Brewmaster Monk Tank Spec, Builds, and Talents — The War Within (11.2.5)

While optimizing talents on a contextual basis is the highly recommended method of setting up your build, the talent tree listed below will work well for general purposes such as Delves, world content, and entry-level dungeons and raids. It is still highly recommended to switch to a more specialized build if engaging in something specific.

When making use of this build in Delves in particular, it is recommended to take advantage of the Shado-Pan Hero Talents due to their additional buff to your Vivify ability through Protect and Serve, which should be used with Vivacious Vivification procs for reliable self-sufficiency. You may still use Master of Harmony talents instead, of course!

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

The following build is focused on your performance within raid encounters. As such, it does not opt into utility that is rarely seen within a raid or can be covered by another player instead. Although it opts into the defensive talents of High Tolerance and Ox Stance, the use of Special Delivery may feel odd rotationally. For near-identical performance, you can instead opt into Breath of Fire and its supporting talents of Sal'salabim's Strength and Charred Passions, or switch to Rushing Jade Wind. Depending on an encounter's needs, you may also need to switch between Celestial Infusion and Celestial Brew or consider dropping Niuzao's Resolve. If you would like to be even more defensive, swap the three Breath of Fire talents for two points of High Tolerance, Anvil & Stave, or even Ox Stance.

As for Hero Talents, the Master of Harmony tree's extra bonuses to Celestial Brew/ Celestial Infusion and Purifying Brew are an excellent complement to a defensive playstyle, offering some extra control over your survival and rewarding you with more vitality from the higher damage intake of a raid. In addition, once you have acquired your Monk Master of Harmony 11.2 Class Set 2pc, consider switching to Rushing Jade Wind for a small extra damage gain, though this will likely force you to no longer run the trio of Breath of Fire talents if you were.

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

Once you are appropriately comfortable with your playstyle as a Brewmaster Monk, consider switching to this set of talents to fully maximize your single-target damage potential. Be aware that it will ask of you to make use of Black Ox Brew and the Weapons of Order supporting talents in particular, while sacrificing some defensive power by giving up Quick Sip. It will also expect you to make effective use of Expel Harm due to not having Niuzao's Resolve. As this build is still focused primarily on raiding, it will similarly not have all of your available utility selected. In fact, you may end up dropping further options, such as Peace and Prosperity, in favor of easier Touch of Death usage with Improved Touch of Death. If this build's choices seem too daunting, you can even opt for somewhere in between it and our Default raiding talents, keeping Bob and Weave and picking up Quick Sip or Ox Stance in particular.

For Hero Talents, the Master of Harmony tree remains a clear winner once you have acquired the Monk Master of Harmony 11.2 Class Set 4pc bonus. It may be possible for Shado-Pan to make up some of the gap in larger target counts, but this will require a large amount of luck, in addition to maximizing Wisdom of the Wall Shadow buffs.

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

Dungeons feature a lot more talent flexibility due to the variety of scenarios you will encounter, such as whether or not you need an extra defensive cooldown in the form of Dampen Harm compared to the passive Dodge of Dance of the Wind. Due to the wider variety of utility and defensive needs, this build opts out of Breath of Fire and its supporting points in order to aim for greater Invoke Niuzao, the Black Ox and Weapons of Order uptime via Call to Arms and Chi Surge, which also leaves room to opt into Tranquil Spirit and Zen State.

Although this build features the Master of Harmony Hero Talents, you can easily switch to Shado-Pan instead. Master of Harmony's AoE damage in massive pulls may end up a bit lower by comparison in exchange for massively improved single-target damage with the help of the Monk Master of Harmony 11.2 Class Set 4pc bonus. Fortunately, Shado-Pan's Predictive Training can remain noticeably potent in AoE tanking, and Protect and Serve pairs nicely with Vivacious Vivification for additional self-healing to offset slightly less defensive control if you prefer its stronger burst AoE potential with the Monk Shado-Pan 11.2 Class Set 4pc bonus.

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 small gain in your damage output alongside more skill-based utility and defensive potential. This is primarily through the inclusion of Black Ox Brew/ Dampen Harm, relying once again on careful use of Expel Harm healing from not selecting Niuzao's Resolve and using Improved Invoke Niuzao, the Black Ox's knock up. While it still defaults to the Master of Harmony hero talents, optimizing Wisdom of the Wall Shadow buffs with the Shado-Pan Hero Talents can also be worthwhile in larger trash pulls. However, much of the talent flexibility needs from the standard Mythic+ build for defense and utility still applies, such as generally opting out of Breath of Fire.

Note that with these talents, you will still be consuming all of your Blackout Combo buffs on empowering Tiger Palm. This damage bonus is strong enough that you will not be casting Spinning Crane Kick outside of massive pulls or initial enemy gathering.

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 passive, your 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 procs on Shado-Pan, alongside larger pulls for more Keg Smash damage.

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

Highlighting the unique amount of flexibility available through talent trees, the following build is intended for trivial content that you wish to get through as quickly as possible, such as old raids or previous expansion features. It makes use of talents that are otherwise not taken during your time in The War Within, though you should further complement it with other speed-boosting effects such as a Charged Phial of Alacrity and Exquisitely Eviscerated Muscle.

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