Questions about the Monk

#0 - June 13, 2011, 4:16 p.m.

I'm kind of hoping for a Blizz rep to comment on some of these questions I had about the monk. Or if anybody has played the class and can answer these I'd certainly appreciate it. The Monk is the class I'm most interested and I'm confused about some of his basic usage.

1) Does spirit naturally deplete after not being used for some time?

2) Is it true the Monk's auras function more like the Barbarian's war cries now?

3) Will the UI allow for keeping track of which combo you're on? His combo skills are really exciting but I'm worried it'll become too much of a chore playing the entire game counting out my attacks in sequences of 3. It would be unfortunate to unleash a 2nd tier hundred hand attack at range expecting to dash forward because you miscounted (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePyKl_bgNVQ&list=PL1A7FB5ACC97E7873#t=7m44s).

4) Do charges expire, or can I hold onto my level 3 charge until I want to unleash it?

Thanks.

Bashiok

#5 - June 13, 2011, 5:12 p.m.

Q u o t e:
1) Does spirit naturally deplete after not being used for some time?

No. Spirit is static. It doesn't regenerate, and it doesn't degenerate. Punching demons and using melee skills builds Spirit, and most monk skills spend it.

Q u o t e:
2) Is it true the Monk's auras function more like the Barbarian's war cries now?

The barbarian shouts are powerful, limited duration buffs that you must re-cast once they wear off. Monk auras are permanently active until you enable a different aura, or die.

Q u o t e:
3) Will the UI allow for keeping track of which combo you're on? His combo skills are really exciting but I'm worried it'll become too much of a chore playing the entire game counting out my attacks in sequences of 3. It would be unfortunate to unleash a 2nd tier hundred hand attack at range expecting to dash forward because you miscounted (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePyKl_bgNVQ&list=PL1A7FB5ACC97E7873#t=7m44s).

We don't want tracking of combo stages to be so important that there needs to be a UI element to keep track. It should be that if you're up on your game you're tracking combo stages and it helps you get a slight edge, but if not you're kicking ass anyway and will probably do fine. Also, we have made changes to skills so they're consistent; such as making all stages capable of a dash. We don't want the situation you've described to be an issue.

Q u o t e:
4) Do charges expire, or can I hold onto my level 3 charge until I want to unleash it?

It will reset after a time, but it's a good amount of time.

Bashiok

#20 - June 13, 2011, 6:04 p.m.

Q u o t e:
Sounds like only one aura can be used at a time. Good to know.

I think what Bashiok means is that if the first part of 100Fists was a dash, then the second and third parts would also include a dash.

Right. The final stage on combo skills is still usually the powerful topper. I was specifically referring to a movement component not being tied to a specific stage of a combo skill (if it exists). There is some spreading out of mechanics to ensure really important pieces like movement and damage mitigation can't be 'missed' because you counted wrong. But doing damage is doing damage, for the most part, so big combo finishers still very much exist on the third stage.

Bashiok

#27 - June 13, 2011, 6:24 p.m.

I'm sorry, I'm dumb, auras are not permanent. That was old info. They're short, powerful buffs. They can absolutely be runed. Like all skills.

Bashiok

#33 - June 13, 2011, 6:33 p.m.

Q u o t e:

Wow. Okay.

What about shouts and armors?

The Diablo III barbarian has only ever had one true shout, and a couple others which have similar limited duration buffs. But, multiply that by 5 for runes and we have 15 shouts, compared to Diablo II's ... six? I think.

Granted every rune doesn't change the mechanic of the shout, but most do. We've covered most if not all the Diablo II Warcry tree shout skills through rune effects.