A simple overview of the Monk's skills will tell players everything they need to know about this class in Diablo Immortal. With nearly limitless versatility, players will have to choose whether to make this a frontline brawler, a sneaky rogue, or a ranged support.
Trying to do too much at once in Diablo Immortal isn't fruitful; it yields a class that is below-average at everything. But gamers who focus on specific builds will see greater results. Most importantly, they need the right weapons to execute these plans.
Scolding Storm - PvP - Off-Hand
- Exploding Palm is now icy and inflicts Chill.
Getting constantly slowed is a normal event against the cheaters playing PvP right now, but it's possible for a Monk to pull off without hacking the code. The Scolding Storm doesn't take away from the already powerful damage of the skill, but it adds Chill.
In PvP in particular, this is devastating. The Monk is already very quick and mobile, being able to slow down their targets gives them extra hits before the victim can get to the safety of the backlines.
Spokes Of The Wheel - PvE - Off-Hand
- Flying Kick also temporarily increases all damage you deal by 10%.
Increasing damage by 10% for certain skills is plenty powerful. Piece pieces of legendary armor for many classes have such a designation and should be viewed with enthusiasm. So when the Spokes of the Wheel offer a 10% boost to any skill used after Flying Kick, that's huge.
Use auto-navigate to find the closest elite mob, lead with a Flying Kick, and then use the hardest-hitting spells. Nothing will survive for long and that includes the bosses at the end of rifts.
Respite's Sigh - PvP - Off-Hand
- Inner Sanctuary duration increased by 30%.
If players are already using the best legendary armor for the Monk, they'll probably already have buffs to their Inner Sanctuary. In PvP, these group effects serve to protect the entire team as well as the Monk itself. Increasing the duration by 30% throws off enemy teams.
This is more than a simple defensive boost. Considering enemies will be waiting for the skill to end, ranged allies can attack from inside this circle, dealing damage under Inner Sanctuary's long protection from Respite's Sigh.
Power Undulation - PvE - Off-Hand
- Wave Strike now continually channels energy waves forward.
The Monk is not the easiest class to use. It requires near-constant motion, a perfect rotation, and an element of trickery to avoid taking the blows that tankier classes are more equipped to handle. In rifts, it would be nice to take a breather so other skills can recharge.
Being able to continually channel Wave Strike is a massive source of damage against mobs. The increased duration gives the Monk the opportunity to use stronger skills with longer cooldowns since Power Undulation keeps Wave Strike going for longer.
Ice Upon The Blossom - PvP - Main Hand
- Seven-Sided Strike turns to Ice damage with Chilling effect.
As the developers get to work fixing the game's biggest problems, non-Monk mains will be crossing their fingers in the hopes that slowing effects get nerfed. As previously mentioned, slowing enemies works out nicely for Monks due to their fluid and effective movements.
The Ice Upon the Blossom is applied to Seven-Sided Strike, slowing a group of human opponents and putting their entire team in danger, so the hunt doesn't have to stop just because they've found some allies to protect them. Running back to the group might put their own team in peril.
Rod Of Echoes - PvE - Main Hand
- Mystic Allies cooldown decreased by 15%.
There is a special reward for Monks who level up quickly. Mystic Allies add a summoning element to the Monk package and it balances out the damage sources in rifts. Different monsters have different weaknesses and a light-footed Monk can use some allies to exploit many of them.
The only issue is the cooldown time after the Mystic Allies despawn. That time is a dead zone and makes it hard to justify having a skill on the bar with long periods where it is useless. The Rod of Echoes fixes this issue, allowing the Monk to regularly keep Mystic Allies up as a dependable part of the rotation.
Interveneing Law - PvP - Main Hand
- Shield of Zen now causes you to charge to a target location, granting you and all nearby allies a shield that absorbs damage.
Protecting allies in PvP is an expectation for the Monk, who often has to choose which ally is the recipient of the Shield of Zen. Enemies that see this shield, however, will compensate by switching to an unshielded target of the Monk itself.
A Monk with the Intervening Law equipped find themselves rising up the class tier list. Not only does this let the Monk protect everyone nearby, but it also adds another movement mechanism to the already slippery class.
Dragon's Indignation - PvE - Main Hand
- Seven-Sided Strike now also continually Burns enemies.
Seven-Sided Strike should not be overlooked just because it's received early on. It has plenty of max-level applications. Pro players use it to render themselves briefly immune to damage. But the most common way to use this is to dish out pain on both single and group targets.
To increase this pain and get better times on challenge rifts, toss on Dragon's Indignation. The extra damage over time is not a source of DPS that the Monk regularly has access to, getting ahold of it makes the character more complete.
Diablo Immortal is available now for mobile and PC.