It’s no secret that Mystics in Black Desert Online are incredibly overtuned at the moment, but it doesn’t really matter what class you’re rolling with in BDO PvP if you don’t know how to play it. And while Mystics may not have the highest skill cap in the game, there’s a world of difference between a Mystic that doesn’t know what they’re doing and a Mystic that does.
So, if you’re just getting started with Mystic in PvP, or you’re looking for ways to improve your performance, then this guide is for you!
Basic Mystic Combos
The main reason this combo is so effective is that it allows you to chain super armors together while threatening stun and stiffness without interfering with any of your other combos.
If you want to rotate through this combo more than once (indefinitely, even, though that’s not usually practical), you’ll need to take advantage of each skill’s lingering super armor by leaving split-second gaps between the execution of each skill. The lingering super armor lasts long enough for you to be able to execute each skill in this sequence as they come off cooldown, so as long as you’re keeping track of them, you should be fine.
This combo should be executed immediately after landing any form of CC. It’s very flexible (hence this version being the “standard” one), but this particular sequence will consistently deal the most damage.
Note that your enemy will still be lying on the ground after Wave Orb if Roaring Tiger’s down smash landed, so be sure to capitalize on that — Wolf’s Frenzy is a pretty popular option, but you can use pretty much anything you want.
The Spiral Torpedo combo more or less hinges on landing a knockdown with Spiral Torpedo — if that doesn’t happen, the combo ends there. However, since Spiral Torpedo is one of the few skills in BDO that pierces Forward Guard, it’s your best way to initiate a combo without wasting your grab. You can replace Rapid Stream with another skill if the enemy is already suffering from a DP debuff.
If you want to use the Standard Burst Combo (or any combo that involves a down smash) after the Spiral Torpedo Combo, you have to make sure not to use Flow: Sea Burial after Sea Burial, as it will prevent Roaring Tiger from inflicting its own down smash.
Since Flash Step is an iFrame and Tranquility is a Super Armor that basically grants you three more Flash Steps, this is the safest way for you to disengage from the enemy as a Mystic. In Node Wars, Tranquility should be reserved solely for disengaging.
(Note that “Flash Step” in this context means as many Flash Steps and Double Flashes as you can afford before and after activating Tranquility — and feel free to throw in Silent Step and Spiral Torpedo if they’re off cooldown!)
Extending Your Combos
Like most classes, Mystics can extend their combos twice after landing their initial CC: once with a down smash, and once with a grab.
- Flow: Sea Burial is by far the strongest down smash you have in your arsenal. Not only is it the only down smash you have with super armor, it also deals the most damage and functions as a gap closer (or an escape, if you’re in a pinch) — and you can even use it from your pre-Awakened stance! The only advantages that Dragon Shatter and Roaring Tiger have are faster animations and lower cooldowns.
- Dragon Shatter is the weakest of your three down smashes, but also the fastest. You should almost never use Dragon Shatter from a neutral state — but if you use it at the end of another skill animation (for example, the first hit of Rapid Stream into Dragon Shatter), you’ll throw out a swift punch that’ll inflict a down smash.
- Roaring Tiger in its Absolute form dishes out a pretty hefty amount of damage, and like Dragon Shatter, it’s a fast down smash. The thing that sets Roaring Tiger apart from the other two skills is that it’s a pre-Awakened skill, which means you’re better off saving it for when you’re using your Gauntlets. Roaring Tiger also restores 300 health on use, which is nice to have.
- Binding is a Super Armored grab, and it’s the only grab that Mystics have. While you can freely initiate a combo with Sea Burial and Flow: Sea Burial without worrying about wasting your only down smash (because you have two others), you cannot start a combo with Binding if you want it to last as long as possible. Of course, the beauty of grapples is that if you do need to CC an enemy immediately, you have that option with Binding.
Mystic Debuffs and Slows
- Wave Orb is an AOE slow that hits quite hard, making it one of the better slows in the game. Generally speaking, you’ll use Wave Orb at the end of your Burst Combos, so you don’t really need to worry too much about where to fit it into your playstyle.
- Dragon’s Pit is another AOE slow (and the fact that they have a second one is the reason why Mystics are notorious for the slows). However, instead of dealing burst damage, Dragon’s Pit deals damage in an area over time. This makes it better for large-scale PvP as a zoning tool, as you’ll be able to slow more enemies with Dragon’s Pit than with Wave Orb since the effect that applies the slow will last for a few seconds. Since the slows don’t stack, you want to try to layer Wave Orbs and Dragon’s Pits so that your opponent is always slowed.
- Rapid Stream applies a heavy -20 All DP debuff that lasts, and it only requires you to land Rapid Stream’s first hit. Ideally, you want to weave that first hit of Rapid Stream into your combos wherever you have room, but you won’t need to do it very often, given the debuff’s whopping 20 second duration.
Mystic Buffs
- Dragonize, like all other Awakening buffs, has a three-minute cooldown, so you should use it whenever you feel it’s appropriate. In Node Wars, I’d probably reserve it for large fights.
- Mystic’s Rage Absorption is quite good, and they can generate a lot of Black Spirit Rage since they tend to take a lot of hits during their Super Armors. I’d recommend using Rage Absorption whenever it’s available, especially since Mystic’s 100% skills aren’t that great.
- Rapid Stream is one of the main reasons that Mystics favor Evasion builds. All you have to do is launch the first hit of Rapid Stream to gain the buff (it doesn’t need to connect), so you should always make sure to do so before you lay into your opponent.
- Spiral Torpedo is pretty spammable, even after the nerf took away the HP recovery, so you’re probably going to have the +16 AP buff active all the time. Ironically, this does mean that your Rage Absorption is more like a +14 AP buff since they don’t stack.
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If you have any questions or general tips of your own for Mystic PvP in BDO, leave a comment below, and be sure to check out our other Black Desert Online guides for even more useful BDO information.
