Windrunner Shields

[Corim Danex]

I am new to the forum and am just learning my way around.

I do have a question I would like to ask.

Can / do windrunners use shields?  I read a lot about knights radiant and their weapons and shardplate, but I don't recall seeing any mention of shields, with the exception of the bridge runners using the bridges as shields.  But what about shields of any kind (kite shields, round shields, bucklers)?  I would think that the emblems of the knights radiant would look great on shields.

[Halyo_Alex]

38 minutes ago, Corim Danex said:

I am new to the forum and am just learning my way around.

I do have a question I would like to ask.

Can / do windrunners use shields?  I read a lot about knights radiant and their weapons and shardplate, but I don't recall seeing any mention of shields, with the exception of the bridge runners using the bridges as shields.  But what about shields of any kind (kite shields, round shields, bucklers)?  I would think that the emblems of the knights radiant would look great on shields.

Radiant shardblades can turn into shields.

[GoWibble]

spoiler for Words of Radiance:

Spoiler

Kal does this to fight off szeth at the end

 

[+Oltux72]

5 hours ago, Corim Danex said:

Can / do windrunners use shields?  I read a lot about knights radiant and their weapons and shardplate, but I don't recall seeing any mention of shields, with the exception of the bridge runners using the bridges as shields.  But what about shields of any kind (kite shields, round shields, bucklers)?  I would think that the emblems of the knights radiant would look great on shields.

Imagine yourself holding a spear against the wind a passage at the terminal velocity human beings fall with with one hand. And you wouldn't just need to hold it. You'd need to swing it and that in 3D.

[Medium]

Radiant weapons can turn into litteraly ANY WEAPON OR TOOL that you want.

[The Skybreakers]

32 minutes ago, Esane said:

Radiant weapons can turn into litteraly ANY WEAPON OR TOOL that you want.

I mean

OB spolier:

Spoiler

Syl refused to turn into a mirror, so maybe it's based off of spren preference?

 

Edited August 12, 2020 by The Skybreakers

[I Am A Fish]

I mean they could use them, shardblades can become most things.

But, it doesn't make too much sense, so in general they wouldn't use them.

[rjl]

1. With Shardplate do you need a shield?
2. Radiant weapons can be anything they need to be
3. Though I suppose having a backup weapon/shield could be useful sometimes, we're yet to see much in this direction though

 

[Karger]

I imagine some orders especially squires use shields part of the time.

[Weltall]

Welcome to the Shard, Corim Danex!

2 hours ago, Esane said:

Radiant weapons can turn into litteraly ANY WEAPON OR TOOL that you want.

Almost anything. They pretty much have to be of a single piece because turning into multiple weapons or a multi-part weapon would require splitting the spren's soul and they wouldn't like that. Oh, and there's some upper limit on how big they can be, though anything bigger than the forms we've already seen would start to get ridiculously unwieldy so it's kind of academic.

[FantasyFanatic]

5 hours ago, rjl said:

1. With Shardplate do you need a shield?
2. Radiant weapons can be anything they need to be
3. Though I suppose having a backup weapon/shield could be useful sometimes, we're yet to see much in this direction though

 

So, far no one has broken a shardblade or shardtool, but we have seen shardplate break. Plus, it would be a lot more affective at covering eye slits and while... we've seen people die from a knife in the eye, so I would say you could use a shield with shard plate.

[+Oltux72]

On 12/08/2020 at 5:54 PM, Karger said:

I imagine some orders especially squires use shields part of the time.

Probably anybody without Plate. Turning your Blade into a shield is nice, but you are disarming yourself.

Only Windrunners and Skybreakers won't do it. Imagine how hard it would be to hold a shield of any size against the wind while flying at such speeds. You likely need both hands to just hold your lance.

[Brgst13]

You could likely strap your shield on your back to fly.  Actually, you could Lash it there.

[I Am A Fish]

It doesn't make too much sense. In best case scenario, you'd give windrunner's bows or other projectile weaponry. 

They'd be able to use gravitation to stay at a distance, while destroying enemies with arrows, or other projectiles.

[Corim Danex]

36 minutes ago, Oltux72 said:

Probably anybody without Plate. Turning your Blade into a shield is nice, but you are disarming yourself.

Only Windrunners and Skybreakers won't do it. Imagine how hard it would be to hold a shield of any size against the wind while flying at such speeds. You likely need both hands to just hold your lance.

Well, I would think that the magic used to fly period assists with holding whatever is held.  If flying through the air, a significant percentage of that time, the radiant would not be in melee range of opponents, but could be in range of ranged weapons.  Having a shield would provide better defense vs projectile weapons than a spear.  If they can alter the form of their weapons, it would make sense to fly with a shield, switching to spear when approaching melee range.  With magic, laws of physics are muted to some degree or another.  I can certainly see that attempting to fly through the air without magic would make shield bearing difficult -- the shield could be buffeted around like a heavy kite.

[Corim Danex]

Shields can also be used offensively.  Imagine a windrunner coming at speed, shield first, in a battering maneuver.

[Vessel of Theory]

On 8/14/2020 at 1:14 PM, Corim Danex said:

Shields can also be used offensively.  Imagine a windrunner coming at speed, shield first, in a battering maneuver.

Or a non-conventional shield, since we're talking about shapeshifting fairies that kill with a touch.

I'm thinking of a shield with a bunch of long spikes coming out the front. Picture this happening with a bunch of Stonewards on the field, or a Windrunner outnumbered in the sky.

Is there a limit outside of what the spren will do that determines what shapes they can take as a Shardthing?

[Halyo_Alex]

4 hours ago, Vessel of Theory said:

Or a non-conventional shield, since we're talking about shapeshifting fairies that kill with a touch.

I'm thinking of a shield with a bunch of long spikes coming out the front. Picture this happening with a bunch of Stonewards on the field, or a Windrunner outnumbered in the sky.

Is there a limit outside of what the spren will do that determines what shapes they can take as a Shardthing?

I'm fairly sure there's a size limit on the amount of actual metal they can manifest that isn't much bigger than the average default Shardblade. They also can't manifest as 2 or more individual pieces of metal, since that would split the spren itself into more than one piece.

[Nellac]

On 8/14/2020 at 0:12 PM, I Am A Fish said:

It doesn't make too much sense. In best case scenario, you'd give windrunner's bows or other projectile weaponry. 

They'd be able to use gravitation to stay at a distance, while destroying enemies with arrows, or other projectiles.

You don't even need the bow. Just give them arrows or javelins and they can lash them in the direction they want to go. I mean, given enough stormlight, they can use even rocks as deadly projectiles.