Shifting

"Sustain your strength to prolong your manifestation in the physical world. If you fail to feed, or absorb too many wounds, this fragile matter will dissolve."

- The Elder God

Shifting was the ability of certain beings to willingly manifest within, or traverse between, two or more of Nosgoth's planes, which included the Material Realm, Spectral Realm and Demon Realm. Entities such as demons appeared to be capable of this feat by means of inherent abilities, while others, such as Raziel, used planar portals or other means such as possession. Shifting was a fundamental gameplay mechanic in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Soul Reaver 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance.

Role
The Plane Shifting ability allowed Raziel to travel from his native Spectral Realm to manifest himself in the Material Realm by "gathering matter" and willing himself to become manifest. This meant that Raziel would 'appear' from nothing in the Material Realm, but this change required Raziel to be at full strength (with a completely filled Soul Spiral) and he would have to be standing on a Planar portals. To cross in the other direction (from Material to Spectral) Raziel had no such impediments, and could abandon his physical form at any stage (regardless of his proximity to planar portals or health; although if his health was completely drained, Raziel would automatically shift to the Spectral Realm), dissolving his physical manifestation.

Raziel first gained the Shift Glyph in his initial meeting with the Elder God at the beginning of Soul Reaver, where Raziel encountered his first Planar portal and was explained how to manifest in the Material Realm in order to hunt down the Vampires of Kain's empire. The ability was a 'gift' from the Elder God and counted as his first Glyph on the ring menu (though in contrast to the other Glyphs, the Shift Glyph did not require any Eldritch Energy to cast.)

Raziel continued to use the Plane Shift mechanic and the Planar portals throughout Soul Reaver and Soul Reaver 2, but by the time of Defiance , Raziel's disobedience of the Elder God meant that 'favours' from him (such as Reaver Fonts and Planar Portals) were revoked and Raziel was forced to find a new method of Plane Shifting. In the Cemetery, Raziel found a new method of shifitng planes bypossessing corpses. This ability allowed Raziel to return to the Material Realm and required less energy to manifest (presumably as Raziel was not willing up a completely new entity for himself, but merely manipulating an existing one). From this point onwards, Raziel continued to use the Plane-Shift mechanic, but using burial sites in lieu of planar portals. Plane Shifting in Defiance was now part of Raziel's Reaver menu, allowing him to move between the Realms by selecting the Material or Spectral Reaver for each respective Realm.

Background
The Shift Glyph was to have been upgraded in the Original Soul Reaver Storyline by Raziel gaining the Shift-at-Will ability from Kain at the Chronoplast; this would also have made the planar portals redundant, but by allowing Raziel to switch Realms at will, with no limitations.

Appearances

 * Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
 * Soul Reaver 2
 * Legacy of Kain: Defiance