Diablog: Diablo III- A Monk's Tale (Storyline Spoiler-free!)

     I am surprised that I am taking time out from playing Diablo III to write this blog to tell you all about my journey so far as a Monk!  I definitely have some opinions about it and I really wanted to share a bit more about my first foray into the world of Diablo.

    

Whew!
Kate's been whoopin' some demon butt!

     So far I am still just playing my Monk class character, named after me, Kate!  I'm in Act IV and have 980 Achievement Points; 683 Elite Kills; 432,269 Gold Collected; 16, 912 Lifetime Kills; and I've  played 52 hours and 12 minutes.  

Kate's main stats are: Str-53, Dex-230, Int-147, and Vit-216.  I'm pretty happy with the build.  The main stats could be boosted a bit, but I have been focusing on maximizing my Gold and Magic Pickup bonus even if I must sacrifice in other areas. 
What can I say?  I like shiny LOOT!

Gold Items are Rares. Oh no! My stash is full!

     The main stat for the Monk Class is Dexterity so adding equipment that has a bonus boost of Dex. has been key.  I feel like the Monk has been a very successful solo and grouping class without any extra effort.  I have grouped with all other classes except another Monk and found my healing abilities to be useful and my great up-close melee attacks to be powerful enough to make me MVP on the battlefield.  I feel like the Monk can also suit many play-styles.  I usually prefer to hang back as a healer in other MMO games, and I could do that here, but I have found that I do enjoy beating the living snot out of huge mobs of baddies in this game, so I can be happy either way.  I have nearly beat the game playing solo and only doing groups to replay an area, that way I can be sure I have time to thoroughly enjoy the story elements without making someone else wait for me.  I have usually only died while grouping in my game with an under-leveled player, and while defeating bosses.

     The monk, like all of the other classes, has its own class-specific weapons and armor that it can use.  There are some really neat head gear that look authentic on the monk and don't fully cover the head like most other helmets do.  I think the class-specific 2-handed weapon, the Daibo, and the 1-handed weapon, the Fist, also adds authenticity to the monk, but I have opted to play mostly with another 1-handed weapon that I picked up early on in the game that has excellent stats for my play-style (I call my style of play the "slash-and-loot") and an offhand shield to maximize the extra slots for gold pickup bonuses and an extra defensive measure.  The shield helps me a lot because I am sometimes a careless player and so the dodge stats on a good shield help keep me from dying before I get the chance to use a potion or healing spell.  Like I said before, I have built my monk for making money not for perfect play.  This will likely change as I head into the harder difficulty playthroughs.

     I have continued to be a bit surprised by the overall look of the monk.  When I think "monk", I think of a serene bald guy in plain clothing, usually wearing loose linen pants with a thick rag or rope for a belt.  Maybe he's in a Zen meditation pose with his eyes shut and, of course, he's levitating.  His muscles are sinewy and you can almost see his aura radiating around him.  Conversely. in Diablo III, the monk can wear mostly armored equipment and look more like a knight.  The monk's size, coloring, and shape are concurrent with my monkish image, but the voice of my female monk has a Russian accent (the voice actor is Rajia Baroudi, who has been in several video games, tv shows, and other aspects of the film and media industry).  I thought the Russian voice, although voiced well, was a bit too stern and didn't fit with my idea of "monk".  The dialog was pretty good though.  You can see in my first picture at the top that I am wearing metal boots, pauldrons, bracers, and gloves.  The only clothing that seems to not be made of metal is my robe and belt.  Awesome.  My meaty parts can get hacked, but my extremities will be intact to put in the pine box home!  The pants also look like cloth but I used "Vanishing Dye" on them because all of the pants look baggy and odd to me.  Besides, I'm too sexy for my pants.

     The monk's storyline and dialog is engaging although it didn't quite fit my own personality; I doubt a game-playing housewife is suited to be in Diablo III!  This is the first Diablo game I have played and I am really enjoying the story in general and my husband says that everytime he walks into my gaming room, I am grinning at the screen! My cheeks have been a bit sore this week.  So far, Diablo III has been a very fun game for me and I can see myself being lost in this world for quite some time.

Now back to saving the world from evil...again!