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Lore-wise, how powerful is PC?

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Aeternm

Aeternm

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[ Spoilers? Perhaps. WGS+ ]


That's as simply as the title says. How powerful is the player character lore-wise? By that I mean, under some circumstances our character can take damage from pretty ridiculous things, but if we focus on lore only, how powerful is the World Guardian?

I've not done any quest beyond Plague's End so far, but know plenty about quests ahead of me (thanks people who give spoilers with no warning). During ROTM, we see as Arrav simultaneously fights all the six Barrows Brothers. I think it's made pretty clear for everyone that we could beat Arrav to a pulp if our goal wasn't freeing him. While one could argue Arrav was not at full power at the time since his body was very old, neither were the barrows, and their bodies are probably much older than Arrav's. However, during Rise of the Six (minigame), which we can solo, all the brothers are much more powerful and we engage the six of them simultaneously.

We've faced and survived through impossible situations. Lore-wise, we defeated General Khazard, Kree'arra, K'ril Tsutsaroth, General Graardor, Enakhra, Zemouregal, Nomad, Char, Vanstrom Klause, Lord Drakan, two Tormented Demons, the Dark Lord, a god-like dragonkin (while some could say he was weakened, it really didn't look like that to me) and Sliske (forgive me if I forgot something, but most of the above quests I finished many years ago, while others I have still to complete. Even at the beginning of our adventurer life we've defeated quite powerful creatures, such as Delrith (lore-wise supposedly powerful enough to destroy a city) and Elvarg. If we are to say the Completionist cape and its trimmed version do exist and are actually obtained by the World Guardian, we could also say our character is powerful enough to defeat creatures such as Nex, the QBD, Telos and Voraggo.

So, how powerful exactly we are in the lore? How powerful is the World Guardian compared to other powerful beings?

31-Jul-2017 00:41:15

Deltaslug

Deltaslug

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I need to cut you off a little because a few of the things you brought up have major caveats:

- Arravs and the Barrows Bros - RotM was a 5th Age quest. This was long before Sliske empowered them with magics from the Shadows to their RotS form

- The fight against Vanstrom - again, 5th Age AND the player had tactical support from 5 people

- The fight against the 2 Tormented Demons - the player was heavily amped up by the Stone of Jas. While you are still amped up during the RotM, it wasn't to the same degree. In DAT, the player isn't exactly amped up, but instead, channeled the power of the SoJ into their weapon rather than themselves.

The player character (aka World Guardian) for most parts is a very capable mortal but not the most powerful. The ability to 'no-sell' the power of up to Tier 2 gods (Sliske's Endgame shows that Jas and other Elder Gods can smite you ... ) to an extent due to the protective effect.
Skill, muscle strength, and magical capacity may never fully be tapped into as characters such as the Wise Old Man, the Mahjarrat, and Baxtorian are still leagues ahead of us there.

We often defeat opponents because they grossly underestimate us (and thus held back or were sloppy) or we catch them at a time when they are at their weakest or because they technically let us win.
Other times we won because while they were superior, tenacity and luck won the day for the World Guardian (just because you have every advantage doesn't guarantee you the win).

Tapping into the true power of the World Guardian power can allow you to overcome even empowered Mahjarrat (they have the power akin to a low tier god themselves). However the conditions to tap into it might be difficult to replicate on a regular basis, and even then, potentially limited.

31-Jul-2017 01:53:33

Marine Doge

Marine Doge

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I'd say the WG being so strong is less because of outright power and skill (not to say they aren't skilled or powerful) and more 'right place, right time' over and over to an extreme.
We manage to get our hands on canonically-powerful equipment, like armor empowered by shadow magic and necromancy (Barrows), dragon metal, divine shapeshifting crystals of a goddess, the Godsword, Silver/Darklight, and so on.
Fairies gave us their blessing to use their rings for transport, a Mahjarrat bestowed knowledge of powerful dark magic unto us, the Moonclan opened our minds to the possibilities of magic through their ceremonies.
Death literally doesn't let us die - presumably Guthix was like "yo when this person is born, don't reap them, just resurrect them". It comes up in Elegy, so it's canon that we die and come back.
Plus there's the common idea that our enemies initially underestimate us or we catch them in a weakened or reluctant state.
And we also apparently have some great cosmic destiny since Oreb knew about us and was trying to get us to arrive, and Xau-Tak knew about us before we were born.
There's so much more I can list (besides the obvious World Guardian empowerment) but I think you get the point - it's just the sum of all these different advantages adding up to make us a force to be reckoned with. In terms of straight-up power and skill, the Wise Old Man probably still has us beat, and we're definitely outdone by any Mahjarrat or god.
Mods pls notice me

31-Jul-2017 06:50:27 - Last edited on 31-Jul-2017 06:52:22 by Marine Doge

Hazeel

Hazeel

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As strong as the plot demands....so strong enough to defeat 4-5 Elder Gods without too much difficulty. Runescape doesn't need a hero...it needs a villain. An all encompassing force of evil that will remain ever-threatening and use chaos to make the peoples of Gielinor tolerate each other, grow strong together, and fight side by side against this evil. I am that villain.

01-Aug-2017 00:13:12 - Last edited on 01-Aug-2017 00:13:27 by Hazeel

Summerleaf
Nov Member 2012

Summerleaf

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Sliske describes us as one of the three most powerful creatures of Gielinor (excluding the Elder Gods), so I'd go off that.

Mod Osborne said a few years ago that we have the power to influence events the same way that a T2 God has, but power-wise, I forget what he said.

01-Aug-2017 08:32:29

Uncle Harper
Jul Member 2015

Uncle Harper

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The WG is pretty powerful. Capable of beating the likes of Telos in one on one combat. Probably our biggest feat to date is defeating Sliske who Mod Osborne said competes with Azzanadra for the most powerful (non-nex) mortal on the planet. Other feats like defeating the abomination which was a dragonkin god (though with the assistance of bane ore) and Lord Drakken rank pretty high as well. Besting Khazard, Zemougal, and Enakhra in combat puts us somewhere on the level of a powerful Mahjarrat. Sliske's claim that were one of 3 of the most powerful beings on the planet appears pretty accurate. But thats not to say were the most powerful, not by a long shot. Vorago still dwarfs us, and enhanced Nex does as well. Several of the gods likely do as well tho we have a shield against their most powerful magic. I have seen the dark universe yawning, where the black planets roll without aim;
Where they roll in their horror unheeded, without knowledge or lustre or name.

01-Aug-2017 14:58:20

SixOfOne
Apr Member 2023

SixOfOne

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We are as strong as the plot demands and what we need to be. Physically, there is a cap on how powerful we can be as shown by the stats. What makes us able to compete with those on a completely different is out ability to gather equipment etc. In terms of base power, we are outdone by everything with a higher combat level than us, and although this is not always representative it's an ok general guideline. I also wouldn't take some fights as a good example of how powerful we are. For example, it's pretty obvious that Sliske wanted us to impale him with the staff so that's probably not representative of how strong he is compared to us. I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend to be one of those deaf-mutes

01-Aug-2017 19:15:02

A Mighty

A Mighty

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As powerful as a T7 god.

We're a T7 god in all but name, as Jagex doesn't want the term "god" to be associated with our character. But it has been confirmed that the power Guthix gave us in TWW made us immortal (in the RS sense; we can't die of old age but we can die in battle). So I'd say T7 gods are a fair comparison.
To those cursed by war and pest, Come into the light of Armadyl and rest. This is the law of Armadyl.

01-Aug-2017 20:31:51

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