The Monk is primarily a support class but is able to dish out some pretty nasty damage on his own. His primary attack swings his weapon and his secondary attack shoots ranged balls of energy. His Hero Boost ability boosts the damage of all nearby friends while regenerating their health. His Defense Boost ability repairs nearby towers (not traps) and boosts their damage. Both abilities are channeled and drain mana over time but the abilities stay active so as long as you have mana to feed the drain.
The Initiate is similar to the Monk and is available via downloadable content (DLC). Her Enemy Drain ability lowers the damage, movement speed, and resistances of any nearby enemies. Her Remote Defense Boost ability boosts ANY towers summoned by a nearby hero, even if said towers are across the map. As long as the heroes stay in range of her Remote Defense Boost, said towers will remain buffed.
Auras:
*Auras work different than towers and traps. They cannot be targeted or damaged. Their health drains over time as the aura is used and can be repaired. Like auras cannot stack on each other, however different auras can be placed on top of one another.
Ensnare – Summons a green aura that slows the movement speed of any enemies that enter the aura. If you’re alone or don’t have any teammates able to drop barricades, these will do kinda sorta. They won’t halt the advance of the enemy but will slow them down and give you or your other auras a chance to deal damage to them.
Electric – Summons a blue aura that does electric / lightning damage to any enemy entering it. This damage will persist based on your aura attack speed stat and the amount of damage it does each tick depends on your aura attack power stat. This aura will destroy most that enter it with the exception of anyone resistant to lightning damage. You’ll want a friend to place something that can do physical damage or some other elemental damaging tower to offset this problem. In the case that you’re running alone, keep an eye on your map to see which enemies make it through and go hunting.
Healing – Drops a pink/purple healing aura to assist you and your teammates. If you don’t have the mana to self-heal, you can run into this aura for it to heal you. Useful for Squires and other classes that prefer to get up front and personal. They’ll have a place to stand their ground and fight without having to worry about self-healing.
Strength Drain – A yellow aura that reduces the damage of any enemy currently in the field. This opens up a lot of strategies in terms of where it can and should be placed.
Enrage – A red aura that makes enemies who enter it attack each other. I usually place this ahead of my electric aura in the off-chance the enemies with electrical resistances will be killed off. Otherwise I generally use these situationally or as a filler if I have extra population room.
Strategies:
Soloing with a Monk is a lot more difficult than as a Squire or Apprentice. You won’t have any barricades to halt the enemy’s advance, all you can do is slow them down. Your primary attack aura will not hurt anything resistant to electrical damage. Since you cannot place auras on top of or near crystals, wyverns often fly right over auras.
My advice is to put Electric auras at all of your choke points, but only one. One is usually sufficient to kill anything walking through it, save ogres or electric resistant foes. I try not to place more than one Electric aura along a path as they will do nothing to stop those resistant. I place Enrage auras ahead of the Electric auras as I mentioned earlier as it is the only other aura that is offensive in nature. Placing an Ensnare aura on top of your Electric auras will allow your Electric auras to get in more ticks of damage.
When with a friend, use your abilities to buff their towers during tough battles or bosses. Place your auras in tandem with your friend’s towers to maximize the overall setup. Monks are flexible in that they can offer various ways to support their friends, good communication is essential to being a support class. If you have a Squire with you, you could place a Strength Drain aura (and/or the Electric aura) in front of a barricade so that they are forced to stay in the aura. In this situation the Strength Drain aura will assist your teammates from having to repair barricades and other towers often, as said towers will take less damage. This is but an example of the different strategies you can employ when combining this aura with other auras / towers.
I prefer to stay at range and use my secondary attack to soften up enemies or to pick off those resistant to my Electric auras. Monks don’t have the health that Squires have so keep moving and stay out of the thick of things where possible.
You can see gameplay videos here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRH7cLLklsY
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