In this section of Jassper’s Diablo 3 Bible, you will find detailed information on each boss as well as useful strategies and tips for defeating them specifically with your monk.

Let’s get started!

First Boss: The Skeleton King

Before you enter battle, you must know about the Skeleton King’s four main attacks to successfully avoid them.

Primary Attacks

Teleport will happen often and throughout the fight. He will project his shadow from his body and move to wherever you are. Unfortunately there is no way of protecting yourself against this so you must move quickly the entire time.

His main skill is the Triple Cleave and unfortunately the most dangerous. Every time he steps forward he will make three arc-like swings with his weapon. The movements are slow, but the damage is very high. The best way to avoid getting hit is watching for him to hold the weapon up high and then laugh. Your best defense against the triple cleave is a stun.

Similar to the Triple Cleave is the Melee Swing. It’s slower and less powerful, but still deals a lot of damage. If you are a Melee class you may be able to absorb the damage, but it’s still best to try and stun him or avoid the swing.

The Skeleton King will also summon his minions. He will bend forward and begin to raise one hand in the air. At this point he will teleport away from you and eight skeleton minions will appear in two sets of four. The only way of preventing this is also to use your stun ability. If you are a ranged class and miss the stun you must move away quickly or be surrounded by them.

Two important things to remember about the minions – after four minutes in battle the summoned number will double from two sets of four to two sets of twelve. Also, when the Skeleton King begins to use his Cleave hits, try to stack the minions. His cleave wipes out everything in its path including the minions. If you stack them and happen to get 15 at once you will get an achievement.

Monk Strategies

When playing with your Monk you want to start the fight by using Fists of Thunder. The Skeleton King will begin to use his Cleave attack, but your only recourse is to dodge it. Keep using Fists and dodging until he begins to summon his minions.

If you are low on health at this point use Breath of Heaven. Run up close to the minions and use Lashing Tail Kick (if you’ve included it in your build). They may not die from it, but they will be pushed back and then you will need to repeat the process until they are dead.

Second Boss: Queen Araneae

Queen Araneae is the second boss you will come upon. Unlike the Skeleton King, she can be more easily killed by Melee classes. There are six different abilities you should know to defeat her.

Primary Attacks

The first thing you will experience is her Melee Attack. As soon as she transforms into a spider she will begin to hit you. Luckily there isn’t much damage associated so don’t worry if you cannot dodge it.

Next is a projectile attack called Spider Vomit. She will stop moving and expel poison within a sort range. When she stops it should give you ample time to move away from her aim. If you are a Ranged class you will only have to dodge if you are within melee distance.

After Spider Vomit she will drop a big pool of poison underneath her called Poison Cloud. It will damage you very rapidly but it is very easy to avoid since all you need to do is not stand on that area.

Web Spit is her next attack. She will throw balls of spider web into the air which will expand to cover you when they land. The Queen will move on to her fifth attack if you are hit with one of these so you must be very careful.

If you are hit with a ball of Web Spit, now you must deal with Web Charge, which is never fun.

During two points in the fight you will have to deal with Summon Spiders. When the Queens health drops to 67% and 33% respectively she will become invincible and hide. After she disappears, her spider minions will pop out from different corners of the battle area. Most of theQueensabilities are avoidable, but this is not. The minions are very fast and have the potential to inflict the most damage in the fight.

Monk Strategies

Fighting Queen Araneae with a Monk is a little tough. Since she moves a lot you will need to use Thunder Clap and Fists of Thunder to catch her. You will also need to pay careful attention before she drops her Poison Cloud since it will be more difficult to avoid it.

You can use Blinding Flash to inflict damage, but not during Summoning Spiders. Once that begins you use Blinding Flash immediately as soon as they get close to kill them before they can get to you.

Third Boss: The Butcher

The Butcher is a straightforward boss to fight. He has five attacks in his arsenal which you should know to get through the battle efficiently.

Primary Attacks

His first move will be a Melee attack. Same as the Skeleton King, he will do this regularly and it will inflict a lot of damage.

Next up is Smash. You will notice the Butcher’s weapon start to glow red, he will jump a few times, then strike. This is another high damage attack but luckily it is slow moving so you should have no problem dodging it. One thing to note is that if you are playing a Melee class inNormalor Nightmare mode the damage from a Smash hit can be mitigated with the nearby health wells.

Following Smash will be Knockback/Charge otherwise known as Frenzy. This will unfold in two parts. First the Butcher with begin to glow, then he will fire a red beam. If you are hit you will be knocked back. Then he will charge at the beam’s targeted area. The solution to this attack is to move to the sides after you get hit by the beam. If not you will incur some pretty serious damage.

When you see the Butcher unveil a blue weapon he is about to do the Grappling Hook. He will throw it at you and then either hold you in place or pull you back towards him. If you are pulled back he will unleash a multitude of hits on you. Luckily there is not much damage from this. However, if he pulls you towards him you will be drawn into the fire, stunned for a few seconds, and then he will hit you with a Melee attack. This will do massive damage so you must stay at least 30 yards away – the range of the hook.

The last thing to mention is Fiery Floor. Be on the lookout for the floor beginning to turn orange because it will burst into flames. You will take large amounts of damage if you are standing on it.

Monk Strategies

Since the Monk is an agile character you will need to use this to your advantage with the Butcher. The monk can easily dodge his Grappling Hook, and then use Dashing Strike to avoid the charge and then appear behind him to attack. If the Fiery Floor becomes problematic, use Serenity so you can still damage him during that instance.

And most of all, put out as much damage as you can to avoid hitting his enrage timer, during which the entire floor lights up with flames and the fight gets a bit…tricky…to say the least.