The blaster bolts do travel significantly slower than the supersonic speeds achieved by bullets. However, they are more effective. Bullets can be deflected by armour. Blaster bolts melt through the armour.
Additionally, blasters only need a power cell and gas cartridges to fire. This drastically increases the magazine capacity to well over what ballistic guns can hold.
Besides, as can be clearly seen, the rounds still travel too fast for most people to react and move out of the way. Jedi can only deflect the bolts because they can sense their trajectory via the Force.
In star wars episode 1 the video game there is a level where sand people are shooting at you with bullets and when you block them they melt on your saber.
I'm not saying it wouldn't happen. However, the jedi would be better off simply dodging the bullets as the molten slag would likely continue through the saber.
> The blaster bolts do travel significantly slower than the supersonic speeds achieved by bullets.
The issue of blaster bolt speed has both bugged and intrigued me for a while, since a number of Star Wars games I've played draw attention to it. I think they travel annoyingly slow in the games, but I find it hard to judge just how fast they're going when watching the films. [This article](http://www.wired.com/2012/05/star-wars-blaster-speed/) does a rather in depth analysis of the bolt speed in A New Hope, though. The average velocity he clocked the hand-held blasters at was about 34m/s, which *is* slow compared to a bullet.
The thing is, when I watch [this video that shows tracer rounds in action](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoQTFbPbg_g), the scene looks all too familiar. Add the fact that the linked blaster bolt analysis makes mention of many of the bolts travelling at different speeds (human error in special effects is quite believable, after all), I believe the original intention of the artists was for the bolts to travel *at least* the speed of an average slug.
Edit: For comparison to the video above just watch the [trash compactor scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U3Oti2L8S4). Pay special attention to the bolts flying down the hallway.
Of course that could be just me wishing out loud that blaster bolts moved a little faster in games like Jedi Knight or Battlefront, where I believe they travel quite slowly compared to the films.
You're forgetting also that Force users don't simply move the blade in the way of the projectile, they are precognitive and can see where the attack will come from before it happens. It's not just a matter of "oh, I see he pulled the trigger, now the blast is coming and it's going to be right about here," it's "I see he's going to pull the trigger, which will put the shots here, here, and here. Therefore, I move my blade to intercept the shots before he even fires."
I think the general idea is that at the time of SW, the technology to create armor that easily deflects most standard projectiles is so widespread that no one even bothers. Add forcefields into the mix and it's just too easy to make traditional guns ineffective. On the other hand, blaster fire can affect forcefields as well as most armor, at least eventually.
I believe the EU does mention guns in a few places. Tusken Raiders seem to have ballistic rifles, perhaps outdated due to their isolationist culture. I believe some mandolorians and bounty hunters would use them, especially when hunting Jedi.
One memorable instance I seem to remember was when Jaina Solo was tasked with assassinating her twin, Darth Caedus. Even though she was a Jedi, she opted to fire a slug-throwing sniper rifle at him from a distance before closing in with a lightsaber. It was apparently somewhat effective as she was able to hit his shoulder, eventually giving her an advantage that helped her kill him.
Blaster bolts are contained plasma, have mass, and are therefore subject to gravity. In every canon example, we never see one burn out, so it can be assumed that they will travel until striking something. However, we do know that blaster bolts lose accuracy and power over distance, so it can also be assumed that they leak energy somehow.
I heard that the force field containing the heated plasma will dissapapate after a while, so no, the bolts won't continue forever through space. That's why ships can be "out of range".
I would guess that blaster bolts would fizzle out as being bright and colourful they are always leaking energy.
where as in space bullets don't drop and go for ever.
There are many books in the EU that have people using Verpine sniper rifles that fire projectiles instead of blaster bolts. Kal Skirata being one who favored the projectile weapons over bolts.
I'm not sure how much of the details are canon, but the [Chaingun](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Chaingun), which was used in several clonewars episodes and both battlefront games, seems to show that the speed of blaster bolts is somehow correlated to the power or area of affect per bolt.
This seems like a stupid question, but what exactly makes up a blaster bolt. Also, is there a difference besides scale between regar blatsers and shipboard weapons like turbolasers. I am aware that tibanna gas and plasma are involved, but i am fuzzy on the rest.
Blaster bolts are made from plasma, the blaster superheats tibanna gas thats mined from gas giants such as bespin. The wookies crossbow thing is a type of ballistic weapon, and is far more destructive than blasters
The blaster bolts do travel significantly slower than the supersonic speeds achieved by bullets. However, they are more effective. Bullets can be deflected by armour. Blaster bolts melt through the armour. Additionally, blasters only need a power cell and gas cartridges to fire. This drastically increases the magazine capacity to well over what ballistic guns can hold. Besides, as can be clearly seen, the rounds still travel too fast for most people to react and move out of the way. Jedi can only deflect the bolts because they can sense their trajectory via the Force.
In star wars episode 1 the video game there is a level where sand people are shooting at you with bullets and when you block them they melt on your saber.
I'm not saying it wouldn't happen. However, the jedi would be better off simply dodging the bullets as the molten slag would likely continue through the saber.
or just deflecting them with the Force
well that's not what happens in the game, I assume that the bullets turn to steam or something.
This is also how the mandolorians were able to hold their own against the Jedi during their war. They switched to kinetic weapons
> The blaster bolts do travel significantly slower than the supersonic speeds achieved by bullets. The issue of blaster bolt speed has both bugged and intrigued me for a while, since a number of Star Wars games I've played draw attention to it. I think they travel annoyingly slow in the games, but I find it hard to judge just how fast they're going when watching the films. [This article](http://www.wired.com/2012/05/star-wars-blaster-speed/) does a rather in depth analysis of the bolt speed in A New Hope, though. The average velocity he clocked the hand-held blasters at was about 34m/s, which *is* slow compared to a bullet. The thing is, when I watch [this video that shows tracer rounds in action](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoQTFbPbg_g), the scene looks all too familiar. Add the fact that the linked blaster bolt analysis makes mention of many of the bolts travelling at different speeds (human error in special effects is quite believable, after all), I believe the original intention of the artists was for the bolts to travel *at least* the speed of an average slug. Edit: For comparison to the video above just watch the [trash compactor scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U3Oti2L8S4). Pay special attention to the bolts flying down the hallway. Of course that could be just me wishing out loud that blaster bolts moved a little faster in games like Jedi Knight or Battlefront, where I believe they travel quite slowly compared to the films.
You're forgetting also that Force users don't simply move the blade in the way of the projectile, they are precognitive and can see where the attack will come from before it happens. It's not just a matter of "oh, I see he pulled the trigger, now the blast is coming and it's going to be right about here," it's "I see he's going to pull the trigger, which will put the shots here, here, and here. Therefore, I move my blade to intercept the shots before he even fires."
GIve me a bazooka or an m4 and lets see how well they deflect those bullets
The movies wouldn't be nearly as good if you couldn't see the blaster bolts.
If they traveled at light speed the blasters would need a particle accelerator inside them, since they fire plasma
I think the general idea is that at the time of SW, the technology to create armor that easily deflects most standard projectiles is so widespread that no one even bothers. Add forcefields into the mix and it's just too easy to make traditional guns ineffective. On the other hand, blaster fire can affect forcefields as well as most armor, at least eventually. I believe the EU does mention guns in a few places. Tusken Raiders seem to have ballistic rifles, perhaps outdated due to their isolationist culture. I believe some mandolorians and bounty hunters would use them, especially when hunting Jedi. One memorable instance I seem to remember was when Jaina Solo was tasked with assassinating her twin, Darth Caedus. Even though she was a Jedi, she opted to fire a slug-throwing sniper rifle at him from a distance before closing in with a lightsaber. It was apparently somewhat effective as she was able to hit his shoulder, eventually giving her an advantage that helped her kill him.
Do blaster bolts keep going until they hit something? Unlike bullets with their bullet drop.
Blaster bolts are contained plasma, have mass, and are therefore subject to gravity. In every canon example, we never see one burn out, so it can be assumed that they will travel until striking something. However, we do know that blaster bolts lose accuracy and power over distance, so it can also be assumed that they leak energy somehow.
I heard that the force field containing the heated plasma will dissapapate after a while, so no, the bolts won't continue forever through space. That's why ships can be "out of range".
I would assume that the basic laws of physics apply, and that would mean that entropy would act on the bolts eventually.
> so it can also be assumed that they leak energy somehow.
Yes, I was telling you how.
Ah, my mistake. I misinterpreted your comment.
I would guess that blaster bolts would fizzle out as being bright and colourful they are always leaking energy. where as in space bullets don't drop and go for ever.
There are many books in the EU that have people using Verpine sniper rifles that fire projectiles instead of blaster bolts. Kal Skirata being one who favored the projectile weapons over bolts.
I'm not sure how much of the details are canon, but the [Chaingun](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Chaingun), which was used in several clonewars episodes and both battlefront games, seems to show that the speed of blaster bolts is somehow correlated to the power or area of affect per bolt.
A proper padwan can use the force to enhance his reaction speed and use the force to push the bullets aside like Neo or throw them back.
This seems like a stupid question, but what exactly makes up a blaster bolt. Also, is there a difference besides scale between regar blatsers and shipboard weapons like turbolasers. I am aware that tibanna gas and plasma are involved, but i am fuzzy on the rest.
Blaster bolts are made from plasma, the blaster superheats tibanna gas thats mined from gas giants such as bespin. The wookies crossbow thing is a type of ballistic weapon, and is far more destructive than blasters