While the jury is still out on the Monk's effectiveness, nobody will deny that it's the most mobile unit in Diablo Immortal. Not just for its own mobility, but its unparalleled skills that move enemies. That has huge effectiveness in PvP, giving it a high ceiling competitive with traditional DPS classes.
Without the right equipment, though, the Monk is just a very flashy class with lots of bark and not enough bite. For players that want to take this class to the top of the charts in Diablo Immortal, they're going to need to gear up appropriately with legendary items relevant to the skills they use.
8 Empathy's Blessing - PvP - Head
- Inner Sanctuary is now Blessed Sanctuary, increasing all damage done by you and your allies while within the circle.
Many head slot items want to remove the protection provided by Inner Sanctuary in exchange for a different benefit. But the protection is so strong that it can make the cheaters in PvP feel powerless. Instead of replacing this effect, Empathy's Blessing makes it even stronger.
Turning the tides of a fight, an effect that protects allies and increases their damage will turn losses into wins in many battleground fights. And it can turn regular wins into blowouts.
7 The Open Mind - PvE - Head
- Mystic Allies damage increased by 10%.
It's no secret that the final skill at max-level, Mystic Allies, is one of the best moves in the game, adding the element of a summoner to the Monk class. The passive extra damage for such an active class is a welcome difference-maker in dungeons that can wear down PvE encounters.
This damage source can feel a bit slow and steady. For those who want to hit the gas a bit, amp up the damage by 10% with The Open Mind. It sounds small, but the benefit to both allies greatly speeds up longer battles, such as boss fights.
6 Rising Tide - PvP - Shoulders
- Imprisoned Fist now causes you to leap through the air with electricity, damaging and Immobilizing nearby enemies where you land.
Imprisoned Fist is the more terrifying skill a Monk has in PvP. The long immobilization time is better than a short stun, fatal to many characters that get caught off-guard. The trick is landing the blow. That's no easy task and one reason that the Monk is not a very beginner-friendly class.
Giving it range and enabling the strike to mobilize every enemy in the vicinity is just too good of a benefit to pass up. Rising Tide is a must-have for any PvP Monk and can take a bottom-tier player to pro-status.
5 The First Wind - PvE - Shoulders
- Each hit of Seven-Sided Strike also temporarily decreases all damage you take by 3.5%, stacking up to 7 times.
Over the course of an entire rift, Monks will be absorbing blows from the monsters inside. There is no way around that. It's a tough business, but that's life. Unfortunately, Monks are quite prone to running out of health toward the end of a grueling dungeon.
Being able to reduce damage by a quarter (when stacked fully), is downright tanky. Monks can even turn on Auto-Navigate and survive the blows without worry thanks to The First Wind damage reduction.
4 Enlightenment's Blessing - PvP - Chest
- During Shield of Zen, your movement speed is increased by 25% and you can move unhindered through enemies.
The Monk is a supportive teammate in PvP events, almost single-handedly one of the best due to Shield of Zen, protecting allies and themselves from harm. Considering how powerful the move is, gamers will pray that it's not nerfed while the development team is fixing the issues within the game.
It's important not to forget that, aside from just protection with shields, this is a mobility skill, helping the Monk get to safe territory. The Enlightenment's Blessing enhances that effect, speeding the Monk up in addition to the dash.
3 Storm Spirit - PvE - Chest
- Cyclone Strike now generates a powerful tornado that continually damages all nearby enemies.
Many classes have the equivalent of damaging areas to deal with PvE foes. Wiping out groups of enemies is a way to level up quickly and core to rift success at the top levels. The Monk is great at evasion, but that's not valuable if the enemies aren't getting damaged during this timeframe.
The Cyclone Strike's powerful tornado that stays on the battlefield fixes this gap in skills when the Storm Spirit is equipped. It makes rift times notably better in an instant.
2 Isolation's Path - PvP - Legs
- Imprisoned Fist maximum charges increased by 1.
How can the Monk go from the bottom to the top of the class tier list? The easiest way is to play PvP and use Imprisoned Fist well. As previously mentioned, this is often a death sentence to many enemies. Now imagine being able to cast it back-to-back.
Incredibly, Isolation's Path allows for exactly that; an extra charge of Imprisoned Fist. It can be used on one target consecutively, increasing their already high odds of death, or on any teammate of the doomed individual that tries to save them for a two-for-one.
1 Companion's Melody - PvE - Legs
- Mystic Allies duration increased by 25%
Nobody will argue that Mystic Allies is weak, but some may argue that anybody that takes the skill into a challenging rift is in for some trouble, since they'll spend chunks of time waiting for the skill to come off of a cooldown. Instead of altering the difficulty, try wearing the Companion's Melody.
This will keep the Mystic Allies up for substantially longer, more than long enough to start and finish a reasonable boss fight.
Diablo Immortal is available now for mobile and PC.