Lightsaber vs. Blaster

I have often heard people comment on how a Lightsaber being the weapon of choise for the Jedi is kind of dumb and not practical in such a technological world. Hell, even Han said it doesn't compair to a good blaster at your side.

From a movie point of view, they look great and that is important. Old Ben commented on their elegance, and I'm sure that the skill required to use them properly would truly be impossible without the help of the Force, after all, you only need to miss one blaster shot and it's game over for you.

But I was watching ESB again today and I really noticed something for the first time. When Luke arrived at Bespin and runs accoss Fett (and not knowing that was Han floating along) and then seeing Leia being escorted by the stormtroopers he draws his blaster and for the most part, hides behind walls and corners and helplessly watches his friends get escorted away, making his weapon of choise, the blaster, completely useless.

Had Luke been fully trained and drew his Saber, ESB would have been a totally different movie from that point on. The Lightsaber would have given him the ability to walk up and rescue his friends then and there. Yes, it would have been a little more complicated than that but as the prequals have shown us not only can a Jedi defend himself in the middle of a fire fight but also turn the enemy's shots back on themselves. This scene really shows how right Yoda was in telling Luke his training must be completed but for me it really defines the difference between a Lightsaber and a blaster.

 

"Old Ben commented on their elegance, and I'm sure that the skill required to use them properly would truly be impossible without the help of the Force, after all, you only need to miss one blaster shot and it's game over for you. "

Luke had already began to deflect blaster shots without looking about 10 minutes into his jedi training. Assuming one reaches the level of knight or master, it would probably be like a reflex.

" he draws his blaster and for the most part, hides behind walls and corners and helplessly watches his friends get escorted away, making his weapon of choise, the blaster, completely useless. "

that's cause luke is inexperienced, and probably doesn't trust his life to his saber yet. perhaps one of the reason jedi are trained so young is to place the thought in their mind from the get-go that the lightsaber is the ultimate weapon.. luke probably grew up thinking blasters were the best weapon.

 

He's only been training for, what, like three months? He knows the blaster, he's comfortable with it...his lightsaber on the other hand, well, that's something new.

 

We saw what Vader did when he used the Force to take Solo's blaster away, didn't he? Well, Luke could have done the same thing to Boba Fett had he been skilled enough.

Even with his lightsaber there was not much he could do anyways. Fett shot at him and Luke did what he could. Even though he was there to save his friends, his primary concern was Vader.

 

what makes a saber more deadly than a blaster is the fact that thier interactive nature turns them into extentions of the jedi themselves, who use thier capabilities to unleash the force.

 

"not as clumsy or as random as a blaster. An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age."

 

It is true though, a more experienced Luke could've charged on and deflected away the shots from both Boba and the imperials taking Leia away.

Of course, he's just not experienced yet. It's not until ROTJ that we see he's developed his abilities to the point where he can block laser blasts.

 

there are pros and cons to both the lightsaber and the blaster.

blaster- pros: can attack from far away, don't need any special training, what-so-ever, to wield, easy to find
cons: you can't protect yourself, not good in close combat, you could miss your target and kill your friend, more people know how to defend themselves from your weapon

lightsaber- pros: can be used as a shield, less painful to be killed by, if you can use it successfully then you must also have other cool jedi/sith powers as well, most people don't know how to defend them selves against one
cons: you break your going to have to go out of your way to ilum just to make another saber, make sure you know what your doing because you could loose a limb, and you must "be mindful of the futer but live in the present"

by this list you can decide whether or not you prefere one over the other but i personally prefere the lightsaber because of "elegance"

 

Well, in a fight where one side has plenty of experience and training with a blaster, and one side has as much training and experience with a lightsaber, lightsaber always wins. 10 guys with blasters and experience and training vs 1 guy with lightsaber and experience and training, lightsaber wins. You can't beat it. Basically, with enough training, the lightsaber warrior is unbeatable when armed and fighting someone with any handheld weapon.

Now then, for fighting against other things, like a landspeeder without shields/armor, blasters can fire at it without being provoked really easily. Lightsabers require either point blank range, or skill to throw, at which point, you need semiclose range. Nobody can throw their lightsaber 500 yards without losing it perhaps forever. But a blaster can shoot 500 yds without a problem. Add deflection shields or thick armor to the speeder, and blasters become more and more useless. Lightsabers remain as effective.

I'm going for the lightsaber.

 

It never really dawned on me that Luke never fired a shot while at cloud city. I like to think of this as Luke being diplomatic in a situation that he knew little about, save for his vision.

Jabba's palace on the other hand, he tried his diplomacy, but did not hesitate on the sail barge once aware of the threats he was facing.

I see a blaster as an offensive weapon in most situations, but a lightsaber in the hands of a jedi as defensive with capabilities to protect and deter enemies..anyone know where you can get them???

 

Lightsaber v. blaster harkens back to the renaissance when firearms (muskets and cannons) began to change the manner in which battles were fought. GL turns the traditional dichotomy on his head when he creates a sword which actually protects against a ranged weapon.

The proper debate, however, isn?t simply between a hand-to-hand weapon v. a distance weapon. It also includes the consideration of protective armor. With every advance in weaponry, there was a subsequent advancement in armor. While this doesn?t seem significant in SW, it actually does make a difference in the ESB duel which shows that armor saves Vader from having his head chopped off. There are new details in EP 3 that I can?t get into, but armor plays a significant role.

While GL admits that he wanted the light sword in SW because it goes back to the past tales of adventure, he actually does make a social commentary about the nature of soldiers and society, two things that mark cultural and political changes in history. The sword has always been the weapon of skilled, usually aristocratic men, while the gun is weapon of choice for commoners who had neither the time to train in weapons, nor access to proper instructors. The development of firearms warfare is huge. Instead of skill determining the winner of a battle, numbers and fire power are now the determining factor to success. It changed the course of history because skilled swordsmen (who took years to develop their abilities) were now challenged by commoners who needed but a few weeks of practice to master their weapon. With the advent of clone troopers and droid armies, the decline of the Jedi is supported by history.

It?s possible to say that if the sword were effective against bullets police and soldiers would still be wearing it, but even in the universe of the Jedi, their lightsaber days would be numbered. No Jedi can withstand the assaults of massive blaster fire concentrations. The stray blaster bolt or the slightest miscalculation would mean the end of a Jedi. With armies of clone troopers and droids, the role of the lightsaber wielder was technologically doomed even before Vader and his imperial allies assassinate the Jedi ranks.

Times change and either the Jedi change with it, or they become relegated to second class status on the battlefield. Had the Jedi order been forced to fight extended wars with effective ranged weapons (instead of being hunted down by Vader and others), the Jedi would have had to adjust to the new fighting circumstances. That why I make the argument that the Jedi should wear armor (like Obi-Wan does in the Clone Wars cartoon) and that they should changed their primary weapon to the blaster and only employ their lightsaber in close quarters.

BTW, I discuss lightsaber combat in my book, comparing it to historical fencing from Japan and Europe.

 

I agree with Plurimus. The blaster as a primary weapon and the Lightsaber as secondary for close quarter combat.

 

Agreed. Also, uke was at least smart enough to fight vader with a lightsaber and not a blaster.

 

Lightsabers are superior only when being weilded by someone trained in the force. Against those strong in the force, blasters are useless. You can either deflect them with the blade or stop them with your hands as vader did in ESB

 

Luke had already began to deflect blaster shots without looking about 10 minutes into his jedi training. Assuming one reaches the level of knight or master, it would probably be like a reflex.

The first time we see Luke defending against blasters is in ROTJ.

Well, in a fight where one side has plenty of experience and training with a blaster, and one side has as much training and experience with a lightsaber, lightsaber always wins. 10 guys with blasters and experience and training vs 1 guy with lightsaber and experience and training, lightsaber wins. You can't beat it. Basically, with enough training, the lightsaber warrior is unbeatable when armed and fighting someone with any handheld weapon.

Lightsabers are superior only when being weilded by someone trained in the force. Against those strong in the force, blasters are useless.

Did you guys even see AOTC? Plenty of Jedi get killed by blaster fire. Luke was hit by a blaster in ROTJ. Jedi are not gods, and lightsabers do not make you invincible!!!

 

"Luke had already began to deflect blaster shots without looking about 10 minutes into his jedi training. Assuming one reaches the level of knight or master, it would probably be like a reflex. "

"The first time we see Luke defending against blasters is in ROTJ. "


i was talking about the remote aboard the millenium falcon in ANH.