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 (11.2.5).

Single Target

Activate Rushing Jade Wind before combat and establish Shuffle.

• Keg SmashView detailsUse on cooldown for damage and cooldown reduction.
• Blackout KickView detailsUse to maintain Shuffle and trigger Blackout Combo.
• Rising Sun KickView detailsUse when available, especially with Press The Advantage stacks.
• Breath Of FireView detailsUse to apply Charred Passions or when empowered by Blackout Combo.
• Chi BurstView detailsUse when available, ideally with Balanced Stratagem stacks.
• Tiger PalmView detailsUse to prevent Energy capping and reduce Brew cooldowns.

Maintain Shuffle with Keg Smash and Blackout Kick. Use Rising Sun Kick and Breath Of Fire for damage, and Chi Burst when available. Fill with Tiger Palm to manage Energy.

AoE

Activate Rushing Jade Wind before combat and establish Shuffle.

• Keg SmashView detailsUse on cooldown for AoE damage and cooldown reduction.
• Breath Of FireView detailsUse to apply Charred Passions or when empowered by Blackout Combo.
• Spinning Crane KickView detailsUse when fighting 3+ targets.
• Blackout KickView detailsUse to maintain Shuffle and trigger Blackout Combo.
• Chi BurstView detailsUse when available, ideally with Balanced Stratagem stacks.
• Rising Sun KickView detailsUse when available, especially with Press The Advantage stacks.

For AoE, prioritize Keg Smash and Breath Of Fire for damage and Shuffle. Use Spinning Crane Kick for 3+ targets, and fill with Blackout Kick and Chi Burst.

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 damage and Stagger transfer.
• Touch Of DeathView detailsUse when the target is low enough to execute.

Use Fortifying Brew and Dampen Harm for heavy damage, Diffuse Magic for magic threats, and Invoke Niuzao, The Black Ox for damage and mitigation. Execute with Touch Of Death when possible.

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.