The Fistweaving Compendium – Mythic+
Warning: Some of the below information is for patch 9.0.5. While the playstyle advice might still be useful, you should head to the Gearing article for updated legendary & gearing advice.
The following guide was written by Sweggles from Vesper on Area 52. He plays at an incredibly high level and is a premier contributor to the Mistweaving community. This is the dungeon version of the guide. It’s recommended that you start with the raid version which covers a lot of the basics of the playstyle. This guide is more heavily focused on which aspects can change in a dungeon environment.
Fistweaving is kind of a must in high level Mythic+ dungeons. While Upwelling is occasionally competitive in raid, that’s not the case in the heavily damage-focused dungeon format. Rising Mist offers valuable HoT extension and the ability to better prep for dangerous damage windows which can be clutch when healing is difficult. It also provides a lot of effectively free damage by reducing the number of GCDs you spend on pure healing spells.
How to Play
Make sure you read through the how to play section in the raid version of the guide first. Your rotation in dungeons is very similar.
Keys to success
- Keep Renewing Mist on cooldown.
- Keep Rising Sun Kick on cooldown.
- Anticipate incoming burst damage and use Vivify for heavy damage or Essence Font for moderate damage.
- If you are playing Ancient Teachings of the Monastery then aim to keep up the buff any time there is damage going out.
Remember that you are a proactive healer with Rising Mist, not a reactive one. You need to be ready for damage before it hits or you’ll be playing from behind. For Prideful for example you will want 4-5 Renewing Mists up before the damage starts to ramp up. This puts you in a great position to be able to spam large party-wide Vivifies.
When do I include Spinning Crane Kick instead of my single target rotation?
You’ll include Spinning Crane Kick at 4 or more targets. Continue pressing Rising Sun Kick off cooldown no matter how many enemies you’re facing.
Talents
Refreshing Jade Wind is not optimal in a dungeon environment. Jade Serpent Statue is too slow and takes too many GCD’s. Chi-ji is the way, regardless of key level.
Legendaries
There are two very good Mythic+ legendaries, and two others that can see some niche use.
Ancient Teachings of the Monastery
S tier. Craft on: Hands. Recommended Stats: Any two of Haste / Crit / Versatility. Acronym: AtotM
This is the gold standard, just like it is in raid. It provides consistent, high HPS and great DPS. It’s everything you loved about the old Way of the Crane talent but in a cheaper, more enjoyable form. It does begin to run into trouble in very high keys where legendaries with a higher burst ceiling can start to compete closely.
Tear of Morning
S tier. Craft on: Helm. Recommended Stats: Any two of Haste / Crit / Versatility. Acronym: ToM
Tear of Morning is extremely good in high keys and affixes that are difficult to heal. There is nothing quite like blasting vivifies on the group with 4-5 Renewing Mist active. I’d recommend this if you’re pushing 17s and higher.
Invoker’s Delight
A tier. Craft on: Helm. Recommended Stats: Any two of Haste / Crit / Versatility. Acronym: ID
Invokers + Jade Bond + Chi-ji might just be the most burst DPS you can do on a pull. You’ll sit at 4-6k for its duration. Not bad, but not enough to recommend it as a core choice. It also provides insane burst healing and you’ll feel next to unkillable while Chi-ji is active. Not bad.
Fatal Touch
B- tier. Craft on: Helm. Recommended Stats: Any two of Haste / Crit / Versatility.
This one is purely for DPS, mostly on low keys. Eliminating a mob on each pack with a 30-40k Touch of Death is a reasonably solid contribution. You probably won’t find yourself equipping this now but if we’re ever able to wear two legendaries at once then it might slide back into the picture.
Quick Fire Questions
What Conduits do I play?
Resplendent Mists 90% of the time. You can play Jade Bond on lower keys with Invoker’s Delight but I recommend Resplendent Mists. If you are Night Fae and want more DPS you can play Way of the Fae. If you have double potency just play whatever is the highest item level, either Jade Bond or Rising Sun Revival, the difference is minimal.
What is the best Covenant if I care only about Mythic+?
Probably Kyrian or Night Fae but the gap here is very small. Venthyr can be a common pick purely for dungeon buffs in Halls of Atonement and Sanguine Depths since most DPS go with other covenants. If you’re already Necrolord then it probably isn’t worth swapping.
What are my stat priorities?
Item level & Intellect are still by far your most powerful stats and no secondary stat is bad in Mythic+. If you’re dealing with a lot of equal item level pieces, grab 10% Haste, ~70% mastery and then focus on Crit and Versatility. If you’re finding healing to be easy then drop mastery in favor of stats that give you more DPS. Don’t drop item level for different secondary distributions. You can find tune your gear with QE Live.
Final Thoughts
Rising Mist is one of the most fun, dynamic and challenging playstyles in the game. If you’ve not tried it yet you should because there is little else like it. Rome wasn’t built in a day and you should bring that same attitude to your gameplay. Put yourself in a mindset where you’re always improving, always looking for little bits and pieces you can do better. Check out the raid guide for an in-depth section on improving your gameplay.
If you want to watch Sweggles Fistweave live, you can follow him on Twitch (https://twitch.tv/SwegglesQT), or on Discord (sweggles#0001). You can also leave a comment below if you have a question that wasn’t answered above.
Why just 10% Haste, its so slow with ATOTM, feels just bad if i play with low haste actually
Great guide. I wrote more or less the same guide on Wow head, but In recommend using Instructor’s Divine Bell with Weapons of Order (kyrian) for a super strong Cooldown next to Chi-Ji. However when I posted my build guide on Peaks of Serenity I was burned down and told I didn’t understand Fistweaving and Mastery wasn’t the way to go…
Anyway. Add what I just wrote to this guide and I think you’ve got one of the strongest heal builds in the game.
Oh 1 more thing. i recommend using Pelagos as a Soulbind for his Combat Meditation talent and the option of having 2 Potency Conduits. (resplendent Mists and Jade bond or Rising Sun Revival on Bursting weeks)
Hey Sailcat –
I just wanted to let you know, in what, the third place now, that your build isn’t very inventive or better than what we as a community have laid out in multiple places. Also, you weren’t burned down in Peak, or in the Wowhead comments, or potentially in the Icy-Veins guide when you get to it, you were just presented with reasons why your build is not very good.
I hate to break it to you bud, but your `stack mastery` build isn’t better than a balanced build that includes other stats. Like I said in the Wowhead comments and what folks said in Peak, this is just stack more mastery but do everything else the same. From an output perspective you are jamming all of your healing into Chi-ji, so for those 25 seconds you may be a god, but outside of it, you are relying on our worst group healing stat in the game to keep your group alive.
Please stop trying to push this narrative, I don’t want to have to type this again for the 4th time.
Have an awesome day!
I like to cast Renewing Mist on myself running in to a battle and then it hops to the tank so I can cast it on myself again. I sometimes go for the TEA + RSK Tiger Paw RSK TP TP TP BoK. I might sneak Essence Font. I like the Refreshing Jade Wind and will bring out Yu Long and cast Enveloping Mist on myself using Renewing Mist each time it bounces off me. I keep healbot up for emergencies. The cast Renewing Mist on myself was an idea to kinda play one handed. I can see how manually putting it on ppl can be beneficial. I will hear and there but it bounces around nicely on it’s own.
When you use renewing mist it applys a Gust of Mists heal, so if you use it on yourself instead of other people all the time you might be missing out on that healing
Just want to say thank you for this guide! Been looking forward to playing fistweaver and I’m already having tons of fun! Wouldn’t have known where to start without this guide so thanks 🙂