[Brewmaster] Solo tanking seems squishy.

[I Change My Name]

Hey guys.

I've recently got my Monk to level 90. Woop! Happy Panada and all that jazz! However now that I'm entering raid finder as a Tank I'm starting to notice 3 things:

1. I'm ridiculously squishy for the first 15-30 seconds.
2. If I try and solo anything I'll be squished.
3. I can't risk AoEing with BoF as I'll sacrifice the uptime of Shuffle.

Any tips for a lowbe?

[Okacz]

1) Do not use BoF, like, ever. Probably the most useless ability ever, drains chi and returns barely any dps increase. If you need extra aoe, spec Rushing Jade Wind, similiar skill but increases Shuffle.
2) You will be squishy until reaching at least around 4-5k haste, allowing you to keep Shuffle all the time and having decent Brew procs. No way around it.
3) Remember to save every extra point of Chi for Purifying Brew, at first I didn't realise how much dmg does Stagger really do, if you're on red you HAVE to click to be safe.
4) Don't underestimate your self healing skills, Expel Harm is very powerfull. Same with your defensive cooldowns.
5) Get some initial stamina through gems, but later simply go haste till cap and then crit/mastery, Don't forget about hit/exp caps first of course.

[stellvia]

Brewmaster is a bit on the weak side in early ilvls. I would say they don't fully hit their stride until 500 ilvl. First things you want to do are get 7.5% hit and expertise, then get your haste up to 6000 or so. There are many discussions and guides you can google for gearing advice. I also prefer Ascension over Power Strikes, but its kinda up to you.

In general though, keep shuffle up, purify stagger when it gets into the yellow or red as Chi allows, and cooldown large hits. I recommend downloading Weakauras and downloading some weakaura strings for Stagger level, dmg staggered, tracking Keg smash and Chi Wave CD, etc. And Brewmaster really needs to be switching out talents on a boss by boss basis. Having Enduring healing sphere glyph at all times and Fort brew. Chi Wave is the best heal in most cases, switch between Dampen Harm or Diffuse Magic depending on what major attack the boss has. Save Guard for right before major boss attacks then purify right after, etc.

Also, LFR healers are crap, so what do you expect.

[Viradiance]

Breath of Fire is an absolute no-no.

Monk tanks are always squishy in the first few seconds of a fight, because the first 2-3 mele swings are gonna be unshuffled.

Raids are designed around not being solo tanked.

[rhapso]

Keg Smash > Blackout Kick should work fine, otherwise start with an armor pot (potion of mountains iirc) or with a cooldown (fortifying brew)

[Radio]

As mentioned above, Keg Smash > Blackout Kick ASAP on the pull if you're having early survivability issues, it puts up the 10% phys damage debuff on the boss then gives you shuffle. Avoid the habit of using guard on the pull as it is used up very quickly when you have no vengeance and no shuffle.

I'll usually start off a boss with something like this:

KS > BoK > Chi Wave > Jab > Xuen > Jab > BoK > TP

If I'm feeling comfortable with the bosses opening I'll push the TP earlier to up opening DPS.

[herpecin]

if you are dying early, and the fight allows it, you can run in with DH up.

my standard pull is EH - CJL 1 tick - KS - BoK.

you have a 33% chance to start the fight with 2 free chi, and always with one free one. so no matter what your first jab gets you your second BoK.

usually i dont guard until the 3rd KS, unless the fight needs it early, i like to build up around 12-15 secs of shuffle to make it so i can react to things and not have it fall off.

[Orion Antares]

Before you pull switch to Tiger stance, hit EH, wait 14 seconds, switch to Ox and hit EH again. You now have 2 Chi for your pull for an immediate BOK or a RJW as you pull.

[cyqu]

otherwise start with an armor pot (potion of mountains iirc)

Eww gross... Pre pot with agi every pull.