![[-]](https://www.horuset.com/images/igame/collapse.png "[-]")
14-04-2023, 04:30 PM
(This post was last modified: 21-11-2023, 12:21 PM by Rhysand Sekker.)
An inquiry into possible variations in lightsaber design.
By Apprentice Tutam
Naturally a device of such complexity a a lightsaber has dozens of other more minor components such as emitter matrices, power insulators and grips that I have not gone into at this time. All can be modified naturally to suit the wielder and still remain within this category but there are some more major alterations that are possible.
The Curved Hilt Lightsaber
Some users of more dueling-centric forms have decided that to curve their hilt gives them an advantage in lightsaber to lightsaber combat. These originated with the users of Makashi as the first specialized dueling form and allowed for greater precision when held in one hand as well as throwing off the opponent whose muscle memory of sparring will be warped as the blade position will not match the expected in combat, potentially allowing for a greater chance of victory. This however has some costs to the user as the angle of the blade requires greater correction to be made perpendicular to the body and this in turn make blast deflection more difficult for the user of a standard blade.
In all I suspect this will be of less use to myself given the majority of the fighting that I do is against blaster wielding foes. The other issue is that the blade's focus on dexterity seems at first glance to be at odds with my own focus on power and fury. For now I will discard this as an idea though if other information comes to light I may reconsider it.
The Saberstaff or Dualsaber
A long handle almost twice the length of a standard hilt with two blades, one on each end. This is typically accomplished by simply welding two lightsaber together but some more advanced Sith (including the non-imperially aligned Dark Lord Exar Kun) created a much shorter handle no larger than the standard hilt that was easily used with a single hand (though the secret of accomplishing this is not known to me so I will focus on the standard weapon.)
The advantages of this design are several. A choice of two blades with which to attack a foe is a useful one as this will force the foe to consider both at all times. There would also be the overall length of the saber hilt which allows for much greater leverage and force in your strikes for the same effort. Disadvantages would be present too however. You can not point both blades at your foe at the same time as they are locked together, forcing you to only be able to attack with one at a time even if the blade is spun so the next attack comes sooner. There is also the risk of the handle being cut in half as it as it is a much larger target than the smaller hilt of a single blade.
This is one to consider I think. Any boon to my strength and power is a large advantage to me and the design is thoroughly tested in open battle with blast deflection being something that is much more possible with it.
Jar'kai
Technically this is not a new design of lightsaber but the choice to use two at once in battle. This is shown off to a high degree of skill by my master and appears to offer great advantage in attack speed, even if each attack does not have the full force of two hands bearing down through it. This can also offer greater defensive skill with one blade being dedicated to defense while the other employs a constant stream of attacks. Finally in addition to giving an advantage to fighting a single foe, this technique gives advantage when fighting both numerous foes (and other wielders of multiple blades) as you can dedicate more blade time to each of their downfalls. Never the less I do suspect there are some weaknesses to this form. Holding the blade with only one hand and having to focus upon two blades limits the amount of power and precision that can be placed into either at any one time. In addition the divided concentration would potentially lead you more open than most to force based attacks. These weaknesses can be mitigated somewhat with augmentation and enhancement of the body through the force, and with offensive tactics that do not allow your foe time to conjure the force but this is only a mitigation and not a complete elimination of the weakness.
This is certainly one to consider as well. I believe that my master would be willing to instruct in this as it is a technique of great power and a highly effective offence for her. As such the only question remains "should I?". I do think that even if I do not focus on this, knowledge of this technique and style of fighting would prove of great use. I will have a single lightsaber at the end of my construction but there is no reason that with time I can not create another. The weaknesses in overall strength can potentially be worked through with more advanced cybernetics as well allowing me to hold off multiple foes at once.
The Cross-guard Lightsaber
A relatively recent invention, the cross-guard saber is a weapon that has many advantages. The basic design is one where the blade has two minor blade perpendicular to the main weapon which can be either used for parrying, or wounding a foe in a blade-lock. These as well as the over all profile of the weapon give large advantages in countering as well as protect the hand to some degree from Cho Sun maneuvers. A possible advanced use of these quillon blades is to catch the blow of a foe so that the main blade is free to be twisted in the hand to strike at the foe. The one key disadvantage is that if overpowered these blades are a risk to the wielder as well so this should be noted.
Overall this blade design is most similar to the standard blade with only a couple of distinctions. I think this might be a solid middle ground for a first weapon. It shows a level of engineering skill as well as offering an advantage I do not think most in the powerbase are familiar with. It would also appear to offer no disadvantages in any form asides Soresu where the tight angles to the body may prove an issue with particular use in Makashi and Djem So where the additional countering potential is large.
Other Miscellaneous Upgrades.
Dual Phase Capability: A dual phase lightsaber is a more complex design that contains multiple focusing lenses which allows for the blade of the saber to be rapidly altered in length. This has the advantage of surprise in combat, potentially allowing for the sudden defeat of the foe however this is not a trick that is likely to work twice against the same foe.
Bifurcating Cyclical-Ignition Pulse: An altered pulse setting on a lightsaber that through the use of two crystals allows the blade to become mostly resistant to water and capable of being activated underwater. This is of more use to those who are aquatic and openly fight underwater but is not a setting to ignore entirely.
Overcharging: If correctly modified the Diatium power cell can be over charge or overclocked to produce far more power than it usually would. This comes that the disadvantages that the blade itself will become unpredictable and will vary in strength wildly. This also has the disadvantage of being completely incomparable with the Bifurcating Cyclical-Ignition Pulse as they oppose each other.
Conclusions
I do think that my potential lightsaber lies within the components and design points mentioned here. Other options do exist such as Apprentice Leive's saberpike which she so graciously showed me but I do not feel any desire to pursue such an idea without a Phrink handle to mitigate the great weakness of such a device in cutting the handle in pieces. When I spoke to several others around the powerbase they all had their own philosophy on what they wanted out of their lightsaber and I think this apt. This weapon will reflect the personality of the wielder far more than the broken saber I have to work with now does. Although I am gracious to my master for providing it, it was designed for its original maker and not for me. The hilt is too long, grip is at a poor angle and the blade too short with no method of rectifying it. I think I will set some conditions on what I want my lightsaber to be: Dual Phase, with overcharging as a capability and potentially a second power cell, capable of being used with one or both hands and with a longer than average blade. I have decided the rest of the features that I am going to include in it as well, though I will keep them a secret from the archives.
You will see it when it is ready.
By Apprentice Tutam
In the coming month it is my desire to build a lightsaber for myself and as such mark the final hurdle before I can consider myself truly Sith. Given my own engineering talents I have a much larger range of possible sabers to construct that the typical apprentice would on their first blade and I have decided to take a look at both the orthodox and unorthodox choices in lightsaber design in the hope of deciding what is right for me.
The lightsaber as a weapon is emblematic of the power and prestige of the Sith, few non-force sensitives can wield one with any degree of skill and fewer still have a chance of manufacturing one due to the unique requirements of doing so. In this document I wish to go over some design variations that I have seen others use within the powerbase as well as hypothesize about their advantages and disadvantages.
The Standard Lightsaber
The basic weapon (unaltered by the additions that will be mentioned below) is still a fearsome thing. A usually metal hilt out of which spouts a controlled beam of pure plasma bound by a containment field. This weapon can cut through nearly anything from durasteel to flesh with similar effort and is a potent symbol of the power of the Sith using it. I will not dwell too long upon it's construction nor design choices however as most will adapt the hilt to their needs. Larger grips for larger beings is an obvious beginning however and such things as small blade guards for users who prefer to have their hand closer to the top of their weapon are commonplace. Due to modifications wraught by the ancient Sith in the steps to evolve the previous protosaber designs, the blade only expends energy when broken by foreign interference (ie when cutting).
The key components of a lightsaber are as follows:
The lightsaber as a weapon is emblematic of the power and prestige of the Sith, few non-force sensitives can wield one with any degree of skill and fewer still have a chance of manufacturing one due to the unique requirements of doing so. In this document I wish to go over some design variations that I have seen others use within the powerbase as well as hypothesize about their advantages and disadvantages.
The Standard Lightsaber
The basic weapon (unaltered by the additions that will be mentioned below) is still a fearsome thing. A usually metal hilt out of which spouts a controlled beam of pure plasma bound by a containment field. This weapon can cut through nearly anything from durasteel to flesh with similar effort and is a potent symbol of the power of the Sith using it. I will not dwell too long upon it's construction nor design choices however as most will adapt the hilt to their needs. Larger grips for larger beings is an obvious beginning however and such things as small blade guards for users who prefer to have their hand closer to the top of their weapon are commonplace. Due to modifications wraught by the ancient Sith in the steps to evolve the previous protosaber designs, the blade only expends energy when broken by foreign interference (ie when cutting).
The key components of a lightsaber are as follows:
- Focusing lens: This regulates the length of the lightsaber blade and requires precise manufacture as any instability or cracking would create a vastly unstable blade.
- Diatium power cell: The power source of the lightsaber that naturally recharges over time. If maintained well a lightsaber will not need regular charging and will require no further maintenance from the Sith.
- Focusing crystal: A set of lightsaber crystals are present in every single blade that resonate and produce the blade itself in conjunction with the other components. It is from this crystal that the colour of the blade is produced. Tradition dictates that a Sith's weapon should have a red hue to it and this is most commonly achieved by using artificially created crystals.
Naturally a device of such complexity a a lightsaber has dozens of other more minor components such as emitter matrices, power insulators and grips that I have not gone into at this time. All can be modified naturally to suit the wielder and still remain within this category but there are some more major alterations that are possible.
The Curved Hilt Lightsaber
Some users of more dueling-centric forms have decided that to curve their hilt gives them an advantage in lightsaber to lightsaber combat. These originated with the users of Makashi as the first specialized dueling form and allowed for greater precision when held in one hand as well as throwing off the opponent whose muscle memory of sparring will be warped as the blade position will not match the expected in combat, potentially allowing for a greater chance of victory. This however has some costs to the user as the angle of the blade requires greater correction to be made perpendicular to the body and this in turn make blast deflection more difficult for the user of a standard blade.
In all I suspect this will be of less use to myself given the majority of the fighting that I do is against blaster wielding foes. The other issue is that the blade's focus on dexterity seems at first glance to be at odds with my own focus on power and fury. For now I will discard this as an idea though if other information comes to light I may reconsider it.
The Saberstaff or Dualsaber
A long handle almost twice the length of a standard hilt with two blades, one on each end. This is typically accomplished by simply welding two lightsaber together but some more advanced Sith (including the non-imperially aligned Dark Lord Exar Kun) created a much shorter handle no larger than the standard hilt that was easily used with a single hand (though the secret of accomplishing this is not known to me so I will focus on the standard weapon.)
The advantages of this design are several. A choice of two blades with which to attack a foe is a useful one as this will force the foe to consider both at all times. There would also be the overall length of the saber hilt which allows for much greater leverage and force in your strikes for the same effort. Disadvantages would be present too however. You can not point both blades at your foe at the same time as they are locked together, forcing you to only be able to attack with one at a time even if the blade is spun so the next attack comes sooner. There is also the risk of the handle being cut in half as it as it is a much larger target than the smaller hilt of a single blade.
This is one to consider I think. Any boon to my strength and power is a large advantage to me and the design is thoroughly tested in open battle with blast deflection being something that is much more possible with it.
Jar'kai
Technically this is not a new design of lightsaber but the choice to use two at once in battle. This is shown off to a high degree of skill by my master and appears to offer great advantage in attack speed, even if each attack does not have the full force of two hands bearing down through it. This can also offer greater defensive skill with one blade being dedicated to defense while the other employs a constant stream of attacks. Finally in addition to giving an advantage to fighting a single foe, this technique gives advantage when fighting both numerous foes (and other wielders of multiple blades) as you can dedicate more blade time to each of their downfalls. Never the less I do suspect there are some weaknesses to this form. Holding the blade with only one hand and having to focus upon two blades limits the amount of power and precision that can be placed into either at any one time. In addition the divided concentration would potentially lead you more open than most to force based attacks. These weaknesses can be mitigated somewhat with augmentation and enhancement of the body through the force, and with offensive tactics that do not allow your foe time to conjure the force but this is only a mitigation and not a complete elimination of the weakness.
This is certainly one to consider as well. I believe that my master would be willing to instruct in this as it is a technique of great power and a highly effective offence for her. As such the only question remains "should I?". I do think that even if I do not focus on this, knowledge of this technique and style of fighting would prove of great use. I will have a single lightsaber at the end of my construction but there is no reason that with time I can not create another. The weaknesses in overall strength can potentially be worked through with more advanced cybernetics as well allowing me to hold off multiple foes at once.
The Cross-guard Lightsaber
A relatively recent invention, the cross-guard saber is a weapon that has many advantages. The basic design is one where the blade has two minor blade perpendicular to the main weapon which can be either used for parrying, or wounding a foe in a blade-lock. These as well as the over all profile of the weapon give large advantages in countering as well as protect the hand to some degree from Cho Sun maneuvers. A possible advanced use of these quillon blades is to catch the blow of a foe so that the main blade is free to be twisted in the hand to strike at the foe. The one key disadvantage is that if overpowered these blades are a risk to the wielder as well so this should be noted.
Overall this blade design is most similar to the standard blade with only a couple of distinctions. I think this might be a solid middle ground for a first weapon. It shows a level of engineering skill as well as offering an advantage I do not think most in the powerbase are familiar with. It would also appear to offer no disadvantages in any form asides Soresu where the tight angles to the body may prove an issue with particular use in Makashi and Djem So where the additional countering potential is large.
Other Miscellaneous Upgrades.
Dual Phase Capability: A dual phase lightsaber is a more complex design that contains multiple focusing lenses which allows for the blade of the saber to be rapidly altered in length. This has the advantage of surprise in combat, potentially allowing for the sudden defeat of the foe however this is not a trick that is likely to work twice against the same foe.
Bifurcating Cyclical-Ignition Pulse: An altered pulse setting on a lightsaber that through the use of two crystals allows the blade to become mostly resistant to water and capable of being activated underwater. This is of more use to those who are aquatic and openly fight underwater but is not a setting to ignore entirely.
Overcharging: If correctly modified the Diatium power cell can be over charge or overclocked to produce far more power than it usually would. This comes that the disadvantages that the blade itself will become unpredictable and will vary in strength wildly. This also has the disadvantage of being completely incomparable with the Bifurcating Cyclical-Ignition Pulse as they oppose each other.
Conclusions
I do think that my potential lightsaber lies within the components and design points mentioned here. Other options do exist such as Apprentice Leive's saberpike which she so graciously showed me but I do not feel any desire to pursue such an idea without a Phrink handle to mitigate the great weakness of such a device in cutting the handle in pieces. When I spoke to several others around the powerbase they all had their own philosophy on what they wanted out of their lightsaber and I think this apt. This weapon will reflect the personality of the wielder far more than the broken saber I have to work with now does. Although I am gracious to my master for providing it, it was designed for its original maker and not for me. The hilt is too long, grip is at a poor angle and the blade too short with no method of rectifying it. I think I will set some conditions on what I want my lightsaber to be: Dual Phase, with overcharging as a capability and potentially a second power cell, capable of being used with one or both hands and with a longer than average blade. I have decided the rest of the features that I am going to include in it as well, though I will keep them a secret from the archives.
You will see it when it is ready.
Spoiler: I will not use dumb signatures.
![[Image: Pt8wZnn.png]](https://i.imgur.com/Pt8wZnn.png)
