Very few builds in Diablo Immortal can honestly say they allow for player preference. PvE Monks are a rare exception. They have multiple abilities that defend themselves, deal damage to mobs, and take out bosses. Based on the leaderboards, which skills players choose to use is very much a matter of opinion.
That doesn't mean a single build can't be created for taking on Diablo Immortal's toughest Challenge Rifts. There are certain skills, armor pieces, gems, and sets that seem to consistently find favor. By blending what the best players are using, this build accounts for and incorporates the strengths of them all.
Due to several factors, like gear, skills, reforging, and upgrades, it is impossible to list the exact quantities for many of the numbers detailed here. Any variable number has been replaced with an 'X' to signify its potential to change.
Skill Selection
Slot | Skill | Description |
Primary Skill | Fists of Thunder | Teleport to a nearby enemy and unleash a rapid succession of punches that each deal X to X damage. You can teleport again after every third hit. Each enemy player can be a teleport target only once every X seconds. |
Skill | Cyclone Strike | Generate a vortex of wind that pulls in enemies and deals X damage. Charging longer increases range, and damage up to X. |
Skill | Seven-Sided Strike | Dash rapidly between nearby enemies, striking X times for X damage per hit. Additional hits on the same target deal X% as much damage. |
Skill | Shield of Zen | Protect yourself or an ally with a shield that absorbs X damage for X seconds. This shield also prevents all effects which cause loss of control of a character. Protecting an ally will cause you to charge to their location and grant you both this shield. |
Skill | Inner Sanctuary | Place a runic circle of protection for X seconds that reduces all damage taken by you and your allies within the circle by X%. |
Between Cyclone Strike for the groups and Seven-Sided Strike for bosses, the only worry for the build is how to survive the charge-up and cooldown times for each of these two skills. Shield of Zen and Inner Sanctuary work together to make the Monk feel like a true tank.
Gear
The bulk of gamers will be hunting down their ideal pieces of legendary gear after taking the time to beat the game. But don't forget to track down the set bonus pieces after choosing them from the list. A complete set gives three additional effects, on par with the legendary bonuses from the regular gear.
Primary Gear
Slot | Piece | Legendary Effect |
Head | Pensive Crown | Shield of Zen duration increased by X%. |
Chest | Storm Spirit | Cyclone Strike now generates a powerful tornado that continually damages all nearby enemies. |
Shoulders | Discipline's Weight | Seven-Sided Strike damage increased by X%. |
Legs | Path of the Storm | Cyclone Strike also temporarily decreases all damage you take by X%. |
Main Hand | Spirit's Reach | Seven-Sided Strike now places a runic circle inside which all enemies will be struck by your spirit allies. |
Off Hand | Eye of the Storm | Cyclone radius increases by X% |
With two defensive skills, it falls on the gear to focus mostly on offensive output. The boss will likely be a greater struggle than the rest of the Challenge Rift, so the PvE Monk should give Seven-Sided Strike a damage boost whenever possible.
Set Items
Set Bonus | 2/6 Effect | 4/6 Effect | 6/6 Effect |
Issatar Imbued | Each time you defeat an enemy, you gain X% increased Movement Speed for X seconds. | Damage dealt increased by X% for every X% increase in your Movement Speed, up to a maximum damage increase of X%. | Each time you defeat an enemy, you have a X% chance to gain an orbiting soul orb for X seconds, which deals X damage when it passes through an enemy. Cannot gain a soul orb more often than once every X seconds. |
It should be noted that this build sacrifices mobility skills to make room for a second survival skill. As a result, Monks that don't invest at least somewhat in the Issatar Imbued set will be too slow to clear the Challenge Rift. The movement boost also ends up translating to higher DPS.
Reforge Bonuses
Even for paid players, reforge attribute bonuses can be guided, but are not guaranteed completely. With enough rerolls, any player can eventually get the exact attribute they want, but this will take time and luck, even for those who have the money. Therefore, several different attributes have been listed within the same family, in order of preference.
Family Bonus
Family | Family Attribute |
Wildfire | You have a X% chance when you defeat an enemy to summon a fireball-spitting Hydra. |
With Cyclone Strike easily handling groups of enemies, Hydras become less of a rarity for the PvE Monk. This build will ensure that at least a handful of Hydras pop up to help out the Monk during each rift run.
Attributes
Preference | Attribute |
First | Primary attack damage increased by X%. |
Second | Critical Hit damage increased by X%. |
Third | All skill damage increased by X%. |
All three attributes can be considered equally valuable. It should be noted that Monks early in this build will get more use out of the skill damage. Eventually, when the Challenge Rifts get much more difficult, it's the final boss that will be the biggest obstacle, and that's when primary attacks become more important.
Gems
There are two kinds of gems to consider for this build: the legendary gems and the regular gems. Players of all income levels will be using this guide, so there are three charts for legendary gems to choose from. Probability demands that even paying for an advantage will still make it tough to get the right gems, so feel free to mix and match from the charts based on the character's most valuable stats.
Legendary Gems
5-Star Gem | Effect |
Echoing Shade | Your attacks have a X% chance to summon a shadow clone for X seconds that gains some of your abilities. |
Howler's Call | Your Primary Attack has a X% chance to summon a charging spirit wolf that inflicts X% base damage +X to all enemies in its path. Cannot occur more often than once every X seconds. |
Phoenix Ashes | Prevents fatal damage, and then grants a shield for X seconds that absorbs damage equal to X% of your base damage. Cannot occur more often than once every X seconds. |
Seeping Bile | Your attacks have a X% chance to poison enemies, inflicting X% base damage +X every second for X seconds. This poison spreads to nearby enemies if the victim dies. Cannot affect the same target more often than once every X seconds. |
Blessing of the Worthy | When you take damage, you have X% chance to unleash retribution on all nearby enemies, dealing damage equal to X% of your maximum Life. Cannot occur more often than once every X seconds. |
Blood-Soaked Jade | Increases all damage you deal by up to X% and your Movement Speed by X%, with less damage bonus the lower your Life, to a minimum of X%. |
Don't be surprised to see all three of the 5-Star "tank" gems in use here. The Monk has to go toe-to-toe with enemies that won't be stunned or immobilized. That means taking several hits. The skills do some work mitigating the damage, but gems are needed to do the rest.
2-Star Gem | Effect |
Battleguard | Decreases all melee damage you take by X% from enemies within X yards. |
The Hunger | Heal X% base damage +X Life each time you defeat an enemy. Cannot occur more often than once every X seconds. |
Fervent Fang | Each time you deal damage to an enemy, that enemy now takes X% increased from your attacks, up to a maximum increase of X% at X stacks. |
Cutthroat's Grin | Gain X% increase Critical Hit Chance when attacking from behind. |
Lightning Core | Your Primary Attacks and movement slowly charge you up with electricity. When fully charged, your next Primary Attack will release chain lightning, dealing X% base damage +X to nearby enemies. Cannot occur more often than once every X seconds. |
Power and Command | Power and Command alternate states every X seconds. Power increases your Primary Attack damage by X%. Command increases all other skill damage by X%. |
All 2-Star gems will get priority over 1-Star gems if only due to the Resonance bonus that comes with them. After mastering the timing of Power and Command, it makes for a nice timing in the rotation of using skills and then using primary attacks to finish off the survivors.
1-Star Gem | Effect |
Ca'arsen's Invigoration | Increases the speed of your Primary Attack by X%. |
Chained Death | Increases damage done by your attacks by X% per target hit, up to a maximum of X% with X targets. |
Seled's Weakening | Gain X% increased damage for X seconds after killing an Elite monster. |
Everlasting Torment | Your critical hits inflict agony, dealing X% Base damage +X every second for X seconds. Each enemy can only be affected by this once every X seconds. |
Respite Stone | Decreases all damage you take by X% for every X% your Life is below maximum, up to maximum damage decrease of X%. |
Zod Stone | Increases the duration of your Ultimate Skills by X%. |
There aren't many 1-Star gems that don't make sense for the Monk to use, since the class needs to do a bit of everything. Gems like Chained Death have effects so powerful that players may want to hold onto them until possessing at least six gems of a higher rarity.
Regular Gem Preference
Color | Gem | Effect |
Red | Ruby | +Life |
Yellow | Topaz | +Resistance |
Blue | Aquamarine | +Armor |
While most DPS builds need to invest entirely in offensive gems, the PvE Monk will need to opposite. The DPS for this build is more than enough to get through tough Challenge Rifts. This means the only limitation is tanking. Get the regular gems to help out.
Diablo Immortal is available now for mobile and PC.