Never repeat a button, never waste Chi, and plan your Zenith charges.
Damage
Gear: Method.ggBuilds: Archon consensus, M+ This Week (+7–+19)Updated 10/29/2026 by Guild guides
Playing
Windwalker builds Chi with Tiger Palm and spends it on Rising Sun Kick, Fists of Fury and their friends, while its mastery rewards never pressing the same ability twice in a row. Midnight replaced Storm, Earth, and Fire (and the long-gone Serenity) with Zenith, a two-charge burst window that cuts Chi costs, speeds up Blackout Kick's cooldown reduction and resets Rising Sun Kick.
Difficulty
Two resources and a mastery that punishes pressing the same button twice in a row. Midnight removed Storm, Earth, and Fire and Serenity, so the only big cooldown to plan is Zenith.
Pick any button below to follow it through the guide: where it sits in the opener, which rung of the priority fires it, and every mistake it is part of.
1Tiger Palm
2Blackout Kick
310sRising Sun Kick
4Rushing Wind Kick
524sFists of Fury
635sStrike of the Windlord
735sWhirling Dragon Punch
8Spinning Crane Kick
91m 30sZenith
0Zenith Stomp
-2mInvoke Xuen, the White Tiger
=3mTouch of Death
s11m 30sTouch of Karma
s2Fortifying Brew
s315sSpear Hand Strike
s41mLeg Sweep
s530sFlying Serpent Kick
s620sRoll
Rotation
What do I press?
Press order
1Fists of Fury0.0s
2Spinning Crane Kick4.0s
3Rising Sun Kick5.5s
4Whirling Dragon Punch6.5s
5Tiger Palm7.5s
6Spinning Crane Kick8.5s
7Strike of the Windlord10.0s
8Tiger Palm11.0s
9Rushing Wind Kick12.0s
10Spinning Crane Kick13.0s
11Tiger Palm14.5s
12Fists of Fury15.5s
Fists of Fury0.0s
Fires because it is ready.
0s5s10s15s20s
One press per global at base haste (1s), longer for casts. Real pulls drift with haste and procs; the order is what matters.
Cooldowns and when to use them
Two charges on a 90 second recharge. Burst window that resets Rising Sun Kick.
What the simulations press
Executed every time the actor is available. Default List
From SimulationCraft's monk_windwalker.simc, changed Aug 26, 2026. This is what the simulations behind most guides press; conditions are shown as SimC writes them.
What top players actually cast
Below are the opening rotations from a small sample of recent top Windwalker Monk rankings for Altar of Fangs. You can use this to compare to your own opener and find potential points of improvement. Note that the opener for some specs may vary based on when certain buffs proc.
Tiger PalmBuilderInstant · +2 ChiYour Chi builder. Use it to stop Energy capping and to fund Fists of Fury.
Blackout KickSpenderInstantCheap spender that lowers your other cooldowns. Free with Combo Breaker, and your main filler during Zenith.
Rising Sun KickSpenderInstant · 10s cd · -2 ChiBig single-target kick. Zenith resets it, and it can turn into Rushing Wind Kick.
Rushing Wind KickProcInstantAfter a Blackout Kick proc, Rising Sun Kick can become this 25-yard cone. Cast it when it lights up.
Fists of FurySpender4s cast · 24s cd · -3 ChiChanneled cone, castable while moving. One of your biggest hits; always have the Chi ready when it comes back.
Spinning Crane KickSpender1.5s cast · -2 ChiAoE spender. Free with Dance of Chi-Ji, and the 4-piece set bonus makes it strong after Fists of Fury.
Zenith StompProcInstant · +2 ChiAvailable during Zenith: an AoE stomp that gives 2 Chi. Use it when low on Chi or before Zenith ends.
Cooldowns
Strike of the WindlordCooldownInstant · 35s cd · -2 ChiHeavy two-fisted strike. For Conduit it also triggers Heart of the Jade Serpent.
Whirling Dragon PunchCooldownInstant · 35s cdAoE punch only usable while Fists of Fury and Rising Sun Kick are both on cooldown.
ZenithCooldownInstant · 1m 30s cd ×2 · 15s longYour burst window: Chi costs drop by 1, Blackout Kick lowers cooldowns faster and Rising Sun Kick resets. Two charges, so hold one for burst phases.
Invoke Xuen, the White TigerCooldownInstant · 2m cd · 20s longConduit build: summon Xuen, then channel Celestial Conduit.
Touch of DeathCooldownInstant · 3m cdExecutes an enemy with less health than your maximum health. No longer leaves a damage buff, so just use it when available.
Survival
Touch of KarmaDefensiveInstant · 1m 30s cd · 10s longAbsorbs damage up to half your health and sends 70% of it back at the target.
Fortifying BrewDefensiveInstant · 15s longMore health and less damage taken. Use it before Touch of Karma or Touch of Death to make both bigger.
Utility
Spear Hand StrikeInterruptInstant · 15s cdMelee interrupt on a 15 second cooldown.
Flying Serpent KickMovementInstant · 30s cdLong forward flight; press again to land and slow enemies.
RollMovementInstant · 20s cd ×2Short dash with two charges.
Builds / Talents
Raid and Mythic+ talents
Shado-PanRaidWowhead's recommended build in every content type. Damage is spread evenly across your kit and Flurry Strikes add damage passively; 12.1 brought it closer to Conduit.
Conduit of the CelestialsMythic+47 of the top 50 Mythic+ Windwalkers on Murlok. Adds Invoke Xuen into Celestial Conduit, and Heart of the Jade Serpent speeds up your cooldowns and halves the Fists of Fury channel.
49 of the top 50 Mythic+ players run Conduit Of The Celestials (4028–4259 rating). Murlok.io
Mythic+
42,378 logs · 2026-11-05T12:00:00Z
Consensus loadoutRecommended
Popularity 75.6% heatmap match · 75.6% heatmap match
Recommended loadout is the closest match to Archon’s aggregate popularity across top parses — not a single one-off key.
Sample size: 42378 top parses. Only talents in the recommended loadout are drawn.
Class
Specialization
Hero
Only talents in this loadout are drawn (Shado-Pan). Hover a node for its Wowhead tooltip.
Across 42,378 logs. A talent has to show up in at least 40% of them before it is part of the build.
Gear
What do I wear and enchant?
Stats for Mythic+
1Agility
›
2Mastery
›
3Haste
›
4Crit
›
5Vers
Left to right — highest priority first. Sim your character when secondaries are close.
Based on data in the last 2 weeks, the stat priority for Windwalker Monk looks to be Agility > Mastery > Haste > Crit > Vers. However, there may be bias based on what gear is available to players.
What the top Mythic+ players actually have
Mastery84% +1298
Haste21% +931
Critical Strike31% +784
Versatility2% +134
Average secondary stats of the top 50 Mythic+ players (4028–4259 rating), from Murlok.io, updated 7 hours ago.
4×piece set: Windwalker Monk15×slots
Best in slot from Method.gg. Every slot is on the figure. Point at a piece to light it.
Wear 4 tier pieces. The 4-piece bonus is what this spec is tuned around.
2-piece: Fists Of Fury strikes an additional time at the start of its channel at 50% effectiveness.
4-piece: Fists Of Fury increases the damage of your next Rising Sun Kick by 10% or Spinning Crane Kick by 20% each time it strikes, stacking up to 6 times.
Best-to-good single-target order from Liquid Armory (Oct 12, 2026). Filled marks = higher on the list. Your own gear can change the order — sim before you buy.
Mark of the Worldsoul
Forest Hunter's Armor Kit
Rite of the Hash'ey
Indecipherable Eversong Diamond
Flawless Quick Amethyst
