Brewmaster Monk Tank Easy Mode — Shadowlands 9.1

This section is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty, or simply want a more straightforward way to play their specialization without being overwhelmed by the numerous priorities and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.

Brewmaster Monks are some of the sturdiest brawlers out there, capable of shrugging off even the deadliest attacks with ease while offering plenty of options for mobility and defense. With the help of Stagger, there is next to nothing that can outright kill you in one hit which makes for a more predictable damage intake to heal.

As a Brewmaster, your main resource to manage is Energy, which you will spend on abilities that reduce the cooldown of your Brews and act as a way to decrease the damage you are taking from your Stagger. The better you are at converting your Energy to Brew usage, the easier it will be to stay alive. Other keys to survival will involve taking advantage of your cooldowns and utility.

Many of the following talent choices are passive options, providing slight tweaks to the basics of Brewmaster gameplay as you get familiar with the ins and outs of managing its rotation and your Stagger meter. Your performance will still be near the optimal talents in their specific situations while resulting in fewer keybinds to manage.

• Level 15: Eye of the Tiger
• Level 25: Chi Torpedo
• Level 30: Light Brewing
• Level 35: Tiger Tail Sweep
• Level 40: Healing Elixir
• Level 45: Rushing Jade Wind
• Level 50: High Tolerance

If you are interested in knowing when to switch to the more active options available as a Brewmaster or when to use some of the more situational choices, take a look at our full talent analysis below.

Currently, you will want to prioritize secondary stats as follows:

1. Versatility = Mastery = Critical Strike
2. Haste

Prioritize item level above all else, as Agility and Stamina are very valuable. Haste should be avoided when possible, but do not bother to drop item levels to do so.

While the stat priority for classes is normally the same for both the Easy Mode page and our full guide, there can be major differences depending on if you desire to be more offensive or defensive as a tank. If you want to see the full explanation of the stat priority, as well as the absolute top choices for what you want to prioritize, head to our full stats page.

It must be stressed that ultimately all four of the Covenants available to Brewmasters are usable in a variety of content. Some will be more useful than others at times, however. If you are seeking a generic option that is easy to make use of, then it is recommended to go with the Kyrian Covenant and use Pelagos as your Soulbind. The Weapons of Order ability is quick to learn and Phial of Serenity can act as a helpful source of extra healing against possible mistakes.

When using Pelagos, this will be your ideal path to take:

Though many of the Conduits available for use in a category are somewhat close in value, some options may be less demanding to make use of. As such, a short selection of useful Conduits to pursue is listed below:

1. Walk with the Ox - Potency
2. Strike with Clarity - Potency
3. Scalding Brew - Potency
4. Harm Denial - Endurance
5. Condensed Anima Sphere - Endurance
6. Fortifying Ingredients - Endurance
7. Dizzying Tumble - Finesse
8. Tumbling Technique - Finesse
9. Swift Transference - Finesse

While following the Covenant guidelines above is useful if you want to quickly get into the action as a Brewmaster, it is highly recommended that you consider the section of this guide dedicated to all four Covenants, their Soulbinds, and the remaining Conduits for more information to help decide on a Covenant that is best for you.

1. Stormstout's Last Keg - most convenient general-use Legendary
2. Charred Passions - a more demanding alternative that performs better in low target counts.

Both Stormstout's Last Keg and Charred Passions act as excellent choices to increase your damage as a Brewmaster while offering a small amount of additional indirect defense. In almost any scenario, the two will remain competitive with one another, though Charred Passions will require a little more interaction on your part to reach its potential.

While these two Legendary Powers are recommended overall, there are a number of other possibilities for specific moments. To learn more about these options and when to consider them, see the Legendary Powers section of this guide.

For a better understanding of what all of the abilities in the priority below do to contribute to your performance, along with many more not covered in it, it is highly recommended to glance at the Spells Summary page linked just below.

1. Cast Invoke Niuzao, the Black Ox when possible.
2. Cast Weapons of Order or your Covenant Class ability when available.
3. Cast Keg Smash when available.
4. Cast Blackout Kick when available.
5. Cast Tiger Palm, if you have 65+ Energy, against one target.
6. Cast Spinning Crane Kick, if you have 65+ Energy, against multiple targets.
7. Cast Breath of Fire when available.
8. Keep your Rushing Jade Wind buff active
9. Cast Expel Harm if you are dropping in health and cannot reach your Gift of the Ox orbs.
10. Cast Fortifying Brew if you are about to take a large amount of damage.

You should make sure to not spend so much Energy on Tiger Palm that you cannot cast Keg Smash when it is available. Following these steps will make sure you do as much damage as you can, and have enough Brews to maintain a solid defense.

It is very important to always have Shuffle active, so you take less damage up-front. You gain time on Shuffle mainly by casting Keg Smash and Blackout Kick. If you are using the default UI, you can easily monitor the time left on your Shuffle by looking at the icon outlined in purple:

You can use Purifying Brew to get rid of damage you have Staggered. The level of Stagger on the default UI is shown above, outlined in red. The more the bar is filled, the more damage you are taking. Remember though, it is equally important to maintain uptime on Shuffle so that your damage taken stays smooth as you Purify what you can.

After you have purified a bit, use Celestial Brew to absorb a large amount of damage taken for a short period of time.

While the above is excellent for starting out as a Brewmaster Monk, it is recommended to look into our full rotation guide to get a better grasp on how the abilities interact with each other and their other quirks.