Brewmaster Monk Torghast Guide and Best Anima Powers — Shadowlands 9.2

This section of the guide is devoted to maximizing your performance as a Brewmaster Monk throughout runs of Torghast, Tower of the Damned. If you would like more details about how Torghast works in general, please see our separate pages dedicated to it in the links below.

While Torghast is meant to be an enjoyable experience regardless of specialization, group size, or role, Brewmaster Monks will still have an arguably easier time than many other specializations. Bearing high mobility, strong defenses, and consistent amounts of damage in both single-target and AoE, most of what would challenge others can become just another inconvenience with proper knowledge. However, some parts of Torghast as a Monk can be a bit of a nuisance as well.

Solo runs, in particular, will heavily involve your own ability to self-heal rather than smoothing out damage for others to then take care of. In addition, damage dealt on higher floors can be inconsistent depending upon which Anima Powers are offered to you. Regardless of these downsides, Torghast will provide an excellent opportunity to perhaps try out certain pieces of Gear, Legendary Powers, and even Talents that would not otherwise see use!

1. Stormstout's Last Keg
2. Charred Passions
3. Fatal Touch
4. Stable Phantasma Lure

With the large number of enemies you will be fighting simultaneously on a floor of Torghast, Stormstout's Last Keg acts as an extremely effective damage increase to Keg Smash. In addition, the second charge can enable you to use two casts in quick succession for a bit of burst damage.

Charred Passions serves a similar role as a large damage increase by improving the strength of both Blackout Kick and Spinning Crane Kick. Usually, this Legendary and Stormstout's Last Keg are fairly close in offensive value for the variety of encounters in Torghast. However, certain Anima Powers will increase the damage of Spinning Crane Kick and Blackout Kick, which also increases the bonus damage of Charred Passions. Ultimately, you can pick what you prefer between this Legendary Power and Stormstout's Last Keg in general, but should strongly consider Charred Passions if you come across any buffs to the abilities it empowers during a run.

Fatal Touch is an interesting Legendary Power that is meant to enhance Touch of Death. With the help of some of the more unique Anima Powers available in Torghast like Fatal Flying Guillotine, Touch of Death becomes all the more deadly and fun to have available as often as possible. It should be noted that with this Legendary Power and two copies of the 36 Pressure Point Technique Anima Power, your Touch of Death will have no cooldown!

If Phantasma is more your concern throughout your ascension, then you may want to consider using Stable Phantasma Lure to increase the amount acquired for both you and your party if not playing alone. That being said, most of the time you will obtain as much Phantasma as you need in a run and will not need to worry about having access to this particular Legendary Power.

Want to know more about a Legendary Power not covered in this short list? If so, please do not hesitate to check out the Legendary section of this guide below.

As part of the mechanics of Torghast, Tower of the Damned, some of the Anima Powers you encounter will interact with both your Covenant's Class and Signature abilities. Since many of these powers modify the Class abilities in exciting ways, there is no true "best" Covenant choice across every possible run. With that being said, the Kyrian Covenant can act as a simple catch-all choice for a slightly easier time due to having access to an extra form of self-healing in Phial of Serenity via the Signature ability Summon Steward.

If you would like to know more about each of the Covenant choices for Brewmasters and what content they may perform best in, please see this section of the guide devoted to it.

Level	Choices
15	✗ Eye of the Tiger	✓ Chi Wave	✓ Chi Burst
25	? Celerity	✓ Chi Torpedo	✓ Tiger's Lust
30	✓ Light Brewing	? Spitfire	? Black Ox Brew
35	✗ Tiger Tail Sweep	✓ Summon Black Ox Statue	✓ Ring of Peace
40	✗ Bob and Weave	✓ Healing Elixir	✓ Dampen Harm
45	? Special Delivery	✓ Rushing Jade Wind	? Exploding Keg
50	✓ High Tolerance	? Celestial Flames	✗ Blackout Combo

✘ Eye of the Tiger

✔ Chi Wave

✔ Chi Burst

With Torghast containing multiple periods of both Single Target and AoE damage, Eye of the Tiger remains a convenient source of passive damage and healing without altering the Brewmaster rotation significantly. Be aware that the Anima Power Grandmaster's Cypher will grant you this Talent for free and allow you to select another option on the row if chosen.

If you do not mind the added complexity, Chi Wave or Chi Burst are the more useful Talents for the large clusters of enemies you will encounter in a run. Chi Burst in particular can also be aimed to help heal your allies if doing a run in a group rather than playing solo.

? Celerity

✔ Chi Torpedo

✔ Tiger's Lust

As there are certain Anima Powers that activate from using Roll, Celerity may prove to be useful in some runs of Torghast when it would otherwise not be recommended in other forms of content. Be aware that the Anima Power Grandmaster's Gift will also grant you this Talent for free and allow you to select another option on the row if chosen.

With large floors to cover and an inability to mount, Chi Torpedo can provide a potent increase to overall movement speed over time and greatly speed up a run.

Many of Torghast's traps and enemy abilities do include the ability to snare or root players, which can make Tiger's Lust an invaluable tool to get around these mechanics without difficulty.

✔ Light Brewing

? Spitfire

? Black Ox Brew

Both Light Brewing and Black Ox Brew continue to be a fairly even choice in performance. The decision is ultimately up to how much complexity you desire or if you feel the need for additional Energy. Be aware that the Anima Power Grandmaster's Lesson will also grant you the Light Brewing Talent for free and allow you to select another option on the row if you have chosen it.

Spitfire deserves a special mention as being a possibly useful Talent within Torghast, provided you are making use of Charred Passions as a legendary and are acquiring Anima Powers that increase the damage of Blackout Kick or Spinning Crane Kick.

✘ Tiger Tail Sweep

✔ Summon Black Ox Statue

✔ Ring of Peace

Tiger Tail Sweep may not be recommended for use in Torghast, but be aware that the Anima Power Grandmaster's Invocation will grant you access to this Talent for free and allow you to select another option on the row if chosen.

When playing solo, Summon Black Ox Statue may not be as useful for gathering up enemies, as all targets will be after you rather than anyone else. However, if in a group it can still prove helpful, especially when making use of Provoke's AoE taunt effect on the statue.

Ring of Peace can be used regardless of being solo or in a group as a means to buy extra time if you need to get away from dangerous enemies for a quick cast of Vivify. Do not forget that it can also act as an additional way to stop a dangerous caster from finishing their attack!

✘ Bob and Weave

✔ Healing Elixir

✔ Dampen Harm

For the most part, Bob and Weave does not provide a useful defensive benefit within Torghast, as you will be more reliant on your own healing and survival rather than receiving help from others. However, please be aware that the Anima Power Grandmaster's Legacy will grant you access to this Talent for free and allow you to select another option on the row if you have chosen it.

Healing Elixir provides you with a much-needed source of self-healing while within Torghast and is especially useful if playing solo.

Though Dampen Harm is situationally useful in solo runs, it will be more effective if in a group with a healer that can make up for you not having the extra self-sufficiency of Healing Elixir.

? Special Delivery

✔ Rushing Jade Wind

? Exploding Keg

As there are no Anima Powers that interact with the strength of talents in this section, Rushing Jade Wind remains the default pick. However, be aware that the Anima Power Grandmaster's Mythos will enable the use of Special Delivery and allow you to select another talent on this row if it is already chosen.

✔ High Tolerance

? Celestial Flames

✘ Blackout Combo

High Tolerance remains the most consistently useful option for both defense and offense with its passive increase to your Stagger and Haste values. Be aware, however, that the Anima Power Grandmaster's Ultimatum will also grant you access to this Talent for free and allow you to select another option on the row if you have chosen it.

While it may not be recommended in most areas of content, Celestial Flames does provide some extra defense and synergy with the Legendary Power Charred Passions in Torghast due to its ability to reset the cooldown of Breath of Fire when the talent activates. If you encounter Anima Powers that help increase the damage of Blackout Kick or Spinning Crane Kick, it may be worth considering use of this talent.

As part of the gameplay experience in Torghast, you will encounter a number of unique Anima powers that will alter your stats, abilities, and even Covenant effects throughout a run. A complete list of these is available in the pages linked just below.

Since it can be difficult to know what to pick in a given situation, this list can be used as a guideline for preferred Anima Powers that are exclusive to the Monk class. There are additional Anima Powers available to all classes that will not be covered here.

• 36 Pressure Point Technique (two copies with Fatal Touch equipped)
• Balancing Stave (Kyrian only)
• Corrosive Dosage (three copies)
• Fading Memory Shards (Venthyr only)
• Fatal Flying Guillotine (strong synergy with Fatal Touch)
• Scales of Order (Kyrian only)
• Stroke of Elegance
• Unfiltered Bone Broth (Necrolord only)
• Tiger and Crane Figurines

• Fae Aftershock (Night Fae only)
• Feathers of a Hundred Flocks (strong synergy with Charred Passions)
• Haven's Breath (Kyrian only)
• Hit Scheme (strong synergy with Stormstout's Last Keg)
• Shadowboxing Treads (strong synergy with Charred Passions)
• Staggered Stomps (Night Fae only)
• Tattered Teachings (Venthyr only)
• Wrist Wraps of the Zen Master

• Amplified Samples
• Bad Karma
• Bottled Wind
• Bulging Brew (Necrolord only)
• Celestial Lasso
• Constellation Star-Chart
• Deathtouched Brew (strong synergy with Fatal Touch)
• Flowing Chi Rolls
• Maw-Darkened Slippers (Kyrian only)
• Deep Reflection (Venthyr only)
• Grandmaster's Cypher
• Grandmaster's Mythos
• Grandmaster's Ultimatum

• Cloud of Feathers
• Corrosive Carbonation (Necrolord only, if lacking in cc abilities)
• Fae Footwraps (Night Fae only)
• Fortified Leg Braces
• Grandmaster's Invocation
• Grandmaster's Legacy
• Technique of the Rushing Tiger

The following powers are primarily based around altering your mobility as a Brewmaster or adding other flavorful effects. They may be chosen as you see fit for experimenting or adding some variety to a climb.

• Ever-tumbling Stone
• Rolling Tigers
• Tumbling Rollstone (Stacks with multiple copies)
• Grandmaster's Gift
• Grandmaster's Lesson (Allows Spitfire to be more reliable)

For the most part, you will still be making use of the familiar Brewmaster rotations while progressing through a run of Torghast. In addition to this rotational guidance, the following are some helpful reminders for any would-be Spirestalker Monks in training:

• Note that while The Jailer's Chains will prevent you from adjusting your character throughout most of a run of Torghast, you will be allowed to swap Gear, Talents, and even your Specialization any time you are near a Broker NPC. They will show up every third floor of a run.
• The first few floors of a climb are generally going to be the most dangerous since you have not yet acquired many Anima Powers. Stay cautious; you will likely be much stronger soon enough.
• Do not be afraid to use your cooldowns, especially at the end of a floor. All cooldowns and debuffs are reset every time you ascend to a new floor. This includes the Sated debuff if you are making use of any Bloodlust-style effects.
• Certain generic Anima Powers, such as Elethium Alembic will grant you a massive bonus at the cost of a damage and healing reduction. However, so long as these powers do not reduce your Nature, Fire, or Physical Damage and Healing, there is no downside!
• Ravenous Anima Cell can create specific Anima Powers depending on the enemy it is used on. It can even be used on the friendly Broker shop NPC! If used in this way, they will be gone for the rest of the run.
• Often, you will find that the environmental traps deal more damage to you as a tank than the enemies themselves. Be aware of hints revealing the presence of some more "hidden" ones.
• Some Anima Powers may have specific location or enemy requirements to appear as a choice in a run.
• It is okay to experiment! There are no time limits to worry about in an ascent, and you may run Torghast as many times as you like! The only reward to be gained is Soul Ash from the final boss on Floor 6 of a regular run.

While any run of Torghast can be successful regardless of what Anima Powers you have obtained, there exists one Power strong enough to be chosen no matter the circumstance: Corrosive Dosage. This power seems innocent enough at first, considering that you are unable to dodge while casting Vivify. But, its common rarity, lack of target cap, and its damage being dealt based on the raw healing of your Vivify allows it to quickly become your best offensive choice even with just a single copy. Bear in mind, however, that this power can only stack up to three times as of Patch 9.2.

There are also a couple of quirks that can be used to further take advantage of the raw power provided by Corrosive Dosage. Normally, there can only be one copy of the buff on a target at a time. Further casts will completely overwrite the previous buff and will not increase the damage or extend its length beyond the regular value. However, this can be played around by making use of Summon Black Ox Statue and alternating casts of Vivify between the statue and yourself. This will effectively double your Corrosive Dosage damage. In addition, while the damage of this Anima Power cannot crit, if the Vivify cast that activated the Power was a critical strike, then the buff will be increased as well. Finally, the Grounding Breath Conduit can both increase your Vivify healing — when used on yourself — and provide a chance to refund the Energy cost.

Overall, Corrosive Dosage is the power to look for when attempting a higher difficulty of Torghast or its Twisting Corridors.