Talk:Mystic Knight/@comment-78.71.124.93-20160302062653/@comment-12.130.180.88-20160302171016

You never BLOCK with your shield? That in of itself can be useful, but the counter/riposte/feint skills are awesome. Blocking attacks with those active counterattacks enemies with that element, and if you perfect block an attack with say Firecounter(or one of it's upgraded versions) your shield shoots fireballs at them in addition. Ice shoots ice shards at them, etc. Essentially you're enchanting your shield instead of your sword, and every time you block an attack it counters it for you with that element. Not to mention blocking attacks staggers enemies anyway. Also, perfect blocking attacks can fire a Cannon you've deployed as well. All of that more than makes up for the weight and not being able to see your character's back imo, which is all the shield blocks from view. Also, you don't need to use a staff to get auto targeted ranged attacks, although you can & I don't think there's anything wrong with it. That said, that's what the Great Cannon is for lol. You can even hit 2 or 3 guys at a time with it if need be.

I think your problem here is you never figured out what to DO with your shield in battle, but now you know. You should try it out & see for yourself.