Raziel's shield

Raziel's shield
Items article
Introduced in	Cut content

Raziel's shield was an item cut from Legacy of Kain: Defiance. The shield was intended to further distinguish Raziel's combat mechanics from Kain's, but was removed during the design stage for creative and technical reasons.

Behind the scenes

Ben Lincoln of The Lost Worlds described the shield in a 2007 update to his website:

"In the final version of Defiance, Raziel and Kain share similar fighting styles. Initially, plans existed for Raziel to find a shield which would have further distinguished the two. It is described as being a small item attached to his arm which would iris outwards to form a circular shield when activated.

"The Artifact 1a Room contains an object which may have been one design for the Shield, but its object name is that of a key. If it is one of the Shield concepts, it does not closely match what was originally intended, as the central section is too large and the teeth emerging from it do not form a full disk."

―Ben Lincoln

The unused artifact in "artifact1a" is named "vd_key_cd" and resembles the Silver Half of Vorador's Crest, suggesting a connection to Vorador's Mansion.^{[Defiance][Defiance/8]}

Series art director Daniel Cabuco later explained the decision to cut the shield:

"Raziel's shield in Defiance didn't make it past the design stage. It would have fundamentally changed the combat system from dodge/slash based to block/dodge/slash based. This meant you'd have to design block breakers into every character to stop people from turtling, compensate for collision (either Raz gets moved back or the enemy has to 'bounce' off him) Fundamentally this would have changed Raziel. (imagine going from Nightcrawler to Captain America, combat wise)"

―Daniel Cabuco

Notes

• Lincoln noted that Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain included possible evidence of an earlier cut shield: a floor mural in Nachtholm Armory depicted a glowing shield, and "a mural on the floor in Blood Omen generally indicates that that item depicted will be obtained there." Shields were later incorporated into the playstyle of the Vanguard class in Nosgoth.^[NOS]

See also

• A Shield for Raziel at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln).