entropyincarn8

Ah I must have missed where they implied that is how they lost them, I knew they had mutliples but assumed they were lost in single combat duels, not while attempting to smash (slice?) and grab some gemhearts as quickly as possible. It is the only thing that makes sense though, especially with their primitive knowledge of strategy and war, I forgot about that part. And sorry, new to the website but I will remember that. Copied this right from another post on another site where I did not get any satisfactory answers. Thanks!

The only thing I can think of is they didn't want to risk losing their shards to the Alethi. If multiple shard bearers came for them they could have been overwhelmed and lost the last of their shards. However this doesn't really hold water when you think about how the Parshendi are faster and could escape easier.

Words of Radiance Spoilers! * * * * * * * * * (Pardon my spelling errors as I've only experienced the books through audible) So why do the Parshendi not use their shardblade to cut the gem hearts from the chasmfiends asap when getting to a plateau with one. I get they are trying to get into a war of attrition with the Alethi. Strategically though it would be better to get there quick and get away with the gem hearts while the Alethi are just arriving, that would demoralize them and would make them get bored of the war effort more quickly. Showing up with your army and using hammers to break the shells open seems like a stupid waste of life. Thoughts? Is this explained somewhere I missed? They have a shardblade, so why not use it to win all the gem hearts they can since they are able to move to the plateaus much faster. Seems like a pretty big oversight.