I recently started Hell difficulty and I'm not really having any major problems so far, I occasionally get my ass handed to me by mobs but I haven't hit a stone wall yet.

I'm just wondering if I can get some opinions on my build and get any tips to point me in the right direction of where my monk should be at. Thanks.

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#aWZiQY!Uce!aaYbaa

Str: 178

Dex: 842

Int: 295

Vit: 698

Armor: 1688

Damage: 2379.12

I don't want to list all the stats of my equipment because it would be too much to write down in an initial post but I'll list the gems I have equipped.

3 Radiant Amethyst

1 Square Emerald

1 Radiant Ruby (in my weapon, Rare Daibo)

My playstyle so far has mostly consisted of running into crowds of guys and fucking shit up that way. It has worked for me just fine and I'm only recently having to change up how I fight now.

*bump* please help

@NotAfro: You may want to consider dumping Pacifism and picking up Resolve instead. 25% damage debuff is pretty huge. Along with that, you may want to rune Crippling Wave with Concussion for another 20% damage reduction instead of the increased damage rune that you have now. You'll be doing less damage but your survivability is going to go way up if you combine those two changes. It may not seem like it now, but once you get beyond Act I in Hell you're going to need to change it up a little if you want to avoid getting one-shotted all the time.

Here's what I'm using right now, I'm Level 58 and in Act 3 Hell. The only things I really have trouble with are the Molten/Desecrator elites.

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#WZYhgX!ZYU!ZZaaab

Here's my build for reference(lvl 60, farming act 1 inferno with ease, otherwise, in act 3 with the slight difference of using mantra of evasion with hard target): http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#WXiTgk!UXZ!.bZbaa

Here's my thoughts:

Passives:

Chant of resonance is worthless. You should always re-cast your mantras to get the 3 sec bonus, so getting it extended is not worth it. Pacifism is limited use, but with a monk you are trying to not get hit or stunned, high dex does that. Get resolve, seize the initiative, transcendence or sixth sense(if you are going for a lot of crits).

Actives:

Try to lose one of the generators. Unless you use combination strike passive, i think its sort of worthless, and it takes away one useful skill. I use crippling wave with concussion, but fists with lightning flash or reach with keen eye is good too.

Use serenity. It's great. Particularly with peacefull repose. If you get into trouble, it heals you and allows you to get away. It helps a lot more than any other skill.

With sweeping storm, that added range is not that helpful, unless you plan on running circles around dudes(which you shouldn't need to do until inferno act 2). Go with blade storm. More damage, the quicker you kill, the less you die.

Also think of breath of heaven with blazing wrath. Heal plus damage buff for 45 secs is great. You can keep it up always while you fight, you get to help yourself while your potions are on cooldown and it greatly increases your damage.

Thats kinda it. Mantra of healing is cool, but i'm not sure you would need it in hell too much, but it is useful. Blinding flash is cool too, although i would use faith in light rune for increased umph.

The following build have made life in Hell pretty easy so far.

When gearing up I go by the following - and in this order of importance: Resistance to all Elements, Vitality and then Dexterity

Edit: I am lvl 54

@lobsterman: I tend to use mantra of healing as a crutch and like to just have it going on for a long time in the background and not have to think about recasting it too often.

My time in Hell has gotten better after changing my build closer to @MB: and now im farming the Butcher runs.

@LimpBishop said:

The following build have made life in Hell pretty easy so far.

When gearing up I go by the following - and in this order of importance: Resistance to all Elements, Vitality and then Dexterity

Edit: I am lvl 54

I second this build.

@MariachiMacabre said:

@LimpBishop said:

The following build have made life in Hell pretty easy so far.

When gearing up I go by the following - and in this order of importance: Resistance to all Elements, Vitality and then Dexterity

Edit: I am lvl 54

I second this build.

I just now looked at this and yeah, my build is basically this now. It's pretty awesome so far.

@LimpBishop: Seems like a good build, but I notice you're using a shield, yet have Guardian's Path? I don't believe there's any bonus for using sword and board, so you have a wasted passive. I'd say grab Resolve or Transcendence.

Unless you just happened to have a shield on for this SS and usually dual wield, then ignore me :P

Not sure how much money the OP has saved up, but it may be worth it to look for a level 60 weapon with a "required level reduction" mod. I got a 583dps axe with 2.5% lifesteal for 70k and was able to start using at 48. It bumped my dps from about 2-8k and has made hell incredibly easy thus far.

My own question: For One with Everything, has anyone found a particularly cheap resist to invest in? Been stacking Arcane and sitting at 193 for the moment.

It's most important to just have good gear honestly. Other than that, just make sure your build has enough self heals.

@Ulain: You are correct sir - I switch between dual and shield - and when doing so switch my skill too.

Dual: Guardians Path

Shield: Resolve

I find myself more and more often using the shield as I am working my way through Act 2 - I might not drop the elite mobs as fast, but I rarely die - so I guess that is a pretty okay trade-off :D

Edit: Regarding "One With Everything" - that has been a huge problem for me too. It seems very random which resist cheapest to get my hands on on the EU auction house...

@LimpBishop said:

@Ulain: You are correct sir - I switch between dual and shield - and when doing so switch my skill too.

Dual: Guardians Path

Shield: Resolve

I find myself more and more often using the shield as I am working my way through Act 2 - I might not drop the elite mobs as fast, but I rarely die - so I guess that is a pretty okay trade-off :D

Edit: Regarding "One With Everything" - that has been a huge problem for me too. It seems very random which resist cheapest to get my hands on on the EU auction house...

Yeah, I'm finding the same thing with a shield, not to mention I haven't picked up an equivalent weapon to dual wield anyway. Giving up 15% IAS for the block chance, and my shield has a buttload of dex and vitality. so I still maintain great damage with much added survival.

I'm 55 now with few problems with elite packs (although desecrator/arcanes are a fucking bitch) but I think I may just wait to hit 60 and pick up some cheap X Resist/All Resist gear since damage is not a problem. Then again, I'm generally bored, and the account is actually my roommate's :P

@Ulain said:

@LimpBishop said:

@Ulain: You are correct sir - I switch between dual and shield - and when doing so switch my skill too.

Dual: Guardians Path

Shield: Resolve

I find myself more and more often using the shield as I am working my way through Act 2 - I might not drop the elite mobs as fast, but I rarely die - so I guess that is a pretty okay trade-off :D

Edit: Regarding "One With Everything" - that has been a huge problem for me too. It seems very random which resist cheapest to get my hands on on the EU auction house...

Yeah, I'm finding the same thing with a shield, not to mention I haven't picked up an equivalent weapon to dual wield anyway. Giving up 15% IAS for the block chance, and my shield has a buttload of dex and vitality. so I still maintain great damage with much added survival.

I'm 55 now with few problems with elite packs (although desecrator/arcanes are a fucking bitch) but I think I may just wait to hit 60 and pick up some cheap X Resist/All Resist gear since damage is not a problem. Then again, I'm generally bored, and the account is actually my roommate's :P

I just managed to squeeze my way to lvl 58 now - and while I still have fun, I think my time of grinding through the same game for hours and hours, are getting fewer and far between.

Not sure how that will work out when I hit Inferno - might be time for me to start playing public games - as one more turn through all of this - on solo, might break my soul :D

Inferno might also be the time to look into a dual wield build, that can keep me alive - if possible. That might be my reason/excuse to keep cranking through this game..

@MariachiMacabre: You got an excellent build. Nice!