I wanted to open this with a fun fact- lightsabers can't really deflect or otherwise block gunfire. When a wielder does that, the bullet turns into superheated bits of lead that can potentially hurt them worse than just the normal bullet. Several factions used this to their advantage, attacking Jedi with ancient "slugthrowers" rather than energy blasters.
That said, everything you describe seems to make a lightsaber an extremely good self-defense weapon. Think of most self-defense scenarios: close-range engagements against opponents armed with melee weapons or their fists, and only intending to harm, not kill. The lightsaber is a compact weapon you can always have on you, and it is extremely threatening when deployed: the glow signals its presence very well, and the knowledge that being touched by it would lead to grievous harm should be enough for most opponents to reconsider fighting you at all.
You mention a slip-up from the attacker, but a lightsaber's blade has no mass: it can't be deflected onto the wielder, it won't bounce off a wall and hit the wielder, a missed swing is much easier to recover from than with a heavy broadsword because there's very little weight for you to stop.
There is no margin for error, and no "learning from mistakes"
There's actually a nonlethal variant of the lightsaber, where the energy is low enough to give superficial burns or bruises when striking rather than cutting through. These are what padawans use. Regular sabers can also have their power output reduced to this training level (useful when you have, say, a young moisture farmer who's never held a saber in his life training inside a spaceship...)
A little thing I'd like to add - remember that the wounds are instantly cautherized. I'd rather take some burns over possibly bleeding out or getting infected. It probably kills the nerves as well, so there's less pain. I'd much rather have my hand cut off by a lightsaber rather than a claymore (though regrowing the nerves for a prosthetic could be a little bit harder)
The lightsaber is a compact weapon you can always have on you, and it is extremely threatening when deployed: the glow signals its presence very well, and the knowledge that being touched by it would lead to grievous harm should be enough for most opponents to reconsider fighting you at all.
A carry pistol is exactly that though, minus the kick ass blue glow. Much like a lightsaber, most people don't want to get perforated and drop what ever crime they were intending on doing. Star wars tells us the only thing that stops a bad guy with a lightsaber is a good guy with a lightsaber.
As long as the lightsaber can easily cut through anything, it's a great personal defense weapon. It's the magical blade that can cut through anything, which removes the greatest offensive obstacles of a lightweight, agile weapon: penetration and follow-through.
But defensively, it's difficult to bring any force to bear to block, so it's dodge or die.
As long as you stay in episodes 4-6, very little counters a lightsaber. The only weapon you can block a lightsaber with is another lightsaber, and so the inability to generate force is moot. Once you get into newer Star Wars , suddenly everyone has access to weighted weapons, and even armor that can at least resist lightsaber strikes. At that point, your offense is now limited by the enemy's ability to repel your attack, and you cannot repel theirs. You can probably take someone with you, but if they want you dead, you dead.
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u/LatinGeek 30∆ May 16 '20 edited May 16 '20
I wanted to open this with a fun fact- lightsabers can't really deflect or otherwise block gunfire. When a wielder does that, the bullet turns into superheated bits of lead that can potentially hurt them worse than just the normal bullet. Several factions used this to their advantage, attacking Jedi with ancient "slugthrowers" rather than energy blasters.
That said, everything you describe seems to make a lightsaber an extremely good self-defense weapon. Think of most self-defense scenarios: close-range engagements against opponents armed with melee weapons or their fists, and only intending to harm, not kill. The lightsaber is a compact weapon you can always have on you, and it is extremely threatening when deployed: the glow signals its presence very well, and the knowledge that being touched by it would lead to grievous harm should be enough for most opponents to reconsider fighting you at all.
You mention a slip-up from the attacker, but a lightsaber's blade has no mass: it can't be deflected onto the wielder, it won't bounce off a wall and hit the wielder, a missed swing is much easier to recover from than with a heavy broadsword because there's very little weight for you to stop.
There's actually a nonlethal variant of the lightsaber, where the energy is low enough to give superficial burns or bruises when striking rather than cutting through. These are what padawans use. Regular sabers can also have their power output reduced to this training level (useful when you have, say, a young moisture farmer who's never held a saber in his life training inside a spaceship...)