by Axlett-Banx··Update 81 - Terror of Demogorgon·105·
Description
Dragon Disciple is a very strong class for solo play. With access to strong defensive spells (such as Shield, Displacement, and Deathward), high saves, resourceless healing, great single target damage, and decent AoE damage, DD is solid for leveling through almost all points of the game.
This build assumes a first life, 28-point build, but works just as well with tomes, 32-points, and/or past lives. If running a 32-point build, I would put either 4 points into Strength for carrying capacity, or 2 points into strength and 2 extra points into Intelligence for UMD skill ranks. If you have 28-points but have access to a +2 Dex tome, you can drop Dex to 15, put 2 points into Strength, and put your level 4 stat increase into Wis instead of Dex. If you have 32-point build AND a +2 Dex tome, drop Dex to 15 and start with 20 Wis.
We're also using handwraps for this build. In my opinion, handwraps/TWF works a bit better for lower point-buy builds since you only need to focus on Wisdom, Dexterity, and Constitution. Quarterstaff builds would also need to factor in Strength stat requirements which, while not impossible, is a bit harder to hit. Quarterstaff does have more AoE than handwraps, but that's not a major concern with how much AoE we get from the breath attack SLAs. Plus handwrap animations look super rad.
For leveling, I like to put my first 11 points into the Dragon Disciple tree. Our first priority is getting the elemental Imbue, the two breath attack SLAs, the on-hit Ki generation, the extra Imbue dice, and the first two Dragon Disciple cores. Levels 1 and 2 are a little uphill since we won't have Wisdom to damage. During these levels, run in Fire Stance and equip any Strength items you can find.
After we get our second DD Core at level 3, we want to start putting points into Shintao- at least 12 points to be exact. Grab every core, Deft Strikes, Iron Skin, Quick Strike, and most importantly, Hand of Healing. This is our resourceless healing that we'll use all the way until the level cap (yes, it's THAT good).
Once we have Hand of Healing, start putting points back into the Dragon Disciple tree until we have every T5 enhancement (you should hit this around level 12-13). Now that we have the top shelf enhancements, we'll move onto the Ninja Spy tree to grab Haste Boost (Note: the sneak attack may go to waste since we're soloing, but it's a nice bonus when hitting Tomb of Jade stunned monsters).
As you get towards level 20, start filling out any enhancements you're missing, prioritizing getting the fifth Dragon Disciple core at 18.
Enhancements
[Shintao]
Core:
Bastion of Purity (1), Protection from Tainted Creatures (1), Iron Hand (1), Argent Fist (1), Touch the Void Dragon (1)
Tier 1:
Shintao Studies I (1), Disciplined Training: Deft Strikes (3), Fast Hands: Melee (2)
Tier 2:
Shintao Studies II (1), Iron Skin (3), Quick Strike (3)
Tier 3:
Jade Strike (1), Hands of Mercy: Hand of Healing (1), Ability I: +1 Wisdom (1)
Tier 4:
Tomb of Jade (1), Greater Hands of Mercy: Greater Hand of Healing (1), Ability II: +1 Wisdom (1)
[Dragon Disciple]
Core:
Draconic Studies (1), Way of the Mighty Dragon I (1), Way of the Mighty Dragon II (1), Fist of the Dragon (1), Way of the Mighty Dragon III (1), Draconic Apotheosis (1)
Tier 1:
Lesser Draconic Burst (1), Power in Practice (1), Study of Scales (3), Draconic Devotion I (1)
Tier 2:
Acolyte's Breath (1), Power Begets Power (1), Discipleship I (1), Innate Arcana (3)
Tier 3:
Draconic Burst (1), Clear Your Mind (3), Draconic Devotion II (1), Ability I: +1 Wisdom (1)
Tier 4:
Secret Power (1), Discipleship II (1), Draconic Devotion III (1), Ability II: +1 Wisdom (1)
Tier 5:
Draconic Devastation (1), Peace in Destruction (1), Perfect Disciple (1), Shining Scales (1), Flawless Breathing (1)
[Ninja Spy]
Core:
Basic Ninja Training (1)
Tier 1:
Sneak Attack Training I (1), Acrobatic (2)
Tier 2:
Action Boost: Melee/Ranged Power: Haste Boost (3)
Epic Destiny Notes
The Destiny trees chosen differ significantly from my endgame build. This is largely due to the fact that this build cannot get the DCs needed to utilize some of the other trees. Instead, we opt for more single target damage and higher defenses.
Primal Avatar gives us the Mantle of Thorns for more on-hit damage and imbue dice, Shard Storm for damage and defense (temp HP), as well as 15% Fire/Acid/Cold/Electric/Poison absorption.
Draconic Incarnation gives us some extra utility/CC from Daunting Roar (can proc on all DD breath attacks), extra defense from Scales of the Dragon as well as Core 3 (temp hp), and more AoE from Energy Vortex (probably a bug but this enhancement doesn't actually give monsters a saving throw).
Grandmaster of Flowers gives us some higher single target damage by letting us reach 100% offhand strike chance, extra defenses from the cores as well as bonus saves and absorptions, and guardbreaking at level 30+.
Epic Destinies
[Draconic Incarnation]
Core:
Draconic Bloodline: Draconic Bloodline: Black (1), Draconic Heritage I (1), Elemental Blood (1)
Tier 1:
Dragonhide (3), Dragon Breath: Black Dragon Breath (1)
Tier 2:
Draconic Presence (3), Coalescence (2)
Tier 3:
Scales of the Dragon (1), Daunting Roar (1), Arcane Spellsword (3)
Tier 4:
Improve Dragon Breath: Energy Vortex (1)
[Grandmaster of Flowers]
Core:
Inner Focus (1), Disciple of Material: Adamantine (1), Disciple of Morality: Good (1), Disciple of Philosophy: Disciple of Philosophy: Light (1)
Tier 1:
Strike with Poise (3), Enlightenment (3)
Tier 2:
Calm before Storms (3), Hail of Blows (1)
Tier 3:
The Flickering Flame (3), Flow of Water (3), Catch the Wind (3)
Tier 4:
The Delight of Chaos (3), The Cruelty of Evil (3)
Tier 5:
Beyond the Center (1), Imposing Force (1), Everything is Nothing (1), Split the Soul (1), Legendary Flurry of Blows (3)
[Primal Avatar]
Core:
This is your Nature: Thorn (1), Now Grow: Heart (1), Weathering the Elements (1)
Tier 1:
Well Weathered (2), Nature's Friend: Spider of the Deeps (1)
Tier 2:
Mantle of Nature: Thorn (3), Primal Spell: Shard Storm (1)
Tier 3:
Shared Mantle (1), At Its Core (1)
Skills
Skill
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
4
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
4
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
4
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
4
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Spells
1: Shield, Longstrider (I hate getting slowed by ankle-high water)
2: Blur
3: Displacement, Greater Elemental Weapons
4: Deathward, Draconic Devastation
Gear
[Standard]
Other Notes
For leveling, we'll focus on Acid damage. Very few monsters are resistant to acid, but have a fire spellpower item as a backup for acid-immune monsters (clay golems, tharaak hounds, arcane oozees).
Levels 1-2 can be tough, there's no shame in hiring the famous Byron Scoutsword to help you. For all the low levels, be sure to equip a Strength item and keep lesser restoration pots handy for ray of enfeeblement. Sun stance will help for a while, and we can switch to Ocean stance around level 6-8 once we have a higher strength item.
As noted before, this is a leveling build. Trying to run this in endgame will be very subpar compared to other melees including standard Monk. This build is strong while leveling and is great for past lives since it's resilient and fast.
