Mistweaver Monk Azerite Traits

Last updated August 29th.

Legion brought us Legendaries, Tier sets and artifact weapons to mix up our gameplay from tier to tier. In BFA we have…. Azerite Traits. They don’t have much of an impact on our playstyle but are numerically strong enough that you should be optimizing your set.

Let’s do this the quick way: Azerite Trait tier list

If you’re on an alt, play casually or have given up the min-max life to spend your time on something other than farming Azerite then you can do pretty well by just picking the highest ranked trait available on the piece. When you see ‘First‘ or ‘Second and Third‘ next to a piece, that means that the first is better than the others, usually because some aspect of the trait doesn’t stack. Getting trait values from QE Live will always be more accurate than a generic tier list.

Ok but what’s our “Best in slot”?

The Eternal Palace (Way of the Crane): 2-3 Secret Infusion, strong stat traits to fill. We’re investigating the use of Windwalker traits. More to come.

The Eternal Palace (Standard / Lucid Build): One Font of Life, At least one Loyal to the End, strong stat traits to fill.

These Azerite pieces dropped for me. How do I know which combo to use?

QE Live is an online app that’ll tell you which pieces are best and which traits to unlock in under two minutes. Input multiple items from your bags, and add an optional log to improve accuracy even further.

 

Do my traits stack if I get more than one?

Every Azerite trait in the game stacks in some capacity. Specifically the following aspect of each trait stacks:

  • Damage and healing increases, stat increases.

Conversely the following aspects do not stack:

  • Duration increases, cooldown reduction, proc chance, number of targets, damage taken increases.

Let’s do this the right way: Master the Spec

Crane Stance: The Mistweaver Traits

  • Font of Life

    What stacks with multiple traits? The healing bonus stacks, the TFT cooldown reduction does not.

    Notes

    • There’s a 20% chance of getting 1 second off your TFT cooldown every time a bolt lands. This adds up to 2-3 free TFT’s per fight. Cherish them.
    • The bonus heal scales with Versatility, Crit and our 40% spec aura.
    • Our strongest Mistweaver-only trait in raid, but you only really need one. If you’re running Way of the Crane then you don’t even need one.
  • Uplifted Spirits

    What stacks with multiple traits? The Vivify bonus healing stacks, the Revival cooldown reduction does not.

    Notes

    • The Vivify bonus heal applies to every target hit by the Vivify cleave effect (that is, everyone who has a Renewing Mist on them) as well as your primary target.
    • The bonus heal scales with Versatility, Crit and our 40% spec aura.
    • The Revival cooldown reduction can be tricky to give value to. It can be fantastic if it gives you an extra Revival across a fight or if it lets you better position one of your revivals. Sadly it often does neither and it’s outclassed by many other traits.
    • You’re not upset if you have to use one, but you aren’t necessarily seeking one out either. So, like a Vegetarian Pizza.
  • Misty Peaks

    What stacks with multiple traits? The amount of haste you get stacks, the proc chance does not.

    Notes

    • You can expect about two procs per minute for a 33% average uptime.
    • Rather outclassed by Secret Infusion unless your Haste stat weights is high.
    • It lands somewhere in the middle of the stat proc traits. Not great. Not particularly awful either. So, the same as my University grades. It is still a stat trait so it tends to scale well as you get into more difficult content.
  • Secret Infusion

    What stacks with multiple traits? The quantity of stats you get stacks.

    Notes

    • When using Focused Thunder only the first cast will give you extra stats. The second does nothing. RIP synergy.
    • In raid you’ll use most of your Thunder Focus Teas on Vivify so you’ll be getting Mastery from the resulting proc. You can expect an uptime of about 33%. That’ll go up and down a little based on your Font of Life procs and how long you hold onto any Thunder Focus Teas. On demands stats are strong and it doesn’t have a lot of competition on the outermost ring making this a strong contender.
    • In Mythic+ you have a little more flexibility to pick the buff you like. While you’ll use most on Renewing Mists (and get Haste), you can also Tea Rising Sun Kick (and get Versatility). The ability to increase both your DPS and HPS on-demand make this an incredibly powerful Mythic+ trait.
    • Averages out to a decent amount of stats. Outclasses Misty Peaks and has a better name.
  • Burst of Life

    What stacks with multiple traits? The healing when Life Cocoon expires stacks, the cooldown reduction does not.

    Notes

    • The throughput really sucks and 20 seconds off your Life Cocoon cooldown doesn’t qualify as enough “Life saving potential” to earn it a gold star there either.
    • It’s just flat out weak and up against much better competition. I don’t know what sports you watch but picture the weakest team in the league. Whenever you think of them, think Burst of Life.
    • Somewhat more viable in Mythic+ but there are still better traits.
  • Overflowing Mists

    What stacks with multiple traits? The healing stacks.

    Notes

    • Speaking of weak traits…..
    • Looks really good on paper for tank healing, buuuuuuut it has a 1 second internal cooldown. Straight to the scrapper.
    • Scales with Versatility, Crit, our 40% spec aura, and the 30% Enveloping Mists healing bonus.

 

Way of the Tides: Raid Traits

  • Loyal to the End

    What stacks with multiple traits? Both the flat mastery and the secondary stat proc on ally death stack.

    Notes

    • This is a really powerful trait. It offers a huge hit of flat stats which is ultra desirable as a healer. The only issue it has is that Mastery isn’t very good if we’re playing the 8.2 Way of the Crane healing style. You may very well end up with one anyway since the other raid traits aren’t stronger.
    • Mythic+: It’ll be tougher to get four other people using it in Mythic+ so it’s not as strong.
  • Arcane Heart

    What stacks with multiple traits? The increase to your highest secondary stat stacks, the healing on Arcane Damage taken does not.

    • Arcane Heart scales fantastically with both incoming and outgoing damage (which will be considerable with the Way of the Crane build), however Blizzard butchered the trait from its PTR iteration with a series of weird tweaks. Blame the Disc Priests for getting this one nerfed.
    • Mythic+: There are still stronger and more reliable alternatives.

 


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