In World of Warcraft, one class in particular suffers. Because monks are by far the most unpopular DPS characters – and there are many reasons for that.
Basically, World of Warcraft is doing quite well right now. The new season is successful, many players are jumping into the raid or dungeons and generally most are quite happy with the gearing system or their classes. But aside from frustrated Shadow Priests (like me!), there’s another specialization that hasn’t received much attention since Dragonflight’s launch: the Windrunner Monk, arguably the most unpopular specialization in the game.
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What about the Windrunner? In Mythic+ content, the Monk is currently the DPS class with the lowest number of players. Only 2.6% of all DPS characters are monks (via raider.io). For comparison: Paladins have 8.8%, demon hunters have 9.6% and hunters (all specializations added) even have a good 14%.
Only the shadow priests are doing similarly badly, currently at 2.9% – and that’s where they were part of the “God Comp” last season.
What is the problem with wind runners? To call this “a problem” would probably be an understatement, as there is currently a lot going on with the Windrunner.
A major problem is the inconsistency of the Windrunner’s identity. The monk is actually an extremely mobile class that can quickly change positions and thus avoid danger. On the other hand, the Windwalker has (almost mandatory) talents such as Feyline Stomp, which requires the monk and enemies to move in a very small area – so are best static.
There are also currently many conflicts with the rotation of the Windrunner. In order to be able to use strong AoE abilities, Windwalkers still have to resort to single-target attacks. Conversely, they have to resort to AoE skills for good single-target damage. A problem that is only exacerbated by the new animal set.
There are also many other problems, such as boring animal sets and comparatively unimaginative talents – at least that’s how the community sees it.
What does the community say? There has been a lot of constructive but also emotionally charged criticism in the official WoW forums and subreddit for months. The Windrunner Monks are becoming increasingly rare and the remaining players who have actually found their favorite class here are becoming increasingly frustrated. Here are some excerpts:
Please, if anyone from class design at Blizzard knows this. Please at least acknowledge all these problems with specialization. Say SOMETHING. There are dozens of feedback posts from Windrunner scientists who are significantly smarter than me and go into all the details. Please change something about it. It’s my favorite specialization in the game and I’m tired of switching from my main character every season because the problems are ignored for an entire expansion.
– |1sowski in the WoW subreddit
I mainted Windrunner in Warlords of Draenor. That was the most fun time I had with the class and it hasn’t been any fun since.
-Dull-Ad-793 in the WoW subreddit
There are currently no signs that Blizzard is reworking the Windrunner. However, if there is one specialization that desperately needs an overhaul, it is this one.