05-24-2014, 08:04 AM
You can't defend against everything at once.
All of these defenses are primarily ward-based. The more complicated and powerful the offense (microwaves, gamma rays, light, sound are complicated) the more complex the ward must be.
-from the WoT concordance
We also know from Rand that if you try to make one ward do too much, it will malfunction.
Therefore, the best way to take out a channeler is to attack with multiple offenses that would require differing wards.
This is also bearing in mind, like what Thalia was saying, that a channeler, even an Expert, realizes that the One Power can stop light/sound/waves/missiles/etc.
I know that if I were attacked with those LRAD things, I'd cover my ears with my hands, not think to myself "huh I bet I can craft a complex ward that filters out specific sounds so that the blinding pain in my head goes away. No, i'd be running and thinking about the blinding pain in my head. Even if I were an expert channeler. And it'd take a highly trained and disciplined individual to stand and take the few seconds (or minutes) it'd require to build the ward.
Brings me to my next point. Channeling is not instantaneous.
We know from the test for the Shawl that building complicated weaves can take anywhere from a minute to ten minutes. And when shit is falling all around you, you might go blind/sick/die before you can finish building the ward that protects you.
Primarily, a channeler would only be able to defend themselves with a ward if they knew the offense was coming AND they knew the exact mode of that offense. A ward jumps up to protect against gamma rays but instead the attacker flips a switch on their device and the gun spits out UV rays instead. The channeler is then toast.
I think we're all largely screwed if trained military or police descended upon a channeler. Even Nikki B would likely have trouble defending himself against such a crowd.
All of these defenses are primarily ward-based. The more complicated and powerful the offense (microwaves, gamma rays, light, sound are complicated) the more complex the ward must be.
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t's not possible to set two kinds of wards at once. (III: 63)
-from the WoT concordance
We also know from Rand that if you try to make one ward do too much, it will malfunction.
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<dd> </dd>
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wardings are complex, tenuous weaves, and are often rendered useless if the channeler tries to make them do more than one thing. (V: 273)
Therefore, the best way to take out a channeler is to attack with multiple offenses that would require differing wards.
This is also bearing in mind, like what Thalia was saying, that a channeler, even an Expert, realizes that the One Power can stop light/sound/waves/missiles/etc.
I know that if I were attacked with those LRAD things, I'd cover my ears with my hands, not think to myself "huh I bet I can craft a complex ward that filters out specific sounds so that the blinding pain in my head goes away. No, i'd be running and thinking about the blinding pain in my head. Even if I were an expert channeler. And it'd take a highly trained and disciplined individual to stand and take the few seconds (or minutes) it'd require to build the ward.
Brings me to my next point. Channeling is not instantaneous.
We know from the test for the Shawl that building complicated weaves can take anywhere from a minute to ten minutes. And when shit is falling all around you, you might go blind/sick/die before you can finish building the ward that protects you.
Primarily, a channeler would only be able to defend themselves with a ward if they knew the offense was coming AND they knew the exact mode of that offense. A ward jumps up to protect against gamma rays but instead the attacker flips a switch on their device and the gun spits out UV rays instead. The channeler is then toast.
I think we're all largely screwed if trained military or police descended upon a channeler. Even Nikki B would likely have trouble defending himself against such a crowd.