How to deal with 'always 1 stack' stagger situations?

So, typicall situation I do have in +6 (highest key I’m able to tank) is that I die with defence cd being used and having no stagger to purify (it’s always green, barely at 10%, sometimes at 15%). All guides and videos I see is people are constantly in red stagger, almost full damage bar, and I barely can sustain incoming damage, since my main defence mechanic doesn’t work. I tried to tank my +8 Boralus Siege and that was a disaster (died 2 times on first pack, died 2 more times on second pack, both with cds used, green stagger).
What do I do wrong?

Brew’s self healing is dependant on the incoming damage. Bigger damage, more spawn of orbs and in consequence more healing. At low lvl keys, even more when u’re overgeared, u’re stagger never gona hit red.

Although if u die with stagger almost empty maybe is bc ur getting some incoming magic damage whihch is not being mitigated properly.

What’s ur ilvl? I was tanking 8s first week with 610 ilvl on 2 chests to gice u an example

The whole “sleep on 1 stack of PB” is more of a pro/experienced BrM play. As a beginner/newbie to the spec you don’t. If a trash pack constantly put you in yellow/red stagger you’re better off purifying it asap, to migate as much damage as possible. Don’t be afraid to sit at 0 stacks of PB, just don’t burn them aimlessly back to back.

The strength of stagger is to give your healer, and you, leeway. If you die within seconds of a pull you’ve either A) used up all your brews wrongly (on green stagger, or not at all) or B) your healer is heavily slacking.

Tiger Palm + Keg Smash will shave off 4 secs, combined, on all your brews (abilities whose name end with “brew”).

If you play with Blackout Combo, Anvil & Stave and/or Face Palm you’ve additional ways to save off seconds from your brews.

Outside of PB you’ve also Celestial Brew. While the shield will be better used on 10 stacks of Purified Chi, or when you know a buster is coming, it’s generally safe to use it on CD with trash mobs. It is also affected by all your Brew reducing abilities and will be up with all pulls, more or less. It can be combo’d with Blackout Combo (Blackout Kick > Celestial Brew) to instantly give your CB an additional 3 Purified Chis. A decent combo when you’re in a pinch.

I know almost all guides recommend Dance of the Wind over Dampen Harm, and Ironshell Brew over Expeditious Fortification I’d recommend the opposite with PuGs. Dampen Harm especially should just be baseline in your toolkit.

And lastly, for the ease of play (and superior damage output), just go with Shado-Pan until you’re comfortable with the spec- since Master of Harmony ties your defensive CD, Celestial Brew, with its hero spec feature.

TL;DR - don’t obsess with keeping 1 stack of PB, fire them off with yellow or red stagger. Get a feeling of the damage intake, and your healer’s capabilities and sit on (yellow/red) stagger for a bit (<10 seconds) if you need to save PB for a buster.

If you keep dying before stagger even goes into yellow or red status it means that a lot of the damage you are taking ignores the stagger mechanic. I cannot recall many attacks in this dungeon pool which have this effect.

It may sound a bit too common sense but I figure I point it out here in case you are new to tanking, and Brewmaster tanking:

Always make sure you have shuffle buff up. Technically your rotation should make it impossible to drop, but only specific abilities apply it. The only time when this is not active is on pull.

Make sure you keep enemies at your front. You cannot dodge or parry attacks that come from the back. Keep that in mind as well when you are pulling. Try to run sideways as that keeps your front half of the circle of the character facing the mobs,and is considered “facing them”.

Be liberal with your cooldowns, and don’t be afraid to use them if needed.

Don’t cast spells like vivify in melee range. While you are casting you do not dodge or parry. The only exceptions of this rule in our toolkit are spinning crane kick and chi burst.