Disciple 11-20 Progression Guide

By Ralsu

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November 1, 2007

The 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 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!

Disciple11-20 Guide Level 11 Levels 12-13 Levels 14-15 Levels 16-17 Levels 18-19 Endowment of Mastery Level 20 Soloing Grouping 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 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 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 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, Touch of Woe, and 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

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 Purify II. You also get 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
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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