TOPIC: Hero Tier RGBA Descent V2

Descent Review

I guess I'll start off by saying that this is the saber that first caught my attention and introduced me to this hobby in the first place. I had a vague idea about the Hasbro/MR stuff, and all the toys of course, but I didn't know a single thing about the whole concept of high-quality, duel-worthy lightsabers with more sophisticated electronics. Until I saw the Descent in a random Facebook ad for Saberforge, that is. Even then, I was only a little impressed and slightly interested, but not enough to spend the kind of money that these things are worth. But then long story short, I saw Episode VII soon after it came out, wound up very interested in Star Wars again for the first time since I was a young kid, and then I wound up getting both a Hero Tier Crystal saber (this one), and a Champion Tier Elite saber (my Bane, which I reviewed earlier but can't find the thread now for some reason)... Plus I live in Canada and our exchange rate sucks. So much for not wanting to spend that kind of money, I sort of went all out!

Anyway, after ordering on February 8th and waiting 3.5 months, I finally received them both about 2 weeks ago. Both of them, minus a few very minor issues, are pretty much everything I was hoping for. Here's both of the hilts.



One of the minor complaints I have is I was sent the wrong allen wrench for the Bane's blade retention screw, and one of the claws on the Descent was a little loose and the claws use the same size wrench to adjust. But that's okay, I'm sure Saberforge would have sent me one had I asked, though it was easier to just go to the hardware store and get a set.



I chose the RGBA option for the Descent, though I primarily have it set to be red most of the time. One thing I noticed right away is that even next to the extremely bright 12w+ indigo Bane, the individual 3w LED's don't look dull at all, even when it's set to red which I hear loses a bit of brightness to the human eye due to some of it's light falling into the infrared spectrum. Though I've heard too that indigo loses some to the ultraviolet spectrum as well, but even still, considering it's a single 3w color against a 12w+, I'm impressed. For anyone considering RGBA for the options, but are too worried about the loss of brightness, don't be. It is noticeable, but it seems a little worse in some photos than it actually looks in person. They're still very comparable.



Aside from that, the only other tiny little issue is the wrap on the grip has an extremely small bit at the end that seems like it's kind of peeled up. A little adhesive of some sort would probably fix that pretty quick. I couldn't even really photograph it very well. Everything else about the Descent is amazing thus far, and it feels very well built.



Here's a few color samples with the blade in. I didn't photograph all 9 of the presets I made, but the color options are almost endlessly configurable on the Spark Color 2 board, which I now love.

Red



Blood Orange



Purple



Green



I'll add a couple other things and some final thoughts in a moment. Hopefully all my attachments work and I don't have to resize any images. Still not sure how they turned out in my Bane review, since as mentioned earlier, I can't find the post. I'm assuming it timed out because the files were too large.

Some extra stuff, such as the new kill key. Can't compare it to an older one, but here it is anyway.



And here are the blade plugs to both the Descent and the Bane.



My final thoughts on the Descent... First of all, it's still by far my favorite design. I love how the crystal is removable as it is attached to the blade plug, making it a little less worrisome to duel with, though at the same time it would be nice to see the crystal with the blade in. It made me question if this particular saber is worth the upcharge from an Elite saber, as it seems a lot easier to stick a crystal on a blade plug rather than put the work into a full chamber in the hilt. But for me, the addition of the leather wrap and larger pommel makes the design more appealing to me over the Venom, so in my eyes, I knew what I was getting into and it was totally worth it even though I would assume the Venom can hold the same blade plug and look like a Crystal Saber without it's blade in as well.

Thanks for reading a long-winded review,. It would appear there's only one other for the Descent, so I hope this is of use to someone out there.

WyvernClaw, so glad you decided to share the glory of your recently delivered Descent and Bane. Such a menacing and lethal combination as paired Sabers. Congratulations and Thank You. For the record, there aren't any signs of your alleged Bane Review so I can only conclude with your speculation that the drafting session timed-out and was lost. Whilst your Review has taken residency here, Sabers that took the scenic route via Customs Shop are grouped in another Section.

Great sabers and great review! I completely agree on the RGBA. It's worth doing, and you'll never get bored with the blade color.

Very nice. I never knew the crystal was part of the Descent's plug. That's great to know as well. Good stuff!

OvrcAHst wrote:
Not sure what you mean by that. Are you saying I've accidentally posted in the wrong section? The Descent wasn't a custom order nor went through the Custom Shop (as far as I am aware), so I posted in this section, where an older Descent review was. Maybe I'm misunderstanding something.

Great saber! I had no idea that the crystal chamber was in the blade plug either! Very unique! Just be wary of the claws, as a direct hit on them has been known to bend/break them. Most folks remove them before dueling just to be safe.

Congrats on an awesome tool of destruction!

I have heard that about the claws too,thanks for the tip. I probably won't be dueling very heavily with it, but I'll keep that in mind just in case.

My apologies for the confusion. Your Posting right here is where it belongs, no error on your part. I simply meant (to your comment about there only being one other here) for yourself and other Forum residents that may have recalled there being more (once upon a time) is because relocations occurred for the Custom treated ones into the newly created Section.

Given the fact that the Crystal is attached to the base of the Blade Plug (as you write, unlike the other Crystal Hilts) how is it attached? Not that I'm recommending you start modifying it, I just wonder if the Crystal can be successfully attached to the base of a blade just to satisfy the display aesthetics with illuminated blade and Crystal simultaneously. *Obviously not intended for duelling if the interchange were possible.*

I'm not entirely sure how the crystal is attached, actually. But that is a really good idea, if only I could find an extra blade and somehow purchase another crystal blade plug to modify. Don't really want to do it to this one, as I like having the crystal in the hilt alone as well for display purposes, but having another one to experiment with would be awesome.

I don't recall you mentioning it, did you get a 37" Blade with Descent?



Looking at your image, (can't be sure) it looks like a recessed protrusion on top of the Crystal (male) that sits within the polycarbonate (female) and is likely glued. Agreed, I wouldn't go messing with it either. How long is the Plug in its entirety? As the only Blade Plug with a Crystal attached to the end I dare conclude it's the longest plug available. A 37" may be a wise choice since (guess) up to 4" of it is lost inside the blade holder.

OvrcAHst wrote:
I did indeed opt for the 37" blade for both sabers. I was quite surprised when I looked at the box it came in, somehow it didn't seem nearly that long and I was at first worried I was shipped 32" blades. Some would say that might not be so bad, given I'm only 5'7" and the slightly shorter blades would be easier to wield, but I was pleasantly surprised after measuring the blade lengths for myself and finding they were in fact 37" and still comfortable to wield for someone of my less-than-great stature.

That's a little off topic though. The blade plug for the Bane measures only 1.6", whereas the Descent's is 3.8 (you're obviously a better judge of lengths than myself, 4" was an extremely close guess). With both sabers with the blades in though, the Descent can seem a little shorter depending on how you look at it. If you line them up by the pommel, they look exactly the same length. However, if you line them up by where their respective claws end (excluding the much longer lower claw of the Bane), the Descent seems a little shorter. And if you line them up from the inner emitter, the Descent is just slightly shorter still.

Quick edit: You also seem to be correct about the attachment of the crystal chamber to the blade plug. If I could secure a duplicate, I would definitely experiment with attempting to transplant it onto the bottom of a blade.

Hmmm... The only thing you'd need to be aware of is that a standard blade wouldn't be compatible. The V4s base thickness comparable to the thickness of the poly of a blade plug would be one, the film inside and ring of glue at the base would be the second. Presuming if the V4s thickness was identical to Plug's thickness, I reckon you'd have to do a custom version of a Thin Neck blade to accommodate the Crystal's TopHat. Thank you for taking time out to answer my queries.

No problem, thank you for being so welcoming and interested in what this new guy has to say.