1.
Best in Slot Gear and Alternatives
The build incorporates the complete Uliana's Stratagem set bonuses,taking five of the six available Uliana set pieces, and then adding two piecesof the craftable Captain Crimson's Trimmings set — Captain Crimson's Silk Girdle and one more of your choosing, according toyour weakest Uliana set roll (either Captain Crimson's Thrust or Captain Crimson's Waders). This auxiliary set provides CDR as well as RCRbonuses, and then scales your damage dealt and damage reduced according toboth stats, respectively — bringing a massive boon to the build. Youwill attain the complete set bonuses of this two-set amalgamation via Ring of Royal Grandeur in the Cube.
Rolls-wise, this Exploding Palm-centric playstyle takes good advantage ofCooldown Reduction, Skill and Area Damage affixes. Cooldown Reduction isrecommended as the fourth primary on Uliana's Fury, alongside Dexterity,Crit Chance and Crit Damage (as you approach 15,000 Dexterity due to highParagons, it is recommended to even reroll the Dexterity on the glove to AreaDamage). Life Regeneration or Elite Damage Reduction, plus high Dexterity andVitality and secondary Physical Resistance are the desired stats on Uliana's Heart. High main stats, CDR and Area Damage rolls will behelpful on Uliana's Strength. Note that both Uliana's Heart and Uliana's Strength are able to roll Seven-Sided Strike %, but it isnot advisable to seek these stats out, as the skill is mostly a tool to spreadand detonate Exploding Palm, and the primary roll is best spent onsomething else. Captain Crimson's Thrust should be dedicated toToughness, with high Dexterity, Vitality and Life Regeneration rolls ideallyaccompanied by Physical Resistance in the secondary stats. Both Uliana's Spirit and Uliana's Destiny should be rolled with Exploding Palm % bonus.
Having Ring of Royal Grandeur in the Cube to attain the full Ulianabonus allows you to split between offense and defense in the jewelry slots.One of the 2.4 reworks, the Endless Walk set — The Compass Rosering and The Traveler's Pledge amulet — adds a unique mechanic thatslowly increases your damage by up to a 100% if you remain stationary, anddrains it away and increases your damage reduction while moving. This dynamicfits the Uliana playstyle, which alternates dashing between fights withperiods of stationary Seven-Sided Strike spam (the movement from the SSSanimation does not lower the Endless Walk damage bonus). See this build's skills page for more information.
Your other ring slot will be taken by the pure damage boost of Convention of Elements, whose rotation of elemental bonuses you willneed to learn and time to maximize the benefits of the short-lived Cold cycle.Its ideal stats are Crit Chance, Crit Damage, an open Socket and either CDR,Area Damage or a flat Damage increase, with both bringing about equal value tothe build.
With the dependence on Exploding Palm to deliver the bulk of thedamage, it is no wonder that Gungdo Gear is the suggested bracer forthe build. With an effect both simple and devastating, this piece applies Exploding Palm to enemies caught within the radius of a detonated Exploding Palm, spreading like wildfire through the Uliana 6-piecebonus. Aim for the expected Cold elemental damage, Crit Chance, Dexterity andVitality.
The Fist of Az'Turrasq is your first mandatory weapon; this legendaryfist increases the on-death explosion damage of Exploding Palm by up to500%; as a true multiplier to the base damage of the skill, it essentiallydoubles the output of your primary source of damage. Getting a roll with orclose to the maximum 500% of the unique bonus is your foremost concern; otheroptimal stats include a good base damage roll, Cooldown Reduction and AreaDamage.
Lion's Claw was introduced in Season 4 as an item tailored after thisbuild. Turning Seven-Sided Strike into a fourteen-sided strike withoutextending casting time, this fist weapon serves as another true damagemultiplier by allowing you twice as many Exploding Palm detonationsfrom Uliana's 6-piece bonus. The preferred stats for Lion's Claw aresimilar to your other weapon — good base damage roll, Cooldown Reductionand Area Damage.
1.1.
Season 32 Theme — Ethereal Weapons
With this Season's addition of Ethereal Weapons as a theme, your idealoff-hand weapon during Greater Rift solo pushing will beBartuc's Cut-Throat, whose unique damage stacking mechanic andunrivaled skill and pure stat bonuses will outperform any other alternatives.It needs to be rolled with the weapon power of either Lion's Claw, The Fist of Az'Turrasq, or The Flow of Eternity, and will ideally havethe Determination passive. Learn more about Ethereal weapons in our Ethereal mechanics guide, and read upon how to farm them in the Etherealfarming guide.
1.2.
Desired Stats, Breakpoints and Other Notes
The build requires Exploding Palm skill damage on helm and boots(max 30%) and Cold elemental damage bonus on amulet and bracers (max 40%)Aside from that, it requires as much Area Damage as you can fit (ideally130%+) while still maintaining a high investment in Cooldown Reduction, whichis by far the hardest and most demanding utility roll; try to obtain 70%+ CDR,which will require a solid CDR roll on pretty much any gear piece that can getit aside from the amulet, Diamond in the helm, maxed out CDR in Paragons andan Enchantress follower. While not mandatory and just for reference, in orderto achieve permanent Epiphany, you will need ~75% CDR after Gogok of Swiftness stacks. Dedicated Resource Cost Reduction Rollsshould not be necessary, and you can leave the stat to the minor gains fromParagon and the Cpt. Crimson set.
For Defense stats, aim for a life pool between 500-600k; dropping as muchas you can for offense as you grow accustomed to the build. You will mostlysustain through Life per Hit on gear, with one high roll in your setup (i.e.bracer or weapon).
All augmentations on gear should be done with your main stat, Dexterity.
Note that the stat suggestions below portray an ideally rolled item withstats listed in relative order of importance. The first four of them are mainstats, and the latter two — secondary stats. If your item lacks and isunable to be rerolled into the primary stats outlined below, especially for astat higher on the list, strongly consider its replacement. PerfectingSecondary stats is mostly a case of hyper-optimization and is not a case fordiscarding an item, except where noted.
Slot | Pieces | Stat Priority |
---|---|---|
Head |
| |
Shoulders |
| |
Torso |
| |
Wrists |
| |
Hands |
| |
Waist |
| |
Legs |
| |
Feet |
| |
Amulet |
| |
Ring #1 |
| |
Ring #2 |
| |
Weapon #1 |
| |
Weapon #2 |
|
To help you with farming the gear you need for your builds, we have two veryuseful guides that you can access by clicking the links below: a Salvage Guide tohelp you quickly check whether or not you can safely salvage a piece of gear anda Legendary Farming Guide to help you efficiently farm legendaries and set items.
Legendary Item Salvage Guide Guide to Farming Legendaries and Set Items
1.3.
Altar of Rites
The former Season 28 theme, the Altar of Rites, has been revised andre-added to Diablo 3 as a permanent character progression mechanic. — Forvirtually all builds and players of all skill levels — from casual toadvanced — we recommend progressing through the Altar tree using the pathoutlined below. The suggested path is geared towards maximum quality of lifefirst, then amplifying damage, and then mopping up the tree with defensive andedge case utility nodes.
Note that while they require reaching them with a Seal, Legendary PotionPowers are not part of the Seal cost system; Potions unlock with a separateresource called Primordial Ashes, obtained from salvaging Legendary or Setitems of Primal (red bordered) quality. Upgrade them as soon as possible, andin 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 Powersin our dedicated Altar of Rites Mechanics guide.
Altar of Rites Explained
2.
Paragon Points
In the Core section, max out Movement Speed to the 25% cap. Normally thisis done by dumping the first 50 Core Paragon points into Movement Speed, butif your boots have an imperfect roll with Movement Speed as a stat that youcannot replace, adjust the necessary point investment accordingly by simplysubtracting your roll from the 25% max. After that dump as much as youcomfortably can into Dexterity, but feel free to invest into Vitality if youfeel yourself lacking in toughness. Maximum Spirit is not necessary in thisbuild.
In the Offense section, max out Cooldown Reduction, Crit Chance, CritDamage, and Attack Speed, in that order. In Defense, prioritize AllResistance, then Life %, then Armor, and finish off with Life Regeneration. InUtility, build up Area Damage and Life on Hit first, then finish off withResource Cost Reduction and Globe Radius.
3.
Paragon Points
Slot | Paragon Points |
---|---|
Core |
|
Offense |
|
Defense |
|
Utility |
|
4.
Gems
Bane of the Trapped is a potent source of additional damage, as it isits own multiplier in your total damage calculation. When fighting in meleerange, as a Uliana Monk naturally does, the gem will proc on its own throughthe level 25 property, bringing a self-sufficient increase to your DPS.
Gogok of Swiftness has great synergy with the build, indirectlyproviding you with more damage and survivability by increasing the essentialCooldown Reduction, as well as scaling Dodge chance. While less important, theAttack Speed aspect will assist with resource upkeep to enable care-free spamof Cyclone Strike.
Introduced in Season 4, Bane of the Stricken occupies the third andfinal jewelry socket in GR progression. Building up your damagemultiplicatively in prolonged fights and with a level 25 bonus specificallytargeting Rift Guardians, this gem is designed to assist AoE heavy builds intheir struggle against single target, high HP enemies. The Uliana Monk is aprime example of such a build, and Bane of the Stricken is consideredmandatory for pushing.
When it comes to gear gems, you will start out progression by slotting thehighest available level of Emeralds in the chest and pants sockets. Ideally,these will all be Flawless Royal Emeralds as soon as possible. As yougrow in Paragon (bulking up Dexterity in the Core section) and aim for highertier and more dangerous GRs, you will transition those gems into the defensive Flawless Royal Diamond. There is no specific breakpoint where you dothat; the rule of thumb is to make the change as soon as you feel the lack oftoughness impede your progress. Since this is a fairly cooldown-dependentbuild, slot a Flawless Royal Diamond in your helm. In your weapons, usea Flawless Royal Emerald for the Crit Damage boost.
Slot | Gems |
---|---|
Jewelry | |
Helm | |
Torso and Pants |
|
Weapon |
For more information about gems, please refer to our guide on gems.
Legendary Gems and Normal Gems Guide
5.
Kanai's Cube
Cubing The Flow of Eternity is essential for the build, as the uniquepower of this daibo cuts the base cooldown of Seven-Sided Strike by 60%and doubles its damage. No other weapon effect is remotely comparable, asbetter uptime of that skill directly translates into damage andsurvivability.
Created with Seven-Sided Strike in mind, Binding of the Lost isa damage reduction powerhouse that scales with the power of Lion's Claw,optimally providing you with 49% DR. With a generous 7-second uptime and theCooldown Reduction focus of the build, you will easily overlap its effect.Note that the unique power of this belt ranges between 3-3.5 damage reduction,with a 7% loss between the minimum and maximum — so try to perfect yourroll for optimal performance.
In the jewelry slot you will use the Ring of Royal Grandeur, a cachelegendary ring from Act I bounties.Running the full 6-piece Uliana set bonus and Cpt. Crimson 3-piece bonus whiledodging the undesirable guaranteed stats on the Grandeur by cubing its poweris a tremendous boost to the build.
The Kanai's Cube can be used for much more than simply extracting Legendary powers from items. Pleaserefer to our Kanai's Cube guide for more information.
Kanai's Cube guide
6.
Follower
The recommended follower for this build during solo GR progression is theEnchantress, due to her cooldown reduction- and elemental damagebonuses, both of which contribute greatly to this build.
For more information regarding followers, we advise you to read our FollowerGuide, which contains detailed advice for choosing the skills and the gear ofyour follower.
Diablo 3 Follower Guide
7.
Legendary Potion
Your recommended potion is Bottomless Potion of the Tower, whoseArmor-increasing properties complement the naturally high All Resistances statof Monks (due to Harmony) for optimal survivability.
8.
Changelog
- 10 Jul. 2024: Added Season 32 advice for ethereal weapons.
- 10 Apr. 2024: Added Season 31 advice for the unbound Kanai's Cube slots.
- 08 Jan. 2024: Revised guide for the permanent addition of the Altar of Rites, and added Season-specific Soul Shard recommendations.
- 13 Sep. 2023: Added Season 29 Paragon Cap and Gearing recommendations.
- 22 Feb. 2023: Added Season 28 Altar of Rites recommendations.
- 26 Aug. 2022: Added Season 27 Angelic Crucible recommendations.
- 14 Apr. 2022: Guide reviewed for Season 26.
- 08 Dec. 2021: Minor gear revision; added Season 25 Soul Shard recommendations.
- 21 Jul. 2021: Added Ethereal weapon recommendation for Season 24.
- 01 Apr. 2021: Added follower recommendation.
- 16 Nov. 2020: Added S22 Cube recommendation.
- 01 Jul. 2020: No changes required for Season 21.
- 12 Mar. 2020: No changes necessary for Season 20.
- 21 Nov. 2019: Updated to include Cpt. Crimson; imrpoved tables and explanations across the board.
- 23 Aug. 2019: Reviewed for Season 18.
- 16 May 2019: Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 17.
- 17 Jan. 2019: Added suggestions for the baseline Ring of Royal Grandeur for Seasonal characters.
- 28 Oct. 2017: Replaced Lefebvre's Soliloquy with Spirit Guards as the cubed armor piece.
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