The Brewmaster Tanking Guide [5.4]

[Kisho]

not sure i would want to rely on procs for energy regen like derpatte is suggesting, even with the changes to our chi using abilities.

I'm working on the assumption that even if you reforged entirely away from haste, didn't gem for it, etc, you'd still have a decent amount on your base gear to rely on. From what I've seen T15 seems to have a lot of haste on it. So it's not really as though I'm relying on procs, since the basic amount should still be enough to keep Shuffle up and use Guard on CD. Then, you can get procs from either the trinket or the set bonus to handle all your PBs.

That's the theory I'm working on anyways!

[The Madgod]

I have a quick question about Challenge Modes since my IRL friends in my Guild and I want to start running some after we're capped for the week and such.

I read somewhere that getting a set of 463 Gear from Heroic dungeons is better for Challenge Modes since the scaling for higher level gear can cause you to lose stats. Because of this I've been rerunning Heroic Dungeons when I'm bored to get that gear. But I can't help but wonder if this is the case, will a set of 463 Gear really be better? Obviously set bonuses might factor in here as well since I have my 2-piece bonus currently.

You know I don't get that.

It's more beneficial to have a higher set of gear, at least in my eyes. Higher ilvl, the less percentage of available stat points you need to put into expertise and hit, which don't scale down, so you'll always be hit and expertise capped, but you'll still have a higher percentage of stats which are better for you... there's a lot less power creep, but it's still there.

Unless challenge modes require a drastically different gearing priority, then your raiding gear should be fine.

[Sunnydee]

So. just ended first heroic raid this expansion. went well. and tbh it was the most fun ive had tanking since tbc(tanked ever since).
even though i am abit undergeared "490" i felt monks are actually in a good place when played well. we did 3 first in MSV heroic (yeah im proud of it so what. not 16/16 hc but its a start), and i noticed we really stick out alot more in heroic encounters than normals for some reason.

i mostly writing this cuz i wanna thank the thread creater and alot of the ppl who have posted advice etc here. prob wouldnt be as good as i am without it. so cheers and hope the info will keep flowing

[Zonex]

You know I don't get that.

It's more beneficial to have a higher set of gear, at least in my eyes. Higher ilvl, the less percentage of available stat points you need to put into expertise and hit, which don't scale down, so you'll always be hit and expertise capped, but you'll still have a higher percentage of stats which are better for you... there's a lot less power creep, but it's still there.

Unless challenge modes require a drastically different gearing priority, then your raiding gear should be fine.

Yea i wish it did that, but there is a set amount of "secondary stats" you can have in full 463 gear. The optimizer doesn't care if you have soft cap and 50k haste, its gonna break it down to how many secondary stats a 463 would have, and after your hit cap (yes thats a prio in the optimizer) work your mastery/crit/haste based on the percentage they are at without the 463 downgrading.

[Chuupag]

Yea i wish it did that, but there is a set amount of "secondary stats" you can have in full 463 gear. The optimizer doesn't care if you have soft cap and 50k haste, its gonna break it down to how many secondary stats a 463 would have, and after your hit cap (yes thats a prio in the optimizer) work your mastery/crit/haste based on the percentage they are at without the 463 downgrading.

As far as I know that's not how it works as it was described and Mad's analysis makes sense. Is there any data you have to support your statement? The having a set avoiding mastery makes sense however, and having a 2nd set would probably be optimal just for that reason. The differences would be minimal...but if you need every edge you can get it may be worth the time investment.

[Zonex]

Yea read it in the priest forums a few months back, gonna see if i can dig it back up

[The Madgod]

Yea read it in the priest forums a few months back, gonna see if i can dig it back up

I can tell you right now that there's a blue post saying "yeah there's a slight amount of power creep in Challenge Modes" for the very reason I mentioned.

[Zonex]

Alright yea i found it, well something similar -> http://ownedgamers.com/blizzard-clar...-gear-scaling/

Same quote, different source -> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/07/06/bl...-gear-scaling/

I'll try explain it, erm;

It perserves your current hit/exp percentages (keyword).

Say in ilvl 510 gear, you have secondary stats totaling 20k, and in 463 gear, 12k.

510:
2.5k in hit
2.5k in exp
8k crit
5k haste
2k mastery

463:

2.5k hit
2.5k exp
3733 Haste
2333 crit
933 mastery

For that all i did, was retain the hit/exp value, then the left over (7000) got split according to the ratio they were in, in the 510 gear; 8000:5000:2000 = 8:5:3. You just divide 7000 by 15, and then multiply by its respectively ratio (mastery = 2, haste = 8, crit = 5).

Another way to look at it, like the link does, is 5k (total exp + hit) is 25% of 20k from the 510 gear. So in 463 gear, where it has an item budget of 12k, only 3k (0.25*12000), which is 1.5k hit and 1.5k exp. It also has 4800 haste (12k/20 * 8) and 3000 crit (12k/20 * 5) and 1200 mastery (12k/20 * 2). It takes a total of 2k points from those 3 stats based on their 8:5:2 ratio. So (- 1066 haste = 2k/15 * 8), (- 666 crit = 2k/15 * 5) and (- 266 mastery = 2k/15 * 2).

---------- Post added 2013-02-18 at 03:03 AM ----------

I can tell you right now that there's a blue post saying "yeah there's a slight amount of power creep in Challenge Modes" for the very reason I mentioned.

what do you mean a power creep

[kaiadam]

Imaginary ilvl 520 item:

1000 agi
1500 stamina
1000 hit
1000 crit

Imaginary 463 item:
500 agi
750 stamina
500 hit
500 crit

Now, you step into a challenge mode.

The 520 item becomes:

500 agi
750 stam
1000 hit (doesn't get scaled down)
500 crit

vs the 463 item above.

You get a free 500 secondary stats.

For challenge modes, top priority is ilvl > 463, then number of sockets, then straight ilvl.

[The Madgod]

what do you mean a power creep

Power Creep is a term for how your character gets more powerful the more gear he or she has and the higher level he or she is, making previous content easier and easier as you progress. It's essentially what's been happening ever since day one of World of Warcraft.

Challenge Modes nullify this a great deal by having your ilvl set at a fixed number, but there is still slight power creep through getting higher level gear as well as through getting gear that is well itemized (including sockets) for what you're doing.

[Quotey]

Set bonuses do not work in challenge modes. However, gem slots aside from the sha touched one do. Get as many gems slots as possible, while avoiding mastery. Some strange gear scaling goes on to be honest simply because of the forumlae used to decide how many secondary stats are on the gear, but in the end the difference is small enough that so long as you justo the instance properly you can definitely get gold. Not to say the better gear can't push you over- I have a 12:01 SSB on m DK alt, but I'm sure there were mistakes made I that run!

[Vasilisa]

Due to having 2 more lockouts before patch 5.2 we decided to try Will of the Emperor hc. Would you guys have any tips for me/us here? Out setup is: brewmaster (me), warrior tank, holy paladin, resto shaman, rogue, hunter, lock, mage, shadow priest and boomkin.

Here is also my armory link if that would be needed: http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/characte...trixe/advanced

[imoom]

zen med (with glyph) 2 rage-sparks in beginning to ease the rotation for the others
when boss comes, pop cooldowns, make sure to never fail on the dance, and guard/EB as soon as the dance is over. make sure to get many stacks of EB during dance, and also some spare shuffle time, so you can purify extra when its "being-hit-hard-in-the-face-time".

Quite easy as brewmaster, its the spark soaking that is the complex part, but you got "rofl rogue i soax everything lol" so should be fine

seems like a good group, only problem is "who tanks the strength add"
boomkin can help soak if he has symbiosis on lock for instance.
would prob put lock on strength, both soak and tank
sp (and maybe mage) with greater invis on courage
hunter rogue rest, and boomkin/holy pala (with bubble) as reserve where its needed. (for soaking that is)

[Vasilisa]

zen med (with glyph) 2 rage-sparks in beginning to ease the rotation for the others
when boss comes, pop cooldowns, make sure to never fail on the dance, and guard/EB as soon as the dance is over. make sure to get many stacks of EB during dance, and also some spare shuffle time, so you can purify extra when its "being-hit-hard-in-the-face-time".

Quite easy as brewmaster, its the spark soaking that is the complex part, but you got "rofl rogue i soax everything lol" so should be fine

seems like a good group, only problem is "who tanks the strength add"
boomkin can help soak if he has symbiosis on lock for instance.
would prob put lock on strength, both soak and tank
sp (and maybe mage) with greater invis on courage
hunter rogue rest, and boomkin/holy pala (with bubble) as reserve where its needed. (for soaking that is)

Thanks, Zen meditation might really be a good idea. I've read once that glyphing guard here would be more beneficial then using non-glyphed one (due to self-healing). What are your thoughts on that?

[imoom]

I've read once that glyphing guard here would be more beneficial then using non-glyphed one (due to self-healing). What are your thoughts on that?

in my opinion it is only really worth it on lei shi, and maybe tsulong.
will of the emperor hits hard, and the absorb will help more then some extra healing

[Vasilisa]

in my opinion it is only really worth it on lei shi, and maybe tsulong.
will of the emperor hits hard, and the absorb will help more then some extra healing

Noted. We are gonna have some serious attempts tonight, we'll see how it goes. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Asmalya]

in my opinion it is only really worth it on lei shi, and maybe tsulong.
will of the emperor hits hard, and the absorb will help more then some extra healing

Esp since the healing is
1) only from yourself
2) the guard gets probably eaten by the gas anyway

I would really go with unglyphed guard and use it in case you have some bad luck with EB stacks to fill the time between dodges or ofc if he still hits you through your avoidence and you want to play save.

[Chuupag]

Get as many gems slots as possible

Sound advice...but remember having a gem slot on a piece of gear reduces the stats slightly. You are still gaining points just not the full 320(160). So it's not as big a buff as you would think at the outset.

[Ahsakura]

I don't want to quote all the posts about Challenge Mode gear but it was all very helpful and I want to thank you all for your help! Hopefully our group can start tackling them this week or tonight after raiding.

[The Madgod]

Noted. We are gonna have some serious attempts tonight, we'll see how it goes. Thanks for the suggestions.

The general rule of thumb for minimizing the likelihood of a tank death is absorbs and damage reduction before healing, which is reactive, not preventative, and therefore bad timing can cause a tank death. Since Guard only boosts your self heals, glyphing it for any fight other than magic-heavy ones is a no-no, since the shield will always be better than the self heals.