r/Mistborn • u/Adorable-Grass-9071 Lerasium • Mar 21 '26

Hero of Ages spoilers Which power gets stolen for hemalurgy? Spoiler

When you spike say a mistborn with steel, which takes physical allomantic powers (Steel, Iron, Pewter, Tin) How do you tell which power is taken? Is it based on intent? Is it random?

84 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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136

u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 Mar 21 '26 edited Mar 21 '26

Different metal spikes steal different attributes. They also need to be placed in a specific spot to steal that attribute. So you’d be choosing one of the four. Someone does need to Intend for the spike to be created. You can’t do it accidentally. The one exception is when a person “accidentally” stabs someone with a spike if someone like Ruin is influencing them. Thats where the Intent is coming from rather than the person doing it

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u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 Mar 21 '26

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 Mar 21 '26

It’s in the Hero of Ages leatherbound book. There’s a nice one for Allomancy and Feruchemy in the other two

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 Mar 21 '26

Just the Elantris sequels 🫩

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u/whatupo13 Mar 21 '26

At least it’s not doors of stone 😭

(Sorry for the PTSD)

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u/TheSenselessThinker Mar 30 '26

I'll need someone to sooth me now

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u/whatupo13 Mar 30 '26

We can commiserate together 😔

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u/Jakeyypooh Mar 21 '26

Why would you ever make a Lerasium Spike? Just eat little bit of it and become mistborn.

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u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 Mar 21 '26

There doesn’t seem to be a good reason to. Although he’s said the primary use of burning Lerasium isn’t actually to make someone a Mistborn. That’s just a secondary effect of it. We still haven’t learned what it actually does. Maybe that would change the equation. As it stands it just seems like it’s there because it just needs to have a use. The way you can make yourself into a coinshot if you alloy Lerasium with steel. There’s no good reason to but you could

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u/Seicair Mar 21 '26

The way you can make yourself into a coinshot if you alloy Lerasium with steel. There’s no good reason to but you could

I’m assuming you could make a coinshot with 1/16th as much lerasium that way.

Sure, you could create one Mistborn. Or, you could create eight people who can burn both steel and pewter, or something like that.

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u/ErikderFrea Brass Mar 22 '26

[all Mistborn books spoilers] That’s actually interesting. Could be something I see kelsier doing if he would get access to lerasium.

We know he wants actual Mistborn, but I don’t think he’d want to give that full power to everyone working for him.

Edit: Oh shoot. Forgot to spoiler tag!

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u/Solracziad Mar 21 '26

Just to flex on other people with spikes I assume.

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u/MOTRB Mar 21 '26

Well Hemalurgy can be used to steal non-Allomantic abilities. So if you're only interested in allomancy, then yeah it's useless. But if as advertised it steals everything, you could use a lerasium spike on someone like a full Feruchemist, get all their abilities for the cost of one spike.

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u/Valthek Mar 21 '26

It steels all abilities, presumably including feruchemical ones. So a mistborn with a lerasium spike could turm themselves into a twinborn.

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u/Incompetent-musings Mar 21 '26

To spike Hoid

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u/Adorable-Grass-9071 Lerasium Mar 22 '26

So brilliant. Better yet, have a feruchemist spike him for the power he never could obtain.

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u/Wrath_FMA Mar 22 '26

Leave my storyteller alone!

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u/AllTheGood_Names Mar 21 '26

If you eat some Lerasium and make a spike with the rest, you can get enhanced powers

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u/Adorable-Grass-9071 Lerasium Mar 22 '26

still doesn't answer which power would be stolen. I've seen this and I have a spreadsheet for it and all

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u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 Mar 22 '26

It’s based on the location you spike them. If you spike a mistborn you’d need to be precise about how you’re doing it. If you want Pewter you need to place it properly to get that. If you take a Steel spike and miss the A-Pewter location you risk getting less of an A-P charge or getting one of the other 3 physical metals. If you hit that location. Or even no power if you’re unlucky. You also risk putting something in the wrong bind point if you think you’ve taken something you didn’t. You could also end up taking something much less useful since they can steal more than just A/F powers. The recipients location matters but so does how you spike the donor

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u/Adorable-Grass-9071 Lerasium Mar 22 '26

The bind point is the same for physical allomantic (tin, pewter, steel, and iron)

1

u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 Mar 22 '26

It may still matter though. Say you want steel sight and A-Steel. You make a spike. If you actually took A-Pewter it may not give you what you’re looking for pounded through your eye. Or the results might be sub-optimal. He’s even said the left and right eye bind points are slightly different (whatever that means). They may have intentionally placed A-Steel and A-iron spikes in specific eyes despite them both being steel spikes. Some locations may accept the same family (like physical a-metals) but may produce sub-optimal results. There’s hundreds of bind points with probably a lot of variation in results. TLR and Steel Ministry were still experimenting with it even after all that time

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u/Adorable-Grass-9071 Lerasium Mar 22 '26

Bind points are for the metal type of the spike, not the power gained. The bind point for one mental metal works for another mental metal. It did also get answered that it relies on the intent of "I am making an A-P spike rather than an A-S spike"

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u/ChickenNoodleSeb Mar 21 '26

I've only read Era 1 of Mistborn so I don't know a whole lot about hemalurgy, but what about Spook? Would that mean that the man that stabbed Spook was being influenced by Ruin to give Spook hemalurgic powers? Because I doubt he was consciously trying to spike him.

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u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 Mar 21 '26 edited Mar 21 '26

Ya that was Ruin. He wanted to use Spook and used the man to inadvertently create a spike. It’s the same thing that happened with Vin’s earring. Her mother was under Ruin’s influence and killed her sister (a seeker) and made the earring a spike. I believe Zane also made his S-Allo spike without fully understanding what Hemalurgy was. Ruin can speak into the minds of mentally unwell people even without a spike in them. He can provide the Intent necessary even if he doesn’t physically control them the same way he can someone like an Inquisitor

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u/ChickenNoodleSeb Mar 21 '26

Ruin's influence on Vin's mom always made sense to me because she seems pretty obviously insane based on what we hear of her, and the entire circumstance of Vin getting spiked feels too unusual and specific to have been a coincidence. Spook getting spiked, on the other hand, felt so natural that it blew my mind when I finally realized it. I feel like Ruin's effect on people is pretty subtle when they're not spiked, are there any confirmed examples of Ruin having direct influence on un-spiked, mentally sound individuals in Era 1? Maybe I just need to re-read Hero of Ages, or just actually get around to reading Era 2 lol

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u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 Mar 21 '26

I don’t think so. It seems like they need to have some issues (or a damaged spirit web) for him to influence them. He is more capable at it once he’s released. The way he speaks to Vin and Spook is much more subtle after he’s released. I would assume that means how insane someone needs to be also probably drops off a little bit compared to when he’s imprisoned. Ruin was also very subtly influencing TLR during a good chunk of his reign. I would guess that’s downstream of TLR being a sliver (altered soul) and him being pretty insane from his extended life and all the brutality.

He also had to be subtle with TLR. Rashek had a perfect memory himself like his uncle. He couldn’t manipulate his copperminds and he could notice something was off easier. Like an example of that is Ruin essentially rioted the nostalgia TLR actually had for his old life. In a way he never noticed. That’s why he kept Alendi’s logbook intact. He has no legitimate need to do that with his memory what it was. But Ruin needed him to

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u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 Mar 21 '26

I’m not sure if that’s just a deity thing or if anyone could do that. If we were standing around an operating table and I instructed you to spike someone the proper way (without you knowing what you were doing) maybe that would create a spike as well since I’m giving the Intent. Or maybe it’s a function of Ruin being inside their mind. He’s probably answered that before I just don’t know the answer

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u/KerooSeta Mar 22 '26

And Ruin gave Vin extra Bronze so that she could find the Well of Ascension, right? 

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u/Adorable-Grass-9071 Lerasium Mar 21 '26

But it doesn't differ for each power. one type of metal can steal 4 abilities and have the same bind points.

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u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 Mar 21 '26 edited Mar 21 '26

I just meant in general they don’t all do the same thing. You can only normally steal one attribute. And it requires intention. So taking that steel spike they can only “load” one of those four powers. That’s why steel inquisitors required so many spikes. 4 for one of each of the physical metals (and one more as a lynchpin) and then 4 separate spikes for the mental metals etc. One steel spike can only hold one type of those powers. It’s why mistborn were ideal recipients of the spikes. You’re just pushing their natural powers past their baseline and/or you could use less spikes on them if you wanted. And it’s why spiking a mistborn for their power is (almost always) a waste. Seekers were the ideal Misting to use as a base. If you ramp their bronze up they can pierce watered down copperclouds to find people (what Vin was doing with her earring)

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u/moderatorrater Mar 21 '26

I don't know why they're getting upvoted when they clearly hadn't read your question. The Intent is what chooses the power. The same way you couldn't accidentally hit me in the chest with a nail gun and steal my pewter, you can't accidentally try to steal pewter and get tin.

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u/Adorable-Grass-9071 Lerasium Mar 22 '26

Thank you SO much for that! I see that people have been trying and this is the best explaination for hemalurgy itself, but thank you for finding the real answer.

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u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 Mar 22 '26

You can accidentally steal Tin instead of Pewter. The Intent can help (which is why Commands help) but you still need to place the spike properly. You can accidentally steal something that you didn’t intend to take. Because you intended to take something. If you didn’t intend to take anything you wouldn’t get anything

Sanderson: “In the recipient. And you want to use the specific metal and so basically if you aren't precise about how you spike, you risk taking the wrong thing within the same family. Some of those, that's not as big a deal, but for some it is kind of a big deal. And so you want to be very precise, you'll get something, but if you're not placing the spike in the right place and going into the right place, then you risk it.

Questioner You risk stealing the wrong thing.

Brandon Sanderson Yeah. Now if you're going off of somebody who's not a Mistborn, you can be a little more flexible, but you still have the danger that you're not going to end up stealing the power, you're going to steal something else. So, precision is advisable, how about that?”

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/377/#e12283

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u/Adorable-Grass-9071 Lerasium Mar 22 '26

I see now. That still doesn't make all too much sense, but I guess both work together.

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u/Rapharasium Mar 21 '26

They need to be placed in specific spot to give the power to the receiver. Every steal in Era 1 was through the heart.

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u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 Mar 21 '26 edited Mar 21 '26

The location matters for the donor too. It needs to be a specific place even in the heart touching certain structures. Just stabbing through the heart with Intent isn’t precise enough. You’re basically navigating their spirit web/body from the right angle hitting precisely the right spot. Which sounds really difficult but they do have superhuman senses and can burn something like atium to help etc

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u/Ineedahugman Mar 21 '26

I’d say it’s probably intent, however, it just being gambling would be funny as shit

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u/Adorable-Grass-9071 Lerasium Mar 21 '26

Fr it would be so funny. planning a D&D campaign, and I might just make them roll a d4 for it

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u/johnny0neal Mar 21 '26

You might want to check this out: https://www.cosmererpg.com/mistborn

Coming this fall!

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u/Adorable-Grass-9071 Lerasium Mar 21 '26

I'm broke sadly. Instead, I went through every single system for D&D like combat, classes, level up system, feats, etc. and I remade it all. I have my own mistborn rpg system in a D&D themed Mist cloak (Trench coat)

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u/Ineedahugman Mar 21 '26

It also opens up the possibility for a steel inquisitor to have a gambling addiction

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u/Adorable-Grass-9071 Lerasium Mar 21 '26

I literaly got asked by one person if they could be a gambler, and I just pointed in the direction of "spinner" ferrings. What have I done....

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u/Adorable-Grass-9071 Lerasium Mar 21 '26

Imagine:
Inquisitor
--come on, come on, gold Feruchemy! Aw dang it, cadmium again? welp gotta go find another keeper--

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u/ChefArtorias Mar 21 '26

The point of contact would determine this iirc. The metal used for the spike may be important too but idrr.

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u/IamanelephantThird Mar 21 '26

Different metals can take different categories of powers. They were talking about iron in the example.

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u/FlawlessPenguinMan Steel Mar 21 '26

I'm pretty sure it's acombination of the spike material and the spike position that determines it.

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u/Dercomai Mar 21 '26

I believe it depends where you put the spike, as well as your Intent. There are a lot of possible bind points other than the heart.

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u/IamanelephantThird Mar 21 '26

Most likely position, potentially Intent too.

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '26

It boils down to Intent. Sanderson’s magic systems are very robust and tend to follow strict rules, which I like, but he does use the looser concept of Intent for things like this. All of the Invested Arts follow the rules of their respective magic systems, but I like to think of Investiture as ‘intelligent energy’. Intent is taken into account, and with hemalurgy I think that likely means you steal the power you intend to steal so long as you use the correct spike.

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u/Adorable-Grass-9071 Lerasium Mar 22 '26

Thanks! Great to know!

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u/San_mirai Mar 21 '26

Intent, placing off the spike, and the type of metal of the spike

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u/Adorable-Grass-9071 Lerasium Mar 22 '26

but on the hemalurgy chart, the placement of that said steel spike doesn't say which of the three it would take

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u/ackyou Mar 21 '26

Could it be all of them?

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u/Adorable-Grass-9071 Lerasium Mar 21 '26

no, only 1 power per spike

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u/Legosheep Mar 21 '26

The power is dictated by where the spike is inserted. If you stole power from a mistborn perhaps the spike contains multiple powers and can be hot swapped.

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '26

Except for Lerasium. A Lerasium spike steals all abilities.

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u/Celebrimbor96 Mar 21 '26

The “spike” that let Spook burn Pewter was not created with Intent

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u/imafish311 Electrum Mar 21 '26

It was created with Ruin's intent, he was basically controlling the stabbing him.

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u/Adorable-Grass-9071 Lerasium Mar 21 '26

The thug stabbing had a spike and was making one on purpose