Monk Support Build With Inna
Welcome to our build guide for Support Monk in Diablo 3. Here, you will learn everything you need to know to play this build at the highest level. This build is updated for Patch 2.7.8 and Season 35.
Introduction
Adept at damage mitigation and health sustain, the support Monk maintains a presence in metagame compositions where squishy DPS and damage intake-dependent bonuses need to be protected. This crowd control and buff-oriented build is strictly multiplayer oriented, a zero DPS spec that plays part of a composition with other damage dealing party members.
Quick Reference
Skill Setup
The basic skill setup of the Support Monk is displayed below. Read the dedicated Skills page for detailed information on choices, alternatives and build customization.
Active Skills |
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Passive Skills |
Gear Setup
The required gear setup for the Support Monk is listed below. Check the Gear page for detailed information on choices, alternatives, gemming, Kanai's Cube and Paragon distribution.
- Helm:
Inna's Radiance
- Shoulders:
Born's Privilege
- Gloves:
Inna's Hold
- Chest:
Inna's Vast Expanse
- Belt:
Captain Crimson's Silk Girdle
- Pants:
Captain Crimson's Thrust
- Boots:
Illusory Boots
- Bracers:
Strongarm Bracers
- Amulet:
The Flavor of Time
- Ring 1:
Oculus Ring
- Ring 2:
Ring of Royal Grandeur
- Weapon:
Born's Furious Wrath
- Offhand:
Stormshield
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).

You can read more on the Altar of Rites, Seals and Legendary Potion Powers in our dedicated Altar of Rites Mechanics guide.
Legendary Gems
- Legendary Gem 1:
Gogok of Swiftness
- Legendary Gem 2:
Iceblink
- Legendary Gem 3:
Gem of Efficacious Toxin
Kanai's Cube
- Weapon Slot:
The Executioner
- Armor Slot:
Spirit Guards
- Jewelry Slot:
The Star of Azkaranth
Season 35 Theme — Eternal Conflict
This Season revives the Pandemonium Kill Streak buff from Season 19. Each stack grants a bonus to movement speed and damage, capping at +50% movement speed and +100% damage at 1000 kills. Hitting specific kill thresholds unleashes powerful effects. Read more in our dedicated Season of the Eternal Conflict Mechanics Guide!
While speedfarming sees limited use from this theme, Greater Rift
pushing benefits significantly. Effects like Geysers (150),
Meteors (400), and Angels (500) can clear elites and Rift
Guardians instantly. Players may reset streaks after 150 kills to repeatedly
trigger Geysers or push for 500+ kills near boss fights, often using
Nemesis Bracers to spawn extra enemies.
Because the most potent effects (Geysers, Meteors, Angels) can obliterate Rift Guardians instantly up to GR150, players can retool builds for efficiency and comfort. Here’s how:
Legendary Gem Considerations
Since you can rely on killstreak procs to clear the Rift Guardian,
Bane of the Stricken can be safely omitted in favor of:
- Another generic damage-scaling legendary gem (
Bane of the Trapped for builds with any form of crowd control and/or melee range,
Zei's Stone of Vengeance for far ranged builds,
Taeguk for channeling builds,
Simplicity's Strength for primary attack-focused builds,
Enforcer for pet-oriented builds, etc.)
- A survivability-oriented legendary gem (
Esoteric Alteration,
Molten Wildebeest's Gizzard), or additional utility (
Gogok of Swiftness for CDR-reliant builds,
Pain Enhancer for attack speed-heavy builds, or
Wreath of Lightning for extra movement speed).
Equipment and Skill Flexibility
Adjust your equipment to items that favor durability, health sustain, and ease of movement. Consider adjusting non-essential skills for the build to ones that pull, reposition, or otherwise displace enemies to facilitate large pulls of enemy packs. In more concrete terms, this means:
- For class-specific items, Monks should consider
Lefebvre's Soliloquy; this is a powerful damage reduction item that incentivizes you to use the enemy-pulling skill
Cyclone Strike. Alternatively,
Spirit Guards offer a similar defensive bonus for using resource-generating primary skills. Both options synergize well with the killstreak theme by improving survivability while grouping enemies.
- For additional options that balance between defense and offense, other
helpful cross-class jewelry includes
Unity (combined with the same ring on the follower plus a follower immortality token), and the Endless Walk set (
The Traveler's Pledge and
The Compass Rose).
- Situational items that can bolster your defenses include
Stone Gauntlets, the drawbacks of which are negated via CC-immunity effects like
Epiphany,
Ice Climbers, or the Altar of Rites CC-immunity node.
Aquila Cuirass is also a strong choice for low Spirit-spending builds. A final niche consideration is
Crystal Fist, which provides considerable Damage Reduction after using
Dashing Strike.
- Utility items like
Nemesis Bracers are essential as more elites mean more killstreak maintenance and faster progression. When soloing, they should be equipped by your follower; in groups, at least one party member should commit to wearing them. Edge cases will see the inclusion of
Warzechian Armguards or
Krelm's Buff Belt (more speed for easier scouting and pulls),
Strongarm Bracers (extra damage vs. displaced enemies), and
Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac to lower the downtime of
Epiphany. To facilitate large pulls, consider using a Follower equipped with
The Ess of Johan, a proc-based analogue to an enemy-pulling skill (albeit outside your control).
- Skill-wise, make sure to include at least one movement ability like
Dashing Strike and an enemy-pulling tool like
Cyclone Strike
Implosion. Take a look if you can include passives like
Beacon of Ytar for cooldown reduction or
Near Death Experience as a cheat-death mechanic to play more aggressively.
Epiphany
Desert Shroud is vital for toughness during massive pulls.
Changelog
- 03 Jun. 2025 (gear page): Added Season 35 Eternal Conflict killstreak recommendations.
- 03 Jun. 2025 (skills page): Skills and passives reviewed for Season 35.
- 03 Jun. 2025 (this page): Added Season 35 Eternal Conflict killstreak recommendations.
- 19 Jan. 2025 (gear page): Added Season 34 Angelic Crucible recommendations.
- 19 Jan. 2025 (skills page): Skills and passives reviewed for Season 34.
- 19 Jan. 2025 (this page): Added Season 34 Angelic Crucible recommendations.
- 22 Oct. 2024 (gear page): Added Season 33 advice for 4th Kanai slot.
- 22 Oct. 2024 (skills page): Skills and passives reviewed for Season 33.
- 22 Oct. 2024 (this page): Added Season 33 advice for 4th Kanai slot.
- 10 Jul. 2024 (gear page): Added Season 32 advice for ethereal weapons.
- 10 Jul. 2024 (skills page): Skills and passives reviewed for Season 32.
- 10 Jul. 2024 (this page): Added Season 32 advice for ethereal weapons.
- 11 Apr. 2024 (skills page): Skills and passives reviewed for Season 31.
- 10 Apr. 2024 (gear page): Added Season 31 advice for the unbound Kanai's Cube slots.
- 10 Apr. 2024 (this page): Added Season 31 advice for the unbound Kanai's Cube slots.
- 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): Reviewed for Season 25.
- 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): No changes required for Season 23.
- 01 Apr. 2021 (skills page): No changes required for Season 23.
- 01 Apr. 2021 (this page): No changes required for Season 23.
- 08 Dec. 2020 (gear page): Revised S22 Cube recommendation.
- 08 Dec. 2020 (this page): Revised S22 Cube 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): Added gear recommendations when pushing with Witch Doctors.
- 12 Mar. 2020 (skills page): Revised skill selection to better reflect Season 20 meta.
- 12 Mar. 2020 (this page): Added gear recommendations when pushing with Witch Doctors.
- 04 Jan. 2020 (gear page): Small fix to the Cube recommendations.
- 04 Jan. 2020 (this page): Small fix to the Cube recommendations.
- 09 Dec. 2019 (skills page): Fixed skill mentions from a previous version of the guide.
- 21 Nov. 2019 (gear page): Guide revised to include Cpt. Crimson and Born sets.
- 21 Nov. 2019 (skills page): Skill selection revised to include Breath of Heaven and Deadly Reach.
- 21 Nov. 2019 (this page): Guide thoroughly revised to include new sets and skills.
- 23 Aug. 2019 (gear page): Item recommendations revised for Season 18.
- 23 Aug. 2019 (skills page): Reviewed for Season 18.
- 23 Aug. 2019 (this page): Item recommendations revised 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.
- 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.
- 26 Nov. 2017 (gear page): Removed Uliana recommendations and replaced them with an optional Uliana setup.
- 26 Nov. 2017 (skills page): Reverted the guide to its pure Inna state.
- 26 Nov. 2017 (this page): Reverted the guide to its pure Inna version to accommodate the meta needs.
- 28 Oct. 2017 (gear page): Added 2 Uliana pieces.
- 28 Oct. 2017 (skills page): Added Exploding Palm to go with the Ulyana pieces.
- 28 Oct. 2017 (this page): Guide adjusted to a more favorable setup, mixed with the Uliana set.
- 30 Jun. 2017 (this page): Updated for Patch 2.6 and moved to new guide format.
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This build is presented to you by Deadset, one of the very few professional Diablo 3 players. Deadset regularly publishes video guides on Youtube and streams on Twitch, where you can see how this and other builds play out in practice.
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