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.

In Season 33, where you get a 4th Cube slot from the seasonal effect, you are free to add the dropped Balance and enjoy its massive damage increase without sacrificing utility items oriented at farming.

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.