What is the extent of the WoL's powers?

[Iscah]

That's the official line, anyway - but there's nothing in that quote, at least, explicitly ruling out that there wasn't also a deeper story-purpose to it!

[Fenral]

I get the feeling our fearless Producer-Director, Naoki "You weren't supposed to say that yet" Yoshida would have answered that question differently, only to have people rush on stage and silence him.

[ObsidianFire]

If you're a SMN main, you'll quickly realize that people in FFXIV must feel threatened wherever someone pulls out a really expensive book. Same thing goes for staves since staves are not used for martial arts but magic arts. Really... given the scale of the magic mages can use, pulling out a book, staff or globe is kinda like aiming a rocket launcher at someone...

[Kalise]

Really... given the scale of the magic mages can use, pulling out a book, staff or globe is kinda like aiming a rocket launcher at someone...

*Cries in BLU*

[The_NPC]

pulling out a book, staff or globe is kinda like aiming a rocket launcher at someone...

Can't say ur wrong, I mean just seeing a enemy weilding anything powerful on a shooter game makes me go "Okay u need to die while I hide over here like a coward!" I mean I bet pulling out a magic staff would scare normal ppl but do that against a veterian & at best u'll get laughter, at worst insta-murdered... hence why the WoL is tooken seriously regardless of class, everything u did up to that point, everyone u encounter asumes u did it as "That" class (Including mass murder of several Primals & skilled ppl/armies) regardless of wether u use the same class from quest to quest or not.

Mob 1: AAHHH were doomed
Mob 2: but its just some random WHM
Mob 1: yah they've always been that but their the Primal Slaying, Monster Hunting, Garlean evisorating, Nightmare Inducing Murderhobo known as the Warrior of FUCKING Light
Mob 2: oh well shit...

[AxHell]

My headcanon for the WOL's new hidden power:

NPC: "What are you gonna do? Nod at me?"

WOL: *nods*

NPC: ded

[Avarant]

I always thought the echo was responsible for simple in game stuff too. Ie. Being able to see sparkling around objective sensitive items, the orange attack circles (knowing where an attack will land), which explained to me why Fordola could dodge Lyse, she just saw the attack coming like we do.

[Enkidoh]

I always thought the echo was responsible for simple in game stuff too. Ie. Being able to see sparkling around objective sensitive items, the orange attack circles (knowing where an attack will land), which explained to me why Fordola could dodge Lyse, she just saw the attack coming like we do.

That's not correct though - that sort of thing is not part of the lore as it's purely gameplay mechanics that are part of the game's interface that need no story explanation. Even the 'Power of the Echo' buff really has nothing to do with the Echo story wise - it's simply to make it sound better than 'buff to help you get past a difficult fight that you have already failed once'.

And Fordola's power is not like how our Echo works either - it's a Frankenstien-bastardization of certain aspects of the Echo without copying it outright (Alus after all used Krile as his model for it, and Krile's own ability in the Echo was limited to sensing beasts and animals) - Fordola merely sensed murmurs in the aether, which is how the player's character (with Urianger's guidance) was able to fairly easily overwhelm her by simply assaulting her with a massive concentrated aether blast. Fordola can't even properly view another's memories - all she gets are extremely brief snippets of memory in quick sucession, nothing like the long 'video' records we get instead.

The only thing she shares with the player's Echo ability is her immunity to Primal influence (ala tempering), everything else is wildly different to how our 'natural' Echo works, as it was by design. Alus created the Resonance after all with a view to being able to allow native-born Garleans like himself the ability to manipulate aether in their bodies (as in, use magic), so a predisposition to 'battle' orientated ability would go along with that, unlike the Echo, which Hydaelyn randomly grants to many people, even those who have no military training or combat skill.

[SannaR]

The Aoe part yes we don't know about the rest of the things since we've never seen a npc who has the echo say something like hey what about this shiny thing. It's been commented on more than once how even before Fordola that we move faster than others out of attacks.

[kidalutz]

Ignoring imagined relationship statuses.

People are easily duped into misreading and misinterpreting information and thus imagination lends creedence to I'm being romanced and crushed upon everywhere.

Do people adore the WoL? Absolutely.

Will you ever see this reflected on screen? No, at most you will see a strong friendship develop on the screen this isn't Dragon Age. MMOs have guidelines to follow and keep to.

As to the WoL full extent of power.

The Answer is hopefully we never see it because that will mean the end of the game and I for one hope that I am teaching this game to my grandkids one day.