Brewmaster Monk Tank Mythic+ Tips — The War Within (11.1.0)

Last updated on Feb 24, 2025 at 21:57 by Sinzhu 27 comments
General Information

In this guide, you will find tips and advice to tackle Mythic+ dungeons with your Brewmaster Monk in World of Warcraft — The War Within (11.1.0).

1.

Brewmaster Monk Mythic+ Guide for The War Within Season 2

In this guide, we will talk about getting the most out of your Brewmaster in Mythic+ dungeons, including the best way to set up your character, how your rotation may change, and tips and tricks for using your abilities most optimally.

If you want to learn more about Mythic+ during The War Within in general or Brewmaster's place in the overall rankings, see our overviews below.

2.

Brewmaster Monk in The War Within Mythic+

Brewmaster is an acceptable choice for Mythic+, with decent damage, an excellent ability to kite in a pinch, and strong natural sturdiness. While their group utility is mostly limited to an AoE stun, a 5% Physical damage buff, and passive movement speed, Brewmasters also bring a crowd-control ability, PoisonPoison/DiseaseDisease dispel, and the option to talent into multiple abilities that affect enemy positioning.

2.

Best Mythic+ Talents for Brewmaster Monk in The War Within

In Mythic+, you have two main builds to decide between as a Brewmaster Monk. For most players, our Standard build is more than sufficient to tackle keystones at any level. However, for those looking for a greater challenge (and greater damage output as a reward), then our Advanced build may be more appropriate. Regardless of your choice, you have additional talent variety to consider based on a number of factors; these "flex" talents are highlighted further below.

For a more general overview of Talents for Brewmaster Monk, please visit our dedicated Talents page.

3.

Best Mythic+ Talent Builds for Brewmaster Monk

Standard Mythic+ Talent Build — Master of Harmony Advanced Mythic+ Talent Build — Shado-Pan

This Standard Mythic+ is very similar to how you might play as a Brewmaster Monk in raid, making it easy to transition between the two and improve your skills in general. However, if you are looking for a slightly more advanced experience, you can always move the point of High Tolerance Icon High Tolerance to Blackout Combo Icon Blackout Combo. Overall, this talent represents one of your biggest optional damage gains, but it does require you to be able to reliably press Blackout Kick Icon Blackout Kick on cooldown. Once you have gotten used to it, however, this talent is to be incorporated into all of your builds.

Although this build features the Master of Harmony Hero Talents, you can easily switch to Shado-Pan instead. By comparison, Master of Harmony's single-target damage output will be a bit lower by comparison (until you acquire the Monk Brewmaster 11.1 Class Set 4pc Icon Monk Brewmaster 11.1 Class Set 4pc bonus) in exchange for stronger Purifying Brew Icon Purifying Brew casts and a second charge of Celestial Brew Icon Celestial Brew. Fortunately, Shado-Pan's Predictive Training Icon Predictive Training is also noticeably potent in AoE tanking, and Protect and Serve Icon Protect and Serve pairs nicely with Vivacious Vivification Icon Vivacious Vivification for additional self-healing.

Remember that you can easily import the talent tree below into the game with the "Export Talents" button:

As you grow more comfortable playing a Brewmaster Monk in Mythic+, this build can be switched to for a large gain in your damage output and only a small sacrifice to your defenses. This is done with the help of Blackout Combo Icon Blackout Combo, Black Ox Brew Icon Black Ox Brew and Wisdom of the Wall Shadow buffs, though you will still be punished if unable to reliably hit Blackout Kick Icon Blackout Kick on cooldown. Much of the talent flexibility from the standard Mythic+ build for defense and utility still applies, however.

When you are using this build, your playstyle will also change slightly. With these talents, you will be consuming all of your Blackout Combo Icon Blackout Combo buffs on empowering Tiger Palm Icon Tiger Palm. This damage bonus is strong enough that you will not be casting Spinning Crane Kick Icon Spinning Crane Kick outside of massive pulls! In addition, due to the Monk Brewmaster 11.1 Class Set 4pc Icon Monk Brewmaster 11.1 Class Set 4pc bonus, you may occasionally have fast-paced moments of doing back-to-back Tiger Palm combos. With all of these changes combined, you will still maintain an active rotation with minimal downtime and achieve the greatest damage output possible from a Brewmaster.

As a final note, this build is equally useful for both the Shado-Pan and Master of Harmony Hero Talents. Due to the latter's Overwhelming Force Icon Overwhelming Force passive, your empowered Blackout Kick Icon Blackout Kick casts provide a lot of damage in smaller pull counts while still keeping up in larger ones. Your main deciding factor should come down to how you prefer to handle your defense and whether or not you are triggering massive bursts of AoE with Shadow damage Wisdom of the Wall Icon Wisdom of the Wall procs on Shado-Pan, alongside larger pulls for more Keg Smash Icon Keg Smash damage.

Remember that you can easily import the talent tree below into the game with the "Export Talents" button:

3.

Mythic+ Talent Flexibility

Due to the wildly different styles of pull sizes, enemy types, and even your own group of players in a given Mythic+ dungeon, there are a number of additional talent choices separate from the builds shown above to consider at times. Use the sections below to understand these alternatives and help determine when you may wish to switch a point or two around.

4.

Mythic+ Talent Flexibility for Brewmaster Monk

Common Talent Swaps Niche Talents
4.

Flexible Mythic+ Talents for Brewmaster Monk

Talent Choice When to Consider
Detox Icon Detox If the dungeon you are running features a dangerous PoisonPoison or DiseaseDisease effect, it is essential for you to talent this ability. It is also particularly important for countering the Xal'atath's Bargain: Devour Icon Xal'atath's Bargain: Devour affix.
Pressure Points Icon Pressure Points Similarly to Detox Icon Detox, if the dungeon you are running features a dangerous EnrageEnrage effect, it is essential for you to talent this ability.
Dampen Harm Icon Dampen Harm/Dance of the Wind Icon Dance of the Wind If you find yourself in need of an additional cooldown against especially dangerous mechanics rather than passive reduction against enemy auto attacks, then it may be necessary to swap your choice node of Dance of the Wind Icon Dance of the Wind to Dampen Harm Icon Dampen Harm instead. Remember, taking slightly more damage overall can be worth the tradeoff of having access to an extra burst of defense, so long as you remember to press it when needed!
Diffuse Magic Icon Diffuse Magic/Yu'lon's Grace Icon Yu'lon's Grace As with the choice above, here you are deciding between passive magic mitigation and a strong active cooldown against it. Due to magic magic damage frequently proving more threatening, Diffuse Magic Icon Diffuse Magic makes for a better default choice, though, if you know enemy casters will be regularly interrupted, then Yu'lon's Grace Icon Yu'lon's Grace will add up to a lot of mitigation over time.
Fortifying Brew: Determination Icon Fortifying Brew: Determination Once you have acquired your Monk Brewmaster 11.1 Class Set 2pc Icon Monk Brewmaster 11.1 Class Set 2pc bonus and can trigger Luck of the Draw! Icon Luck of the Draw!, consider this talent as a solid line of extra defense throughout a given dungeon. However, you cannot control when it activates outside of your own casts of Fortifying Brew Icon Fortifying Brew, making it potentially less useful than Ox Stance Icon Ox Stance if more defense is needed when you are actually in danger.
August Blessing Icon August Blessing/One With the Wind Icon One With the Wind/Zen Meditation Icon Zen Meditation/Invoke Niuzao, the Black Ox Icon Invoke Niuzao, the Black Ox When selecting your talents, these four choices represent different forms of "conditional" defense that may not always be useful in a Mythic+ setting. As a result, you can pick any two of these talents, based on your pathing needs or personal preference.
High Tolerance Icon High Tolerance/Anvil & Stave Icon Anvil & Stave/Strike At Dawn Icon Strike At Dawn These three talents are your biggest optional defensive gains. Switch into them as necessary while bearing in mind that High Tolerance Icon High Tolerance/Strike At Dawn Icon Strike At Dawn tend to be better for smaller pulls and Anvil & Stave Icon Anvil & Stave proves better in larger ones.
Quick Sip Icon Quick Sip The higher your average Stagger Icon Stagger level is in a key, the more value this talent will gain defensively. Consider it a strong default option when in challenging key levels or when you are somewhat undergeared.
Dragonfire Brew Icon Dragonfire Brew Although this talent will deal less damage until the higher key levels where you may reliably reach Heavy Stagger Icon Heavy Stagger to maximize its potential, it does simplify the rotation. However, you cannot select this talent if using the Advanced Mythic+ build. Further discussion can be found in our rotation guidelines.
Blackout Combo Icon Blackout Combo This talent offers incredible versatility to your decisions in the Brewmaster Monk rotation and is generally more effective overall than a point of High Tolerance Icon High Tolerance. However, its performance can also be ruined by not pressing Blackout Kick Icon Blackout Kick enough or comboing the wrong abilities. You should only swap to this talent once you are confident in your skill as a player. Advanced tips for using it can also be found on our rotation page.
Rushing Jade Wind Icon Rushing Jade Wind If you are having a hard time with threat in the early stages of a pull, this talent may be swapped to over Special Delivery Icon Special Delivery for a small amount of reliable AoE damage. However, it does create extra complexity in the rotation, and you will not be able to maintain its effect at all times in favor of higher-priority abilities. Further discussion on this choice can be found on our rotation page.
Chi Surge Icon Chi Surge Consider this talent if you do not need extra defense and wish to gain a bit more damage overall, sacrificing a point of High Tolerance Icon High Tolerance. However, this point of High Tolerance is the first thing you should pick back up if in need of more defense again.
Black Ox Brew Icon Black Ox Brew Black Ox Brew Icon Black Ox Brew is a talent that is naturally suited for Mythic+ environments where there can be "downtime" as you travel between packs of enemies and it can also provide a second burst of Purifying Brew Icon Purifying Brew and Celestial Brew Icon Celestial Brew casts during a particularly hectic pull. However, if you are not activating it more or less on cooldown, it is often less helpful than the default choice of Bob and Weave Icon Bob and Weave.
Light Brewing Icon Light Brewing In general, you will rarely, if ever, make use of Light Brewing Icon Light Brewing over Training of Niuzao Icon Training of Niuzao. However, there may occasionally be bosses on the Tyrannical Icon Tyrannical affix where the extra cooldown reduction is helpful for having Celestial Brew Icon Celestial Brew against specific mechanics.
4.

Niche Mythic+ Talents for Brewmaster Monk

For the sake of mentioning the rare times these talents may be useful, the following table includes the remaining options available to you as a Brewmaster Monk. Be aware that you will very rarely need to switch to these talents, if ever. However, be on the lookout for these rare opportunities across the many dungeons in a Mythic+ season.

Talent Usage Tips
Hasty Provocation Icon Hasty Provocation This enhancement to Provoke Icon Provoke is unique among taunt effects due to the movement speed increase it temporarily gives the Provoked enemy. You can use this to reposition a threat that rapidly needs to move from one location to another, like avoiding a damage-reduction area on the ground. Be mindful of the speed boost, however. If you need to Provoke an enemy you are trying to run away from, they could easily catch up to you!
Spirit's Essence Icon Spirit's Essence You generally have enough mobility as a Brewmaster to easily kite away from enemies as necessary (discussed further in a separate section below). However, with this talent, you can make use of a pre-placed Transcendence Icon Transcendence to greatly extend how long you can do so.
Swift Art Icon Swift Art Although you can already remove snares with Tiger's Lust Icon Tiger's Lust, this talent may enable you to remove a dangerous effect from an ally while still taking care of yourself with a well-timed Roll Icon Roll. Remember, however, that this talent cannot remove roots.
Healing Winds Icon Healing Winds/Escape from Reality Icon Escape from Reality These talents can be combined for some on-demand self-healing, particularly when you are in the middle of kiting enemies. However, the point investment is hefty and hard to afford in many scenarios.
Clash Icon Clash Clash Icon Clash acts as a unique way to reposition an enemy, similar to a Death Knight's Death Grip Icon Death Grip. However, unlike Death Grip, you and the target meet in the middle rather than having them dragged to you. This can be a useful tool to get a stubborn caster or other slow enemies closer to the rest of the group, but be warned that Clash will root targets around the impact point. This root is also special in that it will not break from dealing damage to the enemies! However, Clash also has a minimum range that you must be away from the target to use the ability, much like a Warrior's Charge Icon Charge.
Staggering Strikes Icon Staggering Strikes If you are playing in sufficiently low key levels to not frequently reach heavy amounts of Stagger Icon Stagger— such as +4 and below — you may consider obtaining Staggering Strikes Icon Staggering Strikes to gain a more efficient source of Stagger reduction.
Black Ox Adept Icon Black Ox Adept Provided your damage intake's high enough for your charges of Ox Stance Icon Ox Stance to be regularly consumed, this talent will provide an additional source of stacks from Rising Sun Kick Icon Rising Sun Kick to grant extra defense. However, this is rarely necessary outside of the most challenging key levels.
4.

Mythic+ Utility for Brewmaster Monk in The War Within Season 2

This section talks mostly about the uses of different spells. For in-depth explanations of all Brewmaster Monk Abilities and Talents, including these; check out our Spells page.

5.

Utility of Brewmaster Monk in The War Within

Interrupts, Stuns, Stops Other Utility Kiting
4.1.

Interrupts, Stuns and Stops

Spear Hand Strike Icon Spear Hand Strike is your "kick" and your most important bit of utility in Mythic+, used to stop enemy casts for the benefit of yourself and the rest of the group. It is highly recommended to use a Focus Kick macro for this.

  • /cast [@focus,exists,nodead][@mouseover,exists,nodead] [] Spear Hand Strike

This macro will kick your focus target if you have one, mouseover if you have no Focus target, and your target if you have neither of those.

To quickly set a focus target in hectic scenarios, we also recommend a Focus Mouseover macro.

  • /focus [@mouseover]

Make sure that your UI shows your Focus Target's casts clearly so that you are always able to kick it on cooldown or in coordination with the rest of your group.

5.

Stunning and "Stops"

Leg Sweep Icon Leg Sweep is your AoE stun effect as a Monk. With it, you can delay or negate dangerous abilities cast by enemies, or you can use it to survive a dangerous pull for a little while longer while you build up your defenses. Remember that certain enemies, such as minibosses, may be immune to its effects and other stuns in general!

Paralysis Icon Paralysis is a versatile crowd control ability that temporarily removes an enemy from the fight, it is best to cast it before you pull a group of enemies so that the effect will not be broken by a random bit of damage. In addition, you can use Paralysis as an extra interrupt effect in a pinch.

If your enemies are able to be knocked around, then Ring of Peace Icon Ring of Peace represents another form of disruption, bouncing them out of the summoned ring. Ring of Peace has a lot of possibilities for its application and is remarkably versatile: you can disrupt patrolling enemies, interrupt an enemy's cast, or keep a fixated enemy away from its target, among other uses.

4.2.

Other Utility

Crackling Jade Lightning Icon Crackling Jade Lightning can be a useful tool for pulling a faraway group of enemies by casting it on one of them; just remember to immediately cancel Crackling Jade Lightning's channel by moving or performing another action! However, bear in mind that it will hardly generate any threat.

Roll Icon Roll, Lighter Than Air Icon Lighter Than Air, and Tiger's Lust Icon Tiger's Lust can all be used fairly often in a dungeon and are excellent options for repositioning yourself or making a quick escape from danger. Tiger's Lust, in particular, can often remove debuffs that deal damage over time or other negative effects if the debuff also snares or roots the victim!

The Windwalking Icon Windwalking aura works to provide you and any allies within 10 yards with extra movement speed. In Mythic+, where there is only one healer and the group tends to stay close to the tank, you can provide your entire group with this buff at nearly all times!

5.

Notes on Kiting

When running a Mythic+ dungeon, there may be times when the damage you or the rest of the group is taking becomes too intense for the healer to manage. During these moments, you can utilize kiting to help reduce your damage taken. This can provide precious time for your healer to restore some extra missing health or for you to get more of your defensive resources back.

There is no solid guideline for when in a dungeon; you may need to practice kiting as a Brewmaster Monk. Still, you must not forget it is an available option commonly seen in Mythic+ compared to a raiding environment. Fortunately, all the mobility available to Brewmaster Monks makes kiting reasonably simple. You could choose to Leg Sweep Icon Leg Sweep a group of enemies and Roll Icon Roll away afterward, throwing a Keg Smash Icon Keg Smash to slow them down while you play keep-away. Or, you could place a Transcendence Icon Transcendence beforehand and quickly teleport to it later with Transcendence: Transfer Icon Transcendence: Transfer. With the use of talents like Summon Black Ox Statue Icon Summon Black Ox Statue and Ring of Peace Icon Ring of Peace, the only thing stopping you as a Brewmaster from kiting endlessly is your ability to maintain threat on what is trying to reach you.

6.

Affix Tips, Tricks and Management for Brewmaster Monk in The War Within Season 2

This section has Brewmaster-specific tips for dealing with the various affixes of Mythic+. If you want general guides for each of our Dungeons or Mythic+ in general, check out our dedicated page below.

7.

Affix Guide for Brewmaster Monk in The War Within

Affix: Ascendant Affix: Voidbound Affix: Pulsar Affix: Devour
6.1.

Ascendant Affix Management for Brewmaster Monk

Brewmasters have a large number of abilities on hand that can counter the Cosmic Ascension Icon Cosmic Ascension casts from the orbs this affix generates. Among these are your Spear Hand Strike Icon Spear Hand Strike, Paralysis Icon Paralysis, Clash Icon Clash, and even Ring of Peace Icon Ring of Peace or Leg Sweep Icon Leg Sweep. However, you may want to avoid overcommitting resources to stopping this affix in favor of still having them available for the traditional trash pulls of a dungeon; choose your tools carefully.

6.2.

Voidbound Affix Management for Brewmaster Monk

Void Emissaries spawned when this affix triggers only have 1 HP, with their health otherwise being an absorb. This means that your Touch of Death Icon Touch of Death can instantly be used on them, dealing its full amount of damage and significantly negating their danger. With the frequency of these spawns, you will be able to cast Touch of Death on most. However, this does mean you will not have access to the ability for "regular" moments of the dungeon.

6.3.

Pulsar Affix Management for Brewmaster Monk

You are unable to gather the Void Pulsar Icon Void Pulsar orbiting your character on your own. It must be walked into by another player. In addition, these Pulsars will always orbit clockwise; take advantage of this and your own mobility to quickly gather another player's Pulsar that is in melee range to avoid disrupting enemy positioning too much.

6.4.

Devour Affix Management for Brewmaster Monk

Void Rift Icon Void Rift's absorb can be removed after receiving 53% of your maximum health in healing, or instantly with Detox Icon Detox. If you have talented into Vivacious Vivification Icon Vivacious Vivification as well, consider dispelling yourself— due to tanks having more health to heal through otherwise— and using an instant cast of Vivify Icon Vivify to help out another player if there are not enough dispels to go around.

Alternatively, if you are the only player taking significant damage, your healer will already be passively counteracting Void Rift Icon Void Rift by keeping you alive. In these moments, consider using your Detox Icon Detox on another player instead.

7.

Finding Mythic+ Gear Upgrades for Brewmaster Monk

On our Gear Page below, we have compiled best-in-slot items for Brewmaster Monk that also apply to Mythic+.

8.

Changelog

  • 24 Feb. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.1.0.
  • 15 Dec. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.7.
  • 21 Oct. 2024: Build descriptions adjusted to reflect the interchangeable nature of Hero Talents; dungeon tips adjusted; added Voidbound affix advice.
  • 28 Sep. 2024: Added specific talent/gameplay tips for all Season 1 dungeons.
  • 09 Sep. 2024: Updated for The War Within Season 1.
  • 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
  • 22 Apr. 2024: Flex talent examples updated for Dragonflight Season 4.
  • 19 Mar. 2024: Page reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
  • 19 Jan. 2024: Reorganized flex talents based on likelihood of use; added separate entry for utilizing Dragonfire Brew instead of Charred Passions.
  • 15 Jan. 2024: Page reviewed for Patch 10.2.5; listed specific dungeons where Detox should be talented; added link to FAQ regarding talenting Press the Advantage.
  • 06 Nov. 2023: Wordings adjusted in preparation for Dragonflight Season 3; added mention of the Staggering Strikes talent for lower keystone levels.
  • 04 Sep. 2023: Default Mythic+ talent build slightly revised; flex talents reorganized; utility usage tips reformatted.
  • 12 Jul. 2023: Added additional guidance on talent swapping decisions.
  • 10 Jul. 2023: Adjusted default Mythic+ build due to new talents in Patch 10.1.5; added further notes on talents to consider swapping into as necessary.
  • 01 May 2023: Added Song of Chi-Ji to utility list; discussion of new gear upgrade system.
  • 14 Apr. 2023: Slightly adjusted recommended default Mythic+ talent build.
  • 20 Mar. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
  • 24 Jan. 2023: Updated talent trees with new 10.0.5 talent choices.
  • 11 Dec. 2022: Recommended build slightly adjusted based on recent theorycrafting; added table mentioning when to consider alternate talents.
  • 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
  • 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
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