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The Storm Troopers are the main case here, they get killed easily by blasters and even the Ewok arrows go straight through their 'armour'.

The AT-ST and AT-AT use armour to repel blasters of different strengths so they don't pass through all materials. I understand though that the armour used on these is likely much heavier.

From the prequel trilogy we also have the droidekas, which have a shield when not moving. Does anyone other than these droids use this technology?

You may use any of the Scrapped EU, Current EU and the normal U to answer.

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  • Are you looking specifically for armor, as the title and most of the question seem to suggest? Or are you looking for any effective combination of armor and/or shields? If you're only looking for armor, there seems to be two questions in one here (effective armor and, separately, shield technology).
    – Null
    Commented Nov 15, 2015 at 4:35
  • There were personal defense shields, but IIRC they required too great of a power source for living beings to wear (LucasEU)
    – The Fallen
    Commented Nov 15, 2015 at 4:52
  • @Null Your were right to focus on armour :) ignore the comment on droids I was more just speaking or typing aloud. Commented Nov 15, 2015 at 5:30
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    In The Phantom Menace, during the battle of Naboo, some gungans in the army wore personal force field shields, probably against the blaster shots of the droids. See starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Gungan_personal_energy_shield I don't have a screenshot and I can't prove they were effective, but if you do, feel free to turn this to an answer.
    – b_jonas
    Commented Nov 15, 2015 at 12:29
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    I remember reading a few things years ago (perhaps someone can back me up) that stormtrooper (and clone) armor are only effective against primitive weapons like stones and clubs, but don't have any actual effect against blaster fire. The uniform is more accurately an "all-terrain environmental suit" rather than armor. They protect you from acid rain, heat and cold, lava sprays, even the vacuum of space, but that's about it. Oh, and also as a body bucket. Commented Nov 15, 2015 at 14:10

3 Answers 3

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In Legends, there are some people/droids who did wear effective armor, but such armor was made out of rare and/or expensive materials.

There is an ore called cortosis which is resistant even to lightsabers. It was used in the armor for various troops and droids, such as C-B3 cortosis battle droids, purge troopers, and shadowtroopers.

C-B3:

enter image description here

Purge Trooper:

enter image description here

Shadowtrooper:

enter image description here

The C-B3 battle droid, for example, is a variation of the B2 battle droid, with the main difference being the armor. They were so effective that Palpatine believed they could tip the balance of the war for the Separatists and sabotaged them (recall that Palpatine was playing both sides of the war and had an interest in keeping the war "balanced" between both sides).

However, cortosis ore is rare, and the use of cortosis in armor is even rarer because of the Jedi:

Close at hand sat a stubby treddroid tasked with monitoring the progress of a mining probe that was sampling a rich vein of cortosis ore at the bottom of a deep shaft. A fabled ore, some called it -- owing to its scarcity, but even more for its intrinsic ability to diminish the effectiveness of the Jedi lightsaber. For that reason, the Jedi Order had gone to great lengths to restrict mining and refinement of the ore. If not the bane of the Order’s existence, cortosis was a kind of irritant, a challenge to their weapon’s reputation for fearsome invincibility.

Legends novel Darth Plagueis, p. 10 (emphasis added)

Note that cortosis has been depicted as having wildly different effects among conflicting sources. See Wookieepedia's "Behind the scenes" section in its cortosis article for more information about this.


Another ore that is resistant even against lightsabers is Mandalorian iron (called beskar by the Mandalorians). This ore can only be found in the Mandalore system, and many Mandalorians (but not all) used it in their distinctive armor. For example, this is Kal Skirata with his beskar armor:

enter image description here


Phrik is yet another material used to make lightsaber-resistant armor. It was used in the armor for Imperial dark troopers:

enter image description here


The orbalisk parasite could also be used to form armor capable of deflecting lightsabers (though this armor proved weak against electricity). However, the orbalisks had a tendency to grow over the entire body of their host and in doing so suffocate him. Consequently, the only known users of this armor are the Sith Lords Darth Bane and Freedon Nadd. Orbalisk armor proved particularly helpful to these Sith Lords as the orbalisks fed on the dark side of the Force -- Darth Bane's orbalisk armor made him stronger and allowed him to heal faster.

Darth Bane in his orbalisk armor (in the lower left corner with the red-bladed lightsaber and Force Lightning):

enter image description here

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    Did anyone have armor that was could stop ewok arrows and/or blaster bolts, but not lightsabers? It seems like armor falls into two categories: nearly useless and super-amazing. Or was the OP exaggerating the power of arrows to pierce storm-trooper armor? Commented Nov 15, 2015 at 8:32
  • @PeterCordes I typed out the comment as i watched an arrow go through the back of a storm trooper. Commented Nov 15, 2015 at 10:02
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    i.sstatic.net/zhORv.jpg ----------------- i.sstatic.net/CH1js.jpg ----------------- i.sstatic.net/W6wtn.jpg ----------------- Just some ewok proof look at the bottom right ST Commented Nov 15, 2015 at 12:52
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In Tales from the Empire one of the short stories involves a family owned armament company which has created an armor that can be shot with blasters and not affect the person wearing it.

Her grandparents, Strephan and Augusta I'att, as well as her protector, the Wookiee Wrrlevgebev were killed by Imperials following a demonstration of the newly-developed armor-protective field for Moff Eisen Kerioth

You can see this from the preview here describing the imperviousness of the armor to blaster fire. Multiple Stormtroopers shoot the protagonist of the story (Tinian) to no effect and then proceed to murder her family, starting the story.

The Imperials had wanted the armor to enhance weaknesses in current Stormtrooper armor.

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Yes in Canon

In the animated series Star Wars Rebels (which is Canon according to Disney and Lucas), Season 2 double episode 1/2 The Siege of Lothal

When Darth Vader attacks the Ghost with Stormtroopers, he deflects shots made by Sabine, which hit her in her mandalorian helmet and knock her back

She seems perfectly fine after this.


(I can't at the moment look for a youtube video showing this scene. I would appreciate if anyone was willing to edit this answer and add a link to it.)

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    According to wiki she was badly wounded during that incident though
    – Thomas
    Commented Nov 16, 2015 at 16:27

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