Jump to content

How to defend against shard plate, shard blades, wind runners, ect.


RJWB0mb

Recommended Posts

Here's a hint:

See: Chapter in which Kaladin has a flashback to the day he killed a Shardbearer in Amaram's army (only to have the won Shards taken from him and his squad killed). I think he threw something into the Shardbearer's eye between the slits in the helm.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i rember that passage the viser is definatly a weak point in the armor but i think there are more efficent ways to kill a shard bearer.

I believe the book also mentions that if the plats in the legs or chest give out that a shard bearer will collapse under the weight and also that hits to the head can be dangerous even in shard plate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

chemical warfare maybe a bit advance but i like that line of thought. think i saw somthing on TV about a mixture of ground pepper and glass being used as a weapon when thrown into the opponents eyes. this maybe a bit advance too but maybe a smoke/tear gas bomb?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

sounds like gorrila warfare to me. what about covering the shard plate in oil then setting it on fire? i believe that shard plate does not directly protect against heat or cold so if you set it of fire a shard bearer would cook like a turkey.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I expect Shardplate is protected against heat to some extent, and also chemical weapons. Given that Soulcasting was presumably used in the Desolations, being resistant to Air-to-Fire Soulcastings would be useful. Also, the vision slit is literally the only opening in the armor, so contact toxins would be difficult to apply. I'm not sure how they can breathe in closed suits in the first place, so I really don't know if they even require air outside.

Going for the eyes works, but the vision slit isn't actually mandatory, as the rest of the visor is somewhat translucent, so nothing is stopping a worried Shardbearer from putting a steel plate over it, or at least Soulcast clear crystal.

The big weakness of Shardplate is probably that it's very heavy, so, like tanks, there are some structures that simply cannot support its weight. I guess if they need external air you can also drown them, but I get the impression that the Highstorms render large-scale naval warfare completely pointless and nonexistent so that's a bit out.

The other problem is the Shardblade. A Shardbearer has to stay clear of his allies because their massive sweeping blows can easily strike an ally by mistake.

However, in the end the best way to deal with a Shardbearer without Shards of your own is massive quantities of blunt trauma. Avalanches, catapults, trapdoors a thousand feet up, etc. The Parshendi seem to prefer suicide teams with warhammers for open-field combats, which I guess must occasionally work, at least well enough to force the Shardbearer to give up the gemhearts, or they wouldn't bother.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

massive trama is a good point i believe that taking powerful plows to the head were mentioned in the book as still being dangerous while in shard plate. if the have soulcaster a person can set a tiger trap like pit filled with water to drown a shared bearer or just in case filled with oil to drown/ burn them.

even if the armor protects the against direct fire damage the poor ventalation in the suit could still sufficate them or cause them to over heat and pass out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Coinnshot? oh wait wrong series :P

I think the shardbearers still need to breathe :P so no they couldn't just close up the entire visor.

On the heat thing, I think that the armour probably IS protected from heat, but your own body heat is still going to get trapped in there with you, so I think the best way would basically be to just imobilize them any way you can, then just wait for them to pass out from dehydration. Of course, suppose if you can imobilize them you could then just poke out an eye through their visor :P

I think archers probably have the best shot, does anyone know if crossbow technology exists yet? Someone skilled enough to put multiple crossbow bolts in the same area might be able to shatter the plate, otherwise I think the safest route would be archers hoping they get a shot in through the visor.

If we can use surges then I think Szeth and his multiple lashings to giant pieces of rock would be good, alternatively soulcasting the ground under them into a liquid, then back to a solid.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think shardplate would break any chain that would be practical to carry around, also a blade would cut it open easily so even if it did trip them up, you'd have to be very quick to take advantage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For defense against a Surgebinder: A safe-room with a long corridor leading to it, both lit only by torches. Put a squad of archers and spearmen in fornt of the door. He'll drain his reserves of Light getting through to you, and not be able to replenish

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Long corridor won't do much, double lashing to the end and they're there in seconds, which basically renders the archers useless. Spearmen are a good idea thought, I think spears would be much more useful than swords, given how much momentum szeth generally builds up in fights.

Would work better against a soulcaster probably, although if they can all do that ranged soulcasting trick that Jasnah showed then they'd all still be dead, although I think that would have to have some kind of increased stormlight cost.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think archers probably have the best shot, does anyone know if crossbow technology exists yet? Someone skilled enough to put multiple crossbow bolts in the same area might be able to shatter the plate, otherwise I think the safest route would be archers hoping they get a shot in through the visor.

One answer: Shardbows.

That is presuming one is rich/strong enough to be able to pluck it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well considering you need shardplate to be able to draw it I think you might as well just go in with your blade/massive-hammer-of-doom

a fabieral or a simple crang mechinism maybe able to by pass the need tof shard plate to fire a shard bow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I fall in the "massive trauma" category myself. It's all well and good to try clever traps and try to get stuff through the visor, but traps are unweildy, unreliable, and expensive to set up (not to mention only being useful on the defensive), while eye-attacks are even harder to be sure to get right.

I think archers probably have the best shot, does anyone know if crossbow technology exists yet? Someone skilled enough to put multiple crossbow bolts in the same area might be able to shatter the plate, otherwise I think the safest route would be archers hoping they get a shot in through the visor.

One answer: Shardbows.

That is presuming one is rich/strong enough to be able to pluck it.

Looking at these posts, I'd say we should follow up the shardbow/crossbow approach. As I said back in the day, "nothing says 'armor piercing' quite like a ballista bolt to the face."

While a shardbow might be impractical in most circumstances, I agree with RJWB0mb that

a fabrial or a simple crank mechinism may be able to bypass the need of shard plate to fire a shard bow.

We know from shardbows that, with a bit of fabrial-science to help, the Alethi are capable of constructing high-power bows. All we need now is a simple method (crank, windlass, etc.) to store up the energy, and you've got a crossbow. Make it bigger and you have a man-portable ballista. Make it bigger and you have a light artillery weapon. All of these weapons should give a shardbearer pause, especially if you have a few dozen of them all up and down your line.

Even without fabrials, the Alethi should be extremely capable of of making ballistae and crossbows. The engineering really isn't that difficult, especially since they already appear to have ordinary bow-making and a fair amount of metallurgy (full plate body armor in Kelsier's flashback battle, remember) down pat. The Romans were hauling around man-portable ballistae like there was no tomorrow, and the one-man crossbow is a fairly ancient weapon itself.

Edited by Kurkistan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hadn't even thought about a ballista. I suppose pretty much any siege weapon would work quite well, trebuchet, heck even an improvised battering ram. Of course the problem with all of these is that a shardbearer also usually has an army to protect them so yea, I suppose a trebuchet might also be a tad inaccurate. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...