The Star Wars universe is famous for its sci fi weaponry and the usage of weapons in futuristic battle fields. The name should speak for itself! George Lucas created a world that encompassed literally everything we could expect in a sci-fi war; from the diplomatic issues to the planets and cultures that were in danger. The weapons created for Star Wars are a production of both creativity and realism. Each weapon has a purpose or preferred method of use. Some characters even have specialized versions to either make it deadlier or simply to fit their taste.
The series has a ton of iconic weapons that most people can identify, even if they’ve only seen the recent movies. Some of the old movies have weapons that were transferred into this new era of Star Wars films while the new movie makers have designed new creations with entirely different purposes. Each one of these beauties had a lot of thought put into them because each one of them, no matter how small, was going to do something to enhance the viewer’s experience of the film. We think these weapons deserve proper recognition, so without further ado, here’s 15 Star Wars weapons ranked by strength!
15 E-5 BLASTER RIFLE
The Star Wars universe has a lot of different weapons that use a blasting type of power, such as blaster pistols which are essentially the smaller version of this one. An E-5 blaster rifle, on the other hand, packs quite a bit more punch than your average weapon as it has a larger gas chamber than your average blaster pistol. These were the weapon of choice for OOM and B1 droids during battle, so you’ve probably seen them before.
Of course, these weren’t the most effective weapons on the battleground and eventually, once we moved on to B2 super battle droids, these were upgraded to write-mounted blaster that proved to be far more accurate in hitting a target. Since these weapons are more of a base for future weapons, yet still quite the classic, we’ve ranked it at the bottom of our list.
14 E-11 BLASTER RIFLE
These bad boys should definitely look familiar to you if you’re a real Star Wars fan! The E-11 blaster rifles are the chosen weapon of the famous stormtroopers. These are just a little more lightweight than an E-5 model and were actually designed off of the DC-15A blaster that the clone troopers used. These rifles also have three different modes a user can use, which isn’t present in the previous models: stun, sting and lethal.
What made this a fairly superior weapon in comparison to other blaster models is its efficiency and versatility. It has a longer range than its previous design and an advanced cooling system simply not present previously. The settings it has are also extremely useful for the countless situations stormtroopers, in particular, find themselves in.
13 CAPTAIN PHASMA’S STAFF/BATON
If you don’t love Captain Phasma, you're doing something wrong. There’s a lot of really cool facts about her and her armor, but her staff is perhaps one of the more iconic parts of her ensemble next to her chromatic look. The staff is her primary weapon and we’ve seen her use this in various scenes, most recently in her duel with Finn in The Last Jedi.
When it’s not in use, it is more akin to a baton because it shrinks down significantly in size. When it’s in full length, which is when we normally see it, it’s a longer staff. This weapon is best for close combat and has spear points on both ends to make any enemy a kabob. Fun fact, the reason she uses a spear is because it’s a symbol from her home tribe on Parnassos.
12 ELECTROSTAFF
This melee weapon is used primarily by the MagnaGuards, clone shock troopers, Imperial riot troopers and Heavy Troopers. Obviously, if all the cool kids are using it, we have to know what it’s all about right? This staff is a lot like Phasma’s in a couple ways, but the biggest one is that it’s an electrified version, if the name didn’t give you a hint. This is because it was primarily used as a way to get into combat with those who used lightsabers; if you didn’t have a lightsaber of your own, it was going to be pretty hard to block them!
The most terrifying part about these weapons? They can stop anyone’s heart after being in contact for more than five seconds. The ends do, however, have different power settings so they don’t necessarily have to kill their enemy; often they just incapacitate an opponent.
11 EE-3 CARBINE RIFLE
You might actually recognize this rifle as the one used by Boba Fett. These seem to be the choice gun for bounty hunters as Sugi also used this same model during the Clone Wars. However, this is also used by both the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic.
This rifle is actually modeled after the E-11 blaster rifle, only this one has some modifications. It has a three-round firing mechanic, which makes it good at long range combat, but doesn’t really have the same accuracy that the longer models do. Now if you’re wondering, yes, Boba Fett actually did modify his EE-3 by adding a stock and electronic scope so that he could be more accurate with distance than its standard model has.
10 THERMAL DETONATOR
You could say this weapon is “the bomb” and that’s because it literally is. A thermal detonator is a palm-sized explosive that can only be turned off by the person who turned it on. Now you can understand why Jabba the Hutt was freaked out when Leia threatened him with one of these; if she were to press it, there’d be no way for him to save his saggy hide. This is also the type of bomb the bounty hunter Cad Bane used on the Senate Building.
This is sort of a universal weapon in the Star Wars Universe because it seems like both the good guys and the bad like to use it a lot. It’s a bit unstable, but when you’re trying to blow stuff up, we guess that’s not really the main concern.
9 Z6 ROTARY BLASTER CANNON
Another blast weapon, this one was more of a handheld rotating cannon that the user could cause some serious damage with! Used in both the Clone Wars and the Galactic Civil War, this is very similar to a heavy repeating blaster, however, it’s more lightweight and does not need more than one person or a tripod to shoot. It unleashes a spray of blaster bolts at an opponent with six barrels winding around a coolant-lined core. It’s a pretty hefty weapon that requires a lot of training to use.
It also has some big drawbacks considering the large recoil and mass amount of energy it uses to operate. You don’t see these being used in spur of the moment battles; usually, you need to plan ahead in order to properly deploy them into battle.
8 HAN SOLO’S BLASTER (DL-44 BLASTER)
Remember how we talked about blaster pistols in the beginning of this list? Well, Han Solo himself uses a specific model of these handheld baddies. Bounty hunters and smugglers alike love this blaster because it’s small, easy to conceal and it has more than a bite to its blast. Just like a phone battery, it’ll also tell its user when it only has five shots left; good thing Han shoots first right?
It also comes complete with a motion-sensitive scope and galven circuitry that gives the pistol the ability to damage more without more power drainage. The only problem is that it tends to overheat fairly quick, so you’d have to be sure to use it wisely. All in all, this is considered on of the most powerful blaster pistol model you can find in the galaxy, which puts it on our list!
7 Z6 RIOT CONTROL BATON
This is a weapon you probably have seen a lot of stormtroopers use, especially in recent movies. Remember that iconic scene when Finn is called a traitor and the stormtrooper does that cool flipping motion thing? Well, he’s holding a Z6 riot control baton. This is made for non-deadly, close-range combat, particularly with lightsaber users; which at the time, Finn was using one.
Much like the electrostaff, the Z6 also has an electric current so it can go toe-to-toe with the plasma blade of a lightsaber without being totally demolished by it. It can shock an enemy and, as you can see in the fighting scene with Finn, it is capable of spinning in combat if the user is using the proper gloves to hold on to it.
6 MWC – 35c REPEATING CANNON
Also called the “Staccato Lightning” repeating cannon, this is a specific model of a heavy repeating blaster. We’ve put it high up on the list because this baby can go 35,000 rounds on full power and has two different modes, standard and secondary. Standard mode is where its blasts are on rapid fire and it can pepper a poor soul with tons of rounds. Secondary mode is more of a single-fire shot that packs a lot of power into that one-hit.
These modes are very important because they’ll tell you specifically what the cannon is going to do. On standard mode you also have a smart-targeting technology that’ll maximize hits on enemy targets. On secondary mode, energy is collected for that single shot which you can then use with a pump-action foregard.
5 WOOKIE BOWCASTER
This is probably one of our favorites on this list because this is the weapon Chewbacca uses the most, and one Han seems to admire a lot. It’s also known as a “laser crossbow” so if you’re wondering what makes this so much more different from any other crossbow, you have your answer. This is usually what you’ll see Wookiees use and it’s much more accurate than any blaster we’ve covered on this list.
Using metal quarrels infused with plasma energy, it also has two orbs on each end that create a magnetic field to push the quarrel’s speed and momentum. Chewbacca actually crafted one of these with a standard stormtrooper blaster and also created an automatic cocking system on it. We wouldn’t really mess with Chewbacca if we were you.
4 WRIST ROCKETS
Remember we talked about the wrist rockets being a little more accurate than your average blaster? Well, this is it! There are a ton of different models that serve different purposes for wrist rockets, but overall these are powerful enough to be number four on our list. They can fire anything from homing missiles to stun rockets. Fun fact, because it can launch homing missiles, it also has a computer system inside the actual wristband that will see the movement of the target.
These are pretty popular with most characters because they're particularly accurate and a little more easier to carry around since they’re stuck to your wrist. Bounty hunters also seemed to like this; characters like Mira, Boba Fett and Jango Fett used these quite often to help acquire their targets.
3 EZRA’S LIGHTSABER/BLASTER
Ezra’s lightsaber isn’t really just a lightsaber, and much like Kylo Ren’s, it has some heavy modifications. What makes it special is that it has blaster parts, making it functional as both a lightsaber and a blaster hybrid. Ezra created his lightsaber on his own after he received his kyber crystal and he made sure that, while in lightsaber mode, the plasma blade was adjustable in length. The blaster mode was usually set to stun.
Unfortunately, this lightsaber no longer exists. Darth Vader destroyed it during a battle on Malachor, leaving Ezra to gain his new green lightsaber. Despite no longer being around, this was still a one of a kind weapon that packed a lot of punch and deserves its spot as number three on our list!
2 TUSKEN RAIDER RIFLE
Otherwise known as the Tusken Cycler, you probably recognize these modified rifles that are commonly used by the Tusken Raiders of Tatooine. You may be wondering how a basic Tusken weapon would be so high one this list, but that’s because the raiders would often modify these to be even more powerful than your average blaster weapon. Rather than a blaster shot, these would fire solid energy shots.
These were also very effective in sniping; they would make it so the firing chambers had larger, powerful slugs for shots that had better accuracy in hitting their target than even the modern blasters had. The only drawback was that it was a bit of a slow fire, so the Tusken Raiders would have to be farther away to gain speed in their shots.
1 LIGHTSABER
Of course, the lightsaber would not only be on this list, but occupying the top spot. This isn’t out of bias or popularity, however. Lightsabers are very specialized weapons that require a lot of care and talent in order to be used properly. Obviously, lightsabers are given to those who are in tune with the Force, like the Jedi or Sith. They’re also a plasma blade that uses the power of a kyber crystal in the metal chamber/hilt.
The reason these are so powerful is primarily because they can cut through virtually anything. And while there are weapons out there that are built to counter it, such as the Z6 riot control baton or electrostaff, the skill needed to use a lightsaber is usually one great enough to challenge these. An iconic weapon, these are definitely the deadliest in the galaxy.