New Raider's Guide

Start here

Three rules apply in every mode:

1. Stay alive. A dead monk does zero damage. Any damage you lose rolling out of fire is tiny next to dying.
2. Keep hitting. Windwalker is a melee spec with no cast times. Every second you are not pressing a button or moving on purpose is lost damage, and Energy you let cap is damage thrown away.
3. Never press the same button twice in a row. Your Mastery, Combo Strikes, gives every ability a large damage bonus as long as it is different from the one before. Breaking it is the single most expensive mistake a new Windwalker makes.

What to check in your logs

After a raid night, open your character on Warcraft Logs and look at these five things, in this order. They tell you more than the big DPS number does.

Fix these in order. Deaths first, then active time, then Zenith count, then Mastery breaks, then resource spending. Parse percentile climbs on its own once those are right.

Windwalker 101: the five ideas behind every button

Windwalker is a two-resource loop. Energy fills up on its own, Tiger Palm turns Energy into Chi, and your hard hits spend Chi. Cooldowns make the loop spin faster. Learn these five ideas and every priority list below will make sense.

1. Energy becomes Chi. Energy regenerates by itself. Tiger Palm costs Energy and gives you 2 Chi. If your Energy bar is full, it has stopped filling, so never let it sit there.
2. Chi buys your hits. Rising Sun Kick, Fists of Fury, Blackout Kick and Spinning Crane Kick all cost Chi. You hold at most 5 by default. Sitting at full Chi means the next Tiger Palm is wasted, so never cap.
3. Mastery: Combo Strikes. Every ability hits harder if it is different from the ability before it. Alternate. Tiger Palm, Blackout Kick, Tiger Palm is fine. Tiger Palm, Tiger Palm is a broken Mastery.
4. Procs light up free buttons. Combo Breaker makes your next Blackout Kick free. Dance of Chi-Ji makes your next Spinning Crane Kick free and stronger. Method says to spend both a little earlier than the list suggests so they never expire or overcap.
5. Zenith is your big cooldown. It has two charges and a flexible cooldown. While it is active your Chi spenders cost 1 less and Blackout Kick resets more. It ends with Zenith Stomp, a hard hit you press when Chi is low or Zenith is nearly over. Press Zenith with your potion and trinket.

Easy Mode: five buttons, one order Mode 1

This is the whole rotation. Read the list top to bottom every time the global cooldown ends and press the first thing that is true, unless it is the button you just pressed, in which case press the next one. It uses the Shado-Pan single-target build from the setup section.

1. Zenith if a charge is ready. Press it at the start of the fight and every time it lights up again.
2. Fists of Fury if it is off cooldown and you have 3 Chi. It is a channel: stand still for it, and do not press anything else until it ends.
3. Rising Sun Kick if it is off cooldown and you have 2 Chi.
4. Tiger Palm if you have fewer than 2 Chi, or your Energy is nearly full.
5. Blackout Kick. When nothing above is true, press this. It costs 1 Chi and shortens the two kicks above.

That is it. Ignore Whirling Dragon Punch, Spinning Crane Kick, Touch of Death and Zenith Stomp for now. They are a bonus, not the foundation.

The opener

Stand behind the boss before the pull timer ends. When it hits zero: Tiger Palm, Zenith (with potion and trinket), Fists of Fury, Rising Sun Kick, then fall into the list above. If Rising Sun Kick reset Fists of Fury, press Fists of Fury again.

When you have to move

Everything you have except Fists of Fury is instant, so you can keep hitting while you sidestep. For a longer move, Roll or Tiger's Lust, then get straight back into melee. Never start Fists of Fury if you know you will have to move in the next 4 seconds.

Where to stand

Behind the boss, close enough that every button is in range. Bosses can parry attacks from the front, and most have a frontal cone that should only ever hit the tank. If you cannot see the boss's back, you are in the wrong place.

Intermediate Mode: four bonus buttons and a second target Mode 2

Same skeleton as Easy Mode, with Whirling Dragon Punch, Spinning Crane Kick procs, Zenith Stomp and Touch of Death slotted in. Each one is worth a few percent of your damage, and together they are the gap between a passable Windwalker and a solid one.

1. Whirling Dragon Punch whenever it lights up. It only works while both Rising Sun Kick and Fists of Fury are on cooldown, so it will light up on its own if you are pressing those two.
2. Zenith on cooldown. Zenith Stomp when you are low on Chi during Zenith, or when Zenith is about to end. Unused Stomp charges are lost, so never let Zenith expire with one in hand.
3. Touch of Death whenever the boss is low enough for it to light up, or on an add with less health than you.
4. Tiger Palm if your Energy is nearly full or you lack the Chi for Fists of Fury.
5. Fists of Fury.
6. Rising Sun Kick.
7. Blackout Kick if Combo Breaker has made it free.
8. Spinning Crane Kick if Dance of Chi-Ji has made it free.
9. Tiger Palm if you are below 2 Chi.
10. Blackout Kick.

The opener

Tiger Palm, then Zenith with potion, trinket and racial. Use any stat buff before Zenith so it also boosts Zenith Stomp. Then Fists of Fury, Rising Sun Kick, and Fists of Fury again if it was reset, or Whirling Dragon Punch if it was not. From there, use the list.

Spinning Crane Kick: your second target

Spinning Crane Kick hits everything around you. It is also the Dance of Chi-Ji proc button on one target. The rule of thumb for two targets, such as a boss plus a big add:

• Stand where both are in range of you.
• Fists of Fury still comes first. It hits the targets in front of you.
• With the 4-piece tier set, follow every Fists of Fury with a Spinning Crane Kick on 2 or more targets to use the buff it gives you.
• Spend extra Chi on Spinning Crane Kick instead of Blackout Kick when the add will live more than a few seconds.

Planning movement

Before the pull, ask the raid leader or read the boss guide for the two or three moments when everyone has to move. Walk into those moments with Fists of Fury already used and a Roll charge available. Drop Transcendence at your melee spot so you can get back in one press, and set Touch of Karma on a key you can find without looking.

Full Send Mode: the complete priority Mode 3

This is the Shado-Pan single-target list as Method writes it, plus the habits that separate a 70th-percentile parse from a 95th. Nothing here is new. It is the Intermediate list with tighter timing.

Single target

1. Whirling Dragon Punch.
2. Zenith Stomp if low on Chi or Zenith is almost over.
3. Tiger Palm to avoid capping Energy outside Zenith and Bloodlust, or if you lack Chi for Fists of Fury.
4. Fists of Fury.
5. Rushing Wind Kick.
6. Spinning Crane Kick with Dance of Chi-Ji and an active Unbroken Rhythm buff.
7. Rising Sun Kick.
8. Blackout Kick with Combo Breaker, or during Zenith if talented into Obsidian Spiral.
9. Spinning Crane Kick during Zenith with more than 4 Chi or Dance of Chi-Ji active.
10. Tiger Palm if below 2 Chi.
11. Spinning Crane Kick with Dance of Chi-Ji.
12. Tiger Palm without overcapping Chi.
13. Blackout Kick.

Maxroll's Shado-Pan list puts Touch of Death at the very top, and Slicing Winds and Strike of the Windlord above Whirling Dragon Punch, when those are talented. Method's string does not take all of them. Use whichever list matches the talents you imported.

Pooling for Zenith

About 5 seconds before a Zenith charge is ready, stop spending below 3 Chi and let your Energy climb toward full without capping. When Zenith lands you then have Fists of Fury and Rising Sun Kick ready at their reduced cost, and Zenith Stomp charges to spend as Chi runs down. Never cap for more than a global while pooling. A wasted Tiger Palm costs more than the pooling gains.

Proc discipline

Combo Breaker and Dance of Chi-Ji are free damage, but only if they are spent. Method's rule is to use them slightly earlier than the list suggests so they never fall off and never overcap. A proc you are holding for a better moment is already losing value.

Lining up the burst window

Potion of Recklessness, on-use trinket and racial all go into the first Zenith. Zenith has two charges, and Method lists Shado-Pan timings of 1:30, 1:20 or 1:00 depending on talents, so a 5-minute fight gives you several windows. If Bloodlust is called within 20 seconds of a charge, hold the charge for it. Method warns that pressing both charges back to back during Bloodlust gives a weaker second one with Tigereye Brew, because fewer stacks have built up.

AoE (3 or more targets)

1. Whirling Dragon Punch or Strike of the Windlord if talented.
2. Zenith Stomp if low on Chi or Zenith is almost over.
3. Tiger Palm if you lack Chi for Fists of Fury.
4. Fists of Fury.
5. Spinning Crane Kick with Unbroken Rhythm.
6. Tiger Palm to avoid capping Energy outside Zenith.
7. Rising Sun Kick to enable Whirling Dragon Punch.
8. Spinning Crane Kick during Zenith with at least 5 targets.
9. Spinning Crane Kick as your Chi spender, then Blackout Kick with Combo Breaker, then Tiger Palm with less than 5 Chi and no Zenith active.

Two targets is still the Intermediate game: Fists of Fury first, Spinning Crane Kick after it with the 4-piece set, and extra Chi into Spinning Crane Kick. Method notes Spinning Crane Kick's priority rose after a 40% damage buff, so use it more freely in AoE whenever you have spare Chi.

Fight-specific habits

Before a progression night, open the boss guide and write down three things: when adds spawn (hold Chi for Spinning Crane Kick), when the raid has to move (finish Fists of Fury before it), and when Bloodlust is called (hold or drift a Zenith charge). Those three notes are worth more than any sim.

Talents, consumables and setup

Import one of these talent strings and the guide above matches your bars. Open the talent window, click Import, paste, and save as a loadout. Both are from Method's talents page, updated 14 Oct 2026 for patch 12.1.5.

Method has no separate AoE build. For a boss with long-lived adds, use the Mythic+ string. Ring of Peace is worth taking on bosses where adds must be kept away from a spot. Lighter Than Air can cancel knockbacks and can be used during the Fists of Fury channel.

Stat priority

Agility first, then Haste, then Mastery and Critical Strike about equal, Versatility a distant last. Method adds that the best mix depends on your gear and talents and says to "always sim yourself". Maxroll gives no fixed order and points to Simulationcraft. Once you are comfortable, run a Raidbots Top Gear sim with your own gear. Until then, take the higher item level piece.

Consumables checklist

Bring these to every raid. Half of them are provided by the raid, but a new raider should carry their own.

• Flask: Flask of the Blood Knights, Flask of the Shattered Sun or Flask of the Magisters, whichever matches the secondary stat your sim wants
• Food: Harandar Celebration or Silvermoon Parade, or eat the raid feast
• Combat potion: Potion of Recklessness, one per pull
• Health potion: Concentrated Silvermoon Health Potion
• Weapon oil: Thalassian Phoenix Oil
• Augment rune: Void-Touched Augment Rune
• Healthstone: take one from the warlock's Soulwell before the pull
• Enchants: Empowered Rune of Avoidance (head), Amirdrassil's Grace (shoulders), Mark of the Worldsoul (chest), Lynx's Dexterity (boots), Forest Hunter's Armor Kit (legs), Eyes of the Eagle (rings), Rite of the Hash'ey (weapon)

Addons that matter

BigWigs for boss timers, Method Raid Tools for raid notes, and a Chi and Energy bar you can see without looking down. Method recommends SenseiClassResourceBar for that, Platynator for nameplates and Details! for a damage meter. Nothing else is required to start.

Macros

Put these on your bars. The first stops you from cutting your own Fists of Fury short by pressing Tiger Palm during the channel; make the same macro for Blackout Kick and Rising Sun Kick. The second interrupts whatever you have set as focus. The third casts Tiger's Lust on whoever your mouse is over, or on you if nobody is.

#showtooltip Tiger Palm
/stopmacro [channeling:Fists of Fury]
/cast Tiger Palm

#showtooltip
/cast [@focus,exists] Spear Hand Strike

#showtooltip Tiger's Lust
/cast [target=mouseover,help,nodead][]Tiger's Lust

Your utility kit

Damage is only half the job. Raid leaders remember the monk who kicks on time, Ring of Peaces the add, and Tiger's Lusts the healer, not the one who parses 5% higher. Cooldowns below are the base values. Talents shorten some of them, so trust your tooltip over this table.

Monks have no Bloodlust and no battle resurrection. Method notes that Fortifying Brew and Touch of Karma are your only defensives in Midnight, so learn both.

Two habits to build now:

1. Set a focus target. Before the pull, target the add you are assigned to interrupt and press your focus keybind. The Spear Hand Strike macro then works without ever leaving the boss.
2. Watch your last button, not your next one. Put your Mastery break count on screen if your resource bar supports it, and make "what did I just press" a reflex before every global.

Reading your logs and what to practice next

After each raid night, open your character on Warcraft Logs and spend five minutes on one boss. Pick the longest single-target fight. Check the five items from the logs section, then do the one drill below that matches your mode.

Three things to compare against a top log of the same boss (Warcraft Logs, Rankings tab, filter to Windwalker):

1. Count their Fists of Fury casts and yours. If theirs is 30% higher on a fight of the same length, you are short of Chi when it comes up or standing out of range.
2. Count their Zenith casts and yours. The gap is almost always one missed charge at the start or end.
3. Look at their Deaths and yours. If they have zero and you do not, that is the whole gap.

The Venomous Abyss is the current Midnight Season 2 raid, with eight bosses from Nek'zali the Soulcoiler through Ula'tek. Read the Icy Veins page for each boss before the night you first see it, and write down the three notes from Full Send Mode: when adds come, when you move, when Lust is called.