A KillerGuides WoW MoP Monk Guide Review

Are you looking for a great and affordable game guide to help you succeed in World of Warcraft? I was. I recently picked up my copy of World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria after actively participating in the beta. I think the game took an interesting turn, taking place in the mystical and enigmatic land of Pandaria. I mean, what’s cooler than taking a role of a Pandaren monk, yeah? World of Warcraft is known for its class dynamics and races which creates a lot of variation when choosing how you look. Of course, most importantly, choosing the faction you will align with. In addition to becoming interested in WoW, I recently earned a copy of an online guide for the game. I earned it through a website contest and it’s a KillerGuides Pandaria Leveling Book. This review I’m writing up now will be my impressions on the guide :)

First Impressions

WoW Monk GuideGoing to KillerGuides.com I looked at the actual price of the guide which was $29.99 USD and is promoted in an e-book format. Those who want to save paper, the guide is in a downloadable PDF format which can be viewed through Adobe Reader! Did you see the cover of the guide?! It’s gorgeous! Of course with pretty pictures aside, I was stunned by the amount of content the book had. I mean, I was expecting a 50 page guide but instead, I had over 80 pages of content! Though I must admit, I was slightly taken by the amount of information the guide had. I really liked how the Table of Contents corresponded with the chapters in the guide. Great! The next thing I liked about the guide was how the author slowly introduced us to this new profession (especially for beginners). After the introduction, the author covered what the monk is about and how to use the monk efficiently in battle. This will be the next thing I’ll be covering: the author’s expertise in this field.

Highlights

What are the highlights of the guide? Scanning through it, these were the sections that caught my attention: Equipment set-ups, skills and abilities plus rotations and the leveling sections. Okay, let’s look at the equipment set-ups, shall we? I think it’s not often that we know which types of equipments will be the best suited when you’re starting out. Taking you step by step in the guide, the manual shows you what types of equipment is best suited for your monk in accordance with your levels. You know, instead of buying out every single gear out there, why not by the best one for your monk at that level? If buying is not your thing, the Pandaria Monk manual describes the best recipes for crafting. That should save you a couple bundles of gold, right?

WoW MoP Sha Battle

Skill rotations are your friends! In the Skill and Abilities section, the author describes the appropriate skills and abilities to use for instance:

Skill 1 > Skill 2 > Skill 3 > etc.

Sorry if I’m unable to actually write down the skill rotations since the book is under a single license. Giving me over several skill rotations to use, I felt better when battling Sha and other mischievous creatures in Pandaria. And of course, there’s the leveling section which is the heart and soul of the book. Now, leveling is easy in the game but for people (like me) who don’t know where to level, it can be a big mountain to climb! The author pinpointed several leveling areas in Pandaria to take full advantage of. He described the amount of monsters and mobs players can slay for sweet experience points. I could go on forever but I think it’s best for you all to look through the Monk e-book yourself.

Conclusion

I am very, very happy with this purchase! The author knows his material down to the last detail. I used his strategies and tactics for leveling or using the recommended skill rotations and they worked like a charm. For any of you fellow WoW enthusiast wanting to completely dominate Pandaria as a Monk, these Monk Game Strategies are absolute must-haves. To further take your game even further up to the next playing field, use it together with this unique Mists of Pandaria Compendium! :D

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admin, September 19th 2012 | Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Review

Everything That Awaits You in Mists of Pandaria

The date is approaching; Mists of Pandaria is scheduled to launch next week! For those who never received access to the beta, well, there’s some pretty videos for everybody to watch! Immerse yourself in the sights and sounds Pandaria has to offer! State your allegiance with the Alliance or Horde. To prepare on becoming the best in Pandaria, I suggest you guys this guide for a quick intro into Pandaria and its stunning classes plus dynamic gameplay!

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admin, September 18th 2012 | Tags: ,
Posted in Video

Mists of Pandaria Monk Gameplay: Quest and One Shot Kill

Check out this Mists of Pandaria gameplay while counting down the days to the actual release date!

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admin, September 17th 2012 | Tags: ,
Posted in Gameplay, Video

WoW Monk Leveling Guide

Here’s a quick guide on how to level up the World of Warcraft Monk class. For advanced leveling strategies, check out this Monk leveling walkthrough.

Jab is the Monk’s most basic attack skill. In the very beginning, you may find that auto-attacks actually incur more damage. In addition to Jab, gamers can generate extra chi using the Stance of the Fierce Tiger. The Monk will also come with several passive skills. The most notable one being Tiger Strikes which gives you a 50%+ melee attack speed and 100%+ melee damage for the next four attacks.

Once you hit level 3, you’ll be introduced to the Tiger Palm. At this stage, you won’t need trainer runs to learn abilities and skills anymore – they simple appear in your spellbook. The Tiger Palm consumes chi and you can attack enemies twice as hard in comparison to Jab for the cost of 1 chi. Guess what your very first rotation would be at this point. Yup, Tiger Palm, Tiger Palm, Jab and so on and so forth.

Next, once you reach level 5, you get a new Roll skill. With this skills you’re basically able to quickly move more or less 20 yards in the direction you’re facing. This has 2 charges so make good use of the opportunity. Things begin to pick up at level 7 when you get the Blackout Kick (2 chi), which deals double damage in comparison to Tiger Palm. Then finally at level 10, you get to choose your specialization. Will it be Mistweavers, Brewmasters or Windwalkers? If you go for Windwalker, you’ll be immediately granted the Fists of Fury ability. Recommended rotation at this point is Jab, Jab and Fists of Fury. Take note of the cooldown time to swap skills in between.

Then comes your next tier, level 11 to 20. From 11 to 13, expect alot of the standard abilities. Once you hit level 14, you’ll get a taunt ability – Provoke. At level 15, you get your very first talent choice. Choose wisely between Momentum and Celerity as they’ll stick with you for a long time. I’m a speed freak, so so Momentum’s my thing. In addition to those, you’re introduced with 2 utility spells, Detox and Resuscitate. Resuscitate is as the name suggests, same goes for Detox – to be used for revival and remove poison/disease statuses.

Flying Serpent Kick is exclusive to Windwalkers and available at 18. This is one my favorites. What it does is take you literally flying and landing with a thump and dealing some damage. Then at level 20, you get a teleportation skill, Zen Pilgrimage, which is very handy to quickly reach profession and class trainers at the Peak of Serenity. Windwalkers also get a Combat Conditioning skill which if used in combination with Blackout Kick, gives extra damage.

For the next tier, you get to learn Legacy of the Emperor, Blessing of Kings and Touch of Death. Then at level 24, you get to learn Fortifying Brew which is a buff skill. Another Windwalker exclusive ability at this point is Touch of Karma, which basically reflects all damages dealt on you for a full 10 seconds. Want to learn more what lies in wait for you all the way to level 90 with more advanced strategies and recommendations to zoom through the level? Then continue reading cutting-edge Monk leveling strategies here.

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admin, September 17th 2012 | Posted in Leveling Guide, WoW Monk Guide

WoW Monk: Glyphs for Brewmaster

Want to have a level 90 Monk fast? Then you’re going to need to know more about the class than is publicly made available to start out strong. This WoW Monk reference book comes recommended by many fellow WoW fans and is probably a way to go about molding a killer Monk.

In World of Warcraft, leveling a character is not the only way to become stronger. There are items called “glyphs” which are created by scribes. Glyphs are spell and ability enhancements, which give various side-effects that are useful in combat. Here is a list of valuable glyphs for Brewmaster.

Glyph of Breath of Fire – if target is already afflicted by your Dizzying Haze, it will become disoriented for 3 seconds. Highly recommended for Brewmasters. Since Dizzying Haze is how Brewmaster monks pull to their range, there is no reason this would not be useful.

Glyph of Guard – increases the amount of your Guard absorption by 10%, however, it can only absorb magical damage (no physical).

Glyph of Leer of the Ox – enables to use “Leer of the Ox”. It is a magical spell that manipulates the target to attack a Black Ox Statue (Brewmaster Monk can drop this statue by summoning it. Similar to Jade Serpent Statue by Mistweavers) for 8 seconds. It will reduce your movement speed by 50%, but while it attacks your dummy, you can run away!

Glyph of Clash – increases the range of your Clash ability by 10 yards. It is always nice to be able to react faster to incoming enemies in wider range. Keep your eyes open for incoming attack!

Glyph of Fortifying Brew – highly recommended for all monk tanks. This glyph trades off with less increase in HP, but gives you 5% more DR (damage reduction). It shouldn’t be much of a problem in dungeons. Tankers can’t survive without healers anyway. Mind as well reduce the damage taken, while you ask the healer to do their job.

Glyph of Stoneskin – this glyph may be supportive depending on what you are fighting against. This glyph will reduce any bleed damage by 20%, and so it may be invaluable when fighting against bears and cats, but not so much with others.

Glyphs for Mistweaver and Windwalker are now available!

More advanced gameplay tactics and strategies for the class could be found over here.

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pandako, August 27th 2012 | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Builds and Glyphs, WoW Monk Guide, WoW Monk Skills

WoW Monk: Glyphs for Windwalker

Discover more advanced gameplay tactics, Monk build recommendations and battle strategies from this class-specific Monk manual.

Players of World of Warcraft need to be aware of the glyphs interface to improvise their spells and abilities to maximum potential. Let’s look at some of the available glyphs for Windwalkers. There are two types of glyphs: Major and Minor for Monk Class. Here is the list of glyphs that may be beneficial for all Windwalkers.

Glyph of Afterlife (Major Glyph) – 25% increase in chance to summon a Healing Sphere while you hunt. It is very useful while leveling. Although Expel Harm may be enough for a while, it is always nice to have a backup protection.

Glyph of Touch of Karma (Major Glyph) – increases the range of coverage from 5 yards to 20 yards. All damage you take is redirected to the enemy target over 6 seconds instead of you. In a situation where you are chased by an enemy and your tank is nowhere in sight, try using this!

Glyph of Sparring (Major Glyph) – with this glyph, not only increases the chance to parry, but also have a 5% chance to deflect magic spells from attackers in front of you. No magic will harm you!

Glyph of Fists of Fury (Major Glyph) – increases the chance of parry from all targets in front of you allowing no damage uptake while Fists of Fury is activated. However, this means you are not stunning the enemy by Fists of Fury. This glyph may not be useful as it seems.

Glyph of Spinning Fire Blossom (Minor Glyph) – enables to use Spinning Fire Blossom although the target is not in front of you. By Spinning Fire Blossom, it deals fire damage to a targeted enemy, but no longer able to root the target. Thus, it will be advantageous when fighting against bosses.

Glyph of Blackout Kick (Minor Glyph) – disables healing effect, instead, it will grant you with 20% additional damage. Once you start joining dungeons and raids, you can always get rely on healers about your health and you can concentrate on the attacks!

Glyph of Rising Tiger Kick (Minor Glyph) – for those who care about visual arts, this glyph will add more color into your Rising Tiger Kick attack. Its visual is altered to the color of the White Tiger.

Glyphs for Brewmaster and Mistweaver are now available!

More class builds, skill rotations and insights on Monk talents and glyphs are shared here.

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pandako, August 27th 2012 | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Builds and Glyphs, WoW Monk Guide, WoW Monk Skills

WoW Monk: Glyphs for Mistweaver

If you are looking for advanced Monk strategies and detailed walkthroughs; basically a fast-track Monk guide, then don’t miss out on this one here offered by a long time MMO game guide publisher.

In World of Warcraft, player’s spells and abilities can be enchanted by adding “glyphs”. These glyphs are often on sale or can be traded at the auction house. Let’s see some of the useful glyphs for Mistweaver Monks. Just for additional information, there are no “Prime Glyphs” for monks; there are only Major and Minor glyphs in Mist of Pandaria. You are now able to choose up to 3 major glyphs at a time. Please be advised that there are more glyphs than those that are listed below.

Glyphs for Mistweaver

Glyph of Mana Tea – this glyph allows Mana Tea to be casted instantly without channeling and use of 2 stacks. Instead, there is a cooldown of 10 seconds. If you are a spammer who consistently uses Mana Tea, this glyph will be handy.

Glyph of Surging Mist – highly recommended for all healers. It allows healers to automatically heal the lowest health ally nearby. Thus, you do not have to worry about over-healing a player nor about healing a wrong person in case of emergency.

Glyph of Renewing Mists – if you are trying to heal an injured party while you stand more than 20 yards back, you are most likely a useless healer. When Renewing Mist is casted, instead of healing the closest nearby injured party, this glyph will heal the furthest one away from you within 40 yards. Wide range of coverage is always useful in dungeons.

Glyph of Zen Meditation – Running and channeling Zen Meditation is now enabled with this glyph. Taking damage for the slow moving group or raid when they are stuck in floor of fire, you can kindly soak up the damage for them.

Glyph of Uplift – For those who uses Uplift consistently, this may be handy. Using up 3 Chi for Uplift may be a bit too much. This glyph changes the cost of Chi to use 6% mana instead. However, be careful not to eat up all the mana for this.

Glyphs for Brewmaster and Windwalker are now available!

Discover what the experts have to say about the Monk class.

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pandako, August 27th 2012 | Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Builds and Glyphs, WoW Monk Guide, WoW Monk Skills

Chi Generating and Costing Abilities for Panda Monk

If you’re actually looking for more leveling-based details for the Monk class, read up on proven Monks-only leveling strategies said to have taken several Monks from 1 to 90 in under a week.

Recently, in World of Warcraft, secondary resource systems are becoming common for majority of classes. Energy, rage, or mana is now the old school theory. Majority of classes seek for additional resources starting with runes for death knights, and combo points for rogues and feral druids, then to newer sources such as burning embers for warlocks and shadow orbs for shadow priests. In Mist of Pandaria, Blizzard is introducing another secondary resource specifically for monks called Chi.

Chi is a new form of energy for monks to perpetrate their abilities and talents. It can be charged up to 4 chi “spheres”. It acts like the combo points that are generated by executing specific abilities. Here is a quick guide to what abilities will generate chi and what costs chi.

Chi Generating Abilities

Recommended Chi Generators for Windwalkers and Brewmasters (DPS and tank) 

Jab

Jab: (+1 Chi) one of the basic damaging abilities as well as basic Chi generating abilities by all monks. As a bonus, if the character has Power Strikes, one of the monk’s passive talents, then it generates 2 Chi. Highly recommended for all monks.

Expel HarmExpel Harm: (+1 Chi) heals oneself for a small amount and damages the nearest target for the amount healed. It is useful for generating chi and healing oneself before combat. This spell can be used out of combat just to generate chi, however, you will need to spend that chi within a couple of seconds. Note: Over-healing will do no damage to surrounding enemies.

Keg Smash

Keg Smash: (+2 Chi) generate 2 Chi while attacking 3 nearby enemies within 8 yards. Highly recommended for Brewmasters (tanks). Plus it applies Weakened Blows effect when target is drenched by Dizzying Haze.

Spinning Crane KickSpinning Crane Kick: (+1 Chi) a spinning attack that damages all surrounding enemies within 8 yards. The duration of the spinning kick lasts for every 1 second per enemy. Maximum duration is 3 seconds. It grants 1 Chi. Nice way to generate Chi when surrounded by multiple enemies.

 

Recommended Chi Generators for Mistweavers (healers)

Soothing Mist

Soothing Mist: (+1 Chi) a basic healing technic for all Mistweavers. Intended as the cheap, efficient heal with a bonus of 25% chances to generate 1 Chi. When Soothing Mist is channeled, Surging Mist and Enveloping Mist will be casted instantly. Therefore, it will help you generate more Chi.

Surging Mist

Surging Mist: (+1 Chi) Another healing magic, but this time it is guaranteed to generate 1 Chi. It heals the target for 15949 to 18535. It can be casted while channeling with Soothing Mist so that Surging Mist will be instant cast and heal that target over all others.

Chi Costing Abilities

Touch of DeathTouch of Death: (-3 Chi) an instant casting spell that exploits the non PvP target’s weakest point, instantly killing them if the target has same or less remaining health than you do. It uses 3 Chi. It works well with Fortifying Brew (a spell that turns your skin to stone, increases your health by 20%, and reduces damage taken by 20%). There is 1.5 minute cool down, but its powerful blow is certainly what makes monks invincible!

Enveloping MistEnveloping Mist: (-3 Chi) great healing ability that can be casted instantly if the player has Soothing Mist turned on. It heals the target for 60768 to 70614 over 6 seconds with additional 30% increase in chance of successfully receiving Soothing Mist. Although it uses 3 Chi, it is an ultimate healing magic for all healers.

Blackout Kick

Blackout Kick: (-2 Chi) one of the interesting abilities by all monks. It uses 2 Chi, but can be used in multiple ways. For Mistweaver, Blackout Kick can be used to keep up with Serpent’s Zeal. For Windwalker, Combat Conditioning increases damage when Blackout Kick is used. For Brewmaster, Blackout Kick will grant Shuffle.

Tiger Palm

Tiger Palm: (-1 Chi) time for face palm! With 1 Chi, it attacks the targeted enemy by palm of one’s hand, dealing physical damage. It has a bonus of Tiger Power, which can be stacked up to 3 times. Similarly, if you are a Brewmaster, it gives you a stack of Power Guard.

The Mists of Pandaria Monk offers a whole lot more customization via builds, talents and skill-sets than was available during the release of the unlockable Death Knight class. As such, the gameplay Walkthroughs here, would come in very handy for serious World of Warcraft gamers.

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pandako, August 27th 2012 | Tags: , , , ,
Posted in WoW Monk Guide, WoW Monk Skills

Get Your Panda On With New Trailer

Having a solid understanding of the Monk class from the very first day you venture into Azeroth once again with the Mists of Pandaria expansion, is the key to winning fights, raids, dungeon bosses and fast leveling up. Learn from the Monk experts and never again be on the loosing side of fights.

If I needed any more of a reason to start camping outside my local video game store to make sure I get my copy of Mists of Pandaria, then this amazing new trailer is definitely it. Blizzard just released the new opening trailer for the long awaited expansion, and it’s visually breathtaking.

I grew up playing Final Fantasy, so I know awesome visuals and this qualifies. The scene opens up on the sea where two ships are battling. The cannons are firing and both ships end up sinking. They only survivors are a human and an orc and lets just say they’re not on the same side.

The second the duo see each other, the fighting begins and completely disrupts the peace and tranquility of what we assume is Pandaria. As they fight, suddenly, a lighting fast creature separates them, and they are left dumbfounded. From a mist of whirling smoke, appears the Panda. Sure, it looks a lot like Po from Kung-Fu Panda, but just go with it.

Your friendly neighborhood Panda then beats the crap out of these two massive warriors in an impressive display of speed an martial arts. They video doesn’t skimp on the humor either, which makes the video that much more awesome.

We realize that the Panda’s are fighting only to keep their home safe and not for glory or gold. It’s obvious that the monk class suites them and their calling is far more spiritual than any of the other classes. They use wooden staffs and their hands over swords and hammers. Their speed and hand-to-hand skill are their greatest assets, making them a unique addition to any team.

They may look fat and slow, but never let appearance fool you into thinking they are wake. This is World of Warcraft after all.

Learning about the Monk class is not as easy as it may seem. Besides what we discussed here, there’s builds, skill rotations, raids, methods to level up and an entire Pandaria lore to go about. If you want to quickly walk a completely leveled-up Monk and start on the end-game content fast, then these Pandaria manuals would come in very useful.

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brock, August 17th 2012 | Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in News, Video

Pandaria Tips to Mogu’shan Vaults

 

There is much more to the Monk class than meets the eyes. In order to play the class successfully, calls for a multitude of combined strategies and solid know-how in terms of talent builds, battle tactics, skill rotations and much more. Find out how to mold a killing machine of a Monk here.

Don’t look now Holy Warriors, but Blizzard is giving away some sweet tips and sneak peeks at Mists of Pandaria. The first look at the new zone Mogu’shan Vaults promises to give you a challenge no matter what your level. It’s full of the undead and the cursed making your holy power that much more needed.

The new zone will be located through Mogu’shan Terrace via the Kun-Lai Summit. The Stone Guard are the first major enemies you’ll face in the dungeon. Imagine giant lion-puppies that are going to throw every type of damage at you from shadow to nature.

One-on-one, these puppies are tough, but manageable, but if you get a pack together then you had better be prepared for a battle. For every other Stone Guard in the vicinity their energy increases. So, the more energy, the more powerful the become. So, you’re not only fighting a pack, but one that gets stronger as more join in.

If they’re energy gets maxed out, then watch out for an overload and major damage. With a name like the Stone Guard, you can guess they’re also going to use petrify.

We can’t forget about Feng the Accursed. The poor undead soul got a raw deal from the Mogu and was cursed forever. He’s a boss and a formidable one at that. His big attack is the Essence of Mogu Champions. When his life hits certain milestones, he channels the powers of the statue nearest him. This grants him special powers and makes him a major pain in the behind.

If you’re lucky, then you’ll get one of several types of loot. These include the Amulet of Seven Curses, Braces of the Six Oxen, Hood of Cursed Dreams and many more. The awesome thing his that Fend is not the biggest boss of the vaults, but more on that later.

There you go, a quick read for Monks. If you want to get your hands on actual gameplay tactics that have been proven to work, then we recommend to check this out.

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brock, August 17th 2012 | Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Leveling Guide
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