Originally Posted by
Tenkuu
Actually, about that. If you see both the Blessing of Light and the Echo as aspects of Hydaelyn, then that would explain why the Echo alone would be enough to defeat an Ascian. Aside from their own powers, the Ascians' only advantage over the common man/woman is that they can possess their bodies, and the Echo protects us as much from that as it does from tempering. When sending us off to fight Ifrit again right after the 2.0 endgame, Thancred even makes a comment that having been possessed by Lahabrea made him particularly susceptible to tempering, and lists that as a reason why he can't come with us this time around. So in short, yes, our own strength is greater than most people's, but we have an added protection with the Echo that makes it so the Blessing of Light really does only boost our powers and is not a necessity.