By the time of the Galactic Empire and the destruction of the Mandalorian people, blasters were the primary ranged weapon used across the galaxy. Despite slugthrowers still being popular among the Galaxy’s shady criminal underworld, they were often viewed as barbaric and crude when compared to a blaster. Not to mention, traditional blasters were far cheaper to produce… But what did it feel like if you were to be struck by a scorching hot blaster bolt?

Well that depended on quite a few factors. The first was the type of gas used to produce the bolt. Most blasters generated their bolts from two different components in the weapon. The first was a gas cartridge filled with a high energy blaster gas, usually Tibanna from Bespin, and secondly a power back. When the trigger was a pulled, the powerpack allowed a small amount of the gas to move from the cartridge to the actuator of the weapon, before being energized and propelled forward. Now the type of gas used in the cartridge affected both its colour and it’s energy, and therefore how much damage it would do to a typical human body.

Red was the most common color and was made from cheaper gasses like Tibanna and Dorin gas, and therefore the blaster bolts were weaker. These ones were primarily used by the separatists, the rebels and empire due to their cost, and if you were to be hit by one, you could certainly survive… although it would not be nice. The excruciatinly high heat and very high kinetic energy meant that if they struck in the right part of your body, they could still be fatal. Especially around sensitive organs. The blasters bolts were so hot that they would instantly cauterize your wound, making it impossible to bleed out, so if you took a hit to the arms or legs, you would likely be just fine… as long as a medic got to you eventually.

The next most powerful blaster bolts were blue ones. These ones were produced by slightly more expensive and high energy gas. They were primarily used by the Clone Troopers of the Republic to their unique ionizing ability, meaning they could disable machinery on impact. This was perfect for use against the droid army. Unfortunately their higher energy also made them extremely effective against organic beings like other clones, and could easily pierce standard issue Clone or Stormtrooper armor.

Next up are Green Blaster bolts. These ones are produced by extremely rare but very powerful gasses, mostly found in the Umbara system. As a result they were used by the Umbarans during the battle on their homeworld, but also by the Naboo security forces. These green bolts proved extremely effective against Clones on Umbara and were a near guaranteed death sentence…