Quote Originally Posted by Clawtooth View Post
What about Hoary Boulder and Coltenet doesn't strike you as echo users?
Point taken. I feel the way I do because of the way the nature of the Echo has been completely re-written in ARR. The Echo used to be more mystical and spiritual in the original version of the game, and the Path of the Twelve often reminded me of real-world Freemasonry, a secret society with semi-religious influences.

But in ARR, the Echo has become a more overt kind of power. It's no longer something innate, but is rather more an explicit manifestation of Hydaelyn's blessing. To possess the Echo is to be specially marked by Hydaelyn for greater things, and it's the chief reason that you, the main character, is so exceptionally powerful.

Of course, it could also be rationalised that you just happen to be an especially adept user of the Echo. But, as of now, no reason has been given as to why you're so special.

So, I've come to believe that simply being blessed with the Echo itself makes you especially strong, a mechanic that shows up during Trials. And yet, none of the present-day Scions outside of the Archons are particularly noteworthy.

Yes, it's true that the Echo manifests itself in different ways in each individual. That was made very clear even during 1.0. But then again, ver1.0 also made it very clear that all the Echo-users in the Path were pursuing personal pilgrimages of one form or another. That distinction is no longer as clear in ARR, especially after the massacre in Waking Sands and the addition of the Crystal Braves, whom I do consider to be the military arm of the Scions, a development that my character, Lyland, is not completely comfortable with.