Brewmaster Monk Tank Spec, Builds, and Talents — The War Within (11.1.5)

While optimizing talents on a contextual basis is the highly recommended method of setting up your build, the talent tree listed below will work well for general purposes such as Delves, world content, and entry-level dungeons and raids. It is still highly recommended to switch to a more specialized build if engaging in something specific.

When making use of this build in Delves in particular, it is recommended to take advantage of the Shado-Pan Hero Talents due to their additional buff to your Vivify ability through Protect and Serve, which should be used with Vivacious Vivification procs for reliable self-sufficiency. You may still use Master of Harmony talents instead, of course!

Remember that you can easily import the talent tree below into the game with the "Export Talents" button:

The following build is focused on your performance within raid encounters. As such, it does not opt into utility that is rarely seen within a raid or can be covered by another player instead. However, it also chooses to use a point of High Tolerance and Anvil & Stave for defense, as well as Ox Stance. If this is not necessary and you wish to push your damage even further, drop one of them in favor of Chi Surge or consider switching Quick Footed for Fatal Touch.

As for Hero Talents, the Master of Harmony tree's extra bonuses to Celestial Brew and Purifying Brew are an excellent complement to a defensive playstyle, offering some extra control over your survival and rewarding you with more vitality from the higher damage intake of a raid.

Remember that you can easily import the talent tree below into the game with the "Export Talents" button:

Once you are appropriately comfortable with your playstyle as a Brewmaster Monk, consider switching to this set of talents to fully maximize your single-target damage potential. Be aware that it will require you to make use of Blackout Combo, Charred Passions, and Black Ox Brew in particular. As this build is still focused primarily on raiding, it will similarly not have all of your available utility selected. In fact, you may end up dropping further options, such as Peace and Prosperity, in favor of easier Touch of Death usage with Improved Touch of Death. If this build's choices seem too daunting, you can even opt for somewhere in between it and our Default raiding talents, keeping Bob and Weave and Dragonfire Brew.

For Hero Talents, the Shado-Pan tree acts as a clear winner once you are optimizing purely for damage due to its greater synergy with Tiger Palm's and Keg Smash's many damage buffs, though it does also rely on optimizing your Wisdom of the Wall Shadow buffs. However, its defensive potential is often a little lower in a raid environment where dodging may not be as consistent, and you have little need to use Vivacious Vivification. If you are unwilling to optimize for Wisdom of the Wall, then Master of Harmony may still be better once you have acquired your Monk Brewmaster 11.1 Class Set 4pc bonus.

Remember that you can easily import the talent tree below into the game with the "Export Talents" button:

Dungeons feature a lot more talent flexibility due to the variety of scenarios you will encounter, such as whether or not you need an extra defensive cooldown in the form of Dampen Harm compared to the passive Dodge of Dance of the Wind, or if you want to opt for a more passive experience with Dragonfire Brew.

Although this build features the Master of Harmony Hero Talents, you can easily switch to Shado-Pan instead. Master of Harmony's damage output will be a bit lower by comparison in exchange for stronger Purifying Brew casts and a second charge of Celestial Brew, though this does improve once you acquire your Monk Brewmaster 11.1 Class Set 4pc bonus. Fortunately, Shado-Pan's Predictive Training is noticeably potent in AoE tanking, and Protect and Serve pairs nicely with Vivacious Vivification for additional self-healing to offset slightly less defensive control.

Remember that you can easily import the talent tree below into the game with the "Export Talents" button:

As you grow more comfortable playing a Brewmaster Monk in Mythic+, this build can be switched to for a large gain in your damage output and only a small sacrifice to your defenses. Like the advanced raiding build, this is done with the help of Blackout Combo, Black Ox Brew and Wisdom of the Wall Shadow buffs, though you will still be punished if unable to reliably hit Blackout Kick on cooldown. However, much of the talent flexibility from the standard Mythic+ build for defense and utility still applies. Make sure you are still willing to switch to Dampen Harm as needed, for example!

When you are using this build, your playstyle will also change slightly. With these talents, you will be consuming all of your Blackout Combo buffs on empowering Tiger Palm. This damage bonus is strong enough that you will not be casting Spinning Crane Kick outside of massive pulls! In addition, due to the Monk Brewmaster 11.1 Class Set 4pc bonus, you may occasionally have fast-paced moments of doing back-to-back Tiger Palm combos. With all of these changes combined, you will still maintain an active rotation with minimal downtime and achieve the greatest damage output possible from a Brewmaster.

As a final note, this build is equally useful for both the Shado-Pan and Master of Harmony Hero Talents. Due to the latter's Overwhelming Force passive, your empowered Blackout Kick casts provide a lot of damage in smaller pull counts while still keeping up in larger ones. Your main deciding factor should come down to how you prefer to handle your defense and whether or not you are triggering massive bursts of AoE with Shadow damage Wisdom of the Wall procs on Shado-Pan, alongside larger pulls for more Keg Smash damage.

Remember that you can easily import the talent tree below into the game with the "Export Talents" button:

Highlighting the unique amount of flexibility available through talent trees, the following build is intended for trivial content that you wish to get through as quickly as possible, such as old raids or previous expansion features. It makes use of talents that are otherwise not taken during your time in The War Within, though you should further complement it with other speed-boosting effects such as a Charged Phial of Alacrity and Exquisitely Eviscerated Muscle.

Remember that you can easily import the talent tree below into the game with the "Export Talents" button: