The Drunken Master: Leveling Up my Monk Tank

Mists hasn't been really alt-friendly, though one could argue that the only real reason for this is that gearing up is a more complicated process, and that there is more to do on one's main. I imagine that once I've completed a Test of Valor (the 5.1-phase part of the Legendary chain) on Oterro and Jarsus, I might put more effort into gearing alts.

As soon as they announced the Monk as a class, I knew I was going to have to try Brewmaster. Sure, I'm not tanking on as many toons as I used to (partially just because Oterro's switched, and he was the toon on which I tanked the second-most,) but while Windwalkers have some interesting fluidity to the way they work, I figured it would be interesting to try the tank class that had active mitigation built in from the get-go.

Also, you tank by getting your enemies drunk.

Gaotso (named for the two most common variation of that General's chicken dish's name) is now level 86, and I've tanked Temple of the Jade Serpent, as well as a ton of earlier dungeons. Tanking on a Monk is an interesting affair, though having gotten used to AM-tanking, it's not terribly difficult to pick up.

There are two kind of "maintenance" things you have to keep an eye on - putting up Guard on cooldown (and powering it via your wonderfully free Tiger Strikes, which thankfully only need a single stack now) and maintaining Shuffle, which increases Stagger amount and Parry chance by 10%. Unlike, say, Shield of the Righteous, you can keep Shuffle up pretty much all the time, but I recommend an animated Weak Aura to make sure you're maintaining it (I don't know if Blizzard is adding auras just for add-ons to use, but the ones I've got running on Gaotso are really looking good.)

With both of those going, you'll probably have survival covered, though some of your cooldowns can be blown more frequently than you might typically use them on another tank. Elusive Brew, in particular, seems to be something you should use whenever you see any slight increase in incoming damage, because you build charges pretty quickly. Purifying Brew is pretty nice as well, but at least for now, it's rare that I'm taking enough damage to make it worth the Chi. I'm sure that as mastery goes up and I put Gaotso into more challenging content, this ability is going to see far more use.

For threat, Keg Smash is your best friend, doing massive damage to both single and AoE targets, applying Weakened Blows, Dizzying Haze, and generating two Chi. It's got a cooldown, though. In single-target situations, Jab and Expel Harm will do enough, but in AoE, you can either toss barrels via Dizzying Haze, or if you're in range, I recommend a Spinning Crane Kick, which will also generate Chi and does actual damage, which I believe is better for threat than Dizzying Haze's damage-less threat.

Blackout Kicks will be your main expenditure of Chi, and cause Shuffle. If you desperately need some extra threat, Breath of Fire is an option, but I almost never use it.

Meanwhile, as you get crits, you'll create little healing spheres that only you can take. These actually heal for a good chunk of health, so moving around to pick those up is not a bad idea. The Ox statue itself is mainly there to help protect your group, though I wonder if in a raid situation the Ox casts Guard on your co-tanks. It can also be used to pick up adds, but so far I've yet to have the need or the target-clicking time to do so.

Mastery seems like the clear winner for stats here, even though without Purifying Brew it doesn't actually reduce the amount of damage you take at all. Actually, I imagine that mastery is probably the best stat for every tank, but I can't say that with great authority.