In the mid 20s, you'll pick up a nifty ability: Focused Parry. Soon after that, you get your Parry reaction ability: Parrying Strike. Between these two, you can mitigate quite a bit of damage when a Parry triggers, it'll block roughly 40% of the damage. And then you can counter with Parrying Strike which almost always stuns your victim. The stun on it, and Heaven's Judgement as well (which DO NOT stack, by the way), last long enough for you to pop off a heal unhindered. However, it's not entirely reliable, due to its one minute cool down and the fact you need to Parry first, which is a chance thing. Even still, these will keep you up as a strong soloist and can even enable you to off-tank in some situations without too much trouble. However, the early bloom of the chanter will start to slow down in these levels. You'll still be quite strong, but everyone else will be catching up and the difficulty will become less forgiving.

It's 30-40 where all the Chanter horror stories seem to raise from. It's not because they suddenly start to suck, but rather they change little while everyone else, including NPCs, continue to grow dramatically. Most of the abilities you can pick up in these levels are simply upgrades of your older ones. This isn't a bad thing per say, but it does make growth feel a bit stagnant. You'll still be able to do your thing as you always have, it just won't be as easy. In terms of PvP, the same rate of growth in PvE that I described seems to apply against players as well. Right out of the gate, Chanters are beastly in the duels and the arena. Just go out and challenge someone around your level to a duel once you've adjusted to the Chanter play style. Trust me, it'll probably make you happy. In the 20s, the gap starts to narrow as everyone catches up.