Some players like to play the game with fast pace, so they would always put more attention on getting high DPS and taking risks. While some players like to play the game with more stable status. They will take the challenge when they have made plenty of preparation. I am the slow one, so, I prefer to consider the DPS and defensive at the same time. Today, I would like to recommend you a build for the Monk in which you can have good performance both with attack and defense.
Firstly, I would like to introduce the skills combinations. The details about the runes and skills are listed in the below picture.
My main attack skills: Fist of Thunder + Sweeping Wind + Crippling Wave. The Fist of Thunder can attack the enemies with really high speed, as a result, it can help generate the spirit much faster than the other skills. The Sweeping Wind can produce vortrex to cause damages to the surrrounding enemies. As this skill is refreshed everytime you attack an enemy nearby you. So, when you are dealing with crowds of foes, you can keep using this skill without cooldown. Crippling Wave can not only bring you spirit, but also cause great damages to the monsters. The following picture is how I use the Sweeping Wind to deal with the surrounding enemies.
My defensive skills: Mantra of Evasion + Breath of Heaven + Serenity. Since I do not have so much attack skills, it is very important to decrease the damages I have to suffer and increase my defensive ability. The Mantra of Evasion fan help me dodge the attacks better. The Breath of Heavens can heal my life by large degree. While the Serenity can absorb the damages I have to suffer. To make sure that my life is better protected, my passive skills are Near Death Experience and Pacifism.
The Advantage of this build. As I have plenty of skills to ensure that my life is safe, I can rush into the crowds of monsters or fly them to get them together to cause AOE attack. Actually, to this build, the more enemies there are aound you, the safer you will be, as it can not only bring you enough spirit to cause attacks.
The disadvantage of this build. Just like what we have said, this build is more suitable for dealing with crowds of foes. When you are fighting with single or several elites only, you may need to spend much longer time and suffer the problem of shortage of spirits. As the DPS in this build is much lower than the other build, the pace of the battle is slow down by some degree. Please just be patient, as you are getting closer ans closer to the victory.