The Build: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#adXgjQ!YVb!YbZbbb
This is a full on healing build and is designed exclusively for party play. This build focuses very little on DPS, in fact the only damage you will be doing is that required to maintain your Spirit via Fists of Thunder/Ally.
Mantra of Healing is used heavily as a core mitigation/healing tool. Breath of Heaven is used more as a last resort on badly injured allies. Serenity serves to mitigate control effects and moderate damage while generating Spirit.
Strengths:
Rapid Spirit Generation
High Sustainability
Strong group mitigation via multiple absorb effects
Strong group healing via spammable Heal over Time effects
Abilities:
Fists of Thunder (Quickening): Dual wielding (fast weapons) while using this particular ability is the best way to ramp up Spirit. Period.
Two Handed weapons will noticeably slow down generation.
Dashing Strike (Quicksilver): Invaluable for escaping damage/mobs and conversely staying on a target to ensure spirit generation. It’s also useful for positioning yourself in range of a teammate for a Breath of Heaven cast.
Breath of Heaven (Circle of Life): Powerful/Cost Efficient direct heal. The only drawback is the 12 yard affected area. Ranged are frequently much further out and melee can move outside of 12 yards quickly whilst evading nasty things on the ground.
Serenity (Tranquility): Powerful group shield, particularly useful when timed right against mobs with exploding frost orbs.
Mystic Ally (Air Ally): Decent DPS boost via an always-on Sweeping Wind effect. It will also tank mobs and take some hits for you. More importantly this ally has a chance to give you +100 Spirit on attack. (For those not interested in adding DPS or those seeking to avoid the RNG of the Spirit proc, I would suggest replacing this with Inner Sanctuary [runed-for-situation] and using the Infused with Light rune for Breath of Heaven).
Mantra of Healing (Boon of Protection): An aura Heal over Time effect featuring strong self-healing while using the Transcendence passive and a spammable 3 second power HoT (with a 45 yard range). The rune protects teammates while the power HoT works its magic. Treat this ability less like a pre-combat buff and more like a core heal with a 2-3 second cooldown.
Passives:
Transcendence: A dead healer is a useless healer, this ability turns just about everything on your hot-bar into a personal heal. *Must Have*
Beacon of Ytar: This ability reduces cooldowns (Inner Sanctuary/Serenity- 17 seconds, down from 20. Breath of Heaven 13 seconds down from 15). “Guiding Light” or "Resolve" may be prefered.
Exalted Soul: A large Spirit pool allows for greater sustainability during periods of high damage while also reducing “wasted” spirit during slow spots.
