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Monk
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The '''Monk''' is one of the five playable characters in Diablo 3. He was the fourth to be revealed, at Blizzcon 2009, and plays as a [[melee]]/[[caster]] hybrid, with focus on a martial arts close combat/kung fu type theme to most of his attacks. He His appearance is like reminiscent of a mix between the [[Assassin]] European monk, while his saffron robed garments, religion, and [[Paladin]] combat style draw more from Diablo IIthe Eastern, and shares a few traits with the Monk from Diablo: HellfireShao Lin style influence.
Though only eight of the [[Monk skills]] have yet been revealed, the character design calls for numerous fast-hitting, arcade-style chain combo attacks, a variety of defensive active and passive skills, and various unknown types of party-boosting [[Auras]].[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/jay-wilson-exclusive-full-transcript/]
The character feels similar to the [[Assassin]] and [[Paladin]] from Diablo II, and while he shares a name and some traits with the Monk from Hellfire, Blizzard has disowned that expansion pack and claims no connection between the characters. [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/bashiok-on-the-monk-and-cluttered-visuals/]
==Background==
The Monks have a fondness for structure and creativity, which is why they have various symbols on their bodies. Their light magic is brought to life through runes, symbols that invoke the light to aid them. It is said that each Monk has a tattoo on his back, that chronicles their lifetime/adventures (needs confirmation), and that it may take a monk an entire lifetime to complete the tattoo on his back.
The monk serves the Elder Monks of the monastery, who seek to destroy evil in all forms. He thinks of himself as the weapon of the gods against all that is evil. He is a peaceful, patient and good man who aids those who suffer, with no hatred against anyone, in contrast to the [[Barbarian]]. He is adept in Martial Arts, being able to defeat multiple foes without the aid of weapons.
[[Leonard Boyarsky]], Diablo 3's lead story designer, discussed this in an August 2009 interview.[http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/Feature/153717,diablo-iii-qa.aspx]
::(The Monk) comes from a place called Ivgorod, you know when we started looking at a story about a monk serves we didn't want to just have what would be considered the Elder Monks standard monk. At Blizzard we love to put a little twist on things and do things a little bit differently. So we thought it would be interesting to take some kind of 13th century... well not factual, but some kind of Eastern European 13th century monk and combine it with the monastery, who seek to destroy evil more Eastern style; not only in all forms. He thinks terms of himself as the weapon look but also in terms of the philosophical. So he has the Eastern philosophy integrated into him, the movement has a lot to do with life and the gods against all that is evilmixed in with a very theocratic, organised religious belief system. He is a peacefulBut he's very devout, patient and he's fighting the good man who aids those who sufferfight; he's a holy warrior. He's very straight-ahead in what he does, with there's no hatred against anyone, in contrast gray area for him and it's not that he's inflexible -- he does what he thinks is right. If he has to meditate on that for two days he'll do it because he's got to do the right thing - his fighting is his way of worshiping. That's how we approached him, which gives him a very different feel. The [[Barbarian]]has a good mythology; we gave the [[Witch Doctor]] a very rich mythology. He is adept in Martial ArtsIn the game they have a very different experience as different characters, but also, being able to defeat multiple foes without the aid possibly come into conflict with each other because of weaponstheir different belief systems.
===Combat System===
[[Image:Monk - Way of a hundred fists.jpg|thumb|leftright|[[Way of the Hundred Fists]] in action.]]
The Monk's concept was that of a fighting game character, where the player could create combos by pressing the right buttons at the right time. This being not so different with the Monk, as almost all skills have 3 stages. Each stage of each skill performs a specific action. The player can chain these stages into a combo, being able to create 64 different combos from only 4 spells. In addition to that, many custom combos can be made that fit the player's style of combat.
Using a skill will cast the first stage of that skill. The player has a 0.6 second window to press the skill again to advance to the next stage of that (or a different) skill, that may lead to the 3rd stage of said skill. Alternatively, the player can wait for the 0.6 second window to pass, to re-use the first stage of the skill.
'''An Example:'''
*Use/Objective of Skill(s): Easy for Beginners, Depth for veterans.
**Stage Two: Crippling Wave, lower the damage of the enemies.
**Stage Three: Exploding Palm, Apply the DoT to a damaged enemy and watch the bunch of monsters go boom! (make sure the enemy dies before the bleed ends)
[[Julian Love]] described the theory behind the Monk's combat design in an October 2009 interview. [http://www.planetdiablo.com/features/articles/jlove101309/jlove_b.shtml]
::''PD: So you think it'll be inviting to brand new players as well as experienced players? Because it seems like it could make him more challenging for people who, you know, aren't used to the game.''
::Julian: Yeah, there is an intent that he will be a little bit more challenging, that he is a little bit more for the not-beginner user. That doesn't mean you won't be able to jump right in with him and still be successful. I think that the intent here is that there is just enough of a learning curve that people who want to master that character have some place to go with that idea and become really good at it.
::...But somebody who's more of a master might really follow the intricacies of how to combo multiple skills together, so something that they might do might be rather than just clicking away and having fun with that, they might be doing things like where they rush in, hit a combo that sort of stuns monsters, position themselves in the middle of that pack, then let off the big AoE [Area of Effect attack]; they're a little more efficient with their moves and maybe taking a little bit less damage as a result of it.
During the [[BlizzCon_2009_Panel:_Diablo_3_Heroes_and_Monsters| BlizzCon 2009 Diablo 3 Heroes and Monsters panel]], it was said that the combat style was influenced by the combat styles of the [[Assassin]] in Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction and the [http://wow.incgamers.com/wiki/Rogue | Rogue class in World of Warcraft].
==Attributes and Skills==
===Monk Skills===
The [[Monk skill]] trees as revealed at [[BlizzCon 2009]] were clearly works in progress, with temporary names and the skills grouped in what seemed assigned to be the trees at random clusters. 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.
* [[Skill Tree A|A]]
* [[Skill Tree B|B]]
==Development==
The Monk was the Fourth [[class]] to be revealed by Blizzard, debuting during the opening ceremony of [[BlizzCon 2009]], in front of 26,000 cheering fans and countless DirecTV viewers. As with much of Diablo III, the [[D3 teamTeam]] took inspiration from old Pen and Paper RPGs and from Fighting Games/Console Brawlers. There is no female Monk at the moment, but according to [[Jay Wilson]], the creation of the female Monk is in progress.
