Discussion The most whack Force Powers/Force Usage in Legends

[Alan]

THIS IS NOT A PERSONAL ATTACK ON ANY WRITER OR PEOPLE WHO WRITE THESE THINGS, IT'S JUST YOUR PERSONAL OPINION THAT YOU'RE FREE TO SHARE.​

1. White current.

2. Force vampires.

3. That time Sidious used a force storm to destroy a fleet, a storm, in space, and then never used that power again, ever.

4. The power level disparity between Comics/Book canon characters and the movies. The movies should be the basis for force powers, and then not "Luke can detonate Star Destroyers with his mind" level stupid.

What're yours?

 

[Sheila]

Coolect moment

Nomi Sunrider channeling the force light of the jedi into a directed wall. Something only a bare handful might be able to do. Force light and making a wall is able to be done but they generally don't have direction... she could direct it.

Though when it comes to the differences in scale and power. the moves show a more rigid view with many of the people and groups. Yoda hints a little with it being in Luke's mind but and this will be a small comparison but think of it like Dragonball universe. Power levels are tracked and used by the villains generally for status and ranking. SOme just have an innate level of power and never train, never strive to be stronger. Vegeta and Freiza only when they stop relying on their scouters and (well vegeta no doubt trained but he really started pushing himself) and sought to beat goku did their capabilities and power exponentially increase.

The comics, the books you have force users who are at times not trained or tied to the more rigid jedi temple and ideals. They don't have a scope or reinforced idea of a limitation. They can potentially have infinite growth. Now can powercreep become a thing oh yes and things can be crazy but that is also half the fun. matukai's in their descriptions are supposed to be masters of physical enhancements so them preforming feats of strength like hulk or juggernaut could just be scratching the surface. The white current is an illusion yes but they could be physically interacted with on par potentially with given enough training and focus. THe constructs can be even more powerful illusions.

 

[Kirie]

This is a super interesting question. I'm gonna come at it from the angle where I'm thinking about the ones I often see disrupting or derailing good stories, rather than ones I just think are weird (because that's a long list)

Over the years I've been here, my writing style has shifted and I don't use individual powers in my writing unless I need to provide my writing partner with an easy understanding of what I'm doing in PvP. I prefer to imagine that Force Users can do basically anything and that powers are just ways to focus the mind to achieve an effect. To that end, I don't think any one Chaos character or power is too strong, but I definitely agree the balance should be towards what people can do in the movies and tv.

Anyway here's my list

1) For a long time this was Wall of Light, a power which for some reason nobody could agree on its scale or effect- i.e. was it a targeted burst of energy, or a Force nuke? Could it be resisted, or not? The result? Anytime anyone used it there was immediately confusion, arguments, and a muddy story.

2) Tutamunis - This is one I think is often misused in PvP threads for blocking literally everything. It's generally fine and cool in pitched battles between super strong Force Users who can work around it, but with NFUs and less strong FUs it has a tendency to throw things out of balance a bit.

3) Same goes for Force Drain. This is often used as an unblockable 'I win' button to end a duel. IMO most of the people who use this one don't balance it with an appropriate drawback to allow their writing partner to respond.

4) Force Dead - This one is very strong in its own right, but I feel hardly anyone writing a character severed from the Force includes the many many drawbacks that would come with that. Yeah it's a big PVP advantage but in almost every other respect it's a massive debuff. Personally I think that's why it usually comes out half baked.

Overall, I like and have used any of the above. They just need to be treated with care and be fully fleshed out, and in PvP, should still leave your partner with options.

...

Maybe just avoid Wall of Light

 

[Alan]

4) Force Dead - This one is very strong in its own right, but I feel hardly anyone writing a character severed from the Force includes the many many drawbacks that would come with that. Yeah it's a big PVP advantage but in almost every other respect it's a massive debuff. Personally I think that's why it usually comes out half baked.

I have only seen Force Dead be used as a buff.

 

[Mellifluous Magenta]

I feel like all Force powers have a place, so for me it’s more about how they are used than the fact that they’re being used in the first place. In particular, I think there are a lot of powers that aren’t really meant to be “insta-casted” in live combat (like a wizard casting fireball to burn a charging bandit). What I mean is that a lot of the more difficult-to-counter powers are meant to be used in specific, controlled scenarios. Using them in live combat and claiming that you cast the power instantly (even though the other character might be actively shooting or swinging at you) is what makes them broken, imo.

Off the top of my head, some examples of powers that shouldn't be used in live combat (or at least used with care) are Force Drain, Sever Force, Force Light, Drain Knowledge, some of the other more intensive mentalist/mind-affecting powers. These are powers that I envision being used on a prisoner, not someone who is still an active threat to the caster. Force Light is one that I think is best used in some kind of ritual (or a similarly controlled setting).

That said, this is all relative. Obviously some characters are hyper-specialized around one or two powers. Also, I could see "down-tuned" or weakened versions of these powers being used in live combat, but it's hard for me to envision someone's entire Force connection being severed with just the wave of a hand.

 

[Valery Noble]

I feel like all Force powers have a place, so for me it’s more about how they are used than the fact that they’re being used in the first place.

This is exactly how I feel about it as well. Any power can be fun if used in the right circumstances to enhance a story.

But if I had to name something I dislike the most, it's using powers in PVP writing that insta-kill and offer a defender no chance to take a less impactful hit. For example, using Force Crush to try to crush another character's heart. It's never going to work, and you don't give the other writer a chance to still take a hit but just one that doesn't kill them.

Of course, it could work if the point of the story is for a character to die that way, but in most PvP cases, I dislike abilities/powers that are either instant-kill or no hit at all.

 

[Jonyna Si]

But if I had to name something I dislike the most, it's using powers in PVP writing that insta-kill and offer a defender no chance to take a less impactful hit. For example, using Force Crush to try to crush another character's heart. It's never going to work, and you don't give the other writer a chance to still take a hit but just one that doesn't kill them.

I have this same problem with tech or anything that disallows the other writer freedom of choice.

Ysalimari are the one that pop up the most for me, because I see NFUs who want to 'level the playing field' against jedi master/sith lords, but then rock up with disruptors as well, expecting folks to simply roll over and die.

I'm sorry, if I wanted to write an NFU, I wouldn't brought an NFU character. If you want to fight my jedi master, sure, bring voidstone/ysalimari, whatever you so please. But expect me to drop the thread if you're only expecting me to act like canon fodder. If you have a story you wanna tell? Cool. Hit me up in DMs and pitch it first.

But I've also seen this with the Force as well. I'm sorry, if you're planning on teleporting around me, or use phase to grab my heart, I'm not interested in writing with you.

 

[Alan]

I think also is that, I look at examples from canon of the most powerful Jedi or most strong- Obi-Wan Kenobi, for example, Anakin, etc.

They got elbowed in the face, beat up, punched, almost lost fights to normal people. Pre Vizsla, as an example. Hell, Jango Fett beatup 12 Jedi bare-handed and won. I think Jedi should be written as squisher than some people write them as sometimes. I think the disparity in the canon examples and the Legends is partly to blame- in Legends and in Chaos, we have Jedi and Force Powers who canonically took years and years to master, and were only mastered by a handful of people.

But, when it comes to PvP, you are writing with an objective. Yes, story is important, etc etc. But the hard truth is that I am writing to get the other writer in the most precarious position to force them to take a hit. That is PvP. I am trying to win, unless we have a predetermined outcome. But I also don't like doing that.

BUT.

I don't wanna do that with a weird way.

Edit:

Also this is about stupid force powers, not PvP.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Mechu Deru.


Low key kind of BS - but god do i love it

 

[Caltin Vanagor]

Anyone who uses and teaches Tutaminis...

...

... wait?

 

[Diarch Rellik]

Rellik did lung surgery mid combat to counter act a "I hyper inflated your lungs" in PVP - which actually was one of the funner and few instances where I could use my medical knowledge lol.

I know this is not about PVP but everyone elses comments reminded me and I was like "Ya know what, that was wild but fun either way"

In normal/legends lore I would say I actually never liked essence transfer. When Rellik dies, he will die. He knows how to use it, but probably never will himself. If his legacy is not enough to live on than so be it.

 

[Ryn Starfall]

Almost every force power can be abused in some way and sometimes that's the fun of it when it's implimented right in the right story. Then again I come from a time when over half the force abilities were made up or had vague descriptions in various sources.

That said though some of the ones I have disliked over the years.

Wall of Light - It's because there is no effective counter for most darksiders it's a great story set piece but effectively it always feels like you have to completely sacrofice a character to stop it and in small scale stories that sucks. I mean I have only successfully stop a wall of light once and it took infusing my character and a dragon with a ton of darkside energy and slamming into the wall countering it and killing my character in the process.

Force Dead - Mostly cause not a lot of people dont agree on what it is and how it should work. It makes it messy and hard to deal with cause each person has bit of a different interpretation.

Void Stones - Don't get me wrong anti force tech is cool. But like force dead no one exactly agrees on how it should work and how strong it's effect really is.

Force Crush - Only cause it can be severally abused. In general when I use it I like to use it on weapons or armor not the person but that's just me.

 

[Kaila Irons]

1. Force Light

It's always felt weird to me that Jedi have this ability to just say "no I win" but few people agree on it's actual limitations. Meanwhile the only ability I'm aware of darksiders having to sever the force is a dedicated ritual, not a win button.

2. Force Dead

It's been mentioned a lot in this thread already but for good reason, nobody seems to know how it works and iirc the only examples we really get from source material were the Vong, who I had opinions about to begin with lol

3. Sith Alchemy

This is actually one of my favorites but also one of the most confusing to me because it's super vague and the only details I can sift from the wiki are that it's like twisted fae logic. Want a sword that does damage more aggressively? soak it in "blood spilt in anger". that's just so funny!

4. Force Storm

Not the cool lightning stuff or alter environment, I mean the WORMHOLE. Why can Palpatine just do that? it's so unhinged lmao

 

[Alan]

Sith alchemy is fanfiction level writing in the context of Star Wars

 

[Tilon Quill]

Sith alchemy is fanfiction level writing in the context of Star Wars

Naga Sadow didn't die for your sins for this

 

[Allyson Locke]

1. Force Light

It's always felt weird to me that Jedi have this ability to just say "no I win" but few people agree on it's actual limitations. Meanwhile the only ability I'm aware of darksiders having to sever the force is a dedicated ritual, not a win button.

Darkshear could be something akin to this since its a construct made from the dark side of the force that is imperceivable - the only part is a dark sider has to set this up, but a good set up makes this move somewhat an "i win"

 

[Ryn Starfall]

3. Sith Alchemy

This is actually one of my favorites but also one of the most confusing to me because it's super vague and the only details I can sift from the wiki are that it's like twisted fae logic. Want a sword that does damage more aggressively? soak it in "blood spilt in anger". that's just so funny!

Sith/darkside alchemy and sith sorcery are catch alls basically the idea with the force you can do almost anything and most it falls to the darkside of things because it's self serving.

Though in legends there is mention lightside/jedi attempts at there own forms of sorcery and alchemy they ussualy go horribly wrong and someone becomes horribly twisted by darkside or something catastrophic happens as result.

 

[Kaila Irons]

Darkshear could be something akin to this since its a construct made from the dark side of the force that is imperceivable - the only part is a dark sider has to set this up, but a good set up makes this move somewhat an "i win"

It is admittedly a strange one! personally when I write it, since the language is a bit odd, I just write it as an invisible projectile, nothing more special than that. people sense and dodge it all the time on chaos, idk if that's the "proper" reaction, but with how vague the wiki is, I never see a reason to 'well achksually' anybody about it xD

I would argue though that it's harder to use if it takes set up to actually hit anything, and it certainly seems harder to land than force light, nor have I seen any long term effects written anywhere. Force light on the other hand gets insanely powerful excerpts like " By channeling the Force into withering blasts of light-side energy, the darkness can then be diminished or destroyed permanently." and "Jedi Master Thon used an extreme application of this power to cleanse the entire world of Ambria of the dark side"

the power difference here is staggering and imo

 

[Allyson Locke]

Kaila Irons

Honestly, on Chaos, it feels like nearly every Sith—and even many Jedi—use some form of Force Lightning. Because of that, it's lost a bit of its "cool factor," though it remains a viable and thematically strong ability. There are quite a few variations that can be fun to explore, and I personally incorporate several when writing for Quinn Varanin .

Force Light, being a traditional "light-side" power, naturally lends itself to those high-impact, cinematic moments. It's just part of how Star Wars is built. That said, its use in PvP on Chaos tends to be pretty tame. Given the sandbox nature of the site, many Sith characters almost chuckle when it's brought out, since it no longer feels like a "win button."

I think Force Light today requires more thoughtful execution. It's no longer the overwhelming counter it once was, unlike something like Darkshear, which—when used as written—is still very powerful, even if easily dodged. What makes Darkshear (or really any ability) effective in PvP is how it's written. If you can incorporate it as part of a broader sequence, using feints, distractions, and narrative tactics to create openings, it becomes much more compelling and believable in combat.

It also helps to give the ability some narrative depth. I've had more success with readers understanding Force Light when I take time to describe its meaning, effect, or symbolism within the story, rather than relying solely on Wookieepedia's dry description.

Lastly, just a heads-up: the links you included seem to be broken and are returning a DNS error on my end.

 

[Kaila Irons]

Allyson Locke aaa idk why my links keep breaking :c

it's just bits from the force light wiki tho so it's easy to track down.

You make good points but i still think FL is just easier to use than darkshear, if we were to start doing pvp tier lists like gaming youtubers, i think it'd be considered meta xD I'm not gonna get into a whole rant, FL users don't deserve that kinda hate, I personally just find darkshear more entertaining to fight and write, and I think in Legends\Canon, all fan pvp aside, that they're both really strange powers


Now as for Lightning,

I think you're right, and I think it's kind of a shame that it's lost it's cool factor. It's one of the reasons I'm trying to mix it up the very few times I use lightning in my writing. Lightning shield using Tutaminis to convert someone else's attacks into a tightly controlled bolt instead of even spread(i'm kinda proud of Kaila's tuning fork method), I've had positive feedback doing it that way and it makes me happy :3

idk just how I've tackled it. I know you write some cool powers already, but maybe this will help whoever else sees this