Electrolasers kind of seem slightly light saber-esque. I'm assuming miniaturisation of them would be tricky though, as i'm assuming ionization with a laser requires a lot of power.
I was about to make a comment regarding using UV lasers and ionization - then decided to take a second to google it, and found this interesting (though short) discussion:
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/laser-to-ionize-air-to...
In short, I think your conclusion is likely correct...