Shardblades vs other living weapons.

[DoctaDajman]

I know the hallmark of the shardblade is that it severs souls. Is it just that insane amount of Investiture that allows it to damage the soul or is it specific to the blade portion of the weapon.  

We have seen living weapons turned into shields, spears, hammers, forks and smaller knives as well so I am curious if it is the blade that hurts the soul or the investiture? 

Would all shardweapons damage plate equaly? Or against plate do you suppose mass of the weapon plays more of a part? 

I am a big shugoki fan and that Kanabo is probably among my ultimate top, non magical, weapon in fantasy (I know low bar). But if you had a massively invested living shardblade taking the shape of a kanabo do you think it would simply be inferior in every way to a shardblade because it is not meant to pass through enemies?  Or do you think it may manifest a soulcrushing (literally) side of itself by virtue of what the weilder is expecting it to do? 

For fun, and because I can... been playing with AI working on a character who will be Unoathed because it got me excited for Stormlight again.  

Living shards and no completely busted OP stormlight healing. Yes please. 

(Its probably rediculous how much I like the idea of magic armor that can heal itself and is alive so long as its on a mundane character,  while hating the idea of a character that can heal from anything. Oh well)  

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[alder24]

19 hours ago, DoctaDajman said:

We have seen living weapons turned into shields, spears, hammers, forks and smaller knives as well so I am curious if it is the blade that hurts the soul or the investiture? 

It is the blade that cuts the soul. You need a cutting edge or at least a spike to cut souls or impale the Shardblade into matter. Maces will just smash.

Spoiler

[deleted]

Given Brandon's answer to a block of Cheese stopping a shardblade, how does the last clap work?

Brandon Sanderson

So, I'll admit, I've been considering the cheese question since it was asked.

I'm not sure if it has to be cheese. But any object that is sufficiently thick but also sufficiently pliable that it's going to press down on the blade while it's cutting IS going to create drag on the blade.

The Blade does, by necessity of my understanding of the relevant physics, need to be able to vaporize a tiny bit of matter into Investiture while cutting, in order to create space for the Blade to continue to slide through. This is related to why it doesn't cut things with souls.

At the same time, I'm not convinced that this is relevant to the actual question being asked. I think that I have to relent that, with a sufficiently large block of cheese and a Shardbearer trying to cut lengthwise through it, the drag produced on the flat of the blade is going to tire the Shardbearer. Making cheese legitimately more difficult to cut through than stone or metal. And a big enough block of cheese might stop the slice straight up, because the weight placed on the blade will be pretty heavy.

That said, the top replies to this thread are pretty relevant, and are correctly explaining the mechanics of the situation. There is this little "shield of vaporization" around a Blade while it cuts, so a thinner Blade (like Szeth's Honorblade) might not have this drawback at all. It depends on how far back the shield of vaporization extends, and how thick the blade is.

My current instinct says that wider blades would be stopped by this, and so those of you planning to make ten-foot-thick walls of cheese to stop an invading Shardbearer can continue in your...endeavors.

Remember, kids, keep your Shardblade thin for actual combat (for multiple reasons.) Only make the big showy forms when you're trying to look intimidating. (With a nod to the fact that a thick blade does tend to be better for getting through Shardplate, giving you more mass to hit with. Choose Adolin's Blade for Shardplate Duels. Szeth/Jezrien's Honorblade for cheese.)

General Reddit 2022 (March 19, 2022)

 

20 hours ago, DoctaDajman said:

Would all shardweapons damage plate equaly? Or against plate do you suppose mass of the weapon plays more of a part? 

Maces or warhammers should be more effective against Shardplates than swords, although the difference would be small. 

Spoiler

Argent

At one point Syl turns into a hammer when Kaladin fights Szeth. Are there any actual advantages to a Shardhammer over a Shardblade or knife?

Brandon Sanderson

Very minimal. It has mostly to do with a-- How much thrust or swing or things you can get to it. The impact of blade or weapon against armor is not going to be-- The hammer could in some ways get more leverage. But it's not that the impact is going to do--

Kurkistan

So it didn't help against Szeth.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah.

Argent

It was like the flow of the fight was-- Syl turned--

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Firefight Chicago signing (Feb. 20, 2015)

 

20 hours ago, DoctaDajman said:

I am a big shugoki fan and that Kanabo is probably among my ultimate top, non magical, weapon in fantasy (I know low bar). But if you had a massively invested living shardblade taking the shape of a kanabo do you think it would simply be inferior in every way to a shardblade because it is not meant to pass through enemies?  Or do you think it may manifest a soulcrushing (literally) side of itself by virtue of what the weilder is expecting it to do? 

It depends what you want to achieve. The problem with Shardblades when fighting an enemy army is that bodies will keep piling up around you, thus you would have problems with standing and fighting flawlessly. Having a Shardhammer or Shardmace eliminates this problem as you would send your enemies flying instead. But it's true that a Shardmace generally won't hurt a soul without any sharp edges. However, I remember a WoB saying that if you get that Shardmace inside a soul, it could damage the soul - unfortunately I can't find it. 

Spoiler

Questioner

So, a Radiant's blade. When it takes other forms, does it take on any different properties? So, like, if Kaladin beat someone with the butt of his Sylspear, would it still do something in regards to the soul?

Brandon Sanderson

Would he still hit the soul? That is theoretically possible to make happen. It requires a lot of work. That is theoretically possible.

Oathbringer release party (Nov. 13, 2017)

 

20 hours ago, DoctaDajman said:

Questioner

So, a Radiant's blade. When it takes other forms, does it take on any different properties? So, like, if Kaladin beat someone with the butt of his Sylspear, would it still do something in regards to the soul?

Brandon Sanderson

Would he still hit the soul? That is theoretically possible to make happen. It requires a lot of work. That is theoretically possible.

Oathbringer release party (Nov. 13, 2017)

Same. Stormlight healing is busted. 

[Frustration]

Well yes, but actually no.

Spoiler

Questioner

So, the Shardfork. A very versatile, Shard-whatever. Would it be possible to do, like, a Shardrock, or something, that would go in a catapult?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, it has more variety than people would think, but it isn't limitless, what they can become. But that would totally be possible.

Questioner

And what would a Shardrock do if it hits you?

Brandon Sanderson

Uh, bean them on the head and be really strong. If you can get into the spirit, if you can start getting past the skin and stuff, you can do some serious damage.

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/171/#e8146

 

 

 

 

So if you can cut their skin and get inside of them it can do something pretty bad.

What?

No clue.