This Diablo 3 Monk Leveling Build guide is going to outline a detailed roadmap for choosing the best monk skills for fast Diablo 3 power leveling. For the comprehensive guide to all of the best monk specs and builds for every occasion, keep your eyes peeled for Diablo 3 Leveling Secrets, a complete guide which is still in production.
Best Monk Leveling Build
Throughout this monk leveling guide, I will be basing my skill choices on the assumption that your goals are to level as quickly as possible and that you are playing by yourself in single player mode. This build revolves around increasing the monk’s ability to engage large groups of enemies at once by equipping him with a variety of powerful area of effect attacks and skills that greatly increase his survivability.
* UPDATE: Part 1 of this Monk Leveling build is now updated with the latest information from the final release of Diablo III.
Ok, enough talk. Let’s get started!
Monk Leveling Build: Levels 1-10
At the early levels, you will not have access to all of the skills I suggest using. Don’t worry about it. Just choose the abilities that you think will best serve you until you are able to start using the ones I outline below. Keep in mind that the monk has 3 types of abilities: Spirit Generators, Spirit Spenders and Mantras. We will be using a combination of these 3 types of skills to transform your monk into a lethal and survivable AOE killing machine.
By the time you reach level 10, you should be using the skills below:
Active Monk Skill – Fists of Thunder (Spirit Generator)
Fists of Thunder allows your monk to lay out a barrage of lightning-fast punches for 110% damage. The cool part is that 1 out of 3 punches will hit the entire group, acting as an AOE as well. Because these attacks occur so quickly, the monk regenerates his spirits very fast using this ability. Oh, and did I mention that it looks awesome?
Best Skill Rune- Thunderclap
The Thunderclap bonus adds a teleport ability to Fists of Thunder that instantly teleports you to the location of your target. Additionally, now all of your punches cause a massive shockwave to be emitted that damage all monsters in the immediate vicinity for 35% lightning damage. This rune really puts Fist of Thunder over the top. Definitely grab it at level6 when it becomes available.
Active Monk Skill – Breath of Heaven (Spirit Spender)
Breath of Heaven is a very useful monk healing ability. This skill costs 25 spirit and heals you (and friends in the vicinity) for between 9490-14235 Life. As the spirit cost of this spell tends to be a bit high, we will be using a skill rune that causes it to inflict damage as well for added utility.
Best Skill Rune- (None available for levels 1-10)
Active Monk Skill – Lashing Tail Kick (Spirit Spender)
Lashing Tail Kick is essentially just a powerful kick with a knockback attached. The kick itself does 200% damage. Powerful and useful all at the same time, what’s not to like?
Best Skill Rune- Vulture Claw Kick
The Vulture Claw Kick skill rune adds an AOE attack to the Lashing Tail Kick skill. This attack scorches monsters in the area for 220% damage and also has a knockback associated with it.
Active Monk Skill – Dashing Strike (Spirit Spender)
Dashing Strike is a handy skill to help close the gap between you and an enemy or simply to speed up your travels. This ability will basically cause you to sprint to a target or desired spot very quickly. If you’re dashing to a target, a strike is executed which hits the target for 100% damage and snares them for 1 second.
Best Skill Rune- (None available for levels 1-10)
Passive Monk Skill 1 – Resolve
Accessible at level 10, Resolve is a great survival ability that causes enemies you damage to subsequently do 30% less damage to you for 2.5 seconds. Since presumably you will be constantly damaging almost all of your enemies, this essentially functions as a 25% damage reduction throughout every fight. Not too shabby.
Wrap Up
With any luck, you are now well on your way to becoming a force to be reckoned with. Continue reading in Part 2 of this Diablo 3 Monk Leveling Build Guide for detailed instructions on speccing your monk between levels 11-20.
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i love this game but am having a hard time because i don’t have the right gear so i am p leveling a barb so i can get easy cash for my demon sense all chars on your account share cash