If you've got actual supernatural abilities, or if you're the main character in a movie, then sure. In real life? There's a reason why armies don't get into sword fights anymore.
Is a Lightsaber a Practical Weapon?
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...the ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force...and perhaps a little duct tape, yeah.Rednog said:
Yes, I noted the fact that vehicles were indeed present but within the fiction presented by the movies they were utterly useless when compared to the pathetic, modern equivalent. When air support is relegated to a small battery of anti-armor missiles and direct fire "laser" weaponry, one has to wonder just what they hoped to accomplish with such a payload. Modern aircraft deliver ordinance of far greater lethality from far greater range than was ever demonstrated in the movies. The vehicles that are presented on the ground present just as many problems. The AT-At for example wields a weapon that appears to be less effective at dispatching infantry than a simple MK-19 and oddly enough the vehicle can barely turn AND has a narrow field of fire. There are design compromises and then there are deathtraps waiting to happen - the AT-At falls decisively into the latter category. Some of the newer vehicles at least attept to present a purpose but you find vehicles that that odd two wheeled rocket launching vehicle fielded by the Droid armies and inevitably must be left wondering who the hell through it was a good idea to design a platform only useful on open ground that had a natural field of fire restricted to the direct front.awsome117 said:
Moreover, the assertion that the armies in star wars are fielding lasers makes the concept of using a hand held implement as a "shield" even more laughable. Even if you grant jedi super human movement capabilities (as they obviously possess) you have to realize they can only block perhaps two shots arriving simultaneously and thanks to the speed at which the attack moves, you quickly realize they rely entirely on their capacity to predict where the shot will land before it is even fire.
But even this presents one with yet another argument that supports my assertion. Since the deflective capabilities of the weapon rely on countering an energy based attack, and it is known that you WILL face jedi from time to time, why does no army seem to field mass driver weapons (which exist in the star wars universe) to readily dispatch them? Yes, it may take several gunners to do the job but when the jedi is relgated to simply attempting to dodge an attack and is denied the use of their most potent form of defense, they would crumble quickly.
This is my point - the weapon is ONLY useful because those who wield it possess magical super powers and those who oppose them utterly refuse to actually come up with an effective plan to combat them when options already exist within the canon.
alright, alright, so we were overconfident that we would win and let our guard down...way down...madcap2112 said:
and besides, we gots the force too, ya know...
oh yeah, do you have force lightning and force choke?
I've run into the exact same problem when imagining a theoretical lightsaber, so this.Echer123 said:
If you somehow got it working without all the physics problems, however, I'd say it's somewhat practical if you knew how to use it (and that's a pretty big obstacle considering how it cuts things on contact), though a blaster is better in the hands of someone who can aim, what with the range and all.
"Clerks moment"
No because you can't sharpen a light saber to cut through another because one the fight would end too soon and two they cut throught everything so theres no sharpening rock or blacksmith who could do anything about that
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6lzEhoXads
No because you can't sharpen a light saber to cut through another because one the fight would end too soon and two they cut throught everything so theres no sharpening rock or blacksmith who could do anything about that
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6lzEhoXads
Right hate to burst your bubble but if you recheck the Star Wars: Clone Wars (the old animated version not the new CGI one) you will see that heavy artillery, close air support, heavy armor, coordinated black ops, and to a limited extent calvery charges play a key part of combat in the Star Wars universe. Even in attack of the Clones you can see the use of combined weapons both with close air support and long range artillery being used by the clones to blast through the droid armies. But your point stands and infact it goes a little bit farther.Eclectic Dreck said:
The light saber is not a praticle weapon in any way shape or form even in the hands of Jedi it is incredibly ineffective. The lightsaber was probably adopted by the Jedi as a way to controll themselves by limiting their combat abilities so that Jedi would be more likely to negotiate a peaceful resolution to a situation rather than to simply kill anyone they deemed wrong. The uselessness of a lightsaber against any group of enemies numbering more of then say 60 foes can clearly be seen in the battle of Geonosis.
cool, very, practical no.
If I was going to design a weapon for close combat it would be something more akin to a vibroblade, or more likely a vibro-bayonet. Honestly close combat is the last resort of any serious battle, unless you're sneaking up behind someone you should be taking their head off a long way out.
I never got how the jedi lived so long, honestly a modern earth army could take them out, stand 300-400 meters away, keep moving back as they come at you firing, they can't dodge/block everything all the time, as the saying goes they have to be lucky every time, you only need to be lucky once.
If I was going to design a weapon for close combat it would be something more akin to a vibroblade, or more likely a vibro-bayonet. Honestly close combat is the last resort of any serious battle, unless you're sneaking up behind someone you should be taking their head off a long way out.
I never got how the jedi lived so long, honestly a modern earth army could take them out, stand 300-400 meters away, keep moving back as they come at you firing, they can't dodge/block everything all the time, as the saying goes they have to be lucky every time, you only need to be lucky once.
I agree completely, I've only read a handful of Sci-Fi novels, and never seen a Scif-Fi movie/TV series, that addressed that current earth armies could beat their "empires" like red headed step children, they use tactics that were going out of fashion in the Napoleonic wars, carry slow firing in effective weapons, the list just goes on and on, if you know anything at all about tactics Sci-Fi battles make you /facepalmEclectic Dreck said:
Right about this whole line of thought that Electric Dreck is suggesting that modern weapons are more effective weapon then what Star Wars has to offer I think that your over looking a very key fact, mainly that in the Star Wars universe deffensive technology has also evolved quite a bit. The Ability of a bomber to drop hundreds of tons of high explosives over long distances is useless when the enemy has huge deflector shields and long range lazers guided by radar systems accurate enough to dectect enemy ships entering the solar system from hyperspace that can litterally knock rockets and bombs out of the air. Case and point, see the Phantom Menace. Heavy bombardment and air support (Both of which are obsolete when compared to the huge firepower an Imperial Star Destroyer can deliver from space) is useless when the enemy can just flip a switch and set up a huge sheild system. At the same time though, the sheilds have to be able to allow physical objects to slowly defuse through or else a ground army would use up all its oxygen, while the enemy pinned them down, and would sufficate. If you take this into consideration then suddenly Phalanx like war machines like the ATAT, close support vehicles like the Scout Walkers, and you standard ground squads of Imperial infantry become vital to the battle strategy, you need close quarter fire power to get in through an enemies shields and take them down so that you can then safely blast them out of existence from space. Its like Dune, the persional energy shield makes all long range weapons obsolete and so the rapier comes back into style, save that starwars doesn't have personal shields just massive base sheilds.
With proper swordsmanship and getting a feel for using a weapon whose weight comes only from its handle, it could be pretty damn effective. Maybe.
I lightsaber would not be a practical weapon in a large battle or at range, however any short focused lazer would be an invaluable tool in many other circumstances, for its ability to cut through anything. Since they weigh only like 1 pound, it would always be wise to carry with you.