Need some info on gearing my monk

[wonka11]

Yo gents!

I'm buying gear for my monk (darklight etc), and I'm trying to figure out what our dominant stats are.

I know a lot of people say Skill speed sucks, but I've also heard that monks rely on skill speed at a certain number (461 maybe? I'm not sure) which is required to land our combos effectively.

This leaves me at a conundrum; Am I supposed to be buying striking or maiming jewelry or which stats do I prioritize.

Thanks in advance.

[Lstkaws]

STR is your main stat, striking gear is the accessories you want, 2nd ring is a choice between maiming and aiming (maiming probably best unless you have brd at 50). I have the ilvl 70 crafted body and legs. The legs I melded skill sped since other stats are capped acc is also a choice for that piece. Crafted body can also be melded to gain some extra stats, but DL is great if you do not like or do not want to spend the money on crafted.

[EasymodeX]

If you don't use Bootshine often / at all, then you want to focus mostly on CRT by a good margin.

If you use Bootshine often [successfully], then you should focus more on DET, with SS and CRT on the side -- all three roughly even overall.

For a balanced approach, mostly CRT and DET, with slightly less emphasis on SS.

[Shiji]

If you don't use Bootshine often / at all, then you want to focus mostly on CRT by a good margin.

If you use Bootshine often [successfully], then you should focus more on DET, with SS and CRT on the side -- all three roughly even overall.

For a balanced approach, mostly CRT and DET, with slightly less emphasis on SS.

Mmm let me just throw in my two cents here. I feel that you should probably never be using bootshine. Bootshine can be a straight DPS loss because the small amount of time it takes to switch from flank>back>flank can cause your rotation to extend making you spend more time dodging mechanics and losing GL stacks.

On stat priorities my opinion goes Determination > Skill speed/Crit. I think you should reach a certain amount of SS (experiment with what works best in your rotation and gives you the best amount of lee-way with mechanics) losing GL stacks is THE BIGGEST dps loss possible that's why SS is so handy.

[EasymodeX]

I feel that you should probably never be using bootshine. Bootshine can be a straight DPS loss because the small amount of time it takes to switch from flank>back>flank can cause your rotation to extend making you spend more time dodging mechanics and losing GL stacks.

This is a skill check consideration. You have ~2.0 seconds to move 4 pixels. Shrug.

[wonka11]

This is a skill check consideration. You have ~2.0 seconds to move 4 pixels. Shrug.

I kind of see what shes saying though. It makes more sense with how the game is currently with having to dodge multiple aoes, cleaves, etc, which force repositioning for the tank along with dps. Hitting one side is a lot easier than two when trying to land rotations. A lot of enemies also have annoying rear aoes which I would consider as well.

[EasymodeX]

To be frank, I notice zero difference between the requirement to attack the rear versus side.

Mechanics are going to happen either way. Mechanically spamming DK is going to flub the flank requirement and drop the potency to 100 more or less as often as failing the Bootshine (which has a lower penalties when you fail it compared to DK, ironically).

Actually, that pretty much closes this discussion point: interleaving Bootshine is a DPS increase not only in general when you succeed, but also when positioning is difficult due to mechanics and bosses that like to turn and cast spells, since DK's potency penalty when you mis-position is pretty major.

[Ephier]

Not using bootshine is just straight lazy in my opinion. That 100% crit that you get from bootshine does more damage than a non crit snap punch. I currently stack skill speed as I believe monks have enough innate crit rate in their skills (bootshine and true strike along with internal release). I currently have 508 skill speed which equates to a 1.99 GCD with GL3. I know the magic number is about 491 SS for the 2s GCD, but I like the lower cool downs and the skill speed is just coming on the gear regardless. Also with that low of a GCD you can begin to use true strike again without losing twin snakes, which has 10 more potency and a 5% more chance to crit. IMO stack what you want. I see a lot of monks stack crit and if that works for them great. But for me, I crit enough as is with my cool down skills, so I find it a bit worthless to me. Now I will not just shun crit, don\\'t get me wrong, but I\\'m not going to go out of my way to get it over skill speed or determination.