Monk Inna 6p + Sunwuko 4p for Hardcore solo Grifts

[Khallid 110]

I've been having a lot of fun playing a variation that I haven't anyone else in the leaderboard use, which seems to work very well for Hardcore characters in my opinion. It's mostly defense-oriented, so the damage output is a bit subpar, but I recently managed to beat Grift 70, and I haven't even reforged my gear to ancient or addied Caldessian bonuses (because non-ancients), so I think it's possibly viable up to about Grift 80 or so, which I think is not bad.

The build revolves around the 4-piece set bonus of Sunwuko's set, which spawns an ally that explodes for 1000% weapon damage per stack of Sweeping Wind. You then cube the Vengeful Wind, which increases Sweeping Wind stacks by 7, for a max of 10 stacks. Its damage is further increased by using the 6-piece bonus of Inna's set, plus the Crudest Boots of course, which requires the Ring of Royal Grandeur cubed. This increases the damage of the Sunwuko 4-piece effect by 1250%, as well as another 40% more from the fire allies, plus all the defense and regen that comes with Inna's Mantra. For the two-set combination to work smoothly you need Sunwuko's amulet and shoulder; the third piece can switch between gloves, chest and legs, but you're forced to use Inna's Daibo.

To further increase defense you take the Spirit Guards, which increase defense betyween 30% and 40% for 3 seconds when you use a Spirit Generator. You also cube Lefebvre's Soliloquy for additional 50% reduced damage for 5 seconds when you use Cyclone Strike. Since you're going to constantly use a spirit generator and a spirit spender (cyclone strike), the best rings to take are Focus and Restraint, which double your damage. They can be switched with Unity and Convention of Elements if you feel you need more defense instead.

For legendary gems, Bane of the Trapped is the obvious one. I favor using Invigorating Gemstone + Molten Wildbeest's Gizzard for huge HP regen which works well with the Inna set. Invigorating Gemstone will make you immune to all crowd control effects, including jailer, freeze, stun, vortex and knockback. Because most of the defense of this build requires you to actively hit with generators, cyclone strike, and keep up Sweeping Wind (Sunwuko 2-piece bonus grants 50% damage reduction when sweeping wind is up), crowd control becomes incredibly dangerous. Getting frozen means instant death. Because this build is oriented for Hardcore play, you simply can't risk getting crowd controlled.

Since all the damage comes from the sunwuko 4-piece, all your skills are used for defenses, crowd control or movement. I like using Tsunami as the spirit generator to freeze large groups of enemies. I use Sunburst on Cyclone strike for the size, but Wall of Wind is also viable. Sweeping Wind with Inner storm helps you spam cyclone strike as much as you need to simply cast Sweeping wind if you run too far without finding anything to hit, otherwise Master of Wind is also viable. Dashing Strike for Movement. Inner Sanctuary or Serenity as a failsafe. You can use Epiphany with Desert Shroud if you go with high cooldown reduction, but I prefer to have an active Mantra for the rune effect (I like to not have to stack cdr). For passive skills I use Unity, Resolve, Harmony and Sixth Sense. Near Death experience is an obvious choice to switch if you prefer it.

The build requires big pulls. The damaging effect is a small AoE, so the cyclone strike spam is well suited. However you will notice I didn't add anything with additional damage towards elites or bosses (like Bane of the Stricken). I'm of the opinion that if you focus too much on offense you will eventually enter a Grift too high for your current defenses and inevitably die. This build has a balanced attack power and defense so you should be able to survive against anything you can kill, but you generally won't be able to raise through Grifts faster than you can survive them, which is why I think it works great for Hardcore.

Edited July 19, 2017 by Khallid