lightsaber or laser blaster?

[Buried Alien]

If you were a warrior in the STAR WARS galaxy, would you prefer to wield a lightsaber or a laser blaster?

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Carabas]

A blaster. It's point and click.

Lighsabers are hard, and you kind of need to be an actual space wizard to use them properly.

[Soubhagya]

Light saber without being trained in the ways of the Force is but a glorified sword.



But if i am trained i may pick a light saber. But i wonder. Won't i be even better with blasters if i am trained with the Force? I will never miss.

[Carabas]

Light saber without being trained in the ways of the Force is but a glorified sword.



But if i am trained i may pick a light saber. But i wonder. Won't i be even better with blasters if i am trained with the Force? I will never miss.

Lighsabers are massively more powerful.
A blaster isn't cutting through enforced blast doors.

Lightsabers are also much better defensively.
Blaster vs. blaster: speed and skill win.
Saber vs. saber: same thing.
Blaster versus saber: the guy with saber has a massive advantage because the he can return blaster bolts to sender at range while the guy with the blaster pretty much can just die in hand to hand.

[Soubhagya]

Okay. If 'I' am a warrior i am going with the blaster. But if i am trained as a Force user light saber.

[SuperiorIronman]

I do have a fondness for the prequel blasters like the DC-15 A(the canon short one) and the E-5. So I feel like barring force-sensitivity, finding one, or taking one from a Jedi or Sith (can you believe the luck of anybody who just happens to find Palpatine's other saber?) I'd choose one of those.

[BeastieRunner]

A lightsaber seems to have more practical uses like cutting open cars after a wreck or toasting bread.

[Totoro Man]

the light saber is just a sword where you can't touch the blade. that's actually a pretty big drawback when it comes to actual fighting. there's a lot of practical applications for the tool outside of combat-- but if we're talking about combat utility then the blaster wins every time for two simple reasons:

it functions exactly like it's real-world counterpart: the gun (no extra training required)

they don't run out of ammo

tangent:
I don't believe that the Force is required for somebody to use a light saber. (this is never explicitly stated in any of the films... and, quite frankly, I don't think it's even implied).

you just have to have a basic knowledge of swordsmanship and know the deadly limitations of the weapon itself. it's not like Han Solo or General Grievous were force users, right? they used light sabers just fine.

saying that you have to be "Force sensitive" to use a light saber just seems like a pointless fan-made rule to explain why light sabers aren't everywhere: it's like telling somebody that they can't apply a joint lock or a hip throw until they can become fluent in Portuguese. the simpler explanation might be that light sabers are expensive and hard to make... just like regular swords.

[Cel]

If I'm a Jedi or a Sith, a lightsaber without question.

If I'm just an ordinary joe, it's far better to have a blaster.

[Carabas]

the light saber is just a sword where you can't touch the blade.

Plus it is unbreakable, plus it treats armour like wet paper, plus it can parry/redirect blaster bolts.

it functions exactly like it's real-world counterpart: the gun (no extra training required)

Proper use of guns does require training.

they don't run out of ammo

Oh yes they do. Eventually.

tangent:
I don't believe that the Force is required for somebody to use a light saber. (this is never explicitly stated in any of the films... and, quite frankly, I don't think it's even implied).

It is not required, but it is easier if you're Force-user because the Unobtainium that makes Lighsabers possible, Kyber crystals, is inherently attuned to the Light Side of the Force.

saying that you have to be "Force sensitive" to use a light saber just seems like a pointless fan-made rule to explain why light sabers aren't everywhere: it's like telling somebody that they can't apply a joint lock or a hip throw until they can become fluent in Portuguese. the simpler explanation might be that light sabers are expensive and hard to make... just like regular swords.

Force-sensitivity is required for fancy stuff like parrying blasters.

[thwhtGuardian]

the light saber is just a sword where you can't touch the blade. that's actually a pretty big drawback when it comes to actual fighting. there's a lot of practical applications for the tool outside of combat-- but if we're talking about combat utility then the blaster wins every time for two simple reasons:

it functions exactly like it's real-world counterpart: the gun (no extra training required)

they don't run out of ammo

tangent:
I don't believe that the Force is required for somebody to use a light saber. (this is never explicitly stated in any of the films... and, quite frankly, I don't think it's even implied).

you just have to have a basic knowledge of swordsmanship and know the deadly limitations of the weapon itself. it's not like Han Solo or General Grievous were force users, right? they used light sabers just fine.

saying that you have to be "Force sensitive" to use a light saber just seems like a pointless fan-made rule to explain why light sabers aren't everywhere: it's like telling somebody that they can't apply a joint lock or a hip throw until they can become fluent in Portuguese. the simpler explanation might be that light sabers are expensive and hard to make... just like regular swords.

I don't think it was ever stated, or even wildly believed by the fandom that you have to be Force sensitive to wield a lightsaber but rather that you have to be force sensitive to make it a practical weapon. It's the same reason you don't see more people choosing swords to do battle today; sure it has definite offensive and defensive capabilities but when your opponent has a gun none of that matters much.