So, I maxed Warrior and I really enjoyed bullying big monsters, especially ogres and minotaurs. However, I still found more agile creatures annoying to deal with. As I tend to find fighting those enemies the least enjoyable part of the game, I used a mage and 2 archer pawns to do that for me which meant I spent a lot of time just lumbering about chasing after quick things until my pawns eventually killed them. Overall, a mixed gameplay experience with relatively rare but huge dopamine spiked highs and frequent annoying, frustrating lows.
Now I'm on to Mystic Spearhand which has goofiest vocation name ever. I suppose when it's basically cobbled together by one dude who has an odd naming sense that should follow, though. I love the details that they've added to reinforce this such as class names for the abilities which are also weird and goofy.
I changed vocation at the border town and went into Bettahl for the first time at level 40-ish. Initially I found the area much more challenging than Vermond, I'm not entirely sure how much that was due to me having pretty basic gear and having vocation Rank 1, how much of it was due to learning that new vocation, and how much was due to the enemies being more powerful.
Initially the Mystic seemed strong on offence but extremely fragile and very easily staggered. I got as far as clearing out the Coral Snake lair and killing a 'roid Ogre and a Griffin. Damage output with hard attacks was very nice (I still had a load of strong augments set so hit like a truck if I tagged their heads). I somehow lost my main pawn during that quest (I went charging off after the runner and she fell down somewhere while trying to catch up with me I think?) so used a Ferrystone to take me back to civilisation so I could get my pawn back and visit a Vocation Guild to learn some abilities as I'd reached Rank 4 during that little excursion.
After that I walked over to the capital, killed a few sandstone golems and another Griffin on the way, then went out exploring when a hired sorcerer pawn decided to launch some sort of nuke at a harpy while we were standing on a rope bridge and kill us with gravity. Nice.
General Thoughts:
Basic attacks seem to take a bit longer to initiate than a Fighter or a Thief, but quicker than a Warrior. They do a lot of damage (especially the hard attack rend/gut strike). If you don't have Mirour Vesture running you have to be very careful as you can get staggered and dogpiled very easily. With it up you're invulnerable. I tend to try to keep it activated as often as I can, which means limiting other special attacks and relying on upgraded basic moves with the occasional Dragoun's Stabbe to quickly reposition or Scatering Bolt to stunlock a harpy. Skiedragoun's Fangtooth is also pretty great, you have to be careful with the timing if you want to use it as a counter, though. I found Seching Blade a bit underwhelming, range is quite short and it looks a bit naff. Not had the chance to try the other abilities out yet, will probably swap out Seching Blade for Thef's Hond to see if that helps keeping the shield up for longer.
I have to anticipate and plan a bit when playing this vocation. Most of the abilities don't activate immediately and you are vulnerable when setting them up. If you can keep Mirour Vesture's shield up you can't be hurt, but you can only activate it when you're standing still and it takes a second or so to get started. If you can keep it up you'll probably win, but it's duration is pretty short, it can run out unexpectedly when you're in the middle of an animation, and it burns through stamina. It might be worth getting levels in Mage for the stamina regen boost and the enchantment duration buff augments? I don't know because I generally prefer melee or archery to pure mages so I've ignored them.
So far it's been fun learning to play a Mystic Spearhand. It doesn't seem as overpowered as Thief, but my opinion might change as I get more used to playing the vocation. So far I definitely prefer it to Mystic Knight from DDDA.
