Is there a way to retcon super laser firepower diminishing in the atmosphere in SW?

[Karha of Honor]

I like the idea of Navy not being the ultimate Trump card in Star Wars. I think it would be neat retcon even if it does not make sense because i like infrantry, hovertanks and all those good things.

[CharlesPhipps]

Well we have a reason for that already in the energy shields mentioned in ESB.

They can apparently cover whole planets.

Which we saw in Rogue One.

[Karha of Honor]

Well we have a reason for that already in the energy shields mentioned in ESB.

They can apparently cover whole planets.

Which we saw in Rogue One.

I like my junk science idea better.

Is there a way it is properly explained where they get the energy for it?

How can starships move freely despite the shield being up?

Is it not vulnerable to hacking?

[Dînadan]

Starships can’t move freely with the shield up. In Rogue One there’s that ring station that opens a gap in the shield and in Empire, unless I’m misremembering there’s mention of dropping the shield, and even if they don’t it’s possible that they are unidirectional somehow, letting things pass one way but not the other.

Off the top of my head I can only recall two instances of things passing through shields:
1) the Gungan shield that the droids walk through. It’s possible that it’s the same tech they use on the doors to their underwater cities that keeps water out but let’s people through and is able to absorb energy somehow but is not able to block physical objects actively trying to pass through.
2) the ones at the entrances to ship hangers that keep the air in. I can’t recall it ever being shown that those can stop weapons fire (at least not in the films).


Also, in the old EU there were shields that only covered a dome, leaving gaps between the bottom of it and the ground; for example in one book there’s an attack on Luke’s Jedi Academy and the Imperials fly between the bottom of the shield and the treetops to get inside (iirc some of the TIEs crash trying to squeeze through and only one makes it)

[ORCACommander]

there are certainly several different types of shields in star wars.
Planetary shields are the strongest and require large power generators, IE what Maximilian veers blew up on hoth. Due to the lack of limitations of scale on these you need planet crackers in order to break through them

Ship defensive shields, these can block plasma, and laser fire, not so much ion fire and certainly not physical objects. this is mostly a limitation of the mass and volume a starship can be engineered to used.

in episode 4 the hanger on the death star the falcon is parked in is completely empty of personnel but when the falcon flees it can pass right through so its a toss up on whether that can stop anything more solid or higher energy than gasses.