enemies surrounding you. I suppose that will have to be just another skill where I wait to play the game to see what it does and how effective it can be.|||In one of the dev interviews from 2009, I think, they stated that SSS was one of the monk's signature skills much like how the zombie dogs are a signature skill of the WD.
There are a lot of spirit skills that we know of that are offensive, but it seems you start off with a good chunk of defensive options in the beta and since nothing is really challenging at that level you don't get much benefit from them.
As the difficulty ramps up we may see things change, I'm not at all worried about the monk's performance at lvl 60.
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