User blog comment:Psychopski/Mystic Knight: Potentially awesome class, but what's with the shield not being held in the off hand??/@comment-5847779-20121228152758

I think it'd be best to have this shield held in two ways. First off, the ehisld is too big to be held in the off-hand the entire time while travelling. Should be fine on your back. Sure it's hovering in the air, but so are the staves and bows and no one complains about those.

First have it on your back while travelling

Then have it in your hand in battle stance.

This way you can actively have it in your hand while you're doing battle and also skip that annoying blocking animation that takes forever. It's silly to put your shield on your back during battle and then remove it and block with it. It's too damn big to pull off a stunt like that.