The Water 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.
Behind the scenes[]
The Water Reaver was a temporary enhancement for the Wraith Blade associated with elemental Water. It was intended to be discovered by Raziel in the Water Forge, but both the forge and Reaver enhancement were ultimately cut due to time constraints[1][2][3].
The blade would have been a temporary enhancement, lost when entering the Spectral Realm and re-imbued by sources of water (or possibly waterfalls).The blade was intended to be have several special abilities; being able to stun enemies in a single strike, and burn enemies to death with Water in both its finishing strike and Force bolts[1].
Despite being removed, the blade can be activated in game through the use of the debug menu, revealing it as a pale-blue Wraith blade enhancement (like its successors) - however none of its abilites were present in-game[1][Soul Reaver][4].
A similar temporary Water Reaver was planned for inclusion in Soul Reaver 2, but also ended up being cut due to time constraints[5]. The Water Reaver would eventually debut in a more permanent form in Legacy of Kain: Defiance[Defiance/8][Defiance].
The Water Reaver in the alphas
The Water Reaver was present in the Soul Reaver alphas publicized in 2020 where it is an orange-yellow blade. The forge for the blade was located underneath the Drowned Abbey in the place occupied by the Fire forge in retail.The blade could kill enemies with strikes or projectiles - the animation used is reminiscent of the burning animation but no effect is present.
Some beta versions have an unlabelled yellow-orange Wraith Blade present in the code which had previously been attributed to the Stone Reaver. Given the evidence of the alphas it may instead have represented the alpha colorscheme of the Water Reaver - or alternatively the colors of the blades may have been reshuffled between alpha and betas.[1] The colour of the Water Reaver here is similar to that of the finished Fire Reaver, which started out as cyan before switching to a much more red tone and finally shifting to orange.[1]
The orange color of the Reaver suggests that the RGB color values were unintentionally mixed up during development - correcting this makes the Water Reaver a pale blue. A similar color mix up apparently occurs with the Fire Reaver.
A single blow with the Water Reaver blade stuns the enemy; a second blow kills (as though the enemy were burned by immersing it in water). An enemy struck only once will advance to a damaged state, then eventually recover. The Water Reaver projectile does water (e.g., burning acid) damage to a single enemy, stunning/damaging it.
A single blow with the Water Reaver blade stuns the enemy; a second blow kills (as though the enemy were burned by immersing water). An enemy struck only once will advance to a damaged state, then eventually recover.
The Water Reaver projectile does water (e.g., burning acid) damage to a single enemy, stunning/damaging it.Notes[]
- The Water Reaver was intended as a companion to the Water Glyph[1][2].
- Another temporary Water Reaver (with an Ancient vampire origin and different special abilities) was intended be gained in Soul Reaver 2 at a more complex puzzle-orientated Water Forge and re-imbued from Water-attuned Reaver fonts (and upgraded with a Water Reaver augmentation[7]); however as in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, the enhancement was cut due to time constraints[5][8]. It would be left to Legacy of Kain: Defiance to finally debut the permanent Water Reaver enhancement and its special abilities[7][Defiance/8][Defiance].
See also[]
The Elemental Reavers at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 The Elemental Reavers at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Elemental Reaver Forges at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)
- ↑ PSM Magazine, March 1999, issue 19, Vol.3 (preservation archive)
- ↑ The Debug Menu at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Deleted Elemental Reavers at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)
- ↑ November 24, 2001 snapshot of Soul Reaver Playstation (PSone) Cheat Codes in ABSOLUTE PLAYSTATION ( PSX, PS, PS1 ) - Soul Reaver at ABSOLUTE PLAYSTATION
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Reaver Upgrades at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)
- ↑ Deleted Reaver Forges at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)
Browse[]
- This article is about The Water Reaver enhancement seen in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. For the enhancement seen in Soul Reaver 2, see Water Reaver (Soul Reaver 2). For the more permanent enhancement seen in Legacy of Kain: Defiance, see Water Reaver (Defiance).
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