Crippling Wave

Active Skill · Primary · Monk

5 Runes
From level 11

Effect

Generate: 12 Spirit per attack

Unleash a series of large sweeping attacks that deal 155% weapon damage as Physical to all enemies in front of you.

Every third hit also dazes enemies within 11 yards, slowing their movement speed by 30% and attack speed by 20% for 10 seconds.

Runes

5 Runes

Mangle

from level 17 · Fire damage · Proc coefficient 0.5

Increase damage to 255% weapon damage as Fire.
Concussion

from level 26 · Physical damage · Proc coefficient 0.5

Enemies hit by Crippling Wave deal 20% less damage for 10 seconds.
Rising Tide

from level 36 · Holy damage · Proc coefficient 0.5

Each enemy hit generates 2.5 additional Spirit.

Crippling Wave's damage turns into Holy.
Tsunami

from level 51 · Cold damage · Proc coefficient 0.5

Crippling Wave's third attack has its range increased to 17 yards and Freezes enemies for 1 second.

Crippling Wave's damage turns into Cold.
Breaking Wave

from level 57 · Physical damage · Proc coefficient 0.5

Enemies hit by Crippling Wave take 10% additional damage from all attacks for 10 seconds.

The proc coefficient scales the chance of on-hit effects (e.g. legendary powers, gems, Life per Hit) for each hit of the skill. Game files, version 2.8.0.

Crippling Wave

Crippling Wave is a spirit generator with a controlling streak. You sweep a flowing chain of strikes in front of you that refills your resource, and every third hit noticeably weakens the enemies it lands on by sapping their movement and attack speed. That makes the skill a safe, default generator that deals damage while easing the pressure in tight spots.

If you want to play purely offensively, Breaking Wave is the obvious pick: struck enemies take extra damage from all your attacks for a few seconds, which dovetails beautifully with hard-hitting spenders or your group. If defense matters more, Concussion makes the foes deal considerably less damage, turning Crippling Wave into an effective survival tool. Either way, this is one of the monk's most versatile generators.

Mangle, Tsunami and Rising Tide

In practice, Crippling Wave is played with Mangle (level 17): damage rises from 155 to 255% weapon damage and becomes Fire. The other runes:

Rising Tide (level 36): each enemy hit brings an extra 2.5 Spirit on top of the 12 Spirit per attack, so your resource fills very quickly in large packs.
Tsunami (level 51): the third strike reaches 17 instead of 11 yards and Freezes enemies for 1 second; the damage turns to Cold.

Concussion and Breaking Wave each last 10 seconds, as does the daze from the third hit with its 30% movement and 20% attack speed reduction.

Why Crippling Wave sits next to three other generators

The partner list stands out: Way of the Hundred Fists, Fists of Thunder and Deadly Reach are Spirit generators just like Crippling Wave. The reason is the Combination Strike passive: every generator you use boosts the damage of your other generators. Rotating through several generators keeps that bonus up for all of them – and Crippling Wave is one of the building blocks of that rotation.

Other partners

Epiphany and Dashing Strike add mobility to the rotation. The daze works as protection on the side: enemies within 11 yards attack more slowly while you cycle between generators.

by eRnstl