(10-21-2015, 12:02 PM)Vyce Wrote: Alka Zolka is a scholar but not a SCH. He can read the writings, but he cannot wield the magic.

(10-21-2015, 10:19 AM)Vyce Wrote: And Black Magic which uses your own body's aether reserves will kill you. And Scholars need one to even comprehend Nymeian magic. And Summoners need one to comprehend Allagan magic.

And Bards need one to figure out how to sing aether into battle. You get the singing part down, and the arrow part down, but what you don't know how to do is magically make all the panties drop with a single note. That is what the soul crystal teaches you. It doesn't seem like something someone else could just teach you- you gotta prove you're worthy and then the crystal helps you feel the groove. It basically teaches you how to DRR on extreme mode.

(10-21-2015, 12:15 PM)Unnamed Mercenary Wrote:

(10-21-2015, 12:02 PM)Vyce Wrote: Alka Zolka is a scholar but not a SCH. He can read the writings, but he cannot wield the magic.

It's a counter to specifically this:

(10-21-2015, 10:19 AM)Vyce Wrote: And Black Magic which uses your own body's aether reserves will kill you. And Scholars need one to even comprehend Nymeian magic. And Summoners need one to comprehend Allagan magic.

And Bards need one to figure out how to sing aether into battle. You get the singing part down, and the arrow part down, but what you don't know how to do is magically make all the panties drop with a single note. That is what the soul crystal teaches you. It doesn't seem like something someone else could just teach you- you gotta prove you're worthy and then the crystal helps you feel the groove. It basically teaches you how to DRR on extreme mode.

Alka Zolka doesn't need the Soul Crystal to understand how the Nymian magic works. But he's not an Arcanist. He's a Marauder. In Alka Zolka's case, he was learning things the "old way". By studying.

Then the Adventurer comes in, touches the shiny rock, and basically learns through osmosis. Soul Crystals aren't enablers. They're shortcuts. Or like plugging in a flash drive full of someone else's research, reports and work so that you can copy it easier instead of having to do all that work on your own.

(10-21-2015, 12:33 PM)Vyce Wrote: OH! But would that mean that a very rich person with nothing better to do might try to buy a soul crystal and shortcut everything.

"Huh. Today is blah. I think I'll pay some thugs to go shank a White Mage for a Soul Crystal."

(10-21-2015, 12:33 PM)Vyce Wrote: OH! But would that mean that a very rich person with nothing better to do might try to buy a soul crystal and shortcut everything.

"Huh. Today is blah. I think I'll pay some thugs to go shank a White Mage for a Soul Crystal."

(10-21-2015, 12:33 PM)Vyce Wrote: OH! But would that mean that a very rich person with nothing better to do might try to buy a soul crystal and shortcut everything.

"Huh. Today is blah. I think I'll pay some thugs to go shank a White Mage for a Soul Crystal."

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who remembers Kim Possible? They had one of those!

(10-21-2015, 12:52 PM)Unnamed Mercenary Wrote: A rich person somehow buying all the soul crystals would be the same as a rich supervillain buying lots of destructive equipment.

...He might have the tools, but he can't operate it.

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who remembers Kim Possible? They had one of those!

edit: alternatively, it's like having a car without knowing how to drive. Yeah, you can sit in the seat and probably even start the engine, but good luck safely driving anywhere.

(10-21-2015, 10:50 AM)Zoya Wrote:

(10-21-2015, 10:41 AM)Hammersmith Wrote: Out of those only BLM requires a soulstone since it's said, explicitly, not using a BLM soulstone while using BLM sets -you on fire and kills you-.

And then you're left to wonder how a BLM soul crystal can even hold any kind of black magic knowledge.

I mean, in order for the empty crystal to be filled with knowledge, you need to perform the art.
In order to perform the art, you need a soul crystal filled with knowledge.

That doesn't quite work out.

(10-21-2015, 01:04 PM)Smagon Wrote:

(10-21-2015, 10:50 AM)Zoya Wrote:

(10-21-2015, 10:41 AM)Hammersmith Wrote: Out of those only BLM requires a soulstone since it's said, explicitly, not using a BLM soulstone while using BLM sets -you on fire and kills you-.

And then you're left to wonder how a BLM soul crystal can even hold any kind of black magic knowledge.

I mean, in order for the empty crystal to be filled with knowledge, you need to perform the art.
In order to perform the art, you need a soul crystal filled with knowledge.

That doesn't quite work out.

I assume that's where the soul stone comes in. There are probably countless memories of people blowing themselves up so you can know what not to do.

(10-21-2015, 01:04 PM)Smagon Wrote:

(10-21-2015, 10:50 AM)Zoya Wrote:

(10-21-2015, 10:41 AM)Hammersmith Wrote: Out of those only BLM requires a soulstone since it's said, explicitly, not using a BLM soulstone while using BLM sets -you on fire and kills you-.

And then you're left to wonder how a BLM soul crystal can even hold any kind of black magic knowledge.

I mean, in order for the empty crystal to be filled with knowledge, you need to perform the art.
In order to perform the art, you need a soul crystal filled with knowledge.

That doesn't quite work out.

I assume that's where the soul stone comes in. There are probably countless memories of people blowing themselves up so you can know what not to do.

(10-21-2015, 01:07 PM)Oli! Wrote:

(10-21-2015, 01:04 PM)Smagon Wrote:

(10-21-2015, 10:50 AM)Zoya Wrote:

(10-21-2015, 10:41 AM)Hammersmith Wrote: Out of those only BLM requires a soulstone since it's said, explicitly, not using a BLM soulstone while using BLM sets -you on fire and kills you-.

And then you're left to wonder how a BLM soul crystal can even hold any kind of black magic knowledge.

I mean, in order for the empty crystal to be filled with knowledge, you need to perform the art.
In order to perform the art, you need a soul crystal filled with knowledge.

That doesn't quite work out.

I assume that's where the soul stone comes in. There are probably countless memories of people blowing themselves up so you can know what not to do.

Alternatively, some Soul Crystals work differently than others. It's entirely possible that BLM soul crystals are literally just special foci, and don't hold memories, or are focusing crystals that end up holding memories as a side-effect of being glued to people's pockets. This may be backed up by the fact that spellbooks are very important over the course of the BLM storyline; the people that give you the Gem play it up as more of a prophecy item, and they themselves learned from books and other sources. Stuff you learn in the 50+ quests are Dank Spells straight from the Book of Nald, too.

(10-21-2015, 11:39 AM)Zelmanov Wrote:

(10-20-2015, 08:31 PM)Ashe Wrote:

(10-20-2015, 08:30 PM)Zelmanov Wrote: I tend to ignore them, I'll never have a plotline involving a stolen or pick-pocketed soulstone robbing Orrin of his powers or anything of the like. 

However I am lore-flexible (as always) so if anything Orrin has one, and has infused a great deal of his knowledge into it as well.

I should fix that...

well if your trip to azys lla happens to snag you a smn soulstone and you try to use that new found power to try and squish that pesky dragoon, I won't call foul.