phasers vs. droidikas

[wilfulton]

I thought a droideka's shield is supposed to protect against small arms (blaster) fire. I would suspect then that it should be able to absorb phasor blasts until the phasor runs out of juice and can only be used as a weapon by swinging it like a club. Don't quote me on this idea, because I'm not entirely sure about this either.

Without shield? I would suspect that a droideka has some parts of its body that are more vulnerable than others. Such examples might be hydraulic lines, the central processor, maybe even the blasters themselves. A full power phasor could quite concievably, if it connected, damage these parts, degrading the droideka's combat efficiency and eventually putting it down.
That is, assuming the redshirt(s) in question isn't too busy doing the chaingun cha-cha (or its SWvsST equivalent) to properly aim his weapon and deliver the blast to the vital area in question.

[Lord Poe]

Has anyone developed calcs on the firepower of Naboo fighter's blaster cannons? In TPM, Anakin blasted shielded droidekas away. If we can get that number down, we might bbe able to find a Trek instance where a phaser exhibited such power.

[Vympel]

Has anyone developed calcs on the firepower of Naboo fighter's blaster cannons? In TPM, Anakin blasted shielded droidekas away. If we can get that number down, we might bbe able to find a Trek instance where a phaser exhibited such power.

Well, when he was firing them in the hangar their firepower was visually pretty crap- little better than Droideka guns (they must've been somewhat more powerful because a Droidekas own shots can't penetrate its shields), though they look about the same (both Droideka shots and the Naboo fighters shots do nothing but spark against the walls. Whether this has to do with Naboo fighters simply being crap (compare to the X-Wing's laser cannons against armored Death Star surface) designed mainly for show or merely the power packs not being warmed up for combat yet (or R2 possibly being responsible for keeping their settings low), I don't know.

Heck, look at the proton torpedoes of the N1 fighters, they're bizarre- when they fire them at one of the DCS' dishes, there's a massive explosion that engulfs the dish and screen, and the dish is unharmed (obviously, you see it later intact and we know the N1 fighters didn't have the firepower to penetrate its shields) but in the hangar you see nothing on that scale. I'm currently toying with the novelization description of what happened actually being accurate- i.e. the torpedo didn't actually explode when it hit whatever it hit and continued on to do what the novelization described.

[NecronLord]

The RotS novel gives a comment by General Grievous on how much matter a Droideka shield will vapourise when tipped on its side and trying to burn through a floor before giving up, IIRC.

[nightmare]

The RotS novel gives a comment by General Grievous on how much matter a Droideka shield will vapourise when tipped on its side and trying to burn through a floor before giving up, IIRC.

This is interesting. If the shields are energy only, why would they vapourize matter? Some harmful sideeffects, okay, but vapourization?

If they are particle shields, the idea of "poking the guns through in order to fire" doesn't quite seem to work.

Finally it gives a hint at why Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan didn't simply treat them as regular B-1s and scrap them with bit of TK (similar feat done by Luke in the comics, DE2 I believe, when he took out what looked like SD-9 battledroids). I mean if they are energy shields, they can apparently block the Force (Universal Energy Cage, or Obi-Wan's imprisonment in AOTC if you don't go by the EU device). In a way I suppose that makes sense considering that the Force is described as an energy field.

If they are particle shields, they would presumably work as an obstacle - like a second armour. In that case, one would think that the Jedi should be able to affect the Droideka's internal components and scrap them that way, since psychokinesis is apparently not stopped by metal walls (Vader).

Uh.. my head hurts when I start to think of all the possibilities with shielded objects and the Force. Shouldn't, for example, a Jedi in an X-Wing, with shields up, not be able to use the Force outside the ship? Would a Death Star or other large vessel be like a tiny universe of its own, with all the living beings aboard it, but cut out from the rest of the universe when it's shields are up?

Hm.. I think that I'll adopt the stance that it takes some kind of special energy shields to block the force, and that Droidekas have both energy and particle shields, unless more data comes along.

[Imperial Overlord]

Ray shields heat matter when they come into contact with it.

[nightmare]

Ray shields heat matter when they come into contact with it.

Prince Isolder's personal shield right? Why doesn't the droideka's give off steam then? Clearly it's not quite that simple. One could hesitate a guess that it requires more dense matter than air to create much of a heating effect, I suppose. Or there's the question of shielded fighters in atmosphere, or the capital ships in ROTS for example. Which, by the way, I still haven't been able to watch, stuck on babysitting.

[Trekdestroyer]

I would like to point out that droidekia sheilds are designed to deflect blasts many times more powerfull than phasers. I also would like to point out that Jedi ran from these things, so that means that they were/are somewhat of a threat. If these droids can cause Jedi to flee, they must be very dangerous.

[Lord Revan]

it's said in ROTS novelization that Droideka shields block even light artillery rounds or a lightsaber.

[Grandmaster Jogurt]

Is there any indication as to how long a droideka can keep its shields up? They're begining to sound a little wank if they can block attacks from light artillery, considering how thin the actual droid is.

[Lord Revan]

Is there any indication as to how long a droideka can keep its shields up? They're begining to sound a little wank if they can block attacks from light artillery, considering how thin the actual droid is.

Unknow but not long (the shield are not on in of the battles (IIRC))

[Duckie]

Is there any indication as to how long a droideka can keep its shields up? They're begining to sound a little wank if they can block attacks from light artillery, considering how thin the actual droid is.

Unknow but not long (the shield are not on in of the battles (IIRC))

If we go by the games (I know I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel here), Battlefront says Droidekas can only keep their shields on for about a minute with about half that time to recharge from empty to full. The time is further reduced by weapons fire draining shield power.

I think it fits canon pretty well, but I blocked much of TPM out of my memory and haven't seen AOTC for a while.

[Trooper TK12746]

That is all irrelevant. What are the odds of a redshirt actually surviving long enough to get within range of a droideka? Much less an accurate shot. The real questions are, how long before the Feddies break and run screaming and how long before the droidekas run out of power.

[Lord Revan]

That is all irrelevant. What are the odds of a redshirt actually surviving long enough to get within range of a droideka? Much less an accurate shot. The real questions are, how long before the Feddies break and run screaming and how long before the droidekas run out of power.

don't even Redshirt are brave and intelegent enough aproach a Droideka multiple directions, so they would be able shoot (of course the chances of destroying the Droideka are small, but they do exist)

[Trooper TK12746]

When have redshirts ever acted smart and intelligent? They always try to make peace first and would approach it with weapons holstered so as not to offend the droideka. And the Droideka could just roll into a better position, they are very intelligent droids.

[Lord Revan]

When have redshirts ever acted smart and intelligent? They always try to make peace first and would approach it with weapons holstered so as not to offend the droideka. And the Droideka could just roll into a better position, they are very intelligent droids.

TPM droidekas are dumb terminals and they don't need move (shield plus few would survive in front side) and it's smart enough, redshirts are not Klingons and by the time any red/gold shirt would arrive the Droideka would have been al ready classified as threat.

[Trooper TK12746]

They are smart enough to realize that moving would be good. And the redshirts (from TNG on) always attempt to make peace before attacking/defending. They are so pathetic that the droideka might not even register them as a threat.

[Lord Revan]

They are smart enough to realize that moving would be good. And the redshirts (from TNG on) always attempt to make peace before attacking/defending. They are so pathetic that the droideka might not even register them as a threat.

Command uses red in TNG and Goldshirts (aka the security section) will use it's weapons told to do so. Starfleet personel are so stupid, that they would ignore a clear threat (like a Droideka opening fire).

[Trooper TK12746]

Ohhh. I thought you meant before it opened fire. They would never attempt a preemptive attack. Even then, they would be wiped out so fast they wouldn't even get a shot off. Where is this happening anyway?

[Lord Revan]

Ohhh. I thought you meant before it opened fire. They would never attempt a preemptive attack. Even then, they would be wiped out so fast they wouldn't even get a shot off. Where is this happening anyway?

isn't relevant as question is about Droideka's phaser resistance.

[Trooper TK12746]

It is very relevant. If this is in a hallway, the feddies would be mowed down. If it is in a field, they would have a better chance of hitting it from multiple angles. If it is inside a feddie starship, then the feddies have a huge adavantage. Would they be able to beam it out?

[Mari Wolfe]

If it is inside a feddie starship, then the feddies have a huge adavantage. Would they be able to beam it out?

As Feddie transporters do not work through shields they would not be able to beam it out unless it's sheilds failed.

[Trooper TK12746]

Could the Feddies blow open the hull to let it fly out? Can they seal off sections of their ships for that to work?

[Drunk Monkey]

Could the Feddies blow open the hull to let it fly out? Can they seal off sections of their ships for that to work?

Since when is are the Feds that smart, The’ll all be shot before that happens.

[Trooper TK12746]

I agree with you completely. However, I like to play devil's advocate. Perhaps we could consider the Feds from Kirk's era. They at least had some intelligence and military expertise.