I am one of those rare people who is not a fan of the double bladed lightsaber, and I was wondering if I could get some guidance on using an alternate weapon.

 

My first question is, is there a penalty for using a single blade lightsaber with all the mods/hilt out of a double? I can't imagine there would be, but before I do any mod-swapping and augmenting, I just wanted to check. If I weren't on my phone right now I would look into it, but are there any essential tank skills that require a double bladed weapon?

 

If so, does the vibrostaff count so I would be able to use those abilities? I still don't really like them, but it's a better option visually to me. Are there any custom-level staves that have a color crystal effect?

 

I don't know if there's any other options I'm not thinking of...just trying to get away from a double bladed saber.

 

And before anyone asks, I rolled the class for the play style, not the weapon, and I did not want to roll a jugg/guardian

One of the main tanks for my guild also wanted to use a staff, but as of right now it will not work. He can equip one, but some of the abilities that he needs will not work with a staff. I'm not sure why, but my guess is because BW did not code the animations with all of the weapon types. I do know this from playing my Shadow: many tool tips for the abilities specifically state "Double-Bladed Light Saber". So I am sure that you would not be able to use a single blade and be effective in your role. I'm sorry, but BW was pretty dead set in locking the classes into certain weapon types. There was a huge debate on this from what I remember in Beta, and the Devs never wavered on the point.

Just took a closer look at the Shadow's abilities. I didn't see any of the melee attacks stating Double-Blade needed, but the Techniques and Force Breach do. "Requires a double-bladed lightsaber". So you will NOT be effective and ANY role as a Shadow without a double-bladed saber. Just check the tool-tips and you will see. Sorry, but that is how BW wants it.

Also double bladed lightsabers have more weapon damage than singlebladed. The force power would be same since that is based of the damage rating rather than the damage the rating converts to. It is the same with snipers. They can use blaster rifles if they want, but the same barrel in a sniper rifle simply gives greater weapon damage.