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[WW] 5.2 -Enter the Fist
"They were chopping them up and they were chopping them down,
It's an ancient Chinese art and everybody knew their part, From a feint into a slip, kicking from the hip Everybody was kung-fu fighting!" - Carl Douglas, Kung Fu Fighting [WW] 5.2 - Enter the Fist Greetings! My name is Calligraphy. I've been playing various roles in WoW for several years, starting wayyyy way back when I first made my shaman. I just so happen to play a Windmasta Brewwalkin' monk, with an emphasis on that Windwalkin'. I chose to write this in order to have an up-to-date guide on Windwalker mechanics and changes, with an emphasis on compiling current theorycraft in an easier-to-digest manner.
[top] IntroductionWindwalker is not a class to be confused with The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. For one thing, we have an L in Windwalker. We bring front-loaded damage, and are extremely effective in single-target fights. We do not have initial burst, though we do have a stacking buff that allows us to do a large amount of damage over a short period of time (for more information, read the section on Tigereye Brew). In addition to that, we have a multi-dot that allows us to maintain great damage on 2-3 targets (though, with an impact on our own damage). Finally, to top all of this off - we also do fantastic sustained damage. How to read this guide: I will give the short answer first (for those who are perhaps just switching to Windwalker and have 10 minutes before raid) and then go into more technical reasoning for those who are curious, or those who are attempting to min/max. [top] DisclaimerThis guide is designed to fascilitate discussion of Monk's DPS spec, Windwalker. While I attempt to write in a neutral voice, some personal opinion is bound to surface. I attempt to notate where personal opinion begins and stated facted begins - however, it is up to the user to test through simulations, spreadsheets, and actual gameplay whether statements herein are fact or opinion. In addition, I will attempt to keep this guide as up-to-date as possible - however, World of Warcraft is a game which changes quite often, and therefore some changes may not be documented as quickly. Again, this is up to the user to test. Initial credit is given to Nextormento for creating the original Windwalker guide (and for the tables I may have borrowed and simply amended), and Mihir on Mmo-Champion, in addition to Eeinx for his great work on the monk module for SimulationCraft, Venyasaur for his spreadsheets, and the monk TC community in general for the wealth of spreadsheets that have been provided. (Todo: provide a links, preferrably to Google Documents/other free-to-access-online, to helpful spreadsheets). Additionally, I will monitor this thread as much as possible in order to integrate future changes, and to revise any mistakes made. While free information is good information, wrong and/or outdated information is still bad information. [top] ResourcesHere are some resources that you can use in order to better optimize your character. [top] SpreadsheetsTrinkets Ranking Spreadsheet: Credit to Promdates and Eyedore for creating the two spreadsheets that lead to this. Simply follow the directions in the sheet, rank the trinkets, and profit. Eyedore's Monk Energy spreadsheet: Credit to Eyedore for compiling this. Inserting mastery and haste, in addition to talent choices, gear choices, and rotation choices, allows the user to view statistics on energy regeneration, regeneration/min, jabs/min, chi/min, etc. Very useful in determining the amount of time active for a Patchwerk situation. 5.2 Monk Energy Sheet (Eyedore): Willl replace the former link upon launch of 5.2 Calligraphy's Spreadsheet of Pre-Raid Gear: Spreadsheet of items a player can obtain without having stepped foot in a raid instance (LFR included) that require no valor to obtain. [top] SimulatorsSimulationCraft.org: Credit to Eeinx for his work on the Windwalker profile. Please view this for how to use this tool. [top] Basic Mechanics[top] WeaponsMonks can use staves and polearms, or they can dual-wield one-handed maces, swords, axes, and fist weapons. The stats for each weapon is important in calculating the damage of your spells. Therefore, you should always place the most emphasis on upgrading your weapons. [top]Which to Choose?Dual wield is (almost always) king. Here's a basic idea of how to choose your weapon:
[top] ResourcesWindwalker monks are often compared to rogues and retribution paladins, and for good reason. Like the other two classes, we utilize two resources: energy and chi. Our energy is converted into Chi, which is then used for large, more powerful attacks. Note: Spells and abilities which use Chi DO NOT use energy! Meaning, our resources are either/or resources, using ONLY energy or ONLY Chi. [top] EnergyEnergy is regenerated at a constant rate (haste and energy regeneration cooldowns aside). It is typically used for our utility spells (interrupts, disarms, etc), but the primary usage of our Energy (as mentioned above) is to generate Chi. The majority of our energy should be used by the spells Jab and Expel Harm. Setting aside haste procs and haste cooldowns such as Timewarp, the only way to increase energy regeneration is through Energizing Brew. [top] ChiChi is the source for our major damage spells. Windwalkers generate 2 Chi every time they use Jab or Expel Harm. This Chi is then used for some of our major damage spells. [top] Chi GenerationThis is a basic list of spells which can be used in order to generate Chi. [top] Passive EffectsSparring: when the enemy attacks you from the front, you gain the Sparring buff. This increases your chance to parry by 5% for 10 seconds, stacking up to 3 times. The effect does have a 30 second cooldown. Attacking the target amplifies Sparring by 5%. Swift Reflexes: Increases the monk's chance to parry by 5%. When an attack is parried, you reflexively strike back for a certain amount of damage. 1 second cooldown. [top] Raid BuffsMonks produce raid-wide +5% stats with [top] Spells and Abilities[top] Basic Spells: The Windwalker's GroundworkThe Rotation:
Your main chi builders should be Jab and Expel Harm. Rising Sun Kick will be used on cooldown, and Tiger Palm should only be cast if your Tiger Power buff is about to fall off. Otherwise, your main usage of Chi will be Blackout Kick. Fists of Fury should be used when you are certain you will be able to finish the cast and are at <85 energy. Note that Fists of Fury splits its damage when used over multiple targets. [top] AoE: Gotta Hit 'Em AllThe Rotation:
[top] Miscellaneous[top] Utilities
[top] Cooldowns
[top] Movement
[top] In the Raid Environment[top] ConsumablesFirst, a note on food: I recommend learning the Wok specialization in order to acquire recipes for Agility food and feasts which favor Agility. However, this food is not bind on pickup, so you can also have someone who has learned the desired Wok specialization recipe or purchase it in-game for usage. Note that Pandaren receive double the stat benefit of food; unlike other races, switching from 275 to 300 food is not a change of 25 agility: it is a change of 50 agility. This can be a significant advantage considering how valuable Agility is as a stat, and therefore I recommend that Pandaren windwalkers user 300 food as often as possible. Windwalkers, like other agility users, receive agility from eating banquets.
[top] Combat PrioritiesI've discussed the mechanics and boring part of our spells - so let's delve into our basic rotation or priorities. In short:
If you are at a point where you are going to either energy cap or Chi cap, it is generally less of a damage loss if you expend the Chi first. In other words, it's better to waste energy than it is to waste Chi. [top] Combo Breaker Procs
[top] BurstMonks do not do burst. Monks do sustained damage. But let me grow on that thought. Consuming 10 stacks of Tigereye Brew is still a 20% damage increase, and therefore it is advised to pool Tigereye Brew stacks if there is an incoming burst phase. In addition, our level 90 talent (Xuen) does provide a nice damage increase over 45s. Note that Xuen does not benefit from Tigereye Brew, but will benefit from things such as on-use trinkets and an engineer's Synapse Springs, in addition to procs from trinkets and item enchantments. In addition, one could talent into Chi Brew for on-demand burst - however, note that other talents on this tier typically reward more Chi per second (therefore, this is not really advised). [top] Multi Target[top]2-3 TargetsFor a fight with two to three targets, 5.2 gives Monks the ability to use Storm, Earth and Fire. This allows you to summon 1-2 clones of yourself. When you split the first time, you and your clone will do 60% of your normal damage. Another split will cause yourself and all of your clones to do 45% of your normal damage. A few notes on this ability:
Note that the spirits also copy your specials. Therefore, you can continue your typical single-target rotation, and still benefit from this multidot effect. [top]3+ TargetsMonks should use Spinning Crane Kick and Rising Sun Kick in a multi target situation (note that the debuff from Rising Sun Kick spreads to all targets within 8 yards of the monk's target, rather than just the one the monk is targetting). In addition, it is advised to keep the Tiger Power buff active in these situations. It is also useful to use Fists of Fury in a multi-target rotation. While Fists of Fury does split its damage over multiple targets, each hit has a chance to be a critical strike. [top] TalentsTalents important to windwalkers: Level 30: These provide hybrid heal/damage spells. With the changes in 5.2, Chi Wave is currently the strongest spell in the tier. It can be considered a strong point in the Windwalker rotation, and it is strongly advised to track its cooldown. Level 45: Ascension is considered the strongest ability in this tier due to the increased energy regeneration. It is closely followed by Power Strikes. Chi Brew may turn out to be useful for burst-on-demand encounters, but still provides less chi over time than either of the other talents. Level 90: Xuen is useful in almost every scenario. Rushing Jade Wind provides more damage for a fight with a greater amount of sustained AoE, but keep in mind that Xuen also AoEs over his 45s duration. Chi Torpedo may be useful if rolling through the group, but generally speaking, is the weakest talent in this tier for the Windwalker spec and should be avoided. [top] GlyphsI will not cover glyphs that do not affect Windwalkers.
Some notes:
[top] GearingAgility is the favored stat for monks. Higher agility outweighs secondary stats in a 2:1 ratio. I will avoid going too far into the formulae behind our abilities, as most appear in tooltips. [top] Stat PrioritizationYour short, basic stat prioritization: Hit/Exp (7.5%) > Haste (5K-8K, depending on fight and player skill) > Crit > Mastery However, that's a bit simplified. Thanks to Mihir for compiling this at MMO-Champ (beat me to the punch), here are the general values you want to look for: Haste: 6.5K (or wherever you are comfortable) Mastery: 6.6K (just barely above haste if you are using Rune of Reorigintation, but this should also give you a pretty decent amount of extra damage from Tigereye Brew) Crit: 5.5K (in other words, after Haste and Mastery are both at a comfortable level, you're going to want to put the rest into crit). This seems WILDLY different from the above priority set, but again - your priorities tend to shift as a Windwalker. My priorities are not going to be the same as your priorities, and a week from now, your priorities may also not be your priorities. Therefore, you ought to be using a combination SimulationCraft, spreadsheets, and ingame testing as often as possible in order to determine whether or not more crit or more haste is beneficial, in addition to testing your setup in-game (note that SimulationCraft is designed more around Patchwerk, and you may find that its results do not suit your playstyle - however, it is very useful for taking an educated guess at what your weights will be). In addition, note that certain items (in Tier 15, for example, Rune of Reorigination) will change your stat priorities. And finally, Simulating: Learn it, live it, love it. We are a new class, and therefore, as a community, still have things to learn and discover. The value of your Mastery, Haste, and Crit WILL change depending on your item level and gearing choices. [top] HasteThe value of haste - for you - will shift here and there at certain gear values. Haste not only makes your attacks hit faster, but also increases the amount of energy you regenerate. In addition, Fists of Fury scales with haste as of 5.1 (meaning, higher haste will reduce its cast time, but you will receive the same number of damage ticks. You probably realize that capping on energy is bad - and that is why there is considered to be a "haste cap" (per se - it is not a true cap). Most Windwalkers aim for around 6k haste, and then begin prioritizing Mastery. However, our Tiger Strikes continue to benefit from Haste following this cap, as does the speed of our white (normal) hits. At level 90, 425 haste rating is needed for 1% haste. [top] Critical StrikeIncreases the chance for attacks (auto and otherwise) to be a critical strike, which causes them to deal 100% (double) damage. Critical strike is the next stat that most monks prioritize. Critical strike works with damage multipliers, and is therefore always going to be a very valuable stat (at the time of writing this sentence). In more technical terms, critical strike works very well with damage modifiers such as our Tigereye Brew and the debuff from Rising Sun Kick. Note that there is a cap for critical strike. It is estimated that at 71.2% critical strike, Autoattack would not be able to generate more crits. That means that any extra crit following this would only benefit spells and abilities. 95.2% is estimated to be the cap for abilities and spells (but could plausibly be higher) - however, that could prove to be a major waste of possible stats. At Tier 14 heroic gear levels, you should see yourself comfortable at around 30-35% crit. At level 90, 600 critical strike is required to increase crit chance by 1%. [top] MasteryWindwalkers have the mastery, Bottled Fury. As of 5.2, our Mastery will modify the amount of damage received when we use Tigereye Brew. This has several ramifications. First, certain things will affect the value of mastery for you. Higher levels of haste lead to better overall Mastery scaling. In addition, Monk's Tier 15 4-set bonus, which has a 10% chance to generate an extra stack of Tigereye Brew, also encourages it. The trinket, Rune of Reorigination, also makes Mastery a much more desirable stat. Simulations and general math are going to show lower values of Mastery. However, in practice, a Monk's mastery is extremely powerful, provided it is used correctly. When used with trinket and weapon procs, it is possible to do above 100% of our normal damage. At level 90, 600 mastery is required for 1% mastery. 1% mastery increases how much more damage Tigereye Brew gives us. [top] Haste, Crit, and Tiger Strikes - PrioritizationTiger Strikes generally benefit evenly from haste and crit - though recent math suggests they slightly favor crit. With 5.2's Bottled Fury, they will also benefit while Tigereye Brew's buff is active. The haste benefit Tiger Strikes receives, in addition to the increased energy regeneration from talenting into Ascension, means that most monks are generally comfortable at 5-7k haste (though some prefer to go as high as 8K haste). This is where playstyle and encounters come into question. In a Patchwerk fight, a slightly higher amount of haste may be more beneficial than a higher amount of crit or mastery. However, most encounters are going to have some degree of movement or downtime, which is why crit and mastery tend to be favored. [top]Rune of Re-OriginationThis trinket adds some complexities to Windwalker. It's a fantastic trinket to use, however, it will cause your secondary priorities to shift. Here are the general rules of thumb for using it:
Note that - due to the nature of the trinket's proc - it is an INCREDIBLY strong trinket for Windwalker. Other classes may see some use out of it, but it is best used by a Windwalker overall. [top] Enchantment
[top] GemmingThe largest change in Pandaria is the fact that gems with secondary stats have double the stats of gems with primary stats (other than stamina, which has 3/4 the amount of a secondary stat gem). This means that there is less of a disadvantage when socketing for a bonus. In addition, perfect-cut Uncommon gems have the same amount of stats as a rare gem cut.
General tips: Lower gear levels may benefit more from gemming for hit or expertise, but generally speaking, these sockets can be ignored (especially if one is well over hit or expertise cap, unless gemming for a smaller bonus allows one to reforge more into other secondary stats). Testing should be done before writing off gemming for or away from a bonus. Also, lower gear levels will benefit more from gemming for haste until their energy regen is ~12.5 energy/second, after which they will benefit more from gemming for crit. Yellows will typically be Haste gems, until in the range of 6K haste. Reds should be either hybrid haste (if outside of your comfortable range of energy regenerationation) or hybrid mastery. It is also perfectly viable to gem for pure agility. Your meta should be [top] ProfessionsCrafting professions are the preference for monks, as they all give an extra 320 agililty (upon average).
Generally speaking, Engineering is considered the best for min/maxing damage throughput due to the fact that is a large amount of agility that can be paired with another proc or cooldown (such as Tigereye Brew). However, the advantage provided is minimal over other crafting professions. Herbalism, skinning, and mining are not advised. [top] Gearing ChoicesGenerally speaking, you are going to want to favor gear which has Mastery on it (or Haste if you are having issues maintaining at least 5-7K haste), though any combination of your secondary stats is a viable option. However, always favor pieces with a higher item level (and therefore a higher amount of agility). Always run tests through simulations, spreadsheets, and ingame play to determine the strength of an item. [top] Tier GearCurrent theorycrafting has shown that using 2 pieces of T14 are considered a damage increase. Four pieces is also an increase, but it is very minimal. It is generally advised that monks gear for secondary stats (haste/crit) before gearing for set bonuses. Our Tier 15 set bonuses are as follows: 2 pieces: Your Chi generating abilities have a 15% chance to generate an Energy Sphere, which will grant you 10 Energy when you walk through it. 4 pieces: You have a 10% chance to gain an additional charge of Tigereye Brew every time you gain a charge of Tigereye Brew. Our Tier 14 set bonuses are as follows: 2 pieces: Reduces the cooldown of Fists of Fury by 5 seconds. 4 pieces: Increases the duration of Energizing Brew by 5 seconds (110 energy over 11 seconds vs. 60 energy over 6 seconds). [top] Possible and Known IssuesI will be using this area to keep track of known issues and possible issues. A possible issue is an issue which has been noticed in-game, but may not yet have enough supporting data to submit a bug report. A known issue is an issue which a bug report has been submitted. [top] Known Issues
[top] Possible Issues[top] Addons, Macros[top] Useful AddonsWeak Auras is an extremely useful addon that can be customized to track certain spells, procs, and buffs/debuffs. This thread on MMO-Champion contains some very helpful strings that can be imported. Otherwise, I recommend any module which can be used to track energy, Chi, our Tiger Power buff, Tigereye Brew stacks, and cooldowns such as Energizing Brew in a manner that the user is comfortable with. I have known many Windwalkers which were perfectly comfortable (and very successful) with the default UI. [top] MacrosCurrently, there are no make-or-break Macros due to the change in rotations - now that classes typically use priority rotations (monks included), cast sequence macros aren't terribly helpful. However, it might be worthwhile for some Windwalkers (Engineers in particular) to macro the use of their Synapse Springs with a cooldown, or the use of their Potion with a major cooldown (as items can be used simultaneously with using spells, it would activate both cooldowns at the same time). Again, however, this will not "make or break" the Windwalker in question. [top] Changes (Proposed and Otherwise)[top] To-Dos(Most of these are marked within the guide itself)
[top] Revisions4/29/2013: Fixed some false information with the Herbalism/Skinning professions. 3/31/2013: Added Chi Wave to combat priorities (its placement is a bit strange). Fixed Tigereye Brew prioritization (it stated 10 stacks, should be 20). Added note about Rune of Re-origination below stat priorities. Adjusted stat priorities - testing has shown crit to be stronger than mastery (actually, I would say that Mastery is still very strong, perhaps add something about a base mastery to avoid people investing entirely into crit). Adjusted note on Tier 30 talents, as it was highly outdated. Clarified some values on stat priorities - Mihir beat me to the punch here, so I'll give credit where it's due. 3/7/2013: Fixed a bad tag on a list. Fixed a bad tag in weapon prios. 3/4/2013: 5.2 Revision 1/10/2013: The link at the top looks silly. If people are interested in accessing and having the new guide shared with them, they can still PM me. 1/7/2013: Added link to the 5.2 draft. 1/4/2013: Reminded self it is not 2012. Added link to Venyasaur's great post about why crit > haste for both weapon setups, and clarified language in that portion of the guide. Added known issues in order to track active/possible bugs. Eeinx, I am so, so sorry I misspelled your username. 1/3/2013: Found an outdated Engineering snippet. Adding more spreadsheets. 1/2/2013: Posted guide. Edited Professions table to be in lexicographical order, adjusted a few typos and numbers that did not match tooltips. Fixed math with Engineering agility bonus. Duel wield is NOT dual wielding. Link to Promdates's trinket spreadsheet added. 1/1/2013: New Year, initial revision. |
Nice work. If you get time, a BiS and stat weights section for various tier levels could be useful. Trinket lists are especially useful.
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Eyedore made a comprehensive trinket list in the old WW thread, it should be up to date.
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I think a list of top-end gear would be useful - I'll also look into that, along with a "pre-raid" list. I have a spreadsheet for my own loot priorities, so I'll probably draw off of that. Added BiS lists as a To-Do. |
I actually have a version of it on google docs. I'll fix a few things, update it and ship it to you either tonight or tomorrow afternoon.
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In the old WW thread, Saltycracker mentioned that 5.2 mastery "scales exponentially" (this post). Just wanted someone to clarify - does this mean that the effect mastery has on overall damage output grows exponentially? After doing some draft calculations of my own, I only see linear increases, in both bonus damage provided and the average effect it has on our performance. Am I missing something here?
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Thanks alot Calligraphy! Finally we have an up to date monk guide :)
About trinkets: I checked your trinket spreadsheet Promdates, and it looks good, also because you included the upgrade counterparts. There is one thing I am missing though. You are calculating the procs as if they have a perfect uptime, which will never happen ofcourse. For instance the Relic will be a little less good because it only procs off of crits, while most of the other trinkets proc from hits. What I did to solve that problem was to calculate the amount of hits and crits per second (with data from simc) and then with the chance to proc for each trinket I calculated how often you have to hit/crit and thus how many seconds untill a next proc occurs. Maybe it's an idea to add this into your spreadsheet aswell? The thing I don't like about my trinket list atm is that haste is valued so high, which is because it is valued so by simc (which is patchwerk data). This can be solved simply by changing the values for haste and crit, but it doesn't feel good to just make them up. I uploaded my trinket spreadsheet here: trinkets.xlsx Just in case, my energy spreadsheet: monk_energy.xlsx |
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With how the new mastery functions and what was said before, it will likely scale linearly, which will very likely change with varied amounts of gear. Hopefully we'll be able to get some results back soon in preparation for T15. :) This should make it easier to make a more reliable trinket list. (among other things :x) Quote:
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@Eyedore: I'll see about adding those. Are they available through Google Docs? I'll include the download links for now. |
Currently working on merging mine and Eyedore's trinket lists. Expect a new one in a little while.
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In the meantime, I compiled a list/spreadsheet of items not requiring raids/VP. I'll add another sheet to it later with items requiring VP (the idea being a list of items users could receive prior to stepping foot in a raid instance). (Perhaps it isn't useful to us specifically, but I imagine it could be useful to other people attempting to learn Windwalker). |
Completed the first version of the trinket spreadsheet incorporating Eyedore's proc math.
filehosting.org - download page for Trinkets_5.1.0a_v1.xlsm 1) Run SimulationCraft for yourself to get your stat weights and other information. 2) Set the fight duration from the top of the "Results" page (usually if you have it set at 450 fight length, it will be 360-540) 3) Put your weights into the blue boxes, adjust hit/expertise to the highest secondary stat value (to not have hit/expertise trinkets be so over-valued) 4) Check the "Abilities" section of SimulationCraft and put in the number of hits/ticks and what the crit % for each is. 5) Choose a reforge option 6) Rank 7) ??? 8) Profit. |
The amount of lime green Office '03 (work computer :( ) created is rather blinding. Otherwise I would call this a beautiful work of art :)
I love it. Adding a download link immediately. I find it interesting that Flashing Steel outweighs the LFR trinkets - definitely something to think about. |
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https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...NHVmSHc#gid=10 The spreadsheet should be ready for 5.2 but let me know if you see any problems. I'm seeing mastery be the best secondary stat with the 5.2 changes: DPS gain in 1% Stat gain: Mastery - 0.96% Crit - 0.74% Haste - 0.63% |
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