Star Wars: 10 Best Blasters

Summary

• DC-15A blaster rifle: Reliable standard issue weapon used by Republic's clone army, packs a punch in Battlefront games.
• Satine's Lament: Leia Organa's sleek blaster pistol with a long barrel, significant for its form factor and significance.
• Ezra Bridger's Lightsaber: Unique lightsaber with stun blaster, tragically short life, a one-of-a-kind creation in Star Wars Rebels.

Star Wars wouldn't be Star Wars without a bunch of star wars. Naturally, you need weapons to fight those wars in the stars, and when the combat isn't confined to the vast vacuum of space, those weapons tend to be blasters. Blasters, of course, being the Star Wars name for guns that helpfully separates them from the decidedly less cool real-world idea.

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The thing is, it works, and as such you probably feel much less guilty about having one or two of your favorite blasters in the Star Wars universe. From the Old Republic era to the sequel trilogy and beyond, the series has introduced a number of really snazzy laser launchers. But which ones are the best of the best?

10 DC-15A Blaster Rifle

• Notable appearances:
  • Star Wars: Episode 2: Attack of the Clones
  • Star Wars: The Clone Wars
  • Star Wars: Battlefront

Sometimes, a standard issue is standard for a reason. It's just that reliable. The DC-15A blaster rifle was possibly the most-used weapon by the Republic's clone army, and despite its rather unwieldy nature, it got the job done with gusto.

If you've played almost any of the Star Wars: Battlefront games, you know how satisfying the DC-15A is to use. Even if you're not holding it yourself, you can practically feel its kick as you fire. Plus, when the blaster is that long and heavy, it never breaks, it just becomes a blunt weapon.

9 Satine's Lament

• Notable appearances:
  • Star Wars: Episode 4: A New Hope
  • Star Wars: Episode 8: The Last Jedi

One of the first blasters you see in the very first Star Wars movie, the retroactively-named Satine's Lament is Leia Organa's preferred model of the Defender sporting blaster pistol. She takes down a stormtrooper with it before being captured, quickly setting the stage for what sort of story this will be.

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Named after Mandalore's late pacifist leader, Duchess Satine Kryze, Satine's Lament is a sleek pistol with a satisfyingly long barrel, capable of dispatching fascists on a whim. While its firepower isn't particularly special, its form factor and significance make it worth attention among a legion of boring pretenders.

8 WESTAR-34 Blaster Pistol

• Notable appearance:
  • Star Wars: Episode 2: Attack of the Clones

When you want to maintain your image as the deadliest bounty hunter in the galaxy, you need a little edge in the firepower department. That's where Jango Fett's WESTAR-34 blaster pistols come into play. For one thing, they make really cool sounds, which is a must for any good sci-fi weapon.

But their primary advantage is their composition, using a rare metal called dallorian alloy. Its heat conductive properties allowed Jango to rapid fire his pistols much faster and longer than others, which would have melted under such conditions. Still, the cool sounds are a close second.

7 E-11 Blaster Rifle

• Notable appearances:
  • Star Wars: Episode 4: A New Hope
  • Pretty much everywhere else

Like the DC-15A before it, the E-11 medium blaster rifle served as the standard issue weapon for legions of white-armored cannon fodder. The disciplined Imperial stormtroopers all had one of these simple but punchy bad boys, and it's not hard to see why.

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The E-11 boasts some impressive firepower for its size. This can be seen pretty prominently in Star Wars Outlaws, where Kay Vess can wreck shop whenever she picks one up compared to her regular pistol. It can also unfold its stock into a full-length rifle, perfect for missing even bigger targets.

6 Amban Phase-Pulse Blaster

• Notable appearance:
  • The Mandalorian

How do you improve on a weapon? Make it a multi-tool. The Amban phase-pulse blaster, notably used by The Mandalorian protagonist Din Djarin, serves not only as a powerful projectile rifle, but also a taser, eavesdropping device, and probably a walking stick if you're nasty.

While not exactly as practical as a typical battle weapon, it's perfect for a bounty hunter like Din Djarin. After all, you don't need a rapid-fire weapon when one shot is all it takes. The Amban's various intensity settings ensure that a target can just as easily be brought in alive or completely vaporized.

5 Bowcaster

• Notable appearances:
  • Star Wars: Episode 4: A New Hope
  • Everywhere Chewbacca goes

Was the bowcaster designed this way specifically because crossbows look cool? Probably. Does that matter? Absolutely not. Most famously used by Chewbacca throughout his many appearances, this wookiee weapon must be as fun to fire as it is to look at.

Bowcasters, much like the weapons in the Mass Effect series, use small pieces of metal for ammunition. Enveloping them in plasma and then firing them via a magnetic field projected by the bowcaster's two prominent orbs, it's effectively the Star Wars version of a railgun. This thing can take down a speeder bike in one hit. Let's see a real crossbow do that (please, it'd be so cool).

4 MWC-35c Repeating Cannon

• Notable appearance:
  • Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

If you thought the bowcaster would hurt, the MWC-35c repeating cannon would like a word or many. Nicknamed the Staccato Lightning, this probably impossible piece of warfare ingenuity packs the power of a small tank cannon with the fire rate of a machine gun.

Thanks to its huge design and massive cooling tank, this argument ender wielded by Rebel agent Baze Malbus ensured that his close partner Chirrut Imwe would rarely have to watch his own back. Baze probably only died in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story so Lucasfilm wouldn't have to figure out how anyone else would survive in a battle against his beastly weapon.

3 ELG-3A Blaster Pistol

• Notable appearance:
  • Star Wars: Episode 1: The Phantom Menace

Do aesthetics matter when it comes to weaponry? Well, if they do, then Padme Amidala's ELG-3A is the most weapon-est weapon to ever weapon. When she pulls one out for her assault on her own palace, it just feels right for a queen to have something so fancy and deadly.

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The ELG-3A's sleek silver finish resembles Padme's own similarly shiny ship seen earlier in The Phantom Menace. But it's the blaster's "bwa" sound that truly elevates it, because as practical as she is, Padme can't help but be a little extra in any way possible. It's also the sound that plays before races in Star Wars Episode 1: Racer. Fun fact.

2 Han Solo's Modified DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistol

• Notable appearances:
  • Star Wars: Episode 4: A New Hope
  • Solo: A Star Wars Story

Possibly the most iconic weapon in all of Star Wars, Han Solo's DL-44 might not ring any bells with its model number, but you've absolutely seen it. Wielded by the scruffy rogue throughout the series, this heavy pistol does more than just pack a satisfying wallop.

The DL-44 can accommodate accessories to effectively turn into a proper blaster rifle, a testament to its considerable power. But Han never bothered with that. He was fine with just having that nice wooden handle and other tiny modifications because if it ain't broke, it's boring.

1 Ezra Bridger's Lightsaber

• Notable appearance:
  • Star Wars Rebels

Sure, he eventually decided to go mainstream and make one of those regular standard lightsabers like a square. But Ezra Bridger's first shot at making a saber all his own in Star Wars Rebels resulted in something truly unique that lived far too tragically short a life.

Looking at the saber deactivated, you might be confused as to what's in front of you. The hilt contains not only the inner workings of a lightsaber but also a stun blaster for those moments where elegance just won't do. Imagine thinking you're about to duel a Jedi when suddenly he shoots you. Worth it for the gags alone.

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