Diablo III: The Monk - Full Details

Here are the full details about the new Monk class from the Diablo III Discussion Panel at BlizzCon.

What Defines The Monk?

The monk is inspired by pen and paper RPGs, and all of the classes they want to do harken back to the golden days of pen and paper role-playing games.

The Monk is fast, fragile and melee oriented

He's a good contrast from the Barbarian -- a polar opposite of the Barbarian.

The Diablo III team likes Fighting games, so the Monk feels like a fighting game character.

The Monk feels different -- it's an unexpected class.

The Monk's Kit - What does he do?

The game should feel like a fighting game, featuring combo moves and martial arts.

Holy Magic. He uses holy magic, a contrast from the Barbarian's raw brutality.

The Monk focuses on speed over toughness.

The Monk has skills that are really complimentary, with combo moves that blend in to one another.

The Monk is a bit more challenging to play in the beginning.

The Monk's History

What makes the monk definitively that class? They want a character that combines an Eastern European kind of feel with the Asian archetype of a monk. A mixing of the religions and archetypes. He's a cross between an Asian monk and an Eastern Orthodox monk from the 13th century.

The Monk is from Isgorod, raised in secluded monasteries, and reflect their deities in a myriad of fighting techniques. They have tattoos that cover their entire bodies depicting their 1001 gods and takes an entire lifetime to complete.

The Monk is a part of a highly structured, theocratic society, reporting to the philosopher kings in their society. They view everything they do as sanctified, and spend their time in meditation when they aren't kicking ass. They're known throughout the world and everyone fears and respect them in equal amounts. They're killing machines, but at the same time, they're also holy men.

The Combo System

The combo system adds depth to melee combat. The combo system combines moves and plays very differently from the Assassin in Diablo II or the Rogue in World of Warcraft. The game does not build up 'points' in the combo system.

Way of The Hundred Fists

The player hits the same mouse button three times in a row. The first stage is a dash, the second stage is multiple strikes, and the third stage is AOE.

Crippling Wave

The first stage slows down enemies. The second stage reduces enemy damage, and the third stage refreshes the debuffs on all nearby enemies.

Exploding Palm

The first and second stage performs damage. This skill causes internal damage, exploding hearts, Fist of the North Star. The third stage applies a moderate bleed that deals more damage to moving targets and if the target dies while the bleed is on them, they explode and deal AOE damage to nearby enemies.

Combined Combo System

Beginnings can spam one skill over and over, but advanced players will be able to use stage 1 of Way of the Hundred Fists, stage 2 of Crippling Wave, and stage 3 of Exploding Palm.

Gameplay Video



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