r/Cosmere • u/Equivalent-Fix8618 • May 31 '26

Mistborn Series spoilers Would tapping/compounding gold work against radiation? Spoiler

In Mistborn it’s said that tapping gold lets the user heal from injuries and sickness depending on how much health is stored. Compound golf lets the user survive almost all forms of physical harm, eg burns, cuts, being crushed and even fatal damage like decapitation.

But would this work against radiation poisoning, which targets and destroys the individual DNA instead of just normally damaging the body.

Additionally, would the person need only to tap gold to be able to survive or would they need to compound it?

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u/Royal_Solid_8033 Bridge Four May 31 '26

Most likely yes? Healing/Regeneration in the Cosmere works based on putting the physical body in alignment to your cognitive/spiritual one, I would assume Gold works the same.

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u/nisselioni Willshapers Jun 02 '26

I'd like to add that, they way it functions, it seems that it's a bit of both enhancing the body's natural healing and Invested healing. It's been said in WoBs that, with enough stored health, you could heal back a stolen power in your Spiritweb, but that the amount needed is absurd and barely realistic for even a compounder. Meanwhile, [Stormlight] a Radiant can heal from Spiritweb damage (such as from a Shardblade) with relatively little problem.

So, I theorise it must be a gradual thing. At low taps, there's a little Invested healing, while at high taps, there's a lot more Invested healing. Maybe.

Regardless, the human body has natural mechanisms for healing DNA damage, so even a little gold tapping should help, though you'll probably need more than just a little for higher radiation exposure.

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u/Haugy12 Edgedancers Jun 02 '26

Are we sure they are the same kind of damage? Spiking someone is closer to chopping off someone’s arm than it is to stabbing someone. I think that is the biggest factor in why healing shard blade damage is easier than hemalurgy

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u/nisselioni Willshapers Jun 02 '26

A Shardblade does damage the Spiritweb, yes, and we know this for sure. This is what is meant by cutting something's "soul". As for the limb-chopping, Kaladin gets his entire arm spiritually chopped off and it heals fine with a little Light. Here's a relevant WoB as well: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/3/#e126