11-03-2012, 06:13 PM
So I did a little testing with my monk. I wanted to be able to switch to a more offensive build without hurting my survivability too much. It went something like this:
1) Changed the rune on Sweeping Wind to Cyclone. This was a no-brainer once I got my critical chance up to 30%.
2) Switch from Mantra of Evasion to Mantra of Conviction. I made this switch and completed an Act 3 key run at MP5. I noticed a little more damage coming in, but not enough to be more than a minor annoyance. Being able to do this was the most important thing for group dynamics, but it also helps my farming efficiency.
3) See if I can live without Seize the Initiative. This was nerfed in 1.05, but it is still near the top of most-used monk skills. I swapped out StI for Sixth Sense. My damage reduction went down from 62% to 55%, but my dodge chance went up from 50% to 54.5%. (I expected it to go up to 59% based on the skill description, but I guess it's increasing the dodge chance itself by 9%. I'm not good at math.) This seemed like an OK trade-off, though. 7% more damage when I get hit, but with an extra 4.5% chance to dodge all of it. I moved to MP6 and completed another Act 3 key run. This time there were a few deaths, but it was based on the elite pack modifiers. I had no deaths through the first 4 stacks, but then I drew a fast + molten pack. Dead. Went a different way in the Depths to avoid it, but I hit another fast + molten pack. Dead. So...it seemed like I was OK except for that particular combo. We'll see in future runs. I did end up finding another pack and then killing the keywarden. I think the Act 3 keywarden was nerfed too much, actually.
4) All right, I'm going to get crazy and try MP7. Right after I started this game, Hunter (Athenau) joined with his barb. Perfect. That let me switch Sixth Sense to Guiding Light (16% damage increase to anyone in the party that gets healed for 15 seconds). He reported a 1 million crit hit on Hammer of the Ancients. Woo! Still, the incoming damage was too intense and I died too many times. At least we were both rewarded with a key.
I'm happy with the results and expect I'll farm at MP6 running Sixth Sense solo and Guiding Light for party play. I also think I may be able to handle ubers in MP5; assuming we can convince Mr. Face to join with his high-DPS witch doctor (or a good demon hunter; something with ranged DPS).
1) Changed the rune on Sweeping Wind to Cyclone. This was a no-brainer once I got my critical chance up to 30%.
2) Switch from Mantra of Evasion to Mantra of Conviction. I made this switch and completed an Act 3 key run at MP5. I noticed a little more damage coming in, but not enough to be more than a minor annoyance. Being able to do this was the most important thing for group dynamics, but it also helps my farming efficiency.
3) See if I can live without Seize the Initiative. This was nerfed in 1.05, but it is still near the top of most-used monk skills. I swapped out StI for Sixth Sense. My damage reduction went down from 62% to 55%, but my dodge chance went up from 50% to 54.5%. (I expected it to go up to 59% based on the skill description, but I guess it's increasing the dodge chance itself by 9%. I'm not good at math.) This seemed like an OK trade-off, though. 7% more damage when I get hit, but with an extra 4.5% chance to dodge all of it. I moved to MP6 and completed another Act 3 key run. This time there were a few deaths, but it was based on the elite pack modifiers. I had no deaths through the first 4 stacks, but then I drew a fast + molten pack. Dead. Went a different way in the Depths to avoid it, but I hit another fast + molten pack. Dead. So...it seemed like I was OK except for that particular combo. We'll see in future runs. I did end up finding another pack and then killing the keywarden. I think the Act 3 keywarden was nerfed too much, actually.
4) All right, I'm going to get crazy and try MP7. Right after I started this game, Hunter (Athenau) joined with his barb. Perfect. That let me switch Sixth Sense to Guiding Light (16% damage increase to anyone in the party that gets healed for 15 seconds). He reported a 1 million crit hit on Hammer of the Ancients. Woo! Still, the incoming damage was too intense and I died too many times. At least we were both rewarded with a key.
I'm happy with the results and expect I'll farm at MP6 running Sixth Sense solo and Guiding Light for party play. I also think I may be able to handle ubers in MP5; assuming we can convince Mr. Face to join with his high-DPS witch doctor (or a good demon hunter; something with ranged DPS).