So about Sohothin

[Reynarth.4819]

But Rytlock too was fighting with Balthazar's fire, his Forged army and the god himself, where was Sohothing power back then?

[Narcemus.1348]

> @cNd.1096 said:

> But Rytlock too was fighting with Balthazar's fire, his Forged army and the god himself, where was Sohothing power back then?

 

It has been mentioned that when we grab should of Sohothin the skin changes so that the burning on the sword is much brighter and bigger. There is a theory that because of our training in Ancient Magics in the last living story, we have a greater capacity to wield it to full strength. That or the unbound magic that we have been collecting had something to do with that.

[Myrdreth.6829]

Nebezial made a comicstrip about this! :D

 

[Harper.4173]

> @Mahou.3924 said:

> > @Harper.4173 said:

> > > @Ronin.7381 said:

> > > From the mechanics perspective, it was smart on Arena's part to do that. That way people wouldn't struggle depending on their build and stat allocation, Sohathan was just a cookie-cutter build players used from which Arenanet could balance the content around.

> >

> > Let's not stress the players by forcing them to actually improve or be decent at the game. I remember when I started playing GW1 and every bad build was punished beyond belief. It wasn't pleasant but it was healthy and made me learn how to build and become a good player.

>

> With a horribly complain-about-everything attitude and indirect "me are better than thou!" jabs. So... yeah, "good" as in skill, at least?

 

It's not me better than you. It's me willing to actually put effort and care into the game instead of expecting a win to be handed out. When I couldn't handle the difficulty level in GW1 I didn't hit the forums to complain. I dislike the general trend of handing everything out because "Everyone's a winner".

 

Good means much more than just skill. It means dedication, effort. You don't need to be mechanically skilled all the time - but you do need to improve if you can't make the cut.

[Harper.4173]

> @Narcemus.1348 said:

> > @cNd.1096 said:

> > But Rytlock too was fighting with Balthazar's fire, his Forged army and the god himself, where was Sohothing power back then?

>

> It has been mentioned that when we grab should of Sohothin the skin changes so that the burning on the sword is much brighter and bigger. There is a theory that because of our training in Ancient Magics in the last living story, we have a greater capacity to wield it to full strength. That or the unbound magic that we have been collecting had something to do with that.

So then why don't we use the weapon all the time?

 

[Reynarth.4819]

> @Harper.4173 said:

> > @Narcemus.1348 said:

> > > @cNd.1096 said:

> > > But Rytlock too was fighting with Balthazar's fire, his Forged army and the god himself, where was Sohothing power back then?

> >

> > It has been mentioned that when we grab should of Sohothin the skin changes so that the burning on the sword is much brighter and bigger. There is a theory that because of our training in Ancient Magics in the last living story, we have a greater capacity to wield it to full strength. That or the unbound magic that we have been collecting had something to do with that.

> So then why don't we use the weapon all the time?

>

 

Well if Narcemus theory is right and if we assume Sohothin was made by Balthazar, or just reignited, then sword may lost it's powers after god's death.

[Knuckle Joe.7408]

Lore says the sword was once Balthazar's, so most likely the sword was "overcharged" with power by being so close to the god (and probably its creator) throughout the mission, kind of like how you get perfect signal the closer you are to a wi-fi device (lol, can't think of a better comparison.)

 

But then, by this logic, sohothin should lose all its power now that blathazar is gone.

Meh don't think too much about it, that level of power was just a fun thing the devs made for that specific mission.

[draxynnic.3719]

> @"Knuckle Joe.7408" said:

> Lore says the sword was once Balthazar's, so most likely the sword was "overcharged" with power by being so close to the god (and probably its creator) throughout the mission, kind of like how you get perfect signal the closer you are to a wi-fi device (lol, can't think of a better comparison.)

>

> But then, by this logic, sohothin should lose all its power now that blathazar is gone.

> Meh don't think too much about it, that level of power was just a fun thing the devs made for that specific mission.

 

I'd probably present it as a kind of resonance effect. The sword has its own power reserve which remains regardless of what happens to Balthaddon, but being in close proximity to a high concentration of Balthaddon's power (the ex-god himself plus an army of Forged...) supercharged it.

 

The thing is, ArenaNet really needs to provide an answer themselves. Have it noticeably depower again at the end of the instance, or have a future instance where Rytlock tries to give the sword to the PC and it's no more powerful than the reforged Caladbolg.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

Even with the proximity example... why didn't that come into play during The Sacrifice?

[PookieDaWombat.6209]

The other argument is that it only has that kind of power in the hands of a human. But in reality this is another case of NPCs having way OP stuff when its convenient to the story and being weak as all get out at other times. Same thing happened back when we played as Caithe and saw how OP her powers as a thief were and wondered why she didn't do that more often when fighting along side us. Same is also true now when you think about what Scruffy could have done, and yet some how didn't until we showed up. Because...reasons. SMH

[Reynarth.4819]

About Scruffy, before our fight with him in this episode he didn't have any weapons and stuff.

[draxynnic.3719]

> @"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:

> Even with the proximity example... why didn't that come into play during The Sacrifice?

 

Frankly, if I was ArenaNet, I'd have had Rytlock showing signs of some of those skills during The Sacrifice as foreshadowing.

 

That said, there are ways around it without doing that. For instance, perhaps the encounter with Kormir could have done something with it, or the PC might have had some lingering power from Grenth as a result of his or her interaction with the Judge. Maybe it takes a blessing from Kormir, a blessing from a servant of Grenth, and the proximity of Balthazar to completely fire up Sohothin, and then only for the purpose that the blessings were granted.

 

Problem is, this is all speculation and what-I-would-do. The fact remains that at present, as far as we know the PC could become a walking fiery apocalypse any time Rytlock is willing to hand over Sohothin.

[Pax.3548]

I think the only logical reason for the sword to power up in the commander's hands is his/her connection to aurene, that would explain why our character's so special, we are linked to aurene and her magic because we are her champions, just like each dragon has his own champions, we are aurene's and we have some of her magic. That could also be a reason for some ppl to why our character is capable of such amazing feats like beating balthazar in his demigod state almost single-handedly, we are a dragon's champion (could that mean, the stronger aurene gets, the stronger we get? gonna keep an eye on the new masteries).

 

So the sword is powered up in our hand probably because it feeds on aurene's magic that is linked to us.

[moonstarmac.4603]

Most likely due to Sohothin's proximity to Balthazar its magical power was boosted. With Balthazar's demise, it is possible that much of the sword's power was sealed once more. From a lore perspective, both Magdear and Sohothin were crafted and imbued by the gods. With knowing Balthazar rekindled Sohothin, it could be taken he had a personal stake in making them...being the former god of war and fire and all.

[Felipe.1807]

Guess people are focusing way to much on this little detail lol, maybe lore wise, Rytlock is actually able to do everything and even more that we did it while we were using Sohotin, but for gameplay balance he is shown as just another worthless NPC...really, never try compare lore with gameplay stuff...we ourselfs are Dragon Slayers and even a God Killer, but a random champion bandit can give us a nice beating...does that mean that the bandit is stronger than elder dragons and the gods? lol

[Rognik.2579]

> @PookieDaWombat.6209 said:

> The other argument is that it only has that kind of power in the hands of a human.

Except that clearly isn't the case, as 4/5ths of the Commanders out there (theoretically; there are a lot of human characters) actually aren't human. It's not even that it's weaker in a charr's hand, as a charr commander using it is also overpowered with the sword. I'm not sure why people keep making the "more powerful in human hands" and forget that some people aren't playing as humans. Basically, it seems to boil down to the PC being the chosen one who makes everything they touched supercharged and that is what gives them the power to (help) take down 2 dragons and a god.

[Mahou.3924]

Do we even know that Sohothin had this special powers for the Commander canon-wise? Otherwise, I'd put it also under the gameplay-only explanation to "spice" things up a bit.

[Ayakaru.6583]

the way I understood it, it's the flame of Balthazar. Meaning it's only as strong against Balthazar and his minions, but no stronger than a regular torch against everything else.

Either that, or the fact he made the sword when he was still a god, and couldn't handle the pressure of the fire when he was struck as a demi-god..

man.. I dunno

[Kumouta.4985]

Perhaps the PC's own powerful magic empowered the sword.

[Li Xiaolu.4823]

Or perhaps we have been dead and came back from death.

[Torolan.5816]

> @"Harper.4173" said:

> > @Ronin.7381 said:

> > From the mechanics perspective, it was smart on Arena's part to do that. That way people wouldn't struggle depending on their build and stat allocation, Sohathan was just a cookie-cutter build players used from which Arenanet could balance the content around.

>

> Let's not stress the players by forcing them to actually improve or be decent at the game. I remember when I started playing GW1 and every bad build was punished beyond belief. It wasn't pleasant but it was healthy and made me learn how to build and become a good player.

 

The really funny part about this is that I was running around in GW1 with my warrior/something I can´t even remember character with no access to an elite skill at all because I was carrying a rune that made you steal said elite skill from an elite mob you found when you were stumbling around the game then and when. :)

[Aaron Ansari.1604]

> @"Torolan.5816" said:

> > @"Harper.4173" said:

> > > @Ronin.7381 said:

> > > From the mechanics perspective, it was smart on Arena's part to do that. That way people wouldn't struggle depending on their build and stat allocation, Sohathan was just a cookie-cutter build players used from which Arenanet could balance the content around.

> >

> > Let's not stress the players by forcing them to actually improve or be decent at the game. I remember when I started playing GW1 and every bad build was punished beyond belief. It wasn't pleasant but it was healthy and made me learn how to build and become a good player.

>

> The really funny part about this is that I was running around in GW1 with my warrior/something I can´t even remember character with no access to an elite skill at all because I was carrying a rune that made you steal said elite skill from an elite mob you found when you were stumbling around the game then and when. :)

 

Agreed, to a point. It really depends on what you were doing. 90-95% of the main areas let you be carried by henchmen that come pre-loaded viable builds (I think every one of my skill bars was a dysfunctional mess until I got the character to EotN), but I have it on good authority that it wasn't like that for the first year or two of the game's lifespan, and at any time, the endgame that most GW1 vets wound up spending most of their time in demanded that every member of the party be firing at close to peak efficiency. Running without a solid build in North Kryta Province is nothing, but in the Domain of Anguish, it's repeated party wipes.

[Oldirtbeard.9834]

> @"Harper.4173" said:

> > @cNd.1096 said:

> > It's still unexplained why this weapon was so powerful in our hands back then, I suspect it may have something to do with Balthazar being creator of this weapon, making him vurnerable to it. And we should remember that Aurene was helping us, directly, and I believe albo indirectly, we're bonded with her after all, it may give us some power too, which activated Sohothin.

>

> See? This doesn't really hold up. Balthazar was vulnerable to it when we fought HIM. But what about the other hordes of enemies that we fought earlier using the sword that were easily and mercilessly cut down?

> Also - Aurene is with us during the last part of the fight - but not the fight entirely. So there are moments in time in which we engage, hold our own and significantly damage balthazar's siege engine with just ourselves and the sword.

>

> I know you can try to make up various explanations - I could do that too - but I feel the writers should have had the decency to address this in LS4 in order to keep the story somewhat consistent in universe. Otherwise it just feels there's less and less holding this story together as a coherent form.

 

They were Forged so they had Balthazars weaknesses.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

> @"Aaron Ansari.1604" said:

> > @"Torolan.5816" said:

> > > @"Harper.4173" said:

> > > > @Ronin.7381 said:

> > > > From the mechanics perspective, it was smart on Arena's part to do that. That way people wouldn't struggle depending on their build and stat allocation, Sohathan was just a cookie-cutter build players used from which Arenanet could balance the content around.

> > >

> > > Let's not stress the players by forcing them to actually improve or be decent at the game. I remember when I started playing GW1 and every bad build was punished beyond belief. It wasn't pleasant but it was healthy and made me learn how to build and become a good player.

> >

> > The really funny part about this is that I was running around in GW1 with my warrior/something I can´t even remember character with no access to an elite skill at all because I was carrying a rune that made you steal said elite skill from an elite mob you found when you were stumbling around the game then and when. :)

>

> Agreed, to a point. It really depends on what you were doing. 90-95% of the main areas let you be carried by henchmen that come pre-loaded viable builds (I think every one of my skill bars was a dysfunctional mess until I got the character to EotN), but I have it on good authority that it wasn't like that for the first year or two of the game's lifespan, and at any time, the endgame that most GW1 vets wound up spending most of their time in demanded that every member of the party be firing at close to peak efficiency. Running without a solid build in North Kryta Province is nothing, but in the Domain of Anguish, it's repeated party wipes.

 

Oh, yeah. The henchmen had a build update a bit late into the game (I want to say 2007? Maybe earlier). They were pretty sad, in Prophecies and Factions especially in comparison.

 

> @"Oldirtbeard.9834" said:

> > @"Harper.4173" said:

> > > @cNd.1096 said:

> > > It's still unexplained why this weapon was so powerful in our hands back then, I suspect it may have something to do with Balthazar being creator of this weapon, making him vurnerable to it. And we should remember that Aurene was helping us, directly, and I believe albo indirectly, we're bonded with her after all, it may give us some power too, which activated Sohothin.

> >

> > See? This doesn't really hold up. Balthazar was vulnerable to it when we fought HIM. But what about the other hordes of enemies that we fought earlier using the sword that were easily and mercilessly cut down?

> > Also - Aurene is with us during the last part of the fight - but not the fight entirely. So there are moments in time in which we engage, hold our own and significantly damage balthazar's siege engine with just ourselves and the sword.

> >

> > I know you can try to make up various explanations - I could do that too - but I feel the writers should have had the decency to address this in LS4 in order to keep the story somewhat consistent in universe. Otherwise it just feels there's less and less holding this story together as a coherent form.

>

> They were Forged so they had Balthazars weaknesses.

 

And the branded there we kill like crazy? :P

[Oldirtbeard.9834]

> @"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:

> > @"Aaron Ansari.1604" said:

> > > @"Torolan.5816" said:

> > > > @"Harper.4173" said:

> > > > > @Ronin.7381 said:

> > > > > From the mechanics perspective, it was smart on Arena's part to do that. That way people wouldn't struggle depending on their build and stat allocation, Sohathan was just a cookie-cutter build players used from which Arenanet could balance the content around.

> > > >

> > > > Let's not stress the players by forcing them to actually improve or be decent at the game. I remember when I started playing GW1 and every bad build was punished beyond belief. It wasn't pleasant but it was healthy and made me learn how to build and become a good player.

> > >

> > > The really funny part about this is that I was running around in GW1 with my warrior/something I can´t even remember character with no access to an elite skill at all because I was carrying a rune that made you steal said elite skill from an elite mob you found when you were stumbling around the game then and when. :)

> >

> > Agreed, to a point. It really depends on what you were doing. 90-95% of the main areas let you be carried by henchmen that come pre-loaded viable builds (I think every one of my skill bars was a dysfunctional mess until I got the character to EotN), but I have it on good authority that it wasn't like that for the first year or two of the game's lifespan, and at any time, the endgame that most GW1 vets wound up spending most of their time in demanded that every member of the party be firing at close to peak efficiency. Running without a solid build in North Kryta Province is nothing, but in the Domain of Anguish, it's repeated party wipes.

>

> Oh, yeah. The henchmen had a build update a bit late into the game (I want to say 2007? Maybe earlier). They were pretty sad, in Prophecies and Factions especially in comparison.

>

> > @"Oldirtbeard.9834" said:

> > > @"Harper.4173" said:

> > > > @cNd.1096 said:

> > > > It's still unexplained why this weapon was so powerful in our hands back then, I suspect it may have something to do with Balthazar being creator of this weapon, making him vurnerable to it. And we should remember that Aurene was helping us, directly, and I believe albo indirectly, we're bonded with her after all, it may give us some power too, which activated Sohothin.

> > >

> > > See? This doesn't really hold up. Balthazar was vulnerable to it when we fought HIM. But what about the other hordes of enemies that we fought earlier using the sword that were easily and mercilessly cut down?

> > > Also - Aurene is with us during the last part of the fight - but not the fight entirely. So there are moments in time in which we engage, hold our own and significantly damage balthazar's siege engine with just ourselves and the sword.

> > >

> > > I know you can try to make up various explanations - I could do that too - but I feel the writers should have had the decency to address this in LS4 in order to keep the story somewhat consistent in universe. Otherwise it just feels there's less and less holding this story together as a coherent form.

> >

> > They were Forged so they had Balthazars weaknesses.

>

> And the branded there we kill like crazy? :P

 

Look we're the Commander we probably could have killed everything with plastic butter knife because we are that amazing.