SWK Tempest Rush Monk Speed Farming Variation

The Tempest Rush Monk can deal quite well with Normal Rift farming all the way through the highest Torment difficulties. The build variation suffers from minor inconveniences compared to top tier speed farming builds (i.e. conflicting bracers, competing weapon slots), but otherwise handles the task with ease. We have solo speed GR rankings and solo speed T16 rankings if you want to know more about which builds are best for speed farming.

Within the limited scope of regular difficulties, the necessary damage and toughness to triumph over the enemy is significantly smaller. Thus, your best course of action is to improve utility and speed.

Active Skills
Tempest Rush Electric Field Dashing Strike Way of the Falling Star 1 Mantra of Conviction Annihilation 2 Sweeping Wind Inner Storm 3 Cyclone Strike Wall of Wind 4 Epiphany Insight
Passive Skills
Beacon of Ytar Seize the Initiative Momentum Relentless Assault

When you are speed farming regular rifts, parts of your playstyle will adapt to the lowered challenge and focus more on speed and utility.

In the speed farming Tempest Rush build, you will be applying the necessary CC for Cesar's Memento through the automated Cyclone Strike pulls from Won Khim Lau by selecting the Wall of Wind rune. This allows you to drop Blinding Flash from the progression version of the build, and use the mobility staple Dashing Strike. The build remains largely the same, but you will no longer have to keep track of stacks, since you replace the Flurry rune with the fire-and-forget of Electric Field, which allows you to focus on re-applying self-buffs like Mantra of Conviction Annihilation and Epiphany Insight.

Parts of the skill and passive selection will overlap with the base Greater Rift progression build, but others will have to change according to the task at hand. Ability to cross over great distances faster and more efficiently take precedence.

• Change the Tempest Rush rune from the stacking mechanics of Flurry (too slow for the purposes of speedfarm) for the increased AoE of the Electric Field rune.
• Replace Blinding Flash for the Monk's teleportation skill, Dashing Strike. Coupled with the speed buffing Way of the Falling Star rune, this ability is an indispensable tool for overall mobility.
• The lost hard CC from Blinding Flash (necessary to trigger Cesar's Memento) is made up for by taking the Wall of Wind rune on Cyclone Strike, whose casts will be automated by the equipped Won Khim Lau.
• Replace the unnecessarily defensive Mantra of Salvation with the extra movespeed of Mantra of Conviction Annihilation.
• Resource management will be handled by the combination of Sweeping Wind Inner Storm and Epiphany Insight; the loss of survivability due to the latter will be made up via Goldwrap.
• In your passives, you can replace defensive choices like Harmony and The Guardian's Path with the extra damage of Momentum and Seize the Initiative.

You will still be taking advantage of the full 6-piece set bonuses of Sunwuko, incorporating the same split as you would in progression — but instead of the Cpt. Crimson set, you will be including the Sage's Journey set for Death's Breath farming. Take Sage's Ribbon and Sage's Passage, and then complete both the SWK and Sage set bonuses with a Ring of Royal Grandeur in the Cube.

Both the cooldown-over-time resets of Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac and the timed damage increase of Convention of Elements greatly diminish in usefulness during Normal Rift farming. That progression-oriented jewelry will be better replaced by a split between a Lightning damage Stone of Jordan (for the permanent damage increase) and an Avarice Band (for the synergy with Goldwrap and Boon of the Hoarder).

The trio of Tempest Rush-oriented legendary items will remain in their place, as they are too valuable to pass up even during farming: Vengeful Wind for the massive increase to the SWK 6-piece bonus, Won Khim Lau for the damage multiplication and Cyclone Strike convenience, and Cesar's Memento for the substantial damage buffs.

To help you with farming the gear you need for your builds, we have two very useful guides that you can access by clicking the links below: a Salvage Guide to help you quickly check whether or not you can safely salvage a piece of gear and a Legendary Farming Guide to help you efficiently farm legendaries and set items.

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.

Bane of the Trapped and Taeguk both still bring excellent damage multiplication value to the build in speed farming.

In normal rifts, the third gem slot should be taken by Boon of the Hoarder. This high utility gem feeds you practically infinite gold and gives you a massive short-term speed boost while picking it up, automated by a worn Avarice Band. It will also render you practically invulnerable through a worn Goldwrap.

For more information about gems, please refer to our guide on gems.

While you will lose a damage multiplier by dropping Balance from the weapon slot in the Cube, you will make up the loss with the valuable cooldown-resetting powers of In-geom.

Our default recommendation for the armor Cube slot is Goldwrap, since its synergy with Boon of the Hoarder and Avarice Band will render you practically invincible during regular Rifts.

Lastly, in order to maintain the valuable 6-piece bonus of Sunwuko and 3-piece bonus of the Sage set, you will need to cube a Ring of Royal Grandeur in the jewelry slot.

The Kanai's Cube can be used for much more than simply extracting Legendary powers from items. Please refer to our Kanai's Cube guide for more information.

The recommended follower for this build during standard rift farming for keys is the Enchantress due to her numerous utility bonuses, allowing you to smooth out your speed runs even further.

For more information regarding followers, we advise you to read our Follower Guide, which contains detailed advice for choosing the skills and the gear of your follower.

The best potion for Tempest Rush Monks is the Bottomless Potion of Kulle-Aid, as it allows you to break through Waller affixes — an elite affix common enough to be a major pain in a build that is highly dependent on mobility.

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:

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).

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.