The Monk
At level 26 the Monk already had 354 DPS in Act 3 (Normal), thanks to a nice rare spear found by my Demon Hunter, socketed with a +10-20 damage gem.
At the end of the day I managed to level him to 35 (!!) and beat the Skeleton King on Nightmare. Do I even have to mention that I killed Diablo on my own? That's nothing. Big, bad Diablo didn't even put a scratch on the Monk. I was telling you on day 4 that the Demon Hunter struggled with Diablo and I didn't feel at all confident that I could take him on my own.
The Monk snorts in disdain at this ridiculous concept. He stormed through Act 4 in 1 hour and kicked Diablo's ass so hard that he won't even be there in Nightmare difficulty.
I won't lie to you, I managed to die a couple of times by random mobs. But the keyword here is "couple". With the right combinations of active and passive skills the Monk shines. Well, at least so far. I'll have to see how he performs in Hell and Inferno.
At level 35 the Monk has 530 DPS and he's not even wearing his "boss boots" which give an additional 40 DPS, as well as hit points, at the expense of movement speed.
Build and skills
On the Monk I use two different skill setups depending on whether I'm playing through the levels or fighting a boss. Here they are.
Grinding build @ level 32
I had to give up the Fleet Footed passive but survival has become more important than running speed. Besides, I found a pair of 10% movement speed boots, so that makes up for it. I also adopted Mystic Ally and this little dude kicks some serious ass. He can finish stray mobs on his own, even on Nightmare. I've only seen him die once, on Diablo, I believe. But he's a short cast away.
Boss build @ level 32
My boss build swaps Cyclone Strike for Serenity and also Crippling Wave for Way of the Hundred Fists. In other words, I'm giving up a couple of AoE skills for single target damage and even more survivability. There's so much passive and active healing in this build, it's not even funny.
Grouping
I am starting to wonder what the point is in grouping with other people when I'm running with my Monk. Most often, I do more damage than they do, so they are essentially dragging me down. And then, they are always slacking off, usually AFK. One chap was even busy leveling his Jewelcrafter while I was kicking monster butt for more than half an hour.
I did have a very nice group late last night. One of the buddies on my friends list was in a group and they had a free spot. Even though I was already in Nightmare and they were running through Act 3 Normal, I decided to join them. That was a very good group. Massive damage and the mobs were dropping like flies. Unfortunately, him and his wife (both were playing) had to put their kids to sleep so we called it a night.
It's a pleasure to be in groups like that. But most often I end up with people who just don't seem to want to play. But it's ok, as a Monk I don't need any help and I can tackle most situations on my own.
Gold and auction house
At the end of the day I had 721K gold with over 100K stuck in a failed "investment". I could kick myself for being so rash but now it's too late. Playing the market can backfire sometimes.
Other thoughts
I just love it when I'm playing a melee character and a caster champion/rare has the Vortex modifier. It makes for a very lol moment. Thanks buddy! Now I don't have to chase you down.
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