Diablo III Monk Inferno Build Guide submitted by Stox.
Hello fellow monks.
I've recently changed my build in Act 2 inferno and about to go into Act 3. I've been using this build to great success in farming Halls of Agony solo or group runs (the quest right before getting to the Butcher).
I found this place to be the best place to farm for Act 2. The build is a tank, yes, but at least it involves minimal kiting. The only time you really kite is when you fight certain elite mobs that switch aggro to you and not your pet.
First of all here's the build, http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#bjgYXh!UYX!Zcabca
Also, http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#bjgYXh!XUY!bbabca if you want your ally to pick up mobs better and do more damage, the Air ally is better at holding aggro
The build plays like many of the CC heavy and defensive builds that are out there right now. The main key here is stacking dodge from MoE(Hard Target) with Armor from Seize the Initiative to help your Earth Ally to become a good tank.
Play wise, you play kind of like a melee hunter or Amazon from D2, where you strategically cast and recast your pet to where you block off enemies to coming at you. Once he starts grabbing mobs all you do is stand right behind him and spam Deadly Reach to regen your spirit. The best part of this build is that I don't have to kite around, which often makes you lose dps time and cuts that elite-mob kill timer down shorter! Use Shift+Deadly Reach while standing behind your tank.
My gear isn't great, but I believe it is around where I should be at, here are my stats:
62% damage reduction, 42k HP (38k+ without Earth Ally), 230 resists to all, 1.53 attack speed, 8.2k dps, 58% dodge (without the MoH 3 sec buff)
Once you get good at casting your earth ally to tank well, you can remove your shield and increase your dps and also your spirit regen time. (going dual wield increases my dps to 9k dps and the spirit regen is much faster)
Keep in mind you, yourself is also quite tanky, so sometimes I split huge mobs evenly between myself and my earth ally. (ex: He tanks all the foward mobs while I clear any mobs attacking from behind or He tanks all the melee mobs while I run around taking out casters and ranged mobs) Just keep monitoring his HP in the corner of the screen, be ready to recast him when necessary.
Tips:
1) Recast your ally in front of you as you run away not behind you. Also, if you find too many not attacking your ally, try using the Air Ally, he's much better at grabbing mass aggro.
Furthermore, you should be able to take out alot of mobs by yourself with your CC's and Dodge.
2) If you need to reposition or turn and kite in the direction you just came from, don't forget that Blinding Flash has a secondary pop, so use both wisely
3)Try stacking Vit on the Templar too for another so-so tank. (he's no Earth Ally)
4) If you find that your HP is too low and your tank is dying too fast, try replacing Breath of Heaven with Lashing Tail Kick w/ Sweeping Armada. Use the knockback and slow from this talent to limit the number of mobs that your ally tanks. you should have plenty of spirit if you're spamming Deadly Reach properly while standing behind him.
5) Although I said that kiting is minimal, there certainly will be some kiting involved. Surviving through this is learning using your three CC's in proper priority. In general when a threat comes, use Blinding Flash > Breath of Heaven > Serenity last. You can stop this rotation when you feel that you recast your ally saftely in front of you and then refocus on doing dps and spirit regeneration.
6) The Ally scales with gear! If you find that your tank, and yourself even, are dying too fast when taking multiple mobs, try approaching enemy groups one at a time!
Guide continued after the page break..
Dealing with Elites
Most elite mob combinations are easily dealt with good Earth Ally positioning and using CC rotations on any mob that runs towards you. You can kite a little to help reposition your ally, remember that as long as he can tank for about 5 secs you have enough time to refill your spirit bar (only costs 25 spirit to recast Mystic Ally) you can also hit MoH to help him tank a bit better. However, here might be some of the tricky ones:
Fast+X: This is a pain in the butt if the mob can one shot you, so you must rotate your cc's wisely, try to cc 2 out of the 3 mobs so you and your pet can focus on one.
Invulnerable: Let your ally tank all the garbage mobs while you isolate the gold mob. The key here is to not run too far because the ally will stop tanking and run towards you, recast him if he starts doing this.
Vortex+X: A complete pain in the butt, once you get the right positioning with your ally, these mobs will just scramble that all up. You'll have to use your CC's and adjust according to where the fight takes you, try to pick on the mob that your tank is on so you can dps him while having that buffer zone behind him.
Air Ally:
The air ally is worth mentioning. He can be quite the awesome tank too, just not as beefy. With his spirit regeneration that he gives you and Sweeping Wind dps, he's excellent at grabbing all those little trash mobs on the screen. If you gear well enough, start using this ally and switch to the Earth ally when you need a hardier single tgt tank.
Side note:
Butcher kills- Once you finish your run and get up to the butcher, you have the choice to beat him for a chance at more rare loot or just restart a new run. After you kill him a few times you'll realize it's just dps race and it gets much easier after the first time. Here's the build I use:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#bjgiXk!UYa!cbaZba
This is a complete dps build, alot of fun to use, and you can get the 2min achievement with it. The key is to keep your Blazing Wrath and MoC buff up with keeping Sweeping Wind on. Use Deadly Reach + Shift to sit on the edge of fire zone and keep hitting the butcher when you can't get close to him. when the fire dissipates from around him get within the 3 yrd box so he doesn't pull you in. (staying max range with deadly reach can do this to you, plus your SW won't hit him if you don't stay close to him) Your Ally can actually stand right on the butcher the whole time and keep his dps up on him. Of course go Dual Wield and learn to dodge his heavy swing.
Overall doing these Halls of Agony runs gives on avg about 6-8 elite mob kills + the butcher on minimum. I hope this helps anyone who was struggling in inferno with the monk as I was. Keep the faith with the monk.
Group play:
As a defensive Monk who can actually attack with his ally and not just cast CC and stand in a corner! You can be very useful to a group. Try to think that your Ally is not just a tank for you but also for any DH,Wiz, or WD in your group. If you find that you're grouped with another tank, try switching some abilities around. You can replace BoH with Sweeping Winds (Firestorm) or MoC (overawe) to increase your dps.
Or even better, try using your Air Ally or MoC (overawe) and spam MoC to give your group a huge DPS boost. This build is just a template that focuses on smart pet usage but once you learn to keep mobs off you and your party, adjust the build to your style.
