An electrostaff, alternatively referred to as a shock staff, represented a staff-shaped melee weapon that was produced by both Baktoid Armor Workshop and Holowan Mechanicals. Throughout the Clone Wars, these weapons saw action with the Confederacy of Independent Systems' IG-100 MagnaGuard units, as well as the Galactic Republic's clone shock troopers. Subsequently, during the lead-up to and duration of the Galactic Civil War, Imperial forces, including Purge, riot, and Heavy Troopers, also employed them.
The electrostaff was intentionally crafted to facilitate one-on-one engagements with individuals wielding lightsabers, such as Jedi, possessing the capability to block incoming lightsaber attacks. Each extremity of the staff was equipped with either purple or yellow electrical discharge, potent enough to induce cardiac arrest in a living being after a mere five seconds of sustained contact.
Frequently, electrostaffs were reinforced with phrik alloy plating, enhancing their resistance to lightsaber strikes. Nevertheless, even with this reinforcement, these electrostaffs were not completely impervious to lightsaber attacks and could still be destroyed under sufficient force.
During the Clone Wars, the Confederacy of Independent Systems' IG-100 MagnaGuards brandished electrostaffs, even utilizing them effectively against the Jedi Order. Prominent Separatist figures such as Count Dooku and General Grievous were often accompanied by electrostaff-wielding IG-100s as bodyguards. The droid mercenary AD-W4 employed an electrostaff during his confrontation with Mace Windu. During the mission on Tatooine, Ahsoka Tano faced three MagnaGuards. After overloading one droid, she seized its electrostaff and impaled the other through its power core, before bisecting it with her lightsaber.
Pirate King Hondo Ohnaka of the Ohnaka Gang also wielded an electrostaff, using it in combat against Anakin Skywalker during the skirmish on Felucia and Ahsoka Tano during the Raid on the Crucible, as well as against his rival pirate captain Lassa Rhayme.
The Dug cavalier of Malastare and the slavers of Zygerria utilized a unique, single-sided version of the electrostaff with a fold-out end, capable of delivering harmful electrical charges to both droids and living beings. Captain Rex employed one such weapon to fend off the Zygerrian royal guards and used another to kill Keeper Agruss.
Mandalorian Duchess Satine's Mandalorian Protectors were also equipped with electrostaffs. Reflecting the pacifist principles of the New Mandalorians, these electrostaffs were designed for non-lethal applications, such as deflecting blaster bolts and delivering stun pulses effective against B2-series super battle droids.
The MagnaGuards demonstrated the deadly potential of their electrostaffs when they captured Jedi Council member Eeth Koth and subjected him to torture. Later, after defeating a MagnaGuard and acquiring its electrostaff, Obi-Wan Kenobi briefly used it in a duel against Grievous, but Grievous destroyed the weapon, leaving Obi-Wan with only his lightsaber. The MagnaGuards also utilized electrostaffs to activate an electroguillotine for beheadings, as seen during the execution of Ramsis Dendup. Grievous wielded an electrostaff while fighting Obi-Wan Kenobi on his TSMEU-6 personal wheel bike on Utapau during the war's final stages. He later attempted to kill Kenobi with it, while Kenobi was suspended over a Pau Sinkhole, but failed when Kenobi shot him in the torso, instantly killing the Kaleesh cyborg.
As a youth, Han Solo utilized an electrostaff while disguised as a Pyke sentinel. Upon witnessing the mistreatment of Chewbacca's people, he passed the weapon to him.
Emperor's Royal Guards who carried electrostaffs were designated as Electrostaff Guards. Certain Purge Troopers serving under the Inquisitorius's Purge division during the Great Jedi Purge were equipped with electrostaffs, enabling them to engage surviving Jedi in lightsaber combat. During the secret mission to rebuild the Jedi Order, former Padawan Cal Kestis encountered and fought several of these Purge Troopers. Five years later, Kestis again faced electrostaff-wielding Purge Troopers during the quest for Tanalorr.
Thrawn's assassin and bodyguard, Rukh, carried a customized electrostaff. This unique weapon incorporated a built-in blaster at one end, similar in design to a Lasat bo-rifle. He employed this electrostaff in combat against a seasoned Ezra Bridger and his master Kanan Jarrus.
The scavenger Sarco Plank wielded an electrostaff during the Galactic Civil War, and fought Luke Skywalker with it on Devaron while the young Jedi was exploring the Temple of Eedit. Plank proved to be a formidable opponent for the Jedi-in-training, nearly killing Skywalker on several times. However, Skywalker destroyed Plank's control box, causing Plank and his electrostaff to fall into a pit leading to the temple's underlevels. Sixth Kin-turned-Crimson Dawn agent Gallin Crae also utilized an electrostaff.
During the New Republic era, the Nightsister Morgan Elsbeth directed her HK-87 assassin droids to employ electrostaffs in melee combat against the Ronin Ahsoka Tano.