I do remember that Nihilus was, to borrow the KotOR Campaign Guide's words, "psychically starved." I do not understand what bearing that has on his durability. If what you say is true, it should have been independent of the effort, considering he survived Malachor V as a "man" and prior to his Sith training.
Originally posted by The_Tempest
I do remember that Nihilus was, to borrow the KotOR Campaign Guide's words, "psychically starved." I do not understand what bearing that has on his durability. If what you say is true, it should have been independent of the effort, considering he survived Malachor V as a "man" and prior to his Sith training.
He was starved already when approaching Telos.
When he fed upon the Exile, he ended up exhausting nearly all of his energy - rendering him not much more than an animated suit of armor and robes.
- But back when Malachor V was ripped apart and everyone on it died - in that instant, his pain and anguish at the deafening destruction, warped his being into a Wound in the Force - and becoming that Wound, to begin with, fed him instantly with enough power to tank the blast.
In other words, as the destruction occurred, he became a hole - and all of that death, just sucked right into him.
Originally posted by Arhael
This quote dismisses Nihilus' ability to consume planets as a rumor:
"Darth Nihilus was known as the Lord of Hunger and was known for his ability to literally consume the Force energy of his victims, which was known to sustain his own life energies. It was rumored that he could consume the Force energy of an entire planet." - Complete Encyclopedia, Nihilus, Darth
Nowhere does it explicitly note "This is bullshit and only a rumor", both Visas and Unseen Unheard confirm that Nihilus is capable of it. Kreia does as well.
The same source makes it apparent that Nihilus used some sort of superweapon to obliterate planets or simply used old fashioned orbit bombardment:
"In the meantime, Nihilus led his Sith forces from his flagship, Ravager, drawing more and more power from worlds that he blasted into ruin".For one thing Force drain cannot be used to "blast" things "into ruin", it is not a destructive power, it just sucks Force out of living beings leaving non-living objects completely in tact. Even in comics we see buildings being destroyed and surface ravaged. Either it was some weapon or a ritual-based Force power similar to Force Storm but not Force drain.
Nowhere it is canonically evidenced. The only time we ever see Nihilus using Force drain is on Meetra and the very same time he fails. And absolutely nowhere it says that she is immune because she is Force wound. Most people made logical conclusion that she resisted because she is wound, however, there is no proof that it was the case.
Moreover, within the same game there is proof that Exile is not immune to drain. Kreia uses her supposed to be "lesser" Force drain on her on Dantooine in one of the story branches and it works fine.
Only Nihilus's planetary consumption has physical after-effects, as we've seen.
Stop arguing against what we plainly see.
Originally posted by The_Tempest
As far as anyone knows, was the cabal of Sith assassins in employ to Nihilus & Sion present at the Battle of Malachor V or exposed by it?If not, I may be persuaded to disregard Kreia's words on the matter; Plagueis remarks similarly in his titular novel that, in order for a Sith Lord to use Sith lightning, he or she must be on the receiving end of it as a means of "taking in" the energy.
Spoiler:
One of the more stupid passages in the book.
Exposed to it most likely. The Jedi Masters say that Malachor V is a 'crucible' that teaches them to consume and kill. Basically I imagine they go through the same experience as the Exile did when they feel the Wound on Malachor V and walk on its surface and are transformed like she was.
It's crazy to think that Darth Nihilus really is the most powerful Sith Lord that ever existed.
But as he was not technically a living being, and was not known to history or the Galaxy, afterwards - he cannot be recognized formally as the most powerful Sith Lord.
But Palpatine, especially since he's alive and organic, is the next best thing, and can.
Well he does "expire" but it's almost like the Dark energies that made him up were just dissipating back into the void.
As an entity that does not breathe, sleep, has no blood, no organs, no brain and cannot naturally reproduce, by textbook definition he's not technically alive.
Palpatine may have been the most powerful Sith Lord ever to live - but Nihilus is the more powerful Sith Lord than him, no matter what version he is.
- The really cool thing is that Nihilus didn't drain Kreia's connections to the Force the whole way - if he had chose to do that, he would have killed her.
But draining them nearly the whole way merely cut her off of the Force temporarily, giving her the inspiration to recognize it's futility and want to annihilate it.
- and, it gave her the ability to utilize the weaker version of Nihilus's drain.
Originally posted by jadams3928
You're right, that's why nobody does, and there's no proof of it. Thanks for making the case for us.😆
In terms of temporary raw power and connection to the dark side he is, followed by Vitiate.
In terms of success, that would be the GALACTIC Emperor, Sidious, by miles.
I finally got an explanation from Drew about the ritual on Nathema.
Here was my question:
Hey Drew, I don't mean to waste your time but I had one question regarding
> your novel, and what the TOR Encyclopedia said about the Ritual of
> Nathema. In your book, the 8,000 sith lords were mentally broken when
> landing on Medrias, while in the TOR Encyclopedia and the datacron in the
> SWTOR game, it said they willingly participated. Again, this isn't nerd
> rage or anything, I just wanted to clarify as I finished playing the SWTOR
> game and rereading your novel.
Here is Drew's response:
My interpretation is that they went there willingly and at first they
participated willingly, not realizing what was being planned. But once
they understood what the ritual was really going to do they were in too
deep and they weren't strong enough to pull out.Hope that clears it up.
Drew
Originally posted by NemeBro
With a ritual, I know.
You have a point.
Vitiate needed the aid of thousands of Force users in a lengthy ritual - to do what Nihilus could accomplish by himself - and with a single utterance.
Unlike Nihilus, who could tank the explosion of a planet breaking into pieces - Vitiate was so weak that he could be brought down conventionally by some Force attacks and a lightsaber.
Compared to Nihilus and his power, Vitiate is weak and pathetic.
Nihilus (especially after having eaten a world) has Planet-Level-Durability and a Drain that kills within moments, and cannot be blocked.
So, all Vitiate will make for Nihilus, is a nice snack. 😄
Originally posted by jadams3928
Temporary raw power, maybe. Permanent raw power, he doesn't compare to Vitiate. Connection to the dark side, also doesn't compare.
Don't get it twisted, they're the same thing. The Dark Side is the Force, connection is how they interact, and strength of the connection is "raw power" to command it.