How could Wax tap his ironminds while Suits leeched him?

[Sythrin]

I believe that Leeching can remove once potential Investiture, like metals and stormlight. But I believe Sanderson mentioned that leeching can stop the summoning of a shardblade, which is an kintetic form of investiture.
So how can Wax tap if he shouldn‘t by my understanding.

[Trusk'our he/him]

22 minutes ago, Sythrin said:

I believe that Leeching can remove once potential Investiture, like metals and stormlight. But I believe Sanderson mentioned that leeching can stop the summoning of a shardblade, which is an kintetic form of investiture.
So how can Wax tap if he shouldn‘t by my understanding.

Leeching seems to only affect kinetic Investiture, but not static Investiture. Otherwise, whenever someone got Leeched they'd become a Drab.

Spoiler

Dragonsteel Mini-Con 2021 - Arcanum

Questioner

Nicrosil and chromium, do those have any interaction with people using Feruchemy, or other Investiture in general? Leechers or Nicrobursts.

Brandon Sanderson

Could you use those on Feruchemists? You should be able to, yes.

Questioner

Would that only work while they're tapping it?

Brandon Sanderson

If it's active Investiture, probably yes. You'd probably need it to be kinetic Investiture in order for them to do anything about it.

Mr. Suit had most likely only used his chromium in a short burst to remove Wax's stores, as it burns fairly quickly.

Spoiler

ConQuest 46 - Arcanum

Kaymyth (paraphrased)

I asked the question about chromium vs a Compounder with both Invested and un-Invested metals in both their stomach and piercings.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

What it boils down to is this:

1) Yes, the piercings will get burned off.

2) The non-Invested metals go before the Invested ones. He said that because Invested metals are harder to affect, it takes a little extra time and effort to get them to burn off. So a Leecher trying to clean out a Compounder would have to get a good grip and hang on for a few seconds.

3) Chromium burns about as quickly as duralumin, so if you're trying to burn off a lot of metals, it is possible to run out of chromium before your target is clean. This would probably only be an issue when dealing with larger pieces (like jewelry) rather than your standard metal-flakes-in-the-stomach deal.

So, in theory had Suit kept burning I think it would have prevented Wax from smashing them both through the bottom of the airship, but it wasn't the tactically sound thing to do (as far as he was aware at the time).

[+robardin he/him]

On 5/10/2025 at 10:07 AM, Trusk'our said:

Leeching seems to only affect kinetic Investiture, but not static Investiture. Otherwise, whenever someone got Leeched they'd become a Drab.

  Reveal hidden contents

Dragonsteel Mini-Con 2021 - Arcanum

Questioner

Nicrosil and chromium, do those have any interaction with people using Feruchemy, or other Investiture in general? Leechers or Nicrobursts.

Brandon Sanderson

Could you use those on Feruchemists? You should be able to, yes.

Questioner

Would that only work while they're tapping it?

Brandon Sanderson

If it's active Investiture, probably yes. You'd probably need it to be kinetic Investiture in order for them to do anything about it.

Mr. Suit had most likely only used his chromium in a short burst to remove Wax's stores, as it burns fairly quickly.

  Hide contents

ConQuest 46 - Arcanum

Kaymyth (paraphrased)

I asked the question about chromium vs a Compounder with both Invested and un-Invested metals in both their stomach and piercings.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

What it boils down to is this:

1) Yes, the piercings will get burned off.

2) The non-Invested metals go before the Invested ones. He said that because Invested metals are harder to affect, it takes a little extra time and effort to get them to burn off. So a Leecher trying to clean out a Compounder would have to get a good grip and hang on for a few seconds.

3) Chromium burns about as quickly as duralumin, so if you're trying to burn off a lot of metals, it is possible to run out of chromium before your target is clean. This would probably only be an issue when dealing with larger pieces (like jewelry) rather than your standard metal-flakes-in-the-stomach deal.

So, in theory had Suit kept burning I think it would have prevented Wax from smashing them both through the bottom of the airship, but it wasn't the tactically sound thing to do (as far as he was aware at the time).

Also, even if Edwarn hadn't burned through his store of chromium when Leeching Wax of his steel reserves, he may already have stopped burning chromium after Leeching "the usual amount" to empty someone of their Allomantic metals.

Whether he had enough chromium left to "shunt off" any or most of the Investiture from mega-tapping a large metalmind (Wax had enough weight stored in his bracer from "hundreds of hours" of filling it, enough to crash through the ship's floor when tapped in a single burst), is almost besides the point, because as Wax said as he did it,

"You forget... I'm not surprised. You've always hated it. I'm a Terrisman, Uncle."

Edwarn only ever thought of Leeching Allomantic metal reserves. He never even considered needing to block or to dilute someone tapping a metalmind, and perhaps never even experienced what that kind of Leeching would be like.