Background

At Hardcore, I have been running support builds with my monks:

- My Dead P(94) was running a Skorn Cyclone Strike (CS/ Cyclone) build with TR, with 14.08 auto spirit regen / second
- My Current P(67) was running a 1H MoC Cyclone with DS, with 0 auto spirit regen/ second. She is now making a switch to 1H MoC Cyclone with TR, which I will describe below.

Recently, I stumbled upon a new support build which is fun, and it works very well in co-op when I group with other players with certain DPS builds, in particular with Witch Doctor's Firebats. It works so well that I have escalated my game from MP5 to MP7, and it makes an MP7 game feels easier than an MP1 game with the right group! Seeing its success as a support build, friends with monk alt have also tried it out. I feel that it is now time to write a guide on this, so that players could give it a try at some time!

I am not sure if a similar guide has been written somewhere on this build. I wrote this from a Hardcore perspective, and I give credits to AceFrost, the monk who inspired me to copy his build.

If we take a look at WD's firebats skill with the Cloud of Bats rune:

Cloud of Bats

Call forth a swirl of bats that damage nearby enemies for 501% weapon damage as Fire. The damage of the bats increases by 20% every second, up to a maximum of 100%.

Wouldn't a WD likes a support monk who stick like a glue to him, and spam CS as needed while he is channeling the bats?

I will start on the choice of skills and gears. Before that, these screenshots shows me in action with 3 Firebats WDs:

A) Skills

You would need the following skills. I find that these are the most optimal combination of skills at Hardcore. Should you think there are other skills which might make the build better, let me know!

Active Skills:

1. Serenity/ Ascension - You need this for the once-in-a-while oh no moment to buy you time. I wouldn't suggest you to not use this at Hardcore. [edit: Tranquility could be nice if the Party needs it]

2. Cyclone Strike/ Implosion - it "vortexes" every mob within range to you, for your teammates to start DPS them in a cluster

3. Blinding Flash/ Self Reflection - a 4 second crowd control ability. A discreet use at the right time could save life or make the fight easier.

4. MoC/ Overawe - additional 24% damage to enemies within 20 yards, and it is 48% additional damage within the first 3 seconds of activation. If teammates are attacking monsters that you have cycloned near you, their DPS is effectively increased by 24-48%. Spam this when you are fighting elites, and spam it as needed and as spirits allowed in all situations.

5. Crippling Waves/ Breaking Waves - This is another crowd control attack and damage booster. It slows the monsters' movement speed and attack speed, and monsters hit by this take additional 10% damage for 3 seconds.

6. Tempest Rush/ Tailwind - your fast mobility button. I put this on my right click, and I just right click to move to where I want to plant my cyclone. I also use it to escape from danger. I also like to use it to 'knock back' savage beasts just before they charge.

Passive Skills:

i) NDE - your second chance. I wouldn't suggest you to not use this at Hardcore.
ii) Exalted Soul - increases your spirit pool and add one spirit regen per second
iii) Chant of Resonance - you need that additional two spirits regen per second

B) Gears

You do not need to look for gears for DPS. In fact, your DPS is not needed. Your primary, CC, CD are all not needed, although some AS might help in faster spirit regen/ LoH while attacking, but that again is not a priority since most of the time you would not be 'attacking' but moving, cycloning, MoC, blinding Flash....enough to keep you busy. [EDIT: AS is actually bad.......more AS = more resource strain on TR = less TR. After using this for more than 20 paragon levels from P(70) I realise TR is a big part of this build]

You will need:

1. a lot of spirits, mainly to fuel the Tempest Rush and the ongoing spamming of Cyclone Strikes and MoC.

2. a lot of EHP - since you are not using STI and OWE, and the fact that not using these at Hardcore is even scarier!

3. life sustain - Mainly from life regen and LoH. Lifesteal is no good to you because your DPS will be super low. You will see later that it is very hard to maintain a high DPS, when those gears are tailored to address point 1 and 2 above.

4. Cyclone resource reduction - good to have, but these are not cheap

My current set up is as follow. Some variation is possible
.
1) Spirit Regen items (the more spirits the merrier. Currently I have 12 passive spirit regen per second from items and skills combined, and I am looking for more):

- Madstone
- SoJ for monk
- Xephirian Necklace
- Fist (go for one with LoH too - total LoH of more than 1k brings peace to mind)

2) Other items:

- AB Vital shoulders and AB Vital bracers, with AR
- 2 piece Blackthorne (set bonus = 100 vital). e.g. BT Chest and BT Pants. BT pants is quite good since it has the LoH roll which helps you with life sustain
- 2 piece Immortal King (set bonus = 60 AR) e.g. IK Gloves and IK Boots.
- a shield with vital and AR and decent armor and block%. Stormshield could be BiS with the damage reduction bonuses but that would be expensive.
- a rare belt with vital, AR and life %. Sometimes you can find quite a good bargain at the AH
- a vital Hellfire ring/ EHP ring

For details on skills and my sample gears, you can also look me up on D3up.com. I most likely will stay with this build for quite a while hence it should be matching to this guide for a while. Sometimes when there is another CS MoC monk in the group, I am the second support monk with Exploding Palm/ Flesh is Weak + MoH. Browse over the items/ icons and you can see more narratives!

Douvy's d3up

Any question or suggestion let me know!

My usual gameplay when grouping with Bats:

1. I will TR in front and scout the area, perhaps try to grab attention from mobs around that area to feed themselves in for more cluster kills later.

{For elites, do not trigger them. I want to make sure my team is ready for elites and all of us went in for a very fast fight, I would try to blinding flash the elites before the elites start to lay down their offensive}

2. After scouting, while waiting for WD(s) to catch up, I might TR in a small circle which is my cue for what I thought is a good place for WD to plant their Cloud. However, it is still up to WD to initiate the Cloud at the place as they see fit, upon which I would quickly TR right into the eye of their cloud and start spamming Cyclone and MOC. Exception is I might stop TR and start attacking a Tree at the Field or BirdNest at Festering (since they can't be vortexed). In general, I adjust myself for the WD.

3. In certain situations e.g. with tight cluster or bats at the Den I would TR in an knock the mobs apart so that WD can walk freely into the middle (without using spirit walk), then the Cyclone and Cloud start again.

@douvinsky

What do you think about controlling the monk and 3x Firebat WDs by myself?

I'm building a monk with tons of EHP, lots of stun/chance to freeze plus Spirit Regen and attempting to multibox with him. How would you skill him in SC?

@nuhertz

I have no experience in multiboxing, hence I couldn't imagine what to do best for you.

I enjoy the group play experience with other players, some sync really well with me, some sometimes, some learning and improving fast,...... I just enjoy the variety and "give me five" moments when we did something really good in fights.

Interesting build.

Just one question. With the 2 piece IK set you suggest. Can't you get higher AR by just getting AR Gloves and boots?

@bort

BiS are IK gloves with AR + IK boots with fix roll AR, with the set AR bonus.
Mine has no AR since I decided to not overspend hence I bought one IK gloves with high vital instead.
Plus both the IK pieces have some desired fixed rolls eg dmg reduction, regen, save the hassle of looking.