Herald powers

[Valigus]

So now that we have seen the heralds fight for real we gotta ask a few questions.

1. what are there undisclosed powers, specifically the super speed and strength, how do they work, what are the upper limits, etc…

 

2. with these powers, how we rating fullborn vs herald now? 
 

And random side note, how op is kaladin gonna be when he shows back up

[+Child of Hodor]

Herald would be more powerful assuming they had access to light they can use to fuel their surgebinding. Which is up in the air with the changes to Roshar. 

In Ch. 120 Tanavast says the Heralds "WERE ABLE TO DRAW ON THE POWERS OF ROSHAR ITSELF INSTEAD OF JUST MY SURGES." whatever that means. The true tones of Roshar are powering them? The three OG gods? Does having bodies made from investiture help them? 

[thecaptain01]

I think the way Nale fought Kaladin implies that they have some sort of short-term future vision similar to burning Atium.

[+Child of Hodor]

12 minutes ago, thecaptain01 said:

I think the way Nale fought Kaladin implies that they have some sort of short-term future vision similar to burning Atium.

Definitely. The way Ishar fought the windrunners at the end of RoW also looked like he could see their moves ahead of time. They also have super endurance and healing. Like wounds that would hurt a radiant don't bother them. Nale shrugs off an arrow threw his head in RoW, Taln, without his blade, takes 11 spears through him and is fine. 

[a Faceless Immortal he/him]

I think the fact that Heralds are unkillable cognitive shadows probably puts them significantly ahead of a fullborn power wise.

[Valigus]

27 minutes ago, Child of Hodor said:

Herald would be more powerful assuming they had access to light they can use to fuel their surgebinding. Which is up in the air with the changes to Roshar. 

In Ch. 120 Tanavast says the Heralds "WERE ABLE TO DRAW ON THE POWERS OF ROSHAR ITSELF INSTEAD OF JUST MY SURGES." whatever that means. The true tones of Roshar are powering them? The three OG gods? Does having bodies made from investiture help them? 

They also have moderately explicit super strength and speed which is the main one I noticed. Like taln seems to just blitz fused, and nale moves so fast in their fight that he literally makes what seems to be mini thunderclaps, and hits kaladin way harder than a normal human should be able to

 

as a receipt on page 1031, Nale moves in a blur, on the next page he then super speeds through his defense to grab him and smashes him against the rocks so hard it breaks shardplate. 

Edited December 16, 2024 by Valigus

[Sythrin]

2 hours ago, Child of Hodor said:

In Ch. 120 Tanavast says the Heralds "WERE ABLE TO DRAW ON THE POWERS OF ROSHAR ITSELF INSTEAD OF JUST MY SURGES." whatever that means. The true tones of Roshar are powering them? The three OG gods? Does having bodies made from investiture help them? 

I have a crackpot theory that, it has something to do with how someone can change through perception.
Sanderson has admitted that the physical aspect of ones person can change over time, through the perception that over people have over them. But that would be a very slow and almost undiscovarble process. Only somebody already immortal could experience it.
And I think their heroic epoch and the legends that build around them for 1000s of year, including their close proximity to divinity, made them "evolve" and become closer to their cognitive and spiritual self. Thereby they are closer to the spiritual realm, where they can get access to these powers.
And maybe even some form of connection build with the planet.

[Valigus]

3 minutes ago, Sythrin said:

I have a crackpot theory that, it has something to do with how someone can change through perception.
Sanderson has admitted that the physical aspect of ones person can change over time, through the perception that over people have over them. But that would be a very slow and almost undiscovarble process. Only somebody already immortal could experience it.
And I think their heroic epoch and the legends that build around them for 1000s of year, including their close proximity to divinity, made them "evolve" and become closer to their cognitive and spiritual self. Thereby they are closer to the spiritual realm, where they can get access to these powers.
And maybe even some form of connection build with the planet.

So you’re saying because people have imagined the heralds to be these insanely strong godlike warriors they literally got super strength and a host of other things?

[Kfish]

To be honest, a lot of what we see sounds like feruchemy and allomancy in effect even if not mechanics. Limited future sight and drastically enhanced physical abilities. 

[Argenti he/him]

1 hour ago, Kfish said:

To be honest, a lot of what we see sounds like feruchemy and allomancy in effect even if not mechanics. Limited future sight and drastically enhanced physical abilities. 

Don't forget, there's only so many superpowers a person can think of, and we have most of them out of the way. 

[Sythrin]

5 hours ago, Valigus said:

So you’re saying because people have imagined the heralds to be these insanely strong godlike warriors they literally got super strength and a host of other things?

Precisely!