most powerful magic system in the cosmere??

[dewi he/him]

OK guys, this question may be posted somewhere else, sorry if so.

What do you think is the most powerful singular magic system available in the cosmere, excluding hemalurgy for the obvious reasons.

[Moogle]

Define 'powerful'? Given near-unlimited resources, Awakening has a lot going for it with legions of soldiers. In a one on one duel, Feruchemy wins (assuming the Feruchemist had time to prepare metalminds). Given limited supplies, a Mistborn can deal a lot of damage. Given a knowledge of science not yet present in the cosmere, Elsecallers could (possibly) annihilate planets or at least create tons of explosives and then flee to safety, which makes them excellent assassins.

 

It's a hard question without knowing what we're trying to optimize for! If the question is "what would you choose", then probably Breath to be fabulous or Feruchemy for all the sweet sweet benefits.

Edited December 27, 2014 by Moogle

[Oudeis he/him]

Define "powerful." You mean useful? Destructive? Ideal for modern life on earth?

 

By varying metrics, just about any of them could be considered most powerful. Are we allowing things like Godmetals? If not, Allomancy has a definite upper limit. In terms of raw power we know it's one of the weakest systems, yet we see it used at times to fantastic effect. Surgebinding is spectacular, but how many infused Spheres are you assumed to have on you? AonDor's power supply is basically limitless, yet weakens outside the Elantris Metro area. There does not seem to be an upper limit to how many Breaths a single person can have; Susebron is fantastically powerful with zero training at a mere 50,000 Breaths. If someone had millions, the mind boggles to imagine what new Heightenings they would achieve, what powers they could unleash. Nightblood is, not without reason, considered one of the most powerful artifacts in the entire cosmere. Imagine a person who could not only craft dozens of such items but had the fuel to power them all for hours.

 

So... I'm sure this won't be a popular answer. But truthfully, depending on the subjective metric used, they're all the most powerful. If you'd like a better answer, I suggest you start by establishing what exactly you mean by "most powerful".

 

My spheres are going on modern fabrials. They appear to have the ability to mimic any and all other magic systems, seemingly without having to kill anyone or do anything less moral than "harnessing the wind". Eventually running out of Stormlight is obviously a limiting factor, but assuming I had a decent supply of that I'd like to be an artefabrian.

 

Quasi-ninja'd by Moogle.

[Slater he/him]

It goes even farther then that. Some of the Magic systems have been either deluded or refined over time, and some still have internal power struggles that aren't clear yet.

 

What if it's an Lerasium Mistborn? We saw the raw damage Elend could do with little training. Now imagine his raw power with Vin's precision, and you probably get what the original Mistborn were like after a few years, which is someone who can hold his own against pretty much anything.

 

Or what about the Heralds? From what we have seen of Honorblades they look like inferior prototypes to the Nahel Bond. Yet in WoR there is and epigraph where Ishar point blank threatens to destroy them all by himself if they don't organize under the Heralds. And they believed him. Now maybe the original KR just really respected the Heralds regardless of who was stronger, or maybe the Heralds knew how to do a lot more with there Surgebinding then has been shown. 

 

Basically, we would need to see every magic system at it's absolute strongest (Which we haven't) before we could get any real idea, and even then simple changes to small things could dramatically push things in certain systems favor.

[gjustice99 she/her]

I would say Hemalurgy as through it you can attain all other forms of Investure.

[Dresden45 he/him]

I would go with Awakening being the most powerful because it is very versatile and it can create Nightblood

[hoidhunter he/him]

Aside from the fact that you have to be close to Elantris to use it well...I would say that AonDor seems like it has to be high on the list.  As long as you know the write symbol to write in the air...it seems like you can accomplish anything from vaporizing a group of people...to instant transportation...healing the injured and dying...making food from thin air...flight...illusion...tornados of fire...enchanting objects.....................although........limiting yourself to using it inside of a few square miles kind of cuts down on it's versatility.   

[Lord Pifferdoo he/him]

Let's say you got a particularly rare Aviar...

[Kobold King he/him]

I would say Hemalurgy as through it you can attain all other forms of Investure.

 

Be honest. Did "God" tell you to say that in your head?

[Edgedancer he/him]

I would say Hemalurgy as through it you can attain all other forms of Investure.

To be fair judging from what happens to Inquisitors, implementing multiple magic systems (and you would have to to make it the "most powerful" instead of just a less efficient copy) within yourself would leave your with a very unstable spirit web, meaning you would have at least one linchpin and would be very susceptible to mind control.

That´s not even going into the problem of fitting all the spikes into your body, which metal is required (if Atium is required it´s impossible to pull of without shardic involvment) and wheter or not a single soul can have that many spikes jammed into it without breaking.

 

So, Hemalurgy might not be as "powerful" as people like to think.

Edited December 28, 2014 by Edgedancer

[gjustice99 she/her]

To be fair judging from what happens to Inquisitors, implementing multiple magic systems (and you would have to to make it the "most powerful" instead of just a less efficient copy) within yourself would leave your with a very unstable spirit web, meaning you would have at least one linchpin and would be very susceptible to mind control.

That´s not even going into the problem of fitting all the spikes into your body, which metal is required (if Atium is required it´s impossible to pull of without shardic involvment) and wheter or not a single soul can have that many spikes jammed into it without breaking.

 

So, Hemalurgy might not be as "powerful" as people like to think.

I wouldn't be too worried about mind control, as the only force that could do that at this point in the world (AOL era) is Harmony and we know that he wouldn't do that.

[Kobold King he/him]

I wouldn't be too worried about mind control, as the only force that could do that at this point in the world (AOL era) is Harmony and we know that he wouldn't do that.

 

Or a Mistborn with duralumin. Or a team of Soothers/Rioters.

 

Question: if an Inquisitor carefully plated his spikes with aluminum, would he still be vulnerable to Allomantic mind control?

[Battah'elin]

Allomancy has medium utility, low power, medium flexibility, low output (soothing strength, push strength,) that can be increased via Savantism,  an easy condition, (consume metal), a limit that can be increased via Duralumin or Savantism, and a low time cost. High range (Coinshot)

 

Feruchemy has high utility, high power, medium flexibility, high output (at the cost of stored power), an easy condition (have metal on you) and a hard limit (Power stored), as well as a high time cost. Low range.

 

Hemalurgy has some kind of utility that depends on who is around you, low power on its own, medium flexibility, ??? output, hardish condition (spike knowledge required along with ability to subdue target long enough to spike them), and a hard limit: it's end-negative. Time cost depends on the power stolen (although tracking somebody down and stabbing them and the knowledge required for spike cost are constraints). Low range for spiking.

 

Surgebinding has varying utility, high power, low flexibility (although you get two surges + an ability), high output, a fairly easy condition on a planet covered in Highstorms, hard limits on use depending on your Order, although you also get a Shardblade, which improves combat capability immensely. Time cost is low (activation) and high (must follow ideals constantly). Range varies.

 

Awakening has high utility, medium power, high flexibility (if you know Commands, which most do not), medium output, a hardish condition, a limit based on your Breath, and a five-second time cost while you tell your opponent exactly what you are planning. Long range, so long as you phrase Commands properly. 

 

AonDor has high utility, high power, insane flexibility, high output, requires you to be chosen as Elantrian, limits based on drawing speed, and a time cost that requires you to spend your entire life learning to draw absolutely perfectly, or else. Range is long, but weakens the further you go from Elantris.

 

Dakhor has medium-high utility, ??? power, ??? flexibility, ??? output, requires that you be born in a region, that you attend a certain monastery, that you have a ton of people willing to die for you (also a limit) and... no time cost really, except that of indoctrination for your followers. Presumably has a range?

 

Fabrials have high utility, decent power, high overall flexibility (but not per fabrial), ??? output, requirements for capturing spren, limits via spren and stormlight, and require Artifabrian knowledge and time to create. Some are ranged, some are not.

 

Voidbinding has ten levels and can apparently let you see the future. That's all we know there, really.

 

Chayshan has ??? utility, ??? power, makes you flexible but probably has other applications, requires that you be born somewhere, and that you exercise regularly.

 

Forging takes crazy amounts of time for no instantaneous combat (barring Soulstamps).

 

Bloodsealing requires blood.

[Kobold King he/him]

Bloodsealing requires blood.

 

I live with clumsy people in a house full of knives. I'm sure I could manage with the resources allotted to me.

 

 

Very well thought-through analysis, by the way.

Edited December 29, 2014 by Kobold King

[Edgedancer he/him]

Or a Mistborn with duralumin. Or a team of Soothers/Rioters.

 

Question: if an Inquisitor carefully plated his spikes with aluminum, would he still be vulnerable to Allomantic mind control?

Or any other Shard or Voidspren or Awakening (Lifeless and memory manipulation). I also wouldn´t be suprised to find something suitable in AonDor, some people also figure that Lightweaving has a magical influence and Fabrials can maniulate emotions, so for all we know Navani could build a Inquisitor remote control.

 

The only protection against allomantic mind control is a tin-foil head! On a more serious note, coating spikes like that would probably also block the bonding process, even then you don´t use the Allomancy on the spikes but on the persons spirit. Although, that might be a way to preserve a charge in a spike without a host.

Edited December 29, 2014 by Edgedancer