Auras to Return in Diablo III?

There was recently an interview with Jay Wilson  regarding the Monk and his as-of-yet unrevealed skills, as well as some other paradoxes that might not have been anticipated.

Official Blizzard Quote:

Most of the Monks skills will focus on combat skills and attacks, along with his various escape skills. And we talked at Blizzcon that we`re likely to put some defensive and supportive abilities on him. Possibly Auras. We`ve not done the next round of skills on him yet so we`re not exactly sure.

The idea of auras returning in Diablo III from Diablo II (whose Paladin used them excessively and exclusively) has sparked some conversation and controversy on our very site, raising concerns about their distribution among the Diablo III characters, as opposed to the solitary character distribution in Diablo II, to their functionality being unchecked. If they will function exactly the same in Diablo III has yet to be announced, but since there's only so many ways you can possibly have them, it is most likely that they will be very similar.

In spite of the previous claims of some Blizzard representatives about not having a single support character, however, things are starting to look like a bit of change is on the horizon:

Official Blizzard Quote:

We definitely want to do that with one class. Whether or not it`s the Monk hasn`t yet been decided. The Monk does seem to be the logical choice. The only reason we might not do with him is that he`s too logical.

And, of course, they are absolutely right. Fans have been anticipating this for some time since this character is so obviously related to the Paladin of Diablo II, who functioned in a very similar way. But, is this too predictable for the game? Should we be seeing something more original and less archetypical in Diablo III?

When asked specifically about the Monk's armor type, since it has been heavily discussed that it would not be normal for the Monk to be using heavy armor, Wilson responded with an echo from Diablo's past, where all characters were able to wear any kind of armor regardless of their class:

Official Blizzard Quote:

We`re an item based game. The idea of a character that doesn`t use items is foreign to our basic game philosophy. So one of the things we decided when we were creating the Monk was that we were not going to explore that aspect of the character. We`re going to make a Diablo Monk, and the Diablo Monk uses items.

Is this hold-off from Diablo II a good idea? Although the equipment will not physically appear heavy:

Official Blizzard Quote:

[...]the Monks armor isn`t going to look like heavy plate armor. It`s going to look like a shirt, what our imagination of what the Monks armor could be. It`s definitely going to be equipment, but he`s not going to look like he`s covered in metal[...]

The interview also hinted passingly at the possibility of the Monk being able to dual-wield fist weapons, much like the Assassin of Diablo II, and the possibility of the Monk's tattoos developing through the story line, which Wilson said "[they are] tied to the story arcs we create for the game."

Female Monk to be revealed later

Many fans wondered why the female Monk was not available in the Diablo III demo at Blizzcon 2009. There have been a few speculations that there would be only a monk male. We do know that a female monk was planned. Ever since Diablo III was announced the developers said there would be two genders per class, but Jay Wilson reinstated what was obvious and confirmed at the press-only Q&A in room 208a that there would be a female monk.

At that point they were still discussing how they would handle her. The monk is bald, so one of the questions among the team was if the female monk would be bald. The night after the Monk class announcement, Flux and I were talking a bit about the monk class, and he laughed while joking ... how’s the female monk going to be called? A nun?

Next day at the press-only Q&A, I asked the same to Jay Wilson, is the female monk going to be known as the Nun?. The whole room laughed.

Don’t worry guys. The female monk will be unveiled at some point. It’s not just a matter of putting together a model and some textures. There is much more to it. Months of work. Bashiok mentions some of the process to create a custom female class. The female monk was not ready for the demo, thus we only saw the male Monk.

Blizzard quote:

- It requires a new model and new texture. And our class models/textures are very carefully crafted. 
- It requires a new rigging and all new animations. Everything from idle animations to a complex skill to how they hold a sword. 
- It requires custom armor sets and alterations to fit weapons and other item types. 
- Skills may be the same in general appearance but all of them have to be altered or customized in some way to fit each gender. Sometimes dramatically. 
- Every gender requires it’s own voice actor and full dialogue recording.

Those could potentially sound trivial until you realize that any one of those things would be weeks to months of work. In some cases the work never stops on ensuring things adapt to fit all classes, and then separately each gender.

To answer the OP, the only big question I think we ever had on creating genders for all classes was how to best handle the female monk. And that’s been solved.

Diablo 3 Monk Skill Trees

Diablo 3 Monk Skill Trees is ready for presentation, there is currently 8 known monk skills from BlizzCon 2009.

Monk Skill Tree I

Tier 1 
None yet

Tier 2
Force Without Thought
Passive skill
Rank: 1/5.

Description: Counteract enemies without interrupting the normal flow of your attacks. When you dodge you automatically counter act the attacker for 10% of your normal weapon damage.

Tier 3
Seven Sided Strike
Mana cost: 30
Rank: 1/5.

Description: Dash at your enemies, striking six times in succession for 50% of your weapon damage.

Tier 4
Inner Sanctuary
Mana cost: 24
Rank: 1/5

Description: Creates a protected region on the ground for 6 seconds that can not be bypassed by enemies.

Way of the Hundred Fists
Rank: 1/5
First hit: A short range dashing attack that deals 100% weapon damage.
Second hit: Attack rapidly 6 times for 8% of weapon damage.
Third hit: Attack all enemies near the monk for 85% of weapon damage.

Monk Skill Tree II

Tier 1
Crippling Wave
Combo skill. Light attacks that apply a series of increasingly debilitating debuffs.
Rank: 1
First hit: Deals 50% of weapon damage. Enemy movement speed reduced 50% for 2 seconds.
Second hit: Deals 50% weapon damage. Enemy damage reduced 25% and they take 25% more damage from attacks.
Third hit: Deals 60% weapon damage. Debuffs refreshed on all targets.

Tier 2
Exploding Palm
Combo Skill. A quick succession of attacks ending with the deadly Exploding Palm.
Rank: 1/5
First hit: 35% of weapon damage.
Second hit: 50% of weapon damage.
Third hit: Target bleeds for 60 damage over 7 seconds. Moving causes 200% more bleeding damage. If target dies it explodes dealing 60-100% of its maximum life in damage to all enemies nearby.

Monk Skill Tree III

Tier 1
Impenetrable Defense
Mana cost: 5
Rank: 1/1
Description: Momentarily turn your weapons into an impenetrable wall that rebounds enemy ranged attacks and grants 100% dodge against weapon attacks.

Tier 2
Radiant Visage
Mana cost: 15
Rank: 1/5
Description: A flash of light sears the eyes of all enemies within 20 feet, blinding them for 2-4 seconds. If attacked they will fight back with a 40% reduced chance to hit.

Blizzard explains Monk Class Not From 'Hellfire'

A user on the Battle.net forums recently asked Bashiok why Blizzard introduced the Monk class when they had said no additional old character classes would be returning as playable in Diablo 3. He was, of course, speaking of Diablo Hellfire when he brought this up and here's what Bashiok had to say in response:

Quote:

"It's not a recognized part of the Diablo franchise, and to be honest it is so much so not recognized, that when people asked about returning classes in the Q&A's and in some of the press interviews the Hellfire expansion just wasn't in anyone's minds.

Plus, it isn't the same class. We aren't taking an old class and updating it. The monk from Hellfire, and in fact the story and content of Hellfire, doesn't exist as far as game lore and story is concerned going into Diablo III.

They happen to share a name, the same as all of the other monk classes that have existed in all other RPG's since the beginning of time. It doesn't mean they're related kit/story/flavor wise."

Having played the Monk class quite extensively at BlizzCon, I can definitely assure you all that he's something totally new. It's actually painful not being able to play the game again right now. You have no idea how badly I want to destroy some more enemies with skills such as "The Way of 100 Fists". That character is simply too much fun.

New Diablo 3 class – Monk

The Monk is the Fourth Class in Diablo 3, He is a light armored, fast hitting melee fighter, utilizing Martial Arts and Light magic. His Combat Style is unique and based on Fighting Games.

Background

The male Monk character comes from the Monasteries of Ivgorod in the Foothills. They are taken into the Monastery at a young age, where they are taught ancient knowledge, belief in 1001 gods that are in everything (one god in water, one god in fire, one god in the air, etc.), meditation to remove sins from the body and martial arts. The Monks have a fondness of structure and creativity, which is why they have various symbols on their bodies and their light magic is brought to life through runes, symbols that invoke the light to aid them. It is said that each Monk has a tattoo on his back, that chronicles their lifetime/adventures (needs confirmation), it may take a monk an entire lifetime to finish the tattoo on his back. 

He serves the Elder Monks of the monastery, who seek to destroy evil in all forms. 

The "theme" of the Society of Monks is a mix of "spiritual" Buddhism and "eradication of evil" of the European churches while maintaining an Asian/Indian visual theme. Abd al-Hazir writes about an encounter with a Monk in a tavern, in his thirty second entry of the Writings of Abd al-Hazir.

Class Design

The Monk thinks of himself as the weapon of the gods against all that is evil, he is a peaceful, patient and a good man who aids people who suffer, with no hatred against anyone, in contrast to the Barbarian. He is adept in Martial Arts, being able to defeat multiple foes without the aid of weapons.

Monk Gameplay Video:

New Diablo 3 Character Class Announced: The Monk

The screenshot came from a Korean-language version of the Diablo 3 site.