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Sunwuko Wave of Light Monk Guide

Last Updated: January 10th 2024

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Introduction

Sunwuko Solo Nephalem Rifts
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Welcome to the fastest build in Diablo 3: Sunwuko Wave of Light Monk. Little known fact: the set used by the build is actually called Monkey King's Garb, but since every single piece is called "Sunwuko's this" and "Sunwuko's that" everyone in the community just calls it Sunwuko.

With nearly limitless mobility provided by Dashing Strike + In-Geom combo and huge AoE coverage of Wave of Light Explosive Light, this build can clear Nephalem Rifts like no other. Its true strength however comes from the flexibility of Monkey King's Garb set. Sunwuko's Shines allows us to keep the (6) Bonus while equipping Cain's Destiny for more Greater Rift Keystones.

Follower overhaul in Season 23 made it possible to include Cain's Destiny into every build, which brought many Nephalem Rift builds up to Sunwuko Wave of Light level. Followers however, are only available in solo play, so this build still retains its #1 spot when it comes to farming Greater Rift Keystones in groups!

Best Key Farmer ✔
Insane AOE Damage ✔
You Don't Have To Aim ✔
Fastest Build In Diablo 3 ✔

❌ Requires Decent Gear
❌ Struggles In Bad Maps
❌ Rotation Requires Practice
❌ Low Single Target Damage

Core Setup

Core Item Build

Items

  • Sunwuko (2) Bonus gives 50% damage reduction when Sweeping Wind is active.
  • Sunwuko (6) Bonus gives 1500% increased damage for each Sweeping Wind stack for a total of 19,500% thanks to Vengeful Wind.
  • Captain Crimson's Trimmings (2) Bonus gives 20% Cooldown Reduction and Resource Cost Reduction.
  • Captain Crimson's Trimmings (3) Bonus increases our damage by our Cooldown Reduction percentage and decreases our damage taken by our Resource Cost Reduction percentage.
  • Vengeful Wind is mandatory as it gives us 10 extra stacks of Sweeping Wind providing us a 15,000% multiplier due to the Sunwuko (6) Bonus.
  • Incense Torch of the Grand Temple cuts the cost of Wave of Light in half and gives it 550% increased damage.
  • Tzo Krin's Gaze gives up to 150% Wave of Light damage, and allows us to cast WoL where our mouse cursor is.
  • Pinto's Pride makes Wave of Light slow enemies by 80% and increases its damage by 150%. The slow is significant because it's applied before the damage is calculated, letting us always get full benefit from Bane of the Trapped.
  • Ring of Royal Grandeur completes our Sunwuko and Captain Crimson's Trimmings set bonuses.

Season 30 Soul Shards

Soul Shards are powerful socketable items that initially dropped during Season 25 but they are returning for Season 30! There are 4 available for Weapons based on the Lesser Evils, with another 3 for Helmets based on the Prime Evils. They drop at Rank 0 and be upgraded three times with the brand new Hellforge Embers to unlock additional powers, or be used in the Kanai's Cube as Augments. Here's how they progress:

  • Rank 0: Soul Shards begin with a unique static Legendary Power. Creates a Rank 50 Augment.
  • Rank 1: Gives all powers from the normal gems. Creates a Rank 75 Augment.
  • Rank 2: Grants one additional powerful stat. Creates a Rank 100 Augment.
  • Rank 3: Unlocks 1 of 3 bonus Legendary Powers unique to that Soul Shard. Creates a Rank 125 Augment.

Warning: Leoric's Crown and Broken Crown do not work with Soul Shards!

Read our Soul Shards Guide written by Chewingnom for full details on how they work. What you should prioritize on them for Solo Pushing is the following:

  1. The Correct Soul Shard & Rank 3 Power
    The best shards for Solo Pushing are:
    • Helmets: We want to use Sliver of Terror for the massive damage buff from our abilities on cooldown. For the Rank 3 power take the Ring of Fire to unleash a devastating AoE blast for big leaderboard pushes!
    • Weapons: We want to use Dregs of Lies for the massive bonus damage to Pets. For the Rank 3 power, go for the stacking Pet Damage effect for another major power boost!
  2. The Rank 2 Stat
    The stats that come from the second upgrade are not equal. Here's what we're looking for on them:
    • Helmets: We want either Main Stat for damage or Melee/Ranged Damage Reduction to survive. Avoid Armor and All Resistance as their stat ranges are far too low compared to the others options.
    • Weapons: We want Lightning/Fire Damage to boost our character's power the furthest. Avoid Attack Speed and Critical Hit Chance as their stat ranges are too low compared to the others.
  3. The Stat Ranges on the Rank 1 and 2 Powers
    This is just icing on the cake because the ranges will not make or break your build. Still, look for the Soul Shards with the best stat ranges, especially on the offensive stats.

For the other game modes, other Soul Shards can be used. Check the Variants below to see what's used there.

What about extra Soul Shards? Either salvage them for gems, or upgrade and use them in Kanai's Cube for Augments.

Global Stat Priorities

Our offensive priorities are: Cooldown > Fire Damage > Critical Hit Chance > Critical Hit Damage > Attack Speed, along with as much Wave of Light damage as possible for speed content. We need the Cooldown to keep Epiphany up at all times and to gain damage from our Captain Crimson's Trimmings (3) Bonus. We stack Attack Speed to cast Dashing Strike and Wave of Light as fast as possible.

When solo pushing drop the Attack Speed rolls for Area Damage as too much Attack Speed will drain our spirit. Our playstyle will involve gathering up large groups of enemies to burn down with Area Damage.

Assembling the Build

Item Stat Priorities

Gems

Skills

Passives

Paragon Points

Altar of Rites

Follower

Gameplay

Hardcore

Variants

Nephalem Rifts
GR Solo Push
Echoing Nightmare
T16

Concept
Since this is one of the best speed builds in Diablo 3, this is where we belong. Flying around detonating everything with Wave of Light is our specialty. Many players will make this Monk regardless of what class they main just to acquire Greater Rift Keystone as fast as possible.

Gameplay
The main thing to remember from the Gameplay section we already covered is you need a rhythm between Wave of Light and Dashing Strike. My favorite way to play is to put WoL on my left mouse button, hold it down constantly along with force stand still, and tap my dash. The basic idea of this in plain English is: "I'm always throwing Waves of Light, and I interrupt that with Dashes."

This is a bit counter-intuitive as we usually move, and then attack. Here we perpetually attack, and interrupt that with moving. With practice you'll be flying around faster than Neo from the Matrix.

Setups
At very high Paragon (5,000+) you can replace Tzo Krin's Gaze with Leoric's Crown to get Epiphany Teleports back.

If you're playing in groups, cube Nemesis Bracers and change Stone of Jordan into Avarice Band. Without Goldwrap we're not immortal so we use Serenity Ascension in place of Mystic Ally to pick up loot from Molten packs. On the Rift Guardian fight swap Captain Crimson's Waders and Tzo Krin's Gaze for Cain's Destiny. You can also change In-geom to Kyoshiro's Blade at the same time to make the fight shorter.

Solo Push

Concept
In solo push setup we use Rabid Strike and an assortment of pet multipliers to maximize our damage. We need to get as much CDR as possible to have almost permanent Epiphany.

Gameplay
Follow the DPS rotation described in the Gameplay section above. You can perform this rotation 3 times per Convention of Elements cycle. Make sure that one of the DPS phases overlaps with Lightning cycle! Since 95% of your damage comes from the Rabid Strike clone, it doesn't matter where you aim your own Wave of Light. It's best to hold down Force Stand Still and have your mouse cursor somewhere in the corner of the screen to prevent unwanted Epiphany teleports.

Setups
The main problem of this build is toughness, but it's very hard to get without sacrificing tons of damage. Your best option is switching Way of the Hundred Fists to Serenity Ascension. You will lose a powerful damage buff and will only have enough Spirit for one or two DPS rotations per CoE cycle, but surviving will be much easier.

If that is still not enough, your only option is to drop a damage multiplier. Drop Bindings of the Lesser Gods for Spirit Guards and use Serenity instead of Cyclone Strike. Also switch from Pillar of the Ancients to Explosive Light and go for really large pulls. You can make this setup a bit more competitive by using Focus and Restraint as well as Hand of the Prophet on enchantress, but then your toughness will be almost back where you started.

Echoing Nightmare Setup

Concept
For Echoing Nightmares we are using a build similar to solo push. We drop Bindings of the Lesser Gods, since all the monsters are CC-immune and use Tzo Krin's Gaze instead. For more information check out our full Echoing Nightmare Guide and take a look at our Echoing Nightmare Build Tier List and META post for the best builds and strategies!

Gameplay
Click Speed Pylon as soon as the challenge starts and all the other Pylons at around wave 90. At wave 122 you can stop attacking and run to the corner to let the timer run out.

Keep up Epiphany at all times but don't recast it until it's almost expired. Spam Wave of Light to kill everything. Use Mystic Ally when your spirit gets low and use Serenity or Dashing Strike when meteors come falling down.

Video Guide

Mechanics

Wave of Light

Pinto's Pride

Tzo Krin's Gaze

Bindings of the Lesser Gods

Rabid Strike

Summary

  • Put together the core items and acquire the full Sunwuko set.
  • Practice interrupting your Wave of Light with Dashing Strike to move as quickly as possible.
  • Learn to swap to Cain's Destiny set on the Rift Guardian for 25% more keys!
  • Enjoy the fastest build Diablo 3 has ever seen!

Town Is Lava!

Credits

Written by Raxxanterax & Northwar.
Updated by Northwar.

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