Lightsaber Edge in Star Wars Saga

[Felon]

I noticed that the base damage of lightsabers in Star Wars saga is on the low end of the curve: 2d8 against a small blaster's 3d6 and a blaster carbine's 3d8.

Granted, there will be some Strength bonus added to the lightsaber damage, bringing it closer to average with the blasters. But lightsabers are supposedly to cut through anything short of special materials like beskar and cortosis. So, what's the trick to giving lightsabers the edge? The Battle Strike force power?

 

[Klaus]

I noticed that the base damage of lightsabers in Star Wars saga is on the low end of the curve: 2d8 against a small blaster's 3d6 and a blaster carbine's 3d8.

Granted, there will be some Strength bonus added to the lightsaber damage, bringing it closer to average with the blasters. But lightsabers are supposedly to cut through anything short of special materials like beskar and cortosis. So, what's the trick to giving lightsabers the edge? The Battle Strike force power?

By itself, the lightsaber won't shine (heh) much. It's more in the skill of the wielder (and, of course, the ability to deflect blaster shots).

 

[Felon]

By itself, the lightsaber won't shine (heh) much. It's more in the skill of the wielder (and, of course, the ability to deflect blaster shots).

Yeah, I figured with all the talents and techniques and powers that there'd be something that boosted the lightsaber's slicing power into what it's supposed to be.

 

[pawsplay]

I noticed that the base damage of lightsabers in Star Wars saga is on the low end of the curve: 2d8 against a small blaster's 3d6 and a blaster carbine's 3d8.

Granted, there will be some Strength bonus added to the lightsaber damage, bringing it closer to average with the blasters. But lightsabers are supposedly to cut through anything short of special materials like beskar and cortosis. So, what's the trick to giving lightsabers the edge? The Battle Strike force power?

Putting them in the hands of a level 7+ character with Lightsaber Specialization. Also, there's that whole blaster deflection thing.

 

[Klaus]

Yeah, I figured with all the talents and techniques and powers that there'd be something that boosted the lightsaber's slicing power into what it's supposed to be.

There is. If you're a Jedi Knight, you can eventually crit on a 19-20 for x3 damage.

 

[Felon]

Putting them in the hands of a level 7+ character with Lightsaber Specialization. Also, there's that whole blaster deflection thing.

Operating under the premise of all other things being equal then, the lightsaber-wielder would be compared to another level 7+ warrior-type, such as a soldier who would have access to weapon secialization for his carbine, thus retaining the edge.

As specified in my OP, I'm talking purely about the cutting (damage) power of the saber, not the defensive benefits.

 

[Felon]

There is. If you're a Jedi Knight, you can eventually crit on a 19-20 for x3 damage.

Yeah, the jedi knight seems to be the culmination of saber skills.

 

[Victim]

Lightsabers automatically bypass DR, so that covers much of their power against materials. This rule is mentioned under damage reduction in the combat chapter, not the equipment section.

IMO, having the stat mod for damage generally gives the nod to sabers. Holding a lightsaber in two hands, you get 2x STR to damage (or 2x Dex if you have Ataru). So a 14 STR pretty much takes you up to blaster rifle level. That's not that hard to get, especially with since there are lots of races that could give the Dex or STR bonus. Higher stats (and stats increase with levels) make for even more damage.

Plus the lightsaber forms can be pretty wicked. Juyo combined with Force Point Recovery works well and leads to the improved crit talent.

 

[Donovan Morningfire]

I noticed that the base damage of lightsabers in Star Wars saga is on the low end of the curve: 2d8 against a small blaster's 3d6 and a blaster carbine's 3d8.

Granted, there will be some Strength bonus added to the lightsaber damage, bringing it closer to average with the blasters. But lightsabers are supposedly to cut through anything short of special materials like beskar and cortosis. So, what's the trick to giving lightsabers the edge? The Battle Strike force power?

As Victim said, lightsabers ignore damage reduction (SECR pg158), although it's not quite the boon it was in RCR as personal armor no longer grants a DR value.

Battle Strike is one method, but if you're will to take a walk on the dark side, then don't overlook Dark Rage, especially as you can spend a Force Point and have the power's effects last entire encounter as opposed to Battle Strike's "one-shot" usage.

Rapid Strike, Mighty Swing, and Power Attack are other options to look at, depending on how you plan to fight. Mighty Swing takes two swift actions to use in exchange for an extra die of damage, and if you have Power Attack synergizes nicely with the charge action, or better yet Powerful Charge to really pile on the damage. One tactic I've seen for melee speclialists is to use their two swifts for Mighty Swing, charge in using Powerful Charge, and dump as much of the bonus to attack as they can into damage while wielding a two-handed weapon. Rapid Strike on the other hand gives you a -2 to hit, but leaves you more options, including that swift action to use Battle Strike for extra pain.

Weapon Specialization and the various Lightsaber Form talents are another method, but so is taking a quick dip into Soldier to pick up Devastating Attack, which more often than not guarentees that when you do smack someone with your ever-glowing beatstick, it's gonna leave a mark (i.e. push them down the condition track).

The main "edge" to a lightsaber isn't so much in its damage dealing properties as its defensive ones. Being able to mechanically parry an enemy's attack can be a huge benefit. Still, I've seen that several GM's over on the GleeMax forums have up'd the lightsaber's damage to 2d10, putting it par with the vibro-ax, but that's a house rule and can't really be relied upon.

 

[pawsplay]

Operating under the premise of all other things being equal then, the lightsaber-wielder would be compared to another level 7+ warrior-type, such as a soldier who would have access to weapon secialization for his carbine, thus retaining the edge.

Well, yes. That's really the point, isn't it? Whether you got to level 7 by being a Jedi or just being a badass, any two level 7 characters are going to have roughly equivalent skills in their area of expertise. The Jedi Academy is one of the few reliable sources of level 8+ heroic characters.

As specified in my OP, I'm talking purely about the cutting (damage) power of the saber, not the defensive benefits.

Well, in the movies, most blaster shots kill instantly, but lightsabers only seem to kill when they sever someone's head or stab something vital. We also see them bounce of railings, suspend in a clone trooper's chest, bounce of Darth Vader's shoulder plate, score but not disintegrate the ground when used to create menacing sparks, and fail to cut through a blast door instantly. I've been through this debate many times, and I've always come to the conclusion the damage is about right. And with DR penetration, they can already slice through just about anything.

The versatility of a saber is probably worth something in terms of the abstract damage system, but it would be hard for me to say that's worth a higher damage die, especially considering how unwieldy they are for the unskilled. I think I would prefer to leave that aspect as being the skill of the Jedi.

As it is, Jedi enjoy all the offensive benefits of two-handed melee combat, with a substantial defensive bonus, too. I'm okay with vibro-axes having a slight edge in raw damage output... that's all they've got going for them. A 7th level character who specializes in vibro-axes should have some capability to threaten a Jedi, although the advantage will still be with the lightsaber wielder.