How do you avoid Belial's slam attacks?

He has 2 different punch attacks (this doesn't include his fire/poison breath move, or his meteor phase).

The first is just a generic one handed punch/slam that is aimed very close to your character. To dodge this move you just have to move as soon as you see him winding up. Any movement abilities can help here (Vault, Spiritwalk, Leap etc) because this is his quickest and hardest to dodge move (but it's also the weakest).

The second is a 3 punch combo, this move can either be a right/left/both combo or a right/right/both combo (both seem to strike the same places so the strategy is the same). Both combos will not move once they're started, that is, once he starts the first punch, he'll keep punching the same area even if you move away.

To dodge this combo, move to the right when you see a green circle to your left, and then immediately after it hits, start moving to your left (movement abilities will help again here), keep moving until you've moved past where the green circle was. His next two hits (either left hand or right hand, then both) should miss, and you're able to fire away without fear of him striking again until the animation is done.

I took my level 60 monk into normal and did some testing. The only generic solution seems to be 'dodge faster'. Which arm he uses to smash down is somewhat random, but his aiming isn't. He will specifically target somewhere very near you, and the area that the blast hits is wide enough that it will always hit if you don't move. Even at the very edge of the arena, he still seems to target you spot on.

If you are in melee range, then he seems to use a stabbing style attack which may be easier to dodge. I have a feeling that the following is true though:

• His melee range attack:
  • Always centred on your current position.
  • Explodes for a certain radius around that.
  • Likely hits harder, but I didn't think to turn on damage numbers to verify this.
• His ranged slam attack:
  • Conal attack.
  • Harder to dodge at range due to needing to move further. Can't get too close or you trigger his melee range attack though.

From this, your best bet is to stay around mid-range. Use movement increasing abilities like Vault and abilities like Sentry that will give you DPS, even if you have to just keep running the whole time.