Are lurchers useless?

[Honors Spectral Image She/her]

So my friends reading mistborn era one and they asked why lurchers are the most useless mistings and I thought abt it and I think they might have a point but I rly hope someone can tell me why they’re actually super op

[Frustration]

Are lurches useless?

No.

Are they super OP?

Also no.

 

What can they do?

Hold a wooden shield and use it to deflect enemy coins.

That's about it.

Edited December 25, 2025 by Frustration

[Honors Spectral Image She/her]

Yah I thought so I just wish there was more

[Myst He/Him]

They get better in era two, but era one that’s kinda it.

It is so easy to accidentally die as a lurche as well. Pull a bit too hard, coin through your chest. Don’t have your shield or armor? Dead. Just getting the metal? We saw how Vin almost hit herself In the head if Kelsie’s hadn’t been there.

lurcher: probably have a higher death rate than thugs or smokers

Edited December 25, 2025 by Ookla the Broken

[Honors Spectral Image She/her]

Sigh Brandon should have made them better

[Myst He/Him]

Considering how good coinshots are, they’re kinda needed, but yeah, they can’t really do much else

[Honors Spectral Image She/her]

Yah ik but stillll maybe they’ll get like a super op boost bc of some random tech in era 3

Like an imploding bomb that can only be activated by lurchers? Idk

[Myst He/Him]

1 minute ago, Honors Ghost said:

Yah ik but stillll maybe they’ll get like a super op boost bc of some random tech in era 3

Like an imploding bomb that can only be activated by lurchers? Idk

We know that locks openable only by lurchers exist in era 2, so like, it’s possible 

[Shatter He/Him]

Lurchers suck now, but they will become much better soon. I just know it. Also, isn't Kaladin a bit like a Lurcher? He pulled all those arrows towards him when doing bridge runs. Also, body armour will probably get much better in Era 3 due to the Cold War-like tensions between the Elendel Basin and the Malwish Consortium. 

Edited December 25, 2025 by Shatter

[Honors Spectral Image She/her]

Ye I hope so bc I feel like MOST other mistings are fairly balanced but lurcher like sucks 

2 minutes ago, Shatter said:

Lurchers suck now, but they will become much better soon. I just know it. Also, isn't Kaladin a bit like a Lurcher? He pulled all those arrows towards him when doing bridge runs.

Yah that’s true 

[Myst He/Him]

1 minute ago, Shatter said:

Lurchers suck now, but they will become much better soon. I just know it. Also, isn't Kaladin a bit like a Lurcher? He pulled all those arrows towards him when doing bridge runs. Also, body armour will probably get much better in Era 3 due to the Cold War-like tensions between the Elendel Basin and the Malwish Consortium. 

Kaladin’s a mix of both, but you are right, the reverse lashings are really good.

however, if a lurcher tried to do that, they’d get impaled, the ability to make the thing that’s pulling things toward it something other than yourself is amazing.

Also, you just made me imagine a lurcher pulling on armor Iron Man style. Thank you, the idea of an era 3 lurcher pulling body armor onto themselves is great

[Honors Spectral Image She/her]

Just now, Ookla the Broken said:

Kaladin’s a mix of both, but you are right, the reverse lashings are really good.

however, if a lurcher tried to do that, they’d get impaled, the ability to make the thing that’s pulling things toward it something other than yourself is amazing.

Also, you just made me imagine a lurcher pulling on armor Iron Man style. Thank you, the idea of an era 3 lurcher pulling body armor onto themselves is great

Omg that sounds epic like a line of lurchers with coin shots behind them just walking onto a battlefield as all their armor flies onto them and the coin shots just rain metal from behind them

[Shatter He/Him]

Just now, Honors Ghost said:

Ye I hope so bc I feel like MOST other mistings are fairly balanced but lurcher like sucks 

There is ALWAYS a push for every pull in every magic system in the Cosmere. They were necessary. Also Nicrosbursters suck. But in Era 3, we'll see it get used. OOOO. What is you had a Lurcher and a Slider fighting together? The Lurcher pulls in the bullets and the Slider's bubble makes them deflect away from the Lurcher!

2 minutes ago, Ookla the Broken said:

Kaladin’s a mix of both, but you are right, the reverse lashings are really good.

however, if a lurcher tried to do that, they’d get impaled, the ability to make the thing that’s pulling things toward it something other than yourself is amazing.

Also, you just made me imagine a lurcher pulling on armor Iron Man style. Thank you, the idea of an era 3 lurcher pulling body armor onto themselves is great

Just now, Honors Ghost said:

Omg that sounds epic like a line of lurchers with coin shots behind them just walking onto a battlefield as all their armor flies onto them and the coin shots just rain metal from behind them

We may see this as the tensions between the Scadrians rise. That would be SICK. 

[Myst He/Him]

1 minute ago, Shatter said:

There is ALWAYS a push for every pull in every magic system in the Cosmere. They were necessary. Also Nicrosbursters suck. But in Era 3, we'll see it get used. OOOO. What is you had a Lurcher and a Slider fighting together? The Lurcher pulls in the bullets and the Slider's bubble makes them deflect away from the Lurcher!

Plus the reaction time. Assuming the slider had enough bendalloy, they could monitor the entire battle, and pull everything at the right time. The precision timing would be amazing. 

[Shatter He/Him]

Oh! and also...

Quote

Dirigible

In Secret History, we see orbs of Connection that Kelsier uses, and it draws lines between him and other objects. If Vin were to, in the Well of Ascension era, use that orb and also pull the mists in, would she be able to steelpush or ironpull on non-metal objects?

Brandon Sanderson

There are ways to steelpush on non-metal objects, but that's not the method.

Dirigible

Atium alloy?

Brandon Sanderson

What do you mean by atium alloy?

Dirigible

Atium-steel alloy, or atium-iron?

Brandon Sanderson

Hmm, we're straying into RAFO territory. Let's just say that it is possible.

Dragonsteel Mini-Con 2021 (Nov. 22, 2021)

Basically, they can pull on the electromagnetic forces of any axi.

Edited December 25, 2025 by Shatter

[Myst He/Him]

3 minutes ago, Shatter said:

Oh! and also...

Basically, they can pull on the electromagnetic forces of any axi.

So basically, lurchers are nice, it’s just that not dying when using their powers is hard.

[Shatter He/Him]

7 minutes ago, Ookla the Broken said:

So basically, lurchers are nice, it’s just that not dying when using their powers is hard.

They will soon be wearing Level 1 body armour soon (which should protect them), now that Scadrial has entered the modern era.

Edited December 25, 2025 by Shatter

[Myst He/Him]

1 minute ago, Shatter said:

They will soon be wearing Level 1 body armour soon (which should protect them), now that Scadrial has entered the modern era.

Very true, access to god-metals might also let them have access to even better armor than we do. Whatever happens, I want to hear about parents scaring they’re children into staying in bed not as  to not be a lurcher and pull metal into themselves or something.

[Honors Spectral Image She/her]

49 minutes ago, Shatter said:

There is ALWAYS a push for every pull in every magic system in the Cosmere. They were necessary. Also Nicrosbursters suck. But in Era 3, we'll see it get used. OOOO. What is you had a Lurcher and a Slider fighting together? The Lurcher pulls in the bullets and the Slider's bubble makes them deflect away from the Lurcher!

We may see this as the tensions between the Scadrians rise. That would be SICK. 

That slider idea is amazing I love it

[CoderDrag0n8 He/Him]

2 hours ago, Honors Ghost said:

Yah ik but stillll maybe they’ll get like a super op boost bc of some random tech in era 3

Like an imploding bomb that can only be activated by lurchers? Idk

I FRIGIN LOVE LURCHERS

specifically because of what they can do when compounding.

"what metal city? i dont see one. only a pile of rubble and my dead body"

[Frustration]

3 hours ago, Shatter said:

What is you had a Lurcher and a Slider fighting together? The Lurcher pulls in the bullets and the Slider's bubble makes them deflect away from the Lurcher!

That's pretty awesome, but the bubble would probably block that. We know it messes with most forms of investiture, and Wax never fires metals out of it.

[Koloss17 She/They]

Uses for lurchers:

-excellent pickpocketing abilities

-disarming capabilities if there’s metal involved

-deflect coinshotted coins (as mentioned)

-being able to dropkick people in armor

-do the spider-man thing where you hide on the ceiling in a flash

-become extra sturdy in a fight so long as there’s metal flooring (can’t be pushed over easily)

-lurcher locks, as mentioned.

-breaking metal locks

-being able to pull open a door from the other side of the room, like a badass

-being able to strafe if there’s metal on the walls

-generally just wreak havoc indoors in ways coinshots can’t 

[Honors Spectral Image She/her]

20 minutes ago, Koloss17 said:

Uses for lurchers:

-excellent pickpocketing abilities

-disarming capabilities if there’s metal involved

-deflect coinshotted coins (as mentioned)

-being able to dropkick people in armor

-do the spider-man thing where you hide on the ceiling in a flash

-become extra sturdy in a fight so long as there’s metal flooring (can’t be pushed over easily)

-lurcher locks, as mentioned.

-breaking metal locks

-being able to pull open a door from the other side of the room, like a badass

-being able to strafe if there’s metal on the walls

-generally just wreak havoc indoors in ways coinshots can’t 

Mmmm yess and also one more 

-mostly in era one but could pull a coin out from underneath a jumping coinshot

[Shatter He/Him]

2 minutes ago, Honors Ghost said:

Mmmm yess and also one more 

-mostly in era one but could pull a coin out from underneath a jumping coinshot

that's evil.

[Honors Spectral Image She/her]

5 minutes ago, Shatter said:

that's evil.

Ikr