Freedon Nadd
Senior Member
In fact, I do have proof that Vitiate assaults planets with Dark Side energy before consuming them.
Eight thousand Sith Lords gathered on Medriaas and agreed to partake in a ritual that would bind the Sith together as an ULTIMATE DARK SIDE WEAPON.The ritual lasted ten days. Lord Vitiate orchestrated the sorcery and the planet Mediraas was consumed by the largest DARK SIDE NEXUS the galaxy would ever see. When the ritual ended, Lord Vitiate emerged as the only survivor. The pain, energy, and suffering of every living entity on the planet FUELED HIS POWER and would prolong his life for centuries. The lifeless planet of Medriaas became a void in the Force and was erased from history. From that moment forward, the world would forever be known as Nathema, birthplace of the one and only Sith Emperor.
From (Star Wars: The Old Republic: Encyclopedia)
The drain of Ziost. You see that Vitiate's spirit is bombarding the planet with waves of Dark Side energy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qvx3SeBZ-4
Also, I thought we all agreed that during the Ziost events, Vitiate has been noted to be nowhere to his real power(post-Nathema events) given he was just a Force ghost?
Therefore, we have reached to the only conclusion that Vitiate needs to assault the planets he drains/ed with Dark Side energy. So, the only thing he does regarding drain is to feed on the deaths caused by those Dark Side energies, boosting himself up until his drain expands on wide-planetary levels.
So, he doesn't drain directly his subjects, he merely feeds on their deaths caused by the destruction of those Dark Side energies.
This also explains why Vitiate had in mind to drain the galaxy with his ritual but needed long amounts of preparation. He wanted to use the Force to gather Dark Side energies by sending his agents out across the galaxy in order to take advantage of the chaos and perform the sacrifice necessary to start the ritual.