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I am a bit confused by a couple of the runes from the Monk ability "Seven Sided Strike"

  • On the one hand, you have "Sudden Assault" which deals 1007% damage in the normal seven strikes.
  • On the other hand, you have "Several Sided Strike" which increases the number of hits to 9.

The community-wide assumption, is that several sided strike deals 999% damage, as the base seven sided strike does 777% in 7 strikes.

The damage difference between the two is fairly negligible. Is there an advantage to one or the other? Do the additional two strikes extend the animation, thereby making you invulnerable for longer?

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The damage of Sudden Assault is higher, however hitting more times with Several Sided Strike means you can hit more enemies, and possibly get more crits (which are pretty nice since some of the Monk's abilities and runes are based off crits)

Personally I would go with Several Sided Strike in most cases, especially if you're using Sweeping Wind which has a chance to gain stacks for each crit, although I suppose if you really want to maximize your dps on a long boss fight Sudden Assault might be better in a long run

Edit: Great point from Domocus' comment below,

The increased amount of hits from Several Sided Strike also provides a longer time for attacking, useful for avoiding damage while waiting for cooldowns

I have used SSS for the ability to be invulnerable for a short time when my heals are on cooldown, so the increased invulnerability period is quite nice. Although be warned, if you're tanking and use this ability, it means you will drop aggro onto the rest of your party.

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  • I'm going to add another part to the question if you want to expand on it.
    – Tater596
    May 21, 2012 at 15:03
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    The increased amount of hits from Several Sided Strike also provides a longer time for attacking, useful for avoiding damage while waiting for cooldowns.
    – Domocus
    May 21, 2012 at 15:04
  • @Domocus That's a good point, I'm adding it to my answer since I sometimes use SSS to avoid damage.
    – Rachel
    May 21, 2012 at 15:05
  • Thanks for all the comments guys and gals, this is a great answer. Barring some amazing amount of math or something I'll "Accept" this answer soon.
    – Tater596
    May 21, 2012 at 15:09
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One other thing that you're overlooking is that Sudden Assault will also teleport you to the location where you target it after the effect is over. This makes it useful for mobility, invulnerability, and damage. Since the Several Sided Strike deals slightly less damage and doesn't have the teleport, it's only useful if you want a longer invulnerable period.

I prefer the mobility, so I use Sudden Assault.

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  • +1, I forgot about the Teleport part of Sudden Assault
    – Rachel
    May 21, 2012 at 16:16
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    Great point! How could I have forgotten... it has saved me from losing many a treasure goblin.
    – Tater596
    May 21, 2012 at 17:22

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