Brewmaster Monk Tank Nerub-ar Palace Raid Guide — The War Within (11.0.7)
On this page, you will find tips, tricks, and strategies tailored to your Brewmaster Monk for each boss of the following raid: Nerub-ar Palace. All our content is updated for World of Warcraft — The War Within (11.0.7).
Introduction
Below, you can find class and spec-specific advice for every fight in Nerub-ar Palace. If you are looking for a general overview of the Raid that is not spec-specific, check out our dedicated Nerub-ar Palace guides.
This page assumes that you already understand most of the mechanics of each encounter. These can be found on the full raid guide, so what is contained here are details specifically tailored toward Brewmaster Monk and how you can deal with each fight as best as possible.
All recommendations are progression-based tips and will not necessarily be the best for an overall Tank ranking.
Nerub'ar Palace Boss Guides for Brewmaster Monk
Nerub'ar Palace Raid Builds, Tips, and Tricks for Brewmaster Monk
Tips for Ulgrax the Devourer for Brewmaster Monk
Defensive Tips
- When to taunt: After every cast of
Brutal Crush. Aim to have a
defensive cooldown or 
Celestial Brew ready for each hit, as you will be
unable to receive healing for 10 seconds afterward due to 
Tenderized.
Cooldown Usage
- There are no unique cooldown timings to worry about for your damage.
Mechanical Tips
- During each intermission, damage from the Ravenous Spawns will increase the longer they are alive. Gather and defeat them as quickly as possible
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
Tips for Bloodbound Horror for Brewmaster Monk
Defensive Tips
- When to taunt: After every cast of
Gruesome Disgorge. Do not
stand in its cone if you are not actively tanking!
Cooldown Usage
- There are no unique cooldown timings to worry about for your damage.
Mechanical Tips
- As the tank, you are responsible for interrupting and tanking the Lost Watcher
while in
The Unseeming. Move it between the Forgotten Harbinger
spawns to enable better cleaving; they are a higher priority to defeat than
the Watcher. - In The Unseeming, make use of
Paralysis and 
Ring of Peace
to keep any Blood Horrors from reaching the boss. - The Bloodbound Horror's
Spewing Hemorrhage beams will spawn 90 degrees
to the left and right of it and slowly rotate. Face the boss accordingly so that
your allies in The Unseeming can have as much time as possible to defeat
the adds! 
Transcendence can be used to quickly return to the boss after each
cast of 
Goresplatter, and can also get around Spewing Hemorrhage
beams.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
Tips for Sikran for Brewmaster Monk
Defensive Tips
- When to taunt: After two hits of
Expose during each combo of 
Captain's Flourish.
Do not be hit by 
Phase Lunge if you are debuffed by Expose.
Cooldown Usage
- There are no unique cooldown timings to worry about for your damage.
Mechanical Tips
- You can make use of Transcendence to quickly get back to the boss
after running away from each cast of
Shattering Sweep. - Make sure you are not standing in the path of any
Phase Blades as
you maneuver Sikran around the room and away from the 
Cosmic Simulacrums.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
Tips for Rasha'nan for Brewmaster Monk
Defensive Tips
- When to taunt: Tanking and swapping on this fight are tied to the lingering
Savage Wound DoT from each cast of 
Savage Assault. The more
of this hit you mitigate or absorb with defensive cooldowns and Celestial Brew,
the longer you can tank without the Wound's DoT becoming overwhelming.
Cooldown Usage
- There are no unique cooldown timings to worry about for your damage.
Mechanical Tips
- You or your cotank must be in melee range of the boss at all times, or she
will cast
Tacky Burst. - Infested Spawn will create adds of the same name, which must be aggro'd
(preferably while not actively tanking the boss). Take advantage of
Leg Sweep
and other stuns to reduce how often they can cast 
Infested Bite. - If you are soaking
Web Reave, take advantage of 
Lighter Than Air
and Transcendence to negate the pulling effect.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
Tips for Broodtwister Ovi'nax for Brewmaster Monk
Defensive Tips
- When to taunt: After each cast of
Volatile Concoction. Consider talenting
into 
Vivacious Vivification and casting Vivify right as the
debuff from this ability is about to expire so that your health is as high as possible
and the final explosion of Nature damage is reduced.
Cooldown Usage
- There are no unique cooldown timings to worry about for your damage.
Mechanical Tips
Ingest Black Blood will be cast on the canister of Black Blood that is
closest to the boss. You get to decide which section of the room's eggs to deal with
as a result.- Keep the boss along the edge of the active pool of
Sanguine Overflow
(created after he casts Ingest Black Blood) so your fellow Raiders can
hatch eggs more easily with 
Experimental Dosage. Do not allow
any adds from the eggs to touch this Overflow, or they will be significantly
empowered. 
Tiger's Lust can remove the 
Sticky Web debuff from players,
but be careful not to root anyone with the 
Web Eruption triggered by doing
so!- Colossal Spiders, hatched from Colossal Eggs are the add
that must be handled by you or your cotank. Do not underestimate their
Vicious Bite, especially if they have been empowered by Sanguine Overflow.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
Tips for Nexus-Princess Ky'veza for Brewmaster Monk
Defensive Tips
- When to taunt: After each cast of
Void Shredders. This will also leave
a nasty DoT on you, and you will be slain by 
Reaper if you ever fall
below 10% HP. Commit extra defensives if you need to when getting low on health.
Cooldown Usage
- There are no unique cooldown timings to worry about for your damage.
Mechanical Tips
- This boss will always create one
Nether Rift directly in front of her,
along with one at every 
Nether Phantom's location. Position her before
this mechanic to split the suction's strength on the raid across multiple rifts
pulling in different directions. - Being hit by any additional mechanics will trigger additional applications of
the
Queensbane DoT and make you more at risk of dying to Reaper.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
Tips for The Silken Court for Brewmaster Monk
Defensive Tips
- When to taunt: After each of Anub'arash's
Piercing Strikes.
While Skeinspinner Takazj does need a tank to hold threat on her, she does
not feature a specific swapping mechanic. Instead, she will continuously apply
Poison Bolt and 
Void Bolt to her target, leaving a DoT
that can be dispelled.
Cooldown Usage
- For the most part, there are no unique cooldown timings to worry about for
optimizing your damage. However, there will be brief periods where each boss
will take 100% more damage. Aim to trigger
Aspect of Harmony in these
moments.
Mechanical Tips
Detox can be used to dispel the debuff from Poison Bolt.- Skeinspinner Takazj will frequently teleport around the room and remain in her current position. Continue moving Anub'arash to her location over the course of the encounter for increased cleave damage from your raid.
- Leg Sweep and Ring of Peace can be used to help keep
Shattershell Scarabs away from their fixated targets.
Touch of Death acts as a quick and convenient way to free any players
that have been 
Impaled by Anub'arash's 
Impaling Eruption.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
Tips for Queen Ansurek for Brewmaster Monk
Defensive Tips
- When to taunt:
- Phase 1: After each cast of
Liquefy. Do not be hit by 
Feast
while debuffed from this ability. - Phase 3: After each cast of
Infest, or a channel of 
Gorge
has finished.
- Phase 1: After each cast of
Cooldown Usage
- In Phase 1 save your
Exploding Keg, 
Chi Burst, and a
cast of 
Keg Smash for 
Silken Tomb. Touch of Death or
Tiger's Lust can also be used to remove its root from yourself or another
player. - In Phase 2, Touch of Death may be immediately used on the
Devoted Worshipper due to
Worshipper's Protection converting all
of its health to an absorb shield. You should also be ready to use Exploding Keg
and Keg Smash on the Caustic Skitterers found on each web bridge. - In Phase 3, ensure you have a cooldown ready for Infest,
and be ready to make use of Leg Sweep and Ring of Peace on the
Gloom Hatchlings created when the debuff expires.
Mechanical Tips
- Phase 1:
- Brewmasters are more naturally suited to tanking Liquefy rather than
Feast. Keep Queen Ansurek near previously-spawned pools of
Acid
to increase the amount of available space in the room later. - If you do end up tanking Feast instead, be aware that you will be
under a heavy healing absorb. Do not be afraid to commit an extra use of
Purifying Brew during this to stay especially safe, alongside a cast of
Vivify through Vivacious Vivification.
- Brewmasters are more naturally suited to tanking
- Intermission/Phase 2:
Wrest's pull can be countered with either Lighter Than Air
or Transcendence, but ensure you are still far enough away to react in
time.- Be careful to not be knocked off the platform by a Chamber Guardian's
Oust casts!
- Phase 3:
- Brewmasters are more naturally suited to tanking Infest, taking
advantage of mobility to spawn the Gloom Hatchlings somewhat far from the
boss and controlling them with Leg Sweep and Ring of Peace.
- Transcendence can be used in an emergency to get around the collapsing
ring of
Frothing Gluttony, but be aware that Queen Ansurek will jump to
the active tank's position after the ability has finished. Move accordingly. - Be ready to pick up
Acolyte's Essence from a slain Acolyte, but you
may only do so once due to becoming 
Essence Scarred after clearing it with
a 
Abyssal Conduit during Frothing Gluttony. - Position Queen Ansurek near the "leading" Acolyte in each set spawned from
Queen's Summons. In addition, keep her near the 
Royal Shackles
created by 
Royal Condemnation in 
Heroic.
- Brewmasters are more naturally suited to tanking
Heroic.Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
General Defensive Usage Notes
Brewmaster Monk has several defensive spells that you should
plan to use and rotate throughout mechanics. You should opt to use the smaller
cooldown spells often as needed with incoming hits and save bigger cooldowns
like 
Fortifying Brew for large incoming damage.
- Purifying Brew
- Celestial Brew
Dampen Harm
Diffuse Magic
Zen Meditation
General Cooldown Usage
Brewmaster Monk has a few cooldowns to think about using optimally on the fights in Nerub-ar Palace:
Fortifying Brew — Your largest defensive cooldown. Despite its
lengthy 6-minute cooldown, its actual recharge time is closer to 2-3 minutes due
to cooldown reduction effects from your Keg Smash and 
Tiger Palm
rotational abilities.
Weapons of Order — Although this is primarily a damage cooldown,
it does also increase your Mastery (and therefore your dodge chance) for a lengthy
period on a relatively short cooldown.- Purifying Brew/ Celestial Brew — These two abilities represent
your "primary" mitigation abilities, with Purifying Brew being cast right
after taking a hit of damage and Celestial Brew being used to shield
against future damage. More information on using them appropriately, along with
the core Brewmaster passive of
Stagger, can be found on our
rotation page. - Dampen Harm — An often misunderstood cooldown, this ability
grants additional damage reduction against instances of damage depending on how
dangerous they are. While active, all damage taken will be reduced by at least 20%,
with hits for your maximum health or more being reduced by 50% and everywhere
in between for smaller ones.
- Diffuse Magic — Not only can this cooldown provide a large amount
of damage reduction against Magical attacks, but it can also be used to dispel yourself
of dangerous mechanics!
- Zen Meditation — This cooldown offers an incredibly large
amount of damage reduction, but will be broken if you attempt to move, take other
actions, or are hit by a melee attack. Save it for dangerous tankbusters or
a nasty DoT while you are not actively tanking.
In addition to the general rotation, you want to keep in mind that your goal is to use your cooldowns as often as possible during an encounter. With that in mind, your secondary goal is to use them at the correct time.
We highly suggest using some Addon or WeakAura to track the estimated time to
die of your target/boss target.
Method
Raid Tools has this as an option if you are already using this addon.
By tracking time to die, if you know that you can only fit one more cycle of
your cooldowns in before the boss dies, you can choose to hold these cooldowns
to better line up with 
Bloodlust, your Potion, or even your other
cooldowns, trying to look for opportunities to stack all of them.
Resetting Encounters with Transcendence
All Monk specializations — but especially Brewmasters — are capable
of resetting most boss encounters with the use of 
Transcendence and
Transcendence: Transfer. This can be especially useful in a progression
environment to save on repair costs and allow players to keep their
consumable buffs, such as food from a 
Feast of the Divine Day. All you
have to do as a Monk is place your Transcendence spirit beyond the area that will
normally be closed off after engaging the boss. Then, if you would like to reset
the encounter, get the boss's attention with 
Provoke and
teleport outside the encounter area with Transcendence: Transfer. If done
successfully, the boss will follow you outside and despawn.
Unless otherwise used during an encounter or mentioned in its tips section, it is highly recommended to get into the habit of setting up this form of fight reset. However, you should never feel forced to do so if there is a point in an encounter that you prefer having access to one of your most powerful mobility tools.
Changelog
- 15 Dec. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.7.
- 21 Oct. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 11.0.5.
- 28 Sep. 2024: Queen Ansurek tips added; talent builds modified.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Guide added.
More Monk Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Sinzhu, a Mythic raider on US-Kiljaeden who has passionately played Brewmaster for the past ten years. He also contributes to the Peak of Serenity and is a Moderator of the Monk Class Discord.
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