The Brewmaster Tanking Guide [5.4]

[The Madgod]

To add even further, Hand of Protection can be safely used on the active tank and threat will NOT drop, so that's 10 seconds of zero damage. If you've got pallies in your raid, make them earn their keep. They're basically my number one resource when it comes to externals, since sac is so nice.

[Kisho]

So I was thinking about the Breath of Fire topic while I was raiding with my guild the other day. Someone brought up the point that they wish they could somehow incorporate BoF but right now there is no point because it doesn't give shuffle. And they couldn't just give shuffle to BoF because then there is not really any choice or it doesn't matter which you choose. But what if BoF give shuffle based on how many targets it hits or something like that? Like maybe 1 second of shuffle per target hit. So that on a single target pull you don't use it, but when it's like a huge AOE pack, BoF would be awesome! Just an idea I had. Feel free to begin tearing it apart.

Ahh, the BoF problem.

I'm not sure if we really need to make it all that complex, really. 6 seconds per 2 Chi (BoF and BoK cost 2 Chi each) would be fine. No need to make it scale crazy when tanking a lot of adds, or be near impossible to keep up when only tanking 2-3 adds (so you end up only using BoK anyway).

There'd still be a choice between which to use, since BoK is the clear winner in DPS on single target and BoF wins on AoE. You'd just switch which one you use depending on the situation.

The alternative way to go is to make BoF do A LOT of extra damage, but still doesn't boost Shuffle... Then you're choosing between DPS or mitigation. Which could be interesting. I dunno. Could be even more OP on certain fights, or it still won't get used because picking DPS is 'doing it wrong'.

It just feels like there could be a more elegant solution than giving Shuffle to BoF... It would work, sure. I also like the idea of BoF being a button you want to press because it's super fun, not just something you press to keep a buff up. Hmm.

[Sorrior]

Ahh, the BoF problem.

I'm not sure if we really need to make it all that complex, really. 6 seconds per 2 Chi (BoF and BoK cost 2 Chi each) would be fine. No need to make it scale crazy when tanking a lot of adds, or be near impossible to keep up when only tanking 2-3 adds (so you end up only using BoK anyway).

There'd still be a choice between which to use, since BoK is the clear winner in DPS on single target and BoF wins on AoE. You'd just switch which one you use depending on the situation.

The alternative way to go is to make BoF do A LOT of extra damage, but still doesn't boost Shuffle... Then you're choosing between DPS or mitigation. Which could be interesting. I dunno. Could be even more OP on certain fights, or it still won't get used because picking DPS is 'doing it wrong'.

It just feels like there could be a more elegant solution than giving Shuffle to BoF... It would work, sure. I also like the idea of BoF being a button you want to press because it's super fun, not just something you press to keep a buff up. Hmm.

Actually the way he phrased BoF could make it an interesting mechanic. What if it offered the basic 6 sec shuffle BUT if hitting more than 6 enemies was increased by a second per enemy. Thus making it more viable to use SCK on MASSIVE aoe fights. In all honestly it WOULD make it quite situational..Hmmm maybe nerf damage to single targets...And not like bosses get ignited in flames anyways LOL.

[thedr8993]

not like bosses get ignited in flames anyways LOL.

that part makes me sad lol

[Ergar]

Thanks for the tips guys. Will see how it works when we get to him again.

[Sorrior]

that part makes me sad lol

Tell me about it...Wish our keg debuff worked on em...Maybe all raid bosses are part Russian, part Irish and part scottish, part Norse and some unusually active neanderthal DNA mixed in for good measure.... Could that genetic makeup even GET tipsy let alone drunk.

[thedr8993]

Tell me about it...Wish our keg debuff worked on em...Maybe all raid bosses are part Russian, part Irish and part scottish, part Norse and some unusually active neanderthal DNA mixed in for good measure.... Could that genetic makeup even GET tipsy let alone drunk.

We're gonna have to consult Mr. Chen Stormstout on that one.

[TheTrueM4gg0t]

Tell me about it...Wish our keg debuff worked on em...Maybe all raid bosses are part Russian, part Irish and part scottish, part Norse and some unusually active neanderthal DNA mixed in for good measure.... Could that genetic makeup even GET tipsy let alone drunk.

I wonder why the didn't make the fire dot dependant in the weakend blows effect. or why it is not baseline. don't see the point of BoF being weaker on most bossfights and some other random mobs, where dizzying haze just won't apply. anoying...
they could introduce some random chance for a free BoF, so we could at least sometimes use it (the free BoF procc would then replace a tigerpalm in the standard rota, doing more dmg (AoE))

[Vasilisa]

My guild is planning on taking on Blade Lord Ta'yak hc tonight. Do you guys have any tips that would help me on this fight?

[The Madgod]

My guild is planning on taking on Blade Lord Ta'yak hc tonight. Do you guys have any tips that would help me on this fight?

The fight, from a tank perspective, is very uniform. Learn the pattern of when he uses his abilities and use that as a guide on when you're going to need to pop your cooldowns. Also, stress to your ranged to not stand in the path between your first "stacking" point and the next. It chews up room for maneuverability very quickly.

I say "stacking" since it's just the general area where your group's at... like which alcove you're in.

[Deldavala]

Depending on tactic you might have to reposition your statue. Try to build shuffle when you are not tanking, and helping out healing the Windstep target when you are tanking. Get DBM/big Wigs so you know approx when to use guard to absorb most of the Overwhelming assault. Dampen Harm also does wonder VS Overwhelming assault.

In p2 I ran as fast as i could to the other side, dropped down my statue and helped with healing the raid if it was neccesary. If you drop low due to running to far from healers expel harm works wonders.

[Kisho]

In terms of tank damage it's actually not bad at all. You only ever have to take a single stack of Overwhelming Assault, so as long as you have a Guard up for that then it's a complete cakewalk. You may not even need a Guard!

I'd suggest liberal use of Dampen Harm and Zen Meditation to mitigate damage from the Unseen Strikes though, as they tend to be the area where the raid takes a lot of damage, and any mana saved for your healers is more mana to spend in phase 2. Also fire off a few Chi Waves through the raid, especially on Wind Step targets. So long as you've got Shuffle up then extra Chi can be spent on Chi Wave to help out your healers.

In phase 2 you can do a lot to keep yourself alive so your healers can focus on the rest of the raid. Keep up your self healing, perhaps even use Healing Spheres to help out. So long as the raid stays alive then you should have enough DPS to kill him before the enrage.

[Vasilisa]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, hopefully soon I'll have a chance to ask tips for the next boss

[SurrealNight]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, hopefully soon I'll have a chance to ask tips for the next boss

in 25m H Blade Lord can still kill you even when topped off (600k HP + Shuffle up) but you can get killed by the OA's especially if you've just taken damage from unseen strike or melee hits. Here is how the trade off works.
1) Tank A pulls and takes the first OA, Tank B taunts right before or just after Unseen Strike and 2nd OA hits.
2) Tank A taunts after Whirlwind and OA 3 hits.
3) Unseen Strike and Whirlwind OA trade off continues.

The timing of Dampen Harm can be tricky as after Unseen Strike even though OA is long off CD he will randomly melee you like 3-5 times sometimes before proc'ing it. If you get unlucky he could chomp your DH stacks and proc OA after which is annoying. One way to help with this is (in 25m) not get hit by the Unseen Strike on purpose to make sure you are as close to max health as possible. I also got symbiosis during progression to give me DH + FB + Survival Instincts in case the other tank died and I needed to take an extra stack (which I did end up using).

We had issues with the Unseen Strike randomly missing people that were clearly in the cone, best thing that works for us was marking the tank (usually me) and collapsing on them. No idea why just worked best out of all the strats we tried.

This is all for 25m H though I imagine 10m you can easily live with just our normal HP pool + Shuffle. Last phase is easy as always just endlessly spam EH if your low and bounce L30 abilities off your head.

[Kisho]

One way to help with this is (in 25m) not get hit by the Unseen Strike on purpose to make sure you are as close to max health as possible.

And just to clarify, while this works fine in 25 man, you definitely don't want to do this in 10 man. Everyone needs to get hit by it on 10 man: as soon as you lose even 1 person, people will start dropping like flies after that.

But it shouldn't be an issue at any rate: see my prior post.

[webster259]

I just recently got back to tanking on my monk, I initially started as a Brewmaster but switched to Windwalker to help out with our low DPS in the guild. I then transferred servers and my new guild asked me to go back to Brewmaster. I've read through almost every post from when 5.1 dropped and made some changes but I was hoping I could possibly still get some feedback because I still feel like I'm getting smacked kind of hard. We just recently started back raiding after the Holiday Boss wiped us for about a month (I know it's only reg) and I also ran LFR today too. (My monk is Bûddha)

LFR Parse: worldoflogs.com/reports/v84xsydau2a9auhb/
Reg Raid: worldoflogs.com/reports/65darscu20ym97rp/
Armory: us.battle.net/wow/en/character/eonar/B%C3%BBddha/advanced

I just wanted to know if anyone saw anything that jumped out at them that I might need to change or could do better. Thanks in advance and sorry for the shortened links, still won't let me post URLs

[Kisho]

Looking at your normal Will of the Emperor kill:

Shuffle uptime is ok. Could be better, but it's not a huge issue. You'll probably find that you get hit hard when Shuffle drops off, and when it's up damage is manageable... Try to shoot for 100% uptime, or at least 100% uptime whilst tanking a boss. On Will you're always tanking a boss (except at the very start, but that doesn't account for only 80% uptime), so you should be very close to 100% uptime of Shuffle.

You're not using all of your EB stacks. I see more stacks gained than seconds of uptime on EB, which means you didn't use it all. Also, I see you used it 4 times for a 60 second uptime... This means you're waiting until a max stack of 15 before you use it, which can work, but it may mean you're missing out on some stacks as well. I personally try to use it around the 8-10 stack range, as with a 9 second cooldown it means the buff drops off right as it comes off of cooldown, so can use it again immediately if needed or gain more stacks.

Now, of course on Will of the Emperor you've got the dance phases to build stacks then use them when regularly tanking, so using it only at a high stack count is entirely reasonable on that fight. But then I checked on Stone Guard, and it's a similar situation. You can use EB before it hits 15 stacks, you don't need to save it up until then. Minor issue, but it adds up.

Stagger purification looks good. You aren't letting Moderate stagger stay up (since normal modes generally won't make you hit heavy stagger), so that works well. That said, you could perhaps afford to Purify less, since you need to improve on Shuffle uptime. This is about tweaking the balance between the two Chi spenders though, so just get the practice and the experience and you'll figure out the right balance.

Mostly though you're doing it right. If you find you get spiked a bit, try to have Guard ready for the spikes (or directly after to help healers recover). Also get into the habit of side stepping into Gift of the Ox orbs after you've taken a bit of spike damage, will help smooth it out. Expel Harm also works wonders here too.

But yeah, mostly you're going strong, just get a bit more practice and experience and you'll excel.

[webster259]

Thanks alot, I really appreciate the input

[siccora]

Be careful with your aggro after the other tank taunted. Maybe you want to drop your vengeance to build up shuffle.

i have another question or problem maybe. because our DK tank isn't that much happy about DPS, i'm the one who is speccing into Windwalker when there is only one tank needed like Windlord. So i have some "shared" gear and WW gear only. For my shared gear i put agility into the red one. agi/hit and agi/crit in yellow and blue. so my question is, would you guys change the gems everytime you change the specc or would you reforge crit/haste into exp?
short: agi>haste/crit?

[Deix-EU]

Dunno if I read well cause don't have much time (coffee pause), but you should NEVER, as a tank, get hit by 2 OA on Blade Lord HM. If you do, you are doing wrong cause I never took 2 OA. I take the boss first, then my mate taunt juste before the second OA on me. And from now then, I just taunt him during each "Vaccum cleaning" (yeah we call it this way ), the new skill of BL HM. The second OA is ALWAYS just after is new skill with this timing.

As far as Unseen Strike is concerned, we were doing right but last night I saw some strange things if pepople are lagging a bit ... Cone on NOONE (cleary appeared at 90° from the target which is strange, but some poeple died. It's clearly bugged sometimes).