Defiance: Kain's Reavers
In Defiance, Kain started off carrying the blood-devouring, physical incarnation of the Reaver. It had presumably been in his possession since he saved Raziel from the blade in Soul Reaver 2.
Like Raziel, Kain could enhance the Reaver throughout the course of the game. He had to collect the five fragments of the Ancient Vampires' Balance Emblem to give the Reaver new magical attributes. These attributes were not all elemental; rather they appeared to be connected to the Pillars themselves. Specifically, the attributes related to the Balance, Conflict, Dimension, Energy and Time Pillars. The final enhancement was when the Reaver became the Soul Reaver through Raziel's sacrifice, in the last chapter of the game.
Aside from their varied charge colours, the Reavers could also be distinguished from each other to some extent by how they sounded when they were swung. The Dimension, Lightning, and Soul Reavers were the most distinctive.
Kain only had the Soul Reaver when he faced the Elder God, making it impossible to try it out against regular enemies. However, it is possible to fully test out its spell and charge properties using unconventional methods. Vampmaster and CubanRaul's unofficial PC trainer or a PS2 cheat device can provide access the game's debug menu, from which you can place Kain in an earlier level, with the fully charged Soul Reaver (see Defiance: The Debug Menu page 
at The Lost Worlds for details). The spell and charge properties do not seem to be properly developed as they are not as powerful as you would expect.
The Balance Reaver
|
Gained In: |
Chapter 1, The Sarafan Stronghold |
|
| Aligned Pillars: |
Balance |
| Charged: |
Deals more damage to struck enemies |
| Spell: |
A blast that damages surrounding enemies |
| Kain could only start to charge the Reaver once he found this first, central fragment of the Vampires' Balance Emblem. He also needed it to empower the Reaver to destroy the 'blessed barriers' that blocked his path to Moebius. |
The Flame Reaver
|
Gained In: |
Chapter 3, The Sarafan Stronghold |
|
| Aligned Pillars: |
Conflict |
| Charged: |
Deals fire damage to struck enemies |
| Spell: |
Makes surrounding enemies attack each other (like Blood Omen's 'Inspire Hate' spell) |
| Collecting this fragment of the Balance Emblem not only enhanced the Reaver, it also improved Kain's telekinetic skills by granting him pyrokinetic powers. Kain could then use his TK to ignite or douse sconces. |
The Dimension Reaver
|
Gained In: |
Chapter 5, The Pillars Area |
|
| Aligned Pillars: |
Dimension |
| Charged: |
Nearby enemies receive the same damage as the one being hit |
| Spell: |
Teleportation attack to strike several enemies |
| When charged, damage dealt to one enemy by the Dimension Reaver was mirrored on other foes who were nearby, although this didn't seem to work for every hit. The Dimension Reaver's spell allowed Kain to swiftly teleport in and around a group of foes, striking each of them in turn, before returning back to his original position. |
The Lightning Reaver
|
Gained In: |
Chapter 7, The Water Forge |
|
| Aligned Pillars: |
Energy |
| Charged: |
'Chained lightning'. The damage caused by the third strike of a combo is mirrored on other nearby enemies |
| Spell: |
Surrounding enemies are struck by lightning |
| The Lightning Reaver's powerful charge ability caused bolts of lightning to shoot out of an enemy as Kain landed the third hit of his basic combo on them. This lightning then struck and injured any other enemies who were standing nearby. |
The Time Reaver
|
Gained In: |
Chapter 9, The Light Forge |
|
| Aligned Pillars: |
Time |
| Charged: |
Struck enemies' movements are slowed |
| Spell: |
Slows the movements of all nearby enemies (like Blood Omen's 'Slow Time' artefacts) |
| The Time Reaver's power let Kain move between enemies and easily attack them before they could react to defend themselves. While this Reaver's spell was active, blue sparks descended slowly through the air in the area where the spell had been cast. They disappeared when the spell's influence ended. |
The Soul Reaver
|
Gained In: |
Chapter 13, The Spirit Forge |
|
| Aligned Pillars: |
N/A |
| Charged: |
Deals more damage to struck enemies? |
| Spell: |
A blast that should damage surrounding enemies, but appears to be ineffective in the released game. |
| When Raziel allowed his soul to be drawn into the Reaver, the sword became the Soul Reaver. Notably, when the Soul Reaver was swung, it made a sound slightly reminiscent of (but not the same as) the Soul Reaver's 'scream' in Blood Omen. Also, there was apparently no difference between the Soul Reaver's charged and uncharged appearance, except for during the final two cutscenes where it lost its aura. |
and