The advantages/disadvantages of using both Light and Dark side powers

I've been curious about this for some time, for a while I believed a individual using both light side and dark side powers would be more powerful than an individual using purely one or the other.

However when reading about Revan, it started to become clear to me that there is no such thing as one path being all powerful.

Thus the way I see it is that using both light and dark side powers simultaneously has its advantages, and its disadvantages.

My question to you is, do you think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

And furthermore could what do you feel is the list of Advantages, and disadvantages?

IE
Advantages
1.
2.
3.
etc.

Disadvantages
1.
2.
3.
etc.

Advantages:
1. Versatility. Using both sides gives you an edge in any fight.
Even with use of lightsaber not all Sith Lords and Jedi masters are capable to defend against Force lightning, it requires not just power but talent or being gifted in that ability.
Same for Force choke, not everyone is capable to break from it.
However, Jedi needs to use those abilities on limited level as killing using Force directly is one of the worth things for a Jedi to commit.

2. Darkside gives you power.
Drawing on anger is an extra source of power. Jacen Solo in addition apart from anger embraced pain, which gave him even more power but he is the only one I know to use pain to strengthen himself. There are more ways of how to become much more powerful but it wouldn't be Jedi anymore.

3. Understanding of the darkness. If Jedi can use darkside power, it can help him to defend against them. When Jaina used Force lightning on Kyp Durron, he didn't even try to absorb it in hands, it just harmlessly dissipated on him. He stated that it is because he mastered it but it is also due to his unique abilities.

Disadvantages:

1. Oneness with the Force. It can be experienced by some Jedi mostly ones in their life and even being the wisest and strongest Jedi doesn't guaranty that it will ever be experienced. Jedi won't experience it, if he uses darkside powers. Jacen Solo is one of the brightest examples of using both sides, however, when he fought Onimi, he embraced himself in lightside in its purest form.

2. Self-control and clear mind. Also, using darkside gives extra power and versatility it might affect your thinking and accuracy. Anger makes you reckless and you are more likely to make mistakes.

3. When dealing with powerful Sith Lord, using darkside can make it easier for him to influence that Jedi. Specifically anger is better to be avoided completely. Luke wanted to defeat reborn Palpatine from within. He didn't want to turn to darkside, just understand how it works, yet, he ended up being consumed in darkness and even mind dominated. Sith Emperor was able to mind dominate both Revan and Malak because they were already too close to darkness after war.

As conclusion there are lots of factors to determine, when it is better or not.
It largely depends on personality. Anakin Skywalker was simply unable to use lightside only, using anger came to him naturally. Jaden Korr had Force lightning forming on his hands involuntarily. Mace Windu had darkness in him and found way to use it.
Luke Skywalker as master strictly used light side only and I can recall plenty of situations, where use of Force choke or lightning would make his life much easier but it is his morality and it is what makes him above others in other situations, where those powers would be useless.

Even with use of both sides the power of Jedi is nothing to what power proper darksider can gain. When it comes to fight of a lifetime with someone like Palpatine, Jedi must use only lightside, otherwise he is doomed.

If all you have in mind is combat, then the Dark Side is usually the way to go. But seeing as how life, even for the very evil, is about more than just fighting, then the Dark Side is a horrible disadvantage... realistically speaking. I mean, within the fictional universe, the mental and emotion spectrum exists at a very dumbed down level.

But from a real world perspective, the Dark Side is never the way to go. I've always equated the obsession with extreme emotions like hate and rage, coupled with insatiable greed, paranoia, and distrust, as a sign of insanity. Not the "what a crazy notion" kind of insane; the literal, psychologically insane. In the real world, it'd be a horrifying experience living like that, day in, day out, every moment and second devoted to intense negative emotions. The Light Siders may not get a power boost in combat, but I'll take the patient, passive, compassionate, empathetical lifestyle over a Dark Sider's hell any day.

The neutral Jedi, the Jedi from Switzerland, the grey Jedi. Sounds legit.

Could a pure light side user be just as destructive as a pure dark side user?

I just am a bit confused, I have heard that there is no light side and dark side, but purely just the force and that it is the user that limits what it can do? Or am I incorrect?

I suppose my question is, in terms of potential is an individual who can use both dark side and light side the most powerful?

Trying to grasp potentials here, or in terms of extreme is one way or the other the way to go?

Originally posted by Board Walker
Could a pure light side user be just as destructive as a pure dark side user?

I just am a bit confused, I have heard that there is no light side and dark side, but purely just the force and that it is the user that limits what it can do? Or am I incorrect?

I suppose my question is, in terms of potential is an individual who can use both dark side and light side the most powerful?

Trying to grasp potentials here, or in terms of extreme is one way or the other the way to go?

And the non-aligned Force field of thought in-universe is called the Potentium. Most Jedi dismissed it as heretical and dangerous.

Mace/Vaapad is a prime example. Vaapad allowed him to tap both the light AND dark side, while maintaining complete control over said aspects. Upon so doing, he unmasked a power that allowed him to best Palpatine himself.

That being said, a being who maintains absolute control (that is the key) over the light and dark sides can potentially tap into a reservoir of power well beyond what either side is capable of individually. Imo.

Originally posted by Galan007
Mace/Vaapad is a prime example. Vaapad allowed him to tap both the light AND dark side, while maintaining complete control over said aspects. Upon so doing, he unmasked a power that allowed him to best Palpatine himself.

That being said, a being who maintains absolute control (that is the key) over the light and dark sides can potentially tap into a reservoir of power well beyond what either side is capable of individually. Imo.

Such level of control requires great understanding of the Force and only those individuals can accomplish this who study all aspects of the Force or think beyond the boundaries of pure Jedi and Sith philosophies.

Revan is another good example;

Instead of charging forward, he opened himself up to the Force, letting both the light and the dark side flow through him like twin rushing rivers. But instead of focusing or channeling the Force, he released it in its purest form.

There was brilliant flash as the air between the two combatants lit up. The energy unleashed was powerful enough to send Revan staggering. The Emperor, unprepared and with much of his strength diverted to his effort to dominate Revan's mind, was sent flying backward. (Source: SWTOR - Revan)

With this single feat, Revan not just caught Vitiate off-guard but made a joke out of him.

Originally posted by Galan007
Mace/Vaapad is a prime example. Vaapad allowed him to tap both the light AND dark side, while maintaining complete control over said aspects. Upon so doing, he unmasked a power that allowed him to best Palpatine himself.

That being said, a being who maintains absolute control (that is the key) over the light and dark sides can potentially tap into a reservoir of power well beyond what either side is capable of individually. Imo.

Kind of like "In the Zone" Anakin. He was still a Jedi but using his hate as a tool to boost his power, yet staying focused and in control.

With this single feat, Revan not just caught Vitiate off-guard but made a joke out of him.

think beyond the boundaries of pure Jedi and Sith philosophies.

However, the very same philosophy was his downfall to the darkside. The very thinking of yourself beyond something is already self-centering that leads to darkside. Such understanding was heretic by Jedi not without reason. And the person that taught it to Jacen was Sith herself.

only those individuals can accomplish this who study all aspects of the Force

So as I stated before using both sides gives versatility and edge in a battle but it never gave power beyond dark and light side. Throughout the whole EU the most enormous and destructive things were done by pure darksiders and the most miraculous things and best lightsaber fits by pure lightsiders.

Revan feat of using both the Light and Dark sides is a complete joke imo. All it did was make a big bang. Is Drew that much of a hack that he can't come up with something a little more impressive than that? Revan should have saved the effort and just used a freaking Force Push. Same result.

rofl

But don't forget this is Drew K. We are talking about. Apparently "the full power of the force" can only blow up a droid.

Originally posted by ares834
rofl

But don't forget this is Drew K. We are talking about. Apparently "the full power of the force" can only blow up a droid.

Originally posted by Arhael
I thought it was Vitiate, who made joke out of Revan by electrocuting him. It was good example of how much more powerful pure darksider can be, than some hybrid.

Both of them made a statement; however, Vitiate had over a 1000 years to improve his command of the Force and also experience. This would certainly make difference.

Yes, we have Yoda analogy too - but Vitiate was not hindered by Jedi philosophy in his quest to gain power.

Originally posted by Arhael
Plainly speaking by using both sides Revan managed to give stronger Force push but it is not something "beyond of what either side could give". And obviously Revan used darkside on limited level, he was at most using his anger, which would never be equal to how Sith angry can be. Also, I assume he imbued himself with darkside energy surrounding that place but it shows versatility of using all tools available.

Revan was trying to break free from the telepathic assault of Vitiate ASAP. Their was no time to think. Hence, the talk of 'state of mind' is useless in this situation.

Originally posted by Arhael
Jacen Solo is the best example to follow such philosophy. Yet, during fight with Onimi he was at perfect calm. He didn't take his lightsaber with him. He didn't try to counter attack, he was only receiving and embracing attacks. There was huge sense of moral ground. And at the end Onimi's body started restoring to its original form. The light was emanating from him.
In that display there was no anger, no hatred, no passion, there was not a single hint of darkside, it was only positive feelings and motives associated with lightside.

However, the very same philosophy was his downfall to the darkside. The very thinking of yourself beyond something is already self-centering that leads to darkside. Such understanding was heretic by Jedi not without reason. And the person that taught it to Jacen was Sith herself.

Studying all aspects of the Force leads to personality degradation. In other words its a very darkside thing to use Force in all aspects. Only Sith don't limit themselves.

This is akin to Mace and Sora Bulq on Vaapad.

Originally posted by Arhael
So as I stated before using both sides gives versatility and edge in a battle but it never gave power beyond dark and light side. Throughout the whole EU the most enormous and destructive things were done by pure darksiders and the most miraculous things and best lightsaber fits by pure lightsiders.

- Revan overpowered Vitiate amidst under attack?

In both of these cases, a weaker opponent managed to overcome a stronger opponent with the aforementioned ability.

Now you cannot expect a dark sider who is weaker then Palpatine to overcome him in a duel on the basis of 'strength' unless circumstances permit or exceptions exist. Same is true for the light sider.

Even in a clash between the dark and light, the stronger individual usually wins or is more likely to win, unless the circumstances favor the weaker individual or exceptions exist.

Using both the light and dark sides is not an easy task. It requires great command of the Force. Very few got access to this kind of power. This is the reason of lack of feats.

Originally posted by Nephthys
Revan feat of using both the Light and Dark sides is a complete joke imo. All it did was make a big bang. Is Drew that much of a hack that he can't come up with something a little more impressive than that? Revan should have saved the effort and just used a freaking Force Push. Same result.

However, Drew left a hint for a reason; Revan did not focused or channel the power he gathered by using both the Light and Dark sides of the Force.

The feat itself was not a joke but a display of immense understanding of Revan of the Force. Revan was under telepathic assault and he wanted to break free. He did not had time to think. I don't understand that why you fail to get this point. It isn't rocket science.

And you are fooling yourself, if you think that Force push would have worked against Vitiate. Remember that the Force push did not work against an Elite Guard, whose resistance was being augmented by the power of the Sith Emperor.

Originally posted by ares834
rofl

But don't forget this is Drew K. We are talking about. Apparently "the full power of the force" can only blow up a droid.

Focus on what the attack did to the opponent. The droid exploded in to a million pieces.

Did not get the point?

Here is an analogy;

Attack 1: Force lightning is unleashed on 4 opponents (human beings) and it kills all of them. But bodies are in good shape.

Attack 2: Force lightning is unleashed on a single opponent (human) and it rips the opponent apart.

Which attack is more powerful?

Vitiate' ownage came after Revan' ownage. Simple.

Both of them made a statement; however, Vitiate had over a 1000 years to improve his command of the Force and also experience. This would certainly make difference.

That wasn't the best Revan could do. He did not focused or channeled that power, remember?

Revan was trying to break free from the telepathic assault of Vitiate ASAP. Their was no time to think. Hence, the talk of 'state of mind' is useless in this situation.

Solo could not control or handle such a practice for long.

In contrast, Revan accomplished almost perfect balance between both aspects.

This practice will not lead to personality degradation, just because Solo failed.

- Mace defeated Palpatine?

- Revan overpowered Vitiate amidst under attack?

Now you cannot expect a dark sider who is weaker then Palpatine to overcome him in a duel on the basis of 'strength' unless circumstances permit or exceptions exist. Same is true for the light sider.

Even in a clash between the dark and light, the stronger individual usually wins or is more likely to win, unless the circumstances favor the weaker individual or exceptions exist.

Using both the light and dark sides is not an easy task. It requires great command of the Force. Very few got access to this kind of power. This is the reason of lack of feats.

If you were expecting planet shattering power then you will feel disappointed and it also goes against the purpose of the story.

The feat itself was not a joke but a display of immense understanding of Revan of the Force.

Originally posted by Arhael
Being Force pushed is considered ownage? Ok

It was a blast of power which send Vitiate flying in backwards direction much away from Revan. This does seems like ownage for such a powerful individual.

Originally posted by Arhael
Jedi Knight was less powerful than Revan and pure lightsider. Oops!

Originally posted by Arhael
Ye, he just casually waved his hands and sparkles flew over the place. It was as focused as it could be. What would be the best he could do?

But instead of focusing or channeling the Force, he released it in its purest form. (Source: SWTOR - Revan)

He could focus or channel that power for much more destructive results, if he wanted to. But their was no time for this feat during confrontation with Vitiate.

Originally posted by Arhael
The whole thing is about state of mind. The darkside powers themselves are coming from negative emotions. Unless, Revan imbued himself by dark energy surrounding him, which I assumed earlier.

Originally posted by Arhael
Before that fight Solo was comfortably using Force lightning and using his own suffering to become stronger, which is already beyond of what Revan could.

Originally posted by Arhael
How do you know that?

In those days, he had believed this would protect him from the dark side, but he no longer had any such illusions. He was older and wiser. He understood that the two sides of the Force were more closely intertwined with each other than either the Jedi or the Sith would ever admit. He had learned to balance on the knife-edge between them, drawing on both the light and dark sides for strength. (Source: SWTOR - Revan)

Originally posted by Arhael
I didn't relate specifically to that practice. You said that it is important to learn all aspects of the Force. It includes draining life energy from others, mind domination, feeding on suffering, fear and anger of others, killing with Force directly. You can do so much with darkside but who will you be after practicing such aspects?

The techniques can be tested on enemies and droids.

Originally posted by Arhael
They both fought were powerful foes and fought on equal terms. Being able to execute successful kick is not a miraculous thing. And you can't give the whole credit to vaapad for winning. Vaapad is just something, which suited Mace individuality that allowed him fighting at his best. But saying that vaapad is such a great and overhelming factor in a fight is just lame.

Originally posted by Arhael
Oh... Overpowered Vitiate? Ok. 💃

Originally posted by Arhael
There are far more variables to consider than just power. Especially, since Full-fledged Sith with equal potential in most cases will be more powerful, than any lightsider or hybrid.

Originally posted by Arhael
In other words it is only a theory without a single substantial fact.

Originally posted by Arhael
Since you were saying that it gives power beyond what light and dark side can offer individually, why not?

Originally posted by Arhael
Anakin used light and darkside powers the whole Jedi time and defeated Dooku. Maybe we give him this credit as well?

And he succumbed to the dark side very easily and soon became a firm Sith. He did not found a balance between the Light and Dark sides of the Force. Therefore, his example is invalid.

Originally posted by S_W_LeGenD

Only during final clash with Dooku, Anakin used his emotions to fuel his power, as the Sith goaded him in to doing so. He was headstrong but still a Jedi.

And he succumbed to the dark side very easily and soon became a firm Sith. He did not found a balance between the Light and Dark sides of the Force. Therefore, his example is invalid.

That was later after he was having visions of Padme's death.

At the moment he found that clarity though, that moment he tooled Dooku, but stayed in control, I would say yes he probably was using a good combination of Light and Dark sides of the Force.

It is not a simple Force push, genius.

It was a blast of power which send Vitiate flying in backwards direction much away from Revan. This does seems like ownage for such a powerful individual.

And the basis of your claim is?

Revan did not waved his hand, genius. He indirectly unleashed a blast of power.

He could focus or channel that power for much more destructive results, if he wanted to. But their was no time for this feat during confrontation with Vitiate.

We don't know about Revan' state of mind at that moment. He was trying to break free from the telepathic grip of Vitiate. This is all we know for now.

Are you really this naive? Solo was doing what a trained Sith can do. Revan can do the same.

In those days, he had believed this would protect him from the dark side, but he no longer had any such illusions. He was older and wiser. He understood that the two sides of the Force were more closely intertwined with each other than either the Jedi or the Sith would ever admit. He had learned to balance on the knife-edge between them, drawing on both the light and dark sides for strength. (Source: SWTOR - Revan)

The techniques can be tested on enemies and droids.

Mace is not Sidious' equal in combat. He went toe-to-toe with Sidious because of Vaapad.

Yes, Revan overpowered Vitiate with that blast of power.

This statement of mine covers your point: unless the circumstances favor the weaker individual or exceptions exist.

This is not a theory. It is not easy to create a balance between both the Light and Dark sides of the Force without succumbing to the Dark side specially. Many tried but few succeeded.

Revan' intention was not to cause destruction but to break free from the telepathic grip of Vitiate. Try to understand the difference.

Originally posted by S_W_LeGenD

Mace is not Sidious' equal in combat. He went toe-to-toe with Sidious because of Vaapad.

??? Vapaad is Mace's primary combat tool.

I tend to make a habit of ignoring SWL, but Arhael's post compelled me to take a look:

SWL
It is not a simple Force push, genius.

It was a blast of power which send Vitiate flying in backwards direction much away from Revan.

This is hands down the funniest thing I've ever read on this site.