Windwalker Monk DPS Mythic+ Tips in Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.0.1

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 8.0.1 Changes for Windwalker Monk
  • 3. Strengths
  • 4. Weaknesses
  • 5. Windwalker Monk Viability in the Current Patch
  • 6. Contents
  • 7. ChangeLog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. Foreword
  • 2. The Basics of Windwalker Monks
  • 3. Talent Choice for Windwalker Monks
  • 4. Stat Choice for Windwalker Monks
  • 5. Basic Rotation for Windwalker Monks
    • 5.1. Single Target
    • 5.2. Multiple Target
  • 6. Cooldowns for Windwalker Monks
  • 7. ChangeLog
• +Spell Summary
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Main Resource of Windwalker Monks
  • 3. Basic Abilities for Windwalker Monks
    • 3.1. Movement for Windwalker Monks
    • 3.2. Survival for Windwalker Monks
  • 4. Important Procs for Windwalker Monks
  • 5. Cooldowns for Windwalker Monks
  • 6. ChangeLog
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices for Windwalker Monk
  • 2. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents for Windwalker Monks
  • 3. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents for Windwalker Monks
  • 4. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents for Windwalker Monks
  • 5. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents for Windwalker Monks
  • 6. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents for Windwalker Monks
  • 7. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents for Windwalker Monks
  • 8. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents for Windwalker Monks
  • 9. PvP Talents (War Mode)
    • 9.1. Windwalker Monk War Mode Talents
      • 9.1.1. General PvP Talents
      • 9.1.2. Windwalker Monk PvP Talents
  • 10. ChangeLog
• +Azerite Traits and Armor
  • 1. Disclaimer
  • 2. Azerite Gear for Windwalker Monk
  • 3. Azerite Traits for Windwalker Monk
    • 3.1. Outer Ring Traits
      • 3.1.1. Windwalker-specific
      • 3.1.2. Generic
      • 3.1.3. Uldir Traits
    • 3.2. Middle Ring Traits for Windwalker Monk
    • 3.3. Inner Ring Traits for Windwalker Monk
  • 4. Recommended Traits for Windwalker Monk
    • 4.1. Outer Ring Traits
    • 4.2. Inner Ring Traits
    • 4.3. Trait Setups for AoE Encounters
  • 5. Find Azerite Armor By Trait/Power
  • 6. ChangeLog
• +Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Single Target Rotation for Windwalker Monks
  • 2. Multiple Target Rotation for Windwalker Monks
  • 3. Cooldowns for Windwalker Monks
  • 4. Optional Read: Mastering Your Windwalker Monk
    • 4.1. Energy and Chi
      • 4.1.1. Energy
      • 4.1.2. Chi
    • 4.2. Mastery: Combo Strikes
    • 4.3. Afterlife Procs
    • 4.4. Detailed Cooldown Usage for Windwalker Monks
      • 4.4.1. Storm, Earth, and Fire
      • 4.4.2. Touch of Karma
      • 4.4.3. Tier 1 Talents
      • 4.4.4. Whirling Dragon Punch
      • 4.4.5. Serenity
    • 4.5. Azerite Traits and Rotation
      • 4.5.1. Swift Roundhouse
      • 4.5.2. Meridian Strikes
    • 4.6. Roll and Transcendence for Windwalker Monks
      • 4.6.1. Roll
      • 4.6.2. Transcendence
  • 5. ChangeLog
• ×Mythic+ Tips
  • 1. Windwalker Monk in Mythic+
    • 1.1. Windwalker Monk Mythic+ Rotation
    • 1.2. Windwalker Monk Utility
  • 2. Mythic+ Talents for Windwalker Monks
  • 3. Mythic+ Affixes
    • 3.1. Tier One Affixes
    • 3.2. Tier Two Affixes
    • 3.3. Tier Three Affixes
    • 3.4. Seasonal Affix
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Common and Worst Mistakes
  • 1. Managing Resources
    • 1.1. Energy
    • 1.2. Chi
  • 2. Not Knowing How To Sim Yourself
  • 3. Analyzing Your Mistakes as a Windwalker Monk
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Frequently Asked Questions
  • 1. Battle for Azeroth Frequently Asked Questions
    • 1.1. Can I Use a Two-Handed Weapon?
    • 1.2. Should I Switch Weapons During an Encounter?
    • 1.3. Should I Aim for Specific Secondary Stat Caps?
    • 1.4. When Do I Ignore Combo Strikes?
  • 2. ChangeLog
• +Boss by Boss Strategies
  • 1. Uldir Boss Tips for Windwalker Monks
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. The Basics of Stats for Windwalker Monk
  • 2. Getting a Better Understanding of Windwalker Monk Stats
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems for Windwalker Monks
  • 2. Enchants for Windwalker Monks
  • 3. Consumables for Windwalker Monks
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Macros
    • 1.1. Generic Macros for Monks
      • 1.1.1. Detox Mouseover Macro
      • 1.1.2. Tiger's Lust Mouseover Macro
    • 1.2. Specific Macros for Windwalker Monks
      • 1.2.1. No Fists of Fury Cancelling Macro
      • 1.2.2. Storm Earth and Fire Canceling Macro
  • 2. Addons
    • 2.1. Generic Addons for Monks
      • 2.1.1. ElvUI
      • 2.1.2. Boss Mods: Deadly Boss Mods or Bigwigs
      • 2.1.3. GTFO
      • 2.1.4. Parrot or Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
      • 2.1.5. Weak Auras
      • 2.1.6. Recount / Skada / Details!
      • 2.1.7. Grid and GridClickSets (Optional)
      • 2.1.8. Omen Threat Meter
    • 2.2. Specific Addons for Windwalker Monks
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gear and Best in Slot
  • 1. Best in Slot List for Windwalker Monks
  • 2. Trinkets
  • 3. Best in Slot Set List for Windwalker Monks from Dungeons
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Simulations
  • 1. Disclaimer Page
  • 2. ChangeLog

General Information

On this page, you will various tips and pieces of advice for clearing high Mythic+ content with your Windwalker Monk.

The other pages of our Windwalker Monk guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

About Our Author

This guide has been written by Pandanaconda, one of the main theorycrafters of the spec. He is a co-founder of the Monk resource site Peak of Serenity, in charge of the Windwalker pages.

1. Windwalker Monk in Mythic+

Windwalker Monk is a very solid melee specialisation for Mythic+. It provides a good combination of damage output and utility. It has access to some of the best crowd control spells and very flexible burst cooldowns, such as Storm, Earth, and Fire.

1.1. Windwalker Monk Mythic+ Rotation

Both the single-target and multi-target rotations do not change in Mythic+ content. For more information about the Windwalker Monk DPS rotation, refer back to the Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities page.

However, it is worth noting that most of your multi-target output now lies in Fists of Fury. Therefore, it is paramount to make the most out of this spell. Avoid delaying it, keep Chi for it, and do not waste it when you expect extra targets to come in soon.

1.2. Windwalker Monk Utility

Windwalker Monks provide utility to the dungeon party through strong crowd control, exceptional on demand burst damage on priority targets and mobility.

• Leg Sweep is one of the strongest crowd controls in the game. Communicate with your party to use it at the best possible timing.
• Ring of Peace is occasionally exceptional. It allows you to move enemies outside of specific ground effects or create a safe zone for your tank. It can also move enemies without entering combat with them to create unique paths to avoid some packs. However, coming at the cost of losing a powerful talent row, it will rarely be picked.
• Paralysis will fully disable an enemy for X seconds or until you attack it. It can be used to prevent specific patrols from moving around or to delay dealing with a specific dangerous mob. Additionally, it can be used mid combat as an interrupt.
• Windwalking will passively grant your nearby allies movespeed. This 10% increase will rarely have a large impact but adds up to a decent gain over the course of a dungeon run.
• Touch of Death is not at its best in a dungeon, as the greater your number of targets, the smaller the damage increase you get from it. This will allow Windwalker Monks to have it up when most needed, to burst down specific targets or during single target encounters. Don't be afraid to fire it on non boss enemies.

2. Mythic+ Talents for Windwalker Monks

Below are the suggested talents for Mythic+, these talents are recommended for all groups and keys at the current time.

Besides personal preferences in the Level 30 talent row, your most important choice will lie in the Level 90 row. Favor Invoke Xuen, the White Tiger for single target and slight cleave focus. Favor Rushing Jade Wind for heavier multi-target dungeon runs.

Level	Choices
15	✘ Eye of the Tiger	✘ Chi Wave	✔ Chi Burst
30	✔ Celerity	✔ Chi Torpedo	✔ Tiger's Lust
45	✘ Ascension	✔ Fist of the White Tiger	✘ Energizing Elixir
60	✔ Tiger Tail Sweep	✔ Good Karma	? Ring of Peace
75	? Inner Strength	? Diffuse Magic	✔ Dampen Harm
90	✘ Hit Combo	✔ Rushing Jade Wind	✔ Invoke Xuen, the White Tiger
100	✘ Spiritual Focus	✔ Whirling Dragon Punch	✔ Serenity

3. Mythic+ Affixes

The way Mythic+ affixes are tiered in Battle for Azeroth has changed quite a bit since their launch in Legion.

There are now three weekly affixes and one seasonal affix. The first affix available instantly at level two and three, the second affix starts at level four, the third affix enabled at level seven, and finally the seasonal affix at level ten.

3.1. Tier One Affixes

• Fortified increases the Health pool of all non-boss enemies by 20% and damage dealt by 30%.
• Tyrannical increases the Health pool of boss enemies by 40% and their damage dealt by 15%.

Fortified and Tyrannical are the two affixes every player will see. These affixes shift the focus of dungeons from boss to trash depending on the week. Windwalker Monks will excel during Fortified weeks as our multi-target damage has a short ramp up time and then will sustain at very high numbers with or without the use of cooldowns. During Tyrannical weeks, players may want to take more single-target oriented trinkets, gear, or even talents but that will be both dungeon and key level dependent.

This affix can be a deciding factor in your Level 100 talent. When facing Tyrannical, you are more likely to use Invoke Xuen, the White Tiger, whereas when facing Fortified, you are more likely to want Rushing Jade Wind.

3.2. Tier Two Affixes

• Raging increases the damage dealt by enemies below 30% by 100% until they die.
• Teeming adds additional trash mobs to certain packs throughout each dungeon.
• Bolstering buffs remaining enemies Health pools and damage dealt by 20% when an enemy dies nearby. To counter this affix, DPS all enemies evenly and focus your casts onto high Health mobs if there are any.
• Sanguine places a pool of blood on the ground when a mob is slain. This pool will heal remaining enemies who stay inside the zone and also damage players. Windwalker Monks can use Ring of Peace to push enemies off of Sanguine zones.
• Bursting forces enemy mobs to detonate when slain, afflicting the group with a stacking debuff that causes players to suffer 10% of their max Health in damage every four seconds. When handling the Bursting affix, ask how many stacks your healer can handle and try to not mindlessly DPS and exceed your healer's stack limit.

3.3. Tier Three Affixes

• Volcanic spawns volcanic plumes underneath and around players when in combat with any enemy. When damaged by Volcanic, players suffer 50% of their maximum Health pool in damage. The more enemies you are in combat with, the more Volcanic that will spawn.
• Grievous afflicts players with a stacking DoT when they fall below 90%. Bring consumables to assist your healer when out of combat.
• Quaking will periodically attempt to interrupt casters by creating a damaging zone around each player. About 3 seconds after the zone forms, it will deal 20% maximum Health in damage to each player caught in the zone as well as interrupting any hard casts being finished during the shockwave.
• Explosive will occasionally spawn Explosive Orbs that need to be targeted and burned down within a short period of time or they will deal significant damage to the party. Explosive Orbs cannot be cleaved and the amount of orbs that spawn scales with the amount of enemies pulled. You can get stacks of Mark of the Crane from hitting these orbs.
• Necrotic debuffs the target of enemy melee swings with a stacking healing reduction and a minor DoT. Windwalker Monks should use Leg Sweep and Ring of Peace to assist tanks in kiting enemies before they become unhealable.
• Skittish reduces the amount of threat generated by tanks throughout the dungeon. Default out of Serenity for those weeks as the clones from Storm, Earth, and Fire generate threat independently and will reduce chances you get killed. Keep in mind these clones can die from generating too much threat.

3.4. Seasonal Affix

Infested is the seasonal affix for the launch of Battle for Azeroth. Enemies afflicted with the Infested debuff will be scattered throughout each dungeon once you reach key level ten. These mobs will heal enemies around them and when slain, will spawn two Spawn of G'huun that will attempt to infest remaining enemies.

There are several ways to handle Infested mobs depending on pack size, which mob is infested, and group composition. The first way to handle an Infested enemy is to burn down the infested target and the subsequently spawning Spawn of G'huun while either crowd controlling or ignoring the other mobs in the pack. The second way is to crowd control the Infested mob and burn down all the other enemies. After you kill and infested mob and the Spawns of G'huun spawn, Windwalker Monks can use Ring of Peace to knock them away or knock the remaining mobs away.

4. ChangeLog

• 06 Aug. 2018: Added page.

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