Zmaray Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Is Nightblood currently the most powerful sword on Roshar? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrightVoid Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 I would say that on the amount of investiture involved, yes, however I think that for most people an honorblade would be more useful as the vast majority of cosmere characters would be unable to fuel nightblood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calderis Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 This is pure speculation on my part, but I believe that Nightblood may currently be the most powerful non-shard in the Cosmere. Its lack of autonomy due to requiring a wielder is the only thing that's kept it from being a major threat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeldan Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 1 hour ago, Calderis said: This is pure speculation on my part, but I believe that Nightblood may currently be the most powerful non-shard in the Cosmere. Its lack of autonomy due to requiring a wielder is the only thing that's kept it from being a major threat. During an interview with Brandon, he said that Nightblood was exactly the same as a shardblade, just that there was something wrong with Nightblood due to the nature in which he was created. I wouldn't say Nightblood is the most powerful sword on Roshar, as Honorblades also gives the wielder the ability to surgebind(Nightblood may be able to do this too, but we've had nothing to suggest it so far). 2 hours ago, BrightVoid said: I would say that on the amount of investiture involved, yes, however I think that for most people an honorblade would be more useful as the vast majority of cosmere characters would be unable to fuel nightblood. Most "Cosmere" characters probably can't, however I'm guessing that on Roshar, Nightblood can be fed by Stormlight directly from spheres, rather than a persons lifeforce, which would make it/him wield-able by practically anyone. Roshar might just be a better home for Nightblood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoolofwhool Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 2 minutes ago, Zeldan said: Most "Cosmere" characters probably can't, however I'm guessing that on Roshar, Nightblood can be fed by Stormlight directly from spheres, rather than a persons lifeforce, which would make it/him wield-able by practically anyone. Roshar might just be a better home for Nightblood. It pulls investiture from the wielder, not their peripherals. The holder would need to be infused with stormlight. While this hasn't been explicitly stated, if Nightblood can feed from spheres, it would make this answer rather pointless. Quote QUESTION I was wondering, is Nightblood a Shardblade? BRANDON SANDERSON Nightblood is an attempt by someone who didn’t know how Shardblades were made to create a Shardblade using a different magic system. QUESTION If Nightblood feeds on Breath, but Szeth doesn’t have it, will it feed on Stormlight? BRANDON SANDERSON Nightblood can feed off Stormlight, but Szeth can't draw in Stormlight right now. So Szeth better not draw that sword, for a while at least. [Source] 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weltall Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 (edited) 15 minutes ago, Zeldan said: During an interview with Brandon, he said that Nightblood was exactly the same as a shardblade, just that there was something wrong with Nightblood due to the nature in which he was created. He's also said that Nightblood is 'orders of magnitude' more powerful than a Shardblade, has mentioned that it goes beyond what they do in destroying its targets in all three realms and in a long analysis of objects compared in terms of 'how hard would this be to push/pull with Allomancy?' he called out Nightblood as the hardest thing to affect and used the expression 'far beyond even a Shardblade'. So while Nightblood is conceptually a Shardblade it's not exactly the same in degree of Investiture or power. Edited May 22, 2017 by Weltall 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeldan Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 well...there goes my argument lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormlightning Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, Weltall said: He's also said that Nightblood is 'orders of magnitude' more powerful than a Shardblade, has mentioned that it goes beyond what they do in destroying its targets in all three realms and in a long analysis of objects compared in terms of 'how hard would this be to push/pull with Allomancy?' he called out Nightblood as the hardest thing to affect and used the expression 'far beyond even a Shardblade'. So while Nightblood is conceptually a Shardblade it's not exactly the same in degree of Investiture or power. Is Nightblood's greater strength related to his sapience? I haven't heard any honorblades talking to their masters, and Shardblades aren't inherently metal (what with being spren and all). Or do you think he meant that Nightblood has much more investiture than a shardblade? Maybe what I just asked made no sense or is obvious. My understanding of Warbreaker's magic system is very limited and I'm not fully up to date on what makes something easy or hard to affect with Allomancy. Edited May 22, 2017 by Stormlightning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calderis Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 4 minutes ago, Stormlightning said: Is Nightblood's greater strength related to his sapience? I haven't heard any honorblades talking to their masters, and Shardblades aren't inherently metal (what with being spren and all). Or do you think he meant that Nightblood has much more investiture than a shardblade? Maybe what I just asked made no sense or is obvious. My understanding of Warbreaker's magic system is very limited and I'm not fully up to date on what makes something easy or hard to affect with Allomancy. The more heavily invested an item is, the harder it is to push or pull. Filled metalminds resist Allomancy. If they are full enough they can be almost invisible to steel/iron sight. Shardblades manifest physically as metal. So if Nightblood is harder to push, it's more heavily invested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Extesian Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 (edited) Hmm a few WoBs for perspective Quote QUESTION Is Nightblood a minor Shard? BRANDON SANDERSON Nightblood is one of the most heavily Invested things in the cosmere that is not a Shard. Quote QUESTION Are the Bands of Mourning as Invested as Nightblood? BRANDON SANDERSON Not even close. Quote YULERULE How much compounding would a nicrosil twinborn would need to do to get a metalmind that is as Invested as Nightblood? BRANDON SANDERSON Wow so much. QUESTION A thousand breaths doesn't seem to be that much - the God King has tens of thousands - would a piece of stone or wood or cloth or plain metal that has a thousand breaths be as Invested as Nightblood, or is there something more? BRANDON SANDERSON needs more Quote HEROWANNABE I’m curious, I’ve got a list of various cosmere bits of metal, and I wonder if you would rank them from like 1 to 10 or easy to difficult on how hard it would be to steelpush on them? BRANDON SANDERSON Okay. HEROWANNABE So, like metal inside a person’s body? BRANDON SANDERSON It depends on how strong the investiture in them is. HEROWANNABE Is that going to be the answer for all of these? BRANDON SANDERSON Probably. HEROWANNABE How about a spike charged with Hemalurgy? Not in a person. BRANDON SANDERSON Not in a person? It depends on how strong—yeah. A spike is moderately—in the realm of these sorts of things—moderately easy to push on, because a spike does not rip off very much investiture. Only enough to short circuit the soul, and it loses that over time. So I would put that at the bottom—with the top being very hard—to be one of the easier things. HEROWANNABE How about a metalmind? A feruchemy metalmind that is "full." BRANDON SANDERSON That is going to be middle of the realm. Generally easier than, for instance, a shardblade, which is going to be very hard. AARADEL But a shardblade isn’t actual metal. Ish? BRANDON SANDERSON Ish. Is Lerasium a metal? Yeah. HEROWANNABE So would that be the same for Shardplate, too? BRANDON SANDERSON Shardplate and blade are very hard. Blade is probably going to be harder. [...] HEROWANNABE Halfshard? Like a halfshard shield? BRANDON SANDERSON Halfshard shield is going to be in moderate. HEROWANNABE Nightblood? I imagine is going to be very difficult. BRANDON SANDERSON Very hard. Of all the things you’ve listed, he’s the hardest. Far beyond even a shardblade. HEROWANNABE Far beyond metal inside a person? BRANDON SANDERSON Yes, depending on how invested the person is. Quote QUESTION How much more powerful is Nightbloodthan a a regular Shardblade? BRANDON SANDERSON I haven't actually quantified that in my own mind so can't give an accurate comparison at this point. I will say that when he is fully consuming Investiture he can do some really freaky things. FOOTNOTE In the past Brandon has described Nightblood as being "magnitudes more invested than a shardblade". Basically nothing we've seen that isn't a Shard is as invested as Nightblood, I think. Even an Honorblade. But I think it's even more about what he can do when 'fully' invested, ie having access to huge amounts of Investiture. He's just a dangerous sword normally but the allusions to the Manywar, and the little we saw it do unsheathed in Warbreaker, says a lot. So already one of the most invested things but feed it and I'm not sure much can stop it til it runs out of investiture. Oh and it's sapient because of its investiture (and I guess command), not the other way. Edited May 22, 2017 by Extesian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calderis Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 12 minutes ago, Extesian said: Hmm a few WoBs for perspective Basically nothing we've seen that isn't a Shard is as invested as Nightblood, I think. Even an Honorblade. I didn't expect my guess to be almost word for word a WoB. damnation. Nightblood's scary. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy92 Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 I think something besides the Breaths went into making Nightblood to give the sword the level of sapience that it has. Since all Shardblades originate from spren, it makes sense that Nightblood was probably created using some sapient piece of Investiture that was already around at the time. We know the Cosmere has spren and seons which function similarly, so maybe something like that was used in Nightblood's creation, but something went wrong to cause it to become corrupted. However it was made, it seems to take more than just "a lot of Breaths." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowwisp Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 4 hours ago, Zeldan said: 4 hours ago, Zeldan said: During an interview with Brandon, he said that Nightblood was exactly the same as a shardblade, just that there was something wrong with Nightblood due to the nature in which he was created. I wouldn't say Nightblood is the most powerful sword on Roshar, as Honorblades also gives the wielder the ability to surgebind(Nightblood may be able to do this too, but we've had nothing to suggest it so far). Most "Cosmere" characters probably can't, however I'm guessing that on Roshar, Nightblood can be fed by Stormlight directly from spheres, rather than a persons lifeforce, which would make it/him wield-able by practically anyone. Roshar might just be a better home for Nightblood. 4 hours ago, Spoolofwhool said: It pulls investiture from the wielder, not their peripherals. The holder would need to be infused with stormlight. While this hasn't been explicitly stated, if Nightblood can feed from spheres, it would make this answer rather pointless. This WoB implies that Nightblood can pull investiture from the peripherals independent of a user. Quote PhantomMonstrosity Let's say some mistborn jerk tosses Nightblood into the mists. What happens? Brandon Sanderson I suspect the mists would pull away from Nightblood, though he'd try to feed on them. We have some potential suggestions that Nightblood might be able to give Surges based on the fact that there is WoB that Nightblood is an artificial spren and that it makes a bond with its user. Along with this interesting tidbit: Quote Outis If an Elantrian bonded to a Seon and traveled to Roshar, would that act as a Nahel bond? Brandon Sanderson It would act very very similarly, yes. But it would be like… it wouldn't necesarily do the exact same things. It would be treated the exact same way, but wouldn't grant the same powers. Still up in the air though, but it is not unreasonable to think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The One Who Connects Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 1 minute ago, shadowwisp said: This WoB implies that Nightblood can pull investiture from the peripherals independent of a user. Quote PhantomMonstrosity Let's say some Mistborn jerk tosses Nightblood into the mists. What happens? Brandon Sanderson I suspect the mists would pull away from Nightblood, though he'd try to feed on them. The problem with this WoB is that the user throws Nightblood into the mists. That is not pulling Investiture from peripherals that are independent of a user, but pulling from peripherals while independent from a user. This distinction could be enough to make this answer not count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowwisp Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 (edited) 9 minutes ago, The One Who Connects said: The problem with this WoB is that the user throws Nightblood into the mists. That is not pulling Investiture from peripherals that are independent of a user, but pulling from peripherals while independent from a user. This distinction could be enough to make this answer not count. That's a pretty nit-picky distinction.....but not one that I can argue with, your logic makes sense. Good catch! Just to be clear you are talking about the difference between a person holding Nightblood running into the mist and having Nighblood pull investiture from the mists vs a person throwing Nightblood into the mists and having Nightblood pull investiture from the mists, right? Still, at least we know Nightblood has the ability to draw investiture from the peripherals but the situation might determine if it is possible or not. Edited May 23, 2017 by shadowwisp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The One Who Connects Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 Just now, shadowwisp said: That's a pretty nit-picky distinction.....but not one that I can argue with, your logic makes sense. Good catch! Just to be clear you are talking about the difference between a person holding Nightblood running into the mist and having Nightblood pull investiture from the mists vs a person throwing Nightblood into the mists and having Nightblood pull investiture from the mists, right? Have you met anyone on this site? Nitpicks are what theories live or die by But yes, that is what I meant. Once the blade is thrown, it is not being "wielded" so it doesn't have a wielder. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Extesian Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 13 minutes ago, The One Who Connects said: Have you met anyone on this site? Nitpicks are what theories live or die by But yes, that is what I meant. Once the blade is thrown, it is not being "wielded" so it doesn't have a wielder. That's an interesting point I hadn't considered. If someone is holding it and doesn't have access to a flow of kinetic investiture Nightblood will eat their soul, but if noone is holding it and it's sheathless, could it eat investiture around it in gaseous form. I don't believe so, I think it needs to access investiture through a conduit, only for plot purposes. Otherwise you could drop Nightblood into a Highstorm, the mists or, most terrifyingly, a Shardpool. I can't imagine brandon designing it in a way that it could eat investiture directly from a Shard, it's too overpowered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoolofwhool Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 While The One Who Connects does make a good point there, I'll also point out another significant difference. The Mists are investiture converted into matter and are probably still very close to being investiture. It's basically the gaseous form of lerasium or the Well of Ascension. On the other hand, infused spheres are pieces of matter which have become invested, saturated with investiture. With the first, I think Nightblood would simply be releasing the matter back into investiture, matter which is would be touching, and a process which appears to be very easily achieved by the Mists normally, then consuming them. With the second, Nightblood would have to be drawing out the investiture saturating the spheres, objects which it is not even connected to or physically touching. Even if you touched the spheres to Nightblood individually, it still would not be connected to them, I don't think. Overall, I think that that WoB has too much of a gulf of difference to be that applicable. 3 minutes ago, Extesian said: I don't believe so, I think it needs to access investiture through a conduit, only for plot purposes. Otherwise you could drop Nightblood into a Highstorm, the mists or, most terrifyingly, a Shardpool. I can't imagine brandon designing it in a way that it could eat investiture directly from a Shard, it's too overpowered. While I agree that an unwielded Nightblood wouldn't be able to do anything, a wielded Nightblood should be able consume to if you touched it to a source of investiture. After all, that's what it does whenever you strike something, converting it to investiture and consuming it... (I think.) At the very least, there's a WoB that it would consume a sprenblade it hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kered Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 (edited) Wasn't there a recent WoB where someone asked the Highstorm question(if Nightblood was drawn during a highstorm by a Surgbinder)? I've been looking for it, I swear I saw it, but I can't find it. While the mechanics of it would need to be refined, I think Nightblood drawn during a highstorm pretty much trumps anything we've seen so far. I also think we'll see this before the 10 books are done. It would a truly epic scene. Edited May 23, 2017 by Kered 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONARCH Posted May 29, 2017 Report Share Posted May 29, 2017 I think neither can destroy each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts