Living Armor

Living Armor is an Enemy in Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen.

Living Armors are huge animated suits of armor, haunted by an ominous blue light emanating from the cracks in their armor. It is said that they are a collection of souls who have died holding grudges or regrets, manifested into a single physical entity of sorrow and rage. They will not stop, even if the armor binding them is destroyed. Living Armors can utilize advanced sword techniques and are not limited by conventional means, capable of wielding a sword modeled after Saving Grace in just one hand and a shield similar to Dragon's Faith in the other.

Rewards

 * Fae-Silver Plate
 * Phantom Orb
 * Bitterblack Armor Lv.1
 * Bitterblack Novelty Lv.2
 * Bitterblack Weapon Lv.2
 * Rift Crystals

Tactics (Offensive)

 * Immune to all debilitations.
 * Weak against Holy enchanted weapons (such as the Ascalon sword, Heaven's Key daggers, Totem Mace, Dwells in Light longsword, Cursed Light sword, etc.). Holy Affinity enchantments from Mages and Sorcerors will usually wear off and will need to be recast mid-battle. The Perpetuation augment can extend the enchantments, but a permanently enchanted weapon is recommended.
 * The external armor can be damaged with either magic or physical strikes and will break off once the Living Armor's health reaches halfway. The external armor is more vulnerable to physical weapons than Holy weapons, so switch from physical swords/daggers to Holy swords/daggers once the armor is destroyed.
 * The inner spectral aura can ONLY be damaged by magic and Holy enchanted weapons, similar to other ghost-type enemies. Melee weapons MUST be enchanted in order to damage it.
 * Lure them to the edge of a cliff, get behind them and use a Knockback skill like Terrible Bend, Deathly Arrow or Dragon's Maw to inflict heavy fall damage or death. This will forfeit any reward drops if it kills the Living Armor outright.
 * Fighters : Dragon's Maw with a Holy enchanted sword (like Ascalon or Cursed Light) is effective against multiple Living Armor. Equip the Proficiency augment and bring stamina curatives to extend the number of times the Arisen can spam this skill.  Dragon's Maw will "override" any attacks the Living Armor may dispense and can prevent the Arisen from getting knocked down.  Sheltered Fusillade from the rear flank can score multiple strikes very quickly.
 * Striders: Brain Splitter skill with Heaven's Key daggers is very effective. Use Hundred Kisses on its back and then dodge roll to the other side when it turns around to counterattack. Spamming Cutting Wind will quickly attack the Living Armor from two opposite flanks.
 * Rangers: A clean shot to the shield or head with Deathly Arrow can send it flying backwards over a cliff. Use Hundred Kisses on its back and then dodge roll to the other side when it turns around to counterattack. Spamming Cutting Wind will quickly attack the Living Armor from two opposite flanks.
 * Assassins: Use Masterful Kill near a cliff and immediately hit it with Mighty/Terrible Bend to the shield or head to send it over the edge. Use Hundred Kisses on its back and then dodge roll to the other side when it turns around to counterattack. Spamming Cutting Wind will quickly attack the Living Armor from two opposite flanks.
 * Magic Archers : Sixfold/Ninefold is the fastest and easiest way to dispatch Living Armor, as it damages both the external armor and the inner spectral aura. Shadowshackle/Shadowsnare can only slow them down, but not lock it in place due to its size.  Ricochet Hunter can quickly whittle down its Health in narrow corridors.  Explosive Bolts/Rivets are effective as they usually bypass the shield and land on its stomach and upper thighs.  With enough Explosive bolts the Living Armor can be tossed up in the air and stunned.
 * Sorcerers : High Fulmination can quickly kill them or force them to constantly block, allowing other party members to attack from behind. Try to keep as much distance as possible while still dealing damage to avoid being knocked out of the spell.  High Gicel can work, but it is slow to cast and must be aimed carefully.  High Bolide goes good Holy damage to Living Armor but targeting is random and unpredictable.
 * Mystic Knight: An elementally-enchanted trap of a Ruinous Sigil set in conjunction with a Great Cannon will destroy Living Armors very quickly as this trap will be effective on both forms. Set the Ruinous Sigil first then the Great Cannon, since the Great Cannon's animation concludes with a blow, alerting the enemy instantly.  Step back a few paces in a direct line to ensure the Living Armor goes right into the sigils; while it takes damage, quickly set another trap-- if necessary.
 * Mages : High Comestion or High Frigor will knock the Living Armor off its feet and leave it momentarily vulnerable. From sufficient height, the fall damage can kill a Living Armor outright.  The healing aura of High Anodyne will damage the Living Armor.

Tactics (Defensive)

 * Living Armor will block most attacks, so try attacking from the rear to bypass its large shield. Players who employ frontal attacks will be knocked down by its Shield Strike counterattack.
 * Watch out for Stone Forest ! Living Armor will stand still to charge this Mystic Knight skill with a red aura glowing around their head. This skill has a wide field of damage effect around the Living Armor and it will send the Arisen soaring into the sky, set them on fire, and take fall damage.  Rather than trying to interrupt this attack, simply run clear of the blast zone.
 * Beware near cliff edges, as the Living Armor's attacks can easily knock the Arisen and pawns off the edge to their death.
 * Their shields are so big sometimes they cause hit-box detection problems, often nullifying parts of multi-hit attacks that would ordinarily damage it. Thus the best window of opportunity to inflict damage is when they have just finished an attack or when busy with pawns. Living Armor are also vulnerable from the rear as their shields do not protect their backs.
 * Living Armor have very high knockdown capability. Instant Reset will quickly return the Arisen back to their feet.  Use the dodge roll to avoid its attacks.
 * Dragon's Maw (Fighter skill) can be used as a defensive move to avoid incoming attacks. Even if the Arisen swings and misses, they will not be injured or knocked down.
 * The Sanctuary augment is a valuable defensive augment. It will reduce damage taken by 50% when the Arisen is in mortal danger, and can save the Arisen's life.
 * Occasionally the Living Armor will disengage from the fight and walk away. This allows the Arisen to heal and save the game with the accumulated damage inflicted on the Living Armor intact.
 * If facing multiple Living Armor, try luring them out one or two at a time to limit the size of the skirmish. Living Armor tend to hold their positions until an enemy approaches their personal space, so lure one away then fall back to engage them one at a time.

Tactics (Pawn-specific)

 * Recruit pawns with Holy enchanted weapons (like the Ascalon or Cursed Light swords or Heaven's Key daggers) since magick damage is the only way a melee vocation can significantly hurt Living Armor's second form.
 * Pawns may need to revived several times when fighting Living Armor. Consider hiring a Mage pawn with the Legion's Might staff for a support party member.  The Legion's Might staff will allow them to self-revive whenever they run out of HP and they can continue to heal, buff, and distract enemies while the Arisen focuses on attack and not running around reviving pawns.
 * High Frigor is the Mage's most effective spell against Living Armor.
 * A Sorcerer's High Fulmination or Grand Fulmination is very effective against the Living Armor when cast on dagger- or sword-wielding characters. If you see your Sorcerer pawn casting a different spell, press the Go! or left D-pad HELP command to interrupt its spell, slowly, until you see the pawn start to cast High Fulmination. When the lightning field is coursing through the party, dagger strikes will deliver that damage to the Living Armor, destroying its second form very quickly.
 * Sorcerer pawns will generally spend most of the fight jumping around to avoid Living Armor, unless the Arisen and other pawns specifically run interference so they can cast without interruption. High Fulmination, High Bolide and High Gicel are all very effective against the Living Armor.

Pawn Bestiary Knowledge
Knowledge on Living Armors is a combination of techniques useful on Skeleton Lords and Ghosts. But they HAVE to be performed by the Arisen or a knowledgeable Pawn for other pawns to trigger knowledge. In addition to witnessing these techniques, it is necessary for Pawns to participate in killing 50 Living Armors either with their own Arisen or while travelling with others.
 * Weak to Holy.
 * Attack them from behind. Their massive shields block all frontal assaults. Even if they are executing an attack, they may cancel it into a block. After gaining knowledge Pawns will shout "Damn their shields, attack from the rear!"
 * At Half HP, their armor will almost completely break off revealing their spectral form. This form can only be damaged by magick, in addition to having to strike them from the rear.