Fists of Thunder

Fists of Thunder in action.

Fists of Thunder (known as Hands of Lightning prior to July 2011) is a Primary Monk skill unlocked at Level 1. The Monk charges his strikes with lightning in a three-stage attack.

Contents

Background

The Monk charges his strikes with lightning in a three-stage attack that ends with an area of effect blast.

Skill Rune Effects

The following is a very quick summary. See the Fists of Thunder rune effects page for a more thorough description of rune effects, or any of the individual rune pages for numbers, screenshots, blue quotes, and much more.

<skill class="Monk">Fists of Thunder</skill>

Skill Design

Welcome to electric avenue.

This skill first appeared at BlizzCon 2010, playable in the demo. It adds lightning damage to the Monk's strikes.

The attack has three phases. Each strike deals X% weapon damage as lightning damage, varying by rank and other factors, which may be valuable for later difficulty settings with enemies who are resistant to physical damage. Each strike also has a chance to interrupt the enemy being struck.

Synergies

The following Monk passives provide a benefit to Fists of Thunder:

Skill	Unlocked	Description

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[[{{{name}}}]]

10

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[[{{{name}}}]] See: Spirit Generators

50

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Development

Fists of Thunder was first shown at BlizzCon 2010, then named Hands of Lightning. Blascid reported on using the skill at BlizzCon:[1]

In the Monks case, with her actual lightning fist skill (I do not remember the name), the first hit would be a claw sweep with lightning damage, the second one granted more lightning damage with more lightning graphics, and the third hit was a lightning blast that created a nice AOE arc. (The third move’s animation {Monk’s move and spell effect} reminded me of how Ryu and Ken’s Hadouken looked in Street Fighter 2 {Sorry, I have not played any more recent than that} if your opponent was right in front of you.)

Flux also wrote about using this skill at BlizzCon. A small excerpt:[2]

The only drawback of Hands of Lightning was the fun factor. It was a fairly plain attack. It looks pretty with the big lightning blasts, but it’s basically just a straight ahead right, left, right combo. It doesn’t hit multiple enemies, it doesn’t debuff them, it doesn’t let you dash across the screen to start hitting, etc. It’s the lowest level combo skill for a reason; it’s just a damn powerful attack to use against a single or a few enemies, and sure, killing them quickly and efficiently is fun. But if I were playing for real, I’d probably respec it to another combo when I had the chance. (Though it might be handy long term for the huge lightning damage.)

Before the July 2011 Press Event (when skill tiers were removed), Hands of Lightning was renamed Fists of Thunder.

Beta

During the beta, all the skills previously known as combos were simplified down so much that only three of them (Fists of Thunder, Deadly Reach, and Crippling Wave) still contain any semblance of combo functionality. These three skills now provide simply an additional effect on every third strike, while the others (Way of the Hundred Fists, Exploding Palm, and Sweeping Wind) now have a single function on every strike. Combos previously consisted of: the normal spell attack on the first strike; a stronger attack on the second; and on the third, an even stronger attack coupled with an additional effect.

The beta started in September 2011, and Fists of Thunder became a level 1 skill. The skill system was once again overhauled for the Beta Patch 13 in February 2012, and Fists of Thunder was classified as a Primary skill (but remained at level 1). For Beta Patch 14, it was buffed a bit.

A male Monk poses while delivering the second stage hit.

Previous Versions

See Hands of Lightning for the original version of this skill.

Also, see the combos page for additional information on how this and other combo spells used to work.

The three hits of Hands of Lightning, with the big blast on the final hit (from 2010).

Media

Fists of Thunder can be seen in action on video here:

• Gameplay: July 2011
• Video: August 2011 Monk Skill Animations

You can find pictures in the Diablo III screenshot and picture gallery:

• Diablo III screenshots and pictures
• Fists of Thunder specific gallery contents

• 

  Posing the final strike.

• 

  Monk using Hands of Lightning.

• 

  Arcing lightning damage.

• 

  The three-hit sequence.

References

• BlizzCon 2010 Hands-on Blascid
• BlizzCon 2010 Monk Hands-on Report
• Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
• Silva's Monk Runestone Effects — IncGamers 6th Sep 2011
• Monk Active Skills — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer primary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer secondary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer corpses

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer bloodandbone

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer reanimation

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer curses