While Vader had his weaknesses, including vulnerability to electricity, characters like Emperor Palpatine, Mace Windu, Yoda, and Obi-Wan Kenobi all had the potential to defeat him in battle.
Luke Skywalker was one of the few Jedi in Star Wars canon to single-handedly best Vader in combat. Luke had only been a Jedi for around four years by the time of Return of the Jedi, yet he managed to master Form V from his battle with Vader in The Empire Strikes Back.
It's very difficult doing direct damage to Darth Vader. He'll block all of your attacks, and he has a very large stun gauge. Simply attacking won't be enough to break his stun. You'll need to parry his attacks, which deals a ton of damage to his stun gauge.
Darth Vader's loss of limbs prevents him from using force lightning, a common ability among Sith, making him weaker in comparison. Vader's reliance on his mechanical suit weakens him in battle, reducing his agility and mobility from his days as Anakin Skywalker.
In a Vanity Fair interview from 2005, George Lucas went deeper into why Anakin became much weaker as Vader. In the interview, he explained that because Anakin's limbs were severed and replaced by robotics, it was harder for him to use the Force than it was before his battle with Obi-Wan.
Fans wanted to know more about this villain who looked like the toughest foe any hero had ever faced. As his story was fleshed out, describing his time as Jedi, his fall to the Dark Side, and his redemption to the Light Side, Darth Vader became more humanized, and it became obvious he wasn't unbeatable.
Even after his brutal scorching in the fires of Mustafar, sand remained the only natural phenomenon that Vader feared. To him, sand was a reminder that he'd failed to save his mother or Padme from death.
As seen time and time again, the Sith Lord could easily cut down almost anyone who got in his way, and he rarely ever lost a fight. Yet at the end of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Luke is able to beat Vader to the ground with relative ease, and so what was different from all of Vader's previous fights?
In Star Wars Legends and Canon, Galen Marek (Starkiller) is the only Jedi (other than Obi-Wan Kenobi) to put a beat down on Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker. Galen was secretly trained as a Sith Lord apprentice to Vader, but returned to the light side and the Jedi.
Yep. Darth Maul didn't really say or show straight up that he "feared" Darth Vader, but he openly stated his belief that he could not defeat Darth Vader without the help of the Jedi, therefore on his own.
The only Sith Lord who actually killed Vader, Darth Sidious kept his apprentice in line for over two decades. His true advantage was Force lightning, a power which would wreak havoc on the suit keeping him alive.
He has decades of experience and even though Rey's brute power has seen her through every fight, Vader has the power and the skill, something Rey lacks in comparison. Rey just couldn't match up to Vader.
During the battle, Anakin, who had been known as the Sith Lord Darth Vader, was redeemed by Luke and brought balance to the Force. However, the redemption cost Anakin his life, having been mortally wounded by the Emperor, Darth Sidious, while killing his former Master.
Why was Darth Vader so weak in Return of the Jedi?
Granted that it had just been a year since their last match-up, but the body's deterioration can rapidly increase as someone gets older. Coupled with the fact that Anakin had long been reliant on his armor which means that in reality, he's in worse shape under his suit than he might appear in Return of the Jedi.
The realistic answer seems to be, yes, Anakin in his prime could have defeated Luke Skywalker (in the current canon) if they battled one-on-one. The main reason behind this is Luke's lack of formal Jedi training, at least when it comes to combat.
Darth Vader's love and skill for droids and mechanics, particularly from his childhood, becomes a major tactical weakness for him in Star Wars: Dark Droids #3. The Scourge targets Darth Vader and attempts to defeat him by assimilating his own droids, but their plan is foiled by outside interference.
Nope. Not one of Sidious's apprentices was stronger than Vader. And Maul himself openly admitted in Star Wars Rebels that he couldn't defeat Vader. So no,Vader wasn't a weak Sith Lord.
Vader Outranked only by Sidious - CON: The only thing I can find that says Tarkin outranked Vader is a quote by David Filoni in 2015 during an interview about Rebels. He actually says that Tarkin outranks Vader.
However, once Luke fully embraced his power in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, he proved that he was indeed stronger than Darth Vader and struck his father down.
