As Darth Vader, Skywalker was believed to have had roughly eight-tenths of the strength of the Emperor. Nevertheless, Vader wielded tremendous power and skill, enough to use the Force to overpower almost any opponent he could not defeat with his lightsaber.
In Star Wars Legends and Canon, Galen Marek (Starkiller) is the only Jedi (other than Obi-Wan Kenobi) to put a beat down on Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker. Galen was secretly trained as a Sith Lord apprentice to Vader, but returned to the light side and the Jedi.
Vader was very much stronger than Luke in using the Dark Side. But a few things need to be understood for you to understand the story.
Would Yoda defeat Darth Vader (not Anakin Skywalker)? Both are in their prime as seen as in the movies. Yoda's nigh equal positioning to Sidious (the most powerful Sith of all time and someone Vader never came that close to surpassing) places him higher in scaling.
3 Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader
Although he never reached his potential due to missing like 50% of his flesh and bone he is by far the strongest force user from either dark or light sides. at a young age he was stronger than almost all the Jedi masters!
Vader defended the Emperor and he and Luke were locked in mortal combat. Luke lost control of his anger, viciously attacking Vader, finally beating him down and chopping off his hand with his lightsaber. Despite slipping close to the dark side, Luke refused to surrender to the Emperor.
As Supreme Commander, Darth Vader was the ranking leader of the Imperial Military.
However, Vader has potentially even stronger Force powers than Palpatine, as seen by his manipulation of an even stronger, mightier Force Lightning. Although this was never seen in the films, it was revealed in the Marvel comics.
One of the main reasons why Yoda would've won against Anakin is simply because he was far better trained than him. Yoda could see the moves his opponents were going to make before they made them; therefore, battling against Anakin would've put him at a far heavier advantage.
Darth Vader was the stronger of the two by far, but in most cases with lightsaber duels, the victor is the one with the strongest connection to the Force. Obi-Wan finished his last fight with Vader by hurling a barrage of rocks, and it's unlikely he had lost this level of power by A New Hope.
Jedi Master Yoda is the most powerful of them all. This should come as no surprise, as he was the head of the Jedi Order in the prequels and was revered for his abilities during the original trilogy. Yoda's power is unmatched and was a real threat to Darth Vader and the Imperials.
Lucas calls Sidious the most powerful Sith to have ever lived, and if Yoda could not beat him, then no one else has much of a chance. Anakin, had he realized his full potential, could have beaten him, but unfortunately, he never reached that point.
Regardless, Vader reported to Tarkin as Tarkin officially outranked him, as designed by the Emperor to limit his power within the Empire.
Darth Sidious
In the end, Vader managed to fulfill the prophecy tied to him. As for Darth Sidious, he's by far the most dangerous enemy Vader has had. Becoming emperor of the galaxy and crushing most of the Jedi was proof enough.
George Lucas himself said Anakin would have been twice as good as the empror but after Mustafar he was at 80% of the empror powers. And that same disney canon made it CRYSTAL CLEAR that vader is below the empror, meaning he did not fulfill his potential.
We would have to give the victory to Darth Vader. While the two dark lords seem perfectly matched on their villainy and power, Darth Vader's lightsaber and ability to immediately use the force to choke Voldemort, without chanting any spell would end this showdown in seconds.
By the time of Episode 3; Anakin is in his prime, and already one of the Jedi Order's most powerful “masters” (although technically still a knight), just behind Obi-Wan, Windu, and Yoda. Maul wouldn't stand a chance. Anakin stomps.
#1 – Yoda. Yoda is widely considered to be the greatest Jedi of all time, and with good reason. He is a master of the Force, a skilled warrior, and has an unmatched wisdom that comes from centuries of experience. He is the embodiment of what it means to be a Jedi, and his legacy lives on long after his death.
With a midi-chlorian count beyond Master Yoda's, Anakin Skywalker surpassed his peers -and even his master- in terms of natural ability, making him the most powerful Jedi to ever live.
The reasoning comes from, not only his fears that he isn't strong enough to defeat Vader after 10 years in hiding but the fact that facing Vader means Obi-Wan will have to face up to his greatest failure.
Telekinesis: Vader was a master of Telekinesis, which he utilized either as offensive or defense. In combat, Darth Vader was extremely adept at utilizing telekinetic attacks, and often made liberal use of his telekinetic abilities during duels.
In the original trilogy, Palpatine is depicted as the Emperor of the Galactic Empire and the master of Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker).
Nope. Some people got the impression that Grand Moff Tarkin did because it seemed like Vader was taking orders from him at some points in the original movie, but Tarkin didn't officially outrank Vader. In fact, Vader wasn't even a part of the official Imperial hierarchy. He operated outside of that ...
According to this Star Wars fan's math, it can be estimated that Darth Vader is at least 68.85% man, with the loss of his limbs alone.