Nomad vs Kaladin

[TwinStorm He/Him]

Who would win at the end of their books, Nomad or Kaladin? Nomad has a Dawnshard, Unoathed armor, and decades more of experience fighting, well Kaladin is a 5th ideal Radiant, arguably a better natural fighter and ofc Herald of the Almighty.

[Ookla she/her]

I'd say Kaladin. Heraldic power is no joke, and Nomad's Dawnshard is doing all it can to keep him from fighting. The one advantage I think Nomad has is that the restriction to his fighting abilities has forced him to get more creative with how he does things, but regardless, if he doesn't siphon off the Investiture blocking him from fighting, he's a sitting duck. Plus, Kaladin is a 5th-oath Radiant as well as a Herald, and we still don't know what that last power boost is. 

[therunner he/him]

Nomad does not have Dawnshard, he gave it up and has only Torment left and that won't even let him fight back unless he siphons it off.

Kaladin with Herald powers likely stomps him, Nale with just a fraction of it would have killed Kaladin with no problem.

[AsherCrane]

We do need to bear in mind, however, Kaladin does not know how to use those powers at the end of his book. During his fight with Nale, it was noted that he's not practiced or skilled with his shardplate, either, while Nomad has full experience with it.

[Ninth of the Night]

Except that we don't even know if Sigzil can summon his Plate anymore. He was unsure how his relationship with it stood in the end of the book. The only reason he was able to use it was because of Aux's sacrifice, which he can't do again... It was a one-time brief burst of power. Besides, Plate alone wouldn't aid him all that much in this situation, as he still wouldn't have access to any Surges.

The only advantage he has is all the extra experience he's gained over the decades of traveling the cosmere. Which might not be much of a difference maker. He still has a Torment to wrestle with, but even without that I don't think he'd have the means of defeating Kaladin.

Sig is more of a scientist while Kal has significant innate fighting skill. He was practically born with a spear in his hands. He has proven time and time again just how good he is, even before gaining powers. And let's forget about his Herald status for a minute, he's still a 5th Ideal Radiant, and his spren is still alive. Sigzil has no Radiant bond at all as of now. Sure he can still wield Aux's corpse, but that's not an advantage against Kaladin, it would barely put him on even footing.

With Herald powers, it's not even a contest. Sigzil wouldn't want to partake in such a challenge, he's smart enough to recognize when he's outclassed.

And this is all without taking their personalities into account. The simple truth is this fight would never happen since these two are best friends. Sigzil still views Kaladin as a legendary hero, as made evident by his deep seeded refusal to even consider the possibility that his idol is dead and gone even though it's been decades since he last saw him. He still holds onto that Bridge 4 belief that Kaladin will always return.

And Return he shall.

Edited March 10, 2025 by Ninth of the Night

[alder24]

21 hours ago, TwinStorm said:

Who would win at the end of their books, Nomad or Kaladin? Nomad has a Dawnshard, Unoathed armor, and decades more of experience fighting, well Kaladin is a 5th ideal Radiant, arguably a better natural fighter and ofc Herald of the Almighty.

Namad HAD a Dawnshard. It's hard to say. Powers of Heralds give a huge advantage, but Nomad gets them as well just by being highly invested - investiture grants general enhancements to the body like strength, speed and stuff like that. Kaladin at the end of WaT has just become a Herald, he already was a very skilled warrior, but he has no practice in his newly gained powers. He has quite a lot of practice in being a Radiant and Nomad has no longer any access to that. Nomad at the end of TSM is a Dawnsliver, can use any investiture to heal and boost his body, has decades or even centuries of experience in improvised fighting and running away from the Night Brigade and is also a scholar with a deep understanding of investiture. However, Nomad has problems with actually fighting as his Torment prevents him from harming others (but he's found a way to overcome that temporarily). So although Nomad is not as good natural fighter as Kaladin is, isn't as powerful as Kaladin is from being a Radiant and a Herald, he probably has way more experience with his powers than Kaladin has at the end of WaT and his ability to consume any investiture allows him to get at least some of Heraldic abilities (if not more as he can get more invested than Kaladin) to level the fighting plain. I honestly don't know who would win, they both have a lot of different advantages (and disadvantages) so I think everything is possible. It would be a fun fight. Give Kaladin a few decades of training and fighting and he would certainly win.

[Master Silver]

22 hours ago, therunner said:

Nomad does not have Dawnshard, he gave it up and has only Torment left and that won't even let him fight back unless he siphons it off.

Kaladin with Herald powers likely stomps him, Nale with just a fraction of it would have killed Kaladin with no problem.

We saw Kaladin force Nale to use his powers as a Herald. So arguably, the best Skybreaker cannot beat Kaladin without using his powers as a Herald. When you consider that feat of Kaladin's (pushing Nale to use his true abilities) Nomad doesn't stand a chance. Not to mention Nomad is hindered by when he held the Dawnshard. This makes one wonder, how much of the sure of not being able to harm will actually grow back.