With Diablo III Patch 2.0 now live for a couple of weeks now, the staff at FullCleared has been keeping busy Paragon leveling and farming for all the new, shiny Legendaries. Of course, every party’s ultimate goal is to successfully farm Torment VI difficulty and we’re hoping to help you out if you enjoy playing a Monk. Naturally it does require quite a bit of gear to be Torment VI ready, but the good news is, our Monks were able to achieve this with just drops and crafted gear from Patch 2.0, with one exception: having to use a leftover lifesteal Skorn from pre-Patch 2.0.
Your ideal goal is 200k damage, one-million toughness
First off, the build can be played successfully solo as well, so don’t think that it’s just for group play. It’s simply just more fun and quicker farming the more Monks you have all running different Mantras but the same core build. Let’s begin with the stats that are recommended for Torment VI farming:
- Damage: 180,000 – 200,000
- Toughness: 1 million
The damage requirement can be less if you’re fortunate enough to have a set of Pox Faulds, the new Legendary pants that stink up the place and does extra AOE damage. Otherwise, farming with less than 180,000 damage on Torment VI will be ineffective. At that point, we would recommend going down to Torment V for quicker and more efficient Paragon experience.
If you didn’t have a lifesteal Skorn from before, it’s time to hit up the Auction House before it shuts down
Secondly, having a lifesteal Skorn is essential to making the build work. We imagine it’s possible with enough life on hit, life regen and toughness to get away without lifesteal, but you might as well take advantage of the stat while it’s still in the game – and works. If you’re intent is to shop for one on the auction house (assuming you don’t already have one from pre-Patch 2.0), you will want to look for one with Dex, at least 5-percent lifesteal and at least 170-percent critical hit damage. Unfortunately, the lifesteal dropdown has been removed from the auction house, so you’ll have to sift through each Skorn one by one.
Area Damage is key to making this build efficient – max it out as quickly as possible
You will want to spend your Paragon points in the following:
- Core: Dex or Vit depending on your Toughness (if your Toughness is low, put it all into Vit)
- Offense: Crit Chance is your main priority and then Attack Speed
- Defense: Resist All is your main priority and then either Armor or Life depending on which stat gives you the better Toughness boost
- Utility: Area Damage is your main priority and your only priority until you max it out. After that, you can put your points into Life on Hit
The build revolves around using Dashing Strike to get to the mobs, then using Cyclone Strike to gather them up, starting your Sweeping Wind for extra tornado damage and using Lashing Tail Kick for damage. For solo play, we recommend the Mantra of Conviction with the Dishearten rule, but never use the Active since it costs too much Spirit.
Here are some tips for the most effective Paragon leveling:
- Avoid all Elites and Champion Packs – if you see one, just run the other way
- We like farming Cathedral Level 4 (Royal Crypts waypoint), but the explosions from the Harvesters could kill you – take advantage of Dashing Strike to get out before they explode
- Spend one minute to check Cemetary and Highlands Crossing for a Pool of Reflection for the 25-percent experience bonus before starting your run
- Avoid killing a single mob or two, just keep on moving. Remember, your damage comes from Area Damage, so the bigger the clump, the faster you’re gaining experience
In a proper group of four, Cathedral Level 4 runs will take around eight to 10 minutes, and you can see the amount of experience you’ll get in the video below. Please note that from my point-of-view, I’m wearing a Marquise Ruby in my helm and running a Hellfire Ring for the experience bonus.
Avoid using the Active on the Mantra of Conviction, it’s not very Spirit efficient
Monk Torment VI Build on Calculator
Read on how to prepare for Reaper of Souls and FullCleared’s review of Diablo III Patch 2.0.
