windwalker-monk-leveling
Latest
Leveling a monk in Mists of Pandaria, part 2
Interested in trying out the new monk class, but can't tell your Tiger Strikes from your Tiger Palms? Written by Chase Hasbrouck of World of Monkcraft, WoW Insider's new monk coverage will get you kicking in no time! Two weeks ago, I covered the stuff you'll want to level, and last week, I covered the abilities your new monk will gain from levels 1 to 30. This week, we'll finish out the list. Read: Leveling a monk in Mists of Pandaria, part 1 Levels 31 to 45 For this set of levels, there's not too much going on for windwalkers. You've already received the majority of your core moveset, so now you'll be picking up a bit of utility. (I neglected to mention last week that you unlock your first glyph slot at level 25. I recommend picking up the Glyph of Afterlife for leveling, to help minimize your downtime.) At 32, you'll get Spear Hand Strike, which is a standard interrupt with a nice all-schools lockout bonus for PvP. Following that, you'll get Energizing Brew at level 36. EBrew (as I call it) is deceptively powerful. It'll seem kind of useless while out questing, as most of your fights are pretty short-duration in nature. Jump into a group scenario, however, and you'll soon run into situations where you have no chi left to use on finishers and no energy for Jab. In that case, popping this will effective give you a little kickstart. It's not an instant kick like a feral druid's Tiger's Fury or an assassination rogue's Cold Blood, but in the end, more energy means more chi means more damage. After Energizing Brew, you won't get anything new for a little while, but make sure to grab Journeyman Riding at 40. Continuing on the utility theme, at level 44 you'll receive Paralysis. This is your crowd control ability and functions similarly to a retribution paladin's Repentance. It's limited to melee range, though, which will make using it in a coordinated fashion somewhat problematic. (Later, you do unlock a talent that gives it a limited ranged capability.) It does have a shorter cooldown than duration, so you can refresh it as long as necessary; try to use it from behind, though, to get the full effect. Finally, level 45 unlocks your third choice of talents, which all relate to chi in some fashion. I don't find Ascension particularly useful, so I'd recommend picking up either Power Strikes or Chi Brew. Personally, I prefer Power Strikes since I don't have to think about using it, plus it generally allows me to Jab once and go straight into Fists of Fury or a Touch of Death.
