Windwalker review: October 7

Mákí, Mïlo, and Doomlocke, all Shado-Pan Windwalker, on Heroic Venomous Abyss: Nek'zali, the Coiled Altar kill, and 14 Ula'tek pulls (best 30%). Built from Warcraft Logs and Method's patch 12.1 Windwalker guide.

All three monks did more damage than last week, and the gap between them shrank to about 7%. Mákí is still on top with the weakest gear.

Mákíilvl 315

156k

Mïloilvl 322

152k

Doomlockeilvl 324

146k

Average DPS over each player's own clean pulls, meaning pulls where they were alive for at least 85% of the fight or until the raid wiped. Pulls under a minute are left out. That's 45–48 minutes of combat each.

Since last week

	Mákí	Mïlo	Doomlocke
Average DPS, last week → tonight	134k → 156k	136k → 152k	117k → 146k
Coiled Altar kill DPS	150k → 179k	126k → 157k	123k → 166k
Kill parse against the same item level	57% → 82%	8% → 20%	7% → 17%
Zenith Stomp per minute	2.4 → 2.1	0 → 1.5	2.3 → 1.1
Vivify per minute	0.6 → 0.6	1.7 → 0.1	0.6 → 0.1
Tiger Palm per minute	11.4 → 11.1	9.1 → 7.5	7.1 → 8.3
Whirling Dragon Punch per minute	1.4 → 1.8	1.6 → 1.4	0.9 → 1.1

Last week's biggest fixes landed. Mïlo now uses Zenith Stomp and nearly stopped casting Vivify. Doomlocke enchanted every empty slot and used Potion of Recklessness this week after using none last week. Mákí's parse against players at his item level jumped to 82%.

Quick wins

The short version for each player. Details are further down the page.

Doomlocke

Rotation
Spinning Crane Kick after Fists of Fury on 2+ targets. It's 3.4% of your damage against 10–12% for Mákí and Mïlo. You have the 4-piece tier bonus and the Unbroken Rhythm buff, but you cast Spinning Crane Kick 2.0 times a minute to their 3.2–3.3.
Rotation
Zenith Stomp twice per Zenith. It dropped from 2.3 a minute last week to 1.1. Cast it when you're low on Chi and again before Zenith ends.
Survival
Caustic Waves killed you twice early. On pull 21 it was 58 seconds in, and on pull 15 it was 1:49.
Consumables
Potion every pull. 5 uses across 13 pulls, up from zero last week. Mákí used 13.

Mïlo

Survival
Five early deaths on Ula'tek, the most of any monk. Caustic Waves on pulls 16 and 17, melee from adds on pulls 12 and 21, and Falling Debris on pull 15.
Rotation
One more Zenith Stomp per Zenith. You're at 1.5 a minute against Mákí's 2.1, about 1.3 per Zenith to his 1.8.
Gear
Weapon enchant to Arcane Mastery. You still have Acuity of the Ren'dorei. Your chest enchant is fixed.

Mákí

Gear
Your gear is the only thing holding you back. Your shoulders are at 302, cloak at 305, and helm at 308, the lowest of any monk.
Gear
Same enchant swaps as last week: Lynx's Dexterity on boots, Eyes of the Eagle on rings, Rune of Avoidance on helm, and Arcane Mastery on your weapon.
Survival
Blight Vein killed you on pulls 21 and 22, both about a minute before the wipe.

Every pull

DPS for each pull, with parse percentile on kills. Struck-through numbers mean that player was dead for more than 15% of the pull. Two Ula'tek resets under 30 seconds are left out.

Pull	Boss	Result	Length	Mákí	Mïlo	Doomlocke
1	Nek'zali	Kill	5:00	148k 62%	145k 60%	49k 4%
7	The Coiled Altar	Wipe at 65%	3:38	115k	99k	114k
8	The Coiled Altar	Wipe at 5%	7:10	157k	157k	176k
9	The Coiled Altar	Kill	7:24	180k 51%	157k 34%	166k 40%
10	Ula'tek	Wipe at 86%	2:02	134k	136k	87k
11	Ula'tek	Wipe at 86%	2:04	126k	148k	107k
12	Ula'tek	Wipe at 85%	2:08	117k	46k	98k
13	Ula'tek	Wipe at 85%	2:01	133k	120k	107k
15	Ula'tek	Wipe at 74%	3:11	103k	101k	71k
16	Ula'tek	Wipe at 70%	3:45	141k	41k	142k
17	Ula'tek	Wipe at 83%	2:27	113k	97k	132k
18	Ula'tek	Wipe at 89%	1:27	138k	130k	115k
19	Ula'tek	Wipe at 61%	4:04	153k	158k	148k
21	Ula'tek	Wipe at 65%	4:09	132k	75k	35k
22	Ula'tek	Wipe at 60%	4:28	148k	157k	137k
23	Ula'tek	Wipe at 30%	7:03	154k	158k	138k

Doomlocke died 1:56 into the Nek'zali kill to Soulcoil Rite, which is why his number there is so low. On the Coiled Altar kill, all three stayed alive the whole fight.

Where the damage comes from

Totals from each player's clean pulls.

Spinning Crane Kick and the tier set

Clean pulls	Mákí	Mïlo	Doomlocke
Spinning Crane Kick per minute	3.3	3.2	2.0
Spinning Crane Kick share of damage	9.8%	12.0%	3.4%
Fists of Fury share of damage	26.8%	23.9%	31.1%

Both bosses tonight have extra targets: the second boss on the Coiled Altar, and eggs and adds on Ula'tek. With the 4-piece bonus, Method says to cast Spinning Crane Kick right after Fists of Fury whenever 2 or more enemies are in range. Mákí and Mïlo do. Doomlocke's damage leans harder on Fists of Fury and misses that follow-up.

Zenith and the rest of the kit

Per minute alive	Mákí	Mïlo	Doomlocke
Zenith	1.2	1.2	1.2
Zenith Stomp	2.1	1.5	1.1
Fists of Fury	4.9	4.2	4.5
Rising Sun Kick	6.6	6.9	5.9
Tiger Palm	11.1	7.5	8.3
Whirling Dragon Punch	1.8	1.4	1.1
Rushing Wind Kick	1.8	1.5	1.4
Damage potions used	13	9	5

All three now use Zenith equally often. The difference is what happens inside it. Mákí fits about 1.8 Zenith Stomps into each Zenith, Mïlo about 1.3, and Doomlocke under one. Mákí also casts the most Tiger Palm and Whirling Dragon Punch, which means fewer gaps and more Chi for everything else.

The ruleZenith with your potion and trinkets. Inside it, cast Zenith Stomp when you're low on Chi and again just before Zenith ends. After every Fists of Fury on 2+ targets, cast Spinning Crane Kick.

Deaths that cost the most

Deaths more than 20 seconds before the end of a pull.

Player	Pull	Died at	Killing blow
Doomlocke	1, Nek'zali kill	1:56 of 5:00	Soulcoil Rite
Mïlo	12, Ula'tek	0:32 of 2:08	Melee, likely an add
Mïlo	16, Ula'tek	0:57 of 3:45	Caustic Waves
Doomlocke	21, Ula'tek	0:58 of 4:09	Caustic Waves
Doomlocke	15, Ula'tek	1:49 of 3:11	Caustic Waves
Mïlo	17, Ula'tek	1:51 of 2:27	Caustic Waves
Mákí	7, Coiled Altar	2:02 of 3:38	Venom Rupture
Mákí	17, Ula'tek	2:02 of 2:27	Spectral Coils
Mïlo	21, Ula'tek	2:07 of 4:09	Melee, likely an add
Mïlo	15, Ula'tek	2:20 of 3:11	Falling Debris
Mákí	15, Ula'tek	2:23 of 3:11	Rage of the Shackled
Mákí	21 and 22, Ula'tek	3:21–3:32	Blight Vein

Caustic Waves caused four of the early monk deaths. Icy Veins says to watch which wing Ula'tek pulls back, run to the opposite side, and expect the next wave from the other direction. Getting hit while carrying an egg also spawns a Blightscale Viper, which may be the add that killed Mïlo twice.

Gear and setup

Compared with Method's 12.1 recommendations.

	Mákí	Mïlo	Doomlocke	Method
Item level	315	322	324
Tier pieces	5	4	5	4 for full bonus
Lowest items	Shoulders 302, cloak 305, helm 308	Several at 318	Shoulders 308
Chest	Worldsoul	Worldsoul	Worldsoul	Mark of the Worldsoul
Helm	Blessing of Speed	Rune of Avoidance	Rune of Avoidance	Rune of Avoidance
Boots	Farstrider's Hunt	Lynx's Dexterity	Lynx's Dexterity	Lynx's Dexterity
Rings	Silvermoon's Alacrity	Eyes of the Eagle	Eyes of the Eagle	Eyes of the Eagle
Weapon	Acuity of the Ren'dorei	Acuity of the Ren'dorei	Arcane Mastery	Arcane Mastery
Versatility	479	90	111	Lowest priority

Doomlocke went from five empty enchant slots to matching Method on every one. Method's stat priority is Agility, then Haste, then Mastery and Crit equally, with Versatility far behind.

Shado-Pan single-target cheat sheet

This is Method's 12.1 priority in short form. Start at the top and cast the first ability that's ready. Don't let Combo Breaker or Dance of Chi-Ji procs expire.

Whirling Dragon Punch
Zenith Stomp when low on Chi, or when Zenith is about to end
Tiger Palm if energy is about to cap (outside Zenith and Bloodlust), or if you need Chi for Fists
Fists of Fury
Rushing Wind Kick
Spinning Crane Kick with Dance of Chi-Ji and Unbroken Rhythm active
Rising Sun Kick
Blackout Kick with Combo Breaker
Tiger Palm if under 2 Chi, then Spinning Crane Kick with Dance of Chi-Ji
Tiger Palm without overcapping Chi, then Blackout Kick

Opener: Tiger Palm, then Zenith with potion and trinkets (use the stat buffs before Zenith), then Fists of Fury, Rising Sun Kick, and Whirling Dragon Punch. 12.1 change: with the 4-piece tier bonus, cast Spinning Crane Kick right after Fists of Fury whenever 2 or more targets are in range.