You can:
- Cast Meteor
- Cast Hailstorm
- Cast Firebolt
- Cast Lightning Bolt
- Cast Icebolt
- Cast Fusion bolt
- Cast Fireball
- Cast Ice Spear
- Cast Thunder
- Cast Blaze
- Cast Meditation
- Cast Moving Cast
- Cast Instant Cast
- Use Any Martial Arts Skills
All without charging.
As for Special Upgrades, no news on that yet... still waiting.
I don't know if Magic Weapon Mastery applies to the Merlin Suilien Knuckles but the intermediate magic casting bonus apparently doesn't apply regardless past 750 intelligence.
Edit(1):
In addition, it seems that Mana Shield now factors in defense/protection from shields/shield mastery.
Honestly, I can't really think of combos that would combine fighter and magic well.
No offense, but I hope you're kidding here. The fact that it combines knuckles with a sort-of hermit staff means it can do both magic and fighter combos. At the very least, you can alternate between the skillsets without pause, which is great given that both skillsets' combos are generally short-lived.
[SPOILER="Spoiler"]Fighter combos normally end with the enemy mildly distanced from the player. This is a good setup for magic (also, hello tumble).
Magic combos usually end (or persist) with the target stunned/frozen/whatever. This is a good opportunity to close in with melee attacks, especially fighter. With Instant Casting and Mobile Casting, magic can keep up a bit more with Fighter's pace/playstyle than before.
Plus you're not really considering how Fighter's main weakness is aoe, but magic is heavily aoe focused. Additionally, magic fails at quick damage and is generally inferior in terms of 1v1. The skillsets cover each others' primary weaknessess.[/SPOILER]
All without charging.
In addition, it seems that Mana Shield now factors in defense/protection from shields/shield mastery.
So how does this effect mana shield compared to the current version? Is it worse, better, or the same? And do you have to have a shield equipped to get the shield mastery bonus?
Yes, if you don't have a shield equipped it's the same as nothing. It's possible they will remove this anyhow, since the reason shield stats are affecting MS are probably because they are hidden bonuses.
Don't get fooled by this knuckle.
Yes, it's hybrid-friendly, but there are still cons to this. Otherwise, the knuckle would be too OP. There's a reason why it goes only for 5 mil. If it didn't have problem, it would go for 20 mil+, even without any reforge.
1. Special upgrades. This is the most important part.
Yes, it can be special upgraded, but it's pretty strange. First, it won't get magic attack bonus from any special upgrade. Second, the S upgrade does follow the 2h special upgrades, but the R upgrades follows that of a one handed weapon.
For example, S6 sulien knuckles would get 48 max, but R6 sulien knuckels will only get 42% crit bonus. This knuckle is far more inferior when it comes to special upgrades, even more inferior than bear knuckles.
And those crit special upgrade doesn't apply to magic.
R5 and R6 Sulien Knuckle
2. Also, there's no bonus to blaze, just like rest of the wands. It doesn't get the same effect as combat wand.
And just in case anyone's wondering, yes, this knuckle can get elemental reforge, up to level 6.
3. No magic attack bonus from upgrades. This makes it inferior compared to even basic wands.
I'd say though, it's still good item for training. You can train both fighter-related and magic-related skills, such as chain mastery and magic weapon mastery.
Also, you don't need a wand/staff for shockwave when you use this, I guess you could count that as having another AoE pet-sort of attack.
If you want to do higher damage with magic and fighter, this knuckle isn't the answer. You're better off using champions and a trinity staff. Honestly, I can't really think of combos that would combine fighter and magic well. The skill loading time's too long for magic, while fighter is very fast paced. I suppose using blaze or bolt composing would be nice, but other than that, you're better off carrying champ knuckle and a want/staff. Some people might say "I want to use meteor strike, or hail storm". Meteor strike has lengthy cooldown, so you might just want to increase your magic damage with staff. And for hailstorm, it's also a high-damager skill, so probably better off with staff.
There's sacrifice in any setup you take. You can't be Mario and expect to have the top speed of Bowser, the control and acceleration of Toad and Yoshi.
By without charging do you mean: You chain cast to 5 charges every time, anytime? or It charges normally, but doesn't require "charging" like a trinity staff does in order to use intermediate magic?
Edit(1):