Monk skill archive

This page archives the original version of the Monk's skill trees, for future curiosity. This page is not to be updated with current info; see the Monk skills article for the latest information about this class' skills.

The Monk's skills were first revealed in August 2009, at Blizzcon. At that time there were 8 skills divided (randomly) into three unnamed skill trees. When the Monk's skills were next shown, in October 2010 at Blizzcon, skill trees were no longer in the game, and numerous new Monk skills had been added, while a few had been removed and transformed into Monk traits.

• Skills -- General skill design and mechanics of passive and active skills.
• Combos Skills -- The Monk's skill specialty; land 3 consecutive hits and achieve special bonuses.
• Monk skills -- The current state of the class. All are active skills.
• Monk traits -- Where Passive skills are housed in Diablo III.

Skill Development

Back when only eight of the Monk's skills had been revealed at Blizzcon 2009, Jay Wilson gave some hints about what other powers the character was going to demonstrate. [1]

Diii.net: We saw eight Monk skills at BlizzCon. All were melee offensive or defensive. Can you give us some idea of what other types of skills the character will have at his disposal?

Jay Wilson: Most of the Monk’s skills will focus on combat skills and attacks, along with his various escape skills. And we talked at Blizzcon that we’re likely to put some defensive and supportive abilities on him. Possibly Auras. We’ve not done the next round of skills on him yet so we’re not exactly sure.

The Monk skill trees as revealed at BlizzCon 2009 were clearly works in progress, with temporary names and the skills assigned to the trees at random. There were no prerequisites or synergies of any kind, and it's highly likely the Monk's skill layout will be entirely different when we're next given a look at them.

Tree A Skills

Monk skills, as of Blizzcon 2009.

This tree had 4 of the 8 skills, with a level 5, 10, and two 15s. All the skills in the 1, 5, and 10 tiers had points invested in them already, so they could be used from the very start. There were only 2 level 15 Monk skills in the 2009 Blizzcon demo, the only two Monk skills without points already in them on the demo character, and both were in this tree. Both were fairly cool to use, too, though 100 Fists was the clear champ of the two.

Tier II

• Force Without Thought
  • Counteract enemies without interrupting the normal flow of your attacks. When you dodge you automatically counter act the attacker for X% of your normal weapon damage.

Tier III

• Seven Sided Strike
  • Description: Dash at your enemies, striking X times in succession for Y% of your weapon damage.

Tier IV

• Inner Sanctuary
  • Creates a protected region on the ground for X seconds that can not be bypassed by enemies.
• Way of the Hundred Fists
  • Combo skill. A fast series of attacks strikes enemies in front of you.
  • First hit: A short range dashing attack that deals X% weapon damage.
  • Second hit: Attack rapidly Y times for 8% of weapon damage.
  • Third hit: Attack all enemies near the monk for Z% of weapon damage.

Tree B Skills

This tree had only two skills at the Blizzcon 2009 reveal, both combos.

Tier I

• Crippling Wave
  • Combo skill. Light attacks that apply a series of increasingly debilitating debuffs.
  • First hit: Deals X% of weapon damage. Enemy movement speed reduced Y% for 2 seconds.
  • Second hit: Deals Z% weapon damage. Enemy damage reduced A% and they take A% more damage from attacks.
  • Third hit: Deals B% weapon damage. Debuffs refreshed on all targets.

Tier II

• Exploding Palm
  • Combo Skill. A quick succession of attacks ending with the deadly Exploding Palm.
  • First hit: X% of weapon damage.
  • Second hit: Y% of weapon damage.
  • Third hit: Target bleeds for Z damage over 7 seconds. Moving causes 200% more bleeding damage. If target dies it explodes dealing 60-100% of its maximum life in damage to all enemies nearby.

Tree C Skills

This tree also had just two skills at the Blizzcon 2009 reveal, both defensive in nature.

Tier I

• Impenetrable Defense
  • Momentarily turn your weapons into an impenetrable wall that rebounds enemy ranged attacks and grants 100% dodge against weapon attacks.

Tier II

• Radiant Visage
  • A flash of light sears the eyes of all enemies within 20 feet, blinding them for X-Y seconds. If attacked they will fight back with a Z% reduced chance to hit.

Removed Skills

Skills that were once used by the Monk, but that were removed during development. The Monk has far fewer of these than the Barbarian, Wizard, or Witch Doctor since the Monk was the 4th character revealed, and only 8 Monk skills were shown before the big passive skill / traits switchover.

Impenetrable Defense, Radiant Visage, and Force Without Thought were removed from the Monk's skill listing between Blizzcon 2009 and Blizzcon 2010.

References

• Full Monk Skill Tree Stats and Discussion