"Consuming Zephon’s apostate soul has bestowed on you a new gift. Like his vampire spawn, you are able to scale certain walls which are otherwise impassable - but only in the physical realm. In the spirit world, these insubstantial edifices will not support you."
Climbing was again featured in Legacy of Kain: Defiance, this time as a common ability used by both Raziel and Kain. As in previous titles, horizontally lined Scalable walls could be climbed simply by jumping towards them, though the process would be aborted if struck. There were several minor changes to the ability however, with Raziel now able to use it in the Spectral Realm as well as the Material Realm; both characters could also kick-jump off the walls to propel themselves away to higher platforms behind them.[Defiance][Defiance manual][Defiance strategy guide]
Behind the scenes[]
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In the Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver alpha the Scaling Walls ability allows Raziel to climb walls facing any direction - including sideways and downward - in a manner which more closely corresponds to the Zephonim use of the ability.
Next, Raziel acquires the ability to scale otherwise impassable walls. Now, when he jumps onto a wall surface, he grabs on with his claws. Because his hands are otherwise engaged, Raziel can't engage in combat while scaling a wall - he has to avoid enemies, or dispatch them before climbing the wall. Only certain wall types are scalable - generally rough, organic, crumbly or mortared stone walls are impossible to climb (Raziel can't get good enough purchase with his claws). Only smooth walls are scalable. This ability is earned by defeating Zephon, the clan leader of the Zephonim. These wall crawlers can be found in the Silenced Cathedral.
―PSM issue 19
Next, Raziel acquires the ability to scale otherwise impassable walls. Now,
when he jumps into a scale-able wall surface, he grabs on with his claws - the player can traverse a scaleable wall section using the D-pad (climbing up, downward, or left/right along the wall). When Raziel reaches a ledge at the top of a scaleable wall, he automatically climbs up; to drop off the wall, the player just has to press the jump (X) button.
Because his hands are otherwise engaged, Raziel can't engage in combat while scaling a wall - he has to avoid enemies, or dispatch them before climbing the wall. Only certain wall types are scaleable - generally, rough, organic, crumbly or mortared stone walls are unclimbable (Raziel can't get good enough purchase with his claws). Only smooth walls are scaleable.
The Vampire Zephon is the only clan-leader not to demonstrate the use of his earned ability and it is suspected that his massive size and incorporation into the upper levels of the Silenced Cathedral prevented him from openly using the climbing ability himself. As such the ability, though gained from Zephon, is only seen in use by the Zephonim vampires and protagonists.[Soul Reaver]
In Legacy of Kain: Defiance, for the first time Raziel was able to use the scaling walls ability in the Spectral Realm. Although the addition was unexplained in-game, Chris Bruno suggested the improvement was something "Raziel has learned over time".[2] The ability was originally intended to be revealed in cut underworld room Eldergod 5a, but the room and its dialogue were removed.[3] Perhaps connected to Raziel's Spectral climbing, it is noted that certain Scalable walls will now appear in only one realm, forcing Raziel to shift to use them.[Defiance manual]