Could a Radiant summon their Shardblade as a suit of Shardplate? (Spoilers for Stormlight Archive and Sunlit Man)

[dstokes7]

Living Shardblades can be summoned in any shape (so long as it's made of metal). In Sunlit Man it is further revealed that a Shardblade can be summoned as a multi-piece object so long as all of the pieces are touching (eg. Nomad's Hook-and-Chain, clock, and car jack), and that Blades can be summoned in forms as large as a giant dome big enough to shelter over a hundred people so long as enough light is provided to sustain it. So wouldn't it be possible for a Radiant who hasn't yet earned their real suit of Shardplate summon their Blade in the form of a suit of Plate? If so, that would be awesome, because Shardblades don't shatter like Plate does, so the Radiant would literally be indestructable with the exception of the eyeslit. Such an application would be especially useful for a Radiant bonded to 2+ Spren like Shallan is, since they could summon one as a Blade and one as an invincible suit of Plate!!!! They'd be even more boss than usual! Haha!

[-ACE- he/him]

Yea, I think this is possible. At first I doubted, but then I read your explanation. It would have limitations though, for example, I doubt that it would be able to assist you with movement, as Nomad's chain and flail couldn't be controlled by Aux. One thing though, couldn't you still have the plate and the blade as long as you are always holding the blade, cuz they are still touching?

[Trusk'our he/him]

1 hour ago, dstokes7 said:

Living Shardblades can be summoned in any shape (so long as it's made of metal). In Sunlit Man it is further revealed that a Shardblade can be summoned as a multi-piece object so long as all of the pieces are touching (eg. Nomad's Hook-and-Chain, clock, and car jack), and that Blades can be summoned in forms as large as a giant dome big enough to shelter over a hundred people so long as enough light is provided to sustain it. So wouldn't it be possible for a Radiant who hasn't yet earned their real suit of Shardplate summon their Blade in the form of a suit of Plate? If so, that would be awesome, because Shardblades don't shatter like Plate does, so the Radiant would literally be indestructable with the exception of the eyeslit. Such an application would be especially useful for a Radiant bonded to 2+ Spren like Shallan is, since they could summon one as a Blade and one as an invincible suit of Plate!!!! They'd be even more boss than usual! Haha!

42 minutes ago, FRENZEE said:

Yea, I think this is possible. At first I doubted, but then I read your explanation. It would have limitations though, for example, I doubt that it would be able to assist you with movement, as Nomad's chain and flail couldn't be controlled by Aux. One thing though, couldn't you still have the plate and the blade as long as you are always holding the blade, cuz they are still touching?

17 minutes ago, AltonicKeys said:

I agree with FRENZEE here. If Nomad's chain counts as "one continuous piece," then I don't see why armor wouldn't. If you have chainmail under some plate armor then it'd probably count. But it would need a huge amount of Light, and would be much harder to move in than Plate. Though I'd imagine it'd be better than normal armor, since Blades are lighter than usual. If you had like 10 bonded spren though, you can probably just have them manifest as a separate piece of armor each, and get a lot more mobility back.

Of course you don't get the strength enhancements, and the visor probably can't turn transparent. But since you can just tell your spren to change the form of the helmet at will, it's basically the same.

1 hour ago, dstokes7 said:

Living Shardblades can be summoned in any shape (so long as it's made of metal). In Sunlit Man it is further revealed that a Shardblade can be summoned as a multi-piece object so long as all of the pieces are touching (eg. Nomad's Hook-and-Chain, clock, and car jack), and that Blades can be summoned in forms as large as a giant dome big enough to shelter over a hundred people so long as enough light is provided to sustain it. So wouldn't it be possible for a Radiant who hasn't yet earned their real suit of Shardplate summon their Blade in the form of a suit of Plate? If so, that would be awesome, because Shardblades don't shatter like Plate does, so the Radiant would literally be indestructable with the exception of the eyeslit. Such an application would be especially useful for a Radiant bonded to 2+ Spren like Shallan is, since they could summon one as a Blade and one as an invincible suit of Plate!!!! They'd be even more boss than usual! Haha!

About having a Blade and armor from the same spren, I guess you could do that? The handle would probably have to be glued to a gauntlet though. But again, if having a Blade out already drains a moderate amount of Light, having full plate armor manifested at the same time would probably need about 10 times the amount, mass-wise. Better have a Bondsmith by your side then.

I don't see why this wouldn't work (unless maybe there's some weird cognitive limitation, which if asked Brandon may have to extend lest it break the balance of the setting).

Also, even though Shardblades can't directly give physical enhancements like Plate, why couldn't a fourth oath Radiant wear their Plate, then overlap their Blade on top for more durability? The best of both worlds, all speed and power of Plate, but the indestructibility of a Blade.

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and that Blades can be summoned in forms as large as a giant dome big enough to shelter over a hundred people so long as enough light is provided to sustain it.

Well, I do feel like this is a Nomad/Aux only ability, as we have yet to see true Radiants increasing their Blades' mass with an influx of Investiture. Might be possible with practice, but I'm skeptical.

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If so, that would be awesome, because Shardblades don't shatter like Plate does, so the Radiant would literally be indestructable with the exception of the eyeslit.

Technically, Nomad was able to make Aux translucent on demand, so it might be possible for other Radiant Blades to do so and keep their faces even safer, seeing as their normal Plate helmets can (but it might be another unique Nomad ability).

[AltonicKeys he/him]

45 minutes ago, dstokes7 said:

Living Shardblades can be summoned in any shape (so long as it's made of metal). In Sunlit Man it is further revealed that a Shardblade can be summoned as a multi-piece object so long as all of the pieces are touching (eg. Nomad's Hook-and-Chain, clock, and car jack), and that Blades can be summoned in forms as large as a giant dome big enough to shelter over a hundred people so long as enough light is provided to sustain it. So wouldn't it be possible for a Radiant who hasn't yet earned their real suit of Shardplate summon their Blade in the form of a suit of Plate? If so, that would be awesome, because Shardblades don't shatter like Plate does, so the Radiant would literally be indestructable with the exception of the eyeslit. Such an application would be especially useful for a Radiant bonded to 2+ Spren like Shallan is, since they could summon one as a Blade and one as an invincible suit of Plate!!!! They'd be even more boss than usual! Haha!

13 minutes ago, FRENZEE said:

Yea, I think this is possible. At first I doubted, but then I read your explanation. It would have limitations though, for example, I doubt that it would be able to assist you with movement, as Nomad's chain and flail couldn't be controlled by Aux. One thing though, couldn't you still have the plate and the blade as long as you are always holding the blade, cuz they are still touching?

I agree with FRENZEE here. If Nomad's chain counts as "one continuous piece," then I don't see why armor wouldn't. If you have chainmail under some plate armor then it'd probably count. But it would need a huge amount of Light, and would be much harder to move in than Plate. Though I'd imagine it'd be better than normal armor, since Blades are lighter than usual. If you had like 10 bonded spren though, you can probably just have them manifest as a separate piece of armor each, and get a lot more mobility back.

Of course you don't get the strength enhancements, and the visor probably can't turn transparent. But since you can just tell your spren to change the form of the helmet at will, it's basically the same.

About having a Blade and armor from the same spren, I guess you could do that? The handle would probably have to be glued to a gauntlet though. But again, if having a Blade out already drains a moderate amount of Light, having full plate armor manifested at the same time would probably need about 10 times the amount, mass-wise. Better have a Bondsmith by your side then.

[Nitpicking]

9 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

...  we have yet to see true Radiants increasing their Blades' mass with an influx of Investiture. Might be possible with practice, but I'm skeptical.

Actually, Kaladin has summoned Syl as a huge hammer and as a spiked shield, which certainly weigh more than her usual Blade form.