Monk Leveling Guide from 1 to 80

Welcome to our Monk leveling guide. Here you will find all you need to know to level up your Monk efficiently. In addition, you may wish to check out our general Leveling guide, complete with detailed information on XP, mounts, addons, consumables, tips, and more. We encourage to read it to increase your leveling speed even more.

Leveling as a Monk is pretty simple, and there are many routes one can take in doing so. If you prefer group content, then you can play either Brewmaster or Mistweaver in order to queue for dungeons more quickly. Conversely, if you prefer solo-leveling or just DPSing in general, Windwalker boasts a toolkit perfect for gathering large groups of quest mobs and AoEing them down quickly, while also remaining fairly healthy because of Afterlife.

While it is mostly a matter of personal preference, generally Windwalker will be the quickest, given the normal leveling route of doing quests and unlocking the story. That being said, flexibility can be very beneficial, so having the ability to swap specs in order to do a dungeon quest can drastically lower the amount of time spent waiting around in queue.

If questing is not for you, then you might consider leveling via repeatedly queueing for the Random Dungeon Finder. Both Mistweaver and Brewmaster are ideal for this, as both the Healer and Tank roles that they respectively fill are often subject to very short, if not instant queue times. Brewmasters are excellent at progressing quickly through dungeons thanks to the myriad of movement abilities available to them, as well as the self-sustain required to pull large groups of mobs together for efficient AoE damage.

However, if you have a strong understanding of the game, and are confident in your play (as well as maybe having some heirloom items), then dungeon leveling as a Mistweaver can be even faster than as a Brewmaster. Weirdly enough, due to the scaling of low-level players in the Dungeon Finder, Mistweavers are able to essentially run non-stop through a dungeon, all while spamming Spinning Crane Kick and the occasional self-heal. This makes dungeons quicker by not only forcing your party to move at the maximum speed, but when compared to Brewmaster, it guarantees that the person occupying the Healer role is going to be a person doing damage.

Outside of dungeons, generally Mistweaver is not a recommended spec for open-world leveling, as their damage is significantly lower than the other two options. However, Mistweaver is very good at killing elite mobs with high Health totals, because Mistweavers can usually out-heal the incoming damage while slowly whittling down their opponent. If you find yourself against a tough quest that might be meant for 3-5 players, consider swapping to Mistweaver. It will be slow, but you will be able to outlast most elite mobs.

• At level 2, you unlock Blackout Kick. This is the default damage staple for Monks.
• At level 3, you unlock Roll. This will help you close the gap between yourself and an enemy, or to escape dangerous situations.
• At level 4, you unlock Vivify. This is the baseline Monk heal, and it will gain functionality as you level up. Mistweavers will become especially familiar with it.
• At level 5, you unlock Crackling Jade Lightning, a ranged ability usually briefly used to engage foes who are at a distance. At higher levels, Mistweaver and Windwalker Monks may use it more rotationally.
• At level 6, you unlock Leg Sweep. It is a simple AoE stun centered on the caster.
• At level 7, you unlock Spinning Crane Kick. This deals damage in an area around the Monk. As you level, this ability will gain additional functionality depending on your specialization.
• At level 8, you unlock Expel Harm. This is a self-heal that deals damage to a nearby enemy for 10% of the amount healed. Usage of this ability will vary based on the spec.
• At level 9, you unlock Provoke which taunts an enemy into attacking you.
• At level 10, you unlock Touch of Death. This will instantly kill an enemy with lower Health than you. You will also be able to select a specialization and begin to unlock talent points.
• At level 11, you unlock Zen Pilgrimage. This allows you to teleport back and forth between your Monk's temple to access quests granting additional experience.
• At level 13, you unlock Resuscitate, allowing you to resurrect a fallen ally. However, it can only be cast if you are not in combat.
• At level 49, you unlock Mystic Touch, causing your damage to debuff enemies, increasing the amount of damage they take from Physical sources by 5%.

When selecting your Heirlooms, you want to consider which spec you will likely spend the most time playing during your leveling experience. While Brewmasters get good usage out of haste for their DPS, both Windwalkers and Mistweavers do not get as much benefit from haste. As such, it is probably the best option to favor pieces with Critical Strike and Versatility. For more information on Heirlooms, such as where to obtain them or what stats they provide, check out the link below.

Once you've reached Level 80 and your leveling journey has found its end, you definitely want to check out the in-depth information on how to excel in all types of PvE content by checking out our dedicated Monk Specialization Guides!