Windwalker Monk PvP Rotation and Playstyle (Season 4)
PvP requires you to perform various actions in the course of a duel, match, or battleground: interrupting/silencing enemies, damaging them, bursting them down, defending yourself, keeping yourself alive, etc.. It is a game mode that fully utilises your kit, especially spells that are rarely used in PvE. On this page, we go through all the spells you need to use in PvP as a Windwalker Monk, how you should use them, and we explain what your playstyle should be.
This page is part of our Windwalker Monk PvP Guide.
Playstyle for Windwalker Monks
The main role for a Windwalker Monk is simple: use your mobility to relentlessly attack a target and use your strong single-target cooldowns to burst your enemies down. You have some crowd control for the enemy healer in the forms of Paralysis and Leg Sweep. Because of this, you will use a large amount of damage output you have to make the enemy team use their defensive cooldowns. By managing your damaging buffs, a Windwalker can unleash a devastating amount of damage in a short amount of time.
Before Gates Open
Know exactly where to put your Transcendence portal. Although it does not seem like it, using your Transcendence effectively is crucial in Windwalker's survivability. The best place to put it is behind a pillar, and tell your healer where it is. This way, when you do use Transcendence: Transfer, they will not be confused about where you are.
The Opener
The opener refers to your team's opening crowd control chain and damage done as soon as you exit the gates. The main goal in the opener is to force your enemies to use their cooldowns. They are in trouble if the enemy healer uses their trinket in the opener. Windwalkers have Paralysis (an incapacitating effect with diminishing returns) and Leg Sweep (a stun with diminishing returns). Always use Paralysis on the enemy healer, and if the enemy team is grouped up, try to Leg Sweep, the healer.
Managing your Hit Combo and Mastery: Combo Strikes is crucial to the Windwalker Monk rotation. This will increase your sustained and burst damage.
This is the rotation you should use on your target at the beginning of the game.
- Use Chi Wave to generate a stack of Hit Combo.
- Use Tiger Palm to generate Chi.
- Use Expel Harm to generate Chi and heal yourself.
- Use Rising Sun Kick.
- Use Blackout Kick.
- If you are talented into Dance of Chi-Ji and get a free Spinning Crane Kick.
- Use Blackout Kick when you get a Blackout Kick proc.
- Use Paralysis on the enemy healer.
- Use your burst rotation.
- After your burst, perform your sustained damage rotation until your burst cooldowns are available.
Burst Damage
When you have the enemy healer in crowd control and are trying to kill an enemy, you use your burst damage.
- Before you use your burst rotation, generate 2-3 Chi.
- Use Invoke Xuen, the White Tiger.
- Use Faeline Stomp
- Use Leg Sweep.
- Use Serenity.
- Use Spinning Crane Kick when you get a Dance of Chi-Ji proc.
- Use Rising Sun Kick.
- Use Fists of Fury.
- Use Strike of the Windlord.
- Use Expel Harm to generate Chi.
- Use Rising Sun Kick.
- Use Blackout Kick when you get a Blackout Kick proc.
- Use Touch of Death if the enemy drops below 15% health.
Sustained damage
Sustained damage is damage you do when your burst cooldowns are unavailable.
- Use Chi Wave to maintain stacks of Hit Combo.
- Use Faeline Stomp
- Use Spinning Crane Kick when you get a Dance of Chi-Ji proc.
- Use Blackout Kick when you get a Blackout Kick proc.
- Use Tiger Palm to generate Chi.
- Use Expel Harm to generate Chi and heal yourself.
- Use Rising Sun Kick.
- Use Fists of Fury.
- Use Whirling Dragon Punch.
- Use Strike of the Windlord.
- Use Spinning Crane Kick when you get a Dance of Chi-Ji proc.
- Use Blackout Kick as a filler ability between cooldowns.
- Use Touch of Death if the enemy drops below 15% health.
Defensive Techniques
Touch of Karma is our primary defensive cooldown. Use this when the enemy team is focusing you down, and your healer cannot heal you through it or is stuck in crowd control. It absorbs 50% of your Health pool and heals you.
Fortifying Brew is a powerful defensive cooldown. This not only decreases the amount of damage you take, but it increases your Health. This affects how much Health you get back when using a Healthstone.
Finally, use Monk mobility as a defensive technique.
- Flying Serpent Kick can be useful if you have taken the Ride the Wind PvP talent. This helps with getting around pillars to get away from enemies.
- Use Transcendence and Transcendence: Transfer to port away from incoming damage and reposition yourself with your healer.
- Tiger's Lust removes snares from you. This helps when being kited or stuck in the middle of the map.
Macros
It is advised to use Macros to use abilities on enemies or allies without having to target them. For this reason, we have a page dedicated to them.
Changelog
- 22 Apr. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7.
- 25 Aug. 2023: Fixed spelling mistake.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 06 May 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
- 21 Mar. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
- Updated all damage rotations.
- 30 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Updated Damage rotations.
- 21 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 01 Aug. 2022: Reviewed for Shadowlands Season 4.
- 31 May 2022: Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 27 Feb. 2022: Updated All Damage rotations.
- 10 Nov. 2021: Updated Damage rotations.
- 02 Jul. 2021: Updated Burst rotation.
- 08 Mar. 2021: Reviewed for Patch 9.0.5.
- 29 Nov. 2020: Removed outdated Traits and Essences.
- 14 Oct. 2020: Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
Other PvP Guides
This guide has been written by Mysticall, a seasoned PvP player who has repeatedly achieved 3000 rating. You can watch his stream on Twitch, and you can also check out his YouTube channel.
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