Storm- vs. Spirit-Disciple?

[Kerech]

I finally hit 20 monk yesterday and I'm trying to decide whether I want Storm Disciple or Spirit Disciple. The spell lists on GamersInfo look identical to me, so I looked at the skill from each class. They are pretty much the same with only a few variations here and there. What is the big difference between these classes? Or is there a big difference?

I asked in-game last night for info on both and from what I heard there, it sounded like if you want healing, take Spirit Disciple, if you want Damage, take Storm. I have some subclasses like Druid, Cleric and Mage, so I can do some damage and healing, and looking at the spell list, it doesn't matter which I take.

I'm just looking for a good comparison of the two classes. Anyone got any tips, or things to look out for depending on which I pick?

Thanks!

[Fratricide]

the biggest difference between the two schools is Spirit disciples magic is based off of Spiritist/spirit and Storm disciple is based from Druid/nature.

So... if you want to use more nature spells, go Storm Disciple. If you have the inclination to use spirit spells, go Spirit Disciple. I would look up the nature spells and spirit spells to determine which you feel would be more to your liking. But, as you stated you already have some Druid, so perhaps Storm disciple would be more complimentary to what you already have, where as Spirit Disciple would more broaden your skill range by adding/increasing your spirit abilities.

[HratLi]

Heya! Don't forget to look over my post about Monks/Disciples.

The 2 main differences:
1. SpiritD's get Spirit skill. Storm Disciples get Nature.
2. SpiritDisciple fists have a chance of leaching health. Storm Disciples have a chance of stunning.

From a practicality stand point it's which appeals to you more. If you want DAMAGE, go Flame Disciple and talk to Grem

Storm D's have a chance of pretty much stunning a monster into submission. They have a lot of great utilitarian spells like Earthen Crust, roots, as well as stunning and AoE's, though you will probably want to take Shaman or Druid if you like casting a lot. You only end up with 800 nature as 100 StormD otherwise.

SpiritD's have a chance of draining back some health. This has proven handy for those stupid damage shield mobs, but only if you are using a staff, otherwise you still do and drain a lot less than the damage shield (oastics/Wizards/Druids/Rangers). For spells they get the Spirit Line which is pretty darn useful for high melee resistant mobs because the damage is ethereal, also you get to 'leach' health using those spells.

Ability wise I think SpiritD has ONE useful class abilty It's called Spirit Form, and it's a beauty. Otherwise you are stuck with things like Area Syphon *1* at level 92. Stormies get Energize 1 and 2 which is nice but not as nice as SpiritForm.

The Pillage Spirit and syphons and the others are not really worth using due to high recycle times and relatively low damage, and in the case of syphons they also tend to miss a lot for some reason (800 spirit skill vs fighting level 100-120 monsters). Decay on the Stormie side probably has the same problem.

Just some random thoughts.
Either way if you take one or the other, you will probably want to take the opposite casting class to round out your character. For instance Stormies takeing Spiritist, or SpiritD's taking Druid/Shaman. A lot of those spells cross from one to the other and are very handy.

-HratLi

[Gremblthrg]

I am going to assume you already know how much a disciple needs to multiclass to be effective at magic or melee, and HratLi covered the main abilities.

With that said, you should know that storm disciple fists not only buzz when you cast the fist buff, but also periodically as you are playing. And it is *annoying*, after the first few times. None of the other disciple classes' fist buffs repeat the sound effect like that. If you choose to play storm disciple, you might want to look for the .wav file of the stormie fist buzzing and move/remove it. (I don't know what file it is offhand, sorry.)

Also, feel free to try both storm and spirit disciple each for a few levels, to see which you prefer - you can drop classes by talking to the guy on the shoals north of the Dalimond lighthouse and completing his quest.

- Grem

[Kerech]

Thanks for the info guys. Yes, I've read your great guide Hratli - that's why I picked monk in the first place

I thought about flame disciple, but the trainer is the guy in the Wizard Tower, right? That means I gotta make that run through the level 70+ mobs again just to train

[HratLi]

It's just a chance to try your Ninja skills
Run quickly and carefully hehe...

Several of us have been known to help with escort duty

I think that Grem has a great suggestion, try out each one for a bit to see if you like the effect!

-HratLi

[Kerech]

It's just a chance to try your Ninja skills
Run quickly and carefully hehe...

Several of us have been known to help with escort duty

I think that Grem has a great suggestion, try out each one for a bit to see if you like the effect!

-HratLi

I made the run solo during the Disciple quest. I got down to 1hp once, but luckily sprint saved me Maybe I could get lucky again...

Is there a rating problem if I were to try each one for, say, 5 levels? Or would it be any worse than playing some other class for 5 levels rating-wise?

[Gremblthrg]

If you tried all disciple classes for 5 levels without dropping any during? Since the disciples start at level 20, that would be a bit of a rough rating.

However, if you try one for 5 levels, switch to another class, and drop that one... then try the next for 5 levels, etc, your rating would be the same.
If you opted to go back to one of the ones you dropped, you'd have to start it at level 20 all over, but that would still probably be faster than trying to keep all disciples at level 25 and not dropping them, with the corresponding rating increase.
- Grem

[tramsan]

A bit late to the subject, but here's my post on removing the stmd fist buff noise:

http://community.istaria.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=14902