Season 16 is finally here. Blizzard gave the cold to so many builds in the past, but those dusty builds have finally been buffed; set bonuses such as Uliana, Legacy of Nightmares, and more have received a substantial increase in damage and efficiency.

In most occasions, a build’s strength is usually based on how efficiently it can clear a GR relative to other builds. For example, you would say build A performs 5 Greater Rift levels higher than build B. With most builds, their strength ratings have been figured out, but following the introduction of Patch 2.6.4, there has been a grey area between the two Wave of Light (WOL) Monk sets. These sets are ‘Inna’s Mantra’ (also known as Inna’s) and ‘Monkey King’s Garb (also known as Sunwuko’s).

Since the release of the official patch notes, Diablo players have been trying to figure out which set is better; as a competitive Monk player myself, I was also eager to know the answer. Although some people say that Sunwuko is the clear winner and should outperform Inna’s, no one has yet to properly compare the two sets and determine which is better.

That is, until now. After countless hours of grinding and reaching rank 1 Asia on Monk in season 16, I took it upon myself to find out which one was the superior set. This guide will showcase my analysis and results, which are split into these sections: Initial Comparison, Speed/Pushing, Difficulty, and Itemization/Class Skills.

Sunwuko vs InnaAt first glance…

Above, you can see the two set bonuses. Before we compare the numbers (raw % damage increase), there are a few things worth mentioning.

First, Sweeping Wind has a base max stack of 3 and can be increased up to 7 from Vengeful Wind. This can bring your total Sweeping Wind stacks to a maximum of 10. For Inna’s, with the 6 set piece bonus, you gain 5 runed Mystic Allies at all times. With The Crudest Boots, you can double the number of Allies you have, for a total of 10.

Both sets actually have a multiplier of 10. 10 Sweeping Wind stacks and 10 Allies. Sunwuko’s 6-piece set bonus grants WOL 1,500% increased damage per Sweeping Wind stack, while Inna’s gives you 750% for each Mystic Ally.

All in all, you gain 15,000% increased damage from Sunwuko’s, compared to Inna’s meager 7,500% increased damage. This is why a majority of people thought Sunwuko was going to be stronger than Inna’s.

However, an armor set is not the only part in a build.

The essential weapons for the Sunwuko WOL build are Vengeful Wind and Kyoshiro’s Blade, but more so Vengeful Wind since your damage is only as good as the number of Sweeping stacks you have. However, with the newly-buffed Inna’s, your damage is increased by 7,500% from the moment you have the 6 piece bonus. Meaning, ANY damage that you deal is amplified.

Since Inna’s Monks don’t actually need Vengeful Wind, it allows them to choose an alternative for their weapon. Since Kyoshiro’s Blade is mandatory for pushing, Inna’s is able to use Rabid Strike. Rabid Strike essentially doubles your WOL casts while in Epiphany.

For example, let’s imagine one WOL cast does 100 damage. With Sunwuko’s (assuming you have 10 stacks of Sweeping Wind), the 100 is multiplied by 15,000%. The result is 1.5 Million damage. When it comes to Inna’s, the same 100 damage is multiplied by 7,500%. Resulting in 750,000 damage per WOL. Thanks to Rabid Strike, your total damage output is increased by your extra WOL cast to 1.5 Million damage - the exact same as Sunwuko’s.

Additionally, Inna’s does not have a required item for the amulet slot like Sunwuko’s, opening up your options to item variations like the Endless Walk set. Let’s expand a bit further by taking a look at which set performs better in speed T13s and high GR pushing.

Who is the T13 Speed King?

Sunwuko Speed build here.

Inna Speed build here.

Here are the two builds I used for T13. The Sunwuko + Sage set, which is undoubtedly considered the best T13 build using Sunwuko’s (alongside UE Multishot), and the standard Inna’s build with In-Geom and Nemesis Bracers.

*Certain skill and item choices are personal preference. You don’t need a defensive Mantra or Dash. You can go with Radiance on Dashing Strike for more attack speed and Mantra of Conviction Overawe. I chose to go Kyoshiro’s Soul (Belt) to be lazy but you could easily go for the Goldwrap + Avarice Band + Boon of the Hoarder combo.

T13 Speed builds are ranked on how fast they are able to spawn the Rift Guardian and kill it. The time goes from the moment you enter a rift to the moment the Rift Guardian is slain. Doing 50 runs for each build, the Sunwuko T13 build averaged 2 minutes and 39 seconds to complete a run. The Inna’s T13 build averaged 2 minutes and 32 seconds to complete a run.

Though Inna’s is ever so slightly faster than Sunwuko’s, the Sunwuko’s T13 build is able to use the Sage set for an extra Death’s Breath per drop. 

In regards to T13 speed, the overall ‘Speed King’ would have to be Sunwuko’s due to their incredible speed with the added bonus of casting a ranged WOL + extra Death’s Breath.

*If you already have either T13 set, it is best to stick with that set. No need to go out of your way to build the other T13 build unless you already have all the necessary gear.

Which build is the better GR pusher?

Sunwuko Push build here.

Inna Push build here.

The GR testing was done for GR 85, 90, 95, and 100. The builds I used were a standard GR pushing Sunwuko’s build and my own variation of an Inna’s push build.

Unlike the Sunwuko’s push build, I was able to try out different item and skill setups for Inna’s. For items, I was able to test out the Endless Walk set, 2-piece Sunwuko’s with 6-piece Inna’s, changing my ring slots for Stone of Jordan, etc. For skills, I went with Radiance on Dash instead of Blinding Speed for more damage.

In the end, the variant I am using above for Inna’s yielded the best results. The additional damage increase and reduced damage taken from the Endless Walk set outperformed any other combination. Add an Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac in the mix and the build gets a nice boost. The Zodiac gives you attack speed, crit chance, and cooldown, all of which you desperately need when pushing. Cubing the Convention of Elements is best as you are guaranteed to get that 200% damage increase cycle. However, if you have a poor Obsidian and an extremely godlike-rolled Convention, you can cube the Obsidian and wear the other.

Below are the results from testing both builds in the aforementioned GR levels. The runs were done multiple times and instead of displaying every screenshot, I have decided to display the runs for the more common GR’s (Decent RNG on map/mob types with decent pylons). The reason being... some runs can be incredibly lucky with only Power + Conduit pylons and consecutive open maps (which is unreasonable to wish for every time you go fishing for rifts).

*I was unable to consistently complete GR 100 with the current Sunwuko gear I had on me. I did complete a few GR 100s on Sunwuko, but the sample size was too small to compare with Inna's. However, the (4) runs I was able to finish with Sunwuko's averaged 13 minutes 36 seconds.

Comparing the time it took for each respective build to complete a certain GR level and comparing it to the current leaderboards, Inna’s is capable of pushing higher and faster than Sunwuko’s. There are a couple of reasons why.

First, the flexibility of Inna’s allows the use of certain skills/items (Endless Walk Set) to outperform Sunwuko’s. Like I mentioned before, even if both sets do the same amount of damage per WOL, the Endless Walk set with double procs of Area Damage on the Rabid Strike WOL allows Inna’s to push ahead in DPS.

Second, Inna’s is naturally tankier than Sunwuko’s. It’s a lot easier to dish out insane amounts of damage if you don’t have to worry as much about staying alive.

Third, the common Inna’s variation with cyclone strike allows you to teleport to an enemy in Epiphany without using Dashing Strike. Using Dashing Strike is fine but it guts your cooldown reduction applied from the Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac. Using cyclone strike for mobility allows for faster resets on Air Ally + Epiphany.

Lastly, the difficulty. Inna’s is easier to play with compared to Sunwuko’s. You don’t need to worry about your Sweeping Wind stacks and you don’t have to grind for stacks once you die. Inna’s is more forgiving. In a scenario when a drop in Sweeping Winds can cause you to not only die but also lose anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds of Rift time, it is not too surprising that Inna’s is doing well.

Inna’s > Sunwuko’s?

Granted, it is only the first few days of the new season. But as of this moment, Sunwuko’s is better for T13 speeds and Inna’s is better for pushing. This does not mean Sunwuko’s is totally inferior. Sunwuko can still clear GR 100+ easily with perfected gear and Paragon. With the right player, Sunwuko is able to be at least a few GR levels behind Inna’s.

If you’re a big Sunwuko fan, play it. But if your aim is to get on the leaderboards as easily and efficiently as possible, Inna’s is a safe bet.

As always, happy slaying!