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I may never come back, and I just want someone to know. This article contains text from a former Shadow Academy course. It is no longer in use, and is preserved here for historical purposes only and should not be used/referenced.
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Course Description
This course supplements the knowledge included in the initial Lightsaber Studies course and covers more advanced matters related to the lightsaber construction and combat.
Course Notes
Introduction
Well met, Brethren.
In this course, you will build upon your knowledge of the lightsaber, its forms of combat, and develop a stronger understanding for the finer and more advanced concepts of lightsaber combat. You will come to understand more about the way a lightsaber is created and how it works, and also learn how to effectively use this information to your advantage in battle.
Note: To fully comprehend the lessons of this course, you will need to have read and understood the Lightsaber Combat Guide. This comprehensive manual has in-depth information relating to the Arts discussed within, information that will have to be digested and understood in order to complete this course. This will not be a simple answer hunt, nor a condensed re-teaching of the guide itself, but rather a supplement.
The Lightsaber Combat Guide can be found Lightsaber Guide.
A quick study guide and flow chart can be found Quick Study.
It is also suggested those taking this course take the Lightsaber Basics course, which covers the basics of lightsaber mechanics and the different combat forms available. Course notes for Lightsaber Basics can be found Lightsaber Basics.
The Lightsaber
Many understand the very basics of what makes a lightsaber work. This elementary understanding services most students well enough, allowing them to build a satisfactory weapon without detonating the power cell. However, much more goes into a saber than merely picking a pretty color crystal, tuning it, and aligning it properly in a saber hilt. While the crystal of a lightsaber is considered by most to be the 'heart' of the saber, it is hardly the only important piece.
Many experienced masters have discovered that minor tweaks or even complete rebuilds of sections of their sabers give them just enough of an edge over their opponents in combat. Some even go so far as to obsess over the minute details of what others would see as mundane details in their craft. However, there are many parts that can be improved in a lightsaber that will maximize its efficiency as a weapon.
Powering Your Weapon
Starting from the workbench up, a person wishing to build a saber will need a sufficient power cell. Most students choose Diatium for ease of acquisition, but others will venture out and search out more rare cells, and some have even been known to construct their own power cells. Trinium and Cinnabar can be combined in such a fashion to create a power cell that holds roughly twice the charge of a Diatium Cell. Other forms of power cells are known to exist, but great care must be taken when assembling these, as faults in the casing can cause serious damage when given a charge.
As important as the power cell is the power field conductor. The power field conductor serves two purposes. The first is to amplify the energy pulled from the power cell to power the weapon. The second is to recharge the power cell with energy returning from the closed loop of the lightsaber blade. The energy comes from the power cell, gets amplified by the field conductor, which creates the blade, a beam of raw energy. If that raw energy is not interrupted or used, the energy flows back into the power field conductor, which is used to recharge the power cell.
As such, a well constructed field conductor can make the difference between getting a thousand hours and ten thousand hours of life out of your power cell before needing a recharge. Most field conductors are made from copper, and do the job sufficiently well. More determined individuals would make them out of cubirian or meleenium, using these rare material's inherently superior conductive qualities to their advantage. It is known that several Jedi blademasters would spend years working on their field conductors, in the hopes of creating a saber that never needed recharging. Sadly, success has yet to be found in this regard.
The Crystals
From the power field generator, the energy courses through a specialized crystal mount. This is a throne upon which your lightsaber crystal sits, with customized prongs that deliver the energy to the face of the crystal itself. Some prefer to use different, more conductive metals, and even prefer a bezel set rather than the traditional Jedi prong set. The bezel provides more of a surface area connection, and is sometimes set up to rigidly hold the crystal in the energizing mount, rather than use a secondary stabilization mount, like is often used with pressure plate switches (the famed 'killswitch' of Jedi sabers). Pronged mounts are also susceptible to a common attack by other force sensitives, who can use precise telekinesis to shift the prongs and knock the crystal off of the mount, causing a feedback loop that often detonates the saber's power cell. The bezel set has it's own issues, however, in that the precision of the mount and difficulty in adjusting the mount after the fact makes for a much more difficult installation.
A fledgling Dark Jedi will often start their career with a saber that harnesses a synthetic Adegan or, in rare cases, a mined Adegan crystal as a generator crystal. While still useful and effective as weapons, other crystals may be sought as the dark sider progresses on his path. Sometimes seeking out rarer crystals for the belief that they generate a stronger blade, or produce a color more in liking with the user, they will strike out to find the most exotic crystal possible, as a testament to their own prowess, a trophy of those who bear the 'best' crystal.
While many crystals exist in the galaxy, only a few dozen types resonate in such a way that makes it possible for use in a lightsaber as a generator crystal. And while many do indeed offer some intrinsic change to the blade or handling of the weapon, most do not and typically serve only to embolden the vanity of the user. However, there are ways to modify the qualities of a lightsaber blade without seeking the elusive Qixoni or Kaiburr crystals.
The focusing crystal array is used to focus the radiant energy that flows from the energized generator crystal and direct it into a beam usable as a weapon. The crystals used in the focusing array must be impervious to light and heat, for there will be those in abundance within the crystal chamber of a lightsaber. They must also be somewhat translucent, to allow for the energy to actually escape through the blade channel.
By choosing wisely among the focusing crystals, one can impart specific characteristics to their blade. A thinner blade for dueling may be achieved, or even a blade that oscillates to help throw off opponents in saber locks. There are scores of focusing crystals available throughout the galaxy, some more highly prized than others. Again, the rarity of these crystals can consume a force sensitive person's time, as they seek out the very best crystals in quest of the perfect saber. With practice and greater mastery of the force, more focusing crystals may be used in the weapon, allowing for more and more customization of the weapon.
Control
Once the energy is harnessed by perfectly cut and angled focusing crystals, the power coalesces into a vibrant near-plasma that is driven through a tube, called the blade energy channel, which imparts some final characteristics to make the blade of a lightsaber. Specific charges are given to the blade energy channel through cycling field energizers controlled by various switches mounted on the outside of the saber hilt, or in some occasions, internal force-activated switches. The charges that are imparted on the blade energy channel grant the blade its final point of return, the point at which the blade energy returns to the core, the length of the blade.
The length of the blade is often set as a constant, and attempts to change a blade's length in combat by varying the power sent to the blade energy channel do not achieve any changes. A person must first deactivate the blade to modify the length of a saber blade in this fashion. However, several forms of Lightsaber combat, including Vaapad, Trakata and Dun Moch, have techniques based around the quick modification of a blade's length in combat. This is achieved by using multiple generator crystals, in what is called a multiphase configuration, or a multiphase lightsaber.
A multi-phase lightsaber makes use of a customized, switchable current crystal mount that permits the user to activate one, two, or even three generator crystals at a given time, allowing the power that is generated by the crystals to be modified on the fly. Naturally, this requires that much more attention be given to a proper alignment of the focusing crystal array so that either crystals energy is harnessed appropriately. This requires excellent control and precision placement, and has never been successfully achieved by a person who is not extensively trained in the Force.
Further, arts such as Makashi, Soresu and Djem So require a control of the blade that is not easy, considering the arc-wave, or gyroscopic effect that an energized crystal gives a lightsaber. The effect of driving the energy through the crystal chamber and the blade energy channel, and that of the energy looping back through the field conductors to recharge the power cell create a weapon that is difficult to maneuver when activated. Many students of the saber have found that it's easier to go with more static forms, such as Shii-Cho, than it is to attempt the quick stops and direction changes of Makashi and the deflective forms of Soresu and Djem So.
Others have taken strides to help minimize the gyroscopic effects, however. From using specially tuned Melnora or Nextor focusing crystals, the gyroscopic effect is lessened, permitting the duelist a greater control over their blade. Others still will put a collar of electromagnets around the emitter of the blade, stabilizing the blade energy channel, helping to reduce their strain further, but at the cost of reduced power cell life. Some prefer to manhandle their blades, powering through their strokes with strength enhanced by the Force, or by sheer willpower and muscle alone. But at the end, control is the most important thing for any student of any form to master. Without the ability to control their blade, all their knowledge is moot.
Advanced Combat
Many approach the forms of lightsaber combat as though they are a game of rock-paper-scissors, studying a medley of forms to combat potential foes. While Makashi is rather effective against Soresu, and Ataru does impart a touch of an advantage against a Makashi adherent, these are relatively minor advantages, easily remedied by those with a keen understanding of their own form.
Knowing what you can do is only a quarter of the equation of combat. Of equal importance is knowing what you can't do, as well as what your opponent can and cannot do. By studying your own form fully, you can begin to recognize the gaps in your defenses, the opportunities that will present to a savvy foe. And, knowing these gaps, you can begin to tailor your training to fill them in.
Another point that many students fail to recognize is that a fully mastered form is viciously effective, even against masters of exotic and 'elite' forms. A master of Makashi, which is often considered a core form, has been known to defeat masters of Soresu, Djem So, and even Jar'Kai Niman. Mastery is not a title earned easily, and involves more than just spending a few hours in the practice hall on leave.
Many times, a student will learn just the bare minimum required for admission into a master's class in an advanced or elite form. Most of the time, this is done out of a desire to master a form that is more exotic, and harder to learn than a mere 'core' form. This is a situation where ego does a great disservice to the duelist. By eschewing the time and energy to fully master a form, they abandon many of the concepts that make that art fully effective, and put themselves at a severe disadvantage on the field of battle. The advantages of knowing a few of an exotic form's techniques do not make up for a lack of understanding of their other forms.
The best duelists stick with a form until they have mastered it, moving on to the next form only after having been proven in their complete understanding of the form. These are the masters of the combat centre, those who have mastered three, four, even five whole lightsaber forms. Chosen well, mastery of several forms can complete a darksider's arsenal so effectively that they are nearly invincible in lightsaber combat.
Understanding a form's weaknesses and strengths can be difficult at times, especially if one has not trained in the art, or faced an adherent of the art. For example, many assume that Ataru is a defensive form, having witnessed the acrobatics and maneuvers of the art. However, any student of the form can tell you that it is all pretense, setting up for a barrage of blows, testing their opponent's defense constantly. Many also assume that the strokes of Shii-Cho are slow and awkward, but a master adherent is able to not only move with surprising agility, but also capable of using his opponent's own preconceived notions of his form's weaknesses to his own advantage.
The lesson here is that it is important to not let a slight understanding of a form flavor how you will treat it in battle. While stereotypes of any form can run rampant, a master of that art is not only aware of the strengths, but also the weaknesses...and will continually strive to shore up those weaknesses and maximize the form's inherent advantages.
Conclusion
Having taken an in-depth look at how a lightsaber actually functions, as well as how each individual item used in its construction can impact a battle, you should have a clearer understanding of the ways that the blade can be customized. Further understanding of the nature of combat forms and how mastery is achieved should also be of benefit to you in your travels down the dark path.