Mawk's Heroes and Villains Guides: Count Dooku

Count Dooku: Force Guide

Overview: Dooku is one of the stronger characters. His health is just a bit above normal level. His saber I would classify as strong. His dash is good when executed properly. His force powers are force lightning and force choke. His overhead attack is very similar to Vader's.

Dooku's walk speed is slower than normal. This means he can be caught easily. So you will want to take a defensive attitude while playing him. Due to his slower speed his dash needs to be calculated properly. If the enemy is too far and you want to dash them, you may run out of power by the time you get there. So be sure to use dashes at shorter distances, primarily after a choke.

His dash is the same as the Emperor's. It is pretty much a straight-line run while the saber slashes left and right. This dash is advantageous because it usually causes a knockdown. To achieve the knockdown you must time your click at the proper time. As you are sprinting near an enemy, you will want to click just before you get to them. This will begin his sideswipes as you crash into the enemy. By doing this you will probably get a knockdown; that is if the enemy doesn't move at all. You can also curve left and right slightly as he's dashing for those heroes who try to be evasive. There is nothing like a hero trying to run around you and you quickly dash to the side and stun them. Once you have knocked them down, you can turn around and complete the job with Dooku's saber combo.

Dooku's saber combo is effective but people can escape from it. You will find that if you just stand there and don't move forward it takes longer to achieve the swing-around end of the combo. If you do not get to the end of the combo there is a moment where they can escape via roll. So if you want to quickly complete the combo, you must push forward as you are clicking. This will usually avoid the escape.

After a knockdown dash you can do another easy move. Dooku's aerial attack focuses on the ground. In other words, you cannot hit anyone mid air. It will not do damage until you land. If they are already knocked down because of your dash, you can flip around hit jump and click just after. It is a powerful blow.

Using your directional keys can control an air attack. When you see an enemy below you and you jump to do the attack, after you click you will start falling. When this happens you can move slightly in each direction. It isn't a very big difference but it can mean life or death. Also be sure to click again once you land because he will swing again. Sometimes if you come up just short of the enemy the second swing may hit and knock them down. This is generally multiplayer lag but it sometimes works. Also if you are just slightly below an enemy and they are on a ledge, the aerial may strike them. There is a moment in Dooku's downward swing where it starts to do damage a bit before he actually lands, so you have a chance of hitting people above you. Sometimes this reels back in people who were trying to jump away from your aerial.

Because his walk and sprint are slower, his sprint jump into an aerial attack is not similar to Vader's. This cannot be used over as large of distances. You can still use it to propel yourself further than you would get by normal jump, because when you use it, it pushes you forward. If you are using it to get to another roof where normally you would fall short, be mindful of your allies. I've lost count of the times a Dooku or Vader has team hit or TK'ed me just so they could propel to the same roof.

Speaking of roofs: Dooku can survive better while relying on rooftops for protection. Try to stay away from being out in the open a lot. Not only will you successfully choke more, but you will also avoid more deaths by protecting yourself. The smart heroes will be on roofs with you, the not so smart heroes will be on the ground below you. Remembering that choke has the same distance as push, you can limit your exposure. One of the best spots for Dooku (or any villain for that matter) to be is on one of the roofs with domes near the hero default spawn. Many people do not use their mini map and don't know you are up there. With Default Villain spawn around the corner from them, they usually go along that path. You can easily use lightning or choke on them from above and can tuck behind the dome if needed. If there are only a couple heroes around if you choke you can go in for the kill.

Dooku's choke works very well when in close distances. To avoid losing the choke, do not choke someone at the full distance. At least, don't do this when you plan on going in for the kill. Dooku is slow walking as it is, but he's twice as slow when choking. If you want to choke someone at full distance, do so and get in a defensive position, because they will come after you. For example: Look over a roof and begin a choke, use all your power then back off to behind the dome. They will be about half health. Then they will most likely jump up to get you. By then you should have enough power back to choke them again when they land on the roof. Short distance chokes like this are perfect because you can do three things:

You can first hold the choke and move forward in for the kill and begin your combo. Do not forget to keep moving forward as you do the combo or else they can slip away. Be sure you are close enough that you have already begun the combo and are hitting them by the time they drop down from the choke (remember there is a slight time of recovery that works against them when you drop choke). If you release the choke and then begin the combo they also may slip away.

The second thing you can do when you are choking at close distance is your dash. As they drop down from your choke you have time to begin your dash and knock them over. In this case, depending on how low their health is, you may not have to begin the click before you get to them. If you choke them down pretty far, one crash with your dash may take them out. If you only get choke off for a few seconds, be sure to click so you can stun them.

The third thing you can do is the aerial attack. If they are really close all you have to do is choke a second or two, then jump and click quickly. You can also hold the choke and get close until you are in front and do the jump attack. Be sure you have enough power to get close enough. I also would not recommend trying this if you are almost out of power or they are too far away for you to get close. What can happen is that you can choke and if you are too far away once you let go and jump, they will roll and be gone.

If by chance you choke someone and do not get close enough to finish them off, there is a small trick you can do with choke. This only works when they don't roll, or you that you don't give them a chance to roll away. What you do when low on power is choke them until power is out and choke again the second you can. All the while you need to be continuing forward. Because of the slight downtime when they come off choke, you have a chance to choke them again thanks to your power refreshing. This takes great timing and they can slip out if you don't do it right away. The enemy will look like they are choking, then normal, choking, then normal, choking then normal. This is not a glitch (for those who will complain about it), it is just using natural refresh of power. It works best when you have the energy regen buff.

As described in the chapter about the Emperor, you can usually kill someone who has normal health, with a full energy continuation of lightning. Lightning is very helpful for when you just want to do a little damage to multiple characters. You can weaken a cluster of heroes who may be grouping below your roof. Be careful of allies with this too. When TK is on, you can seriously damage your team with lightning.

Unlike the Emperor, Dooku cannot use lightning while jumping. But it is very useful to use lightning while someone is jumping at or over you. Most heroes will do some silly acrobatics to try to sway you from where they are really going. This is effective for them, until you know what they are doing. Use lightning as they are jumping over you. Once they land you can dash them or choke them. They will be weakened from your lightning so it will be easier for you to kill them.

Please do not Choke-Lightning, you only show how new you are by using game glitches instead of skill.

Dooku vs. Gunners: This is pretty simple. Just be close enough to choke them and finish them via saber. They have a higher health so they can squirm away easier. Be sure to choke them as long as you can before sabering them. If you have the chance to, weaken them with lightning while they aren't looking. If you stun them via an air attack or a dash, do another air attack because it seems to do better damage with less worry of them rolling away.

Dooku vs. Pullers: As always, try to avoid pullers as much as possible by staying on roofs or blocking yourself with buildings and objects. If you are behind one of the white moisture vaporators, make sure you have block on. For some reason the game is wonderfully lame when it comes to block. If an elbow is showing, if an ear is showing, if a single hair is showing past an object, it's possible to get pulled. If you put a toe out of line, you'll find yourself yanked sideways into the open, then pulled again and die. So make sure you have block on no matter what object you are near until you are completely hidden. When you have the proper distance, choke them. If you are blocking, make sure your saber sparks before you choke, because there is a nice annoying bug where they can pull you right when you choke, even if you push the button first. If they are above you, I wouldn't recommend the jump up and aerial attack, unless they are facing away (Watch the arrow on your mini-map). The reason I don't recommend this is because you can't choke in mid air and they may be waiting for you to pull to their feet.

Dooku vs. Pushers. Push has the same distance as choke. I still wouldn't recommend being in the open. Having a block-war with a pusher is not as easy on Dooku because of the distance. You may not have enough energy to choke them and still finish them after a bit of blocking. I would recommend to keep hiding as much as possible and strike from the shadows or with choke from above. Make them come to you by hitting them with a couple batches of lightning. If you do get pushed and are not stunned instantly, make sure to jump to a safe spot. A very effective way to jump away is by doing a back jump. Let's say you are on a roof and they are too, but you get pushed. Usually they'll follow you thinking they can get another push off to stun you. If you do a backwards jump from mid-air, you can pass overhead of them and have the advantage of height. Choke them from your new spot above them. If they are not tricked by this and stay on the roof, try to aim an aerial attack to hit them from above.

Count Dooku: Non-Force Guide

Dooku is undoubtedly one of the stronger non force characters out there. He has multiple traits that allow for diversion and power. His saber is one of the strongest in the game and his health is just above normal.

In duels Dooku is quite impressive. People are taken surprise of more often than not when fighting against him. He can attack quickly and painfully, or he can look like he's going slow and end up mopping the floor with his opponent.

Dooku has three different traits that can aid him in duels. Those are his normal combo, dash attack, and aerial attack.

Dooku's normal combo, in my opinion, is the strongest in the game. That is, the full combo, front to back, seems to do more damage than any other. The reason I say this is based on killing a chewie. Dooku seems to be able to kill him in only one full combo, and nobody else seems to be able to. Anyway back to dueling: Since his combo does massive amounts of damage when completed, a good tactic is to try to use this to kill your opponent in one swoop.

To do this, sometimes the best thing to do is click a couple of times without completing the combo, this may make your opponent think they have an opening. They'll start to creep closer. When they are a couple of steps away you can actually complete the combo and end up killing them. Dooku's combo you have to aim in a certain direction because it will pull you along. It also seems to suck in your enemy more if they are to your right. Sometimes an enemy may flee if they start getting hit by the left right cross Dooku begins with, but if they are on your right side it may pull them back in and you can finish them.

Using Dooku's dash attack in duels is also very effective. You have to be extremely careful and precise when to use it though. Even just clicking his dash once leaves him quite open if you miss, so you should be as sure as possible.

The best way to use his dash in a duel, is in a surprising manner. Make it look like you are getting closer and closer, keep popping block on and off. Make them think you are going to do something other then dash. Then at the last second do a short dash when their block is down. In other words, don't dash from halfway across the arena or you'll either get backslashed, or will miss.

Dooku can continuously dash if you hold the sprint down and keep clicking, this goes in a mostly straight line so it's almost not worth it unless you see them in between swings or backslashes.

His dash also has knockdown built in if aimed right. You have to hit them with the beginning of the dash in order to knock them down. If you start clicking too late, you may just damage them (or not) and go right through them.

If you miss a dash, jump quickly out of the way or roll. Rolling is least recommended because they will be behind you and just may get you as you're rolling. You can also backhand once your character stops the forward movement, and sometimes this works if they're coming at you quickly from behind after you miss.

The aerial attack is probably Dooku's most versatile tool to use of the three. It is powerful, can be quick, and is 95% a knockdown move.

In a duel you will want to use an aerial when you have a really good chance of succeeding. Don't just do it to land in front of them: because on servers, lag makes you swing twice instead of just once like single player does. This leaves you open and stuck in one spot.

A really good trick in duels with the aerial is to try and make your opponent lose you in the air. This means if they are staying on the ground try to jump around a couple times above them. If you see them lower their block or turn a way that leaves them open, attack. If you have read my force dooku or vader guide, you will know that once you click in the air, the character wants to lurch forward a bit. You can control this but not fully, so practice your air slams on bots until you get the proper distance and timing, it takes practice.

Also with the aerial, his saber swings from the right side of his body, and you will have more luck if the enemy is slightly to your right. There are moments where it may not knock them down, like when they are in mid combo, but may do more damage and may keep you safer if you keep them slightly to the right.

In full map non force, Dooku will use all three of his above tools along with evasion and strategy techniques.

The first thing I will recommend in full map, is to USE YOUR MINI MAP. There are countless times where people get snuck up on because they weren't being aware. Granted this is something you will want to do as Dooku (sneak up on them) but you don't want it happening to you. Whenever you get to a place and look alone, do a quick circle with your character and look for red dots. You can't see dots behind you, so you need to make sure you use that V for a full circle a couple of times. Being aware is the key to full map.

In Mos Eisley, or wherever you fight for that matter, you will find yourself sucked toward certain spots of the map. I would say that most non force fighting in Mos Eisley takes place in the southwest corner. This is fine, except that you really aren't getting good at utilizing your surroundings. When going full map, try your best to move around and use the whole map. That way in a 1v1, 2v2, or 5v5 match you will not be surprised and out of practiced if you get stuck in another area and are able to defend yourself.

The second thing I would recommend is waiting for people to come to you if possible. Some of the best ambush/trap places are on roofs. If you are on a roof and somebody jumps up to get you, you can avoid their aerial attack by moving out of the way and finishing them off while they are recovering from it. Now I wouldn't recommend a combo unless you actually start it before they land and are out of the way. Then try to get them with the final blow as their attack misses you. This will most likely kill any of the heroes in one hit. If it doesn't, it will stun them and you can finish them.

Waiting for them and you doing an aerial attack is a good idea too, you just have to watch them jumping again and slashing you mid-air, because Dooku's is only a ground attack and you have no way to damage them. If you get quick at Dooku's aerial attack, you can move out of the way at the last second then jump attack them as soon as they land. If they roll away and you miss, it's usually okay since they'll most likely roll off the edge.

You can also dash them after they land, but you have to be a bit more careful with it though. If you dash at them head on while they are landing, they may damage you. I would recommend moving slightly at the last second and getting them from the side, or at any angle that isn't directly at their saber. If you get them while they are swinging, you could possibly knock them down, then finish them. Overall the best finish is with an aerial attack because it stuns and you don't have to worry about them slipping out like you do with the combo.

A lot of Dooku's attacks in full map have to do with his sprint jumps to other roofs or onto the ground from above. This takes a bit of practice but it is very beneficial. Sprint jumping launches you forward a lot more than normal jumping does, so when you click your aerial attack you will have more of a forward lurch. If you feel like you are going to overshoot your target you can hold down whatever your backward movement key is, and it should slow you a bit. I would say he only has a small percentage of left right movement while after you've clicked in mid air, so try to line it up as best you can originally with your jumps.

Since that lurch forward is built into his sprint jumps, you can use it to your advantage. If you get higher than one jump before clicking and you hold your forward key, you can actually do a sweeping movement which covers more area than just a normal downward aerial attack. So if you are on a roof and you want to sweep a person who is on a roof connected to yours, double jump and wait until you start falling. If you aren't too far away you can click and hold forward as you are falling and you will do a sweeping motion forward. It seems to be able to suck them in to your ground hit. When you practice this move, the key to the trick is to make sure you're on your way down. If you do it at the pennacle of your jump it doesn't work as well and plus you may overshoot them.

One of the best tactics I use as Dooku is changing my levels. On the ground level he isn't very powerful against the dashes that the heroes have, so it's very good to always be changing your levels. Many heroes feel they have you trapped if they get you on the ground, and they are right especially since their dashes are usually knockdowns. So if a hero is on a roof and you are below them, run back and forth along the wall they are above, get them to try and come down. The second they think you aren't coming up or that they may have an attack they may come down. When this happens, quickly jump onto their roof or another one and you could have a slight advantage.

I personally like to play mind games with those I am fighting, and wear them down a little until they screw up. So sometimes I will stay on the ground and not get off the ground at all until they come down, and then hop up on a roof when they do. I then wait for them to jump up and I go back down on the ground unless I have an easy kill. After doing this a few times they may get impatient and just want to kill you and jump up at you when you are on a roof, or dash right past you when you are below them. The key to the ground level is being close enough for them not to be able to land an easy attack.

One final move I do on full map that I see has been getting popular, is backhanding when someone is aerial attacking you, especially sprint jump attacking you. Now with the Villains it is a little more difficult to place the backhand. In my experience, and it may be just lag, it seems like on Dooku you can click a little later than normal. A normal backslash goes out the side in a straight line, but Dooku's (and Vader, Emperor) is different. Experimenting with the timing of this will get you killed a lot, but once you have it down it is pretty safe to use. You have to have your back to them for this to work properly, it will stun them or send them flying forward if they sprint jumped.

Don't forget, this can be used against you too if someone has good timing.

Overall as Dooku, he is a power character but has a couple weaknesses: The beginning of his combo, and slower movement speed. If you utilize these tricks you may have more fun playing him and not shy away from him.