Brewmaster Monk Tank Gear and Best in Slot — The War Within (11.1.5)

Although the bulk of your ideal pieces of gear will come from selecting items within the Great Vault every week, raiding Mythic Liberation of Undermine, completing very high keys in Mythic+, or even acquiring items crafted by Professions using the Crafting Orders system and Spark of Fortunes, not all of this content will be feasible when first reaching max level in The War Within. Instead, your initial items will largely come from exploring the world and participating in Delves.

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.

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.

Continuing from previous seasons, The War Within retains the presence of currencies known as Valorstones and Undermine Crests, both obtainable from practically all forms of content in the game. They can be used to upgrade gear up to Item Level 678, which is Mythic Raid Item Level. They can also upgrade Crafted Gear up to 675 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.

Given the near-universal nature of gear upgrades, it can be difficult to figure out what items you should invest your limited amounts of Undermine 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:

1. Weapons — this slot represents your single largest increase in damage as a Brewmaster. By upgrading it, you will also increase your self-healing capabilities.
2. Trinkets — specifically, the top options listed in the full trinket breakdown below based on what you can obtain.

3.

Best-in-Slot (BiS) Gear for Brewmaster Monks

Overall Season 2 BiS List Liberation of Undermine BiS Gear Mythic+ BiS Gear

4.

Overall The War Within Season 2 Gear BiS List for Brewmaster Monks

This table contains loot from the Season 2 Mythic+ Dungeon pool, the Liberation of Undermine raid, and 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 675 or 678.

Slot	Item	Source
Head	Ageless Serpent's Mane	One-Armed Bandit Matrix Catalyst Great Vault
Neck	Flickering Glowtorc	Darkflame Cleft
Shoulders	Ageless Serpent's Shoulderpads	Rik Reverb Matrix Catalyst Great Vault
Cloak	Trashmaster's Mantle	Operation: Mechagon
Chest	Venture Co. Plenipotentiary Vest	The MOTHERLODE!!
Wrists	Rune-Branded Armbands (with Writhing Armor Banding and Algari Missive of the Quickblade)	Leatherworking (see note)
Gloves	Ageless Serpent's Handguards	Cauldron of Carnage Matrix Catalyst Great Vault
Belt	Adrenal Surge Clasp	Leatherworking
Legs	Ageless Serpent's Leggings	Stix Bunkjunker Matrix Catalyst Great Vault
Boots	Ageless Serpent's Ankleweights	Matrix Catalyst
Ring 1	Miniature Roulette Wheel (Vers/Crit)	One-Armed Bandit
Ring 2	The Jastor Diamond	Chrome King Gallywix
Weapon (2h)	Giga Bank-Breaker	One-Armed Bandit
Weapons (Dual Wield)	Capo's Molten Knuckles Gallywix's Iron Thumb	Mug'Zee Chrome King Gallywix
Trinkets	Geargrinder's Spare Keys (Damage) Grim Codex (Damage) Ringing Ritual Mud (Defense) Cinderbrew Stein (Defense) Tome of Light's Devotion (Hybrid)	Vexie and the Geargrinders Theater of Pain Operation: Floodgate Cinderbrew Meadery Priory of the Sacred Flame

BiS Weapon Disclaimer: In Season 2, your best choice for a weapon is to use a 2h over dual-wielding. However, the best-in-slot dual-wield choices ( Capo's Molten Knuckles and Gallywix's Iron Thumb) are effectively identical or even superior to the best two-handed choice ( Giga Bank-Breaker) for damage in lower target counts. Equip whichever BiS setup you acquire first, defaulting to a two-handed option when you are choosing between gear of the same item level.

4.

Liberation of Undermine Gear BiS List for Brewmaster Monks

This table exclusively contains loot from the Liberation of Undermine raid. Although it is potentially easier to acquire, particularly pieces of your Tier Set, you will only have one chance to obtain gear per boss on each difficulty every week. In addition, there may be alternative items that are obtained elsewhere as part of your overall best-in-slot gear. However, these are the items from just the raid to look for.

Slot	Item	Source
Head	Ageless Serpent's Mane	One-Armed Bandit Matrix Catalyst Great Vault
Neck	Gobfather's Gifted Bling	Mug'Zee
Shoulders	Ageless Serpent's Shoulderpads	Rik Reverb Matrix Catalyst Great Vault
Cloak	Test Pilot's Go-Pack	Sprocketmonger Lockenstock
Chest	Streamlined Cartel Uniform	Chrome King Gallywix
Wrists	Hustler's Ante-Uppers	One-Armed Bandit
Gloves	Ageless Serpent's Handguards	Cauldron of Carnage Matrix Catalyst Great Vault
Belt	Competitor's Battle Cord	Cauldron of Carnage
Legs	Ageless Serpent's Leggings	Stix Bunkjunker Matrix Catalyst Great Vault
Boots	Rushed Beta Launchers	Sprocketmonger Lockenstock
Ring 1	Miniature Roulette Wheel (Vers/Crit)	One-Armed Bandit
Ring 2	The Jastor Diamond	Chrome King Gallywix
Weapon (2h)	Giga Bank-Breaker	One-Armed Bandit
Weapons (Dual Wield)	Capo's Molten Knuckles Gallywix's Iron Thumb	Mug'Zee Chrome King Gallywix
Trinkets	Eye of Kezan (Damage) Geargrinder's Spare Keys (Damage) Chromebustible Bomb Suit (Defense)	Chrome King Gallywix Vexie and the Geargrinders Chrome King Gallywix

4.

Mythic+ Gear BiS List for Brewmaster Monks

This table exclusively contains loot from the Season 2 Mythic+ Dungeon pool. These pieces can be "farmed" without any limits, so long as you have access to a keystone for the dungeon in question. However, they will not be obtainable at their highest item level unless obtained from the Great Vault. This means the items here may not always be your absolute best-in-slot choices.

For pieces of your Tier Set in particular, you will be reliant on either the Great Vault or Matrix Catalyst to acquire them. If making use of the Catalyst, you may use any relevant Mythic+ item to create the tier item.

Slot	Item	Source
Head	Ageless Serpent's Mane	Matrix Catalyst Great Vault
Neck	Flickering Glowtorc	Darkflame Cleft
Shoulders	Ageless Serpent's Shoulderpads	Matrix Catalyst Great Vault
Cloak	Trashmaster's Mantle	Operation: Mechagon
Chest	Venture Co. Plenipotentiary Vest	The MOTHERLODE!!
Wrists	Servo-Arm Bindings	The MOTHERLODE!!
Gloves	Ageless Serpent's Handguards	Matrix Catalyst Great Vault
Belt	Mad King's Sporran	Operation: Mechagon
Legs	Ageless Serpent's Leggings	Matrix Catalyst Great Vault
Boots	Mercenary Miner's Boots	The MOTHERLODE!!
Ring 1	Ritual Bone Band	Theater of Pain
Ring 2	Ring of Perpetual Conflict	Siren Isle Theater of Pain
Weapon (2h)	Gallytech Turbo-Tiller	Operation: Floodgate
Weapons (Dual Wield)	Starforged Seraph's Mace Gorebound Predator's Gavel	Priory of the Sacred Flame Theater of Pain
Trinkets	Grim Codex (Damage) Improvised Seaforium Pacemaker (Damage) Cinderbrew Stein (Defense) Ringing Ritual Mud (Defense) Tome of Light's Devotion (Hybrid)	Theater of Pain Operation: Floodgate Cinderbrew Meadery Operation: Floodgate Priory of the Sacred Flame

Patch 11.1.5 of The War Within Season 2 offers a way to acquire specific items from Liberation of Undermine through the new Puzzling Cartel Chip. We currently do not know how to acquire these, but will update as more information becomes available.

We have compiled a list of high-value items that you should prioritize with your Cartel Chips in The War Within Season 2 as Brewmaster Monk. This list is not exhaustive or in order of priority, and you are best served by simming yourself for optimal results as the best pick will depend on the gear you already have available.

• Capo's Molten Knuckles — While dual-wielding weapons are only stronger than two-handed choices at lower target counts for Brewmaster Monks, this weapon is a "very rare" drop that is often in greater demand by DPS specializations. If you have not yet obtained a myth-track two-handed weapon, consider this and the following choice as your best possible dual-wield setup that shines especially bright in raiding.
• Gallywix's Iron Thumb — As with Capo's Molten Knuckles, only consider picking this weapon up if you do not already have a myth-track two-handed option to complete your best dual-wield weapon pair.
• The Jastor Diamond — Although it is a smaller upgrade, this ring is both "very rare" and in high demand by most specializations. Consider acquiring it this way instead of having to beat the odds on getting it over other players.
• Eye of Kezan — This trinket is not your strongest overall choice—those, instead, come from The Great Vault's Mythic+ slots. However, it is in high demand from many other specializations due in part to featuring all three Primary stats on its effect. If you are interested in one of the strongest options for longer raiding encounters in particular, look no further.
• Test Pilot's Go-Pack — There may be better cloaks available in terms of secondary stats for the season, but this option is both "very rare" and comes with a helpful on-use effect for a quick speed boost. If you do not particularly "need" the other choices above, you may consider this for a unique piece of cloak transmog if nothing else.

Cyrce's Circlet is a ring that was introduced in Patch 11.0.7 and linked to activities on Siren Isle. The ring has 3 unique sockets, which can each hold one type of special Singing Citrine obtainable on the isle. Each of the sockets has four citrines to choose from, for a total of 12, resulting in a lot of flexibility in deciding what to select.

Despite featuring an item level cap of 658, lower than other Season 2 gear, a fully-upgraded Cyrce's Circlet remains quite competitive with the alternative rings available. However, if you are unwilling to increase its item level to the max, it may be outclassed by sufficiently stronger gear; be sure simulate your character regularly as you acquire Season 2 rings to see if it is still worth using!

These are generally considered to be the best Singing Citrines, but it is highly recommended to sim yourself to figure out the best choices and combinations for your current gear and the specific stones or other rings you already own:

• In Raid or single-target environments, you will want to make use of:
  • Thunderlord's Crackling Citrine (Thunder)
  • Fathomdweller's Runed Citrine (Sea)
  • Windsinger's Runed Citrine/ Legendary Skipper's Citrine (Wind)
• In Mythic+ or AoE, you will instead use:
  • Stormbringer's Runed Citrine/ Thunderlord's Crackling Citrine (Thunder)
  • Fathomdweller's Runed Citrine (Sea)
  • Windsinger's Runed Citrine/ Legendary Skipper's Citrine (Wind)

Your general Citrine priority should slightly favor raw damage effects in single-target, and secondary stats in AoE.

Although the increased proc strength of Legendary Skipper's Citrine outweighs the moments when it triggers "unnecessary" bonuses, its inability to trigger Roaring War-Queen's Citrine hinders its total power. Consider wearing Windsinger's Runed Citrine at all times if you prefer a more consistent effect.

For more information on how to get Cyrce's Circlet, as well as acquiring all of the different Singing Citrines that you can possibly socket into it, check out our Cyrce's Circlet guide below!

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 636. However, acquiring items of suitable strength is limited by a unique reagent known as a Spark of Fortunes, 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 Matrix 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.

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. For any items where you are able to customize their secondaries, we recommend using an Algari Missive of the Quickblade to select Critical Strike and Versatility.

• Adrenal Surge Clasp — crafted by Leatherworkers, the Adrenal Surge Clasp is a tank-oriented belt with a unique built-in embellishment effect. While worn, taking damage has a chance to grant a large Agility buff while also temporarily reducing your Mastery by a small amount. Despite this downside, the bonuses to your offensive and defensive powers are noteworthy in AoE while still remaining reliably strong in single-target. Plus, this belt comes with Critical Strike and Versatility, which is otherwise a rare stat combination on other Season 2 belts.
• Embellished Armor featuring a Writhing Armor Banding — made through Leatherworking, any armor piece can optionally include the Writhing Armor Banding embellishment, doubling the effects of your Adrenal Surge Clasp!
  • Although this embellishment effect may be optimally crafted in the bracer or chest slots ( Rune-Branded Armbands/ Rune-Branded Tunic), your choice may be affected by what tier pieces you have acquired. So long as you have crafted in the bracer, chest, cloak, glove, or boot slots, you will be gearing properly.
• Jewelry, such as Amulet of Earthen Craftsmanship or Ring of Earthen Craftsmanship — made by Jewelcrafters, crafted jewelry is an easy way to acquire a large amount of your preferred secondary stats while also nearly matching the strength of the absolute best-in-slot choices available for the season. Consider crafting for your Neck or a Ring slot with a Algari Missive of the Quickblade to bypass needing to get one of the few crit/vers rings in Season 2.
• Weapons, such as Everforged Longsword or Vagabond's Careful Crutch — made by Blacksmiths or Scribes, crafted weapons can offer some of your biggest damage gains if you are unable to obtain any of the season's unique effect weapons at their higher item levels. Depending on your goals for a character, crafting a weapon may even make sense as your first choice and still can feature a useful embellishment ( Elemental Focusing Lens).

Season 2 of The War Within features a new set of Monk-themed gear to collect, known as the Ageless Serpent's Foresight set. Pieces of this armor can be earned from bosses in the Liberation of Undermine raid, alongside any of the nine slots in the weekly Great Vault, and can also gradually be made at the Matrix Catalyst as a catchup system. This armor, when enough pieces of it are worn, unlocks two special bonuses for Brewmasters:

• Monk Brewmaster 11.1 Class Set 2pc — Each time you take damage you have a chance to activate Luck of the Draw! causing you to cast Fortifying Brew for 6 seconds. Your damage done is increased by 15% for 8 seconds after Luck of the Draw! activates.
• Monk Brewmaster 11.1 Class Set 4pc — When you gain Luck of the Draw!, your next 2 casts of Blackout Kick deal 250% increased damage and have their cooldown reduced by 2 seconds.

As there are five total slots, but only four are needed to gain both equipment bonuses, we recommend that you consider ignoring the Chest piece in favor of the remaining four. However, getting your set bonuses takes priority over getting the "correct" pieces, and in this season especially, all five remain very close in overall performance.

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 page to further discussing them.

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.

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 generally can 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.

9.

Weapons with Unique Effects in The War Within Season 2

Between Dungeons, Delves, and the Liberation of Undermine, The War Within Season 2 features three weapons with unique effects that Brewmasters can equip: Capo's Molten Knuckles, Gallywix's Iron Thumb, and Befouler's Syringe. They are all very powerful, should you seek them out, and which remains best will be highly dependent on your current gear.

Capo's Molten Knuckles Gallywix's Iron Thumb Befouler's Syringe

8.2.

Capo's Molten Knuckles

Capo's Molten Knuckles, from Mug'Zee in Liberation of Undermine, is a unique-equip fist weapon that may be obtained as a "very rare" drop. In exchange for having no secondary stats, it features a passive effect that triggers bonus Fire damage to your primary target roughly 2 times per minute. After each proc, you will also deal a smaller amount of Fire damage as AoE over the next 5 seconds.

If you are lucky enough to acquire it, this weapon represents one half of your strongest dual-wield choices for the season (alongside Gallywix's Iron Thumb), offering an excellent blend of priority-target damage and bonus AoE. However, it may be beaten by a stronger two-handed option.

8.2.

Gallywix's Iron Thumb

Gallywix's Iron Thumb, from Chrome King Gallywix in Liberation of Undermine is a one-handed Mace. Although it has questionable secondary stats for a Brewmaster, it drops at a higher base item level and also features a bonus effect: while equipped, your attacks have a chance to apply a Shadow DoT to the target with no duration, stacking up to 25 times; this may occur roughly 5 times per minute.

This weapon represents the other half of your strongest dual-wield choices for Season 2 (alongside Capo's Molten Knuckles), though its value depends upon targets living long enough for the DoT to become substantial. As such, it may be beaten by a stronger two-handed option, particularly for shorter encounters. However, it should be mentioned that Gallywix's Iron Thumb is not unique-equipped, allowing you to wield two of them!

8.2.

Befouler's Syringe

Befouler's Syringe is somewhat unique even among "unique" weapons in that it can be obtained as a very rare drop from any Nerubian-themed content, including Nerubian Delves, Dungeons, or the three "World/Delve" slots of the Great Vault. However, this means that its maximum item level is effectively capped to the Veteran, Champion, or Hero upgrade tracks, which are 645/658/665.

With all of these potential restrictions, what power does it have to justify them? This polearm features no Agility, instead having a passive damage effect. At roughly 3 procs per minute, your attacks apply Befouled Blood to the enemy, a 10-second DoT. If a target with Befouled Blood perishes, it will instead become the Befouler's Bloodlust buff on you, empowering your next melee attack to deal additional Nature damage.

Although the passive damage effects of Befouler's Syringe are strong enough to outweigh the lack of Agility and even be better than weapons at similar item levels, its reduced maximum cap of up to 665 (exclusively when obtained from the Great Vault) greatly limits its potential for players that can acquire Myth track gear that can instead be upgraded to 678. Indeed, players can similarly choose to craft 675 weapons with their Spark of Fortunes instead, outclassing this rare weapon. With that being said, it is equally usable by Strength classes, making warbound versions helpful for gearing alts.

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.

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.