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RWBY vol 8 discussion thread

I mean keep in mind, this is the first full fight we’re seeing Salem in. It’s hard to judge her full capabilities with just one fight. We should wait until we see more in the future.
 
I'm not saying she was going all-out, or that she can't amp up her defenses when she feels like it, but was clearly hurt by Yang's explosives and Hazel's attacks. She's not, at that moment, tiers above them in terms of durability.
You do know that people allowing other to hurt them is 100% a thing in rwby right? Hell Ozpin has done that a few times in the past (see The Infinite Man)
 
Previous episode was a big step down in choreography, though I guess they were saving resources for more important/climactic encounters, like Battle of Haven -> Cinder vs Raven. Though the Hound seems to explain why Salem previously sent Tyrian to kidnap Ruby; an eye for an eye indeed.

This episode though was a treat. Lots of stuff for us to analyze:
  • Ren can sense others through their emotions from a long distance using his evolved semblance, though this appears to have high Aura consumption (he masked a large crowd from Grimm for a considerable time). Jaune warned Ren that he doesn't have to drain himself to use his new sensory abilities, so this is legit weakness and not just an Aura inconsistency for the sake of plot.
  • Trench warfare is effective against Grimm, and Winter shows she is best Schnee.
  • The more Oscar uses Magic, the faster he merges with Ozpin.
  • Hazel's face turn is a bit rushed; dude was so zealous he assassinated dozens of Huntsmen in cold blood, and tried to choke Nora to death while lecturing Ozpin about how many children must die for him (both things Gretchen wouldn't have done, me thinks). Sure now he trusts Oscar, but what to say that Ozpin didn't manipulate Oscar with lies about Salem wanting to destroy the world?
  • Neo has Camoflauge, and now knows the password but can't use it, but her new boss Cinder can. The opening foreshadowed that Cinder will use the lamp with Neo and Emerald watching; she'll probably ask something boring and simplistic to feed her egomania along the lines of 'how do I gain power' (hopefully not, but I am prepared to roll my eyes).
  • Ren Semblance turned him from an edgy pessimist to a wise empath; potential Social Influencing. Also, Jaune grew as a leader and shows no fear.
  • Salem's dress makes it unclear whether she is sliding on the ground using Grimm physiology or using very low-altitude flight.
  • Emerald can sense others with her Semblance, along with whether they have strong or weak minds.
  • Monstra has a loud scream, so Sound Manipulation.
  • Salem has Body Control (able to extend the length of her arms), Adhesive Manipulation (eject and manipulate sticky Grimm substance from her arms). Tier 7 durability for Salem is no longer sustainable (So Ozpin is much more durable as he has Aura), but she has Type 2 Immortality. She can create gylphs on surfaces and summon Grimm arms from them.
  • More Summer teasing. The comics showed us a vague hint of her weapon, so I believe her reveal will have a flashback where she will be fighting.
  • Hazel can seemingly enhance his speed with Lightning Dust, shoot fireballs and cover his fist with flames with Fire Dust, jump higher by stabbing Wind Dust into the ground, combine Rock Dust and Gravity Dust (I think) to create a giant spiked lump of rocks he can throw, create a shield with Hard Light Dust.
  • We can say that the witch has been burned.
  • A volume commentary mentioned that Ozpin's weapon 'can store time', so Oscar will probably use some Time Manipulation to temporarily incap Salem.
 
I mean keep in mind, this is the first full fight we’re seeing Salem in. It’s hard to judge her full capabilities with just one fight. We should wait until we see more in the future.
Agreed here. Plus don’t we have proof people can use magic to amp themselves?

Ie Penny useing magic to help her lift amity colosseum?
 
The strength/durability amps we've seen with Magic had someone with Aura. Salem as a Grimmling (not sorry) doesn't have Aura, so we can't assume that she passively increases her durability, surely not after the anti-feat of Yang's explosives doing lethal damage.
 
I’d wait until the end of the Volume before coming to a conclusion on Salem’s physicality (Hazel being able to restrain her was pretty weird though).
 
Didn’t Cinder amp her grimm arm against Raven with magic? Hence being able to restrain her with it.
There isn't an indication that the Grimm arm was amped by Magic; Cinder surprised Raven by extending her arm from a smoke screen, pushed her against the wall, and then weakened her by draining her Magic. It is plausile for Raven to break free with sheer strength if the Magic drain didn't happen.
Plus, there are Grimm with better durability feat than what Salem displayed, so it is entirely possible that Cinder has a combat-based Grimm arm that is physically superior to Salem.
 
Considering in the first pic the blast is tall enough to surpass several of the skyscrapers, probably pretty big. Oscar/Ozpin is getting a massive buff now. And maybe durability feats for JOYR, Neo and Emerald, which can probably be scaled to the rest of the cast.
 
Spoiler

Maybe, but the effects of the blast seemed to obliterate the grimm throughout the city, yet the normal soldiers near the blast were also unharmed, which likely means this attack targets grimm, and might not scale to people even if they were near the blast. Unless the average soldier also scale to the blast, which in turn would scale to the grimm, which were obliterated by the blast...
 
It has no reason to just target grim, especially when Winter and the others were sent flying away by the blast. (And it killed Hazel) The cane was stated to store kinetic energy, which wouldn't target just grim if released.

The further away you are from an explosion the less of it's energy you take. Normal soldiers were far further away from the explosion than Winter's team, who was sent flying. Also it was never stated the grim in the city were obliterated, they were shown being sent back like everyone else.

Of course I'm not sure how powerful the explosion is, and how much of it would scale to anyone.

Edit: The results could also be underwhelming because of it, though take that with a grain of salt.
 
It has no reason to just target grim, especially when Winter and the others were sent flying away by the blast. (And it killed Hazel) The cane was stated to store kinetic energy, which wouldn't target just grim if released.

The further away you are from an explosion the less of it's energy you take. Normal soldiers were far further away from the explosion than Winter's team, who was sent flying. Also it was never stated the grim in the city were obliterated, they were shown being sent back like everyone else.

Of course I'm not sure how powerful the explosion is, and how much of it would scale to anyone.

Edit: The results could also be underwhelming because of it, though take that with a grain of salt.
Fair enough.
 
I'm getting High 7-C+ results from the explosion, though maybe it could be measured better. But there's a problem, Jaune, Ren, Yang, and Emerald were shown jumping off Monstra before the blast. I don't know if they reach the ground but at minimum the distance I got from the center of the explosion is 59 meters. Which gave me 14 Tons or barely over baseline 8-B. Though honestly the results are without a doubt lower.

The real results would probably be High 8-C. Though take everything I said with a grain of salt, this is just what I've checked and someone else could get different results.

Edit:
Remember how close osar was
I don't think Oscar was hit by any part of the explosion, he seemed to be protected by the blast. I doubt he's more durable than Hazel and Salem who were further away yet were completely vaporized.
 
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The Staff of Creation calc has the height of Atlas Academy, when Monstra lands on Atlas you can compare the academy to the grim.
 
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