Ooooh lightsabers, oh my!

[Taos]

Take a look at this folks.......my favorite weapon of all time!

 

Nobody ****s with a person carrying a lightsaber.

 

I like the double bladed version best!

[Vorith]

Hmm.. Interesting.. So it would seem a Light Saber, and those wielding Duel Sabers aren't actually wielding the same weapon at all.. While the single traditional Saber is an efficient weapon, only short bladed Sabers may be duel wielded?

[Taos]

I belive that the Japanese sword fighters use Thai Chi swords when they dual weild - a shorter version of the Katana blade. I'm just guessing that they were Japansese but I know that thai chi swords are used.

[Jedi Apprentice]

Well, it makes since that a dual wielding Jedi would use the shorter blades becuase even if they are shorter, they are still going to equal up to be more than a single saber would be.

 

The shorter lenght would also make them easier to attack with and make faster moves.

 

I can't wait to try these along with the light daggers in action.

 

Thanks for the link, Leemu.

[jedi3112]

Makes me wonder if the original LS actually is a two-handed weapon, could be a bastardsword wich bioware discribes as a 1.5 handed sword (it's blade is in longer than the longest blades of 1 handed weapons but still shorter than that of a 2 handed weapon), I'd like to dual wield the original, just as Ani in EPII.

 

BTW does anybody know if you can choose the type of your LS as you make it from the start, or crystal wise, I don't mean that you can enhence the blade with crystals, I mean the starting blade you get when you only have the color crystal, Shortblade, OLS or 2bladed.

[Taos]

I'm thinking now, that the screenshots with someone holding two sabers.....those don't look any shorter IMO. Which is probably why most of us never even thought of the shorter bladed saber before. Hmmmm

 

BTW does anybody know if you can choose the type of your LS as you make it from the start, or crystal wise, I don't mean that you can enhence the blade with crystals, I mean the starting blade you get when you only have the color crystal, Shortblade, OLS or 2bladed.

 

Now, I don't know that and to tell you the truth - I don't think I want to know. Too much info...I have to have some surprises.

[Guest Jed]

Now, I don't know that and to tell you the truth - I don't think I want to know. Too much info...I have to have some surprises.

 

No surprises! Must know all!

 

Well, I like the sounds of those shorter lightsabers. Funny, in Ep 2, Anakin probably could have used two of these. Might still have two arms

[Dark Dragon]

Anakin would've lost either way, no way was he gonna beat Tyrannus, hell even Yoda couldn't defeat him in Saber combat.....

 

Dark Dragon

[jedi3112]

I doubt Anakin used two shorter LS, they came from 2 different Jedi (himself and Obi), now why would Obi use 1 shorter and why would Ani use 1 shorter LS. It's highly possible that both were made for singlesaber combat. And I also doubt if Aniwould have lost from Tyrannus if he and Obi attacked at the same time, just as Obi ordered.

[Nightlord]

Man those dueling sabers look class. I am I right in thinking that you can have multiple lightsabers aboard the Ebon Hawk?

 

If so then I'm getting two standard lightsabers, two dueling sabers and a single double bladed saber

 

A saber for every occasion

[Jedi Apprentice]

Yes you can have multiple sabers in your inventory.

 

And since your inventory is shared throughout all of your characters, then you can have a saber for every occasion for all of your force-using NPC's and your main character.

[ras1310]

Thanks for posting the link, Leemu. How did I miss seeing that when I checked the site myself? Anyway, it clears up a lot about what we have been calling the 'lightdagger.' It seems more like a short sword now. I found the description of the double-bladed saber interesting, considering that Bastila uses one from the start.

 

For anyone that's interested, there was quite a debate a few weeks ago on the forum for Ep. I & II about Anakin or Yoda vs. Dooku.

[Burrie]

Excellent find Leemu, nice to read up on some more information. I wonder if we will be able to dual-wield the regular sabers as well.

 

Anakin would've lost either way, no way was he gonna beat Tyrannus, hell even Yoda couldn't defeat him in Saber combat.....

 

If you ask me, Yoda pretty much won. I mean, he wasn't the one who had to resort to dirty trick to escape in the end, did he?

 

If so then I'm getting two standard lightsabers, two dueling sabers and a single double bladed saber

 

A saber for every occasion

 

A true Jedi Fighting machine You'd better brush up on your feats there tho'.

 

Also, I might have some information here regarding lightsabers that people can appreciate... (this comes from Casey Hudson, Project Director/Producer at Bioware)

 

Pretty much every detail in the game gets a little bit of polish in the last few months of development. The lightsabers are one example of that. In the final game you'll see that the lightsabers are a bit thinner and have a more rounded tip - just like in the movies. Overall, they've been much improved since those screenshots were taken.

[jedi3112]

They finally answered my question, after I made 1 topic about it myself, I replied to somebody else's topic, I send a PM to the devs, I asked it to LA and I posted it somewhat off-topic, but at least that's where I got the answer. I just checked it out as soon as I was finished here.

 

Off-course LucasForums always comes first.

[Jedi Apprentice]

Thanks for that great, reassuring info, Burrie.

 

A true Jedi Fighting machine You'd better brush up on your feats there tho'.

 

That's what I first thought too. I mean, if you use all three then will be mediocre for all three. In the way I see things at least. That's why I'm playing through with different saber combinations also so I can see all of them working at their best potential. You can also have all three of your characters wielding different sabers to use all of them strongly.

 

I can't wait to see how the sabers look in-game now. They looked really wide in the movies and screenies, but I guess we are going to get to see something quite different.

 

And to Yoda vs. Dooku now.

 

I think Yoda won and Dooku got nervous so he fled by means of dirty tactics. I think he knew Yoda could take him, there would be an army arriving shortly and also Obi-Wan could possibly get up in help. *possibly*

 

Dooku and Yoda were pretty evenly matched though.....

 

EDIT: Some dev inquiries about sabers and combat.

 

Is it possible to dual-wield two lightsabers?

Yes it is possible to dual wield lightsabers. You can have one light saber in each hand.

 

Is it possible to dual-wield a lightsaber and a short lightsaber?

Yes it is possible to wield a regular lightsaber and a short lightsaber at the same time.

 

Does the player choose which hand wields the longer lightsaber?

Yes. When you dual wield lightsabers (or any melee weapon that allows dual wielding) you choose which hand you want to put which weapon in. There are some weapons that have bonuses if they are used in the off hand, but you can use them in the main hand if you'd like.

 

Does the player use both hands to single-wield a lightsaber?

Sometimes. The combat animations for single lightsabers use both single hand and two handed strikes and swings.

 

Can the player switch between one- and two-handed styles when wielding a lightsaber?

NOt really. The combat animations are set depending on what type of weapon you are using. As I mentioned above using a single lightsaber you sometimes use one hand and sometimes two. If you mean can you switch between single wielding and dual wielding lightsabers, yes you can. During combat you can change your weapons on the fly so you can have 1 lightsaber, two lightsabers, 1 double lightsaber or even blasters or otehr weapons if you want.

 

What are the damage/speed penalties/bonuses for one- and two-handed combat styles?

Sorry. This falls under the "Not to be spoken of yet" catagory. But I can tell you that there are feats, like dueling for single lightsaber wielders and two weapon fighting for two lightsabers or 1 dual lightsaber wielders that will lower and eliminate any penalties if you select them.

 

If you work at BioWare, which styles have you played and which do you prefer?

I do work at BioWare and I prefer the dual wielding two lightsaber fighting style. I have played each possible style extensively and I can tell you that it comes down to personal preference. No one style is extremely stronger or weaker than any other style. I prefer dual wielding because I think it looks coolest. Your fighting style when added to other selectable feats can make you a very strong lightsaber fighter. There is one combo of moves, and I am NOT going to say what the combo is you'll have to work it out for yourselves, that is what we call "Death on Legs". And the best bit about "Death on Legs" is that it is not an obvious combo, so we're going to have fun seeing who discovers it when the game comes out.

 

About feats....

 

Oh, I get what you mean. You're thinking of stringing one move into another. Like Ryu (Street Fighter) hits a whirlwind kick, then a flaming upper cut and finishes it off with a firball for 20 hits. I mean kind of the same thing, but different. (Boy that was a load of help). Um lets see if I can clarify that...

 

There are feats that you can take that do not effect each other at all. Like Improved Power Blast (an offensive feat for blasters) doesn't work with Caution (a feat that gives skill bonuses to Demolishions and Stealth).

 

But there are some feats that do work well together. Things like Sneak Attack (allows Stealth attacks to score more damage) works well with Critical Stike (Doubles the range of melee attacks). So for this example the stealthed PC wouldn't have to get as close to the enemy before hitting a critical strike. That kind of thing.

 

Some feats obviously work well together some may not appear to, but actually do work well together. This is what I mean by combination or combo. I hope this clears that up a bit.

 

I guess that answers the question about wielding a short saber and a regular one.

 

You have to love the BioWare developers.

[StormHammer]

Saberlicious news! It's good to hear the sabers will be changed to make them look better than in the screenshots. I assumed they would be fixing that, though, but it's nice to have it confirmed.

 

As for all the lightsaber options in combat, it definitely sounds like NWN, where you can switch weapons on the fly if your current tactics aren't working. I'll be right at home twiddling with all the saber options...

 

I can't wait to find out some of these combo moves as well..

[Lord Glorfindel]

*A sound of an igniting lightsabers is heard, and there in the shadows is seen Lord Glorfindel with his two blue lightsabers, and his two trusted companions, HK47 and Bastilla Shan, are by his side ready to kick some serious sith arse*

 

This is a great article, I love to have two lightsaber in KOTOR, but I would have them both short cause its faster and somewhat cooler, thanks for the article Leemu! :saberb:

[dark jedi 8]

Great find Leemu! i think the the short sabers look the best! IMO. cant wait to wield these in the game!

[Jedi Apprentice]

Here's our lovely Bob McCabe with some information on the different sabers and styles:

 

Like everyone else has said, they're balanced pretty well. One lightsaber might be much better for the character concept you have come up with, but taken out of context, they are fairly equal, more or less.

 

Short lightsabers do less damage, but they give you less of a penalty when wielded in the off-hand. Wielding two normal-sized sabers can do more damage and give you more attacks, but you need to use up several feats to do well with them, and you typically will still have a penalty overall to hit, especially in the off-hand (and especially as compared with the short saber).

 

A single saber has no penalties from the start, and can offer you the best chance to hit by a large number as you take extra feats to improve your skill - some of which (feats) that only work if you are wielding a single, one-handed weapon.

 

And the double-bladed saber is also very sweet, but as was said, more of a mix between dual-welding and single-saber wielding.

 

So... if you want to be able to hit more often, then a single saber is probably more for you. If you want to do super flurries, go with the dual wielding (oh, the damage that you can do in a single round if they all connect!) - either with a short- or normal-sized off-hand saber. And if you want a decent mix of both, go with the double. And if you still cannot decide, then try them all!