I wonder what is preventing WoL from mentally breaking down

[AxelBranford]

If the answer is 'that's just how he/she is', I guess I have nothing to say... but judging by how Fordola reacted to WoL's echo, WoL does seem to feel something whenever WoL faces trejedy. On top of that WoL got all these responsibilities and hopes he/she is carrying on his/her shoulders which can only make things harder for WoL. I wonder, if it will ever become too much for WoL and have a point where WoL just mentally breaks down. But then, I guess extremeental strength is also one of the stereotypical characteristic of a hero.

Judging by some posts in the forums, mayhap they already got broken! XD
I think in the end, they have endured so much pain, trauma and this is their life: to face challenges after challenges.. That they get used to it.
Not that they are ok with, but it is as part known of their journey.

[Kranel_San]

Not everyone is going to be mentally down. If I was my WoL in real life then I'll just carry on. I'll probably be more serious though because... you know... people's lives are at risk here, but wouldn't mind taking the burden.
Maybe this is why DRK questlines weren't a big deal to me.

Edit: The Edit is to clarify more.
Since the WoL personality is at large depending on the players themselves. You can find many players like me who would carry on, but you would also find many players who would quit, stop, retire, or have their mentality broken down. It's up to you to decide what's your headcanon and what's not. This brings to mind that some players do not regard their characters as the WoL but rather as regular folk or simple adventurers or anything else.

[Elladie]

Elai - the only one of my PCs who is (head canon) the WoL - drank A LOT after Carteneau. After her best friend died in HW she lost the plot for a bit - even more booze and worse than booze - but she dragged herself out of that pit. She's realised that fighting - the technique of warcraft rather than murderising things - is what keeps her sane basically. The physical and mental exertion of honing her skills to the ultimate. Kind of like Zenos in a weird way but then again absolutely nothing like Zenos.

The point being, the on screen WoL will never have a breakdown. S/he/they can't, not overtly, because lots of us have head canon things going on that the devs do their best to facilitate. So if your WoL does collapse, OP, its up to you to choreograph that

[Recon1o6]

Given how short a time frame the game is estimated to be in, then chances are the wol has enough time to begin processing some of the various things, but then things go downhill again, the wol is likely at the point where their reaction after exposure to such matters is much less impactful than each source would normally be. Especially once they realised that they can just punch the problem out once conditions are good.

In other words: they aren't breaking because they are getting used to shit going south so much.

Something that comes to mind, the initial dark knight questline deals specifically with lots of built up frustration. Chances are, some of the events that went off didn't harm the wol as much as they could have because they weren't exactly close to the people involved at the time. eg the attack on the waking sands. At this point all that's happened since the wol joined is getting thrown into battle vs ifrit since they couldn't be tempered, then ordered about while the other scions do sweet f all.

Remember the wol by the time they meet the scions has already had to deal with lots of death, usually at their own hand. They may have also already seen one major kidnapping plot if they started at limsa

[kiagenwa]

Remember the wol by the time they meet the scions has already had to deal with lots of death, usually at their own hand. They may have also already seen one major kidnapping plot if they started at limsa

Also on themselves. How many times did we put our WoL to dangerous situations, only to be slain and restart the duty with the power of Echo.
We lived it. Up the the point where their hearts stopped beating.

Not to mention, there might be some duty/instance that the WoL did not die then and there, but were to be subjected to something worse when they lose..

[Larirawiel]

If the answer is 'that's just how he/she is', I guess I have nothing to say... but judging by how Fordola reacted to WoL's echo, WoL does seem to feel something whenever WoL faces trejedy. On top of that WoL got all these responsibilities and hopes he/she is carrying on his/her shoulders which can only make things harder for WoL. I wonder, if it will ever become too much for WoL and have a point where WoL just mentally breaks down. But then, I guess extremeental strength is also one of the stereotypical characteristic of a hero.

Fordola was always a perpetrator and never a victim. With the echo now she feels what it is to be a victim and what she has done to other people. And this bothers her a lot. And the DRK questline with Fray is fine.

Cheers

[Jandor]

I feel like how much stress the WoL is under is maybe a bit overdone in general.

Truth to be told, back when I started playing I got the impression that Eorzea was a dangerous place and that life was rather short and brutish for the average inhabitant. I feel my character would be no stranger to people close to them dying.

[EaraGrace]

The obvious answer to that question is that whatever answer that people come up with will say more about the person writing it than it will say about the coping mechanisms of a incredibly powerful hero, and that’s by design. We’re meant to fill in those gaps ourselves and as a result each persons answer will be unique, much like their character is.

[RyuDragnier]

For all intents and purposes, they already have, at least once.

The entire 30-50 DRK questline showed they were incredibly close to having an actual mental breakdown, if Fray appearing wasn't already a case of it. Then after Haurchefant's death, 1 week passed without us doing ANYTHING. Exactly 1 week without us controlling the WoL. That's how hard they took it, and it's somewhat implied by dialogue choices that the rest of the 3.0 storyline was us on a revenge trip out of grief. Then there's the level 60-70 questline pretty much HAVING the WoL have a mental breakdown, even ending with the job trainer asking if they need to talk to him, to let it off their chests.

[GoldStarz]

Fordola was always a perpetrator and never a victim. With the echo now she feels what it is to be a victim and what she has done to other people. And this bothers her a lot. And the DRK questline with Fray is fine.

Cheers

That's a pretty gross oversimplification considering her father was literally killed by an angry mob right before her eyes for no real fault of his own.