Not sure if this goes in the existing elements thread, but I wanted to knock about what some particularly effective combos of melee weapons, elements, and/or Kanohi would be in a combat scenario, assuming the user is a Toa and gets to use lethal force. So, for some examples:
The Kadin would be devastating when coupled with any solid element like Stone or Ice, as the user could become a living missile with it and drop elemental payloads on targets.
Sonics plus a Suletu could be truly nasty. With the Suletu, you could probe an enemy’s mind to find out what they fear most, or even learn about a traumatizing memory, then replicate a sound they associate with that to surprise them and, depending on how severe the fear/trauma is, completely break their will. (Toa of Psionics can do this by themselves, but that’s just one element at work.)
A Toa of Fire might not want bladed weapons if he intends to kill a foe because his element would cauterize wounds created. Maces or truncheons may be more useful in this regard so he can create painful flesh wounds while also breaking bones. To add to this, his weapons would need an extremely high melting point and cannot be made out of wood, lest he destroy his own armaments.
Magnetism is a great element for ranged or thrown weapons, provided they’re made of metal. If the Toa magnetizes a target, then, say, shoots an arrow, its head will be guided to its destination automatically, making it much harder to dodge. The only problem is, if the entire weapon is made of metal, the whole thing will be pulled to the target at once rather than just the business end. It’d hurt, but I’d take a broken rib over certain impalement.
I’m curious what you guys come up with. Maybe it’d be helpful to consider really ineffective combos, like a Toa of Water with iron weapons.
Whether you are propelling object through telekinesis or just by throwing it, you still need to have an innate sense of accuracy to make it hit its mark.
Orde could use telekinesis to make an object fly really fast at his enemies, but what makes that any more accurate than just throwing it? It’s true that he has the advantage of adjusting it midcourse, but then the object could only fly as fast as his thought process to adjust it.
And the Sanok works on projectile launchers as well. We were never given an estimate on the muzzle velocity of a Cordak Blaster, but I’m willing to bet that the rockets move too fast for Orde to adjust them midflight with his telekinesis.
EDIT: I realize now that I kind of torpedoed my own combo here. Cordak Rockets aren’t reusable. Few types of ammunition are. So if an object is reusable, there is a good chance that it is moving slow enough for Orde to use his telekinesis.
So the Sanok/Psionics combo is dead, but my point still stands about the Sanok still being better than telekinesis in some situations.
Toa of coughjunglecough The Green + Mask of Rahi control = guy that controls Nature itself.
Toa of solid element (ice, earth)+shield + Hau = bad combo, it is 3 shields in one.
Volitak + unglittering, unnoticable weapons and armor = almost Huna.
Toa of earth + digging weapons = Archive Mole, an instant digging guy.
Keep in mind the Toa Mangai were not originally from Metru Nui. I pictured that Toa of ice coming from a frozen wasteland, like The Shadoed One. An artic-like realm where most Rahi attacks would be from aquatic ones. Plus there’s the possibility of simply having to repair some of the landmasses, huge icebergs making for a drifting city of Ko-Matoran.
Also a mask of intangiblity on a Toa of stone. Can’t hit them, and they punch you with their mask on then use there elemental power. You now have rock spikes erupting from inside you.
A Garai user coupled with an absolute madlad armed to the teeth with cordak blasters. By rapid-firing the cordak blaster, turning each bullet nearly massless, it’d be firing nearly undodgeable bullets. They would physically do the same damage as well- it’s a momentum trick. Fire them off with the same force (gun), decrease the mass, and their velocity automatically would increase speed.
Kanohi Olisi + insanely fast toa = naruto style genjutsu user. Rather than attempt at some drastic terrorizing alternate future projection, focus on brief bursts of illusions during close combat. Have the enemy face illusions as small as the toa is in one place, yet really is at another. Easy victory.
Not necessarily. See, the Garai affects gravity, which decides an objects weight, not its mass. This means it can only affect its projectile’s vertical motion. That’s not to say this mask or the element of Gravity would be useless with ranged weapons–not having to account for arcing projectiles would make long-range attacks easier to aim in some cases–but it wouldn’t make the bullets move super duper quickly.
Well, you’ve apparently been stuck in a time loop for 4 years, but thanks.
But actually, gravity doesn’t affect the mass of an object, only its weight. A bullet fired in outer space is equally as deadly as a bullet fired on a planet.
Where the Garai could give an advantage in this situation is by allowing the user to control how fast a projectile falls. You could fire something really far, or even adjust its vertical path mid-flight.
But here’s something to think about: There is gravitational force between all objects, just in impossibly small amounts. Could a Garai-user increase that force to be noticeable? Could they make things fall sideways?
I don’t think the Garai (or any gravity powers in Bionicle) directly change the strength of gravity an object produces, but rather, how much an object is affected by the effect of gravity, generally - you can see this if you read the BS01 pages of things with these powers. So - while hypothetically still possible - it would simultaneously involve increasing their weight to stupidly dangerous levels.
That said, it could be an effective trick for space combat (not that we ever saw much of space in Bionicle, but there was that one scene in Reign of Shadows with Lewa…)
Oh, there’s another combo, lol. Garai + Element of Air = Space Toa.
Here’s the thing: in order for that to happen, you’d need to create a new gravitational force. Such a force would impact everything around it. To make an arrow fly sideways due to gravity would require a new source of gravitic force in that direction…which would also pull you if it were strong enough to noticeably affect the flight of a projectile.
This is where a Matatu or Sanok comes in handy. A Toa of Gravity or a Toa with a Barai would be devastating with any sort of cannon (make it light enough to lug around and make the projectile heavier as it lands to increase the downward force applied or create a shockwave even if you miss), but this element doesn’t lend itself to sharpshooting in most situations; at least not more than other elements.
