Apologies if this has been answered before - I did search first but might not have used the right terms. Anywho…
If all abilities are on cooldown or you don’t have enough Chi for a spender, is it generally considered better to wait for a second ability to keep the combo strikes bonus up, or hit Tiger Palm again and reset it?
Better to wait than to lose your combo strikes buff.
There shouldn’t be a case where hitting Tiger Palm would reset your combo strikes, because that means Tiger Palm was the last button you pressed before this downtime period so you should have 2 chi to spend.
If you are finding yourself in this kind of situation, do a Tiger Palm → Blackout Kick sequence until Rising Sun Kick or Fists of Fury comes off cooldown. If there are multiple mobs, you could Tiger Palm → Spinning Crane Kick instead.
And don’t forget to use Expel Harm. It generates a chi, builds combo strikes, and can be used inbetween Tiger Palms if you find yourself with a lot of energy to spend and want to build chi quickly. Tiger Palm → Expel Harm → Tiger Palm will generate 5 chi, 6 if your Power Strikes is available.
Flying Serpent kick into the cancel of it, also causes a hit which keeps up combo strikes.
Just double tap your hot key for it. It is a cheap resource free way to generate combo strikes.
If you have Hit Combo (talent), wait. Otherwise it’s fine.
There are a ton of moves that won’t break your combo and will let you keep your bonus rolling (Chi Wave, FSK, Expel Harm) and it’s better to weave these in (in that order) than to have dead space in the rotation.