Brewmaster Monk Tank Gear and Best in Slot — The War Within Pre-Patch
On this page, you will find the best gear and best in slot items for your Brewmaster Monk in World of Warcraft The War Within Pre-Patch.
Gearing your Brewmaster Monk
Although the bulk of your ideal pieces of gear will come from selecting items
within the Great Vault every week, raiding Mythic
Awakened raids, completing very high keys in
Mythic+, or even acquiring items crafted by
Professions using the Crafting Orders system and
Spark of Awakening, not all of this content will be feasible when first
reaching max level. Instead, your initial items will largely
come from exploring the world and participating in its regular world events.
Fortunately, gearing as a Brewmaster is generally simple for most item slots: use the highest item-level gear you can get while trying to avoid unnecessary Haste. However, even an item that is 5 item levels higher with Haste will often still be an upgrade, so do not go entirely out of your way to avoid the stat. Rings are sometimes a different matter, as they do not contain Agility or Armor. However, unless you are trying to maximize your damage output, you can still safely equip a ring with a higher item level, no matter what its stats are. To learn about the rest of your stat priority, see our dedicated page for it.
Gearing Strategy and Recommendations for a Brewmaster Monk
When you are figuring out if an item is an upgrade, it is highly recommended to get in the practice of simulating it. You can only do this to compare gear offensively as a tank specialization, however; fortunately, if you are looking to improve your defenses, you can focus entirely on item level.
If you are unfamiliar with what simulations are or how to use them, our Simulation page can help you learn more. Otherwise, as mentioned earlier, you can safely prioritize item level.
Beyond the disclaimer above, please note that the following recommendations do not include items obtained from PvP. If you are interested in recommended crafted gear, please see the section dedicated to it below.
Brewmaster Monk Gear Upgrades
Continuing from previous seasons, Season 4 retains the
presence of Flightstones and what are now known as Awakened Crests,
both obtainable from practically all forms of content in the
game. They can be used to upgrade gear up to Item Level 528, which is
Mythic Raid Item Level. They can also upgrade Crafted Gear up to 525 as well.
For more information on the Gear Upgrades system, check out our dedicated page for it below.
With this system, remember that the cost to upgrade scales differs per slot but now also increases quickly as item levels go up.
Best Items to Upgrade for Brewmaster Monks
Given the near-universal nature of gear upgrades in Dragonflight Season 4, it can be difficult to figure out what items you should invest your limited amounts of Awakened Crests in each week. As the decision will ultimately be based on what items you have been able to obtain, listed below are some guidelines and "wishlist" items to upgrade as soon as possible:
- Weapons, particularly
Djaruun, Pillar of the Elder Flame,
Thorncaller Claw/
Gholak, the Final Conflagration/
Forgestorm, or
Rashon, the Immortal Blaze — these items from Awakened raids and Mythic+ feature powerful procs that will substantially bolster your damage.
- Crafted gear, specifically
Slimy Expulsion Boots and
Life-Bound Belt with a
Toxified Armor Patch — due to obtaining one
Spark of Awakening every two weeks, it is very beneficial to upgrade your chosen embellishment items for a surge of power in an area you can completely decide. You may also opt for a crafted weapon if you will not be regularly clearing the Awakened versions of Aberrus or Amirdrassil to obtain its weapons instead, as you will still need a weapon to pair with a
Forgestorm that you could acquire as an alternative from Mythic+.
- Trinkets — specifically, the top options listed in the full trinket breakdown below based on what you can obtain.
Best-in-Slot (BiS) Gear for Brewmaster Monks
Overall BiS List for Brewmaster Monks
This table contains loot from the current Mythic+ Dungeon pool, all three Awakened raids, and ideal recommended crafted gear. If you are purely striving for the absolute best options no matter the odds of obtaining everything, this is it; this list also assumes every item is at its highest possible item level of 525, 528, or 535.
Slot | Item | Source |
---|---|---|
Head | ![]() |
Ruby Life Pools |
Neck |
|
|
Shoulders | ![]() |
![]() |
Cloak | ![]() |
Scalecommander Sarkareth (Aberrus) |
Chest | ![]() |
![]() |
Wrists | ![]() |
Magmorax (Aberrus) |
Gloves | ![]() |
![]() |
Belt | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Leatherworking |
Legs | ![]() |
![]() |
Boots | ![]() |
Leatherworking |
Ring 1 | ![]() |
Eranog (Vault of the Incarnates) |
Ring 2 |
|
|
Weapon (2h) | ![]() |
Rashok (Aberrus) |
Weapons (Dual Wield) |
|
|
Trinkets |
|
Mythic+ Gear BiS List for Brewmaster Monks
This table specifically contains loot from the eight dungeons available as part of Mythic+. While they may not all necessarily be the absolute best gear, they are infinitely farmable as you wait to acquire their potentially better alternatives. Remember as well that if you are seeking tier set pieces, you will need to acquire them directly from the Great Vault, the current Awakened raid, or through the Revival Catalyst.
Slot | Item | Source |
---|---|---|
Head |
|
|
Neck | ![]() |
Brackenhide Hollow |
Shoulders |
|
|
Cloak | ![]() |
Neltharus |
Chest |
|
|
Wrists | ![]() |
Brackenhide Hollow |
Gloves |
|
|
Belt | ![]() |
Uldaman: Legacy of Tyr |
Legs |
|
|
Boots | ![]() |
Brackenhide Hollow |
Ring 1 | ![]() |
The Nokhud Offensive |
Ring 2 | ![]() |
Brackenhide Hollow |
Weapon (2h) | ![]() |
Algeth'ar Academy |
Weapons (Dual Wield) |
|
|
Trinkets |
|
Raid Gear BiS List for Brewmaster Monks
Remember that the following gear table is meant to act as a general recommendation for items to seek out from the weekly rotating Awakened raids. It is almost guaranteed that some pieces not mentioned here will still be an upgrade for you based on item level alone. If you want to optimize yourself further for damage, then you should still simulate yourself.
Slot | Item | Source |
---|---|---|
Head |
|
|
Neck | ![]() |
Volcoross (Amirdrassil) |
Shoulders |
|
|
Cloak |
|
|
Chest |
|
|
Wrists | ![]() |
Magmorax (Aberrus) |
Gloves |
|
|
Belt | ![]() |
Igira the Cruel (Amirdrassil) |
Legs |
|
|
Boots | ![]() |
Tindral Sageswift (Amirdrassil) |
Ring 1 | ![]() |
Eranog (Vault of the Incarnates) |
Ring 2 |
|
|
Weapon (2h) | ![]() |
Rashok (Aberrus) |
Weapons (Dual Wield) |
|
|
Trinkets |
|
Recommended Crafted Gear and Embellishments
When gearing, you have the option to utilize profession gear to a greater
extent than ever before, including the ability to create powerful items at
an item level of up to 525. However, acquiring items of suitable strength is
limited by a unique reagent known as a Spark of Awakening, of which you
will only earn one every two weeks. Over time, you can utilize entire sets
of crafted gear if you are willing to create them (with or without the help of
the Crafting Orders system), but be warned that you cannot convert
crafted gear into tier pieces at the
Revival Catalyst.
In addition to having customizable secondary stats, there are a variety of powerful optional effects that are either innately present on crafted gear or can be manually added with extra reagents. These bonuses are known as embellishments, and you may have up to two effects present on equipped crafted gear at a time.
Ideal Gear to Craft
Due to the flexibility of crafted gear, such as the ability to specify your secondary stats along with your potential embellishment, you have many options available for gear to be created depending on items you have been able to obtain from other content sources. In general, however, some items are more likely to be useful for all Brewmaster Monks, which are listed below for convenience.
Slimy Expulsion Boots and
Toxified Armor Patch — Made with the help of Leatherworking, these boots will slightly reduce your Haste in exchange for frequently dealing bonus Nature damage to your target. Both of these effects can be increased by wearing another crafted item with the Toxified Armor Patch embellishment. During Dragonflight Season 4, this is to be your first priority to craft and upgrade.
- Armor and accessories, such as
Life-Bound Belt and
Torc of Passed Time — Created through Leatherworking and Jewelcrafting, pieces such as these are great for getting more of your desired secondaries in equipment slots that are difficult to find better alternatives for without getting lucky in the Great Vault.
Needlessly Complex Wristguards — These bracers can only be created by those with Engineering, but do not contribute toward the 2-item cap on embellishments. Instead, they uniquely feature only one secondary stat, along with a special tinker socket that can be used for additional Engineering "gems" known as tinkers, such as enabling a battle resurrection with
Tinker: Arclight Vital Correctors. Note that you do not need to be an Engineer to equip and make use of them.
- Weapons, such as
Primal Molten Longsword — Generally made by Blacksmithing, weapons offer a convenient power boost all around, though crafting them will be unnecessary if you are regularly clearing Awakened Raids for a chance at the best-in-slot weapons they contain.
There is one final effect to mention that uniquely does not count
as an embellishment when added to any crafted item that otherwise has no embellishment:
Alchemical Flavor Pocket. This item can be obtained from the weekly
Community Feast quest reward of
Supply-Laden Soup Pot or bought on the auction house. Consider creating
and equipping an item with this bonus for additional quality of life!
Brewmaster Awakened Tier Set - Wrappings of the Waking Fist
Dragonflight Season 4 features a re-issuing of tier sets and bonuses, with their respective appearance and bonuses being voted on by the community earlier. For Monk, this is the return of the Wrappings of the Waking Fist appearances from Vault of the Incarnates, with the Brewmaster bonuses of Amirdrassil. Pieces of this set can be earned from bosses featured in the current "Awakened" raid, which rotates every week, alongside any of the nine slots in the weekly Dragonflight Great Vault, and can also gradually be made at the Revival Catalyst as a catchup system. This Armor, when enough pieces of it are worn, unlocks two special bonuses for Brewmasters:
Monk Brewmaster 10.2 Class Set 2pc —
Breath of Fire deals 40% bonus damage as Shadowflame and causes you to heal for 50% of your fire damage dealt.
Monk Brewmaster 10.2 Class Set 4pc — Your attacks against targets afflicted by
Breath of Fire have a chance to deal 15% extra damage as Shadowflame, and each
Celestial Brew also grants a
Stagger absorb for 100% of the Shadowflame damage you have dealt, causing damage delayed by
Stagger to instead be prevented.
As there are five total slots, but only four needed to gain both equipment bonuses, we recommend that you consider ignoring the Helm piece in favor of the remaining four. However, getting your set bonuses takes priority over getting the "correct" pieces.
If you would like to learn more about these set bonuses and how they interact with your overall playstyle, we have dedicated a section of our rotation pageto further discussing them.
Choosing a Weapon
Brewmaster Monks are unique in that they can opt for either a two-handed weapon or to dual-wield one-handed weapons. This results in a massive amount of potential choices to consider. Although you will often opt for whichever choice has the higher item level or more Weapon DPS, there is some nuance to bear in mind.
Dual-wielding and Two-Hand Comparison
As you are acquiring weapons, you may have to, at times, decide between
dual-wielding a weapon in each hand or equipping a single two-handed option.
This decision may be a little more complicated than it first would seem, as
there is a hidden buff — called Windwalker Monk Two-Hand Adjustment
despite also affecting Brewmasters — which increases the damage of your
abilities by 2% when dual-wielding. However, many of your abilities do not
actually take a weapon in the off-hand into account for calculating their damage
dealt!
What this all ends up meaning is that when dual-wielding, your autoattack damage is greater, but when using a two-handed weapon, your ability damage is higher instead. However, if both of your dual-wielded weapons are enchanted, then they more than make up this difference in ability damage. Of course, this assumes all three weapons involved are the same item level and have identical secondary stats.
To summarize: when deciding between dual-wield and 2h, you can safely choose either option if it results in a higher total item level or amount of secondary stats. If you would like to know the best offensive option for your current selection of weapons, then it is still recommended to simulate your character for the best item available.
Weapons with Unique Effects in Dragonflight Season 4
Between Dungeons and the Awakened Raids, Dragonflight Season
4 features six weapons with unique effects that Brewmaster Monks
can equip: Djaruun, Pillar of the Elder Flame,
Rashon, the Immortal Blaze,
Borrowed Time,
Forgestorm,
Thorncaller Claw,
and
Gholak, the Final Conflagration. Each of them will be
very powerful, should you seek them out, and which remains best will be highly
dependent on your current gear.
Djaruun, Pillar of the Elder Flame
Djaruun, Pillar of the Elder Flame, from Rashok in
Aberrus is a two-handed polearm with a unique on-use
effect. Once every 2.5 minutes, you may activate it to immediately deal damage
to all nearby enemies and deal additional Fire damage with your melee abilities
for the next 10 seconds. Uniquely, this on-use effect does not trigger the 20-second
cooldown that normally occurs when wearing multiple trinkets with similar effects.
Although it is a two-handed weapon that is also poorly itemized and a
"very rare" drop from Rashok, this weapon's uniquely powerful on-use effect
handily pushes it over the competition, earning the position of strongest weapon
overall for you in Season 4.
Rashon, the Immortal Blaze
Rashon, the Immortal Blaze, from Fyrakk, the Blazing in
Amirdrassil, is a two-handed polearm with a chance to deal Shadowflame
damage to both your target and yourself. This effect is purely a bonus
in the weapon's overall damage budget, and even has the additional benefit of
dealing 400% more damage if your target still has at least 90% of their
maximum health remaining; it can also critically strike! Fortunately, this
increased damage effect does not apply to the damage it deals to you.
Due to this powerful effect, Rashon is the second-strongest available two-handed
weapon in Season 4.
Borrowed Time
Borrowed Time, from Dawn of the Infinite: Murozond's Rise,
is a two-handed polearm featuring the special
secondary stat of Timestrike. This stat gives your attacks a chance to create an
echo of their damage that strikes again 3 seconds later. Due to being
two-handed, featuring otherwise poor itemization, and being capped to a lower item
level with Dawn of the Infinite not being in the season's Mythic+ pool,
this weapon is the weakest of the unique choices in Dragonflight Season 4. However,
it can still prove viable if you obtain it early on.
Forgestorm
Forgestorm, from Neltharus, is a one-handed mace which
gives up having any Agility present on it to instead feature a potent fire effect.
While equipped, your attacks have a chance to ignite the weapon and deal bonus
AoE damage with every attack, split among nearby enemies. However, it
must be noted that you can only equip one Forgestorm
despite being able to dual-wield weapons as a Brewmaster Monk. Among your
one-handed options, this remains the strongest while also being uniquely farmable
from Mythic+ rather than relying on a raid drop.
Thorncaller Claw
Thorncaller Claw, from the Council of Dreams
Amirdrassil, is a more traditional choice for an Agility user. This
fist weapon comes with a chance to apply a strong Nature DoT effect roughly once
per minute. While your target is affected by this DoT, your attacks against them
will cause additional pulses of Nature damage on a 2-second cooldown, and it will
even spread to another enemy if the initial target is defeated. With that being
said, you may only equip one copy of this weapon, making it an ideal choice to
pair with
Forgestorm for dual-wielding as your best
possible dual-wield weapon combination.
Gholak, the Final Conflagration
Gholak, the Final Conflagration, from Fyrakk, the Blazing
in Amirdrassil, is a one-handed axe that has the exact same effect
as
Rashon, the Immortal Blaze, while still leaving you with the ability to
equip a second weapon in your other hand! However, Gholak is a weapon normally
intended for Strength users rather than Agility. This means that you will
be unable to loot it yourself directly from Fyrakk or even the Great Vault.
Despite these limitations, it remains among the strongest weapons you can equip when
dual-wielding this season.
Useful Trinkets
Trinkets are a gear slot that can provide shifting value across different areas of content. They are also the easiest piece to alter how offensive or defensive-minded you wish to be. Because of this, you should keep many of the trinkets you obtain and be ready to swap them out when the situation calls for it.
Bloodmallet can also be used to see a comprehensive grouping of all available trinkets for Brewmaster Monks organized by their damage capabilities. If the source of the trinket is not listed on mouseover, then it only appears from world quests or events and will be difficult to acquire.
Finally, note that the items are listed in order of their approximate strength. If a trinket is not discussed here, then it is not worth seeking out or holding onto due to its lackluster effects compared to the alternatives. In addition, remember that trinkets which deal Fire or Shadowflame damage do not interact with either of your tier set bonuses.
Offensive Dragonflight Raid Trinkets
Manic Grieftorch, from Broodkeeper Diurna in Vault of the Incarnates, provides you with a useful source of burst damage that also has massive potential in AoE. In addition, its cooldown can be substantially lowered in any content where you are grouped with other players that are at risk of death. It will be among your strongest possible trinkets, even before accounting for this extra cooldown reduction.
Spiteful Storm, from Raszageth the Storm-Eater in Vault of the Incarnates, performs best in extended encounters with a target. Due to having a one-second global cooldown, Brewmaster Monks are uniquely suited to reliably activating this trinket's stacking effects, making it among your best single-target options while remaining passive.
Storm-Eater's Boon, from Dathea, Ascended in Vault of the Incarnates, offers plenty of power — especially in AoE — but with the dangerous downside of being rooted for 10 seconds while activating the effect. However, you can still cast all of your abilities without cancelling the transformation, though you also cannot remove its root with effects such as
Tiger's Lust. Seek this trinket out as your strongest AoE trinket if you can bear the risk it also creates.
Bandolier of Twisted Blades, from Igira the Cruel in Amirdrassil, acts as a more "traditional" style of trinket, allowing you to activate it every 90 seconds and impale a blade to deal Physical damage to your target. Three seconds later, this blade will return to you and deal Shadowflame damage to all enemies in its path. Be mindful of its short range.
Dragonfire Bomb Dispenser, from Zskarn in Aberrus, is another on-use trinket that allows you to plant a bomb on your target which will detonate after seven seconds. Moreover, if the target dies before this time, it will immediately trigger a smaller AoE explosion, all on a 30-second cooldown that can also hold up to three total uses at a time. In addition, every 60 Critical Strikes, it will instantly grant an additional charge. This trinket's flexibility and interaction with your most desirable secondary stat make it an easy option to look for.
Beacon to the Beyond, from Scalecommander Sarkareth in Aberrus, is an on-use trinket with a hefty 2.5-minute cooldown that also has a two-second cast time on its effect while also only having Mastery as its stat. However, despite all of these quirks, it is a potent source of damage that can also critically strike.
Cataclysmic Signet Brand, from Smolderon in Amirdrassil, is a more passive trinket choice that provides a chance for your abilities to inflict a short Fire DoT effect to your target and grant you the Firestarter buff. This buff will increase the DoT's damage with every stack, while also causing you to suffer a portion of the damage at 5 or more stacks, and for it to deal a small amount of AoE damage at the max of 15 stacks. However, your stacks of Firestarter will quickly decay outside of combat, limiting its potential in shorter combat.
Offensive Dragonflight Dungeon Trinkets
Homeland Raid Horn, from Uldaman: Legacy of Tyr, is an on-use trinket with a two-minute cooldown that offers a bit of risk and reward to its behavior. When triggered, your location will be targeted by 6 fire swirls over three seconds. Any enemies within these will take a split portion of damage, but you can also be hit. So long as you are able to avoid the ground effects, this is an okay source of damage.
- If passive trinkets are more to your interest, then the
Mutated Magmammoth Scale from Neltharus can also be useful. With a proc rate of 2 per minute, you have a chance to grow flaming tentacles for 10 seconds, which will sweep at enemies in front of you every two seconds.
Defensive Dragonflight Raid Trinkets
Fyrakk's Tainted Rageheart, from Fyrakk, the Blazing, is considered a "very rare" trinket, and rightfully so for its effective hybrid power. While equipped, this trinket will passively deal Shadowflame damage to you and up to 8 nearby enemies every 3 seconds. It can also be activated once every 90 seconds to create a massive absorb shield and trigger additional, much larger Shadowflame pulses for 10 seconds. All of this combined results in the trinket being an incredibly potent defensive choice, while still remaining somewhat reasonable for offense.
All-Totem of the Master, from Kurog Grimtotem in Vault of the Incarnates, is a trinket that will rotate between four different elemental stances in 30-second intervals, provided you dodge or parry an attack. Each of these four stances provides a unique effect:
- Earth grants bonus Armor
- Fire applies a damage-over-time effect to an enemy.
- Air increases your Haste
- Ice heals you over time
Defensive Dragonflight Dungeon Trinkets
Treemouth's Festering Splinter, from Brackenhide Hollow, is an on-use defensive trinket that will slightly damage you in exchange for creating a particularly large absorb for up to 15 seconds. While it is present, 50% of your damage taken will be consumed by the absorb instead, which even includes the damage caused by the trinket itself! Due to having a low cooldown of 90 seconds in addition to its potent effect and on-use nature, allowing you to use it when you need it the most, this is among your best defensive trinket choices of Dragonflight Season 4.
Granyth's Enduring Scale, from The Nokhud Offensive, can generate an absorb shield for you once every 2 minutes that will both increase your Armor while it holds and deal Physical damage when removed. However, remember that Armor will only reduce your damage taken from Physical attacks, and that the absorb will only reduce a portion of your damage taken rather than all of it.
Prophetic Stonescales, from Dawn of the Infinite: Galakrond's Fall, is a familiar type of trinket known as a "cheat-death," activating only when you would have died to an attack. In this case, taking otherwise fatal damage will restore a large amount of health you had lost within the previous 10 seconds while also giving you a massive amount of Haste and damage reduction against any enemies that contributed to your "death" for the next 12 seconds, all on an 8-minute cooldown. Of course, its value is ultimately worthless if you are never in danger of dying in the first place, so choose carefully when you want to wear it.
- Due to being the only trinket of its type in Dragonflight, it may be still be worthwhile to acquire this as an emergency defensive option in the hardest content, though its item level will be capped to only 515 — 13 below the maximum. In addition, you will only have one chance per week to obtain it from Dawn of the Infinite.
Enchants and Sockets
Once you have obtained a piece of gear containing a prismatic socket or needing to be enchanted, you will need to know how to modify it. Details about these tweaks can be found on our dedicated gems, enchants, and consumables page.
Changelog
- 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Gear lists updated with Dragonflight Season 4 recommendations; added Antique Bronze Bullion purchase recommendations; created additional tables for unique weapons and trinkets.
- 19 Mar. 2024: Offensive raid trinket order revised; page reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Page reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 10 Nov. 2023: Slight gear adjustments based on recent hotfixes and simulation optimizations, particularly regarding trinkets.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Adjusted with new recommended Dungeon/Raid gear and Trinkets for Dragonflight Season 3; adjusted unique weapon discussion; added an explanation of Amirdrassil set bonus effects.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Page reformatted for Patch 10.1.7.
- 12 Jul. 2023: Mentioned the possibility of a higher item level Borrowed Time; rings reordered for better clarity.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Added Dawn of the Infinite gear; rings adjusted.
- 24 May 2023: Added mention of Firelands Timewalking trinkets and a recent Weapons of Order hotfix.
- 10 May 2023: Updated special weapon discussion due to updated simulations; offensive trinkets slightly revised.
- 03 May 2023: Embellishment/crafted gear priority modified; recommended tier slot "offpiece" changed based on recent simulations.
- 01 May 2023: Adjusted with new recommended Dungeon/Raid gear and Trinkets for Dragonflight Season 2; added sections on unique weapon effects and upgrade priorities.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 12 Jan. 2022: Added additional information on embellishments; adjusted dungeon trinket recommendations.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Dungeon gear revised and recommended raid gear added; trinkets substantially expanded for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
More Monk Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Sinzhu, a Mythic raider on US-Kil'jaeden who has passionately played Brewmaster for the past nine years. He also contributes to the Peak of Serenity and is a Moderator of the Monk Class Discord.
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