Stormlight vs Allomancy Burn Rate

[Snowlight22 he/him]

So I've just started reading Way of Kings, and I was wondering about the burn rate of Stormlight in Surgebinding, in relation to Allomantic metals.  For example, is it as slow as tin or copper, or does it burn like pewter, or even as fast as atium?  I know they're not really comparable, but it would be cool to get a perspective on this from someone who knows a bit more about The Stormlight Archive and has read Mistborn.

[Voidus]

Not really an easy way to compare the two, there aren't many overlapping effects and the things that they use as fuel are different. Allomancy uses solid metals, Surgebinding uses Stormlight which you might be able to standardize using the currency as a basis (eg. How long does one diamond chip last) but even that is subject to when it was infused.

Without a universal fuel for comparison it's hard to say.

[Quantus he/him]

The different Surges use the stormlight at different rates the same way different metals burn at different rates.

 

As far as comparing Stormlight to Breaths to Allomancy, he's said he hopes to quantify the exchange rates for the Warbreaker 10th Anniversary.  It's his intention that they have real, quantifiable exchange rates like any other physical energy, it's just that he previously didnt have the resources to sit down and actually work out the math of all the various magic effects he's shown on page.  For what it's worth, Roshar in general has way more Investiture in play than Scadrial, which he described as much lower on the Investiture scale in general than Roshar.

 

 

Quote

 

Oudeis16

I will confess that over the course of my study I learned that we're nearing the 10th Anniversary edition, and that u/mistborn has asked u/PeterAhlstrom to go over the book, take Brandon's notes, and make sure there is a consistent system behind the scenes. Humbly, I do hope that perhaps by at least locating the times in the book when Breath-count is mentioned, I have saved Peter a bit of busy work, if nothing else.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, a more precise system of how many breaths it takes to do X (and the exchange rate, so to speak, with other magic systems) is something on the list to do for Warbreaker 10th anniversary. I have the resources now, with more assistants behind the scenes, to get more precise on this sort of thing than I've done before.

source

 

 

[Jofwu he/him]

Like Voidus says, we're dealing with two different "fuel" sources and two different (well, several different) powers. So it's all comparing apples to oranges. Like asking if a gasoline-fueled motorcycle has the same "burn rate" as an electric scooter. You could maybe set up a very specific test, to compare two specific powers. For example, Push a coin straight up and Lash a coin straight up, measure how much metal/Stormlight was used in each case, and compare the potential energy delivered to each coin? But even that isn't a great comparison.

Part of the problem I suppose is that Allomancy tends to have a "normal" burn rate. You can flare your metals, but otherwise there's a natural burn rate that you fall into when using the power. So comparing burn rates between metals is just a matter of comparing how much mass is used when burning at this natural rate. Surgebinding isn't really like this. The power doesn't really have an off/on state, where you're using Stormlight at a normal rate or your not using it at all. On one hand, you use Stormlight in discrete amounts. (a Basic Lashing on this object uses X units of Stormlight, a Full Lashing on this object uses Y units of Stormlight) On the other hand, Stormlight is constantly leaking from you. Neither of these is really comparable to the burn rate you have with Allomancy.

Also, this isn't a BIG spoiler, but I don't think it's revealed until sometime in Words of Radiance:

Spoiler

There are different levels of Surgebinders, and the more advanced one is the more efficiently they can use Stormlight. So even for a specific Surgebinder of a specific Order using the same Surge, the usage rate of Stormlight can vary depending on how advanced they are.

 

[Quantus he/him]

Also relevant:

 

 

Quote

 

Questioner

I was wondering if there is a unit of Investiture, like maybe something Khriss uses.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, but I haven't canonized it yet. Good question. I will eventually canonize it, because I think that people will want it, but I probably won't do so 'til [Mistborn] Era 3, because I want the scientific way of talking about the cosmere to mirror how developed the cultures are, but some of the scholars are beyond where everyone else is. It can be measured. There is a unit.

Questioner

Like, maybe grams of solid Investiture?

Brandon Sanderson

It will probably be an in-world unit of measurement. Right now, to talk about it online if you want, the unit is probably gonna be based around Breath, because a Breath is a distinct amount. Whereas in most of the settings, there's not a distinct amount. Like, how much Allomancy, things like that. How much can a gem hold. It really depends on how the gem is cut, and how long the gem has been out. So... the Breath is a really easy one, so it's become the unit. But there will probably be a fantasy term for it. I might just call it Breath. That's why I'm not canonized yet. But if you guys wanna talk about it in Breath terms, that's probably the easiest.

source

 

 

[Gasper he/him]

Given that the oaths seem to cause an increasing ability to use less stormlight to power the same effect, I think that a graph would look logarithmic in nature. Also, the closeness of the radiant to the ideals and the spren decrease the amount of wasted investure when using stormlight.  think it is sort of like gradually shifting from using aluminum as a conductor to using copper to using a superconductor to transmit the power.

[Calderis he/him]

You have different rates of usage in by different surges, different levels of efficiency of stormlight use, different gem sizes and cuts, variable amounts of time since a highstorm for stormlight to have leaked out of the gemstones, leakage from the radiant themselves... Then you have the size of the object being effected by a surge, and potentially stormlight leakage from the lay object... 

There are just too many variables to try and nail down anything concrete. 

[Rashek of Bridge Four he/him]

A few factors come into play on this one.

1. Different metals burn at different rates.

2. Are you flaring the metal?

2. Different types of surges use stormlight at different rates.

3. Are you using an honorblade or are you bonded to a spren?

It really depends, though from my personal reading it appears that on average stormlight is used up a good bit faster than most metals.

Tell me if I missed any factors.

Edited December 6, 2018 by Bridge_Four
Adding a factor.