Star Wars: Are blasters lightspeed in canon?

[Phsccarvalho]

Hello

All scans of the citations made in the CRT.

Spoiler: Part 1- Beam of Light and Lightspeed

Well, first of all, what are Blasters? There are many Star Wars reference books with detailed descriptions of these weapons. There isn’t really a hierarchy of canonicity or priority, except perhaps in terms of timing. More recent sources are generally considered more up-to-date or accurate.

Well, in this case, the “main” source is the databank description (which, being a website, is technically always up to date)

Blaster Pistol
The standard ranged weapon of both military personnel and civilians in the galaxy, the blaster pistol fires cohesive bursts of light-based energy called bolts. Appearing in a variety of shapes and sizes and sometimes augmented for other functions, including acension guns that fire grappling hooks, blaster pistols deliver a wide range of damage capability. Many blaster pistols have stun settings that incapacitate a target, rather than inflicting physical damage. While blasters do deliver a searing concussive blast, they can be foiled by magnetic seals and deflector shields.

~ [Website] starwars.com/databank/blaster-pistol

Being based on "light" is confirmed by another source. ([Book] Star Wars: A Galaxy at War)

But you might ask, "Does something really travel at the speed of light? And not just a beam of light energy?"

“The mechanism of a turbolaser was not unlike that of a hand blaster, although it-was on a vastly lager scale. When a blaster was fired, a small volume of high-energy gas moved from the gas chamber to a conversion enabler, commonly called an XCiter. There, energy from the weapon's power source excited the gas. In the case of hand-held weapons, this was achieved with a small power pack, while a reactor or power generator was necessary with larger weapons. The excited gas passed into an actuating blaster module, where it was processed into an intense beam of energy particles, coupled with light.”

"Like most energy weapons, turbolasers directed invisible beams of lightspeed. The bolt seen when a weapon was fired was actually a glowing pulse traveling along the beam at less than lightspeed. The light emitted depicted the overall energy content of the beam, limiting its range. Turbolasers gained a longer range by spinning the energy beam, reducing waste glow."

- [Book] Star Wars Encyclopedia: Naval Weapons and Equipment (August 17, 2021)

ENERGY WEAPONS
Laser cannons and turbolasers are based on the same principle as handheld blasters: Energy-rich gas is converted to a glowing particle beam that can melt through targets. The largest such weapons are powerful enough to crack a planet's core. Starships also use ion cannons, which overwhelm electronic systems with ionized energy bursts, and physical ordnance such as concussion missiles and proton torpedoes, whose energy warheads release clouds of high-velocity proton particles.

- [Book] Star Wars Complete Vehicles, New Edition

But you might think: it says "most," how can we be sure blasters are included? First, it says "most," and most energy weapons are blasters. Another thing is the direct comparison between turbolasers and blasters; they both function the same way, but one is on a larger scale.

But with a larger scale, the main difference is power and speed. In the quotes above, I highlighted these parts by underlining them.

Furthermore, they are highlighted below:

[Book] The Star Wars Book

Speed is not a major differentiating factor.

Note: Lasers are not the same thing as Laser Cannons or Turbolasers. The latter two are similar to Blasters in operation and mechanism (on a larger scale), that is, both fire bolts that form finite blasts, while lasers are different. That said, all 3 are Energy Weapons.

[Book] The Star Wars Book

Furthermore, the Death Star's laser, an energy weapon, has already demonstrated FTL capability. Therefore, energy weapons being able to travel at around the speed of light is not new.

Computer modeling showed the lasers’ twin collimating beams racing away from the Star Destroyer. Then, captured by gravity, the beams become one, changing vector and accelerating beyond lightspeed as it disappeared into the mask’s churning accretion envelope.

~ [Novel] Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel

Spoiler: Part 2- Plasma and Particle Beam

Well, many of you may remember the issue of Plasma being referenced in relation to Blasters. And well, I'm going to address that.

Below I will highlight all the Blaster descriptions I was able to find (in addition to those already mentioned in the first part). Please pay attention to the parts in bold and underlined.

ENERGY WEAPONS
Laser cannons and turbolasers are based on the same principle as handheld blasters: Energy-rich gas is converted to a glowing particle beam that can melt through targets. The largest such weapons are powerful enough to crack a planet's core. Starships also use ion cannons, which overwhelm electronic systems with ionized energy bursts, and physical ordnance such as concussion missiles and proton torpedoes, whose energy warheads release clouds of high-velocity proton particles.
- [Book] Star Wars Complete Vehicles, New Edition

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BLASTERS
Blaster weaponry is by far the most common throughout the galaxy, available in thousands of endlessly custom-izable and modifiable designs from corporate titans like BlasTech, SoroSuub, Merr-Sonn Munitions, and thousands of others. Most blaster weaponry functions by emitting condensed packets of high-energy plasma. Manufacturers achieve this by introducing energy from specialized power cells through energy-rich tibanna, orveth, or skevon gas which is then focused by a prismatic crystal. These excited particles then pass through a static-pulse field created by a Galven-pattern barrel where the energy is released to damaging effect. The type and mix of gas used typically affects the color of blaster bolt produced, with green, red, or blue bolts being the most common.

- [Sourcebook] Gadgets and Gear

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BLASTER WEAPONRY
Common blaster weapons use high-energy gas as ammunition, activated by a power cell and converted into plasma. The plasma is released from a magnetic bottle effect to fire through collimating components as a coherent energy bolt. Inherent instabilities limit the ability to precisely aim a blaster bolt, but knowing one's weapon well can strengthen marksmanship. Plasma energy is dissipated as the bolt travels, limiting range as the energy becomes incoherent. Longer range is developed by longer blast tubes, which align the plasma energy carrier waves more closely through additional galven circuitry, lens crystals, or other collimating devices.

- [Book] Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary, New Edition

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The most common weapon in the galaxy is the blaster. Favored by militaries, gangsters, rogues, and royals alike, blasters provide dependable firepower for just about any application. The concept of firing projectiles has been around since ancient times, and in some societies guns that fire physical projectiles are still in use. Thousands of years before the Galactic Civil War, these projectile weapons gave way to energy blasters that are easier to reload and more effective than the ancient weapons. No matter their specialized purpose, the basic function is largely the same. Using an energy source, often a cartridge filled with energized gas, a blaster propels a glowing particle beam at high speed. Depending on the gas and design of the blaster, different color bolts are possible. Red is the most common, but green, blue, and yellow are potential variants. Blaster bolts form a finite blast, setting them apart from lasers which emit a steady stream of energy. As such, lasers are typically reserved for stationary, crew-mounted, or vehicle-mounted weapons where a laser can be reliably aimed on target for a time. Blasters are found in almost every imaginable configuration to match the myriad mission profiles or unique physiology of the user. Blaster pistols are compact variants that trade firepower and capacity for excellent mobility. Hip-holstered pistols provide handy protection and are favored by Han Solo, who is famous for carrying a heavily modified DL-44. Some users favor concealability in their pistols, such as Queen Amidala’s short-barreled ELG-3A stored in the arm of her royal throne on Naboo.

- [Book] The Star Wars Book

-

“The mechanism of a turbolaser was not unlike that of a hand blaster, although it-was on a vastly lager scale. When a blaster was fired, a small volume of high-energy gas moved from the gas chamber to a conversion enabler, commonly called an XCiter. There, energy from the weapon's power source excited the gas. In the case of hand-held weapons, this was achieved with a small power pack, while a reactor or power generator was necessary with larger weapons. The excited gas passed into an actuating blaster module, where it was processed into an intense beam of energy particles, coupled with light.”

"Like most energy weapons, turbolasers directed invisible beams of lightspeed. The bolt seen when a weapon was fired was actually a glowing pulse traveling along the beam at less than lightspeed. The light emitted depicted the overall energy content of the beam, limiting its range. Turbolasers gained a longer range by spinning the energy beam, reducing waste glow."

- [Book] Star Wars Encyclopedia: Naval Weapons and Equipment (August 17, 2021)

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Well, I'll try to summarize.

Blasters (and so on) fire high-speed particle beams. That's the “invisible” part traveling at the speed of light. But why is it called a ‘glowing’ and “beam of light”?

Note the part of the last quote:

intense beam of energy particles, coupled with light.

This invisible particle beam is coupled with light. That’s why it’s called a glowing/light bolt.

the blaster pistol fires cohesive bursts of light-based energy called bolts.

The bolt seen when a weapon was fired was actually a glowing pulse traveling along the beam at less than lightspeed.

That luminous part, which is plasma. It is the total energy content of the beam that ends up dissipating and limiting the range. That's why, to increase the range, the "glow" decreases because less energy content is wasted.

Plasma energy is dissipated as the bolt travels, limiting range as the energy becomes incoherent. Longer range is developed by longer blast tubes, which align the plasma energy carrier waves more closely through additional galven circuitry, lens crystals, or other collimating devices

The light emitted depicted the overall energy content of the beam, limiting its range. Turbolasers gained a longer range by spinning the energy beam, reducing waste glow.

Now that all that’s out of the way, here are the proposals:

• Proposal 1: It would only apply to Turbolasers (which have the direct statement).
• Proposal 2: Blasters/Laser Cannons receive a “probably”. That is assuming that the “most” is said to have that speed.
• Proposal 3: It applies to all 3 (the main point is that the entire CRT was argued to apply to Blasters)

How will it be applied?
I think the most accurate way to apply this to Blasters, Laser Cannons, and Turbolasers would be as follows:

Relativistic+ to Speed of Light (Like most energy weapons, Blasters/Laser Cannons/Turbolasers directed invisible beams of lightspeed, and the bolt seen when a weapon was fired was actually a glowing pulse of plasma traveling along the beam at less than lightspeed)

I decided this because, within a single shot, there are two things moving at different speeds: the invisible particle beam traveling at the speed of light, and the light/plasma attached to it, which moves slower.

Honestly, I just don't know how to figure out the exact value of relativistic velocity. It's close to the speed of light, since it's coupled to the invisible beam traveling at the speed of light, but I don't know exactly how close, so it would be great if you could help me with this.

Nota 1: I didn’t mention lasers because I think they’re already accepted as SoL, with some—like the Death Star—being FTL. The fact that other weapons operate at speeds close to the speed of light supports the idea that lasers must operate at least at the speed of light (since in some cases they can be faster than light)

Nota 2: Two examples of energy weapons that wouldn't fit the description of “most energy weapons” would be the Nightsister Energy Bow and the Energy Slingshot. Energy bows are described as being different from blasters, and they themselves are described differently (no mention of particle beams, beams of light, etc.), referring instead to a solid plasma generator. The latter is basically just an electric weapon, completely different from blasters and the like.

Note 3: Currently, Blasters are Subsonic. If proposal 2 or 3 is accepted, those who have Blasters will have: "Relativistic+ to Speed of Light attack speed with Blasters" (Example: Han Solo. For some reason, non-force users characters don't have a speed value for their blasters and weapons, so I will list that). Characters with “Subsonic combat and reaction speed” based on blasters, such as Captain Rex, will have “Relativistic+ combat and reaction speed.” The same applies to basically any Jedi, since even Padawans can do this. Characters who scale to Jedi speed also receive Relativistic+ like Grievous. Of course, in the future there may be calculations involving the new blaster speed, but as an initial application of all this, I think it’s fine for now?

Note 4: If only turbolasers are accepted for classification as such, only profiles (primarily of starships) that have turbolasers attached will be affected.
Votes:

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Agree: (1) @DarkDragonMedeus (Proposal 3 - 90%c to SoL). @Dalesean027 (Proposal 3 - 90%c to SoL)

Neutral: (0)

Disagree: (0)

 

[DaReaperMan]

I saw these before they came out so I have no complaints there. Should note that high-end troopers like Rex fight Grievous and Sith without being blitzed, so they're not even the outlier.

 

[Epyriel]

Honestly, I just don't know how to figure out the exact value of relativistic velocity. It's close to the speed of light, since it's coupled to the invisible beam traveling at the speed of light, but I don't know exactly how close, so it would be great if you could help me with this.

For those wondering, my idea was to use the speed of IRL particle accelerators which match the descriptions of blasters as firing physical particle beams and yet also being lightspeed (since particle accelerators reach speeds only a tiny sliver off of lightspeed and for all particle purposes would just be called lightspeed).

As for a possible value for this we could use either the low end or the average of all the mainstream IRL accelerators for which there is easily accessible data:

• LHC: 3.1m/s off of SOL
• SLAC: 0.0156m/s off of SOL
• RHIC: 14,990m/s off of SOL
• Tevatron: 137.9m/s off of SOL
• LEPC: 0.0036m/s off of SOL

Could make an argument for not using the RHIC since it fires entire gold nuclei rather than just protons or electrons.

 

[Phsccarvalho]

For those wondering, my idea was to use the speed of IRL particle accelerators which match the descriptions of blasters as firing physical particle beams and yet also being lightspeed (since particle accelerators reach speeds only a tiny sliver off of lightspeed and for all particle purposes would just be called lightspeed).

As for a possible value for this we could use either the low end or the average of all the mainstream IRL accelerators for which there is easily accessible data:

• LHC: 3.1m/s off of SOL
• SLAC: 0.0156m/s off of SOL
• RHIC: 14,990m/s off of SOL
• Tevatron: 137.9m/s off of SOL
• LEPC: 0.0036m/s off of SOL

Could make an argument for not using the RHIC since it fires entire gold nuclei rather than just protons or electrons.

The value would be for plasma energy, which is what is being referenced as light energy below the speed of light coupled to invisible particles beams at the speed of light.

Regarding the speed of this plasma coupled to the particle beam at the speed of light, well, I'll let the staff decide what we could use (if nothing is decided, it will probably be the minimum relativistic+ value, which is 50%).

 

[Phsccarvalho]

I saw these before they came out so I have no complaints there. Should note that high-end troopers like Rex fight Grievous and Sith without being blitzed, so they're not even the outlier.

Hey Reaper, you can use your new powers to ping @LephyrTheRevanchist?

 

[Epyriel]

The value would be for plasma energy, which is what is being referenced as light energy below the speed of light coupled to invisible particles beams at the speed of light.

Regarding the speed of this plasma coupled to the particle beam at the speed of light, well, I'll let the staff decide what we could use (if nothing is decided, it will probably be the minimum relativistic+ value, which is 50%).

Kind of defeats the point if you aren’t going to use the speed of particle accelerators for the actual particle beams.

Although you could argue that the glowing pulse is the plasmatic particle beams and the invisible portion is the coupled light.

 

[Phsccarvalho]

Kind of defeats the point if you aren’t going to use the speed of particle accelerators for the actual particle beams.

Although you could argue that the glowing pulse is the plasmatic particle beams and the invisible portion is the coupled light.

Initially, I thought that the invisible thing traveling at the speed of light was one thing, and that visible light was the particle beam, so we could use real-life logic. But in reality, the particle beam is the invisible part.

When referring to the invisible part, it's called a beam/particle beam.

Visible light is called a light pulse, which refers to plasma. And the "Bolt" is the whole thing.

Like most energy weapons, turbolasers directed invisible beams of lightspeed

intense beam of energy particles, coupled with light.

-

The bolt seen when a weapon was fired was actually a glowing pulse traveling along the beam at less than lightspeed. The light emitted depicted the overall energy content of the beam, limiting its range.

Plasma energy is dissipated as the bolt travels, limiting range as the energy becomes incoherent. Longer range is developed by longer blast tubes, which align the plasma energy carrier waves more closely through additional galven circuitry, lens crystals, or other collimating devices

-
The "beam" part (referring to the particle beam) is different from the "glowing pulse", which is the plasma/light energy that travels along the beam.

The "beam" (referring to the invisible particle beam traveling at the speed of light) is always distinguished from the glowing pulse/light (referring to the light/plasma energy that travels along the beam).

That's why it's said that the particle beam is coupled to light, and not that the particle beam is light.

The part of the light (which is plasma energy) travels slower than the particle beam (which travels at the speed of light), but it cannot be dramatically slower because the particle beam is coupled to the light/plasma and the light/plasma travels along the particle beam. I just don't know how we can determine the exact speed of the part of the light/plasma that is described as slower than speed of light.

 

[Epyriel]

Initially, I thought that the invisible thing traveling at the speed of light was one thing, and that visible light was the particle beam, so we could use real-life logic. But in reality, the particle beam is the invisible part.

When referring to the invisible part, it's called a beam/particle beam.

Visible light is called a light pulse, which refers to plasma. And the "Bolt" is the whole thing.



-


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The "beam" part (referring to the particle beam) is different from the "glowing pulse", which is the plasma/light energy that travels along the beam.

The "beam" (referring to the invisible particle beam traveling at the speed of light) is always distinguished from the glowing pulse/light (referring to the light/plasma energy that travels along the beam).

That's why it's said that the particle beam is coupled to light, and not that the particle beam is light.

The part of the light (which is plasma energy) travels slower than the particle beam (which travels at the speed of light), but it cannot be dramatically slower because the particle beam is coupled to the light/plasma and the light/plasma travels along the particle beam. I just don't know how we can determine the exact speed of the part of the light/plasma that is described as slower than speed of light.

None of those quotes say particle beam. They just say “beam” which would more sensibly be “lightbeam”.

Especially since this quote explicitly states the particle beam is “glowing”:

Energy-rich gas is converted to a glowing particle beam that can melt through targets.

 

[Rex_Eckles]

I think Proposal 3 makes sense.

 

[Phsccarvalho]

None of those quotes say particle beam. They just say “beam” which would more sensibly be “lightbeam”.

Because the beam is the particle beam. The visible part, the luminous part that we see, is not the particle beam itself; it's the plasma energy that travels along the particle beam. This is also why it's described as something invisible.

intense beam of energy particles, coupled with light.

beam of energy particles = particule beam

Especially since this quote explicitly states the particle beam is “glowing”:

That's because it's simply a quick summary of what the blaster fires.

Similarly, the databank only summarizes it as "bursts of light-based energy called bolts."

These descriptions don't go into all the details.
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You took the "glowing particle beam" part and said that it's the particle beam itself that is glowing, but that's not the case. The encyclopedia explains this in detail.

The encyclopedia says that a particle beam is coupled to light (not that they are the same thing).

intense beam of energy particles, coupled with light.

The paragraph below states that the beam is the invisible thing traveling at the speed of light, and then explains the bolt that we see (considering that it was said to be the invisible thing). Then it explains that this is a glowing pulse, a light (also referred to as plasma energy) emitted representing the energy content of the particle beam.

“The mechanism of a turbolaser was not unlike that of a hand blaster, although it-was on a vastly lager scale. When a blaster was fired, a small volume of high-energy gas moved from the gas chamber to a conversion enabler, commonly called an XCiter. There, energy from the weapon's power source excited the gas. In the case of hand-held weapons, this was achieved with a small power pack, while a reactor or power generator was necessary with larger weapons. The excited gas passed into an actuating blaster module, where it was processed into an intense beam of energy particles, coupled with light.”

"Like most energy weapons, turbolasers directed invisible beams of lightspeed. The bolt seen when a weapon was fired was actually a glowing pulse traveling along the beam at less than lightspeed. The light emitted depicted the overall energy content of the beam, limiting its range. Turbolasers gained a longer range by spinning the energy beam, reducing waste glow."

- [Book] Star Wars Encyclopedia: Naval Weapons and Equipment (August 17, 2021)

In summary:
The weapon fires an invisible particle beam at the speed of light. The energy content of this invisible beam appears as a light/glowing pulse (also called plasma) that travels along the beam at a speed less than the speed of light.

The glowing particle beam is simply a summary of what a Blast missile fires. Similarly, the Databank summarized it as follows: bursts of light-based energy called bolts

Neither of these two goes into more detail (such as discussing the invisible part). For example, the databank doesn't explain that Bolt is the bright pulse that travels along an invisible beam at the speed of light; no, it just summarizes it as firing light-based energy.

 

[Isaacbobanka]

Okay ive read it through and i think proposal 3 seem to fit i might also send some scans later but if i understand correct the "plasma" is what is moving at relavisitc+ speeds?

 

[Phsccarvalho]

understand correct the "plasma" is what is moving at relavisitc+ speeds?

Yes. Plasma is the light/glowing pulse that travels along the beam. The beam is at the speed of light while the plasma is at a lower speed, but considering that the beam is said to be coupled with light (light = glowing pulse = plasma energy), the plasma cannot be at speeds extremely lower than the speed of light.

I proposed Relativistic+ in a generic way, but I don't know what would be the best way to measure the speed of the plasma in this sense.

 

[Epyriel]

Because the beam is the particle beam. The visible part, the luminous part that we see, is not the particle beam itself; it's the plasma energy that travels along the particle beam. This is also why it's described as something invisible.

beam of energy particles = particule beam

That's because it's simply a quick summary of what the blaster fires.

Similarly, the databank only summarizes it as "bursts of light-based energy called bolts."

These descriptions don't go into all the details.
-
You took the "glowing particle beam" part and said that it's the particle beam itself that is glowing, but that's not the case. The encyclopedia explains this in detail.

The encyclopedia says that a particle beam is coupled to light (not that they are the same thing).


The paragraph below states that the beam is the invisible thing traveling at the speed of light, and then explains the bolt that we see (considering that it was said to be the invisible thing). Then it explains that this is a glowing pulse, a light (also referred to as plasma energy) emitted representing the energy content of the particle beam.

In summary:
The weapon fires an invisible particle beam at the speed of light. The energy content of this invisible beam appears as a light/glowing pulse (also called plasma) that travels along the beam at a speed less than the speed of light.

The glowing particle beam is simply a summary of what a Blast missile fires. Similarly, the Databank summarized it as follows: bursts of light-based energy called bolts

Neither of these two goes into more detail (such as discussing the invisible part). For example, the databank doesn't explain that Bolt is the bright pulse that travels along an invisible beam at the speed of light; no, it just summarizes it as firing light-based energy.

Once again, you are adding “particle” to every beam quote.

Light and laser beams are also beams. And are usually invisible.

I’m not saying the light and the particle beams are the same thing, I’m saying the complete opposite. That it is the lightbeam that is travelling ahead at lightspeed and the particle beam that is lagging behind as the glowing bolt. As you would expect from basic physics. And that is backed up by the Complete Vehicles quote.

 

[Hagane_no_Saiyajin]

watching

 

[Jaften]

For those wondering, my idea was to use the speed of IRL particle accelerators which match the descriptions of blasters as firing physical particle beams and yet also being lightspeed (since particle accelerators reach speeds only a tiny sliver off of lightspeed and for all particle purposes would just be called lightspeed).

As for a possible value for this we could use either the low end or the average of all the mainstream IRL accelerators for which there is easily accessible data:

• LHC: 3.1m/s off of SOL
• SLAC: 0.0156m/s off of SOL
• RHIC: 14,990m/s off of SOL
• Tevatron: 137.9m/s off of SOL
• LEPC: 0.0036m/s off of SOL

Could make an argument for not using the RHIC since it fires entire gold nuclei rather than just protons or electrons.

Should probably use medical accelerators as a model instead, as the colliders are built to accelerate a single or a small number of particles to extreme velocities, rather than an amount that would be needed to make a "bolt". Medical accelerators have velocities around 60% the speed of light. Honestly, lower is likely better realistically because 60% is used here because it reaches a velocity threshold necessary to pass through the body and hit tumors inside it.

 

[Phsccarvalho]

Once again, you are adding “particle” to every beam quote.

That's because both paragraphs of "Naval Weapons and Equipment" use "beam" to refer to a beam of particles.

“The mechanism of a turbolaser was not unlike that of a hand blaster, although it-was on a vastly lager scale. When a blaster was fired, a small volume of high-energy gas moved from the gas chamber to a conversion enabler, commonly called an XCiter. There, energy from the weapon's power source excited the gas. In the case of hand-held weapons, this was achieved with a small power pack, while a reactor or power generator was necessary with larger weapons. The excited gas passed into an actuating blaster module, where it was processed into an intense beam of energy particles, coupled with light.”

"Like most energy weapons, turbolasers directed invisible beams of lightspeed. The bolt seen when a weapon was fired was actually a glowing pulse traveling along the beam at less than lightspeed. The light emitted depicted the overall energy content of the beam, limiting its range. Turbolasers gained a longer range by spinning the energy beam, reducing waste glow."

- [Book] Star Wars Encyclopedia: Naval Weapons and Equipment (August 17, 2021)

In the first part, he already defined that "beam" refers to the particle beam and separated it from the "light" that is emitted and which is what we saw. Right after that, he says "glowing pulse traveling along the beam". When this book refers to visible light, it uses "bolt," "glowing pulse," "light," etc., never "beam." The book doesn't need to repeat the "particle" part all the time because it has already established that it's using "beam" to refer to a particle beam. When it's referring to something else, the book uses "bolt," "glowing pulse," or "light."

Of all the citations I brought, only two use "beam" without being associated with "particle." Those are the glossary (beam of light) and the one from The Star Wars Book (energy beam). But both use these descriptions in a summarized way to explain what a blaster is simply and directly, without going into detail.

It would be like taking the simple description "beam of light" given for the blaster in the glossary and saying it's a SoL because of the "Light," when, from detailed information, we know that this "Light" refers to plasma.

 

[Phsccarvalho]

Should probably use medical accelerators as a model instead, as the colliders are built to accelerate a single or a small number of particles to extreme velocities, rather than an amount that would be needed to make a "bolt". Medical accelerators have velocities around 60% the speed of light.

My interpretation differs from Ep's, so what you said doesn't make sense to me, since in my interpretation it's the particle beam that's declared as SoL, so it couldn't just be 60%.

Honestly, lower is likely better realistically because 60% is used here because it reaches a velocity threshold necessary to pass through the body and hit tumors inside it.

Why exactly? Star Wars technology is millions of times more advanced than ours, and any blaster shot, even from pistols, can penetrate large rocks.

 

[Hellbeast]

I saw these before they came out so I have no complaints there. Should note that high-end troopers like Rex fight Grievous and Sith without being blitzed, so they're not even the outlier.

Mando scales vaguely to Ashoka too and we even see Han react to Greedo’s shor

 

[Phsccarvalho]

Mando scales vaguely to Ashoka too and we even see Han react to Greedo’s shor

Cad Bane also dodges a reflection from his own blast (I don't think he lost much speed in the reflection).

0:17

 

[Phsccarvalho]

My interpretation differs from Ep's

Regardless of the interpretation, in short, the "Bolt" fired by a Blast weapon (or turbolaser if only the turbolaser is accepted) consists of an invisible part traveling at the speed of light that is coupled to another part traveling at a speed lower than lightspeed (but it cannot be extremely lower since the second part travels along with the first part).

What we would need is to discover a way to measure, or at least a reasonable estimate of, the speed of the second part.

 

[Phsccarvalho]

Regardless of the interpretation, in short, the "Bolt" fired by a Blast weapon (or turbolaser if only the turbolaser is accepted) consists of an invisible part traveling at the speed of light that is coupled to another part traveling at a speed lower than lightspeed (but it cannot be extremely lower since the second part travels along with the first part).

What we would need is to discover a way to measure, or at least a reasonable estimate of, the speed of the second part.

One option I considered is to take a picture of a blaster shot.

Then, we could take the tip of the bolt (the part furthest forward in the shot) and measure the distance to the other tip. Then, we could consider the first tip to be lightspeed and try to estimate the velocity of that tip.

For example:

I'm not a mathematician, physicist, or anything like that, and I don't even know if this is a valid way to do it or if it's correct in any way. I'm just giving an idea.

 

[Legion350]

I’m agree with the overall CRT. If you have a way to measure the length of the plasma that’s great. Otherwise my suggestion is somewhere in the range of 90%c up to just under c. As others have mentioned if the it was significantly slower, they wouldn’t be traveling in tandem.

 

[Phsccarvalho]

I just grabbed the first good quality image of a blaster bolt that I saw and made these outlines, so if anyone wants to try something more professional on a blog or something like that, it would help a lot.

 

[Nonynho]

3 makes more sense to me

 

[Epyriel]

Since I didn’t mention it already, I’m also in favour of option 3. Considering the statement in that one book calling attention to the fact handhelds are supposed to use the same mechanism it is clear they are also intending it to be the same speed.

And yeah regardless of whether you think the particle beam is visible portion or not, the visible portion must be near lightspeed since deflections and impacts all happen at around the same time that the visible portion makes contact, implying a high level of relatively.

 

[DarkDragonMedeus]

I’m agree with the overall CRT. If you have a way to measure the length of the plasma that’s great. Otherwise my suggestion is somewhere in the range of 90%c up to just under c. As others have mentioned if the it was significantly slower, they wouldn’t be traveling in tandem.

Makes sense to me

 

[Legion350]

I just grabbed the first good quality image of a blaster bolt that I saw and made these outlines, so if anyone wants to try something more professional on a blog or something like that, it would help a lot.

I think it’s a good idea. I imagine it’ll take a lot of time to track down a clear shot, in proportion to other background elements to measure it.

My thought process was that if we can get the baseline agreement resolved, then it’ll be less complicated to make a CRT down the line to quickly update to a specific value, since this is already pretty intuitive.

Too many Star Wars CRTs get stuck in development hell.

 

[Ruby_R_Dracula]

bump

 

[Phsccarvalho]

bump

 

[Xavis10]

Agreed with proposal 3.

 

[Dalesean027]

Option 3 works best here

 

[AyOgUyS]

As staff and what I presume are knowledgeable members have agreed with Option 3, I will as well.

 

[Phsccarvalho]

Option 3 works best here

And regarding the relativistic value of classification?:

Relativistic+ to Speed of Light

DDM seems to agree with the 90% assumption, but since you're a calc staff member as well, I'd like to know what you think.

 

[Kenny Mccormick 0v0]

And regarding the relativistic value of classification?:


DDM seems to agree with the 90% assumption, but since you're a calc staff member as well, I'd like to know what you think.

Can you move this profile to legends? This profile only cover legends version

https://vsbattles.fandom.com/wiki/Boss_(RC-1138)

If you can do it please add this profile to legends page too (In other section)

Leviathan (Star Wars)

The Leviathans are an ancient species of bioengineered serpentine creatures created by fallen Dark Jedi during the Hundred-Year Darkness. Some sources speculated that they may have been created by Karness Muur; however, Sorzus Syn took credit for their creation in her chronicle. Tier: 5-B Name...

vsbattles.fandom.com

 

[Phsccarvalho]

Can you move this profile to legends? This profile only cover legends version

https://vsbattles.fandom.com/wiki/Boss_(RC-1138)

If you can do it please add this profile to legends page too (In other section)

Leviathan (Star Wars)

The Leviathans are an ancient species of bioengineered serpentine creatures created by fallen Dark Jedi during the Hundred-Year Darkness. Some sources speculated that they may have been created by Karness Muur; however, Sorzus Syn took credit for their creation in her chronicle. Tier: 5-B Name...

vsbattles.fandom.com

You could have asked for that in the general discussion.

 

[Rex_Eckles]

Is one more mod vote needed?

 

[Phsccarvalho]

Is one more mod vote needed?

SW CRTs have always only needed 2 votes. But I'm waiting for Dale to reply to my comment.

 

[Kenny Mccormick 0v0]

You could have asked for that in the general discussion.

I though this is general discussion, sorry.

 

[Dalesean027]

DDM seems to agree with the 90% assumption, but since you're a calc staff member as well, I'd like to know what you think

That works fine for me too, I'd say its pretty evident that lightbeam part isn't traveling that much faster than the visible bolt part

 

[Phsccarvalho]

I'll apply it later, probably only tomorrow since I work all day in the afternoon and when I get home I still have things to do.