Mistweaver Monk Patch 5.4 spell changes, talent adjustments, new glyphs, old glyphs; we’ve got them all! Patch 5.4: The Siege of Orgrimmar is being released very soon(10th September, 2013) and we’re here to provide you with the best information possible related to all things Mistweaver Monk. Looking for DPS or Tank changes? Unfortunately you won’t find them here, because we’re all about the healers!
There are quite a few important changes to take note of for this patch, from a huge positive change to Rushing Jade Wind to a negative change to our favorite spell Revival. Non-glyphed Mana Tea will receive a small buff while the glyphed Mana Tea remains the same. Also quite a few changes to glyphs including new glyphs as well as current glyph changes. If you’re a Mistweaver Monk you’d be wise to read this post!
General
Spinning Crane Kick now functions like a smart heal, healing the 6 most injured friendly targets within range, and minor guardians are no longer targeted (Wild Imps, Bloodworms, Snakes from Snake Traps, etc.). There has been no change to the total amount of healing granted by the ability.
This is a pretty good change. Currently on live, the healing portion of Spinning Crane Kick would sometimes heal those already at full health and also sometimes heal minor guardians. With this fix we should see less overhealing and less wasted healing on those guardians. Now that this is a smart heal(heals most injured first), this is a large improvement to a heal which you have almost zero control over from the beginning.
Mana Tea is now consumed at an increased rate of 1 stack per 0.5 seconds (up from 1 stack per 1 second).
The channeling of Mana Tea will return mana to you at a speed twice as fast as what it currently does on live. Less time channeling this means more time healing. A buff to the baseline spell indeed. However, this doesn’t effect Mana Tea if you have the Glyph of Mana Tea active and you could probably stick with this Glyph if you’re Fistweaving (Healing through melee attacks).
But really, whether you should go for non-glyphed or stick with the glyph will depend a fair bit on your play style. If you’re finding that you’re standing around with time to spare, swap the glyph for something else. If you only have time to use Mana Tea on a rotation once every 10 seconds, or you’re moving around a lot, active the glyph. This glyph is quite situational.
Revival‘s healing has been reduced by 30%.
A nerf to this heal was somewhat expected due to the amount it was healing. This is probably due to the buff it received in 5.3 where the player cap on it was raised. We’re not sure why Blizzard didn’t see this from the outset of 5.3 really. But anyway, Revival will still be one of the strongest healing spells throughout the game. You may need to adjust by using it a little earlier and then topping up with other AoE spells.
Talents
Chi Brew now restores 2 Chi, has a 45-second cooldown (down from 1.5 minutes), and generate stacks of Brew/Teas based on the Monk’s specialization.
- Mistweaver: 2 stacks of Mana Tea
Over the same time span of an encounter, this talent could provide you the same amount of Chi restoration as the current live version and it will now also generate 2 stacks of Mana Tea. The problem with this talent change however, is the fact that it’s not going to give you that burst of Chi that you could use immediately after previously spending 4 Chi. For example, some Mistweavers would build up their Chi to a total of 4, spend them all on Uplift, then use Chi Brew to immediately fill Chi back up again and continue to use Uplift. Now, the maximum amount of Chi you could have available to use in a short amount of time, is 6.
This does however provide a little more flexibility as you’re not locked out of 4 emergency Chi for 90 seconds, you’ll now only be locked out of 2 emergency Chi every 45 seconds. And the fact that it also provides 2 stacks of Mana Tea is a bonus. I don’t think we’ll see too much of a decline in the use of this talent.
Chi Burst no longer requires a target. It now travels as a 40-yard line in front of the Monk.
Thank goodness for this change! This really should have been this way from the moment it was implemented, to make it comparable to a Priest’s Tier 6 level 75 talent Divine Star, but without the bounce back. But anyway, it’s now possible to use without selecting a target so we’re happy. It will be much easier to line up a direct hit to multiple targets with this change.
Healing Elixirs will no longer activate if the Monk is already at full health, and activate automatically when the Monk has less than 35% of their maximum health.
Not sure about this change. I did like being able to choose when exactly I wanted this to activate. But I guess not having to worry about it so much is probably ideal. Plus, Fistweavers are likely to have the glyphed Mana Tea on rotation this was pretty much automatic anyway. This will probably have more of an effect on those who don’t use the Glyph of Mana Tea, as we won’t HAVE to use up Mana Tea stacks to benefit from this talent.
Invoke Xuen, the White Tiger now has a pet control bar for Xuen, and the talent is no longer on global cooldown for all Monk specializations.
A handy change if you’re a fan of the White Tiger. Being able to control the pet, who it attacks or to even be able to stop it attacking is handy. Having it off the gloabl cooldown also means it can be used at any time, which is fair enough because from the time between activating this talent and it’s first attack to generate a heal is enough of a delay. This will hopefully speed this up.
Power Strikes will now activate from the following Chi generating abilities; Jab, Expel Harm, Spinning Crane Kick (when it hits at least 3 targets), Crackling Jade Lightning, and Soothing Mist.
A couple of extra spells(Expel Harm & Sprinning Crane Kick(when it hits 3 targets)) added as Chi generating abilities is a welcome change for this talent. With Power Strikes available and using Expel Harm for example, it will produce 2 Chi instantly. This change provides more control for our Power Strikes Chi generation and it brings this talent a little closer to other talents available in this tier.
Ring of Peace has a new visual effect that properly depicts its area-of-effect, and now disarms both enemies and those attacking allies within the Ring of Peace’s area-of-effect for 4 seconds (up from 3 seconds); the silence effect forcasting spells remains unchanged at 3 seconds.
The new visual effect looks pretty darn good. Much easier to recognise that’s for sure, fortunate for us that we can see it, unfortunate that others(for PvP) can also see it. As far as actual gameplay changes go, first of all, a buff through the fact that the silencing and disarming effects have been increased by 1 second.
On live, Ring of Peace protects you from all enemies even if they’re outside the Ring, but in 5.4, only enemies inside the ring who attack or cast spells will be disarmed or silenced. It’s basically a buff to duration, but a nerf to who it effects. If a mage or similar is outside the ring, they’re going to be able to cast a spell at you.
Rushing Jade Wind has been redesigned and replaces Spinning Crane Kick.
- Rushing Jade Wind: The Monk summons a whirling tornado around them, dealing damage to nearby enemies (heals nearby allies for Mistweavers). Rushing Jade Wind has the same costs, Chi generation, and periodic rate as Spinning Crane kick, but, deals 80% of the periodic damage or healing, lasts 6 seconds, is instant, and not channeled.
This is a monumental change to a tier 6 talent that was clunky, awkward and rarely taken by a Mistweaver Monk(from our experiences anyway). With this change we’ll be able to surround ourselves with this Torando, healing our nearby enemies. The best part of this is that it removes the slowing effect and the spell-lockout effect, meaning we can continue to move around at run speed and continue to cast other spells. This is definitely going to get a workout against our Chi Torpedo. Also knowing that when it heals 3 targets, we’re going to generate a Chi, this makes it a strong tier 6 talent.
It does replace our Spinning Crane Kick, which has received a buff of it’s own (which you can read about at the top of the page), so this may simply be up to personal preference. It looks like we’re getting closer to that non-compulsive talent model Blizzard always wanted.
Zen Sphere now deals 15% more healing and damage.
We’re not sure about the Zen Sphere talent and this so called increase in healing. We still don’t think that, with it’s clunky play style, that it would edge out Chi Burst or Chi Wave. We’ll have to do more testing on this one.
Major Glyphs
Glyph of Afterlife now increases the chance to summon a Healing Sphere by 100% (up from 25% chance).
Mistweaver Monks aren’t known for their killing ways, so this won’t be of much use to us… But if you’re a levelling Mistweaver Monk often getting a killing blow, this could be handy in dungeons. We thought it was worth mentioning.
Glyph of Crackling Jade Lightning has been replaced with Glyph of Nimble Brew.
- Glyph of Nimble Brew causes Nimble Brew to heal the Monk when it clears a root, stun, fear, or horror effect.
As Mistweaver Monks I highly doubt anyone is using Glyph of Crackling Jade Lightning, except in special circumstances like PvP. But the new Glyph of Nimble Brew could be essential for Mistweaver Monks in PvP, removing multiple forms and CC with a heal. For PvE content this glyph is pretty lackluster.
Glyph of Expel Harm has been replaced with Glyph of Rapid Rolling.
- Glyph of Rapid Rolling makes the next Roll or Chi Torpedo go farther after using a Roll or Chi Torpedo.
Glyph of Expel Harm on live extends Expel Harm’s reach by 10 yds. This has been removed and in it’s place comes Glyph of Rapid Rolling. Glyph of Rapid Rolling enhances your second Roll or Chi Torpedo for 5 seconds after your first Roll or Chi Torpedo. The enhancement is extending the distance you travel by 30% for that second roll. This could be an interesting change to Chi Torpedo, as on your second Chi Torpedo you could reach additional party or raid members and in effect, healing them. Just make sure you don’t travel too far and land in the fire!
Glyph of Retreat has been replaced with Glyph of Fortuitous Spheres.
- Glyph of Fortuitous Spheres causes a healing sphere to be summoned near the Monk at no cost when their health falls below 25%. This effect cannot occur more than once every 30 seconds.
Glyph of Retreat gone? Fine by us. Threat hasn’t really been a problem for any healer for a long time now so we’re not too upset about that. The Glyph that has replaced it will give you a health sphere at no cost when your health falls below 25%. Not bad but you shouldn’t really fall below 25%. We think it’s geared more towards tanks. But you never know, it could be useful. This sphere should be effected by the usual +Healing and Intellect etc.
Glyph of Stoneskin has been replaced with Glyph of Detox.
- Glyph of Detox causes Detox to heal the target when it successfully removes a harmful effect.
Glyph of Stoneskin wasn’t a Mistweaver friendly Glyph really, but it has been replaced with a somewhat Mistweaver friendly Glyph. It probabaly won’t take precedence over our other Glyphs, but Glyph of Detox could add another small heal to our arsenal, seeing as we use Detox to remove poisons and disease effects. The heal provided by this Glyph is 5% and only occurs when a poison or disease is successfully removed.
Glyph of Uplift has been replaced by Glyph of Targeted Expulsion.
- Glyph of Targeted Expulsion allows Expel Harm to be used on other players.
Glyph of Uplift made our Uplift spell just way too expensive, so not many if any Mistweavers would have this glyph activated, so it’s not surprising it is being removed. It has been replaced with a new glyph, Glyph of Targeted Expulsion:
Glyph of Targeted Expulsion now causes Expel Harm to heal for 50% as much when used on other targets.
This is the new Glyph that replaces Glyph of Uplift. It allows you to target a fellow party or raid member and heal them for 50% as much as what it would have healed you. This could be quite a beneficial Glyph, providing us with an extra single target instant heal. Especially when we should be using Expel Harm on cool down to generate Chi anyway. The best thing is that it still allows us to target ourselves for the full heal it always did. Allowing us to use it on others (even though it will be 50% weaker on them) will mean Expel Harm won’t cause so much overhealing.
Glyph of Transcendence now reduces the cooldown of Transcendence: Transfer by 5 seconds (used to increase the range by 10 yards).
A pretty straight-forward change to this Glyph really, as it no longer increases the range, but reduces the cooldown instead, so it can be used more often. This means Transcendence: Transfer is and always will be 40 yards.
And that sums up all the changes coming for Mistweaver Monks in Patch 5.4: The Siege of Orgrimmar. It will be really interesting how all these changes effect our game play on our live characters. We believe we’ll all need to experience these changes first-hand before deciding on what’s best for us and our game play. Once the dust has settled, we’ll update all Mistweaver Monk pages for Patch 5.4.
So what do you think? Happy with the changes? Think the Revival nerf goes to far? Let us know in the comments below.