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Spec Overview
Windwalker is one of the best melee specializations in World of Warcraft's Battle for Azeroth expansion and Patch 8.2. Monk is a jack of all trades and performs well in all three specializations, with its Windwalker spec performing exceptionally well with very high priority target damage in Raids and Dungeons. WW Monk utilizes swift one-handed weapons, offers very good AoE, unparalleled single-target burst, and terrific mobility.
Pros | Cons |
Easy rotation | Lack of defensive skills and cooldowns |
Amazing mobility thanks to Roll, Flying Serpent Kick, and Tiger's Lust | Weak sustainable DPS which falls drastically in longer fights |
Good self-healing | Heavily reliant on gear |
One of the best single-target bursts and good AoE | Only one viable path for building your character |
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Statistics Priority
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The Best Talent Choices
Level 15: Recommended choice - Chi Burst |
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Chi Burst is the best talent choice for this Tier. It is an instant cast with medium cooldown which heals all allies and damage enemies in front of you. It also generates 1 Chi for each enemy hit (up to 2 Chi) | |
Eye of the Tiger enhances Tiger Palm which is used mainly for Chi generation in this build, making it a redundant pick. On the other hand, Chi Wave has a very similar effect to Chi Burst (dealing damage and healing allies) but it bounces randomly between targets. It's also a viable option, but much more popular during leveling and on lower tier content | |
Level 30: Recommended choice - Tiger's Lust |
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Tiger's Lust - is the only valid option for this tier. It breaks all snares and slows and gives your target a brief movement speed increase. Great in encounters where undisturbed kiting is required | |
Celerity enhances your Roll ability, by reducing its cooldown and increasing maximum charges. While it's ok for mobility, and usually has no uses in Raids and PvE. Chi Torpedo replaces Roll and can launch your forward and increase your movement speed briefly. Again, it's a useful movement skill but has no team utility | |
Level 45: Recommended choice - Fist of the White Tiger |
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Fist of the White Tiger - which is the only viable choice for this tier. It is a great Chi generator and decent damage dealing ability with a low cooldown | |
Neither Ascension or Energizing Elixir is worth considering on this tier. Energizing Elixir restores your Energy but has a cooldown of one minute making it completely unreliable, while Ascension is not worth using in PvE. It's the recommended choice for PvP as it increases your maximum Chi, maximum Energy, and Energy regeneration. All this result in increases DPS and makes your gameplay much smoother when you need to close down the distance to your enemies | |
Level 60: Recommended choice - Ring of Peace |
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Ring of Peace - which is a great utility spell used to interrupt crowd control or save your allies in tougher encounters. It's the best choice for this tier in terms of team utility | |
Good Karma, on the other hand, is a quite useful defensive spell, which makes damage redirected by Touch of Karma also heal you. Tiger Tail Sweep reduces the cooldown of Leg Sweep, which is a very powerful stun, but this makes the skill very situational and redundant on most occasions. | |
/ Level 75: Recommended choice - Diffuse Magic or Dampen Harm |
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Diffuse Magic and Dampen Harm are both extremely useful defensive cooldowns. Diffuse Magic protects you from magic damage, while Dampen Harm protects you from all types of damage but to a lower extent, and has a better effect against heavier attacks. | |
Inner Strength is also a defensive Talent, but in contrary to Diffuse Magic and Dampen Harm it's a passive skill. It reduces your damage taken by 2% every time you spend Chi, stacking up to 5 times for a total of 10% damage reduction. Being passive is nice but the mere 10% is unsuited for Raids and end-game content | |
Level 90: Recommended choice - Hit Combo |
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Hit Combo - is the best and the most well-rounded pick for this tier. It increases your overall DPS and helps with sustaining your damage, which is one of the biggest downsides of the Windwalker spec | |
Invoke Xuen, the White Tiger will be usually a preferred option for single-target DPS, while Rushing Jade Wind deals good AoE damage but can be only considered viable in certain PvP setups or when leveling | |
Level 100: Recommended choice - Whirling Dragon Punch |
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Whirling Dragon Punch - the most flexible Talents from this Tier. In terms of single-target DPS it is tied with Serenity, however, it is much more convenient to use and grants higher sustained damage | |
Serenity is also a viable pick, which grants very high damage burst when used by removing Chi cost of all skills, reducing their cooldown, and increasing your global damage and healing. However, it has a cooldown of 90 seconds, which makes the boost inconsistent. Spiritual Focus is a passive skill which reduces the cooldown of Storm, Earth, and Fire by 1 second for every 2 Chi spent |
The Basic Rotation
Below you will find the basic rotation for the highest single-target DPS. Monks rotation is based on a priority system and depends on the type of encounter and how much damage per Chi can you dish out at that time
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Tips and Tricks for Improving your Gameplay
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END NOTE This is the first version of our Windwalker Monk Pocket Guide for PvE DPS. Please leave your suggestions in the comments section below. While we appreciate any feedback given, keep in mind that this guide is intended as a simplified, pocket version that covers up only the most important aspects of your favorite character classes. |
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