Disciple
11-20 Progression Guide
By Ralsu
November
1, 2007
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The
href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=517">first
ten levels as a Disciple were basic introductions to your
skill set and the use of Jin as an energy pool. Levels 11-20 help you
adjust to the responsibility of being a healer in
style="font-style: italic;">Vanguard. You'll find that healers
are busy, and the Disciple is a close second only to the Blood Mage in
keeping busy in a group. As you level to 20, you'll need to learn to
save lives, deal damage, debuff, keep endowments flowing, and activate
bonds all at the same time. Oh, and you may even be asked to pull in a
dungeon with a crowd of mobs...but I'll get to that!
Guide
-
href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=799#I">Level
11 -
href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=799#II">Levels
12-13 -
href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=799#III">Levels
14-15 -
href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=799#IV">Levels
16-17 -
href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=799#V">Levels
18-19 -
href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=799#VI">Endowment
of Mastery
-
href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=799#VII">Level
20 - href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=799#VIII">Soloing
- href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=799#IX">Grouping
-
href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=799#X">Conclusion
I. Level 11
By now, you have had some time to
experiment with the skills you
learned at level 10. You're probably enjoying
style="font-weight: bold;">Touch of Discord I, and you've had
some time to see how maintaining Kiss
of Heaven I affects aggro management. You have your first buff,
so you can offer drive-by buffing and feel like you can be helpful.
This is definitely the time to start looking at making the trip to
other continents and hitting Riftways for fast travel to groups
later. Along the way, you'll bump into some mobs to kill and the
occasional group. Just a few of the group quests around this level
(think race track on Qalia or floating island or Wildgrowth Forest on
Kojan) will get you to
level 12 in no time.
II. Levels 12-13
You get just one upgraded skill, Breath
of Renewal II. Even so,
you'll be very thankful for it. By now, you're surely feeling that
style="font-weight: bold;">Lao'Jin Flare and Breath of Renewal
I are not enough when attacked by a really tough mob or multiple mobs
at once.
Take the fact that you only get an upgraded heal as a reminder that you
are a healer. Sure, you can
deal some pretty decent damage, but it is important to keep perspective.
III. Levels
14-15
This level is a jackpot of skills
for you. You get upgrades in Cyclone
Kick II and Falling Petal II.
Your new spells are many and serve multiple roles.
Let's start with Leech's Grasp I,
a bond designed to drain your enemy's endurance. In theory, this bond
will syphon a full bar of endurance from the victim to you each minute
for two
minutes. This could keep a mob from using a particularly nasty skill
based off of endurance and replenish your own endurance. In practice at
level 14, you won't find this
too useful. But keep it in the back of your head as you reach higher
levels. By the time I was level 22, I started to notice some value in
this bond. And it becomes very helpful in fights against multiple mobs
if you put it on a mob not getting hit so that you can enjoy the full
benefits of the bond.
Celestial Breeze I will heal
all group members in a 10m radius. Just be careful or the massive aggro
that will generate. You have been warned.
Sun and Moon Discipline I costs
a
whopping 6 Jin, but it heals 360 points of energy. If you can manage to
keep your Jin at around 4 so that 6 isn't too far away in an emergency
when you run out of energy, you'll find this a very powerful tool.
Concordant Hand I is quite
possibly the second best skill you get on the way to level 20. It is a
finisher that deals 400% weapon damage plus over 100 more
style="font-weight: bold;">AND heals your entire group for
at least 595. It has a cool down attached to it or it would be
overpowered. You can save this skill for when all hell breaks
loose. Just be careful or the massive aggro this skill will generate.
You have been warned.
The final skill you get at level 14, Feign
Death, is so special that it is hard to convey its importance.
Feign Death lets you pretend to be dead so that mobs will leave you
alone. It acts instantaneously, your character dropping to the ground
and pretending to have died. If it works (and it doesn't always), any
attacking mobs assume you are dead and either return to their original
positions or attack your allies.
The uses for this spell are many. When solo, it can save your life if
you pull too many mobs or get jumped by one bigger than you want to
fight. In a group, you can use it to dump aggro and prevent a group
wipe because the healer went down. You can use it to "sneak" into a
place. When my Disciple made a trip to the Gardens of Xia'Liu at level
14, I could run through doors guarded by two level 13 3dot mobs and
then Feign Death on the other side. The mobs guarding the door would
fall for it and return to their posts. Then I could get up and continue
on my way.
Another use for Feign Death is in pulling. If a group of mobs are
clustered too close together for whatever reason, you can pull them all
and then Feign Death. Doing so could allow another member of your group
to pull a straggler out of the herd as they all return to their
stations, or it could cause a group of mobs jammed into a corner of the
geometry blocking your path to be able to get free and move out of the
way. Feign Death has a 1 minute cool down.
IV. Levels 16-17
The skills learned at level 16 are
all part of existing lines, so
you'll be more powerful but your style of play will not change much.
What will change is the nature of some of your quests. You should find
yourself facing more 3dot and 4dot mobs now. This will make
grouping almost necessary and give you a chance to practice your role
as a healer.
You'll get upgrades to Void Hand,
Soul Cutter,
style="font-weight: bold;">Touch of Woe, and
style="font-weight: bold;">Astral Wind. The latter is easily
your most powerful heal. It heals for almost twice as much as Breath of
Renewal II. With it's long cast time (3 seconds), it is very unreliable
for
healing yourself when getting beat on by several enemies at once. Where
it will come in handy is healing a tank in a group. Just be sure to
start it in time. With a full vitality build and so-so gear, my Astral
Wind II could heal 45-55% of a tank's health in one shot at level 17.
V. Levels 18-19![]()
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/vanguard/gallery/albums/album35/Disciple_paperdoll.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ;" align="right">
The upgrades at this level are Kiss
of the Slug II, Blessed Wind
III, and Touch of Discord II.
Your new buff, Favor of the Crow I,
boosts armor
class and physical resistance.
Gift of Anguish I is a bond
that helps your defensive target deal 10% more damage for the next 2
minutes. Clarity forces your
special attacks for the next 4 seconds to land as critical hits. For
good times, try using this skill to get a
critical and then use a finisher within that same four seconds to get
the finisher to land as a critical also. This trick becomes more
powerful at level 20 when you get Grasp
of Discord I.
Knife Hand I is a damage over
time skill that deals the damage of roughly 4 Void Hands over 16
seconds. It is also the final skill in a combo call Endowment of
Mastery.
VI. Endowment of
Mastery
The Endowment of Mastery combo
requires Soul Cutter followed by Void Hand followed by Knife Hand.
While it is possible to work in some other skills in between the
sequence, be quick about it. This endowment reduces the endurance and
energy cost of all skills by 10% for 60 seconds. If you can keep this
going in a group, it will make everyone happy.
VII. Level 20
You've reached level 20! This skills
this time are mostly upgrades of previous
lines, so you have more time to adjust to all the many things you can
do at once. The upgrades are very healer-centric (again let this be a
reminder of your role): Kiss of
Heaven II, Lao'Jin Flare III,
Breath of Renewal III, and
style="font-weight: bold;">Purify II. You also get
style="font-weight: bold;">Dodge II. The only new spell is the
finisher Grasp of Discord I,
which is really a subtely powerful upgrade to Touch of Discord. You can
only use Grasp of Discord after you have landed a critical with Touch
of Discord. Since this happens pretty frequently, you'll find yourself
getting a crit, firing off Touch of Discord and then Grasp of Discord.
What's great is that both finishers are cheap on endurance cost (10
apiece) and give you +1 to Jin.
Group as much as possible and try different combos to see how
well you can heal your group while maximizing damage. By now, you
should be able to travel to a couple of the hubs for
activity on each continent. It's usually pretty easy to get groups for
the Renton Keep quests in Thestra if all else
fails.
VIII. Soloing
Against
Single Mobs
Remember your Endowment of Life combo from levels 1-10 (Blessed Wind
followed by Cyclone Kick and then Void Hand). Use that and Concordant
Hand to do some healing while dishing out damage the whole time. Before
level 15 you can usually just power your way through 2dot mobs. After
level 15, you start to win the fights with 3dot and 4dot mobs through
attrition. You have many ways to heal yourself and deal damage.
Against Multiple Mobs
Facing multiple mobs really isn't a very good idea unless they are
significantly weaker than you. Heal early to prevent getting caught in
a heal loop. And use your melee skills to heal as much as possible so
that you can thin the numbers of your attackers as soon as possible.
Don't be afraid to Feign Death and try again after the mobs reset.
IX. Grouping
Party
Has Another Healer
You can focus a lot more on damage if the group already has a healer.
Be sure to keep Gift of Anguish on an offensive fighter in the group
unless the tank is having trouble keeping aggro. In that case, put it
on the tank. If the mobs are especially tough or you are facing
multiple mobs on each pull, you can help the primary healer by keeping
Kiss of Heaven on the tank. Be sure to activate Endowment of Mastery as
much as possible because it helps everyone in the group. The combo also
forces you to use Soul Cutter, which will help you keep aggro away from
you.
You can also be sure the primary healer never has to heal himself or
herself. Additionally, you might volunteer to heal the caster(s) or
off-tank to keep the number of tasks lower for the other healer.
Always make sure you summon a Symbol of Unity for the players in your
group without a resurrection spell.
Party Has Only You for Healer
style="font-weight: bold;">
No matter how powerful a weapon you consider yourself, your job in this
situation is to keep the rest of the group alive. I recommend keeping
the tank targeted as much as possible and starting an Endowment Loop as
outlined below:
Soul Cutter +
Void Hand + Knife Hand + Blessed Wind + Cyclone Kick
Looping this sequence of attacks will keep Endowment of Mastery running
and let you get some extra heals on the tank with Endowment of Life. It
also finishes each cycle with a +1 gain to your Jin pool, so it will
allow you to mix in some bonds as you go. You can skip Knife Hand when
Endowment of Mastery has plenty of time left and work it back into the
cycle the next time through.
If you get aggro and cannot hope to heal yourself in time, Feign Death
and try to get the mobs back on the tank. You can even lie there for a
few seconds of the Feign Death cool down if you need to in order to be
sure the mobs have forgotten you.
Always make sure you summon a
Symbol of Unity for the players in your group without a resurrection
spell.
X. Conclusion
Levels 11-20 as a Disciple are
critical for learning you way around healing for a group. The many
things you can do will keep you very busy, and it is best to learn to
weave it all in one piece at a time. Always start with healing and
buffs as your first goals. Then add your melee damage. When you can
comfortably do it, work in the endowments and bonds.
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