Mawk's Heroes and Villains Guides: Darth Maul

Darth Maul: Force Guide

Overview: Darth Maul is a very strong character. His health I would describe as normal. His saber is of normal strength or just below (but has ability to knock down quickly). His dash is very strong and has a high knock down percentage. His force powers are push and saber throw. He is one of the easiest characters to play and is the only villain with push.

Darth Maul's pace is what I call normal speed. His sprint is also normal speed. This makes it so he can catch up to the gunners fairly easily. His dash attack does significant damage. He does however have the possibility of blowing right by the enemy after hitting them, or even missing them completely. If you have played Yoda much since I released him, I will refer to the dash method of SLOWING DOWN. It helps to start the click before you reach the enemy if you are not good yet good at slowing down. If you notice that you did not knock them down with the dash, get your block up quickly. If you are good at the slow down method, (dash and just after you saber the enemy hold down your backward key to slow down), you will find that clicking just as you reach them will be the most effective to knock them down. Once this happens be sure to back-swing for a final blow. This usually kills them. If they are facing away from you, the dash usually knocks them down. If you do knock them down but zoom right by them, turn around and kill them before they can get up. As a heads up, his dash doesn't work too well if the enemy is blocking properly.

Above I described Maul's saber as normal or just below normal strength. Many would say his saber is strong. I classify a strong saber as one that takes the littlest amount of time to kill a character with a combo. Maul's combo is lengthy and weak. It takes the enemy to about ? health left but can be continued.. With many characters, if the enemy is not dead after the combo is done, the enemy can possibly get away. Maul would normally have a weak saber, but his saber has the ability to stun/knockdown a character during the combo. The combo can be continuous on Maul, you can just keep clicking and he'll just keep swinging. So he can keep knocking the enemy down until they are dead. This has a disadvantage: it takes longer to kill than someone like Mace Windu. This also leads to dying a lot right after fights by other pushers. You will want to get use to blocking and turning around as soon as you finish killing someone. Maul's saber combo is best used in certain circumstances.

One of these circumstances is when someone is blocking improperly. If the enemy does not swing at the same time as you, you have a great chance of penetrating their block and knocking them down. This has to happen when you are close to them. If the enemy does actually swing at the same time (which is before the knockdown part of your saber combo) it is a button-mashing contest. When in a head on saber/button-mashing fight, try to spin your mouse in circles so you change angles, the correct angle may knock the enemy down. Also you can try to spin him at an angle to do a quick backswing and make them fall over. Remember that block is very fickle.

Because of his continuous combo and knockdown feature, you do not have to worry about people getting away very often. So you do not have to worry too much about the characters with higher health, which on heroes are only the gunners. The quickest way to kill the enemy is after a push.

Force push is a powerful tool to use when executed properly. I define a proper push as stunning the enemy with a single push. You will find this hard to do in many circumstances. When someone is on a roof at the same level as you, the push may not stun. When someone is higher than you and you push, the push will not stun. When you're at the same level and occasionally a bit above the target, and you push them into a wall, the game has a built in recovery bug where they can get up quickly. So be ready for a backswing. If you push while someone is jumping, it will not stun unless close to the ground. Most of those ways they can get away. The best way to push for a stun is on ground level or when you are above the enemy.

You may have noticed that most of the people with the best kill/death ratios are pushers who spend most of their time on the roof. The reason being is that it has a higher chance of a stun when you are above the enemy. Roofs also make it very easy to be inconspicuous to those who do not look at the mini-map. You can surprise more people on roofs than anywhere else. Again, I recommend the roofs with the domes on them, because they give you the most protection from sight lines. You will of course be pulled from behind to another roof 500 yards away, but you'll get use to this. Anyway back to the point. If you hide behind the domes and people do not check mini-map, then you will see them run right by you. Be sure they are alone and peek over and push them. Walk to them or sprint to just near them and begin your combo. If they are low health you can dash them without worry of them recovering. When they are stunned from your push and are in the process of getting up, a dash will not be as effective unless timed right. As soon as you kill them get your block up. Then as soon as you know it's clear, get back up on your roof. Wash, Rinse, Repeat, and you will have many kills.

As I mentioned in the Vader post, saber throw is valuable for when you are not close enough to force but the enemy is keeping their distance. It is also good against gunners who are on spires or domes. There are not many tips for saber throw since it is aim and practice. If you are closer to an enemy than the max distance of your throw, you can double hit the enemy by making sure the saber throws past them. Other than that, it takes practice. You can still trick your enemy into walking into your throw by throwing directly at them a couple times. They will dodge, but then you want to throw to where they would retreat to, this usually works a few times with the inexperienced.

Maul's air attack is very powerful. I tend to use it very much like the Mace earthquake slam. So after a push if they are stunned, you can jump and do the air attack. This stuns the enemy and you can finish with a backswing or turn around and finish them off with a combo. In order to do these air jumps after push, you will need to get use to jump distances. Not many tips for this since it is just something learned over time. His air attack also covers a bigger radius than it looks like. I have knocked people down who look like they are out of the saber range. You have to be wary of someone backhanding your aerial attack though. Also his aerial starts high and ends low, so someone could dmg you before you damage them if they are below you.

Maul vs. Pullers: These fights are tough to avoid. Pull has such a larger distance than push it will make it hard for you to get in close. There is a benefit to a block war against a puller. Pull takes just about half their power away, if you block it and are close enough, you may be able to push. Many pullers are not experienced in block wars, but if they are, just try to keep block on and get closer and closer. Their defenses will drop sooner if you do not try to push against their block. Sometimes you will push at same time but still get pulled. This is annoying. It may seem on your screen that you hit push first but you can still be pulled. So avoid pushing when you see them start to pull. If they are on a roof and you are behind something, try a few saber throws to get them moving. As Maul I tend to kill more pullers right after one of their kills. So do your best to block and hide, and wait for the opportune moment. Do not sprint directly at pullers or you'll die.

Maul vs. Pushers: I believe a fight between two pushers can be the most fun in the game. You are on an equal field and the fights can sometimes last a long time. This is of course unless you or they get the jump. You will find yourself in a block war a lot with other pullers. Be patient. If they are experienced, they will get their block right up after they push. Try to get close to them and saber them. Push can penetrate block when (you'll notice a spark) when their energy is really low. So if you see your bar get really low, begin to look somewhere to hide. It will look like you blocked on your screen (with the spark and motion) but you'll still get pushed. This can also happen if you are not at the proper angle. You must always look at your enemy, not just face them. They can be above you and even though you're blocking, they can still push. Be sure to look up while you are blocking, or wherever they are. Keep your target on their body to avoid their push hitting you awkwardly. Maul has the advantage in these fights because his saber combo knocks down easily. Get as close as you can to them, but keep your block up when moving.

Maul vs. Gunners: The easiest kill is by using push. Just follow the method I mentioned earlier. You can also do air attacks to knock them down. This will make sure they don't slip away. You will of course hear "Wow, you push a gunner??" To which I respond, "Ok next time I'll let you kill me?" That usually keeps them quiet. It truly depends on your play style. If you are going no force, I would actually keep away from dash. They tend to slip out of it due to the higher health or rolling/jumping. Dash works well against them if you get them while they are rolling, or just standing up from a roll. Keep block on and get close, once you get close most gunners will roll away. Turn and dash them as they do this. Since Maul's saber takes longer to kill the gunners (especially Chewie), make sure you are aware of your surroundings before you begin the kill.

*As a side note, I have been spending a lot of time using no force lately. In fact, this last week I have used force in maybe 3 games. I think no force is VERY honorable. I will add no force tips for each character much later in my guides. For now these guides remain using the tools the game has to offer, and guides for the easiest way to kill. This guide is generated toward those who do not play these characters and wish to.*

Darth Maul: Non-Force Guide

Darth Maul is a very powerful non force player. He has a devastating saber combo, fast dash attack, and a decent air attack. In duels, Maul has the advantage over a good portion of players. His saber combo attacks in a radius around him, and every single hit will perform a knock down. You can also move around pretty freely as you are swinging, so it is possible to just keep clicking and walk right up to someone and win (and it happens far to often).

His dash is quick and tough to counter. A dueler who plays Maul generally achieves knockdowns by repeating the dash to get the proper knockdown angle. You will have trouble if your opponent is dashing at you also, that is, if your opponent's dash has a block built in (Obi, Anakin, Aayla, Grievous).

Maul's air attack in a duel can sometimes prove fatal, so use it sparingly. However, if you time it properly it should always stun your enemy. The few times that it doesn't are attributed to lag or block. Careful of your opponent also doing an air attack on you though, because Maul's air attack hits harder as he lands, and his saber is above his head, exposing your body and feet to the enemy. You can also quickly recover from the air attack with comboing or backswing.

Overall, Maul's dueling strategy is about completely overpowering the other person, which he does quite well to just about anyone. There isn't much need for complex tricks or skill which makes him a favorite among the newer players. If you do use Maul, prepare for a LOT of complaining from whoever you fight.

When playing full map, Maul is also very effective. Not only does the saber combo save you loads of times, the dash attack can be used really quickly.

Primarily in full map, you want to keep your eyes open. You can usually overpower someone by the continuous saber combo, so all you really need to do to get kills is stalk an enemy.

The best way to stalk an enemy is visually out of mini-map range. You can follow them at a distance where they don't register on your minimap but you can still see them. If they get involved or are not looking at you, you can sprint in quickly and knock them down with a dash attack. The minimap makes it so the red dots are tougher to see directly behind you, so if you move quickly you can easily take the enemy out. Since Maul has normal run speed his sprint is also normal. This makes it so he can catch up to the slower sprinters (Yoda, the gunners...)

I find myself not using roofs as much with Maul, and that's probably due to the fact that he doesn't have to worry as much about being ambushed. If someone gets close all you really have to do is click you will have a possible knockdown or at least a damaging counter attack against them. If you do wind up on the ground a lot, be cautious and always turn around so the arc of the minimap catches a full circle.

Maul is pretty deadly in open areas since he can dash fairly quickly. He doesn't have to wait for a long recovery after the dash either. Because of this, if you miss a dash, you can quickly turn and try again. Many Maul players tend to make a huge mistake which I will try to work out of any of my readers. This mistake is running in circles around your opponent and then trying a dash after a few circles. I'm all for sprinting to confuse your enemy, but the circle trick doesn't work on 80% of players. The reason behind my feeling that this is a mistake, is because I generally end up knocking these players down as they pass me. They either forget to click, or think they aren't close, or are focusing with their eyes on the turn and not the enemy. They wind up confusing themselves more than the enemy half the time.

Instead what I would recommend to do is change your angles. If you insist on sprinting around them, be sure to change your angles so you aren't predictable. Don't always attack at the same time, and change it up. Circle around then go in a straight line, then circle and attack. And then do the opposite if you miss. The whole point of the circle thing is to disorient them, and make the enemy question when you will attack, so don't get in a habit.

Maul's air attack in full map is deadly, but it can be easily countered, so you will want to use it sparingly if you can. Or just use it when you know it's a definate hit.

Like all air attacks, it can be blocked at the proper angle, so try to avoid doing it when someone has block up. You can also be backhanded as you land since his saber attacks from above his head. They can backhand your feet and you'll fly forward stunned. It is good for sprint jumping to maybe one roof over because your guy won't have that downward motion that is caused by additional jumps. The downward motion is primarily what makes his air attack strike from above his head.

Since Maul's combo usually lands a stun, that continues with each hit, you'll find yourself wanting to click over and over to continue it. Be careful with this because it also leaves you open. There is a gap between his final swing and starting the next combo that an experienced player can puncture quickly and finish you. Since you are clicking like crazy you wouldn't know what hit you. So try to just do 3 clicks at a time and stop if you are missing or not close enough. Jump out of there if you have to.

This actually brings me to another point. Lately in no force servers, I've been seeing so much crazy blundering going on that it's quite disappointing. There is a difference between dashing all over the map and getting 50 kills and dying 40 times, than using some technique getting 30 kills and only 5 deaths. Yeah you may not be #1 on the list, but you will have a much better kill/death ratio.

In essence the opinion I have that I'm trying to state is, that it's okay to run from a fight that you won't win. Many people just give up and let the kill happen. I say get out of there and try it differently, all you're doing is giving someone a kill that they may not deserve.

In closing, with Maul, you can be very lethal and powerful at the same time, without just flying all over the place like a crazy man.