Lignan crystals were potent [lightsaber crystals](link url) sourced from [Lignan](link url) [ore](link url). These crystals augmented a [lightsaber's](link url) blade, making it burn with greater intensity and last significantly longer than blades powered by standard crystals. Furthermore, they amplified the Force abilities of dark side users.
Crafted from [Lignan](link url) [ore](link url), which was saturated with the power of the [dark side of the Force](link url), Lignan crystals stood out as remarkably effective [lightsaber crystals](link url). When used in a [lightsaber](link url), these [crystals](link url) produced a blade that burned at a higher temperature and had a much longer lifespan compared to those using ordinary crystals. This enhancement allowed Lignan-powered lightsabers to slice through materials more rapidly. For example, when a [strike team](link url) of [Sith](link url) [ambushed](link url) [exiled](link url) [Jedi](link url) [Grand Master](link url) [Luke Skywalker](link url) and his son, [Ben](link url), they needed to breach thick metal doors to reach the Jedi. While the Grand Master attempted to create an escape route through the room's [viewport](link url), the Lignan-enhanced lightsabers of the Sith cut through the barriers faster than Skywalker's, enabling them to engage the Jedi in combat before they could escape.
During the [Great Hyperspace War](link url) in [5000 BBY](link url), the [Sith](link url) [starships](link url) Omen and [Harbinger](link url) were [mining](link url) Lignan ore on [Phaegon III's](link url) [largest moon](link url) under the command of [Sith Lord](link url) [Naga Sadow](link url). They were [ambushed](link url) by [Jedi Master](link url) [Relin Druur](link url) and his [Padawan](link url), [Drev Hassin](link url). As the Omen attempted to escape, it collided with the Harbinger just as it entered [hyperspace](link url), throwing it off course.
Druur and Hassin [sabotaged](link url) the Harbinger's [hyperdrive](link url) and then [rammed](link url) the [Jedi's](link url) [Infiltrator](link url) [starfighter](link url) into the ship's [bridge](link url). Despite this, the crew attempted to jump to hyperspace. However, the ship failed to enter its [hyperlane](link url), and its [Captain](link url), [Saes Rrogon](link url), used the power of the Lignan to keep the ship intact. The vessel accidentally [traveled](link url) [millennia](link url) into the future, arriving at a remote [star system](link url) in [41 ABY](link url). There, Druur [dueled](link url) Rrogon, utilizing the Lignan stored on the Harbinger to overpower and kill the Sith Captain before destroying the ship.
After being knocked off course, the Omen crash-landed on the isolated [planet](link url) of [Kesh](link url). Much of the ship's Lignan ore was recovered from the wreckage, and the crystals became prized relics and symbols of the survivors' Sith heritage. The survivors, stranded on Kesh and unable to rebuild their ship or contact the wider [galaxy](link url), formed the [Lost Tribe of Sith](link url). The Lignan crystals were used by the Tribe, but were reserved for only the most powerful members. In 41 ABY, [Sith apprentice](link url) [Vestara Khai](link url) received a lightsaber containing a Lignan crystal after being chosen as an apprentice by [Ship](link url), a [Sith Meditation Sphere](link url) that had discovered the Tribe on Kesh.
Later, members of the Sith Tribe's [strike team](link url) dispatched to assassinate Luke Skywalker employed lightsabers enhanced with Lignan crystals. These lightsabers allowed them to swiftly cut through a metal hatchway at [Sinkhole Station](link url), enabling the Sith to engage Skywalker and his son, Ben, before they could breach the viewport and escape.