Brewmaster Monk Tank Guide — Dragonflight 10.2

Brewmaster Monk tanks are drunken brawlers capable of surviving all but the most deadly amounts of damage, turning the bulk of it into a unique damage-over-time effect known as Stagger that can be removed with their other abilities. By smoothing it out or dodging it entirely, this way of taking damage makes Brewmaster an incredibly desirable specialization for both progression raiding and dungeons. On top of this, a Brewmaster offers considerable utility and is incredibly mobile.

Note: the following guide will detail parts of tanking that are unique to Brewmaster Monks rather than a general tanking strategy. If you are new to the role of tanking in general, it is recommended to look into our tanking guide first.

Strengths

• Guaranteed smooth damage intake from Stagger and Shuffle for both Physical and Magic damage.
• Access to incredible mobility through the use of Roll, Tiger's Lust, and Transcendence.
• Large amount of flexibility in talents and playstyle, allowing you to opt for a more passive or active approach.
• Potent utility abilities, including Paralysis, Leg Sweep, and Ring of Peace.
• The ability to remove Poisons and Diseases with Detox.
• As a Monk, you can provide unique auras to yourself and allies with Windwalking, Generous Pour, and Close to Heart.
• The only source of the Mystic Touch debuff, shared with the other two Monk specs.

Weaknesses

• Lowest base Health of every tank specialization; this can rarely result in being more vulnerable to DoT effects.
• Large number of keybinds to keep track of, even with the most passive talent choices.
• Low self-sustain outside of Expel Harm and Celestial Fortune.
• Playstyle can sometimes be unintuitive, and mistakes can be punishing.
• May need to use Addons or WeakAuras to properly track Stagger, as the default UI is often insufficient.

In Dragonflight, Brewmaster Monk regained a lot of classic tools that have been taken away over time while also gaining a few new tricks, all contained within Dragonflight's extensive rework of the talent system. Among these returning effects are former legendary powers, a handful of Legion artifact traits, Azerite powers, and even some Anima Powers from Torghast. Not only that, but Brewmasters have also gained access to the powerful Rising Sun Kick ability previously limited to only Mistweavers and Windwalkers. There are more options than ever for tackling content as this incredibly versatile tank specialization.

Patch 10.2 has been a quiet one for Brewmaster Monks, with no new abilities to speak of outside of the usual new tier set. This time, it seems, Mistweaver is the spec to receive the bulk of the Monk attention. However, as Brewmaster was already in a solid enough place throughout the previous patch, this is not a bad thing. Rather, what may be the biggest deterrent could be a feeling of things being stale if you have been playing Brewmaster throughout Dragonflight.

Going into Amirdrassil, you can expect Brewmaster Monk to remain a frequent choice of tank for progression, with no notable encounters preying on its weaknesses. The opposite, in fact, is frequently true, with many of its fights rewarding tanks that are more mobile.

While leveling as a tank specialization can seem a bit inefficient, it comes with its benefits, such as the ability to pull more significant numbers of enemies while questing without being as concerned about survival, thanks to all your defensive skills. It can also give you valuable time to learn your rotation. After all, it can be overwhelming to reach the Level 70 cap and face the potential confusion of getting used to extra elements in your interface. Because of this, it is recommended to browse our list below of some basic Brewmaster addons and macros to make both your learning and leveling experiences easier.

Being a tank specialization, your main job is to stay alive at all times and to ensure that enemies are not attacking your other group members. Brewmaster Monks accomplish the first task by delaying a portion of all damage taken with the help of their Stagger passive, improving its power with the help of Shuffle, and negating some of that delayed damage with Purifying Brew or other effects. In addition, plenty of potential damage is dodged entirely with the help of their Mastery, Mastery: Elusive Brawler.

As for keeping the attention of enemies, a Brewmaster Monk converts their Energy into abilities such as Keg Smash, Tiger Palm, and Spinning Crane Kick that both deal damage and help improve the power of Stagger. Woven into this relationship of dealing damage to reduce damage taken are several abilities with no cost that work with other parts of the kit, such as Blackout Kick, allowing them to dodge more attacks, Breath of Fire setting enemies hit by Keg Smash on fire, or instantly killing most enemies with Touch of Death!

If the above sounds interesting and you would like to learn about even more abilities available to a Brewmaster, then please read the Spell List and Glossary, or if you would prefer a faster breakdown of the entire specialization, check out our Beginner Mode for this guide.

Should you instead be familiar with what a Brewmaster Monk can do already, you will benefit more from heading to our breakdown of Talents and the rotation to get a more in-depth look at what to expect.

While figuring out what to wear as an upgrade can be a challenging task, several tools are available to assist you with the decisions you face. If, for example, you are interested in a long-term goal of best-in-slot items, please see our gearing page for an idea of what to look for.

Beyond that, there is also the matter of knowing what stats to go for on your way to that best item or what improvements like enchantments, gems, or other consumables to use. Fortunately, there are additional pages dedicated to that information to help you along the way.

Once you have made it to the highest possible character level, you can begin your real journey in the three major end-game activities of Dragonflight: Raiding, Mythic+, and PvP. For whichever area you would like to focus more on — if not all three — we have guides to assist you with your Brewmaster Monk and make it easier to perform at your very best. However, when it comes to serious PvP, it is far more likely that you will be playing either Windwalker or Mistweaver, so they are shown instead.

After you have become familiar with playing as a Brewmaster Monk, you may benefit from checking out our pages on common mistakes or questions asked by people playing this specialization. Not everything will be apparent to everyone, right away, and these pages can hopefully clear up any confusion more quickly and allow you to improve further.