Darth Vader / Anakin Skywalker R.T.

IMPORTANT THINGS:
Done chronologically.
Incomplete.
Lacks some sources (mostly on TPM and AOTC eras)
Help will be well received lol.
I will try to put some things into context to the best of my ability, to explain how/why some of the things listed here are so impressive.
I have not posted every single feat I have found, but if someone thinks i may be missing something impressive, just tell me.
Credit to some Anakin/Darth Vader respect threads out there.


THE PHANTOM MENACE ERA

1. Augmentation- Anakin could casually somehow employ force argumentation to make himself and his reflexes faster, shown during his pod races. He was the ONLY human on the planet who could actually pilot one of these, making his 9 year old speed greater than any adult man's in the planet. (TPM movie/novel)


2. Precognition- could sense malfunctions in his pod before they actually showed up. Knew when something bad was about to happen (TPM novel).


3. Force sense- knew about things that he couldn't see, feel, hear, or smell. Most memorable show of this is when Mace Windu tests him alongside the other Jedi High Council members, by asking Anakin what showed up on his monitor. Anakin guessed all objects correctly, casually (TPM movie/novel). Some perspective into this is that Darth Bane could only do something like this in his early 20s, after some years of already having said powers. One can read about this in Path of Destruction. 


4. Visions- Anakin is famous for being one of the more active seers of the future (without the actual intent of even doing so) simply because of Revenge of the Sith, but he had quote often years before this as well. He actually knew that Qui Gon and Obi Wan were coming to Tatooine one day (source needed)


5. Pyrokenisis- control over fire. When enraged, Anakin burned a man to death by igniting him on fire (source needed)


ATTACK OF THE CLONES ERA

1. He heavily impresses Kenobi with his usage of the force (could make a force field around a whole town while protecting the town itself from a storm that can kill living beings in no time whatsoever- this might be THE best shown feat of a force barrier in the whole verse as far as size goes) (Clone Wars Gambit: Siege). Kenobi can blow open aliens that can take on missiles with no harm at all by the way.


2. Could impresses Count Dooku with his skill (AOTC novel/movie/comic). Dooku felt disappointed towards Kenobi, making me believe that the Count may put Anakin's skill on a higher scale than Kenobi's by this point. 


3. Anakin move quite a big ship here

https://comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/12/124590/5469007-6557702734-43146.jpg. 

Size of that thing to show how big it is 

https://comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/12/124590/5469012-2000657900-43204.jpg 
https://comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/12/124590/5469011-0903235042-37535.jpg


4. Goes and yeets a small hut sized bolder like it was a slightly overweight baseball. I should also mention that he not only killed the men, but also the women and children too. Not just any way though. He killed them like animals. Oh in case u might not have noticed, Anakin did not take his chill pills in this scene, so he was indeed using the dark side right here.

He saw one group rush into a hut and reached out across the way, to a large boulder in the distance. It flew to his call, soaring across the sand, smashing one fleeing Tusken down and flying on.
Anakin dropped it on the hut full of Tuskens, crushing them all. -Attack of the Clones


THE CLONE WARS ERA

1. By using the dark side, Anakin could push back even Count Dooku (The Clone Wars TV show)


2. A similar feat to the bolder one, but better in my eyes, as he not only smashed and did this seemingly much faster and without the dark side, he also blew it by simply pushing it with enough power and speed. AT-TE are actually incredibly durable, capable of taking on small missiles, i believe.

The men sprinted for the door, plunging into the acrid black smoke that now filled the courtyard. It was some kind of cover for a few seconds. Anakin saw the droids, hampered by their own debris, and his eyes went to the blazing carcass of the AT-TE.
Just do it.
Adrenaline fueled him. He sent the wreckage skidding across the ground with a massive Force push. The kinetic force of the impact and the sheet of flame released when it slammed into the droid ranks had the effect of a bomb going off. -The Clone Wars


3. Anakin has some immunity to drain powers. I actually do not if the effectiveness of this power is dependent upon skill or upon power, so whether or not Vader could take a hit from someone like Nihilus or not.

Anakin made an emergency trip to Ulic Qel-Droma's tomb on Rhen Var. There, the ancient Jedi gave the Padawan the knowledge he needed to resist the effects of the Force Harvester and to destroy the Dark Reaper.
Ulic Qel-Droma's lessons had been learned well, and Anakin had the power to resist the Harvester. -The Official Star Wars Fact File #107

REVENGE OF THE SITH ERA

1. Often called the strongest alive. The era this takes place has both Mace Windu and Yoda roaming around. I do not consider Anakin to be stronger than Yoda at all, but I do consider Anakin to be stronger than Mace Windu. His parity with Yoda is obvious and apparent though. Context again- Yoda ha been called the strongest Jedi to have ever lived, and once called the strongest light sider born by that point in time. That would make Anakin's powers comparable to Revan's in his prime, even without the dark side.

This is Anakin Skywalker:
The most powerful Jedi of his generation. Perhaps of any generation. The fastest. The strongest. An unbeatable pilot. An unstoppable warrior. On the ground, in the air or sea or space, there is no one even close. He has not just power, not just skill, but dash: that rare, invaluable combination of boldness and grace.
He is the best there is at what he does. The best there has ever been. And he knows it. -Revenge of the Sith novel


Gillard also reports that the duel will explain how Obi-Wan is able to defeat his protege, even though Anakin has been established as the most powerful Jedi who ever lived. -The Making of Revenge of the Sith


"Skywalker is arguably the most powerful Jedi alive, and he is still getting stronger." -Revenge of the Sith


"We won't try, Anakin. We will do. After all, they are only Senators. Most of them couldn't hide what they're thinking from a brain-damaged blindworm, let alone the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy." -Revenge of the Sith


"What? How can you do this? This is outrageous! It’s unfair! I’m more powerful than any of you. How can you be on the Council and not be a Master?"
"Take a seat, young Skywalker . . ."
...
Everything in his life had led to this point because Anakin Skywalker’s destiny had been subverted and warped by well-meaning but blind Masters, sending him off on a tangent to do a flawed Palpatine’s bidding instead of realizing his own full power.
I’m more powerful than any of you.
It was a boy’s expression of anger, but it was true. -Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines


"An embarrassment you can survive, Lord Tyranus. After all, he is the greatest Jedi alive, is he not?" -Revenge of the Sith


2. ROTS Anakin is leagues above TCW Anakin. To see how impressive this is, just read the TCW section on this R.T. (after i finish it of course).

But Ahsoka eventually became disillusioned and left the Jedi Order, an act which Anakin regretted.
The Clone Wars continued, and Anakin became a hero and grew vastly in power. -http://www.starwars.com/databank/anakin-skywalker


3. Anakin is a good bit stronger than Count Dooku. Context- this is the Count's prime, making him stronger than the Dooku who could give Yoda a slightly good fight back in Attack of the Clones. Yoda claimed that Dooku's powers were not only 'legit', Yoda also felt fear when thinking of Sidious, who was in fact even stronger than Dooku. Just by the start of Clone wars, Dooku could honestly be considered the 4th or 5th strongest being alive. Anakin being this much stronger than him shows how freakishly powerful he is.

"Soon, I shall have a new apprentice. One far younger and more powerful." -Revenge of the Sith


Sidious then turned his attention to Anakin Skywalker, knowing that young Skywalker was much stronger in the Force than Tyranus. -The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia


Sidious is merely playing for time until he is ready to replace Tyranus with a new, more powerful apprentice, who will help him to achieve his ultimate aim: utter subjugation of the galaxy under Sith rule and the formation of a merciless new order — the Galactic Empire. -Revenge of the Sith Incredible Cross-Sections


4. His powers are compared to that of a living planet's. 

The being projecting the image of Anakin Skywalker had all the resources of a planet behind it, yet still it radiated uncertainty. It was easy to believe that it was the child Luke's father had once been, enormously powerful, tempted by the dark side but still too young to know what was right or wrong. -The New Jedi Order: Force Heretic III: Reunion


5. His powers grow simply by turning to the dark side. Context- someone with the accolades above gains power just as simply as time passes without much effort. Anakin without use of the dark side << Anakin using the dark side < Anakin's constant use of the dark side after some time has passed < Anakin after even more time has passed, and on and on and on.

"You have done well, my new apprentice. Do you feel your power growing?"
"Yes, my Master." -Revenge of the Sith


He could feel his power growing, indeed. He had the measure of his “Master” already; not long after Palpatine shared the secret of Darth Plagueis’s discovery, their relationship would undergo a sudden … transformation. -Revenge of the Sith


6. His powers (when using the dark side) are considered unparalleled by Sidious. This clearly speaks about his talents, as he cannot be better than Sidious at using force lightning, or more skilled than Yoda at using force heal, for example.

Palpatine elevated himself to the position of Emperor, and dispatched Vader as his ultimate enforcer. With his unparalleled Force abilities, Vader swept through the Jedi Temple. -Databank (old): Darth Vader


7. Lucas considers Anakin to be about as strong as Sidious. Sidious is often called the strongest being in the galaxy, the strongest sith to have ever lived, and even once called the strongest dark sider, so another great accolade for Anakin here.

"From then on, he wasn't as strong as the Emperor – he was like Darth Maul or Count Dooku. He wasn't what he was supposed to become. But the son could become that." -http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/george-lucas-and-the-cult-of-darth-vader-20050602


8. Said to have 'world destroying fury'. This also seems to be talking about power as well, as the next sentence, and the previous one as well talk about power, and how he lacks it after his body gets mutilated.

And you rage and scream and reach through the Force to crush the shadow who has destroyed you, but you are so far less now than what you were, you are more than half machine, you are like a painter gone blind, a composer gone deaf, you can remember where the power was but the power you can touch is only a memory, and so with all your world-destroying fury it is only droids around you that implode, and equipment, and the table on which you were strapped shatters, and in the end, you cannot touch the shadow. -Revenge of the Sith


9. Sidious clearly shows his fear towards Anakin's powers, and how they could be used to kill Sidious himself.

Had Vader killed Obi-Wan on Mustafar, he might have attempted to kill Sidious, as well. In fact, Sidious would have been surprised if Anakin hadn't made an attempt. Now, however, incapable of so much as breathing on his own, Vader could not rise to the challenge, and Sidious understood that he would need to do everything in his power to shake Vader out of his despair, and reawaken the incredible power within him.
Even at Sidious's own peril ... -Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader


10. Anakin is the physically strongest and fastest jedi alive, maybe ever. One look at Yoda's fight against Sidious, and im sure one can understand just how impressive this is (simply put, Sidious could pretty much blitz the two of the strongest council members alive at the time, and Yoda could later on move twice as fast as Sidious and himself, quite casually). Also called an unbeatable pilot, which is also quite impressive since both Tiin and Plo Koon are around by this point, at their prime. Mentions that he is the best at what he does, and the best there has ever been- I suppose this may be talking about him as a war hero, warrior, and such things.

This is Anakin Skywalker:
The most powerful Jedi of his generation. Perhaps of any generation. The fastest. The strongest. An unbeatable pilot. An unstoppable warrior. On the ground, in the air or sea or space, there is no one even close. He has not just power, not just skill, but dash: that rare, invaluable combination of boldness and grace.
He is the best there is at what he does. The best there has ever been. And he knows it. -Revenge of the Sith


11. Back up the claim above somewhat by completely overpowering Count Dooku, a man with superior strength to Anakin just a few months before, Greivous who could kick up ton-weighing reinforced durasteel doors off of their hinges meters away, Asajj, Obi Wan, and pretty much anybody else aside from Yoda and Darth Sidious, two of the three most powerful beings around at the time (the third being Talzin). He also moves almost too fast for Dooku to keep up with. Lucky for Dooku that he was Dooku in the first place lol.

Skywalker was all over him.
The shining blue lightsaber whirled and spat and every overhand chop crashed against Dooku's defense with the unstoppable power of a meteor strike; the Sith Lord spent lavishly of his reserve of the Force merely to meet these attacks without being cut in half, and Skywalker-
Skywalker was getting stronger.
Each parry cost Dooku more power than he'd used to throw Kenobi across the room; each block aged him a decade.
He decided he'd best revise his strategy once again.
He no longer even tried to strike back. Force exhaustion began to close down his perceptions, drawing his consciousness back down to his physical form, trapping him within his own skull until he could barely even feel the contours of the room around him; he dimly sensed stairs at his back, stairs that led up to the entrance balcony. He retreated up them, using the higher ground for leverage, but Skywalker just kept on coming, tirelessly ferocious.
That blue blade was everywhere, flashing and whirling faster and faster until Dooku saw the room through an electric haze and now Kenobi was back in the picture: with a shout of the Force, he shot like a torpedo up the stairs behind Skywalker, and Dooku decided that under these rather extreme circumstances, it was at least arguably permissible for a gentleman to cheat. -Revenge of the Sith


12. Anakin almost breaks Kenobi's bones- maybe one of his most impressive feats, considering how durable Obi Wan can do. Taking punches from creatures that can easily destroy buildings and armored vehicles, being hit by Grievous (see above), and even fighting Durge.

His hands seized Obi-Wan's wrists with impossible strength, forcing his arms wide. "I am so sick of your lectures!"
Dark power bore down with his grip.
Obi-Wan felt the bones of his forearms bending, beginning to feather toward the greenstick fractures that would come before the final breaks.
Oh, he thought. Oh, this is bad.
...
With Anakin's grip on his wrists bending his arms near to breaking, forcing both their lightsabers down in a slow but unstoppable arc, Obi-Wan let go. -Revenge of the Sith 


13. Brings down some stuff. 

In the ruined archive hall of LiMerge Power's plasma facility, Count Dooku waited for Kenobi and Skywalker to arrive. The room was enormous by any standard, thirty meters high and three times that in circumference.
More droids appeared. To Dooku, this was nothing more than a game, Obi-Wan told himself. But if it was a demonstration of Force ability Dooku wanted, then Anakin was still more than willing to provide it.
"Dooku!" he howled.
With such force and wrath that the ceiling of the vast hall began to collapse.
Dragging himself out from under plasteel girders and chunks of ferrocrete, Count Dooku came shakily to his feet and gazed in astonished disbelief at the shambles of the control room. Had the containment dome been so weak that it had succumbed to flurries of ricocheting blaster bolts, or had Skywalker's voiced rage actually called the ceiling down? Had Dooku not leapt forcefully at the last moment, he might have been buried, as the two Jedi were, somewhere below, in the expanse of rubble that covered the archive room. He was certain that they had survived. But if nothing else they were trapped, which had been the intent from the start.
But Skywalker... Assuming that he had grown powerful enough to have collapsed the dome, the end result was simply further evidence that he would someday undo himself. Wasn't it? Because admitting to any alternative explanation meant accepting that Skywalker was potentially a greater threat to the Sith than anyone realized. -Labyrinth of Evil


14. Sidious yet again saying that Anakin's skills are better than all sith before him. We have another similar statement to this, so it makes me think that Anakin is the better duelist here, around Yoda's level. Defeating, or just being better than Dooku would's already put this high for me, but now at least we have some support info. 

"Lord Vader, your skills are unmatched by any Sith before you. Go forth, my boy. Go forth, and bring peace to our Empire." -Revenge of the Sith


15. Dooku calls Anakin the best Djem So duelist he has ever seen. He has seen Yoda, Mace Windu, Sidious (in Son of Dathomir), Grievous, Cin Drallig, and Plo Koon fight, and still puts Anakin above them in skill with Djem So, also known as for form 5.

Skywalker's Shien ready-stance had been a ruse, as had his Ataro gymnastics; the boy was a Djem So stylist, and as fine a one as Dooku had ever seen. [size=14]-Revenge of the Sith[/size]


16. Anakin, per knowing Obi Wan's abilities ( https://www.writeurl.com/text/av012h2l264kenhc8ntt/1m0zmqhecrifbj6foqb9 ), might know a type of force drain 

https://www.writeurl.com/text/6m5jrrb4pv03zdssdzxz/6jb4ewvynwxfkjpgqvum



Some important fights: 

Against Cin Drallig, called the temple's finest duelist. Yoda and the Count himself are the only other two people i can think of who have such accolades, so I personally consider Drallig to be a duelist as skilled as, if not more skilled than Agen Kolar and Kit Fisto. Something else to take into account, Drallig was trained by Yoda himself in the force, so I honestly cannot Drallig being any less powerful than Qui Gon, if not stronger, and just as skilled with it too. He beat Drallig and his students quite easily, at the same time.

Against Obi Wan, the best Soresu (form 3) duelist in the verse, as is popularly accepted. He is not only one of the smartest characters around, he is also extremely experienced and quick witted. While not weak, his performance against an Anakin stronger than the above mentioned one goes to show strong, smart, and skilled he is. Thing is, while both knew each other's styles, Anakin overestimated his powers and abilities, and couldnt care less about how high end his opponent was. He kept the upper hand throughout the whole fight, while making mistakes that he not only knew about, but also ignored. Simply put, he could afford to not only make the wrong move, he could also afford to not even use his powers seriously.

Against Count Dooku, likely the 4th or 5th strongest living being in the galaxy by that point. Easily one of the top 5 most skilled fighters in the verse, and just as easily among the top 10 strongest and most skilled n the force as well, Dooku was also a genius who mastered pretty much anything he could get his hands on. His growth was actually surprising, maybe even exceeding  that of Yoda's (likely due to their personalities, of course, as Dooku wanted more all the time, while Yoda took his time with things). He then had 80 years of training by the two most powerful beings alive at the time (by that point, they were more or less the strongest beings ever born), which led him to gain skills and powers to somewhat match their own. Not only did Anakin completely outskill, overpower, and outspeed Dooku, he also did so while holding back his emotions. Dooku almost literally stood no chance. After this, Anakin only gets stronger and stronger, by the way.


LATER 19 BBY

1. Vader consider's his loss of power to be a temporary thing. 

Where Darth Sidious had gained everything, Vader had lost everything, including—for the moment, at least—the self-confidence and unbridled skill he had demonstrated as Anakin Skywalker. -Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader





3. 'Anakin' and 'Vader' thinking/talking about why his powers have been so diminished. Shows an obvious hint towards his mental state, and the fact that his suit was not Ash Ketchup at his prime (aka the best there ever was).

With the loss of my limbs, have I also lost strength in the Force?
Vader recognized the voice of the one who posed the question as the specter of Anakin. Anakin telling him that he was not as powerful as he thought he was. The little slave boy, cowering because lie was not the master of his fate. A mere accessory in the world, owned by another, passed over.
And now newly enslaved!
He lifted his masked face to the cabin's ceiling and growled in torment. Sidious's inept med droids had done this to him! Slowed his reflexes, burdened him with armor and padding. He relished having destroyed them.
Or . . . had Sidious deliberately engineered this prison? Again, it was Anakin who asked, that small node of fear in Vader's heart.
Was this punishment for having failed at Mustafar? Or had Mustafar merely provided Sidious with an excuse to weaken him? Perhaps all along the promise of apprenticeship had been nothing more than a ploy, when, in fact, Sidious merely needed someone to command his army of stormtroopers.
Another Grievous, while Sidious reaped the real rewards of power, confident that his newest minion posed no threat to his rule. -Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader


4. Lucas mentions that Vader's potential is reduced to that of 80% of the Emperor's. He says the ability to surpass the Emperor, so yes, it is about potential. He also says "at this point" and "now" so he may in fact be talking about Darth Vader right after his surgery, since this is from 2005.

"Anakin, as Skywalker, as a human being, was going to be extremely powerful,” he says. “But he ended up losing his legs and an arm and became partly a robot. So a lot of his ability to use the Force, a lot of his powers, are curbed at this point, because, as a living form, there’s not that much of him left. So his ability to be twice as good as the Emperor disappeared, and now he’s maybe 20 percent less than. -him.http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2005/02/star-wars-george-lucas-story


5. Sidious says that Anakin, even after his surgery and power loss, would still catch up to him, and would in fact surpass him if he didnt finish learning what he had left to learn. Simply put, Vader does still have enough potential power to reach Sidious-level powers, and would have already done so had Sidious not finished learning what Plagueis left behind. Quite a good accolade to be honest. In line with Vader in his prime having enough power to make Sidious at his most powerful feel uneasy.

More important, by the time Vader was capable of becoming a risk to his Mastery, Sidious would be fully conversant with the secrets Plagueis had spent a lifetime seeking–the power of life over death. There would be no need to fear Vader. -Dark Lord: The Rise Of Darth Vader


6. Vader has immeasurable power. A good accolade, since his prime self is much, much, much stronger than his current self.

As his control over the dark side deepened, Vader grew increasingly contemptuous of his previous life as a mere student. The Dark Lord possessed immeasurable power, and unquestionable authority. -Anakin Skywalker: The Story Of Darth Vader



7. One of the strongest beings in the galaxy. Another great accolade, for the same reasons mentioned above. Him being in the top 10 or so strongest beings in the galaxy some 20 odd years before his prime is a very good accolade. Backs up him being the second strongest 5 or so years before his prime. 

Such threats hold no fear for Vader. Indeed, it is in such situations that he feels most alive...in such moments that he can forget the armored prison in which he exists...forget the many sacrifices he has made to reach his current position as one of the most powerful entities in the galaxy. -Dark Times: The Path To Nowhere


8. Vader had learned a lot from the most knowledgeable force user in the verse. He likely had the biggest amount of information to cover out of anybody who was not Darth Sidious. Vader had 1000 years worth of information from the Banite order to cover, newly rediscovered information that Sidious found (which would mean information resurfacing every now and then that covered over 25,000 years), tons upon tons of incredible, hidden holocrons in jedi temples all over the galaxy (both sith and jedi holocrons, and of the highest caliber too, some too dangerous for jedi masters to even study, with information more ancient than even the existence of the first sith lords), not to mention the powers Sidious himself invented, and the stuff only Vader himself knew (he had 20+ years to roam the galaxy freely, to do what he so wished in his free time, and he did nothing short of scouring said galaxy looking for information on how to revive Padme, or to find the power to kill Palatine, or maybe to restore himself to his old self. He might just be one of the most knowledgeable force users in the verse). Im only putting this here, so early in his career, simply because thats how early he started said search/lessons. Luke himself started learning about things he had never heard of from Sidious quite early in his 'training', and he was still a less skilled force user than Anakin by this point, so it makes me think that Anakin too might've started said 'lessons' as early as this timeframe. 

Luke is, perhaps, learning more about the Dark Side than he wants to know. The more the Emperor reveals, the more Luke is repulsed. The sheer depravity of the man would shake the soul of the strongest Jedi.
But Luke must continually remind himself of his vow to conquer the Dark Side from within.
Luke's father understood these secrets, these powers, and willingly used them to crush and enslave multitudes of Galactic citizens.
"Your father knew the Dark Side well...especially my teachings of weakness. How he could inspire fear! Yes...you have that talent...you are a Skywalker after all... You can be like him... You can be greater than he was!"
--
Satisfied that his "young apprentice" has crossed the threshold from which there is no returning, the Emperor unveils his teaching, and Luke is given the knowledge that was bestowed on his father before him! -Dark Empire Endnotes


"I found knowledge there...all the dark things father knew so well...the ability to control others...to destroy others, if I so choose. -Dark Empire I


On Vjun, Vader conducted his own studies of the dark side. He had no doubt that the Emperor knew what he wanted more than anything: the power to kill his Master. -The Rise And Fall Of Darth Vader


As Darth Sidious's apprentice, Vader continues to expand his knowledge and the power of the dark side. -Force And Destiny Core Rulebook


After the Emperor completed Vader's dark training, he granted him the title of "Lord Vader." -Heir To The Empire Sourcebook



https://www.writeurl.com/text/erglziw58zpfhn28hs9k/qs73424aelclbjo5cnus



(^^^ Sidious is quite famous for being knowledgeable in all sorts of applications of the force, somewhat obsessed with power and information, and a quick learner just like Vader, so it makes sense that the person who conducted Vader's training must have also made Vader train quite extensively before he finished said training, which likely included everything that Sidious thought was necessary, which yet again, was a whole big lot. No wonder both are called the supreme masters of the dark side later on)


Vader's knowledge of the dark side of the Force makes him a powerful and dangerous figure. -Star Wars: Sith Wars


Vader's knowledge of the dark side of the Force makes him unnerving and dangerous. -Character Encyclopedia



Darth Bane's Rule of Two was a keystone of the Sith Order for centuries. The Battle of Ruusan, nearly a millennium ago, would have ended the Sith Order had Darth Bane not reconstituted it as a diarchy operating from the shadows. His writings became part of the Sith Archives passed down from master to apprentice for generations. -Book Of Sith: Secrets From The Dark Side



For a millennium, the Sith maintained the order in secrecy, passing down their evil heritage. As they gained knowledge of the dark side of the Force, their powers increased with each generation. -Episode I: The Phantom Menace Scrapbook



The Sith had changed. The Sith had grown, had adapted, had invested a thousand years' intensive study into every aspect of not only the Force but Jedi lore itself, in preparation for exactly this day. The Sith had remade themselves.
They had become new. -Revenge Of The Sith


Krimsan was a humanoid female with more than two hundred years of teaching experience at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. It remains unknown how the holocron that she maintained came into Darth Vader's possession. Although the Asli Krimsan Holocron was primarily conceived for the education of young Jedi, it also contains information on a wide range of events, including tales of the Jedi Knight of the old Republic and their battles against the Sith. -Jedi Vs. Sith: The Essential Guide To The Force


Black armorweave and feats of strength weren't the only things that distinguished Darth Vader from Anakin Skywalker. Where Anakin had had limited access to the Jedi Temple data room, Vader–even light-years from Coruscant–could peruse any data he wished, including archival records, ancient texts, and holocrons fashioned by past Masters. -Dark Lord: The Rise Of Darth Vader


"Beyond this door lies the Holocron Vault. The Holocrons contain the most closely guarded secrets of the Jedi Order." -The Clone Wars Season 2: Holocron Heist


The Archives vault contains the only known Sith Holocrons, whose very existence is revealed only to a handful of Jedi at the highest levels. -Attack Of The Clones Visual Dictionary


For a thousand generations, the Jedi worked hard to ensure that peace flourished throughout the galaxy. During that time, a number of repositories of Jedi knowledge developed, whose scope and sheer magnitude have become legendary. Of these, the library on the planet Ossus is perhaps the most infamous. Tragically, it was obliterated when the stars of the nearby Cron cluster were exploded by the weapon of the ancient Sith High Priest, Naga Sadow. What vast knowledge and wisdom was lost in the ensuing conflagration is now a matter for myths and stories to imagine. In more recent times, the Archives at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant were similarly vast. -Star Wars Fact File 46



https://www.writeurl.com/text/veshwvpvk530j6151z04/as04pufzrghag2c36f0f



Under Vader's relentless tutelage, the Apprentice all but perfected the fine art of lightsaber combat and learned to wield many fearsome dark side powers. -The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia


While he retained his knowledge of the Jedi arts, he felt uncertain about his place in the Force; and while he had taken his first steps toward awakening the power of the dark side, he felt uncertain about his ability to sustain that power. How far he might have been now had fate not intervened to strip him of almost everything he possessed, as a means of remaking him! -Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader


I have my own agents among the Blackguard. Any secrets they uncover become mine soon after. -Book Of Sith: Secrets From The Dark Side


The Blackguard operates from the molten world of Mustafar. They are largely recluses and have sought dark side lore since they emerged from the ruins of Sith philosophy after the Battle of Ruusan nearly a thousand years ago. The Blackguard clings to the principle that acquiring knowledge is superior to exerting physical power. -Book Of Sith: Secrets From The Dark Side



The Blackguard is a dark side cult that seeks to increase its knowledge and power by searching for secrets held by Force traditions all over the galaxy. -Jedi Academy Training Manual

(^^^ Said Blackguard not only set up bases on Mustafar, but also worked for an ex-member of the brotherhood of darkness, under Skere Khan, who amassed their info until their leader defected, and the Blackguard went with him. If Khan had the info, Qordis had the info, and if Qordis had the info, Bane had the info, and if Bane had the info, Vader had the info. They semi worshiped information, kinda like Plagueis, Sidious, and the Banites did, interestingly enough, but on a more extreme fashion).


Much later, one of the pupils returned. He told us that Obi-Wan and the Jedi were destroyed—by his hand—then, he invoked our oath and made Skye an Imperial satrapy, to be ruled in his name by Kharys, to whom he gave a portion of his knowledge and powers. That man was Darth Vader. -Star Wars Annual 1: The Long Hunt


The excerpts from the journal of Darth Malgus kept during the Great Galactic War some thirty-six centuries ago are a prime example of how a wounded warrior can be sustained by rage. The war was an unbounded success for the era's Sith Emperor, and Malgus was one of his best soldiers. I obtained this text many decades ago from a dealer in antiquities, and have recently passed it to Darth Vader so he might gain inspiration. -Book Of Sith: Secrets From The Dark Side


Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith
--
Vader held fast to his Jedi training, but he freely drew upon the dark side for additional strength and power. He also embraced the Sith teachings passed on to him by the Emperor, earning the title of Dark Lord through deeds and mastery, by utilizing the deep well of anger within him. -Rebellion Era Sourcebook


Vader is highly skilled in manipulating the Force. His knowledge of the dark side is enough to render most of your Force attacks useless. -The Force Unleashed II: Prima Official Game Guide


9. Vader's physicals are nothing to laugh at, even when looking at speed. Him being faster than Obi Wan after the Mustafar fight is actually incredibly impressive, as a mere 2-3 years later he supposedly moved faster than Jedi ever could. Nobody is blitzing Vader unless they are faster than Yoda by this point. Quite the good agility as well, not to mention dodging and attacking speed, capable of blitzing high end jedi without trouble.

Impulse generators lacing the armor provided electrical impulses to stimulate Vader's muscles, providing him with great mobility and strength despite his severely damaged muscles and nerves. -The New Essential Guide To Weapons And Technology


Destroyer of the Jedi Order, the Emperor's personal enforcer, Darth Vader, had overcome the physical restrictions from the injuries he had received in his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi, and from the bulky armor he had to wear to stay alive. -The Official Starships And Vehicles Collection 8


It happened before he could get out another word. Faster than an eyeblink. Faster than he'd seen anyone move, anyone except Yoda. -Last Of The Jedi: Secret Weapon


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"He is a former associate, yes, but --"
It happened before he could get out another word. Faster than an eyeblink. Faster than he'd seen anyone move, anyone except Yoda.
The lightsaber hadn't been there, and then it was, and the lightsaber was a blur. Vader moved without seeming to move, and the lightsaber sliced into Roan, straight into his chest. Straight into his heart. -Last Of The Jedi: Secret Weapon


He'd stood by and watched, too slow to react, as Darth Vader had casually flipped his lightsaber and ran it through his best friend, his partner, Roan Lands. -Last Of The Jedi: Against The Empire


This was it, then. The final confrontation.
He was ready. His rage was ice and fire.
He charged.
His first blow was easily parried. He came at Vader again. Again. Circling, jumping, vaulting past him, turning. Each time his lightsaber came toward him, it was eilher deflected in a shock that ran up his arm, Vader simply wasn't there.
---
Ferus leaped over a gaping hole in the floor and attacked Vader again, but his lightsaber cut through empty air. -Last Of The Jedi: Reckoning


Vader leapt, his powerful prosthetic legs carrying him to the top of a broad but short flight of steps in time to see Shryne sprint across the bridge at Jedi speed, motioning to his accomplices to move Zar through the gate.
Vader leapt again, this time to the bridge, and to within only a few meters of Shryne, who spun about, dropping to one knee and firing repeatedly. This time Vader decided to show Shryne whom he was dealing with. Holding his lightsaber to one side, he raised his right hand to absorb the blaster bolts.
Clearly astonished, Shryne remained on one knee, but only briefly. In an instant he had passed through the gate and was shouldering his way through the crowd outside the wall.
Vader's final leap landed him just short of the rampart. Over the heads of the milling beings, at the forward edge of a landing platform, a woman with gray-laced black hair was gesturing frantically to Shryne and his cohorts, who were already hauling Fang Zar up the platform steps.
All too easy, Vader told himself.
Time to end it. -Dark Lord: The Rise Of Darth Vader


For an instant it seemed that the blade was going to pass clear through Vader's knees, but Vader leapt high, half twisting in midair and coming down behind Shryne. -Dark Lord: The Rise Of Darth Vader


Wings uplifted, the shuttle made a rough landing on the tier, bolts from Wookiee blasters careening from the fuselage. When the boarding ramp had extended, Appo and his stormtroopers hurried outside, Vader right behind him, his ignited blade deflecting fire from all sides. -Dark Lord: The Rise Of Darth Vader


Lightsaber grasped in both hands, Vader took a single forward step and performed a lightning-fast underhand sweep that almost knocked Forte's lightsaber from Shryne's grip. Spinning, Shryne regained his balance and raced forward, feinting a diagonal slash from the left, then twisting the blade around to the right and surging forward. -Dark Lord: The Rise Of Darth Vader


Her fist never made contact. Raising his right hand and bringing it around in a swift arc, Vader blocked the blow and sent the body behind it flying across the room. As she flew, a startled but still wholly self-aware Sing tucked and rolled. She hit the opposite wall hard, bounced off, landed on her feet, and immediately came at him again.
“The reflexes of an animal,” Vader murmured. His lightsaber hung at his waist. He ignored it, his fingers going nowhere near the weapon. “That’s what the Empire needs: a few more well-trained, domesticated animals.”
“Domesticated? I’ll show you who’s domesticated!” She leapt high, kicking out, and in midthrust somehow bent sideways to kick harder with her other leg.
In a movement preternaturally fast, but which somehow looked almost languid, Vader ducked, reached up, and with one gloved hand lightly tapped her in the middle of her back. A serious thrust catching her in that position could have broken her spine. The Dark Lord’s touch was more of a caress. He was letting her know what he could have done.
Landing in a crouch, a feral expression on her face, she raced at him again, low this time. Her speed was startling: a droid would have been hard-pressed to match her acceleration. She dropped low to the floor and swung her right leg around in a powerful circle sweep. Her intent was to take his legs out from under him. -Coruscant Nights II: Streets Of Shadows

(^^^ Great skill feat too, considering that he pretty stomped her without a lightsaber. He might be one of the most skilled fighters in the verse, even without a light saber)


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Lightsaber grasped in both hands, Vader took a single forward step and performed a lightning-fast underhand sweep that almost knocked Forte's lightsaber from Shryne's grip. Spinning, Shryne regained his balance and raced forward, feinting a diagonal slash from the left, then twisting the blade around to the right and surging forward. [size=16]-Dark Lord: The Rise Of Darth Vader[/size]


10. Vader can bring down cathedrals with many underlevels to it, while weakened and having to strain his force reserves just to breathe.

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11. Showing of casual use of the force without his hands, more than two decades before his prime. His skill by that point is much, much, much greater than it is now.

Before Shryne could begin to make sense of it, he heard a creaking sound from below, and something flew at him from one of the ramps. Only a last-instant turn of his sword kept the object from striking him in the head. It was a plank-ripped from a ramp they had taken to the bridge. Shryne gazed in awe at unreadable Vader, then began to race toward him, blade held high over his right shoulder. He didn't make half the distance when a storm of similar planks and lengths of handrail came whirling at him. Vader was using his dark side abilities to dismantle the ramps!
Surrendering to the guidance of the Force, Shryne swung his lightsaber in a flurry of deflecting maneuvers-side-to-side, overhead, low down, behind his back-but the floorboards were coming in larger and larger pieces, from all directions, and faster than he could parry them. The butt end of a board struck him on the outer left thigh. The face of a wide plank slammed him across the shoulders. Wooden pegs flew at his face; other speared into his arms.
Then a short support post hit him squarely in the forehead, knocking the wind out of him and dropping him to his knees. Blood running into his eyes, he fought to remain conscious, extending the lightsaber in one shaking hand while clamping the other on the bridge's handrail. Five meters away Vader stood, his hands crossed in front of him, lightsaber hanging on his belt. Shryne tried to keep him in focus.
Another board, whirling end-over-end, came out of nowhere, hitting him in the kidneys. Reflexively the hand that was grasping the railing went to the small of his back, and he lost balance. Trying but failing to catch himself, he fell through space.Give in the wooden floor saved his life, but at the expense of all the bones in his left arm and shoulder.Above him Vader jumped from the bridge, dropping to the floor with a grace he hadn't displayed before and alighting just meters away. -Dark Lord: The Rise Of Darth Vader


12. Chucks a damn big rock, pretty easily it seems. 

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13. Vader is the maker of very arguably the best dueling style in the verse. It combines all styles known to man into one super style- all of the strengths of the other 7 styles, with none of their weaknesses. Shows that he has a clear Jedi council member+ amount of skill available to him, even at this point in time. Considering the fact no other jedi was actually capable of doing, it tells me that he never did lose his skills with the lightsaber, but instead, was simply hindered by a much less flexible, heavier, bulkier body.

His style borrowed elements from all techniques of combat, even from the highest, most dangerous levels, and his moves were crisp and unpredictable.
--
She felt as if she were fighting a droid, although a droid programmed to counter all her best stratagems. Ducking out from under a broad sweep of the crimson blade, she somersaulted to safety. -Dark Lord: The Rise Of Darth Vader
He did in fact get better after this, by the way. 

He honed his lightsaber skills, wielding the blade with blinding speed.-The Essential Guide To Characters


14. Roan Shryne considers Vader as more dangerous than Grievous. This means that Vader is either more skilled, faster, smarter, stronger, or superior to Grievous in some really relevant-in-battle ways. Maybe all of them together. Him blitzing jedi, strangling them pretty easily, outskilling every single one of his opponents, etc backs this up.

“Normally, I’d agree,” Shryne cut in. “But someone new has been added to the mix. A Lord Vader.” When Garrulan didn’t react to the name, he continued. “A sort of black-armored version of Grievous, only more dangerous, and apparently in charge of doing Palpatine’s dirty work.” -Dark Lord: The Rise Of Darth Vader 


Some important fights:

Fodderizes two Jedi knights, in one of his first fights against jedi post-Mustafar. They tried using different styles, at random, while attacking at the same time. 

And so Forte and Kulka went in as a team, each of them employing a radically different lightsaber style, determined to off-balance Vader.
But Vader merely stood like a statue, his blade angled toward the ground until the very instant the two Jedi unleashed their assault. Then, as the three blades joined in scatterings of dazzling light and grating static sounds, he moved. Forte and Kulka were skilled duelists, but Vader was not only faster than Starstone remembered him being on Murkhana against Master Chatak, but also more agile. He employed his awesome power to put a quick end to the fancy twirling of his opponents, who fell back against the hammering blows of Vader's bloodshine blade.
Time and again the two Jedi Knights attempted to alter their style, but Vader had an answer for every lunge, parry, and riposte. His style borrowed elements from all techniques of combat, even from the highest, most dangerous levels, and his moves were crisp and unpredictable. In addition, his remarkable foresight allowed him to anticipate Forte's and Kulka's strategies and maneuvers, his blade always one step ahead of theirs, notwithstanding the two-handed grip he employed. Toying with the Jedi, he grazed Forte on the left shoulder, then on the right thigh; Kulka, he pierced lightly in the abdomen, then shaved away the flesh on the right side of the Ho'Din's face.
Seeing the two Jedi Knights drop to their knees, wincing in pain, Padawan Klossi Anno broke from where she was helping Jambe and Nam engage the stormtroopers and got to Vader one step ahead of Starstone. Sidestepping, Vader slashed her across the back, sending her sprawling across the balcony; then he whirled on Forte and Kulka just as they were clambering to their feet and decapitated them. From behind Vader came Jambe and Nam, neither of whom was an experienced fighter and both of whom Vader immediately eliminated from the fight, amputating Jambe's right arm, and Nam's right leg.
To her horror, Starstone realized she was suddenly alone with Vader, who immediately signaled his stormtroopers to leave her to him, and to devote themselves to slaughtering the few Wookiees who remained on the tier. "Now you, Padawan," he said, as he began to circle her. Calling on the Force, Starstone fell on him in a fury, striking wildly and repeatedly, and with aver. Moments into her attack she understood that Vader was merely allowing her to vent, as the Temple's swordmaster had often done with students, allowing them to believe that they were driving him back, when in fact he was simply encouraging them to wear themselves out before disarming them in one rapid motion.
So she retreated, altering her strategy and calming herself. Vader is so tall, so imposing... But perhaps I can get under or inside his guard as Master Chatak did "Your thoughts give you away, Padawan," he said in a flash. "You mustn't take the time to think. You must act on impulse. Instead of repressing youranger, call on it! Make use of it to defeat me."
Starstone feigned an attack, then sidestepped and slashed at him. Shifting to a one-handed hold on his lightsaber, he parried her blade and lunged forward. She snapped aside in the nick of time, but he kept coming at her, answering her increasingly frantic strikes with harsher ones and driving her inexorably toward the rim of the balcony. He flicked his blade, precisely, economically, forcing her back and back...She felt as if she were fighting a droid, although a droid programmed to counter all her best stratagems. Ducking out from under a broad sweep of the crimson blade, she somersaulted to safety.
But only for a moment. -Dark Lord: The Rise Of Darth Vader
Some important fights:
He fights against 8 Jedi one month after Mustafar, being fast enough to blitz the jedi who was likely their most skilled and one of their strongest members. 
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Against Aurra Sing, whom he destroys, while holding about, and not even touching his light saber. His hand to hand skills are about as good as it gets. She used to be a jedi, by the way. 

It took only a few steps. A little of the Force per-fectly in tune with bands of lithe muscle. In a second one out-thrust fist would be in his face and she would see what that composite armor was made of. She knew of no one who had ever seen what lay beneath that mask. She intended to be the first. Her fist never made contact. Raising his right hand and bringing it around in a swift arc, Vader blocked the blow and sent the body behind it flying across the room. As she flew, a startled but still wholly self-aware Sing tucked and rolled. She hit the opposite wall hard, bounced off, landed on her feet, and imme-diately came at him again.
"The reflexes of an animal," Vader murmured. His lightsaber hung at his waist. He ignored it, his fingers going nowhere near the weapon. "That's what the Empire needs: a few more well-trained, domesticated animals."
"Domesticated? I'll show you who's domesticated!" She leapt high, kicking out, and in midthrust somehow bent sideways to kick harder with her other leg.
In a movement preternaturally fast, but which some-how looked almost languid, Vader ducked, reached up, and with one gloved hand lightly tapped her in the middle of her back. A serious thrust catching her in that position could have broken her spine. The Dark Lord's touch was more of a caress. He was let-ting her know what he could have done. Landing in a crouch, a feral expression on her face, she raced at him again, low this time. Her speed was startling: a droid would have been hard-pressed to match her acceleration. She dropped low to the floor and swung her right leg around in a powerful circle sweep. Her intent was to take his legs out from under him.
She might as well have been trying to cut down a bronzewood tree. At the last instant the Dark Lord thrust both hands downward toward the spinning bounty hunter. A profound surge in the Force rippled through the room. Guards posted at a distance in the hallway nearby were nearly knocked off their feet by it. But the strength of the emanation had not been directed at them. Casually, as if inspecting a new exhibit that had been donated to the Imperial Museum, Vader walked around the now motionless figure on the floor. Aurra Sing lay on her back, unable to move. It was as if a giant weight pressed her down. Seething in impotent rage, she watched the Dark Lord pass through her field of vision and beyond. -Coruscant Nights II: Street Of Shadows

Just confirms some of your points

somewhat updated

18 BBY

1. Vader received a huge boost in power after killing Roan Shryne. This boost seems to have impressed him just as much as it seemed to have impressed Anakin when he finally gave in to the dark. AKA this Vader >> previous Vader.

More important, Vader's bloodlust had been appeased; replaced by self-possession of a sort he had never before experienced. It was as if he had crossed some invisible threshold to a new world. He could feel the power of the dark side surging through him like an icy torrent. He felt invulnerable in a way that had nothing to do with his durasteel prostheses, his suit of armor and gadgets, which now seemed little more than an outfit. And it had taken a Jedi–yet another Jedi–to usher him over that threshold.
--
Sidious was pleased. Vader had done well. He had sensed the change in him, even in the brief conversation they had had following the events on Kashyyyk. Now that Vader had begun to tap deeply into the power of the dark side, his true apprenticeship could begin. The Jedi were incidental to him. He was covetous of the power Sidious wielded, and believed that one day they would be equals. -Dark Lord: The Rise Of Darth Vader
 

2. Nick Rostu, a weak but experienced force user, considers Vader to be much, much stronger than Kar Vastor, an incredibly strong force user with potential equal to Yoda's. He could fight a weakened, but still better trained, smarter, and better force user in Mace Windu, and still have a winning hand. More impressive is the fact that Nick implies that his sensing abilites are weak, which means that the gap between Vastor and Vader may in fact be even higher. 

Nick Rostu knew darkness.
He had, after all, stood with the Jedi Master Mace Windu against Kar Vastor in the steaming jungles of Haruun Kal. Kar Vastor, leader of the Balawai resistance; Kar Vastor, with his arm-mounted vibroblade weapons and his almost supernatural strength. Kar Vastor, stronger in the Force than any of the Korunnai, stronger than any in the galaxy, perhaps, save for the Jedi. Kar Vastor, so submerged in the dark side that, even though Nick had been only a couple of meters away from him during that final battle, eventhough he could see the man as clearly as he could see Mace, or Iolu, the guard who'd sliced him from sternum to navel-still, looking back on it now, he realized he couldn't visualize the guerrilla leader's face. It was as if the Balawai commander had been shrouded in darkness, somehow, as if the dark side of the Force radiated a strange anti-light. Kar Vastor had been the essence, the personification, of primal power, jungle savagery, and bloodlust distilled into flesh. Nick had never seen anyone or anything to match him.
Until now.
Until he stood, unarmed, before Darth Vader.
As if being armed would make a difference, he thought. He could be tricked out with wrist rockets, a hold-out shooter, a pair of DL-44s, and a disruptor rifle, and he might just as well be carrying a pointed stick. Vastor had been animal ferocity and menace, barely contained. He'd thrummed with the power of the dark side. His arms, legs, torso, and shoulders had been layered with striated muscle; he looked like he could have lifted a pregnant grasser over his head. One-handed.
Vader was as tall as Vastor had been, but probably massed a good twenty kilos less. He wasn't physically impressive in the same way; no musculature was visible under the black armor.
It didn't matter. There was no doubt in Nick's mind that, were Kar Vastor somehow to be pitted against Darth Vader, the feral Balawai renegade wouldn't stand a chance.
The Force was powerful in Vader; even the dim wattage of Nick's connection could feel that. It was far more powerful than it had been in Kar Vastor. It had pulsed from Vastor in waves of fury, blasted like an open furnace. In Vader, it was-contained. Pent.
Waiting. -Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight


3. Considered to be the strongest force users Jax Pavan and Probus Tesla ever met. Could actually put him above AOTC/TCW era Mace Windu, Obi Wan, Anakin, and some other well known force users, not to mention some other  council members.

Abruptly he experienced a sudden tingle that vibrated the lines of the Force—a plangent throb telling him that a new player was approaching the blasted landscape of the Factory District. Someone extremely strong in the Force—stronger than he’d ever encountered before. It could mean only one thing:
Darth Vader was coming. -Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight


No, Jax didn’t know what Darth Vader was capable of. Aboard the dying Far Ranger he thought he had seen him fail to manipulate Thi Xon Yimmon’s mind and have to settle, instead, for manipulating gravity. Still …
“I’ve never known a Force-user as powerful as Vader,” he admitted. “Which only makes it more critical that we rescue Yimmon.”
--
Not only was Darth Vader the most powerful Force-user Tesla had ever known, he had always thought of him as a towering genius. -The Last Jedi


But the Inquisitor high above Laranth’s head had leapt, Force-lightning sparking from his hands in two deadly, dancing streams.
Kaj turned and raised his hands, delivering a massive Force-push from every angle against the Inquisitor. One moment the Inquisitor was falling toward Laranth, power streaming from his hands—the next he was simply gone. Where he had been there was only a fine swirl of ash. In seconds it, too, was gone, tugged apart by the air currents above the street.
Laranth had half fallen against a slab of tilted masonry and was staring up into the empty air; Jax and I-Five raced to her side, hurling aside obstacles as they ran—Jax using the Force, I-Five using his innate strength.
Kaj breathed out a sigh of relief; the Twi’lek would be fine.
He swung back to his own target now … and found it gone. He swept the area with the Force, uncaring at that moment if every Inquisitor in the sector felt him.
It did no good. The Inquisitor was gone.
He let out a roar of rage that embedded a meter-long twist of durasteel in the nearby building.
Far up the street, Probus Tesla, propped painfully in a deep window embrasure, watched as the Jedi and the droid he had sought gathered their companions and disappeared from sight.
His first impulse when he had emerged from the rubble—where he had lain twisted painfully despite his effort to cocoon himself—was to continue the fight, to let his sheer rage empower him. But then he had seen that boy—that untrained adept—use the Force to … atomize Mas Sirrah. Destroy him so thoroughly that not even an echo of his Force signature remained. It was as if he had never existed.
In his entire tenure as an Inquisitor, Tesla had never seen the Force used in such a way.
--
Jax shifted uneasily, remembering the ease with which Kaj had sent the Inquisitor into oblivion. -Coruscant Nights III: Patterns Of Force


4. Vader is the only person whom Nick Rostu knew about that could actually kill Mace Windu. Im pretty sure he is talking about AOTC~ Windu era here, so this puts Vader 100% within the range needed to kill him and AOTC Dooku, TCW Anakin, Obi Wan, etc.

"You knew Old Republic Jedi?"
"Met a few. Only really knew one. Dead now, of course."
"Of course."
"Way I heard it, Vader killed him personally."
Luke let his eyes close. "Vader? You're sure?"
"Had to be. Nobody but Vader would have had a chance." -Luke Skywalker And The Shadows Of Mindor


5. Vader might know force Combustion, one of the more useful force powers here. He mightved used this as a child, something i talked about in his TPM section.

The crimson spire of destructive energy pointed straight up form his gloved fist. At first, nothing seemed to be happening. The Sing realized that the shaft was getting brighter. It's brilliance intensified until she had to raise a hand to shield her eyes from the all-but-blinding scarlet radiance. The refulgence dazzled her eyes, overwhelming everything else;the street, the building, the wrecked land speeder. Only Vader remained somehow visible; standing there, holding the weapon easily, seemingly unaffected by the blade's terrible radiance. The familiar deep hum that was the weapon's identifying sound rose in pitch, higher and higher, until it tore at her hearing. And then, in a final burst of screaming incandescence, the lightsabers shaft vanished.
Sing staredmin complete disbelief. Her eyes were capable of adapting much more rapidly to changes in ambient light than were a human's. A couple of blinks and the afterimages cleared, normal vision returning almost immediately. Vader stood motionless, the weapon's hilt still grasped in his outstretched fist. She could see a time wisp of smoke curling from the emitter.
He had overloaded the lightsaber's energy crystal with the Force. Sing prided herself on her knowledge of weaponry and their individual strengths and weaknesses. It was her profession after all. But she had never seen or heard of such a thing before
The Dark Lord opened his hand. Reduced to a cylinder of useless metal, composites, and components, the now harmless weapon clattered onto the pavement. -Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows


6. He can pretty easily shake buildings. Quite impressive for something that seemed to be involuntary in this case. Means he can unleash much, much stronger attacks. 


Vader’s reaction was not what he’d expected. After a frozen instant, ignoring the bloody spittle running down one plasteel cheek, he knelt and grabbed Typho by the hair, lifting the latter’s head and eliciting a cry of renewed pain from him.
“What?” The flare in the Force that raced through the hangar was enough to shake the foundations of the building. The Dark Lord actually seemed to grow, to expand and become more terrible in his rage than Typho would have believed possible. -Coruscant Nights II: Streets Of Shadows


7. Vader knows consume essence, one of the more hax and useful powers out there. It lets him get stronger by using another person's anger, making it extremely effective against anybody who can swayed to anger themselves, something not very hard to do. 

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8. He could easily destroy Nick Rostu's mind, a force user. Force users have a natural defense towards mental attacks. 

“You want me to find Jax Pavan for you,” Nick said. “I won’t do it.” His voice shook a little, but he got the words out.
Vader stepped closer to him. "I think you will. In fact, I know you will. You are brave; your record makes that clear. You do not fear death." He raised his left hand, index finger slightly extended, as if making a point. "But there are far worse things than mere death ...".
And before Nick realized what was going on, the Dark Lord was somehow inside his head, a dark shadow interrupting the flow of his thoughts. The shadow seemed to expand...Nick screamed, and fell into a blackness even more perfect than the eyes of Darth Vader.
--
Rhinann took Nick Rostu down to the hangar bay. Rostu was conscious, but silent, staring into the distance. Rhinann had become somewhat familiar with human facial expressions and body language, and he could tell that Rostu had seen or heard something that had nearly stunned him into a vegetative state. Rhinann shuddered, trying not to think about what horrors Vader had imparted to the human. Whatever they had been, they had left him in such shock that the forcecuffs he was wearing seemed almost superfluous.
--
His mind felt like it had been punched full of holes—holes that let conscious thoughts drain from it as fast as they popped into existence. Or maybe it was just that the thoughts were too horrible to hold on to for any length of time.
--
It was the human, Rostu, who had been the stick that broke the bantha’s back. After Rhinann had sent him on his way in the freighter, the Elomin had had time to speculate on whatever Vader had done to him to cause such a state of fear and despair in a hardened guerrilla warrior. -Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight


9. Vader believes that he could easily reach out to Roan, all the way to the Outer Rims from Coruscant. 

The moon was arid Jaguada’s sole companion in a desolate system slaved to a dying star, far from major hyperlanes. The fact that remote Jaguada should host a garrison of clone troopers in the desert planet’s modest population center struck Shryne as something of a mystery. But the troopers’ presence could owe to plans to salvage the Separatist war machines that had been left abandoned on the moon, as troopers were known to be doing in numerous Outer Rim systems.
--
Behind Armand Isard and the two Internal Security Bureau technicians seated at the Temple beacon control console, Vader stood with his arms folded across his chest, Commander Appo at his right hand.
“I want to know how the beacon was accessed,” Vader said.
“By means of a Jedi transceiver, Lord Vader,” the tech closest to Armand said.
“Cross-check the transceiver code with the identity database,” the ISB chief said, anticipating Vader.
“The name should be coming up in a moment,” the other tech said, eyes glued to rapidly scrolling text on one of the display screens. “Chatak,” he added a moment later. “Bol Chatak.”
The sound of Vader’s breathing filled the ensuing silence.
Shryne and Starstone, he thought. Obviously they had been in possession of Chatak’s beacon transceiver when they had evaded him at Murkhana. Now they were attempting to determine the location of other Jedi when Order Sixty-Six had been issued. Certainly they were hoping to establish contact with survivors, hoping to pick up the pieces of their shattered order.
And… what?
Devise their revenge? Unlikely, since that would entail calling on the dark side. Formulate a plan to kill the Emperor? Perhaps. Although, ignorant of the fact that Palpatine was a Sith, they would not plot an assassination. So perhaps they were contemplating an attack on the Emperor’s enforcer?
Vader considered reaching out to Shryne through the Force, but rejected the idea.
“What is the source of the transmission?” he asked finally.
“The Jaguada system, Lord Vader,” the first technician said. “More precisely, the moon of the system’s only inhabited world.”
A large holomap of the galaxy emerged from the console’s holoprojector. Linked to myriad databases throughout the Temple, the map made use of a palette of colors to indicate trouble spots. Just now, in preservation of the moment Order Sixty-Six had been executed, more than two hundred worlds glowed blood red.
Perhaps this explained why Sidious hadn’t had the Temple dismantled, Vader thought. So he could regard it from his lofty new throne room and gloat.




10. He can pull off perfect moves from forms 4 (Ataru) and form 7 (Juyo), two of the most physically demanding forms, very easily and casually, said to be on the level of skill of a council member. Those are not even his main forms. His skill with form 5 (Djem So) would be much, much more advanced than this. Vader became much, much, much more skilled than this later on too.

Form IV. Then Form VII, the most advanced Jedi form. Done aggressively, with impeccable control. Coldness gripped his heart. Jedi moves. The movement had been done with a grace and finesse that rendered it not part of a drill but part of Vader's body. He brought an individual flair to it that made it his own. Something familiar about that form. An aggression, a confidence ... It struck a memory he couldn't touch. But who could it be? If he could only know how old Vader was. Had he been on the Council? Such expertise suggested it. -The Last of The Jedi: Secret Weapon...


Some important fights:

Against Roan Shryne, a well renowned jedi master, called extremely skilled and strong, and just as experienced ( As tenuous as his contact with the Force sometimes was, Shryne was still a master with a sword, and almost thirty years of training had honed his instincts and turned his body into an instrument of tremendous speed and power. -Dark Lord: Rise of Darth Vader ). He was part of the Old Guard, a group of Jedi masters who were likely to become Council Members. This group consisted of Obi Wan, Dooku, Sifo Dyas, Qui Gon, Mace Windu, and Kit Fisto, so it just goes to show how strong Roan actually was. The duel itself was quite even, both had disadvantages and all that (Vader was not even a year into his new body and with a new, bigger lightsaber, while Roan was somewhat rusty and also with a different lightsaber). The important thing here to consider is that Vader was not over his past life at all, and had not actually even 'accepted' the dark by this point. He was a mental mess. It did not heavily affect the fight all that much, but its something to consider, since he still beat Roan through superior use of the force, something that requires mental fortitude and concentration, alongside its acceptance. Its actually a long fight, so ill just say its towards the end of Dark Lord: The Rise Of Darth Vader. 


THE FORCE UNLEASHED ERA

1. Vader is strong enough to almost disarm Galen of his lightsaber in one, casual blow. 

The apprentice knew exactly what to expect. They had dueled many times before. He had learned how to fight at the hands of the man in the black suit-the man whose face had been forever hidden from him. He knew the intimacies of his refined version of Djem So, a fighting style that incorporated elements of Ataru, Soresu, and Makashi. He had fended off many wild, slashing attacks that would have overwhelmed even an extraordinary Jedi Knight. He had borne the brunt of many psychological battles.
He thought he was ready-and so the sheer severity of the opening blow took him by surprise. A simple double stroke, up and then down, it contained enough power to jar his wrists and shoulders and very nearly disarm him completely. The collision of their lightsabers was blinding. He staggered backward and found himself at the center of a telekinetic storm. -The Force Unleashed


2. Vader can tank attacks that can hurt Sidious from a massively amped character that could previously match and beat Vader in a fight, 6 or more years before his prime. He grew massively in this amount of time.

Bombarded by Force Lightning, Starkiller did not fight back but instead unleashed all the power of the Force within him, causing a tremendous blast that shattered the Emperor's tower and caused enough of a distraction to allow Eclipse and the Rebel Senators to escape. -The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia


Energy surged through him. He felt as though a star had blazed to life in his chest. Driven by concern for his friends rather than himself, he embraced the Force completely, utterly, and was rewarded with strength that made his efforts with the dark side look like those of a child. His nerves were on fire. Streamers of light radiated from his skin. His bones glowed like radiant lava.
He saw rather than felt the massive shock wave that consumed a large portion of what remained of the observation dome. A glowing bubble of fire tore the stormtroopers to shreds and engulfed Vader and the Emperor. -The Force Unleashed


3. Vader can fight against Galen for hours on end, and it only stopped when Gale literally collapsed of exhaustion, while Vader was completely fine, feeling only disappointed.

He fought like a machine, too, with relentless blows and single- minded aggression. The first time they had dueled, in Starkiller's first life, Vader had displayed no anger at all-just determination, not to kill his apprentice, but to wear him into submission. The fight had raged across the training deck of the Executor for hours, with Starkiller never landing a single blow, no matter how he tried. He had gone from excitement at thinking that he had graduated to a new level of mastery to realizing just how much he had left to learn. More fuel had been added to the hatred he had felt for his Master and tormentor, along with a twisted kind of love for the man who made him stronger by showing him how weak he was. The fight had only stopped when Starkiller collapsed unconscious from exhaustion and was dragged by PROXY to his meditation chamber. -The Force Unleashed 2
 

4. Vader completely fodderizes Kota. Kota has some impressive force feats to be honest.

Before anyone else could react, Kota whisked the lightsaber from Starkiller's belt and launched himself at the Dark Lord. Vader raised a hand and caught the general telekinetically about the throat. Kota dropped the lightsaber and desperately clutched at the invisible fingers choking him, but the pressure only increased. When his resistance was crushed, Vader threw him bodily toward the stormtroopers and turned his attention elsewhere. -The Force Unleashed


5. He could easily read his apprentices mind and emotions, from a simple projection, being projected from very far away. (1:45)

https://youtu.be/fdBF95J0MTY



Some important fights:

Against Proxy. Proxy was a training droid, programmed to kill, but not just anyone- it was programmed to fight Galen Marek. It had many, many different combat modules, which allowed it to almost more perfectly the skills and abilities of other people, some including Anakin and Obi Wan. He didnt just copy their abilities, he also could access some of their history, which i assume made him even deadlier. He turned into Obi Wan, his self-proclaimed deadliest module, and engages Vader. Vader completely destroys him, even after being caught off guard. He was clearly not Obi Wan exactly, and Vader clearly stronger and faster, but it does show a pissed off Vader wouldve fought a slightly weaker Obi Wan. The techniques were very realistic, as they were in fact programmed by Vader. Even the lighsabers Proxy used were given to Proxy by Vader. To give some context here, Vader faced off against Proxy's deadliest module, which was deemed as such even though Proxy had a semi perfect module for Anakin, which was considered impressive by Galen, even without the force. He could also copy some force techniques, such as saber throw, jumps, and such things.  

As though from a position high above, he watched his Master spin around to face Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The Dark Lord froze. In that moment of hesitation the long-dead Jedi Master attacked, his face a mask of determination. At the very last moment Vader parried, then parried again. He took a step backward, toward the cliff’s edge, and then rallied. With two sweeping strokes, so fast they blurred in the cold air, he disarmed Kenobi and slashed him in half. -The Force Unleashed


Against Galen Marek, an evenly strong enemy. Galen too could also easily beat Proxy when using his 'deadliest module'. Vader was considered the more skilled duelist in this fight as well, so another show of skilled Vader is. (source needed)


THE FORCE UNLEASHED 2 ERA

1. Vader ragdolls a tired Starkiller, completely overpowering him. Starkiller is much stronger than Galen Marek, who at his full power damaged Sidious, a just months before ANH, even if it was a futile attack.

You grab your sabers and attack, but Vader is too powerful. He tosses you away like a rag doll. -Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II: Prima Official Game Guide


2. Vader, the greatest warrior in the galaxy, is a better wielder of the force than he is a wielder of the light saber.

Darth Vader is the embodiment of all evil. Under the guidance of Emperor Palpatine-aka Darth Sidious- Lord Vader controls the Galactic Empire with an iron fist. He's an unparalleled lightsaber combatant and an even more capable Force wielder. -Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II: Prima Official Game Guide


3. Skilled and strong enough to casually make attacks from an evenly strong enemy miss, mid duel. This is actually an underrated and incredibly good feat. Not many characters can do this kinda stuff this easily 

Vader made no move to defend himself when Starkiller reached the very top of the cloning tower. Determined to prove him wrong, Starkiller didn't waste time announcing his intentions. He just lunged. Only at the very last moment did Vader raise his blade to block the blow, and even then the move seemed almost casual, disinterested. Starkiller struck again, with both lightsabers. Vader blocked one blade and used telekinesis to throw the other off target. The platform buckled and twisted, sending Starkiller flying. -The Force Unleashed 2

https://comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/11115/111155790/5835103-1565772637-giphy.gif



4. Some platform yeeting feats. Very casual, done more than once in between very short time frames, which makes me think that he could spam such attacks mid battle, in a much more powerful manner.

https://comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/11115/111155790/4997848-vaderplatforms1%20%282%29.gif


https://comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/11115/111155790/4997850-vaderplatforms1.gif



5. He is called the best duelist, unparalleled as a warrior, and an even better force wielder. Another one of his best accolades. This would in fact make him a better duelist than Sidious and Yoda, both considered to be the best of their respective sides (light and dark side). Arguments about them being out rusty are also moot, as both are known to still the best duelists with even decades without training. Sidious did not actually even touch his lightsaber in 10 years, or more, at one point (Pre Phantom Menace to Mid Clone Wars era). Both quotes came out after Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, and Dark Empire, so the knowledge about Yoda and Sidious being as good as they were is available and obvious to the people who wrote said quotes, henceforth mooting arguments about ignorance of either of them as being good duelists. 

Darth Vader is the embodiment of all evil. Under the guidance of Emperor Palpatine-aka Darth Sidious- Lord Vader controls the Galactic Empire with an iron fist. He's an unparalleled lightsaber combatant and an even more capable Force wielder. -Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II: Prima Official Game Guide

No one was a match for the lightsaber skills of the dark lord of the Sith. -Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game: The Shadow Syndicate

6. He can yeet two ships at same time, somewhat big ones too.

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/hthf9kXAnSYnZ52xyi28D2wAJipFFqQfqgED2CCa7nJ11ZgqrZWqBkBt58l35pXF0ObxIKiU5YXm_d8LiMxGK9U9Yw8XiLcV-r6JZUaEq1_K48Y69y0LttV2yTOhTbLjlI1MZw=s1600


Some important fights:

Starkiller, Galen Marek's much stronger, more skilled, and more experienced clone. He was stated more than a few times to have been too strong and skilled for Starkiller to beat. He held back throughout the fight, while Starkiller tried to fully him at some points. There are circumstances to this fight, such as the high probability of Starkiller being in bad shape, but there too are counters arguments to that. I actually made a thread regarding this, so if one would like some insight on said, all one has to do is go read up on said thread. There is also the possibility that Vader lost on purpose, some 'sources say' ( This is all part of the plan. "Yeah, yeah, you know, he caught me off guard once. I'll let him beat me this time so he takes me captive." -http://geeknation.com/podcasts/far-far-away-episode-viii-sam-witwer/ - (1:21:45 - 1:22:20).

Vader made no move to defend himself when Starkiller reached the very top of the cloning tower. Determined to prove him wrong, Starkiller didn't waste time announcing his intentions. He just lunged. Only at the very last moment did Vader raise his blade to block the blow, and even then the move seemed almost casual, disinterested. Starkiller struck again, with both lightsabers. Vader blocked one blade and used telekinesis to throw the other off target. The platform buckled and twisted, sending Starkiller flying.
He rolled and leapt, and came up swinging. Covered in blood-the blood of his fellow clones-and knowing Juno was close, he fought his former Master with single-minded focus. Vader was still testing him; he sensed that more and more keenly, with every passing moment, but to what purpose he still couldn't tell. Vader himself fought more cautiously than he had on the Death Star, the last time they had dueled in earnest. His armor seemed to have improved, too; it was less vulnerable to lightning than it had been just days before.
Vader threw wrecked platforms and cloning rubes at him, while he scored three slashes to the Dark Lord's cape in return. They circled the top of the cloning tower, striking and assessing, then striking again.
Starkiller swore that he would not give in to anger or frustration. If that was what Darth Vader wanted, he wasn't going to get it. The only emotion he would give in to was love.
Finally, Starkiller saw an opportunity. They were exchanging rapid blows along the edge of the buckled platform, blades swinging so fast they were visible only as blurs. Vader's defenses were impenetrable; his lightsaber seemed to arrive a split second before Starkiller's, every time. He may have defeated Vader before, but Vader had learned from that mistake. He knew the measure of his former apprentice now.
But the same was true in reverse. And when Vader forced Starkiller onto his back foot and raised his lightsaber to strike him down, Starkiller fired a lightning blast into the side of Vader's armor that was so concentrated, even the new insulation couldn't absorb it.
The Dark Lord stiffened, betrayed by his extensive prosthetics. The distraction lasted only a moment, but it was enough. Starkiller knocked his blade out of the way and moved in to strike.
Juno lying limp in his arms.
The vision struck him as powerfully as a physical blow. When he tried to push it aside, it returned with even more power.
Juno-dead.
He reeled in shock. Was this what would happen if he killed Vader? He had no choice but to believe so. But if he didn't kill Vader, how would he ever get to her?
The Dark Lord took advantage of his momentary confusion. He delivered a telekinetic shove that threw Starkiller backward off the platform and down to the lower levels of the ruined cloning tower. The blow and the fall had the welcome effect of clearing his mind.
--
Starkiller ran past Darth Vader to where Juno lay broken on the edge of the cloning spire's roof. Horror and self-reproach filled his mind. He hadn't seen her crawling for the lightsaber; he hadn't sensed her desperate plan until the very last moment-and it was his alarm that had alerted Vader, he was sure of it. He and his former Master had reacted at the same rime. If Starkiller had moved an instant faster, had a fraction more of a second to think the problem through, he would have pushed Vader just as Vader had pushed Juno, impaling him on the blade before it was whisked away. Instead, he had thought only of saving Juno-a plan, he feared, that might always have been doomed to failure.
He stopped her before she flew off the edge of the roof, at least, but the grisly crunch of bones when she landed was unmistakable. Her head was bent at an impossible angle, and her eyes didn't track him as he ran toward her.
"Juno!"
A black-gloved hand grabbed his shoulder. He pulled away, howling with rage. His fallen lightsabers snapped into his hands and came instantly to life. With both blades moving in tandem, he struck out at his former Master using all his strength, all his rage, all his grief.
Darth Vader blocked the blow, but only just. Starkiller pushed, and the Dark Lord stumbled backward.
Instead of pursuing the attack, Starkiller went to go to Juno, but once again Darth Vader stood in his path.
"Get out of my way. "
"Your feelings for her are not real, " Vader said, nor moving.
"They are real to me. "
Starkiller attacked the Dark Lord again, but this time he was the one driven back.
--
Starkiller knew nothing about the Dark Lord's origins, but he knew what he had become. More monolith than man, his shadow bestrode the Empire, casting darkness wherever it fell. But what was the source of that scourge? What twisted psychology had brought him to where he stood now-risking his life to prevent the clone of his failed apprentice from coming near the body of the woman he had loved?
Sudden understanding burst in Starkiller's mind. This was what Darth Vader had wanted all along. He had been right to fear that Juno was in danger, but not just from clones like him-from Vader, who would use her death to destabilize Starkiller and lead him headlong back to the dark side via anger and despair. Where Starkiller had seen hope, where Starkiller had been willing to sacrifice his own destiny to give the woman he had loved a chance to live, his former Master had seen only opportunity for betrayal- for without Juno, what did Starkiller have left to live and fight for? He had no family, friends, or allies. Juno was always intended to be the catalyst for his downfall. Her precipitous attack had merely brought the critical moment forward.
Starkiller saw things very differently. It wasn't Juno who had to die to complete Starkiller's training. It was Darth Vader himself, and he had brought this moment upon himself. Had he been content to let Starkiller go, none of this would have happened. Were he dead or freely searching for Juno, either way, he would never have willingly come back to Kamino. He would have gone anywhere else, and never returned.
Darth Vader simply wouldn't let go. The massive cloning exercise itself was proof of that. He had raised Starkiller to be a monster, and he would let nothing get in the way of achieving that outcome. Not even Starkiller's own death. Even if it took a thousand reincarnations and the death of trillions of innocent people, Darth Vader would not give up. His persistence, his unwillingness to accept defeat, was both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness.
All the clones were destroyed. As far as Starkiller knew, he was the last one left-so that was one vision averted, at least. No matter what happened, no version of him would hill foul of Darth Vader's vile plan now.
They fought like the Sith Lords of old, raging back and forth across the roof of the spire, uncaring what happened around them.
Starkiller maintained his efforts to get to Juno, and Darth Vader did everything in his power to stop him. Neither would capitulate.
Neither would be the first to break. Their wills were locked.
They broke apart, lightsabers hissing in the ceaseless rain. Lightning split the sky into a thousand jagged shapes. Thunder rolled.
Neither had noticed the battle fading around them.
"Let me go, " Starkiller said, sounding much calmer than he felt. His heart was pounding, and his lungs burned. "You've taken everything from me. You must see that I will never serve you now. "
"You are wrong. I have given you everything. "
"This?" He gestured at Juno's inert form. He couldn't tell if she was breathing, but he still held out a distant hope. "You have done nothing for me. "
"It is our destiny to destroy the Emperor. You and me, together. "
There it was, Starkiller thought. That promise again. Surely Darth Vader could see that it meant nothing now, after so many times offered in the past, and none of them fulfilled?
Unless... A deeper layer of understanding presented itself. Unless Darth Vader felt exactly the same as he did.
What lengths had the Emperor, Darth Vader's Master, gone to in order to create him? And how far would Darth Vader go to get revenge? To attain his own destiny as a Sith?
"The Rebels want to destroy the Emperor, " Starkiller said. "Why not work with them rather th-?"
Vader attacked before he could finish the sentence, a blistering combination of blows that left Starkiller on his back foot. Clearly he had hit a very deep nerve. For a fleeting moment, the plan had seemed almost inspired. With Darth Vader on Kota's side, what couldn't the Alliance accomplish?
But it was a dream. The Rebels would never trust the Emperor's apprentice, and Vader was making it very clear that he wanted no part of it either. The vehemence of his response left no doubt about that.
Starkiller found himself backed up almost to the edge of the cloning spire's roof. One more step, and he would fall, and to fall would give Vader the high ground. That might not result in his death, but it would certainly end the fight.
It needed to end now, or else it might never end.
Blow after blow rained on him, forcing him back. There had to be a way to free himself and avenge Juno at the same time... but a stalemate seemed unavoidable. Any move he made was sure to lead him to an indefensible position.
Then it occurred to him. An indefensible position was exactly what he needed.
He lunged. Darth Vader saw him coming and swiped with unbearable strength, sending Starkiller's left lightsaber flying in pieces.
Starkiller lunged again, and his right lightsaber joined his left. He fell back, beaten, and stared up at his former Master.
"This is your last chance, " Vader said, standing over him with the unwavering tip of his lightsaber pointed directly at Starkiller's chest.
Starkiller stared up at the black mask, sure of two things. Vader didn't want to kill him, but not out of mercy or sympathy for his lot.
The Dark Lord had invested far too much time and energy in re-creating his former apprentice, and he wouldn't want to throw all that away. Not when he seemed on the verge of victory.
Juno was dead or dying. Starkiller was disarmed and helpless.
Any rational being would at least consider Vader's offer.
The second thing Starkiller knew was: The best way to beat Darth Vader is to let him think he's won.
Thinking of Wedge Antilles, he said, "I make my own chances. "
With both hands he sent a wave of lightning into the sparking gash Juno had made in Vader's chest plate.
The Dark Lord staggered backward, transfixed by the unexpected retaliation. Starkiller leapt to his feet and followed him, keeping up the lightning attack and using telekinesis to rip Vader's lightsaber from his temporarily weakened fingers. Sheers of energy spread out across the wet rooftop. Smoke and steam rose up in a tortured spiral. The grating whine of Vader's respirator rook on a desperate edge.
He went down on one knee. Starkiller stood over him. Vader's lightsaber swept into his former apprentice's hand. The blade came to rest at his throat. -The Force Unleashed 2

A NEW HOPE ERA

1. Sidious considers Vader to have been the greatest jedi killer of all time. This instantaneously puts Vader above people like Greivous, Darth Maul (who was in fact trained by Sidious to hunt/kill/prey upon jedi), Darth Sion, Darth Nihilus, Lumiya, Galen Marek, Savage Opress, Durge, every Inquisitor the empire ever had, Mara Jade, Ventress, and the Fett clones. Other possible mentions would be Darth Malgus, Darth Malak, the Emperor's Wrath, and likely a few more whom i have forgotten.

Of all the monsters I have created, I still regard Darth Vader as something of a minor masterpiece. No, he was not an entirely alchemical creation, but he was my monster nevertheless. Even though he failed to live up to his full potential, there was much pleasure in transforming Anakin Skywalker from a bright-eyed, tousle-headed youth into the greatest Jedi killer of all time. Yes, he ultimately turned against his Master, as monsters sometimes do, but that was my fault, not his. Given the opportunity to create Vader again, I would, and with zeal. -Jedi Vs. Sith: The Essential Guide To The Force


2. Some sources state Darth Vader did in fact surpass his previous prime (some mention him as Anakin, others simply say that he is in his prime, or more powerful than ever).

Many years later, Obi-Wan and Darth Vader duel a second time. The Sith Lord is now more experienced and powerful. -Beware The Sith

This duel was very different from their last. Obi-Wan was older and weaker while Vader was even stronger, fueled by hatred and thirst for revenge. [size=16]-Jedi Battles[/size]
In his duel against Darth Vader on Bespin, Luke Skywalker reveals himself as an extraordinarily gifted artist with the blade who has largely taught himself. After a single brief session with Obi-Wan Kenobi years ago, and only a short time with Yoda, Skywalker is able to hold up against a Dark Lord of the Sith at the height of his powers. [size=16]-Insider 62[/size]


“This is a fight you cannot win, Darth. Your power has matured since I taught you, but I too have grown much since our parting. If my blade finds its mark, you will cease to exist. But if you cut me down, I will only become more powerful. Heed my words.”-A New Hope


Vader survived, but not unscarred-his shattered body encased in life-supporting armor and a breath mask. In spite of these handicaps, Vader thrived. in fact, he found a way to turn these to his advantage. He had his breath mask crafted into a sinister black helmet and, donning a black cloak over his black armor, he became a figure out of nightmare. From the ashes of defeat, Vader emerged even stronger. -Lightsaber Dueling Pack: Darth Vader



3. Powerful enough to be considered virtually invincible. There are actually a whole freaking lot of strong characters laying around the galaxy by this point, so another quite impressive accolade. Pretty, its saying that the number of people that can actually beat him is just that small.

Clad in flowing black robes, protective armor, and a grotesque, combined breath mask and helmet, the imposing figure of Darth Vader was feared throughout the Empire. Utterly ruthless, his Sith powers made him virtually invincible. -Star Wars Fact File 3


4. Likely his best accolade- second strongest being in the galaxy 5 or so years before his prime. He is above every single galaxy-roaming who is not named Darth Sidious. Stronger than Gethzerion, Joruus, Karness Muur+ Celeste Morne, Starkiller, Darth Krayt, Exar Kun's spirit, Sorcerers of Rhand, Kar Vastor, Cronal, Sedriss, other sith spirits, army defeating beats, ship sized creatures, etc. 

Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, has instilled terror throughout the galaxy since the beginning of the Empire. His devotion to the Emperor and mastery of the dark side gives him more power than any single individual in the galaxy except for the Emperor himself. -http://www.rebelscum.com/soteKxizor-vader.asp


In his distinctive black armor, Vader is an imposing figure. In the entire galaxy, he is second in power only to the Emperor himself. -Insider 65

At the beginning of A New Hope, Darth Vader is so powerful in the Dark Side that he is second in command of the entire galaxy! -Adventures Magazine 4


(^^^ His military might/influence grew alongside his power growth, hence why this is important for me to mention) 

Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith's apprentice, one of the two most powerful beings in the galaxy, was afraid. -Death Star


5. Sidious considers Sedriss, likely his second strongest apprentice ever after Vader ( Perhaps the strongest disciple of Palpatine after Darth Vader, Executor Sedriss remained loyal to the Emperor after the death of his clone over the Rebel's Pinnacle Base. -Handbook #3: Dark Empire ), to be nothing more than a moderate force user when compared to Vader. Keep in mind that this was released in 2007, hence putting Sedriss indeed above Maul and Dooku and Jerec, but still a good deal below Vader.


As leader of my Dark Side Adepts, Military Executor Sedriss has been the most loyal, and is commended for reviving me here on Byss. But for all his usefulness, Sedriss is only a moderate Force-sensitive, a capable errand boy but hardly the stuff of a Sith apprentice. -Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide To The Force


6. While he is weaker, Vader is just as formidable as the Emperor. 

Once Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, the black-cloaked Darth Sidious has fulfilled his masterful plan and taken control of the entire galaxy, with the equally formidable Dark Lord of the Sith by his side. -Galactic Files: Emperor Palpatine


7. Said to be master of the dark side many, many times over.

Vader. The thought of him made Tash's skin crawl. He was the Dark Lord of the Sith, a master of the dark side of the Force and, next to the Emperor, the most powerful man in the galaxy. -Galaxy Of Fear: Army Of Terror

However, even Vader's considerable powers and mastery of the dark side could not stop a young Rebel pilot, himself strong with the Force, from destroying the Empire's greatest weapon. -Star Wars Sourcebook

He is Emperor Palpatine's Sith apprentice and a fierce military leader. He is feared throughout the galaxy for his mastery of the dark side of the Force. -Star Wars: Force Collection 

Answering only to the Emperor, Darth Vader uses fear, terror, and mastery of the dark side of the Force to destroy the Empire's enemies. Despite his loyalty to his master, Vader retains some connection to the light side and the Jedi he used to be. -Star Wars: Force Collection

Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, was the scourge of the Jedi, a master of the dark side of the Force, and one of the Emperor's most trusted servants. -Star Wars Databank (Old): Darth Vader

You are Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith, master of the Dark Side of the Force. [i][i]-Lightsaber Dueling Pack: Darth Vader[/i][/i]

Anakin had become Darth Vader, master of the dark side and Dark Lord of the Sith.
--
As a Master of the dark side of the Force, Vader was expert at wielding a lightsaber. -The Star Wars Trilogy Scrapbook: The Galactic Empire

Before Joruus C'baoth come out of his seclusion to threaten the New Republic, Luke Skywalker had to face perhaps the ultimate masters of the Dark Side, Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. -Heir To The Empire Sourcebook


8. Vader yeets a TIE fighter like it was a fat kid after biting into a cookie that secretly had raisins in it.

https://comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/11115/111155790/5833738-tie.jpg


9. Can EASILY choke people from extremely far distances, likely without any hand movements either. 

Xizor turned toward the hologram of the dark-caped figure-an intimidatingly life-sized image, transmitted from the Devastator, Lord Vader's personal flagship. Standing against Vader-even in this insubstantial form-was like facing radiation hard enough to strip flesh from bone. Not for the first time Xizor felt an invisible hand settle around his throat. His own willpower kept the breath sliding in and out of his lungs. -Bounty Hunter Wars

 
10. Can casually break densecris (which is considered unbreakable) as if it was glass, shattering it into a thousand pieces. Could honestly be a powerful enough feat to one shot someone like Grevious with a mere force push. 

Vader inhaled, holding the dry and slightly bitter air for as long as his scarred lungs could manage it. When he allowed the breath to be drawn from him by the respirator, he thrust his right hand toward a nearby mirror. The aluminized densecris shattered into a thousand pieces, struck by the dark side as if by a metal fist.
Vader was aware of the "unbreakable" substance splintering and falling, tinkling onto the floor, myriad reflections sparkling in the light as they seemed to move in slow motion. -Death Star 


11. Brings down quite a big tree. Seems to be taller than a hill, and seems to dwarf another tree as well.

https://comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/11115/111155790/5835058-tree.jpg



12. Called the deadliest warrior. Pretty good accolade, but unfortunately, only applies to warriors in this case.

By the time the Emperor assigns him to assist Grand Moff Tarkin in the construction of the Death Star battle station, Vader is the deadliest warrior of his generation, shielded by imposing armor, steeled by countless combats, and empowered by the dark side of the Force. -Star Wars Roleplaying Game: Revised Core Rulebook



13. He could fight and beat people and organizations too tough/strong for the empire's forces to defeat. This is actually kinda incredible, to say the least. 

Aiding the Emperor in his monumental responsibilities is his apprentice and confidant, the formidable Lord Vader-a tragic hero who serves as the Emperor's strength when diplomacy fails. Vader personally battles against the Empire's most dangerous enemies-those individuals and organizations too powerful or too well-defended for the Imperial military alone to overcome. And as a price for his noble efforts, Lord Vader must suffer eternal confinement within his life-sustaining armor, without which he would surely perish within moments. -Hero's Guide


14. Vader trained against droids programmed to kill, with knowledge and skills of a dozen different martial artists and their arts, alongside some weapons. He actually beat them without using the force, and its implied that he fought against more than one at a time. Even more importantly, Vader likely made them more dangerous as well, considering his mechanical and technological knowledge, and his obsession of not losing, being the best, and such things. 


He left his lightsaber clipped to his belt. Ordinarily he would have used it to practice on the dueling droids that had been specially designed and constructed to test his mettle. Programmed with the knowledge and skills of a dozen different martial artists, and armed with deadly cutting or impact weapons, they were formidable opponents indeed, and had been an integral part of Sith training since time immemorial. But not everything was about the lightsaber. There were other attributes, other weapons in his arsenal, that needed exercising as well. -Death Star


15. Vader states this powers grow with each passing moment. If i were to exaggerate this, and say that he does in fact grow each moment, which is considered to be 90 seconds (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moment_(time)), he wouldve grown in power 16 times every day. 

https://comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/11115/111155790/5833843-dw8.jpg


16. Vader might know how to use illusions attributed to Sith Sorcery. He most likely does, in my opinion, but this is a 'no factual feats' situation. 

But sorcery had been employed less to extend life than to create illusions, fashion beasts, and resurrect the dead. -Darth Plagueis 


17. He could easily mess with the mind of two force users, both of whom later on became Jedi on Luke new jedi order. Force users have a natural defense against mental attacks. 

Vader’s mere presence was enough to weaken even the bravest heart. He was ruthless, and when he focused his terrible mind on them, Tash felt dark ripples of the Force wash over her, threatening to drown her in pure evil. Beside her, Zak felt Vader’s cruel will like a shadow darker than anything the wraiths could create. -Galaxy Of Fear: Army Of Terror



18. He mastered the dark side, fully mastering it. The amount of stuff he had to learn, go over, and master is enormous, just from the dark side. 

https://www.writeurl.com/text/t9p85g1b2h76lw9ghqzb/7bp7c10vfjefqmqld1t2



Some important fights:

Obi Wan Kenobi. While he was in fact older and out of practice, he was also more skilled with the force and much smarter than before. Obi Wan tried his hardest when fighting Vader, and so did Vader. The thing about this is that Vader was hesitant, afraid of fighting Obi Wan, almost as if he some sort of 'once in a lifetime' PTSD attack. He thought that one hit wouldve been the end for him, and that if he were too careless, he wouldve been instantly killed. We know that Vader was strong and more skilled than Obi Wan, that he could in fact take some hits from a lightsaber, so this shows how mentally unstable he was. Mental instability causes this tiny thing called 'bad performance'. Its something that, to say the least, matters a lot when fighting. With all that in mind, Obi Wan was consistently pushed back, unable to even try an attack. Just like Luke's and Vade's fight, there are multiple incarnation for this fight, and so i not post of any of them, instead of posting all of them, or just one of them and hear some complaints about it later.


THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK ERA

1. Vader's formidability has grown a good deal since ANH, making stronger, faster, more powerful, more skilled, smarter, more durable, better stamina, etc than before.

Within the armoed forces Vader now holds absolute power over the higher Imperial officers who scorned him earlier in his career. This situation reflects Vader's greater mastery over himself and over the Force in the time since the Battle of Yavin, an improvement that is readily apparent in his lightsaber style during the duel with Luke Skywalker on Bespin. Vader has largely freed himself of pain through the Force in the years since the Battle of Yavin and, by practice with living opponents both willing and unwilling, he has advanced his lightsaber technique. Baron Orman Tagge serves as testament to Vader's technique by this era, precisely blinded in both eyes by Vader's blade in a duel. Vader is thus a far more formidable foe on Bespin than he was against Ben Kenobi on the Death Star. -Insider #62

When the Death Star exploded, it was believed that Vader had been lost to the void. But he returned, more powerful than before, and was given command of the fleet assigned to track down Skywalker and the Rebel fleet. -Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope


The more powerful figures may often be defeated but not slain. They may flee, like Darth Vader after the destruction of the Death Star, to return more powerful on another day. -Gamer 5

After a single with Obi-Wan Kenobi years ago, and only short time with Yoda, Skywalker is able to hold up against a Dark Lord of the Sith at the height of his powers. - https://www.writeurl.com/text/hvzw6ml3qvx978tdu09u/9dvm40pxnuot23wxuvna


2. Vader stomps some droids seemingly superior to the previously mentioned ones, then complain that they were too weak, and how he will need some better ones. He has been doing this for two decades now, so he mustve kept asking for ones constantly. These droids could very honestly have been deadly enough to kill full blown jedi, something we have seen much older droids do.  

Darth Vader held his lightsaber firmly, wrists locked, and watched the killer droid circle to its left. The droid was a new model, one of a dozen identical units constructed to his personal specifications. Like Vader, it also held a lightsaber. It was tall, spindly, looked something like the general-purpose Asps to be found all over the Empire, but with a number of special modifications. The unit was faster than an ordinary man, stronger, programmed with the knowledge of a hundred sword masters and a dozen different fighting styles. Against a normal person, the droid would be unbeatable and deadly-The droid stepped in fast and cut at Vader's head. Vader blocked, and the droid chopped again, circling the humming blade in a second cut at Vader's side. Fast, but again a block-The droid's third attack came from the opposite side as its blade flashed in a large half circle-Vader parried and riposted, angling a slash at thedroid's head - The droid blocked and slid back a meter, out of range, blade held over its head, point angled down.
The slight ache in Vader's shoulder where Luke had cut through his armor during their fight was definitely better. He hardly felt any soreness at all with that series. He moved in, swung a feint at the droid's neck, twisted his wrists, and pivoted the lightsaber for a sec-ond feint at the same side, then a third feint, a jab at the midsection. The droid stepped back and crossblocked the finalfeint-Vader V-stepped to his left, cocked his blade over hisleft shoulder, and hacked forty-five degrees at the base of the metal neck-The droid's block was a quarter second slow. Strong as it was, it was not strong enough to offset the power and momentum of Vader's strike.
The blades met, hissed and sparked, but Vader's sword shoved the droid's blade to the side. It tried to backpedal-Too late. The lightsaber hit midway between the droid's neck and shoulder joint, sheared through the exoframe and halfway through the chest. Circuitrysparked, shorted out. Sparks and acrid smoke erupted from the droid's body. It dropped the lightsaber as its hand controls died. Fell to its knees. Vader cocked the weapon over his right shoulderand swung in a flat horizontal arc-The lightsaber sliced through the droid's neck and took its head off. The head fell, bounced, and the droid's decapitated body fell backward.
Vader stood over the downed droid. Soon he would have to order another dozen of them produced-this was the eighth one of the originals; he had but four left. And the next batch would need to be improved. It was getting too easy. -Shadows Of The Empire

RETURN OF THE JEDI ERA

1. Lucas confirms that Vader is in fact stronger than Luke. 

Well, children love power because children are the powerless. And so their fantasies all center on having power. And who’s more powerful than Darth Vader, you know? And, some, you know, will be attracted to Luke Skywalker because he’s the good guy. But ultimately, we all know that Darth Vader’s more powerful than he is. https://billmoyers.com/content/mythology-of-star-wars-george-lucas/

This makes Vader also stronger than Obi Wan during his Mustafar fight as well, as Vader considers Luke to be the strongest Jedi he has ever fought.

Obi-Wan was gone, and the other Jedi were all extinct, save one, who was the strongest of them all. His own son. He had told the Emperor that Luke Skywalker would join them or die. The real truth was only slightly different: Luke would join Darth Vader or die. It would be something to look forward to. That would be the duel of a lifetime. This wasn’t even exercise. -Shadows of the Empire



2. Sidious says that Vader's powers match his own, backing up the statement Lucas made about Vader having more or less 80% of Sidious' power.

He collected some of these Force adepts and took them to his citadel on Byss, where he initiated them in the powers of the dark side. All of those he taught, human or alien, were only taught enough to fulfill Palpatine's wishes. He didn't want any of them rising up against him. Bad enough that Vader was as powerful as he was, though Palpatine was certain of Vader’s loyalty to the dark side. -The Essential Guide To Characters


3. Luke admits that Vader wouldve stomped him had he used his full power on Luke in ROTJ. Backed up by Lucas' statement and Luke being weaker than Joruus, who is about as strong as Darth Vader.

She pointed a finger at Luke, and before Luke even recognized her evil intent, a ripple of Force slammed into him. White lights exploded behind his eyes, and the right side of his face felt as if it had been smashed by a hammer. His left arm and right leg crumpled under their unbearable weight, and he dropped to the ground on one knee, stunned. All the noise and blaster fire and screams of pain died away, became a distant roaring. Gethzerion pointed at him again, twitched her finger, and his eyes lost focus. He felt the hammer blow to his left temple, dropped to his side and rolled over to his back, gasping. Luke stared up at the sky, watching streams of rocks hurtling above him—some propelled by the Force, others hurled by rancors.
Time seemed to slow. His head throbbed, pounding to the same rhythm as the beating of his heart. His face had gone cold, numb, and Luke realized distantly that Gethzerion’s spell had ripped open blood vessels in his brain, and he was about to die, one among hundreds of fatalities on this battlefield.
So this is how it would have been, if Vader had tried to kill me. -The Courtship of Princess Leia

 Backed up by Lucas' statement and Luke being weaker than Joruus, who is about as strong as Darth Vader.

According to Luke Skywalker, the duplicate C'baoth was easily as formidable a foe as Darth Vader and completely twisted to the dark side of the Force. -Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook



Artoo twittered. “Yes, that’s who I sometimes talked to on Dagobah,” Luke confirmed. “And then right after the Battle of Endor, I was able to see not only Ben but Yoda and my father, too. Though the other two never spoke, and I never saw them again. My guess is that there’s some way for a dying Jedi to—oh, I don’t know; to somehow anchor himself to another Jedi who’s close by.”
Artoo seemed to consider that, pointed out a possible flaw in the reasoning. “I didn’t say it was the tightest theory in the galaxy,” Luke growled at him, a glimmer of annoyance peeking through his fatigue. “Maybe I’m way off the mark. But if I’m not, it’s possible that the five other Jedi Masters from the Outbound Flight project wound up anchored to Master C’baoth.”
Artoo whistled thoughtfully. “Right,” Luke agreed ruefully. “It didn’t bother me any to have Ben around—in fact, I wish he had talked to me more often. But Master C’baoth was a lot more powerful than I was. Maybe it was different with him.” -Dark Force Rising

Skywalker was good, all right. With the strange buzzing pressure in his mind he must have known he couldn’t match C’baoth strength for strength. Mara felt the subtle change in his concentration; and suddenly he swung his own lightsaber over his shoulder, the green-white blade scything toward a point midway along the other lightsaber handle. -The Last Command


4. Vader is now in his prime, above all his previous incarnations, in all senses of the word. Backs up statements from the ANH section. 

His power was great, now, greater than it had ever been. It shimmered from within, and resonated with the waves of darkness that flowed from the Emperor. -Return Of The Jedi

More powerful in the Force than ever before as well as a master of the lightsaber, Darth Vader prepares for his final battle as the Rebel fleet hammers the fully operational Death Star. -Darth Vader Return Of Anakin Skywalker


Darth Vader presses forward... strong, skillful, sure! Exhibiting more deadly invincibility than ever! -Return of the Jedi Comic


5. Sidious yet again affirming Vader's capability to kill him had he kept his guard down, and the fact that Vader was indeed a threat. I do not know what the "lasted for so long" part actually means. Might mean that Vader died right after he killed Sidious; might also mean that his mental state at that time was more focused than ever, giving Vader power that he not have achieved otherwise; in the end, i simply do not know. One thing to note- Sidious is now the strongest mortal being in the galaxy, likely ever, putting him above anything and anyone who is not a force-based being such as the Father, Son, Daughter, etc. 

Yes, Vader remained strong in the Force, but strong enough to succeed me? Never. Granted, he was strong enough to kill me. But that only lasted for so long. -Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide To The Force


6. Sidious consistently compares Luke to Vader throughout Dark Empire, which takes place 6 or so years in the future, with a Luke much stronger than before.

https://comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/11138/111387252/7208084-legends%20vader%20p27.png



7. Vader is in fact physically stronger than Sidious. Him being surprised is a horrible argument against this, as A- the guy being caught by surprise in and of itself is semi hilarious, and B- him being surprised doenst make him any weaker.

Palpatine struggled in the grip of Vader's unfeeling embrace, his hands still shooting bolts of malign energy out of in all directions. -Return Of The Jedi

The Emperor struggles in his embrace, his bolt-shooting hands now lifted high, away from Luke. -Return Of The Jedi Movie Script


8. Most famous feat- Vader tanks the strongest lightning in the verse when experiencing an 'extreme' mental state. People like to say that this is a one time thing, but he was weakened before said feat took place, so even if he did in fact gather his power, he could not have possibly gotten stronger than before he was weakened. Something else to take into account- he did not die right after said feat, he died a few minutes later, meaning that said lightning couldn't even damage him enough to actually kill him with some prolonged exposure. Completely consistent with Sidious saying that Vader is indeed a threat to him, could be a match for his power, and that Lucas thinks that Vader's powers range within 80% of Sidious' own. Shows that unless Sidious uses of his strongest abilities at full power, he cannot one shot Vader either. Makes any comments saying that Revan, Valkorion, Exar Kun, Darth Plagueis, Darth Tenebrous, the Outlander, DE Luke, etc one shot him moot.

When the evil Emperor, Supreme Master of the Dark Side of the Force, turned the fullness of his malevolence against Luke, Anakin Skywalker suddenly awoke from the curse that had imprisoned him for so long… Shedding his bleak and soulless identity of Darth Vader, Anakin took the full force of his Dark Master’s evil lightning upon himself - and hurled the Emperor to his death. -Dark Empire 1 Endnotes


Although it would not have seemed possible, the outpouring of bolts from the Emperor's fingers actually increases in intensity, the sound screaming through the room. Luke's body writhes in pain. Vader grabs the Emperor from behind, fighting for control of the robed figure despite the Dark Lord's weakened body and gravely weakened arm.
The Emperor struggles in his embrace, his bolt-shooting hands now lifted high, away from Luke. Now the white lightning arcs back to strike at Vader. He stumbles with his load as the sparks rain off his helmet and flow down over his black cape. He holds his evil master high over his head and walks to the edge of the abyss at the central core of the throne room. With one final burst of his once awesome strength,
Darth Vader hurls the Emperor's body into the bottomless shaft.
The Emperor's body spins helplessly into the void, arcing as it falls into the abyss. Finally, when the body is far down the shaft, it explodes, creating a rush of air through the room.Vader's cape is whipped by the wind and he staggers, and collapses toward the bottomless hole. Luke crawls to his father's side and pulls him away from the edge of the abyss to safety. Both the young Jedi and the giant warrior are too weak to move. -Return Of The Jedi Movie Script


At that instant, Vader sprang up and grabbed the Emperor from behind, pinning Palpatine's upper arms to his torso. Weaker than he'd ever been, Vader had lain still these last few minutes, focusing his very fiber of being on this one, concentrated act—the only action possible; his last, if he failed. Ignoring pain, ignoring his shame and his weakness, ignoring the bone-crushing noise in his head, he focused solely and sightlessly on his will—his will to defeat the evil embodied in the Emperor.
Palpatine struggled in the grip of Vader's unfeeling embrace, his hands still shooting bolts of malign energy out in all directions. In his wild flailing, the lightning ripped across the room, tearing into Vader. The Dark Lord fell again, electric currents crackling down his helmet, over his cape, into his heart. Vader stumbled with his load to the middle of the bridge over the black chasm leading to the power core. He held the wailing despot high over his head, and with a final spasm of strength, hurled him into the abyss.
Palpatine's body, still spewing bolts of light, spun out of control, into the void, bouncing back and forth off the sides of the shaft as it fell. It disappeared at last; but then, a few seconds later, a distant explosion could be heard, far down at the core. A rush of air billowed out of the shaft, into the throne room. The wind whipped at Lord Vader's cape, as he staggered and collapsed toward the hole, trying to follow his master to the end. Luke crawled to his father's side, though, and pulled the Dark Lord away from the edge of the chasm, to safety. -Return Of The Jedi


As the Emperor continued to strike Luke with his barrage of Sith lightning, Vader struggled to his feet. One leg was broken, and the other wasn't working right. Moving awkwardly, he shifted his bulk to stand beside his Master. On the floor, Luke writhed in agony, and was on the verge of death as he groaned, "Father, please. Help me."
Vader watched Luke curl into a fetal position as the Emperor hurled an even more staggering wave of lightning at his victim. Vader had no doubt that Luke was about to die. His son screamed.
Not just my son . . .
The Emperor unleashed another round of lightning.
. . . or Padme's son . . .
Luke screamed louder.
. . . but my son . . . who loves me.
Luke's clothes began to smolder as his body involuntarily spasmed. Suddenly, Vader realized that he was no longer concerned about his own personal future. Despite all the terrible, unspeakable things he'd done in his life, he knew he could not stand by and allow the Emperor to kill Luke. And in that moment of awareness, he was Darth Vader no more.
He was Anakin Skywalker.
It took all of his remaining strength to seize the Emperor from behind, lift him off his feet, and carry him to the open elevator shaft. The wretched Emperor continued to release lightning bolts, but they veered away from Luke and arced back to crash down upon him and his insurgent apprentice. The lightning penetrated Vader's life-support suit and electrified Anakin's organic remains, but he lurched forward until he could throw the Emperor into the elevator shaft.
Palpatine screamed as his body plummeted down the shaft. Still trapped within Darth Vader's armor, Anakin collapsed at the shaft's edge, but heard the explosion of dark energy that consumed the falling Emperor. -The Rise And Fall Of Darth Vader


9. 40 ABY, Luke says that Vader wouldve slapped Lumiya down for assuming herself to be a true sith lady. Lumiya is quite strong, and very skilled, smart, and experienced. Has fought Luke more than often. 

Luke frowned over that one. "Lady has to be Lumiya. She used to style herself the Dark Lady of the Sith ... after Emperor Palpatine and my father were no longer around to slap her down for presumption."-Legacy of the Force: Exile



10. Vader had skilled/powerful enough telepathy that he could casually and easily drain information from Luke's mind, who was actively fighting against it. 

“Give yourself to the dark side, Luke,” he entreated. “It is the only way you can save your friends. Yes, your thoughts betray you, son. Your feelings for them are strong, especially for—“ Vader stopped. He sensed something.
Luke withdrew further into shadow. He tried to hide, but there was no way to hide what was in his mind—Leia was in pain. Her agony cried to him now, and his spirit cried with her. He tried to shut it out, to shut it up, but the cry was loud, and he couldn't stifle it, couldn't leave it alone, had to cradle it openly, to give it solace. Vader's consciousness invaded that private place. “No!” screamed Luke.
Vader was incredulous. “Sister? Sister!” he bellowed. “Your feelings have now betrayed her, too... Twins!” he roared triumphantly. “Obi-Wan was wise to hide her, but now his failure is complete.” -Return Of The Jedi


Then, Vader and Palpatine both gained access to Luke's innermost thoughts, those that protected his sister, Princess Leia Organa. -The Essential Guide To Characters


11. Luke says that if Vader (or someone as powerful him) were to ever learn Exar Kun secret techniques to make himself stronger, Luke might not stand a chance. I suppose this is reiterated in different words when Luke shows precaution and fear towards Ky Durron becoming as strong as Darth Vader (Source needed)


12. In the temples of a long-gone people, the spirit of Exar Kun, the most powerful Dark Lord of the Sith, lives, whose teachings once led Darth Vader to the side of evil. Luke must watch helplessly as some of his students succumb to the whisperings of Exar Kun. Above all, the young Kyp Durron, who is utterly devoured by hatred for the Empire, is only too willing to follow the temptations of the forbidden Sith teachings. Without realizing, he is more and more dedicated to the dark side of power. Soon he's more powerful than Luke and threatens to become an even more dangerous opponent than Darth Vader once was ... -Jedi Academy Vol.2: Dark Apprentice



Some important fights:

Luke Skywalker. Underrated fight here. It makes Vader seem weak because he lost. Wrong. Vader himself considers Luke to be the strongest Jedi he ever fought against, making him stronger than Obi Wan WITH his amp. While Vader did want to beat him, he was actually turning into Anakin, as in, becoming his jedi self all over again, getting weaker as the fight went on. Luke was using the dark side more and more as the fight went on. Vader was likely being weakened by the Nexus Palpatine had become, while Luke was only made stronger by it. Sidious is a well known user of battle meditation, which he used whenever he felt like changing a fight into his favor, and he clearly wanted Luke to win, so it makes me wonder if he used it, which wouldve not only made Luke stronger, it wouldve weakened Vader. Palpatine also has the ability to make whom he so wishes stronger, which in this case, would be Luke. Last but not least, Luke trained intensely just to beat his Vader, copying his lightsaber style (the best style in this case), then added his own twist to it, and made it into an anti Vader style, while Vader was incredibly cocky, thinking that it wouldve been an easy win. There are actually multiple incarnations for this, so i decided to add none of them, instead of just adding just one of them and hear some complaints about it later on.

This is actually very well composed, well done.

thank u. urs is actually better, and u have more sources, so if u feel like adding anything, go ahead. Say, ive been thinking on doing a 'show of power' blog, as a follow up to this one. what do u think?

Any extra content is always helpful

u know, u should do one for exar kun. contrary to popular belief, i hold him in high regard, and actually really like him lol i have a higher opinion than i do of revan, tbh lol