About Wuk's strength [Ending spoilers]

[NotoriousQX]

Didn't seem like it really. Wuk Lamat seems to beat us in Dynamis if her damage is any indication.

It isn't. By this logic, Estinien is also several times more powerful than us because in his solo duty he was striking for three or four times a player character's damage with basic attacks. Damage doesn't mean anything in a narrative sense.

[Connor]

To be fair, I think the damage is just supposed to look good rather than be indicative of ‘lore-strength’.
Somehow I doubt Wuk Lamat has the power to literally raise the (near) dead, call meteors from the sky that could level entire cities, or summon the physical manifestation of an imagined god (primals) to fight for her.
Wuk tends to be the one at the ‘front’ of the action in the expansion but I don’t think she comes anywhere to close to many of the other characters we’ve met. Like I’d say even G’raha and Y’shtola were more powerful, they simply don’t get utilised in any way to showcase this. Which ends up making Wuk look freakishly (and inexplicably) powerful

[MeteorShan]

The instanced fight at level 94 where you have to fight as Wuk Lamat is utterly ridiculous. People who are defending it and think Dynamis is what caused her power boost are fundamentally wrong according to the lore:

"Dynamis is another form of energy distinct from aether that permeates and conforms most of the physical universe, and in pure quantity is the more abundant of the two, accounting for approximately 68.3% of all known energy. However, its effect on the material realm is much weaker than aether's and is almost completely drowned out in the presence of equivalent amounts of aether. As such, dynamis only shows tangible effects when in large quantities, most notably outer space, away from comparatively aether-rich planets."

Humanity was sundered by Hydaelyn so that we had a chance to defeat Meteion by being able to interact with Dynamis in her own realm at the edge of existence, this is not possible on Etheirys as it is rich in aether.

In 6.55 it's visibly shown to us that she can barely handle a large talking parrot and is physically shaking due to her lack of combat prowess. During the initial level 90 MSQ quests at the start of Dawntrail, whilst each claimant is walking out one at a time from the palace, it is widely stated and recognised that she is significantly weaker in combat than the rest and has no achievements to her name. Then at level 90 MSQ during the Hanuhanu quests, Wuk attacks Bakool Ja Ja when he's threatening to destroy the Hanuhanu float. She literally says "I attacked him with everything I had" after he has blocked her and knocked her back with ridiculous ease, she's probably the equivalent of an average Marauder from the Marauder's guild in Limsa, nothing more.

The fact that she then steamrolls him at level 94 MSQ in the solo instance is complete joke, I was expecting her to at least have the presence of mind to stand aside and let us have that solo instance to toy with Bakool Ja Ja as we put him down. The only reason she is capable of this fight herself is plot armour and terrible writing.

THEN in the second half of the story, where she has absolutely no place being, she can somehow match Zarool Ja in hand to hand combat and destroy his soul regulator. This is beyond obscene as Zarool Ja had defeated Bakool Ja Ja in a MSQ 92 cutscene with one attack whilst holding back on the advice of Sareel Ja. Furthermore, Zarool Ja also has an extra 30 years of combat training along with vastly advanced weaponry. He would be able to just one shot her without even trying, the power scaling in Dawntrail for their Mary Sue / Blackhole Sue is inexcusable, simply believing in yourself and "the Power of Peace" does not make you a vastly more proficient fighter I'm afraid.

[LuciferMournstar]

The instanced fight at level 94 where you have to fight as Wuk Lamat is utterly ridiculous. People who are defending it and think Dynamis is what caused her power boost are fundamentally wrong according to the lore:

"Dynamis is another form of energy distinct from aether that permeates and conforms most of the physical universe, and in pure quantity is the more abundant of the two, accounting for approximately 68.3% of all known energy. However, its effect on the material realm is much weaker than aether's and is almost completely drowned out in the presence of equivalent amounts of aether. As such, dynamis only shows tangible effects when in large quantities, most notably outer space, away from comparatively aether-rich planets."

Humanity was sundered by Hydaelyn so that we had a chance to defeat Meteion by being able to interact with Dynamis in her own realm at the edge of existence, this is not possible on Etheirys as it is rich in aether.

In 6.55 it's visibly shown to us that she can barely handle a large talking parrot and is physically shaking due to her lack of combat prowess. During the initial level 90 MSQ quests at the start of Dawntrail, whilst each claimant is walking out one at a time from the palace, it is widely stated and recognised that she is significantly weaker in combat than the rest and has no achievements to her name. Then at level 90 MSQ during the Hanuhanu quests, Wuk attacks Bakool Ja Ja when he's threatening to destroy the Hanuhanu float. She literally says "I attacked him with everything I had" after he has blocked her and knocked her back with ridiculous ease, she's probably the equivalent of an average Marauder from the Marauder's guild in Limsa, nothing more.

The fact that she then steamrolls him at level 94 MSQ in the solo instance is complete joke, I was expecting her to at least have the presence of mind to stand aside and let us have that solo instance by toying with Bakool Ja Ja as we put him down. The only reason she is capable of this fight herself is plot armour and terrible writing.

THEN in the second half of the story, where she has absolutely no place being, she can somehow match Zarool Ja in hand to hand combat and destroy his soul regulator. This is beyond obscene as Zarool Ja had defeated Bakool Ja Ja in a MSQ 92 cutscene with one attack whilst holding back on the advice of Sareel Ja. Furthermore, Zarool Ja also has an extra 30 years of combat training along with vastly advanced weaponry. He would be able to just one shot her without even trying, the power scaling in Dawntrail for their Mary Sue / Blackhole Sue is inexcusable, simply believing in yourself and "the Power of Peace" does not make you a vastly more proficient fighter I'm afraid.

Thank you for sharing, I did not know about Dynamis's muted effect on Eather rich planets. You and the others are correct, It makes no sense with the Dynamis Effect I thought being debunked.

[Azyreal]

We're not that special. We need 8 people to do the work and the one time we were against something completely ridiculous in power compared to us (Hades is an ascian and we beat several ascians fair and square before ShB, even Lahabrea) we used the power of Dynamis several time to turn the tables. Wuk shown since 5.55 to be able to keep up with the WoL, she doesn't do that much damage to Sphene, it's just her LB and we weakened her right before. People really need to get in their heads that the WoL isn't much more powerful than the other scions, as shown with duty support nowadays.

[Verathel]

She was trained by the Dawnservant...So at best case scenario she is royalty who got top tier training which again best scenario would make her an elite but that is it. Worst case and this is what the actual in game says during the MSQ...She is weaker than her brothers and before Dawntrail she struggled against the mobs when we went on that adventure on the island.

When you consider dynamis...It would throw the whole power equation out the window for if she could do so much with it in an aether rich world...Why can't other characters?

And considering what we have faced over several expansions...In battle experience alone it is several levels above even the Scions. We have demi gods, gods, monsters, primordial beings, tyrants, heroes...

There is no good explanation for her strength. There just isn't...And even if you take strength out of the equation her skill is matching it back to back.

It's pure ??????????????????

[ThorneDynasty]

Maybe it's a bit more reasonable to assume WoL has been on the brink of death having spent every bit of their aether (a prerequisite for using dynamis being very thin aether) that they've gotten experienced at using it? Reminder that the first time we LB3, we first had to be shielded by Hydaelyn herself from a magic nuke to survive long enough to even have a chance to utilize it. I doubt most fighters in the world have the supreme primal goddess or enough personal prowess to make it so far into such desperate situations where dynamis can kick in, let alone do it so many times they actually learn to use it on the regular.

[Verathel]

Maybe it's a bit more reasonable to assume WoL has been on the brink of death having spent every bit of their aether (a prerequisite for using dynamis being very thin aether) that they've gotten experienced at using it? Reminder that the first time we LB3, we first had to be shielded by Hydaelyn herself from a magic nuke to survive long enough to even have a chance to utilize it. I doubt most fighters in the world have the supreme primal goddess or enough personal prowess to make it so far into such desperate situations where dynamis can kick in, let alone do it so many times they actually learn to use it on the regular.

Oh, yes the in game WOL is a master at it. It's said throughout every expansion to the point they even sometimes stop saying "bring your friends with you" and we just go in ourselves. It's actually curious as to why we aren't allowed to use the Echo more like the Warriors of Darkness did in game.

And she is also a warrior is she not? Considering the warrior questline and maybe I'm missing something there she doesn't seem very powerful either in that regard.

[CuteBucket]

snip (replying to original post).

I think the answer to why she's so strong is simply because she's the main character and the writers wanted her to be. And there's nothing wrong with that as a starting point as a writer and knowing what you want to achieve with various characters in the story. But they don't give us an actual reason in the story! I'm not going to take the story too literally here--if we're going by Anime Protagonist rules, she gets physically stronger to reflect her own emotional growth and strength, that's a pretty common thing to see. The Warrior of Light can defeat gods many times their size and aether density after all. Unfortunately they don't do a very good job of demonstrating Wuk Lamat's strength to us, at least in the second half, imo. Yeah, are there some silly parts in the first half where she uses the Power of Friendship to overcome the odds? Sure. But for something with the stakes of a competition and a rivalry with her siblings and Bakool JaJa, I can roll with it. It's corny, but it's fine for what it is. I don't need it to make perfect logical sense or be high art if it's adhering the rules and expectations of the genre its going for. Heck, they even gave us the explanation for why we could defeat Valigarmanda when Gulool JaJa and his party could not--It was because it had been imprisoned for so long and was drained of most of it's aether, and that's why Wuk Lamat and co could defeat it (on top of the Power of Friendship).

But breaking into the final boss arena to try and Power of Friendship at an evil rogue AI? Nah. I couldn't buy it anymore. I just groaned and rolled my eyes. It's Eden 8 all over again, and groaned and rolled my eyes for that fight too, and the Eden raids were still a better story than whatever happened here.

[TheMightyMollusk]

It's actually curious as to why we aren't allowed to use the Echo more like the Warriors of Darkness did in game.

They had some help from Elidibus to learn how to do it.

Might've also had to do with them having given up their physical bodies first. They were already basically ghosts, so they could just absorb some more aether from their crystals and get back up without having to bother healing their injuries first. We still have our fleshy meats holding us back.