Shardplate in a highstorm.

[valgerth]

I was just thinking about shardplate and the fact that it uses stormlight for power. Being that all gems charge to what seems to be their full power in the highstorm, and the fact the power in them is pulled to keep the shardplate intact when it takes damage, I'm wondering if a man in shardplate becomes much harder to beat/kill or closer to invincible when outside during a highstorm.

 

It would be akin to Vin pulling directly on the mists, rather than getting her power from metals.

 

If so, I imagine it would be quite useful if they figured this out. Imagine all of the shardbearers in the Alethi army attacking at once in the peak of a highstorm. They could be quite effective at decimating the Parshendi, or any mass of non shardbearers.

[Galavantes]

This is similar to the concept that Kaladin and Szeth could surgebind non-stop during a highstorm. It seems to me that when Kaladin was tied up during the highstorm that his sphere was dun for the majority of the storm. It didn't absorb any stormlight until the particular moment when Kaladin saw the face in the storm. To me this implies that there is a particular point during the storm in which spheres are infused, rather than a constant influx of stormlight.

Edited June 5, 2013 by Galavantes?

[blackmagic3 he/him]

When Kaladin has his vision the stormfather/massive face in the sky, says men no longer ride the storms. Your probably onto something because Kaladin rode the storm at least cognitively and the name Windrunner is suggestive.

[Shardlet he/him]

Galavantes has a good point.  On top of which, it takes time to 'heal' the shardplate.  It's not a POOF kind of thing.

[Phantom Monstrosity]

Well, here's a response to a similar question:

http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/2632-stomlight-infusion-and-shardplate/

Q: If you left Shardplate out in a Highstorm, would the Plate itself, not the the gemstones used to power it, become infused with Stormlight?

A: No, the Plate would not become infused with Stormlight. Now, you can take that to mean it can't hold Stormlight or that it already has Stormlight locked away inside it.

[king of nowhere]

I don't think a plate would be any stronger than usual during a highstorm. at most it would be slightly stronger.

 

On the other hand, I think attacking with shardbearers during a storm would be a good trick. The plate's wheight would stabilize the bearer agianst the wind, and would protect him from the rocks tossed around. But regular troops? they would be swept aside by the winds, and hurt by the weather. Basically, the shardbearers would still fight at full effectiveness, while regular troops could not fight at all.

The only precaution is to retreat well before the end of the storm, because when the storm ends the shardbearers would be left without the protection of the army and thus vulnerable to being swarmed.

[Galavantes]

I don't think a plate would be any stronger than usual during a highstorm. at most it would be slightly stronger.

 

On the other hand, I think attacking with shardbearers during a storm would be a good trick. The plate's wheight would stabilize the bearer agianst the wind, and would protect him from the rocks tossed around. But regular troops? they would be swept aside by the winds, and hurt by the weather. Basically, the shardbearers would still fight at full effectiveness, while regular troops could not fight at all.

The only precaution is to retreat well before the end of the storm, because when the storm ends the shardbearers would be left without the protection of the army and thus vulnerable to being swarmed.

 

Not sure how good of an idea this would be. The winds can toss around boulders, and while shardplate is heavy it can still be carried by a normal horse. I think the shardbearer would still get tossed around. Also we've seen plates damaged and even broken by hammer blows. I can't imagine that getting struck by a flying boulder would be very healthy either.

[Senor Feesh]

I'd love to know if the Stormlight of a highstorm is enough to regrow a set of Plate...

Edit: for clarity, I mean if you just left a piece of Plate in a storm while the other parts were not being fed Stormlight

Edited June 5, 2013 by Senor Feesh

[Meg]

I'd love to know if the Stormlight of a highstorm is enough to regrow a set of Plate...

Edit: for clarity, I mean if you just left a piece of Plate in a storm while the other parts were not being fed Stormlight

 

 

I'm sorry, but I don't think so: 

 

It would take days to regrow Dalinar’s own gauntlet.

TWoK Ch. 69 

 

If that would work I'm sure that the regrow of Dalinar's gauntlet wouldn't "take days." 

[Senor Feesh]

That's a good point Meg. I would have to assume then, that there is a limit to the rate at which Plate can absorb stormlight, or possibly the rate at which plate grows, otherwise you could just throw more infused spheres at it to speed the process along.

[Meg]

That's a good point Meg. I would have to assume then, that there is a limit to the rate at which Plate can absorb stormlight, or possibly the rate at which plate grows, otherwise you could just throw more infused spheres at it to speed the process along.

 

Only for clarification: Not the Shardplate absorbs stormlight, only built-in gems.

 

IIRC there are sockets built in the Plates that -- I think so -- might restrict the amount and size for the used gems. And there's surely a limit of stormlight one gem can contain, so when this limit is reached the biggest highstorm couldn't help more. 

[Galavantes]

Yeah same concern as before. I don't think the storm is constantly feeding stormlight into the gems. I think each gem just gets fully infused once during each storm. 

Also quickly draining stormlight from a gem has a tendency to shatter it. So I assume that even if you COULD get a constant influx of energy into the gems mounted inside the shardplate that they would shatter while repairing the plate. So unless you have someone standing out in the storm with a bag full of gems you still don't have a workable system.

[valgerth]

I didn't think about the exact quote from the storm. I wonder...I've seen someone(or possibly more than one someones) theorize that the Shardplate/Blades the KR had are gained in a different way, possibly when they complete their last oath. I wonder if that energy that creates the investiture in the spheres/gems, and powers the plate and KR is used directly in that moment to form their Plate/Blade. Like for Kaladin, to gain his, he would have to go out into a highstorm and speak either all of the oaths, or maybe just the final oath, and breath in at that moment just like he does to pull from spheres, but he would get a super charged amount that makes himself a personal set of plate/blade.

[Phantom Monstrosity]

Crack theory: Shardplate is actually the husks of former parshendi archwarrior voidbringer forms, enslaved and controlled through foul necromancy.  The day they once more fuse together with a parshendi is the day the resurrected knights radiant have an equal foe.