Mystic Knight

The Mystic Knight is one of three Hybrid vocations in Dragon's Dogma. Hybrid vocations are exclusive to your main character, the Arisen. It costs 1,500 Discipline Points (DP) to unlock this vocation.

Description
Masters of sword and sorcery, the Mystic Knight deals devastating damage to foes on the battlefield with their enchanted weapons, while also defending against the most ferocious attacks with their magickal shields.

Primary Weapon: Sword, Mace or Staff (NOTE: Maces cannot be traded.)

Secondary Weapon: Magick Shield (NOTE: Magick Shields cannot be traded.)

Primary Offensive stat: Magick, but some of its skills use a blend of Magick and Strength.

Armor : generally Medium Armor Sets or like components - the mixed requirement of magic and melee use favor armors with both high magic and physical defense - as such iron is not favoured, and composite materials are oft used. Tough animal skins and hides are also a good choice. Mystic Knights have access to a very wide range of armor include almost all bow user and sword user designs, plus some sets specific to themselves and warriors. The huge shield makes up for the general lack of iron in the worn armor.



Mystic Knight skill using characters are rare but not unknown: Julien carries Knight equipment but does not use the magic skills; some guards in the The Blighted Manse carry the required equipment and use special skills including Sopor and Holycounter.

Strengths and Role
Battle Magick: Mystic Knights are able to cast powerful magicks while wearing heavy armor and wielding maces or swords. The Mystic Knight's key core skill, Reflect, allows the player to pick up all damage on the field (friendly and non-friendly) and incorporate it into its own attacks. Mystic Knights can also set sigil traps on the battle field for enemies to move into, which permits the Mystic Knight to move away to perform other spells or moves while the trap explodes on the enemy.

Stalwart Defense: Mystic Knights carry large, magickal shields with them in combat, allowing them to counter almost all attacks. The shields can also be imbued with magickal energy, providing a deadly surprise for any enemy that dares assault the Arisen.

Deadly Enchantments: The Mystic Knight is the only magickal character capable of enchanting the entire party’s weapons at once, making them invaluable support characters. The elemental Trances and Invocations are more powerful buffs than Affinities or Pacts; but they do not last as long in duration as an offset to their strength.

Versatility: Having both ranged and melee capabilities as well as a shield allows the Mystic Knight to adapt to many situations. This Arisen can act as both the Tank and frontline Fighter or can hang back and cast Cannon spells for ranged magick attacks. They are also able to wield slashing swords or blunt damaging maces, giving them even more options to aim for enemies weaknesses. Their armor selection is the most varied as well, ranging from physical-focused plate armors to magick-focused robes.

Weaknesses
Silence: If Silenced, Mystic Knights will not be able to use their most powerful skills, although it is less disadvantageous than Mage or Sorcerer since the Mystic Knight can still use melee weapons and skills.

Slower Movement and Counter Range: Similar to the Fighter, the Mystic Knight's defenses are very strong in front of him. This vocation can have trouble against multiple opponents due to slow movement and lack of manual turning when the Magick Shield is deployed. This leaves the Mystic Knight's backside vulnerable to attack if enemies flank. Using Perfect Block with an elemental shield buff to both defend and deal damage can be difficult to perform due to its requirement for proper timing, but once the Mystic Knight player masters these counters, they become very effective offensive moves.

Knockdown Prone: Mystic Knights can be staggered or knocked down more easily than a Fighter or Warrior; however, their selection of heavier armors allows them better stability when casting than a Mage or Sorcerer. Careful selection of top-tier armor can eliminate knockdown and stagger vulnerability, which can be game-changing to a small Mystic Knight and invaluable for a larger one.

Slow Casting Speeds: Their class-specific spells take a long time to incant. These spells also do not allow movement during the incant unlike Staff and Archistaff spells; this, combined with being relatively vulnerable to stagger and knockdown can make it difficult to complete certain sigils during a fight. Carrying the Wyrmking's Ring in the inventory will reduce the casting time of these skills; the Sorcerer's augment Articulacy also assists with casting speed. Learn your enemies and predict their moves by watching them telegraph their tactics to fight proactively, not reactively.

Skills
Augments: 26,800 DP Core: 10,200 DP Sword/Mace Skills: 29,600 DP Staff Skills: 23,100 DP Magick Shield Skills: 73,100 DP

Total Skills: 162,800 DP

Skills in bold are unique to the Mystic Knight.

Skills in italics can only be obtained via skill rings found in Dark Arisen.

Augments
For information on how augments impact stats and how stacking of multiple augments works see the Stats page.

Non-Arisen Mystic Knights
Pawns may not learn the Mystic Knight vocation, though some other humans have done so. Some Gransys soldiers in The Blighted Manse are equipped as Mystic Knights, with a Knight's Honor shield and will use staff and sword offensively against the Arisen. Lord Julien wields a Mystic Knight weapon and shield but does not use any of the Mystic Knight's magickal skills. Ser Raffe carries a Fine Magick Buckler, but is just a knight.

Skeleton Lords, Silver Knights and Living Armor are undead Mystic Knights.

Tips and Tactics
Two Mystick Knight skills stand out, alone and in combination when facing the fiercest foes: Ruinous Sigil and Great Cannon. Ruinous Sigil creates a defensive area which fires upon any foe entering its field, whilst Great Cannon summons a floating sigil that conjures orbs when struck that seek out and damage near and distance foes. Both of these spells will take on the element of the weapon used to cast these sigils.

Furthermore, when used in combination by casting these two spells within the field of effect of one another the utility of these already powerful spells is further magnified, as a Ruinous Sigil will fire the Great Cannon sigil when activated creating an automatic and deadly response to any enemy that dares approach. For in-depth discussion of the tactics of combined use see Great Cannon.

A third important and useful skill is Abyssal Anguish which allows the Mystic Knight to stack two elements. Abyssal Anguish adds dark enchantment to a weapon, but does not overwrite the previous element. An Abyssal Anguish enchanted weapon also has a shockwave on certain strikes with good stagger, plus extra range added to the weapon. Since this skill effectively combines the damage from the primary and secondary weapons, with an elemental weapon/enchantment, a Mystic Knight can perform a duo element, duo stat attack, making it one of the highest damage per second skills in the game. For in-depth discussion of tactics and usage, see Abyssal Anguish.

After learning the skill Reflect, good Perfect Block timing after charging the Magick Shield with the Riposte and counter shield skills can greatly improve both one's survivability and damage output. A properly timed block will not only negate damage and stamina use but will also unleash a blast of magick, depending on the shield's current enchantment.

Most melee attacks and many magickal attacks can be blocked - the exceptions are a Dragon's firebreath and the spell Exequy. A Perfect Block will also fire a Great Cannon if its sigil is within the frontal arc of the shield.

Finally, the Holy Grace spell on the shield is unique in that it can heal an Arisen past the green healing area when coupled with the Reflect core skill, and a Perfect Block.

Levelling, strength, magick and augments

 * Players who are making more of a bruiser/tank Mystic Knight can start with Fighter as the basic vocation; that way players will get used to being in the middle of combat and get that early extra health per level.


 * Players who are making more of a caster Mystic Knight can start with Mage as the basic vocation; that way players will get used to the timing of spells and learn to recognize their individual incant sigils when enemies are casting.


 * The Mystic Knight's damage output is significantly more powerful when using augments from other vocations, such as Mage's Attunement, Sorcerer's Acuity, Warrior's Clout and Fighter's Vehemence.


 * Particularily useful augments are Sorcerer's Articulacy, Fighter's Prescience. Also useful are Mage's Equanimity, and Exhilaration, Warrior's Ferocity and Assassin's Bloodlust and Autonomy.

Other

 * Faster blocks with the shield can be made by flicking the analog stick in the direction of the blow and quickly follow up with the Secondary items button. Performed quickly, this will change the direction of the Arisen almost instantaneously. A fast block/perfect block can also be performed during a leap.


 * Due to their nature as half-fighter and half-mage, Mystic Knight is the only vocation that can wear both heavy armor and light magick vestments.

Trivia
The Equipment of the Mystic Knight in the Change Vocation Menu is:
 * Weapons: Steel Beak / Knight's Honor
 * Torso: Grand Surcoat and Gambeson
 * Arms: Leather Gloves
 * Legs: Fine Over-Knee Boots with Worker's Pants or Laborer's Breeches
 * Cloak: Alchemickal Cloak

In the Dark Arisen Mystick Knight trailer:
 * Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen -- Mystic Knight Trailer (youtube.com, Japanese) (English)

the Arisen wears:
 * Weapons: Angel's Sanctum and Carnation
 * Torso: Patterned Gambeson
 * Arms: Wizarding Gloves
 * Legs: Downcuffs & Cuisses
 * Cloak: Heresy Cloak
 * Head Minstrel's Band