The E-3 blaster represents a class of blaster weapon employed during the Great Galactic War era, a conflict that pitted the Galactic Republic against the reconstituted Sith Empire. An instance of its usage is found with Zeerid Korr, a one-time smuggler, who, in 3653 BBY, opted to carry one in an ankle holster instead of his usual pair of BlasTech 4 blasters. Subsequent to abandoning smuggling, he kept one on his farm located on the planet Dantooine, and possessed it when a BT7 Thunderstrike vessel landed there. Korr's initial assumption was that the ship carried members of the criminal organization known as the Exchange, intending to kill him for neglecting his duties; however, it turned out to be his acquaintance, the Jedi Knight Aryn Leneer.
The 2011 novel The Old Republic: Deceived, authored by Paul S. Kemp, featured the E-3 blaster.