So double bladed lightsaber gains linked and costs less than the price of two lightsabers, but at the expense of less hard points. Is it still the better of the two choices long term? Or would two lightsabers both eventually fully modified be better once the character has enough skill ranks invested to perform two attacks?

Also if dual weilding does the second lightsaber's qualities give their benefits regardless of using the weapon. For example if your secondary lightsaber has defense or deflection on it? One of my players is going to be an Ataru Striker who will eventually get the linked quality without needing a double bladed saber. He wanted one saber to be his attack and the other more defensive and deflection.

So double bladed lightsaber gains linked and costs less than the price of two lightsabers, but at the expense of less hard points. Is it still the better of the two choices long term? Or would two lightsabers both eventually fully modified be better once the character has enough skill ranks invested to perform two attacks?

Comes down to personal taste and what you aim to do. Having linked can be a lot better since it's easier to trigger. Conversely, having a spare lightsaber in the case of being disarmed/sundered, being able to customize each to different uses, and being able to mod one at a time (which can make things easier on the character's wallet, and doesn't mess up two crystals at once if you fail a modding check), are all pretty nice as well.

Also if dual weilding does the second lightsaber's qualities give their benefits regardless of using the weapon. For example if your secondary lightsaber has defense or deflection on it? One of my players is going to be an Ataru Striker who will eventually get the linked quality without needing a double bladed saber. He wanted one saber to be his attack and the other more defensive and deflection.

Yes. Similar to holding a shield, simply holding something with Defensive or Deflection in your other hand (even if you don't actively use it in combat for combat checks you make) still gets you the bonuses.

So all around an Ataru Striker who gets linked anyway would be better off with two lightsabers

So all around an Ataru Striker who gets linked anyway would be better off with two lightsabers

Using the stuff from “Fly Casual”, getting Paired and Linked lightsabers would be a pretty nice combination. I think I’d definitely take that over a double-bladed lightsaber.

You would have two lightsabers that would have to be separately built and the appropriate parts quested for, but I think it would be worth it.

I get what linked gives you, but what does paired give? Also how much hardness do both of those take?

It seems to me that a lot of people spend too much time treating this as an MMO, where it's all about optimizing your character to within an inch of his life and maximising your damage output at every turn. What about using a double-bladed saber just because you think it would feel awesome for your character? Or dual-wielding a pair of lightsabers because that's how you picture your character in your head? Not every single decision needs to be analyzed for maximum benefit; it's okay to do something because it's fun.

There's a major advantage that a dual-bladed sabre has over wielding two. You can hold the dual-bladed sabre in one hand when you need to.

I can think of no game setting where you are more likely to end up hanging from a ledge, find a steel gantry collapse under you, need to grab onto a friend who is being blown out into Space, swing across a ravine on a grapple line, pilot a speeder bike whilst fighting or whatever else requires a spare hand, than the Star Wars universe. In all of these cases, the dual-blade wielder simply onto her weapon with one hand and continues. In all of these cases, the dual-weapon wielder either spends a precious Manoeuvre to holster one of their weapons (exactly what you want to be wasting them on when dangling over a river of lava) or drops their valuable weapon (exactly what you want to be doing when dangling over a river of lava).

In fact, I'm picturing the scene now, one PC sliding down the sand pit into the maw of the waiting Sarlacc monster begging the other PC to run over and help them.

"Save me!"

"With the manoeuvre to run over I don't have any spare for holstering my sabre. I'd have to drop it and we're on a steep slope into the maw of that creature."

"I'M GOING TO GET EATEN IF YOU DON'T SAVE ME!"

"I know, but... It's modded dude!"

It's going o be more difficult to conceal a double bladed saber. I was asking originally all of this so when players asked me since at the time I hadn't run the system yet. Wasn't asking because of it being an MMO or to achieve best stats, but to answer my players questions or if it came up in game if there was some positive or negative I wasn't seeing.

I have a player going double, a player going two sabers, and another player going saber & blaster.

In all of these cases, the dual-weapon wielder either spends a precious Manoeuvre to holster one of their weapons (exactly what you want to be wasting them on when dangling over a river of lava) or drops their valuable weapon (exactly what you want to be doing when dangling over a river of lava).

Simple solution: stop adventuring near lava. "Mustafar? No thanks. I would prefer a mission/job on a planet where I can possibly survive if I should fall.

"Also, somewhere with handrails would be preferred."

In fact, I'm picturing the scene now, one PC sliding down the sand pit into the maw of the waiting Sarlacc monster begging the other PC to run over and help them."Save me!""With the manoeuvre to run over I don't have any spare for holstering my sabre. I'd have to drop it and we're on a steep slope into the maw of that creature.""I'M GOING TO GET EATEN IF YOU DON'T SAVE ME!""I know, but... It's modded dude!"

Simple solution: jump headlong into pit, using dual lightsabers to amputate tentacles; or, failing that, dive into creature's maw, using dual lightsabers to lacerate inside of maw; or failing that, travel further into gullet and eviscerate creature from the inside; thereby saving dangling friend from impending doom.

I mean, come on, what else are are you gonna do with modded sabers?

Also if dual weilding does the second lightsaber's qualities give their benefits regardless of using the weapon. For example if your secondary lightsaber has defense or deflection on it? One of my players is going to be an Ataru Striker who will eventually get the linked quality without needing a double bladed saber. He wanted one saber to be his attack and the other more defensive and deflection.

This is exactly it. In the Star Wars mythos, a second lightsaber (often a Shoto wielded in the off-hand) is carried primarily for defense.

Except for General Greivous' case, in which multiple sabers turned him into a sort of smoothie machine.

So anyway, putting a Lorrdian gemstone + a curved hilt in your defense lightsaber makes you extremely hard to hit, while putting a fully-modded Ilum Crystal (or Krayt Dragon Pearl, if you can find one!) and the Superior Hilt Personalization on your main saber makes you one dangerous Ataru Striker

An NPC mentor like figure in the game has his Defensive Lorrdian saber with superior hilt and the paired modification. Then his secondary saber is a Kryat saber with the paired modification on it. Even though it's more beneficial he uses two normal sabers because nothing about him would use a shoto.

In all of these cases, the dual-weapon wielder either spends a precious Manoeuvre to holster one of their weapons (exactly what you want to be wasting them on when dangling over a river of lava) or drops their valuable weapon (exactly what you want to be doing when dangling over a river of lava).

Simple solution: stop adventuring near lava. "Mustafar? No thanks. I would prefer a mission/job on a planet where I can possibly survive if I should fall.

"Also, somewhere with handrails would be preferred."

Hold on there, Captain Radical. Handrails are a major alteration to cannon! In fact, Star Wars seems to be an alternate universe where the Health and Safety revolution never happened. No-one wears hard-hats, anyone can buy a starfighter and they don't need a licence, and definitely NO HANDRAILS.

I don't know why, but it seems to be the case. Maybe Health and Safety departments and HR departments were created by the Sith, and with the Jedi all but wiping out the Sith, these things never arose in the Star Wars setting. I can practically see the planning meetings now:

"And we're going to put some handrails around the landing platform..."

"Hmmm. Afraid of falling, you are?"

"Well, it's a two-hundred story drop so... yes?"

"Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hatred, hatred leads to suffering. The Dark Side you are encouraging. Conquer your fears instead, you must."

"Could we conquer our fears AND have some hand-rails?"

"No! A false courage this is! Handrails on the landing platform, there shall be not!"

Meanwhile in a parallel Sith-dominated universe:

"No-one is going to use their hair-dryer in the bath or eat the rat poision, do we really need to put all these scary notices everywhere?"

"I find your lack of safety labels disturbing"

Hold on there, Captain Radical. Handrails are a major alteration to cannon! In fact, Star Wars seems to be an alternate universe where the Health and Safety revolution never happened. No-one wears hard-hats, anyone can buy a starfighter and they don't need a licence, and definitely NO HANDRAILS.

I don't know why, but it seems to be the case. Maybe Health and Safety departments and HR departments were created by the Sith, and with the Jedi all but wiping out the Sith, these things never arose in the Star Wars setting. I can practically see the planning meetings now:

"And we're going to put some handrails around the landing platform..."

"Hmmm. Afraid of falling, you are?"

"Well, it's a two-hundred story drop so... yes?"

"Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hatred, hatred leads to suffering. The Dark Side you are encouraging. Conquer your fears instead, you must."

"Could we conquer our fears AND have some hand-rails?"

"No! A false courage this is! Handrails on the landing platform, there shall be not!"

On that subject... http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0452.html

OK, a bit of thread Sith necromancy, but of you're going from a pure mechanical side, a double bladed lightsaber stll uses the normal difficulty for melee attacks (though it's unwieldy 3 as of the last update) but using a second weapon you increase the difficulty of the check by 1, so 3 purple.

Ass for benefits from the off hand weapon, you obly get those IF it hits. If your second weapon affects your initial die pool (for good or ill) those dice are not used, though if it has benefits (or penalties) that effect after the pool is rolled, those you get.

So if your second blade gave you boost or setback for whatever reason you would not apply those, but if yuor second blade was Superior you would still get the auto advantage, but only AFTER you hit with it (so no double Superior lightsabers auto ctivating the second hit.

The paired thing is in the Officially answered questions. Page 4 IIRC, also mentioned (and linked) in the Fly Casual thread over in EotE.

But personally, I say go for what looks coolest for your character. :-D