Brewmaster Monk Tank Nerub-ar Palace Raid Guide — The War Within (Season 1)
On this page, you will find tips, tricks, and strategies tailored to your Brewmaster Monk for each boss of the following raid: Nerub-ar Palace. All our content is updated for World of Warcraft — The War Within (Season 1).
Introduction
Below, you can find class and spec-specific advice for every fight in Nerub-ar Palace. If you are looking for a general overview of the Raid that is not spec-specific, check out our dedicated Nerub-ar Palace guides.
This page assumes that you already understand most of the mechanics of each encounter. These can be found on the full raid guide, so what is contained here are details specifically tailored toward Brewmaster Monk and how you can deal with each fight as best as possible.
All recommendations are progression-based tips and will not necessarily be the best for an overall Tank ranking.
Nerub'ar Palace Boss Guides for Brewmaster Monk
Nerub'ar Palace Raid Builds, Tips, and Tricks for Brewmaster Monk
Tips for Ulgrax the Devourer for Brewmaster Monk
Defensive Tips
- When to taunt: After every cast of Brutal Crush. Aim to have a defensive cooldown or Celestial Brew ready for each hit, as you will be unable to receive healing for 10 seconds afterward due to Tenderized.
Cooldown Usage
- There are no unique cooldown timings to worry about for your damage.
Mechanical Tips
- During each intermission, damage from the Ravenous Spawns will increase the longer they are alive. Gather and defeat them as quickly as possible
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
Tips for Bloodbound Horror for Brewmaster Monk
Defensive Tips
- When to taunt: After every cast of Gruesome Disgorge. Do not stand in its cone if you are not actively tanking!
Cooldown Usage
- There are no unique cooldown timings to worry about for your damage.
Mechanical Tips
- As the tank, you are responsible for interrupting and tanking the Lost Watcher while in The Unseeming. Move it between the Forgotten Harbinger spawns to enable better cleaving; they are a higher priority to defeat than the Watcher.
- In The Unseeming, make use of Paralysis and Ring of Peace to keep any Blood Horrors from reaching the boss.
- The Bloodbound Horror's Spewing Hemorrhage beams will spawn 90 degrees to the left and right of it and slowly rotate. Face the boss accordingly so that your allies in The Unseeming can have as much time as possible to defeat the adds!
- Transcendence can be used to quickly return to the boss after each cast of Goresplatter, and can also get around Spewing Hemorrhage beams.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
Tips for Sikran for Brewmaster Monk
Note: this section will be far more fleshed out as the Season progresses and additional tips/tricks are found.
Defensive Tips
- When to taunt: After two hits of Expose during each combo of Captain's Flourish. Do not be hit by Phase Lunge if you are debuffed by Expose.
Cooldown Usage
- There are no unique cooldown timings to worry about for your damage.
Mechanical Tips
- You can make use of Transcendence to quickly get back to the boss after running away from each cast of Shattering Sweep.
- Make sure you are not standing in the path of any Phase Blades as you maneuver Sikran around the room and away from the Cosmic Simulacrums.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
Tips for Rasha'nan for Brewmaster Monk
Defensive Tips
- When to taunt: Tanking and swapping on this fight are tied to the lingering Savage Wound DoT from each cast of Savage Assault. The more of this hit you mitigate or absorb with defensive cooldowns and Celestial Brew, the longer you can tank without the Wound's DoT becoming overwhelming.
Cooldown Usage
- There are no unique cooldown timings to worry about for your damage.
Mechanical Tips
- You or your cotank must be in melee range of the boss at all times, or she will cast Tacky Burst.
- Infested Spawn will create adds of the same name, which must be aggro'd (preferably while not actively tanking the boss). Take advantage of Leg Sweep and other stuns to reduce how often they can cast Infested Bite.
- If you are soaking Web Reave, take advantage of Lighter Than Air and Transcendence to negate the pulling effect.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
Tips for Broodtwister Ovi'nax for Brewmaster Monk
Defensive Tips
- When to taunt: After each cast of Volatile Concoction. Consider talenting into Vivacious Vivification and casting Vivify right as the debuff from this ability is about to expire so that your health is as high as possible and the final explosion of Nature damage is reduced.
Cooldown Usage
- There are no unique cooldown timings to worry about for your damage.
Mechanical Tips
- Ingest Black Blood will be cast on the canister of Black Blood that is closest to the boss. You get to decide which section of the room's eggs to deal with as a result.
- Keep the boss along the edge of the active pool of Sanguine Overflow (created after he casts Ingest Black Blood) so your fellow Raiders can hatch eggs more easily with Experimental Dosage. Do not allow any adds from the eggs to touch this Overflow, or they will be significantly empowered.
- Tiger's Lust can remove the Sticky Web debuff from players, but be careful not to root anyone with the Web Eruption triggered by doing so!
- Colossal Spiders, hatched from Colossal Eggs are the add that must be handled by you or your cotank. Do not underestimate their Vicious Bite, especially if they have been empowered by Sanguine Overflow.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
Tips for Nexus-Princess Ky'veza for Brewmaster Monk
Defensive Tips
- When to taunt: After each cast of Void Shredders. This will also leave a nasty DoT on you, and you will be slain by Reaper if you ever fall below 10% HP. Commit extra defensives if you need to when getting low on health.
Cooldown Usage
- There are no unique cooldown timings to worry about for your damage.
Mechanical Tips
- This boss will always create one Nether Rift directly in front of her, along with one at every Nether Phantom's location. Position her before this mechanic to split the suction's strength on the raid across multiple rifts pulling in different directions.
- Being hit by any additional mechanics will trigger additional applications of the Queensbane DoT and make you more at risk of dying to Reaper.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
Tips for The Silken Court for Brewmaster Monk
Defensive Tips
- When to taunt: After each of Anub'arash's Piercing Strikes. While Skeinspinner Takazj does need a tank to hold threat on her, she does not feature a specific swapping mechanic. Instead, she will continuously apply Poison Bolt and Void Bolt to her target, leaving a DoT that can be dispelled.
Cooldown Usage
- For the most part, there are no unique cooldown timings to worry about for optimizing your damage. However, there will be brief periods where each boss will take 100% more damage. Aim to trigger Aspect of Harmony in these moments.
Mechanical Tips
- Detox can be used to dispel the debuff from Poison Bolt.
- Skeinspinner Takazj will frequently teleport around the room and remain in her current position. Continue moving Anub'arash to her location over the course of the encounter for increased cleave damage from your raid.
- Leg Sweep and Ring of Peace can be used to help keep Shattershell Scarabs away from their fixated targets.
- Touch of Death acts as a quick and convenient way to free any players that have been Impaled by Anub'arash's Impaling Eruption.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
Tips for Queen Ansurek for Brewmaster Monk
Defensive Tips
- When to taunt:
- Phase 1: After each cast of Liquefy. Do not be hit by Feast while debuffed from this ability.
- Phase 3: After each cast of Infest, or a channel of Gorge has finished.
Cooldown Usage
- In Phase 1 save your Exploding Keg, Chi Burst, and a cast of Keg Smash for Silken Tomb. Touch of Death or Tiger's Lust can also be used to remove its root from yourself or another player.
- In Phase 2, Touch of Death may be immediately used on the Devoted Worshipper due to Worshipper's Protection converting all of its health to an absorb shield. You should also be ready to use Exploding Keg and Keg Smash on the Caustic Skitterers found on each web bridge.
- In Phase 3, ensure you have a cooldown ready for Infest, and be ready to make use of Leg Sweep and Ring of Peace on the Gloom Hatchlings created when the debuff expires.
Mechanical Tips
- Phase 1:
- Brewmasters are more naturally suited to tanking Liquefy rather than Feast. Keep Queen Ansurek near previously-spawned pools of Acid to increase the amount of available space in the room later.
- If you do end up tanking Feast instead, be aware that you will be under a heavy healing absorb. Do not be afraid to commit an extra use of Purifying Brew during this to stay especially safe, alongside a cast of Vivify through Vivacious Vivification.
- Intermission/Phase 2:
- Wrest's pull can be countered with either Lighter Than Air or Transcendence, but ensure you are still far enough away to react in time.
- Be careful to not be knocked off the platform by a Chamber Guardian's Oust casts!
- Phase 3:
- Brewmasters are more naturally suited to tanking Infest, taking advantage of mobility to spawn the Gloom Hatchlings somewhat far from the boss and controlling them with Leg Sweep and Ring of Peace.
- Transcendence can be used in an emergency to get around the collapsing ring of Frothing Gluttony, but be aware that Queen Ansurek will jump to the active tank's position after the ability has finished. Move accordingly.
- Be ready to pick up Acolyte's Essence from a slain Acolyte, but you may only do so once due to becoming Essence Scarred after clearing it with a Abyssal Conduit during Frothing Gluttony.
- Position Queen Ansurek near the "leading" Acolyte in each set spawned from Queen's Summons. In addition, keep her near the Royal Shackles created by Royal Condemnation in Heroic.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
General Defensive Usage Notes
Brewmaster Monk has several defensive spells that you should plan to use and rotate throughout mechanics. You should opt to use the smaller cooldown spells often as needed with incoming hits and save bigger cooldowns like Fortifying Brew for large incoming damage.
- Purifying Brew
- Celestial Brew
- Dampen Harm
- Diffuse Magic
- Zen Meditation
General Cooldown Usage
Brewmaster Monk has a few cooldowns to think about using optimally on the fights in Nerub-ar Palace:
- Fortifying Brew — Your largest defensive cooldown. Despite its lengthy 6-minute cooldown, its actual recharge time is closer to 2-3 minutes due to cooldown reduction effects from your Keg Smash and Tiger Palm rotational abilities.
- Weapons of Order — Although this is primarily a damage cooldown, it does also increase your Mastery (and therefore your dodge chance) for a lengthy period on a relatively short cooldown.
- Purifying Brew/ Celestial Brew — These two abilities represent your "primary" mitigation abilities, with Purifying Brew being cast right after taking a hit of damage and Celestial Brew being used to shield against future damage. More information on using them appropriately, along with the core Brewmaster passive of Stagger, can be found on our rotation page.
- Dampen Harm — An often misunderstood cooldown, this ability grants additional damage reduction against instances of damage depending on how dangerous they are. While active, all damage taken will be reduced by at least 20%, with hits for your maximum health or more being reduced by 50% and everywhere in between for smaller ones.
- Diffuse Magic — Not only can this cooldown provide a large amount of damage reduction against Magical attacks, but it can also be used to dispel yourself of dangerous mechanics!
- Zen Meditation — This cooldown offers an incredibly large amount of damage reduction, but will be broken if you attempt to move, take other actions, or are hit by a melee attack. Save it for dangerous tankbusters or a nasty DoT while you are not actively tanking.
In addition to the general rotation, you want to keep in mind that your goal is to use your cooldowns as often as possible during an encounter. With that in mind, your secondary goal is to use them at the correct time.
We highly suggest using some Addon or WeakAura to track the estimated time to die of your target/boss target. Method Raid Tools has this as an option if you are already using this addon. By tracking time to die, if you know that you can only fit one more cycle of your cooldowns in before the boss dies, you can choose to hold these cooldowns to better line up with Bloodlust, your Potion, or even your other cooldowns, trying to look for opportunities to stack all of them.
Resetting Encounters with Transcendence
All Monk specializations — but especially Brewmasters — are capable of resetting most boss encounters with the use of Transcendence and Transcendence: Transfer. This can be especially useful in a progression environment to save on repair costs and allow players to keep their consumable buffs, such as food from a Feast of the Divine Day. All you have to do as a Monk is place your Transcendence spirit beyond the area that will normally be closed off after engaging the boss. Then, if you would like to reset the encounter, get the boss's attention with Provoke and teleport outside the encounter area with Transcendence: Transfer. If done successfully, the boss will follow you outside and despawn.
Unless otherwise used during an encounter or mentioned in its tips section, it is highly recommended to get into the habit of setting up this form of fight reset. However, you should never feel forced to do so if there is a point in an encounter that you prefer having access to one of your most powerful mobility tools.
Changelog
- 28 Sep. 2024: Queen Ansurek tips added; talent builds modified.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Guide added.
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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