Tank Rotation & Cooldowns

This rotation offers a general priority list for Brewmaster Monk abilities, along with key cooldowns at the bottom. It's based on a standard build and is here to help while we work on a smarter, build-aware system. If you are very new to the game or this class, we added info on the new assisted rotation features at the bottom of this guide. Updated for the latest patch in World of Warcraft: The War Within (11.2).

Single Target

Activate Rushing Jade Wind before combat and establish Shuffle for defense.

• Chi BurstView detailsUse as you approach the target.
• Keg SmashView detailsUse immediately after Chi Burst.
• Blackout KickView detailsUse to maintain Blackout Combo or Charred Passions.
• Tiger PalmView detailsUse to prevent Energy capping.
• Breath Of FireView detailsUse to apply Charred Passions buff.
• Rising Sun KickView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Weapons Of OrderView detailsActivate for burst damage.
• Touch Of DeathView detailsUse when target is within health threshold.

Start with Rushing Jade Wind and Chi Burst, then prioritize Keg Smash and Blackout Kick for buffs. Use Rising Sun Kick and Breath Of Fire on cooldown, and activate Weapons Of Order for burst.

AoE

Activate Rushing Jade Wind before combat and establish Shuffle for defense.

• Chi BurstView detailsUse as you approach the targets.
• Keg SmashView detailsUse to apply debuffs to multiple targets.
• Breath Of FireView detailsUse to apply Charred Passions to all targets.
• Spinning Crane KickView detailsUse when fighting 3+ enemies.
• Blackout KickView detailsUse to maintain Blackout Combo or Charred Passions.
• Rising Sun KickView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Exploding KegView detailsUse for burst AoE damage.
• Weapons Of OrderView detailsActivate for increased AoE damage.

Start with Rushing Jade Wind and Chi Burst, then prioritize Keg Smash and Breath Of Fire for debuffs. Use Spinning Crane Kick for 3+ targets and Exploding Keg for burst AoE.

Cooldowns

• Fortifying BrewView detailsUse preemptively for heavy damage phases.
• Diffuse MagicView detailsUse against magic damage.
• Dampen HarmView detailsUse for mitigating large hits.
• Invoke Niuzao, The Black OxView detailsUse for both damage and stagger mitigation.
• Touch Of DeathView detailsUse when target is within health threshold.

Use Fortifying Brew and Dampen Harm for heavy damage, Diffuse Magic for magic threats, and Invoke Niuzao, The Black Ox for stagger mitigation and damage.

New to Class? Try Assisted Rotation

Patch 11.1.7 introduced new features that make it eaiser to pick and play new characters. These new settings can be enabled from settings » gameplay enhancements:

• Single-Button Assistant
• Assisted Highlight
• Cooldown Manager

If you are new to World of Warcraft or a certain class, enabling Assisted Highlight and Cooldown Manager can help you learn which abilities to prioritize and use.

While the Single-Button Assistant can be a much easier and more accessible way to play the game, it does come with a slight performance hit due to a small GCD penalty, as you will have to wait 25% longer in between spells and abilities.

To see which specs are best with the Single-Button Assistant feature, you can check out our DPS Rankings which uses SimC to sim every class using this feature.