Monk Wave of Light Build with Sunwuko Set

Last updated on Jan 08, 2024 at 09:00 by Deadset 45 comments
1.

Introduction

Previously stuck in the group-only support DPS role, the Sunwuko set received a revision in Patch 2.4 to a viable soloing state. With this rework and the aid of several revised items, the Season 2 champion Wave of Light re-emerges in a new form. This ranged, sustained damage build is geared towards Greater Rift solo progression. We also have a speed farming variation, accessible using the link just below.

2.

Quick Reference

2.1.

Skill Setup

The basic skill setup of the Sunwuko Wave of Light Monk is displayed below. Read the dedicated Skills page for detailed information on choices, alternatives and build customization.

Active Skills
Left Mouse Button Wave of Light Icon Wave of Light Pillar of the Ancients Pillar of the Ancients Right Mouse Button Cyclone Strike Icon Cyclone Strike Implosion Implosion 1 Epiphany Icon Epiphany Desert Shroud Desert Shroud 2 Sweeping Wind Icon Sweeping Wind Inner Storm Inner Storm 3 Dashing Strike Icon Dashing Strike Blinding Speed Blinding Speed 4 Serenity Icon Serenity Ascension Ascension
Passive Skills
2.2.

Gear Setup

The required gear setup for the Sunwuko Wave of Light Monk is listed below. Check the Gear page for detailed information on choices, alternatives, gemming, Kanai's Cube and Paragon distribution.

2.2.1.

Altar of Rites

The former Season 28 theme, the Altar of Rites, has been revised and re-added to Diablo 3 as a permanent character progression mechanic. — For virtually all builds and players of all skill levels — from casual to advanced — we recommend progressing through the Altar tree using the path outlined below. The suggested path is geared towards maximum quality of life first, then amplifying damage, and then mopping up the tree with defensive and edge case utility nodes.

Note that while they require reaching them with a Seal, Legendary Potion Powers are not part of the Seal cost system; Potions unlock with a separate resource called Primordial Ashes, obtained from salvaging Legendary or Set items of Primal (red bordered) quality. Upgrade them as soon as possible, and in the order shown below (courtesy of Caleko's Altar of Rites planner).

Altar of Rites Planner

You can read more on the Altar of Rites, Seals and Legendary Potion Powers in our dedicated Altar of Rites Mechanics guide.

2.3.

Soul Shards (Season 30 Specific)

Check details on the specific rolls of the Soul Shards required for this build in the Gear page of this guide. Read more about Season 30 in our dedicated Season 30 Compendium, and about Soul Shards specifically our Soul Shard Mechanics Guide.

2.4.

Legendary Gems

2.5.

Kanai's Cube

3.

How to get this build going?

In this section, we will briefly go over how to kickstart this build into reality; which items you should aim for with priority when farming and gambling, and what is their relative priority for the functioning of this spec. Note that these suggestions are exclusively aimed at getting you up and running into endgame farming, and might not reflect the gear you need to wear for high-end Greater Rift solo or group pushing. This section also assumes a fresh Season's start, which usually is the point where most players work on assembling their first build with a particular set.

If the Sunwuko set is part of the Haedrig's Gift for the Season, your simplest and most straightforward path to assembling the build is to complete the Seasonal Journey chapters up to Chapter IV. The Seasonal Journey chapters will gradually give you a complete class-specific set, giving 2-3 pieces for Chapters II, III and IV.

From the pre-game menu, choose and do this week's Challenge Rift. When successfully completed, this weekly event will grant you 5,1 million Gold, 475 Blood Shards, 370 Reusable Parts Reusable Parts, 350 Arcane Dust Arcane Dust, 125 Veiled Crystal Veiled Crystals, 35 Death's Breath Death's Breaths, and 15 of each Bounty cache material: Khanduran Rune Khanduran Rune, Caldeum Nightshade Caldeum Nightshade, Arreat War Tapestry Arreat War Tapestry, Corrupted Angel Flesh Corrupted Angel Flesh, and Westmarch Holy Water Westmarch Holy Water. This will allow you some early Seasonal leeway to extract and reforge items in Kanai's Cube, speeding up the assembly of this build with the items recommended below.

Having some materials at your disposal, either from farming or the Challenge Rift, is particularly important when you get duplicate pieces of your desired set. When you do, you can use Kanai's Cube Skill of Nilfur recipe (10x Forgotten Soul Forgotten Souls, 10x Death's Breath Death's Breaths, 1x Set item) to convert into another item from the same set. You should never salvage duplicate pieces of a desired set before you have it assembled.

In order to assemble a Sunwuko Wave of Light Monk, you should do the following.

  • Gather the full 6-piece Sunwuko set using the advice above, or by spending Blood Shards at Kadala. In order of gamble chance, you should spend for: Shoulders, Pants, Gloves, Chest, Helm, and Amulet. A trick you can also use is to gamble for duplicate pieces with an easier gamble chance (i.e., Shoulders) and convert them into another piece from the same set using the Skill of Nilfur recipe in Kanai's Cube.
  • Upgrade rare (Hope of Cain recipe in Kanai's Cube) Daibos to get Incense Torch of the Grand Temple Incense Torch of the Grand Temple, which you might have lucked into with your level 1 crafts as per our Seasonal Starter Guide. This weapon provides the basis of your resource management and damage dealing in a Wave of Light Wave of Light-based build.
  • Gamble Bracers for Pinto's Pride Pinto's Pride, which also might have been your lucky find from the level 1 gambling. These bracers bolster damage and provide indirect safety with their Slowing effect. Bracers gambling can also net you Nemesis Bracers Nemesis Bracers, which are a cornerstone farming item.
  • Upgrade rare Fist Weapons to get Vengeful Wind Vengeful Wind and/or Kyoshiro's Blade Kyoshiro's Blade. Both these weapons will skyrocket the performance of a Sunwuko WoL build, as the former ties into your set mechanic and can be adapted to any SWK build, while the latter simply provides upfront burst that can carry you through the difficulty levels.
  • Gamble Belts for Kyoshiro's Soul Kyoshiro's Soul; this is a convenience item that will mostly carry you through early farming with the Sunwuko set and will allow you to focus on damage rather than monitoring Sweeping Wind Sweeping Wind stacks. While gambling Belts, you can also stumble into Goldwrap Goldwrap, which is a cornerstone standard rift farming item that makes you nearly invulnerable as you pick up gold.
  • Upgrade rare Spirit Stones for Tzo Krin's Gaze Tzo Krin's Gaze for a skill damage boost and additional farming convenience — it turnes Wave of Light Wave of Light into a ranged skill.
  • Upgrade rare One-handed Swords to get In-geom In-geom; doing this on a level 1 Demon Hunter alt will improve your chances due to their lowest loot pool of legendary swords.
  • Do Act I bounties to attain the act-specific Ring of Royal Grandeur Ring of Royal Grandeur from Bounty caches. This will be helpful either in completing the basic set bonus, or mixing other helpful sets in (Aughilds) as described in the Gear page. Bounties will net you the craftable set recipes to begin with, so you will be killing two birds with one stone. Bounties will also net you Avarice Band Avarice Band (Act III), another farming-oriented staple for most builds and classes, this one included.
  • While largely undesirable due to high costs, gambling or upgrading rare Jewelry is also possible; Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac, Unity Unity and Convention of Elements Convention of Elements will all bring massive damage bumps to the build, with other standout pieces that can also substitute or be temporarily helpful in the face of Stone of Jordan Stone of Jordan, Squirt's Necklace Squirt's Necklace, or Oculus Ring Oculus Ring and The Flavor of Time The Flavor of Time for your Follower.
4.

Changelog

  • 08 Jan. 2024 (gear page): Revised guide for the permanent addition of the Altar of Rites, and added Season-specific Soul Shard recommendations.
  • 08 Jan. 2024 (skills page): Skills and passives reviewed for Season 30.
  • 08 Jan. 2024 (this page): Revised guide for the permanent addition of the Altar of Rites, and added Season-specific Soul Shard recommendations.
  • 13 Sep. 2023 (gear page): Added Season 29 Paragon Cap and Gearing recommendations.
  • 13 Sep. 2023 (skills page): Skills and passives reviewed for Season 29.
  • 13 Sep. 2023 (this page): Added Season 29 Paragon Cap and Gearing recommendations.
  • 22 Feb. 2023 (gear page): Added Season 28 Altar of Rites recommendations.
  • 22 Feb. 2023 (skills page): Skills and passives reviewed for Season 28.
  • 22 Feb. 2023 (this page): Added Season 28 Altar of Rites recommendations.
  • 26 Aug. 2022 (gear page): Added Season 27 Angelic Crucible recommendations.
  • 26 Aug. 2022 (skills page): Skills and passives reviewed for Season 27.
  • 26 Aug. 2022 (this page): Added Season 27 Angelic Crucible recommendations.
  • 14 Apr. 2022 (gear page): Guide reviewed for Season 26.
  • 14 Apr. 2022 (skills page): Guide reviewed for Season 26.
  • 14 Apr. 2022 (this page): Guide reviewed for Season 26.
  • 08 Dec. 2021 (gear page): Guide revised and added Season 25 Soul Shard recommendations.
  • 08 Dec. 2021 (skills page): Guide revised and added Season 25 Soul Shard recommendations.
  • 08 Dec. 2021 (this page): Guide revised and added Season 25 Soul Shard recommendations.
  • 21 Jul. 2021 (gear page): Added Ethereal weapon recommendation for Season 24.
  • 21 Jul. 2021 (skills page): No changes required for Season 24.
  • 21 Jul. 2021 (this page): Added Ethereal weapon recommendation for Season 24.
  • 01 Apr. 2021 (gear page): Added follower recommendation.
  • 01 Apr. 2021 (skills page): No changes required for Season 23.
  • 01 Apr. 2021 (this page): Added follower recommendation.
  • 16 Nov. 2020 (gear page): Added S22 Cube recommendation.
  • 16 Nov. 2020 (skills page): No changes required for Season 22.
  • 16 Nov. 2020 (this page): Added S22 Cube recommendation.
  • 01 Jul. 2020 (gear page): No changes required for Season 21.
  • 01 Jul. 2020 (skills page): No changes required for Season 21.
  • 01 Jul. 2020 (this page): No changes required for Season 21.
  • 12 Mar. 2020 (gear page): No changes necessary for Season 20.
  • 12 Mar. 2020 (skills page): No changes necessary for Season 20.
  • 12 Mar. 2020 (this page): No changes necessary for Season 20.
  • 21 Nov. 2019 (gear page): Added Cpt. Crimson set as part of the itemization, significant changes to jewelry. Updated for Season 19.
  • 21 Nov. 2019 (skills page): Skill setup moved to a non-generator setup, Epiphany added back. Updated for Season 19.
  • 21 Nov. 2019 (this page): Build moved to a non-generator setup, with skill and item changes to reflect that. Updated for Season 19.
  • 23 Aug. 2019 (gear page): Reviewed for Season 18.
  • 23 Aug. 2019 (skills page): Reviewed for Season 18.
  • 23 Aug. 2019 (this page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 18.
  • 16 May 2019 (gear page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 17.
  • 16 May 2019 (skills page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 17.
  • 16 May 2019 (this page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 17.
  • 05 Feb. 2019 (this page): Added the Inna Wave of Light variation.
  • 17 Jan. 2019 (gear page): Added suggestions for the baseline Ring of Royal Grandeur for Seasonal characters.
  • 17 Jan. 2019 (skills page): Information was reviewed and approved for Season 16 with no changes required.
  • 17 Jan. 2019 (this page): Guide was revised with additional recommendations for Season 16.
  • 20 Sep. 2018 (this page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 15.
  • 14 Jun. 2018 (this page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 14.
  • 12 Nov. 2017 (gear page): Revised gem recommendations to reflect the proper playstyle of the build.
  • 12 Nov. 2017 (skills page): Updated the passive skill recommendations.
  • 28 Oct. 2017 (gear page): Changed rings, weapon #2, and waist for Patch 2.6.1.
  • 28 Oct. 2017 (skills page): Replaced Epiphany with Crippling Wave for Patch 2.6.1.
  • 28 Oct. 2017 (this page): Revised the guide to reflect its buffs in Patch 2.6.1.
  • 30 Jun. 2017 (this page): Updated for Patch 2.6 and moved to new guide format.
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