So, the Mursaat, Exalted, and Forged?

These all seem like they're based on the same magic. I think I remember seeing somewhere that the Mursaat were failed Exalted before the Forgotten decided that they needed to properly vet those they allow to use the armor. I can't find a source though, so I feel like it may just be a fan theory.

Then Balthazar ransacked Kesho, but he seems to have added some abilities the Exalted don't have. It seems like a dangerous technology to leave laying around if 3 distinct groups have now used it.

@Hesacon.8735 said:These all seem like they're based on the same magic. I think I remember seeing somewhere that the Mursaat were failed Exalted before the Forgotten decided that they needed to properly vet those they allow to use the armor. I can't find a source though, so I feel like it may just be a fan theory.

Then Balthazar ransacked Kesho, but he seems to have added some abilities the Exalted don't have. It seems like a dangerous technology to leave laying around if 3 distinct groups have now used it.

The difference is Exalted and Forged are energy or spirit energy I suppose, while Mursaat are flesh and blood.

@Hesacon.8735 said:These all seem like they're based on the same magic. I think I remember seeing somewhere that the Mursaat were failed Exalted before the Forgotten decided that they needed to properly vet those they allow to use the armor. I can't find a source though, so I feel like it may just be a fan theory.

A fan theory gone rampant without checking the timeline, Mursaat had existed prior to the arrival of the human gods, so before the Six brought humans into Tyria.

It had been stated in the lore that during the last awakening of elder dragon (10,000 years ago), Mursaat and other Elder Races fought Zhaitan and lost, which means the Mursaat race has been around for at least 10,000 years.The armor is most likely purely for protection reason, as they are a race of magic users, the only race capable of using all four disciplines of magic simultaneously.They resemble the Seers (there is already a lot of fan theory on how these two races are related), the elder race that created the original Bloodstone, but became almost extinct during the last Murssat Seer War; we saw one of the few surviving Seers in GW1 (250 years before GW2) in Ascalon area, but the supposed last Seer died during the Krytan Civil War died while giving the now in-game legendary sword The Shining Blade (Seer Artifact) to the Shining Blade.

Exalted are created from volunteered living human, the armor acts like a vessel to contain the spirit, and their masks are like bottle caps; they will die if their mask gets ripped off them.They were from the same group that became the Zephyrites, created through Forgotten Ritual using the magic of the bloodstone.The Forgotten race had recruited them (200 years prior to HoT) to carry on their task of protecting Glint and her offsprings in case the Forgotten race extincts.I would compare Exalted with the Margonites, human followers of Abbadon.

The Forged were created by Balthazzar by studying the method (the fact that Balthazzar absorbed bloodstone magic in LWS3 Act 1 self explains why he can use the Forgotten Ritual); rather using live human, he bounded spirits he recruited from Underworld/Fissure of Woe or live human sacrifice with amors, which explains the different shapes and sizes of Froged (reminds me of Fullmetal Alchemist)

The Mursaat as a race were flesh and blood, as stated above. They are completely unrelated to the Exalted except for a loose aesthetic appearance. Their Jade Constructs might be similar, but they appear to be mindless, responding only to mursaat commands.

@crepuscular.9047 said:

@Hesacon.8735 said:These all seem like they're based on the same magic. I think I remember seeing somewhere that the Mursaat were failed Exalted before the Forgotten decided that they needed to properly vet those they allow to use the armor. I can't find a source though, so I feel like it may just be a fan theory.

Yes, the Exalted volunteered for these positions to assist Glint and the Forgotten. Balthazar seemed to have twisted and perverted this ritual by forcing spirits into the Armor, some against their will.

@"Hesacon.8735" said:These all seem like they're based on the same magic. I think I remember seeing somewhere that the Mursaat were failed Exalted before the Forgotten decided that they needed to properly vet those they allow to use the armor. I can't find a source though, so I feel like it may just be a fan theory.

Then Balthazar ransacked Kesho, but he seems to have added some abilities the Exalted don't have. It seems like a dangerous technology to leave laying around if 3 distinct groups have now used it.

Forged are indeed based off of Exalted, but mursaat are 100% not what you're thinking of. You may be thinking of bandwagon player speculation from the first HoT trailers that the shots of what turned out to be Exalted were mursaat. This was unfounded and even lampshaded/mocked by Anet with that "I feared they were related to the mursaat but there's no evidence to suggest such" Priory dialogue in the center of Tarir.

Baring that mistake, you also may be thinking of either the Zephyrites or of the Enchanted Armors. Neither were "failed exalted" though. Zephyrites were the successors of the Brotherhood of the Dragon (a dwarven "cult" that served Glint and followed her teachings like a prophet), while the Enchanted Armor were animated armor constructs that the Forgotten had devised. In making the Exalted, the Forgotten had improved the Enchanted Armor to what we see in GW2, and then used that very same design for the Exalted, who were chosen out of the Zephyrites who could complete certain tasks.

The mursaat are a species, a flesh and blood race just like humans, grawl, charr, etc. They were one of the races from the previous dragonrise alongside the dwarves, jotun, Forgotten, Seers, kodan, Giganticus Lupicus, charr, and possibly tengu. And one of the elite races at that time that harbored magic for their own selves alongside the other first four aforementioned races.

That said, there is a relation between mursaat and Exalted... loosely. During the previous dragonrise, the elite of the elder races shared their magical teachings - perhaps even before the dragonrise itself - thus why there's so many similar magics. Jade constructs and enchanted armor are based off of similar teachings, and this sharing of magic is why Seers, mursaat, and Exalted all float about.

As for Forged having more abilities - not very much, just fire instead of that "gold magic" (for lack of a better term). Beyond that, it's really just form and weapons that differentiate the two groups.

@crepuscular.9047 said:The armor is most likely purely for protection reason, as they are a race of magic users, the only race capable of using all four disciplines of magic simultaneously.They only use two professions' magic at most (Lazarus). Just like any GW1 character could. They never use more than that, and most only use one profession's magic.

@crepuscular.9047 said:They resemble the Seers (there is already a lot of fan theory on how these two races are related)Season 3 confirmed the relation. They shared magical teachings, as part of their alliance. Not just mursaat and Seers mind, but all five of the former alliance.

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@crepuscular.9047 said:The armor is most likely purely for protection reason, as they are a race of magic users, the only race capable of using all four disciplines of magic simultaneously.They only use two professions' magic at most (Lazarus). Just like any GW1 character could. They never use more than that, and most only use one profession's magic.

It is what is stated in wiki, but 3 possible explanations for that from GW1's perspective, since GW2 only had fake Lazarus

1. Limitation of the engine
2. Effects of the Bloodstone, since it limited how many schools of magic can master at a time
3. a farfetched one, Spectral Agony is a magic that embodied all 4 schools, thus they are the only race that can use it at its full potential ()

   @Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

   @crepuscular.9047 said:They resemble the Seers (there is already a lot of fan theory on how these two races are related)Season 3 confirmed the relation. They shared magical teachings, as part of their alliance. Not just mursaat and Seers mind, but all five of the former alliance.

must not have been paying attention while listening to WoodenPotatoe's lore videos, which act what chapter or item?

@crepuscular.9047 said:

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@crepuscular.9047 said:The armor is most likely purely for protection reason, as they are a race of magic users, the only race capable of using all four disciplines of magic simultaneously.They only use two professions' magic at most (Lazarus). Just like any GW1 character could. They never use more than that, and most only use one profession's magic.

1. Limitation of the engine
2. Effects of the Bloodstone, since it limited how many schools of magic can master at a time
3. a farfetched one, Spectral Agony is a magic that embodied all 4 schools, thus they are the only race that can use it at its full potential ()

As much as I dislike how they treated Lazarus in GW1, Lazarus in One Path Ends was the real Lazarus. Not sure what that has to do with anything though.

Nothing ever suggested that the mursaat could access all four schools of magic, ever, and the effects of the Bloodstone is the creation of the four schools in the first place. There was no limitation of the engine - Anet could add whatever skills they wanted to NPC bars, hence why we had NPCs with multiple elites. IIRC, there are even NPCs with three professions, listed here; the only mursaat to have two professions at once are those that showed up during War in Kryta content (Aily, Willem, Koril, Lucent, Oizys, and Talios). None had three or four professions' skills.

Spectral Agony is suggested to be literally what it's name is - producing pain directly to the soul. This and their ability to phase partway into the Mists like spirits can would suggest at magic akin to the revenants, and not one of the four schools of magic.

And I now see that wiki entry, but it is unfounded and untrue. They never showed any evidence of being able to wield all four schools of magic at once. And hell, why am I not surprised at who added that line, someone with a long history of adding his own theories and speculations as if fact. I am removing that line because it is, quite simply, false. You should be weary of non-verbatim text on the wiki. Sometimes people like that guy slip in false information.

@crepuscular.9047 said:

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@crepuscular.9047 said:They resemble the Seers (there is already a lot of fan theory on how these two races are related)Season 3 confirmed the relation. They shared magical teachings, as part of their alliance. Not just mursaat and Seers mind, but all five of the former alliance.

Taimi: There was a time, way back, when the Seers and the mursaat shared a lot of info. Why do you think they're all so...floaty?

Taimi is referencing the alliance between the races. Though this is as much as she goes into, and Taimi only theorizes that their magic have "similar origins".

I do recall a kodan from Bitterfrost Frontier talking about the ancient races and how they considered themselves elites and hoarded magic among themselves, but I can't seem to find it on the wiki. Currently scouring the game.

Edit: Found the quote: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Enduring_Icicle

Magic was hoarded by the elite: the seers, jotun, mursaat and the beings from the gods realm, to name a few. But the vast majority did not have power. This is no longer the case.

Which suggested that only a very few number of races had any magical access, this would in turn, with the above known alliance and Taimi's comment of sharing info, suggest that they also shared magic as that was the main thing they had to share which no one else did.

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@crepuscular.9047 said:

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@crepuscular.9047 said:The armor is most likely purely for protection reason, as they are a race of magic users, the only race capable of using all four disciplines of magic simultaneously.They only use two professions' magic at most (Lazarus). Just like any GW1 character could. They never use more than that, and most only use one profession's magic.

1. Limitation of the engine
2. Effects of the Bloodstone, since it limited how many schools of magic can master at a time
3. a farfetched one, Spectral Agony is a magic that embodied all 4 schools, thus they are the only race that can use it at its full potential ()

@crepuscular.9047 said:

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@crepuscular.9047 said:They resemble the Seers (there is already a lot of fan theory on how these two races are related)Season 3 confirmed the relation. They shared magical teachings, as part of their alliance. Not just mursaat and Seers mind, but all five of the former alliance.

Magic was hoarded by the elite: the seers, jotun, mursaat and the beings from the gods realm, to name a few. But the vast majority did not have power. This is no longer the case.

Just to add to Konig’s point the Mursaat lore tablets in Ember Bay said this:

I. Over ten thousand years ago, elder races put aside their differences and forged an alliance against the awakening Elder Dragons. If we'd worked together as planned, we wouldn't have had to hide.