Force lighting, op force power or torture device?

[Mechalich]

To say whether or not any given force ability is 'OP' requires putting all force abilities within a unified rules framework. In the films and TV series force lightning does what the narrative demands it does in much the same fashion of other force powers. It was and is a problem of the expanded universe to quantify how these powers work in a way that is ideally consistent with the films but also produces a framework with verisimilitude for the universe as a whole.

So in SWTOR lightning is exactly as powerful as telekinetic attacks - because the Inquisitor and Consular are mirrors of each other - and is no more powerful overall than other force disciplines or even technologic attacks because the game demands equality between classes. In an action lightsaber shooter like Jedi Academy lightning absolutely wrecks non-force using enemies but is actually a relatively poor power choice overall because every NPC with a lightsaber is going to block essentially all of it, and nearly 100% of the tough opponents have lightsabers. In tabletop RPGs like SAGA edition lightning is a very powerful, but highly limited attack that causes the player to accumulate dark side points extremely rapidly and this represents a quick road to becoming an NPC (because even dark jedi types can pass some sort of point of no return where they degenerate into gibbering insanity or something). It also has diminishing returns because the system is structured such that Force power become proportionally weaker as levels increase.

The prevailing EU opinion is that lightning is not electrical though it may share some properties with electricity. Instead it is an expression of dark side energy itself and this is why it is damaging and corrupting. However this has not been applied consistently.

Generally lightning is not an 'OP' power at all though simply because it is used to hurt people on a personal scale. So with the exception of The Force Unleashed - which turns every force power up to eleven - it's much less powerful than some of the abilities shown in other media. Truly OP powers include pretty much anything done by the Dread Masters which includes mind controlling or killing hundreds of people at a stroke, Vitiate/Valkorion eating entire planets, or Nada Sadow and Aleema Keto causing supernovas.