Sunlight Reaver

The Sunlight Reaver
Cut content article Items article
The Sunlight Reaver in Soul Reaver.
Cut from	Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (1999)

The Sunlight Reaver was a temporary elemental enhancement for the Wraith Blade that was planned for inclusion in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, but was ultimately cut due to time constraints.

Soul Reaver Alpha - Forges

(by Raina Audron)

Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver - Deleted Forges, Reavers, and the Spirit Glyph

(by Legacy of Kain: The Lost Worlds - Official)

Behind the scenes

The Sunlight Reaver was a temporary enhancement for the Wraith Blade associated with elemental Sunlight. It was intended to be discovered by Raziel in the Sunlight Forge, but both the forge and Reaver enhancement were ultimately cut due to time constraints.

The blade would have been a temporary enhancement, lost when entering the Spectral Realm and re-imbued by passing it through shafts of sunlight. The blade was intended to be have several special abilities; being able to stun enemies in a single strike, and killing enemies with a blinding flash that also stunned nearby enemies.

Despite being removed, a placeholder for the blade is present in the debug menu, however this is actually the Stone Reaver misattributed during reconstruction of the debug menu and the Sunlight Reaver is not present. The place of the Sunlight Reaver was ultimately taken in the retail version by the Ariel Reaver^{[Soul Reaver]}.

The Sunlight Reaver was present in the Soul Reaver alphas publicized in 2020 where it is a bright white blade with a subtle blue tint. The forge for the blade was located nearby the Chapel under the Tomb of the Sarafan.. The blade could burn enemies with strikes or projectiles.

Once Raziel has visited the Sunlight Forge and baptized the Reaver in the elemental altar, the blade has the potential to be imbued with sunlight whenever it appears in the environment. Once manifest in the material plane, the blade can be imbued with sunlight by passing it through a shaft of light.

A single hit with the Sunlight Reaver blade stuns the enemy; a second blow kills (burning the enemy, as though by conventional sunlight). An enemy struck only once will advance to a damaged state, then eventually recover. On the second (killing) blow, the impact of the blade causes a bright flash, with a small radius effect. Adjacent enemies are temporarily blinded (effectively stunned).

―PSM issue 19

Once Raziel has visited the Sunlight Forge and baptized the Reaver in the elemental altar, the blade has the potential to be imbued with sunlight wherever it appears in the environment. Once manifest in the material plane, the blade can be imbued with sunlight by passing it through a shaft of light.

A single hit with the Sunlight Reaver blade stuns the enemy; a second blow kills (burning the enemy, as though by conventional sunlight). An enemy struck only once will advance to a damaged state, then eventually recover. On the second (killing) blow, the impact of the blade causes a bright flash, with a small radius effect - adjacent enemies are temporarily blinded (effectively stunned).

Enemies hit by a Sunlight Reaver projectile are temporarily blinded, and effectively stunned (though the stunned state doesn't lead to a damaged state).

―Steve Starvis (Eidos)

Notes

• The Sunlight Reaver was the companion to the Sunlight Glyph still present in the game.
• With the other Reavers being reconfigured into more traditional elements, it is likely the Sunlight Reaver was developed into the Light Reaver seen in Soul Reaver 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance.

See also

• The Elemental Reavers at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)