How strong was Vin?

[Stormgate he/him]

We know Vin was extraordinarily good with the metals, most obviously when she jumped around like a grasshopper when she was burning pewter. She had duralumin or the mists other times. So, why was she so strong? She wasn't as strong as a savant, not at the level of a Lerasium Mistborn, just...powerful.

Why?

[Elithanathile he/him]

To start off with, I'll just say that what I am about to say is as I see it. This isn't official, but it's how I understand it. Unless I am very, very, good, in which case, it is official. Also, Spoilers for basically every book in the series. Got it? Good.

 

1. Her genes. They added up to make her a mistborn, and they made her slightly more powerful as well. Maybe her bloodline had eaten the Lerasium later than others or something of the sort.
2. She was chosen by Preservation. Even when she had the earring stopping her, some of preservation's power was bleeding into her, giving her an extra boost, which was magnified by drastic amounts when she used the mists.

These add together to give her extra from her metals. Say an average mistborn would burn a metal and get 100 power from it. Vin could burn it and get 110, or 120, or some larger amount. Nothing too drastic/OP, but a definite boost to what the average mistborn would have.

 

Again, this is just my opinion, and not official.

[Your3rdShadow he/him]

I'm pretty sure she was just better than everyone else. The more you use allomancy the better you get at within your own inherent limits, just like any other skill. Beyond that, remember that Vin became a shard sliver after entering the well, even if she didn't use preservation's power, she still held it. That much power changes the human body. Than of course, you had Preservation turning her into a vessel for his power. All of these together probably had something to do with her being as powerful as she was, but again, I like to think she was just had more talent and made better use of it through hard work. Makes for a more compelling character.

[Oversleep]

Sazed talks about her absorbing some of the mists in the childhood, if I'm not mistaken. That could be the cause.

[Voidus]

Sazed talks about her absorbing some of the mists in the childhood, if I'm not mistaken. That could be the cause.

Was about to mention this but yeah that's my understanding. Other than that it's not necessarily that she's that much more powerful she just instinctively understands and uses allomancy better. I imagine that that too is to do with the mists, a fractional version of the way holding a whole Shard expands your mind, the mists just made her understand Allomancy better.

[Yata he/him]

Being a member of a powerful bloodline may be a factor but not too much I suppose.

 

I always thought that she absorb some mist during her live and this Preservation's infusion boost her ability.

 

We don't even know if her ability recive a boost through the use of the Well.

Anyway another factor may be her intense use of Allomancy, they may early begin the Savant path, of course I don't think Vin was already a Savant but that some of her Allomancy begun to develop.

[KSub]

If she absorbed the mists as a child that would make sense. It would also makes sense why Ruin targeted her a la mama stabby. That being said, I thought it was because of her strong connection to both Ruin and Preservation.

[Argel he/him]

Sazed as Harmony mentions that she was chosen by Preservation, so I always assumed it tied into that (either that she breathed in mists as a baby and that's why Preservation chose her or as a perk to being his chosen one).

 

Edit: If she had a strong connection to R&P then couldn't she have become Harmony? 

Secret History spoiler

Considering how much trouble Kelsier had holding onto Preservation's power and how it came naturally to Vin, I do not see how she could have had a strong connection with Ruin. She was heavily influenced by Ruin at times, but that's not quite the same thing as having a strong connection.

End Edit.

Edited March 23, 2016 by Argel

[natc]

Sazed as Harmony mentions that she was chosen by Preservation, so I always assumed it tied into that (either that she breathed in mists as a baby and that's why Preservation chose her or as a perk to being his chosen one).

Edit: If she had a strong connection to R&P then couldn't she have become Harmony?

Secret History spoiler

Considering how much trouble Kelsier had holding onto Preservation's power and how it came naturally to Vin, I do not see how she could have had a strong connection with Ruin. She was heavily influenced by Ruin at times, but that's not quite the same thing as having a strong connection.

End Edit.

On the other hand Sazed had far less noticeable connection to either of them and it worked anyway. Only one I see is how much Ruin has plagued his life and him being a preserver of stuff in general.

Being mistborn a la Kelsier isn't enough, so being full feruchemist shouldn't be either right?

[Bugsy he/him]

On the other hand Sazed had far less noticeable connection to either of them and it worked anyway. Only one I see is how much Ruin has plagued his life and him being a preserver of stuff in general.

Being mistborn a la Kelsier isn't enough, so being full feruchemist shouldn't be either right?

Feruchemy is the power of balance, so he had that going for him. He also perceived himself as distructive because he compared himself to other Keepers of Terris, plus likely viewed his temporary refusal to use his metalminds as a distruction of the knowledge within them. He also showed significant aspects of Preservation (he was a Keeper who stored thousands of years of history). This adds up to make him seem like a very balanced candidate, at least in his own mind

[natc]

Feruchemy is the power of balance, so he had that going for him. He also perceived himself as distructive because he compared himself to other Keepers of Terris, plus likely viewed his temporary refusal to use his metalminds as a distruction of the knowledge within them. He also showed significant aspects of Preservation (he was a Keeper who stored thousands of years of history). This adds up to make him seem like a very balanced candidate, at least in his own mind

Exactly. It's more to do with stuff done in life and self-perception if we go off of him.

Vin sees herself as a murderer a lot and was also under influence for significant periods, so she probably had a strong Ruin connection too. Her motivations though, from barely scraping by as a street urchin to stopping the perceived murderous tyrant, to protecting Elend, have been about preserving people. And Preservation (the power, if not Leras) has been placing all bets on her for some reason from very early on. Calling her a Harmony candidate is not farfetched.

[Argel he/him]

The more I think about it, I think philosophy of life, moral code, selfishness vs. selflessness likely played a big part too. Kelsier is portrayed as selfish, Vin as selfless, and Sazed was selfless, but certain events brought a darker aspect to him (I think there is a WoB on that). So likely those plus magical aptitude.