11thorderknight Posted October 1, 2013 Report Share Posted October 1, 2013 Just a fun poll for those of us with time to kill: if you were a Rosharan noble and could choose whether to own a Shardblade or Shardplate (but not both), which would you choose? My thinking: if you had only one or the other, Plate is definitely more useful in war. It's not as flashy as a Blade, but it pretty much lets you walk through an enemy army unharmed, and gives you the strength to pretty much be a walking tank. Even if the enemy's eyes don't burn when you smack them, they're still just as dead. A Blade, while badass, leaves you open to injury like a regular person, and in a large-scale conflict you'd definitely be taken down eventually. A Blade, however, is probably better against another Shardbearer, since it at least gives you a fighting chance to touch the guy. Also, it can be kept hidden, which can be nice, and you're never without it. Plate, however, has to be taken on and off, and requires transport, storage, money for gems, attendants, etc. Unless you're paranoid and sleep in it, you're always vulnerable at some point. If I had to pick, I'd take the Blade and keep it hidden, but it's a close call. And if I had to acknowledge the shard publicly, I'd probably choose Plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two McMillion Posted October 1, 2013 Report Share Posted October 1, 2013 (edited) Are we living on Roshar or Earth? Edit: nm, you said Roshar. Hmm... Edited October 1, 2013 by Two McMillion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloom Posted October 1, 2013 Report Share Posted October 1, 2013 I'd take a Blade. Unless you're a KR, you have to get outfitted in plate before each battle. Unless your Dalinar Kholin, you only wear your plate in battle. With a Blade, I'm always armed even if no one can see it. I can cut through any obstruction, so I'm not likely to get trapped, and I would be able to put up a good fight against most opponents. I could even theoretically kill me a thunderclast. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodfalcon Posted October 1, 2013 Report Share Posted October 1, 2013 Yeah, I'm torn. The Blade is so convenient, but the Plate is so dummy-proof! Lack of sword skill would probably lead me to choose Plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two McMillion Posted October 1, 2013 Report Share Posted October 1, 2013 If we don't take plate, do we get a giant sword or a smaller one like Szeth's? That affects how easy it is to wield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isomere Posted October 1, 2013 Report Share Posted October 1, 2013 I'm poor so I don't I want plate that will shatter my precious Stormgems. Gimme a nice invincible Shardblade. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloom Posted October 1, 2013 Report Share Posted October 1, 2013 I get a smaller one like Szeths, and you get a gigantic one. Seriously though, Shardblades are much lighter than steel. The difficulty with a large Shardblade is more a matter of its mass than its weight. Yeah, I'm torn. The Blade is so convenient, but the Plate is so dummy-proof! Lack of sword skill would probably lead me to choose Plate. This is actually a pretty good point if your going to go into battle. The Plate would be much more advantageous to an inexperienced warrior than the blade would. After all, wielding a hammer doesn't require as much skill or training as a sword. This isn't to say that skill and training aren't advantageous to have, but that you can get away with having less skill with bludgeoning weapons and still be effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardlet Posted October 2, 2013 Report Share Posted October 2, 2013 Seriously though, Shardblades are much lighter than steel. The difficulty with a large Shardblade is more a matter of its mass than its weight. I think the size would be the trickiest aspect of it. For all intents and purposes, on a planet, mass and weight are the same. (Yes, I know Roshar has reduced gravity and momentum is independent of weight but not mass). Also, I haven't seen the mass or the weight of a blade being discussed in the book. The fact that a blade can be effectively weilded without plate (evidence, Lyss, although it is not inconceivable that she has a blade similar to Szeth's) suggests that the mass and weight of a blade is not a particular issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junior Posted October 2, 2013 Report Share Posted October 2, 2013 I'd take a Blade. Unless you're a KR, you have to get outfitted in plate before each battle. Unless your Dalinar Kholin, you only wear your plate in battle. With a Blade, I'm always armed even if no one can see it. I can cut through any obstruction, so I'm not likely to get trapped, and I would be able to put up a good fight against most opponents. I could even theoretically kill me a thunderclast. On the other hand, once your plate is equipped, you don't need to worry about someone giving your hand a hard smack and disarming you for the next ten seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheese Ninja Posted October 4, 2013 Report Share Posted October 4, 2013 Blade is niftier, but Plate is more practical for a war zone. In a lot of ways it's just a defense vs offense decision. So if I thought I was going to be in a place where threats would be approaching at any times from any direction, I'd go with Plate. If I was living a fairly normal daily life, I'd go with Blade, because it's always on hand, and you never know when you might need to cut through something really big. Also, why title the thread as "Poll" and not use the actual poll function? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
name_here Posted October 8, 2013 Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 Plate. Shardblades are highly vunerable to the "Archers!" solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scriptorian Posted October 9, 2013 Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 Meh...I'll take two shardblades and a nugget of lerasium please . 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two McMillion Posted October 9, 2013 Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 Meh...I'll take two shardblades and a nugget of lerasium please . I wouldn't mind this IRL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scriptorian Posted October 10, 2013 Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 Wow, that just up-voted me to mistborn...So when do I get my shardblades? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kadrok Posted October 10, 2013 Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 Wow, that just up-voted me to mistborn...So when do I get my shardblades? Became Mistborn as a result of a comment about receiving Lerasium... awesome. You become a Shardbearer somewhere between 31 and 34, inclusive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardlet Posted October 10, 2013 Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 Became Mistborn as a result of a comment about receiving Lerasium... awesome. You become a Shardbearer somewhere between 31 and 34, inclusive. At 32, to be precise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Radagu Posted October 10, 2013 Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 Assuming I'm Alethi nobility, but not undergoing a gender change, I think I'll go with the blade. I'm really more of a defensive person, so I'd prefer plate, but since everyone knows it's "unnatural" for women to be interested in war, I'd probably be expected to give my plate to my nearest male relative, like a good Vorin girl. So I'll pull a Shallan and have a secret shardblade. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Looter Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 />Assuming I'm Alethi nobility, but not undergoing a gender change, I think I'll go with the blade. I'm really more of a defensive person, so I'd prefer plate, but since everyone knows it's "unnatural" for women to be interested in war, I'd probably be expected to give my plate to my nearest male relative, like a good Vorin girl. So I'll pull a Shallan and have a secret shardblade. Solid reasoning there upvote coming at you for going for a great in universe answer. Now hopefully you didn't get it from killing your evil dad. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mailliw73 Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 My first instinct is a blade, but as I think about it, it all depends on what kind of a scenario I'm in. As has been said, if I was on a battlefield, I would probably want plate, but normal life, a blade. But give me gold or pewter, and I'd take a blade any day. even if they wouldn't heal me or enhance my strength that fast, I have a blade that destroys the soul of anything it cuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeatherWriter Posted October 13, 2013 Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 Assuming I'm Alethi nobility, but not undergoing a gender change, I think I'll go with the blade. I'm really more of a defensive person, so I'd prefer plate, but since everyone knows it's "unnatural" for women to be interested in war, I'd probably be expected to give my plate to my nearest male relative, like a good Vorin girl. So I'll pull a Shallan and have a secret shardblade. My reasoning as well. A girl's gotta hold on to the advantages she can get! Plate's bulky too, and takes a while to put on. Blades are in your hand in ten heartbeats everytime. (I think I'd probably just summon and then drop my shardblade a lot whenever I was alone just to see it coalesce and dissapate. That's got to be incredibly cool to see/do!) Not to mention, I'm always more a fan of agility and dexterity in a fighting style over strength and power. Plate may be more protective/usefull/easier to use, what have you, but I'm gonna say, an unPlated Blade wielder is so incredibly awesome and beautiful in the most amazing way. Szeth's fight scenes would be so amazing to see, and I'm praying that Shallan will have an excuse to learn to use hers too! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Radagu Posted October 15, 2013 Report Share Posted October 15, 2013 Now hopefully you didn't get it from killing your evil dad. I can neither confirm nor deny this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Aztec Posted October 16, 2013 Report Share Posted October 16, 2013 Plate And a poison crossbow because a poison crossbow will kill someone just as bad as a shardblade will but you dont have to get close to them to shoot them, and plate will protection you from a poison crossbow and a shardblade you would have to get super lucky with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arran Posted October 16, 2013 Report Share Posted October 16, 2013 I'd take Shardplate. Then I'd go looking for some other Shardbearer that has only a Shardblade, and take it for my own once I've killed him. We know Shardplate can survive at least one full-on blow from a Shardblade on just about any individual piece. So even if my opponent wears the best normal full plate armor money can buy, that won't be of much use when I grasp his Shardblade with my gauntlet as he tries to slash at me, step in, and punch him in the breasplate or helmet with my other gauntlet. Given the power of Shardplate-enhanced physical blows, I'll probably crush his chest through his armor, or make his head all but explode in his helm. And then voilà, I'm a full Shardbearer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deddinty Posted October 16, 2013 Report Share Posted October 16, 2013 I'd take Shardplate. Then I'd go looking for some other Shardbearer that has only a Shardblade, and take it for my own once I've killed him. We know Shardplate can survive at least one full-on blow from a Shardblade on just about any individual piece. So even if my opponent wears the best normal full plate armor money can buy, that won't be of much use when I grasp his Shardblade with my gauntlet as he tries to slash at me, step in, and punch him in the breasplate or helmet with my other gauntlet. Given the power of Shardplate-enhanced physical blows, I'll probably crush his chest through his armor, or make his head all but explode in his helm. And then voilà, I'm a full Shardbearer. Well I hope you don't pick Szeth to try your luck against. I'd personally prefer a blade myself. I'd rather have a hidden weapon than a visible defense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11thorderknight Posted October 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2013 This is exactly what I was getting at - in a fight, having Plate is a bigger advantage than having a Blade. The advantage of the Blade is that you always have it on you and it can't be stolen, and is easy to hide, whereas Plate has to be cared for, costs gems/money to fuel and repair, and must be elaborately put on and taken off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts