Monk Skill Selection

Monk Skill Selection

Monk skill selection is a careful process that needs to be done with a number of things in mind. First, are you playing alone or in a group? Second, are you on lower or higher difficulty settings? Finally, are you farming and exploring or are you trying to progress in the story? How you play the game and what you expect to accomplish will ultimately determine your Monk skill selection and how you progress through the game.

Monk Skill Selection for Solo Play

If you opt to play the game alone, you’ll find that you need slightly fewer of the defensive and buffing cooldowns that a group would expect of you. You need at least a couple of good Spirit Generators – one for an auto attack and another to provide an added buff of some sorts.

I like to go with Crippling Wave because of its utility in large groups of mobs (something you’ll face a lot when playing alone). If you need a single target ability, Way of the Palm or Fists of Thunder are also both good options.

The next step in Monk skill selection is your Spirit Spenders. Here is where a lot of your abilities will lie. On higher difficulty settings, I recommend at least one healing spell or bubble like Breath of Heaven. But, for the most part, you want heavy duty damage that doubles to protect you. Dashing Strike roots your enemies, Lethal Decoy pulls agro and explodes for AoE damage and Seven Sided Strike is a powerful AoE attack. Mix in some of the protective strikes like Sanctuary and Wave of Light and you’ll have a powerful build to take on your foes.

Monk Skill Selection for Group Play

In a group, you have to focus on the buffs and heals to some degree. Of course, you’ll have some attacks (you’ll need two Spirit Generators to keep your heal available at all times), but your total offensive output will be much lower. Breath of Heaven, Inner Sanctuary, Serenity and passive skills to boost your healing are all necessary especially in high difficulty co-op and PvP matches.

Monk skill selection is a complicated process based on your preferred method of play, but if you set it up properly, you’ll be able to properly manage your character and take on all comers with your powerful Spirit based attacks.