Windwalker Monk DPS Guide - Midnight (12.0.1)

The Windwalker Monk in WoW is a highly mobility-focused melee DPS class with unique and engaging mechanics. This makes it a dynamic choice for both PvE content and PvP scenarios. For your convenience, this Windwalker Monk guide provides recommended strategies, rotations, builds, best-in-slot (BiS) gear, and effective methods to master this class.

Windwalker Monk Overview

The Windwalker specialization is a melee DPS spec that focuses on using Energy, converting it into Chi, and using that Chi to deal damage. Windwalker is an incredibly mobile spec with a very strong presence in M+ and PvP but historically lags beyond other specs in Raids.

Windwalker Monk Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

• Stat scaling should be significantly improved, especially with Haste.
• Burst damage should be significant during cooldown windows, which can be every 90 seconds depending on talents.
• Talent choices to adjust for how much downtime you enjoy.
• Little to no damage loss for switching targets.
• Playstyle similar to Dragonflight.
• Could be one of the top targets for Power Infusion.
• Mobility remains nearly unparalleled, if not improved from Dragonflight.

Weaknesses

• Reduced burst AOE potential without Fatal Flying Guillotine.
• Reduced defensive ability with the loss of Dampen Harm.
• Lacks an immunity or unique utility.

Windwalker Monk Basic Gameplay

Windwalker Monk is a spec about managing resources and abilities with cooldowns at the same time. The primary concern for Windwalkers is to use Tiger Palm to convert Energy into Chi for abilities like Rising Sun Kick and Fists of Fury with as little of a delay as possible while not capping your Energy or Chi.

Windwalker will inherently have more resources than you can use on those two abilities, so Windwalkers need to learn how to adequately incorporate enough Blackout Kick into the rotation so as to not overflow with Chi, but not so much that you don't have the Chi necessary to cast Rising Sun Kick and Fists of Fury as soon as they are available.

The Windwalker Monk Mastery, Mastery: Combo Strikes, forces the Windwalkers to prepare and think several steps ahead, since they will want to avoid using Blackout Kick or Tiger Palm back to back, rather trying to weave them artfully between other abilities in order to get the maximum damage possible.

Windwalker Monk Changes in Patch 11.2

Patch 11.2 introduces no direct changes to Monk abilities but provides a significant baseline buff. Spinning Crane Kick has been reverted, allowing you to use other abilities while channeling it, as long as those abilities are not channels or casts themselves.

The new season includes a raid, Mythic+ dungeons, and new loot, including an artifact cloak called Reshii Wraps and a tier set with bonuses that vary based on your chosen Hero Talents. Check the guide sections to see what’s available in Ghosts of K'aresh.

Tier Set Bonuses

Monk tier set bonuses are very strong in Patch 11.2. The bonuses focus on the core mechanics of each Hero Talent tree:

• Conduit of the Celestials increases the uptime of Heart of the Jade Serpent.
• Shado-Pan increases the frequency and damage of Flurry Strikes.

Windwalker Monk Leveling Guide for The War Within

Leveling Gear for Windwalker Monk

When leveling up, always choose the piece of loot with the highest item level. The only exception to this rule is if you have a Ring or Necklace with a slightly lower item level, but 2 secondary stats on it instead of 1.

Windwalker Monk War Mode Talents for Leveling

In this section, we will rank the PvP talents best for leveling and engaging in solo or small-group PvE content. Below is a ranking of both General PvP Talents and Windwalker Monk-specific PvE talents.

General PvP Talents

• Relentless is a passive ability that does not automatically remove crowd control effects but reduces their duration.
• Gladiator's Medallion is an on-use ability that removes all movement-impairing and loss of control effects.
• Adaptation is recommended as the most passive choice, automatically removing loss of control effects every 5 seconds.

Windwalker Monk PvP Talents for Leveling

• Alpha Tiger provides a small burst of speed and damage as you move between targets.
• Reverse Harm enhances survivability while also adding extra damage.
• Turbo Fists is a powerful PvP talent that makes pulling large groups significantly easier.

Windwalker Monk DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents

© Wowhead

Copy the Windwalker Monk talents, paste them into the game.

Single-Target Talents

Conduit of the Celestials AoE/Mythic+/Delve Talents

PvP Talents for Windwalker Monk in The War Within

War Mode offers several benefits in the open world:

• PvP talents are enabled while outdoors.
• At least a 10% increase in World Quest rewards at maximum level.
• 10% more experience gained while leveling.
• Earn Conquest Points, which can be used to obtain gear every week.

Enabling War Mode is recommended for leveling and PvE content to maximize experience gains and rewards. However, doing so will make you available for open-world PvP, increasing the risk of being attacked while leveling or completing World Quests.

Best PvP Talents for Windwalker Monk

• Wind Waker grants you and allies affected by Windwalking an effect that makes them immune to slow and snare effects once every 30 seconds.
• Reverse Harm doubles the healing of Expel Harm and provides an extra Chi when used.
• Disabling Reach increases the range of your Disable to 10 yards.
• Alpha Tiger grants you 30% Haste upon attacking a new target with Tiger Palm. This can happen once every 30 seconds per target.
• Grapple Weapon grants you an additional spell that prevents your target from using their weapons for 6 seconds.
• Turbo Fists causes Fists of Fury to deal full damage to all targets hit and reduce their movement speed by 90%. It additionally grants you 100% Parry chance during the channel.
• Ride the Wind causes Flying Serpent Kick to increase the movement speed of allies in its path by 30%. This applies to yourself. It also increases Flying Serpent Kick's cooldown by 10 seconds.
• Pressure Points reduces the cooldown of Touch of Death by 60 seconds if you kill a player with it.
• Tigereye Brew generates stacks of Tigereye Brew whenever you spend 3 Chi. Using these stacks makes your attacks bypass armor but deal slightly less damage for 2 seconds per stack.

Turbo Fists, Reverse Harm, and Alpha Tiger are the three talents that will benefit you the most in PvE content, granting sustainability and survivability.

Best Hero Talents for Windwalker Monk in The War Within

Raiding Hero Talents for Windwalker Monk

Conduit of the Celestials

Conduit of the Celestials's primary strength is burst damage, which it does better than Shado-Pan. With the fight designs for Season 2 and the addition of House of Cards to give a huge boost of damage every 90 seconds, Conduit of the Celestials will get its time to shine in raids.

Shado-Pan

Shado-Pan is slightly behind Conduit of the Celestials in single target and can be closer if you don't have strong 90-second trinkets to pair with it.

Mythic+ Hero Talents for Windwalker Monk

Conduit of the Celestials

Shado-Pan is a viable option for Mythic+ as it provides strong and consistent AOE damage through the Shadow buff of Wisdom of the Wall. It is a less burst-oriented option that may be best for groups that are not planning out their cooldown uses.

Shado-Pan

Conduit of the Celestials's primary strength is burst damage, which can be very useful in Mythic+. Unfortunately, it doesn't scale with larger target amounts, making it more ideal for groups or dungeons that have smaller pulls or ones where you are planning out cooldown use to take advantage of the more impactful burst window.

Windwalker Monk DPS Stat Priority

The stat priority for Windwalker Monks depends on the encounter type and your character's gear.

1. Weapon Damage
2. Agility
3. Mastery = Haste
4. Versatility = Critical Strike

Getting a Better Understanding of Windwalker Monk Stats

Agility is your primary statistic. You should look for it in all of your upgrades. It provides you with Attack Power, which determines the damage your abilities do.

Versatility increases all your damage and healing done and decreases all damage taken.

Critical provides an increased chance on most of your spells to deal double damage. Keep in mind this will not affect the damage from Touch of Death and Touch of Karma.

Haste provides you with increased attack speed and Energy regeneration and reduces the cooldown of your Fists of Fury and Rising Sun Kick.

Mastery (Mastery: Combo Strikes) causes your abilities to deal increased damage (the amount depends on your amount of Mastery) when they are not used two or more times in a row. For example, using Blackout Kick and Tiger Palm gives both of them the damage bonus, but if you use Tiger Palm twice in a row, the second Tiger Palm will no longer benefit from the increase.

Windwalker Monk DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities

Single-Target Rotation for Windwalker Monk

1. Strike of the Windlord without active Heart of the Jade Serpent
2. Celestial Conduit without active Heart of the Jade Serpent
3. Rising Sun Kick with Xuen's Battlegear buff
4. Tiger Palm if < 5 Chi AND about to cap energy
5. Spinning Crane Kick with two stacks of Dance of Chi-Ji buff
6. Whirling Dragon Punch
7. Crackling Jade Lightning at 20 Last Emperor's Capacitor stacks
8. Slicing Winds
9. Fists of Fury
10. Rising Sun Kick
11. Blackout Kick try not to overcap Teachings of the Monastery stacks
12. Spinning Crane Kick with Dance of Chi-Ji buff
13. Chi Burst
14. Crackling Jade Lightning try not to overcap Last Emperor's Capacitor stacks
15. Blackout Kick

Single-Target Opener for Windwalker Monk

1. Tiger Palm
2. Rising Sun Kick
3. Tiger Palm
4. Invoke Xuen
5. Storm, Earth, and Fire
6. Rising Sun Kick
7. Strike of the Windlord
8. Fists of Fury
9. Slicing Winds
10. Tiger Palm
11. Rising Sun Kick
12. Whirling Dragon Punch
13. Fists of Fury if you have enough Haste to make this happen immediately.
14. Celestial Conduit
15. Proceed with the Heart of the Jade Serpent priority until that buff runs out, then return to the primary Conduit of the Celestials Priority.

Single-Target Rotation during Heart of the Jade Serpent

Heart of the Jade Serpent is a strong cooldown window that requires its own priority. You will want to follow this priority while you have the buff and the general priority when the buff is not present.

1. Fists of Fury
2. Rising Sun Kick
3. Slicing Winds
4. Spinning Crane Kick with two stacks of Dance of Chi-Ji buff
5. Whirling Dragon Punch
6. Tiger Palm
7. Blackout Kick with two stacks of Courageous Impulse
8. Spinning Crane Kick with Dance of Chi-Ji buff

Important Note on Spinning Crane Kick

When talented into Dance of Chi-Ji, Chi-spenders have a chance to cause the next Spinning Crane Kick not to cost any Chi and deal extra damage.

It is important to use Spinning Crane Kick before you use any other Chi-spender to ensure that the proc is not overwritten; that said, any abilities with a cooldown should be used before Spinning Crane Kick, so there will be times that you need to risk overwriting a Spinning Crane Kick proc to not delay a cooldown.

AoE Rotation for Windwalker Monk

Against multiple enemies, the rotation is based on a priority system, which slightly depends on how many enemies you are facing.

Additionally, you should make use of Storm, Earth, and Fire by using it once at the start of the fight and then using its next charge when Fists of Fury becomes available again. From then on, simply reuse it with Fists of Fury, ensuring that you never let both charges of Storm, Earth, and Fire remain available.

1. Strike of the Windlord without active Heart of the Jade Serpent
2. Celestial Conduit without active Heart of the Jade Serpent
3. Spinning Crane Kick with two stacks of Dance of Chi-Ji buff
4. Tiger Palm if
5. Crackling Jade Lightning at 20 Last Emperor's Capacitor stacks
6. Slicing Winds
7. Rising Sun Kick then Whirling Dragon Punch
8. Fists of Fury
9. Rising Sun Kick with Xuen's Battlegear buff
10. Blackout Kick with two stacks of Blackout Kick!
11. Spinning Crane Kick with Dance of Chi-Ji buff
12. Chi Burst
13. Spinning Crane Kick
14. Blackout Kick

Windwalker Monk DPS Gems and Consumables

Best Gems for Windwalker Monks

Keep in mind that for stat gems and enchants, you should always follow your simulation results. However, it is likely that your best gem will be one with big Haste and Mastery.

Best Flasks and Potions for Windwalker

Flask of Alchemical Chaos.

For all situations use Tempered Potion.

Best Food for Windwalker

You should eat the Agility Feasts Feast of the Midnight Masquerade.

Augment Runes for Windwalker

While expensive, Crystallized Augment Runes can also be used for a small amount of extra Agility. Consider keeping a few on hand for times when you need to eke out every bit of possible damage.

Weapon Enhancement for Windwalker

For all situations, use Algari Mana Oil.

Armor Kit for Windwalker

Due to the Stamina scaling of Touch of Death and Touch of Karma, Stormbound Armor Kit does provide a small DPS boost when added to your Legs.

Best Enchants for Windwalker Monk in The War Within

Slot	Enchantment
Necklace	Magnificent Jeweler's Setting (adds up to 2 sockets to a Ring or Neck)
Weapon	Enchant Weapon - Authority of the Depths
Chest	Enchant Chest - Crystalline Radiance
Bracers	Enchant Bracer - Chant of Armored Avoidance
Legs	Stormbound Armor Kit
Boots	Enchant Boots - Defender's March
Rings	Enchant Ring - Radiant Mastery
Cloak	Enchant Cloak - Chant of Winged Grace

Windwalker Monk DPS Gear and Best in Slot

This section will cover everything you need to know about equipping your character correctly.

BiS Gear for Windwalker Monk

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Half-Mask of Fallen Storms	Forgeweaver Araz
Neck	Sin Stained Pendant	Halls of Atonement
Shoulder	Glyphs of Fallen Storms	The Soul Hunters
Cloak	Reshii Wraps with Mastery	Campaign quests
Chest	Gi of Fallen Storms	Fractillus
Bracers	Rune-Branded Armbands	Crafted — Leatherworking
Gloves	Grasp of Fallen Storms	Soulbinder Naazindhri
Belt	Rune-Branded Waistband	Crafted — Leatherworking
Legs	Legwraps of Fallen Storms	Loom’ithar
Boots	Interloper's Reinforced Sandals	The Soul Hunters
Ring #1	Signet of the False Accuser	Halls of Atonement
Ring #2	Whispers of K'aresh	Eco-Dome Al'dani
Trinket #1	Araz's Ritual Forge	Forgeweaver Araz
Trinket #2	Astral Antenna	Loom’ithar
2H Weapon	Harvester's Interdiction	Ara-Kara, City of Echoes

Best Trinkets for Windwalker Monk in The War Within Season 3

Raiding Trinket Tier List for Windwalker Monk

This Trinket Tier List is single-target biased, as this tends to be the most important aspect of Raiding. When Trinkets are equal on single-target, I will "break the tie" by looking into which Trinket performs better in AoE/mixed scenarios.

A "Tier" as defined by this list is around 0.5% DPS, meaning that S-Tier Trinkets are around 0.5% better than A-Tier Trinkets, and so on.

S-Tier

• Araz's Ritual Forge — This trinket is so oppressively strong, even after a 10% nerf, that you will talent out of Xuen's Bond and align your cooldowns with it, rather than aligning it with your cooldowns.
• Astral Antenna — The best trinket in single target and a strong contender in multi-target, making it the strongest passive trinket in Raids and #1 or #2 in Mythic+.
• Incorporeal Essence-Gorger — The best trinket from Delves, if you can get it at a high enough item level.
• Screams of a Forgotten Sky — Buffed through the rough, this trinket can rival Antenna for the best passive trinket.
• Unyielding Netherprism — This is the Spymasters-style trinket for melee. Generally it is very strong, but mileage may vary.

A-Tier

• Cursed Stone Idol — Another trinket that got buffed quite a lot so that its worth consideration if you get it at a high item level.
• Improvised Seaforium Pacemaker — Probably the strongest passive trinket in Mythic+, but only slightly, and loses decently to the stronger single target focused trinkets.
• Sigil of the Cosmic Hunt — Great in single target, not great in dungeons.
• Signet of the Priory — A strong trinket, but nowhere near as strong as Ritual Forge, and not strong enough to make you not play Xuen's Bond, so it becomes a 3-minute trinket.

B-Tier

• Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj
• Incorporeal Warpclaw
• Lily of the Eternal Weave
• Ticking Sack of Terror

C-Tier

• Harvester's Edict
• Soulbreaker's Sigil

D-Tier

• Ara-Kara Sacbrood
• So'leah's Secret Technique
• Void-Touched Fragment

Mythic+ Trinket Tier List for Windwalker Monk

This Trinket Tier List is AoE-biased for Mythic+, as this tends to be the most important aspect of Mythic+.

A "Tier" as defined by this list is around 0.5% DPS, meaning that S-Tier Trinkets are around 0.5% better than A-Tier Trinkets, and so on.

S-Tier

• Araz's Ritual Forge — This trinket is so oppresively strong, even after a 10% nerf, that you will talent out of Xuen's Bond and align your cooldowns with it, rather than aligning it with your cooldowns.
• Astral Antenna — The best trinket in single target and a strong contender in multi-target, making it the strongest passive trinket in Raids and #1 or #2 in Mythic+.
• Incorporeal Essence-Gorger — The best trinket from Delves, if you can get it at a high enough item level.
• Screams of a Forgotten Sky — Buffed through the rough, this trinket can rival Antenna for the best passive trinket.
• Unyielding Netherprism — This is the Spymasters-style trinket for melee. Generally it is very strong, but mileage may vary.

A-Tier

• Cursed Stone Idol — Another trinket that got buffed quite a lot so that its worth consideration if you get it at a high item level.
• Improvised Seaforium Pacemaker — Probably the strongest passive trinket in Mythic+, but only slightly, and loses decently to the stronger single target focused trinkets.
• Sigil of the Cosmic Hunt — Great in single target, not great in dungeons.
• Signet of the Priory — A strong trinket, but nowhere near as strong as Ritual Forge, and not strong enough to make you not play Xuen's Bond, so it becomes a 3-minute trinket.

B-Tier

• Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj
• Incorporeal Warpclaw
• Lily of the Eternal Weave
• Ticking Sack of Terror

C-Tier

• Harvester's Edict
• Soulbreaker's Sigil

D-Tier

• Ara-Kara Sacbrood
• So'leah's Secret Technique
• Void-Touched Fragment

The War Within Season 3 Tier Set for Windwalker Monk

Season 3 of The War Within introduces a new Monk-themed set, the Crash of Fallen Storms. Pieces of this armor can be obtained from bosses in the Manaforge Omega raid, through any of the nine slots in the weekly Great Vault, or created at the Matrix Catalyst as a catch-up system. Wearing multiple pieces unlocks special bonuses for Windwalkers. This season is unique in that the bonuses differ depending on whether you are using the Shado-Pan or Conduit of the Celestials Hero Talents:

Conduit of the Celestials

• Monk Conduit of the Celestials 11.2 Class Set 2pc: Heart of the Jade Serpent additionally triggers for 4 seconds at 100% effectiveness after you cast Slicing Winds.
• Monk Conduit of the Celestials 11.2 Class Set 4pc: Heart of the Jade Serpent increases your Haste by 10% while active and for 4 seconds afterwards.

Shado-Pan

• Monk Shado-Pan 11.2 Class Set 2pc: Flurry Strikes deal 20% more damage, and activating Storm, Earth, and Fire instantly grants 10 stacks of Flurry Charge that trigger on your next attack at 70% effectiveness.
• Monk Shado-Pan 11.2 Class Set 4pc: Flurry Charge generation is increased by 50%, and Flurry Strikes trigger every 120 Energy spent during Storm, Earth, and Fire.

As there are five total slots but only four are required to gain both bonuses, it’s generally recommended to skip the leg piece in favor of the others. That said, completing your set bonuses is always the top priority, and this season all five pieces remain very close in overall performance.

Addons for Windwalker Monk

Generic Addons for Monks

• ElvUI
• Boss Mods
  • Deadly Boss Mods
  • BigWigs
• GTFO
• Parrot or Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
• Weak Auras
• Recount / Skada / Details!
• Grid and GridClickSets (Optional)
• Omen Threat Meter

Specific Addons for Windwalker Monks

• Currently, no additional addons are needed to play this specialization to its full potential.

WeakAuras for Windwalker Monk

WeakAuras is an essential tool for Windwalker Monk and DPS players, offering unparalleled customization to enhance your gameplay. Rather than focusing on specific examples, we recommend exploring Wago.io, where you’ll find an extensive library of WeakAuras to suit your needs.

If you are unfamiliar with WeakAuras, it is an incredibly powerful and widely-used AddOn that allows you to create custom displays for nearly everything in the game. This includes tracking buffs, debuffs, cooldowns, Focus, resources, and much more.

To import a WeakAura, visit Wago.io and select one that fits your preferences. Click the "Copy WeakAura Import String" button to copy it to your clipboard. Next, log into the game and type /wa in the chat box to open the WeakAuras interface. Navigate to the "Import" section, press Ctrl+V to paste the copied string, and click "Import". You’re ready to go!

Mastering WeakAuras and customizing it to your playstyle is highly recommended for any serious raider. With countless options available on Wago.io, you can tailor your interface to optimize your performance and focus on what truly matters in combat.

Windwalker Monk Frequently Asked Questions

How Good is Windwalker Monk in The War Within?

Windwalker Monks bring a versatile toolkit with strong burst damage and excellent AoE capabilities. They perform particularly well in Mythic+ and PvP, but in raids, their performance may dip in single-target-heavy encounters. Despite this, their utility and flexibility make them a valuable addition to most group compositions.

Am I Supposed to Have Downtime?

Yes! Downtime is a natural part of the Windwalker Monk rotation. As an energy-based spec, there will be moments when you're waiting for energy to regenerate. While Haste can reduce this downtime slightly, it’s not a highly desirable stat. Use these pauses to plan your next actions effectively.

Should I hold FoF for a few seconds to use RSK on cooldown?

In most cases, avoid delaying your abilities. Ideally, have 5 Chi ready to use Rising Sun Kick (RSK) and Fists of Fury (FoF) back to back. If the cooldown difference between the two abilities is minimal (1-2 GCDs), prioritize RSK first. For larger cooldown gaps, it’s better to use FoF without delay.

Is There a Haste Cap for Windwalker Monks?

Haste is difficult to value consistently for Windwalker Monks because not all abilities benefit from it (e.g., Energizing Elixir, Touch of Death). Additionally, the spec’s fixed 1-second global cooldown complicates its relationship with Haste.

Instead of relying on static stat weights, use tools like Raidbots' Top Gear to compare gear and understand how Haste impacts your performance. For deeper analysis, the Simulationcraft application with its plotting feature can provide more accurate insights.

When Do I Ignore Combo Strikes?

If Blackout Kick is deprioritized (e.g., due to reduced damage), it doesn’t need to take precedence over abilities like Rising Sun Kick. Similarly, if you aren’t using the Hit Combo talent, you can safely cast Tiger Palm or other low-damage abilities consecutively when setting up for AoE or combo chains.

Which Race is Best for Windwalker Monks?

Race differences for Windwalker Monks are minimal, with the performance gap between the best and worst races being less than 0.5%. While some races may offer slight advantages based on secondary stats, the impact on your damage output is negligible. Choose a race based on aesthetics or other utility benefits for content like PvP or Mythic+. Tools like Bloodmallet can help simulate race-specific differences for your character.