Warning: This post may anger you if:

• You love the Light Stance saber style.
• You love the Medium Stance saber style.

Consider yourself warned.

General Notes:

• All swings made to the left are generally faster than those made to the right, but have shorter range.
• Vertical swings are harder to hit with than horizontal ones.
• Downward swings break through defenses better than upwards or sideways swings.
• Defense Strength (strongest to weakest) - Standing still, Moving, Jumping, Using Force Power, Attacking.
• Light swings do 30 damage, Medium 60, and Strong 100.
• Non-swinging saber strikes to 5 damage each.

Light Stance -- 95% useless. You'll see this style used by a lot of newbies who constantly echo, "I'm Drizzt Do'Urden! I'm Drizzt Do'Urden!". It should be renamed to "Headless Chicken" style. Almost everyone you see using this style will run at you swing-spamming like a chicken with its head cut off (hence the monicker). The swings themselves are little faster than the medium style and do far less damage (about half) and have severely abbreviated range. Anyone trying to use this in a serious duel can consider themselves duly warned. The only swing of any use from this style is the duck-forward rush attack, but I'll describe it further down. The normal attacks are only effective in a no-force duel environment where healing is impossible and you can nick your opponent to death. Because of that you'll see many proponents of this style complaining about use of Force Heal and Force Drain in Force-powered matches.

Defense Holes: behind and right side.

Moves : Forward Rush - duck + forward + attack

• Damage: 30 to 60 pts.
• Recovery Time: Moderate
• Usage: A good long-range surprise attack. Most will telegraph this move by ducking and waiting for their opponent to come to them. Don't. Just tap duck, then forward + attack. The surprise factor is much higher that way. Still, there's many better tactics than this when your opponent is within this move's range that won't leave you open during a recovery time. Because this is a vertical attack, it's more difficult to hit with. There is a chance that this can hit twice and/or do non-swing damage.

Backstab - (opponent behind) back + attack

• Damage: 30 + possible non-swing damage.
• Recovery Time: Long
• Usage: This move blows. It's the hardest move to hit with except for maybe the Medium style's finishing move, is very slow, leaves you open to attack forever, and has very low damage. An all-around loser move. Use this when you're just trying to show off or humiliate someone.

Medium Stance -- Double the damage, better range, almost the exact same attack speed, and better special moves make this better than Light style by a factor of two at least. This style only allows a maximum of 5 swings to be chained together, but any more swings than 5 are just spam anyway.

Defense Holes: left behind, behind, right behind

Moves: Medium Finisher - (opponent in front and close) jump + forward + attack

• Damage : 60
• Recovery: long (special)
• Usage: This is a very unique move that causes you to flip over the head of your opponent and slash downwards at him while at the apex of your jump. It does fair damage, but leaves you open for some time. My advice is to use this infrequently to vary your attacks and to make sure that as you finish the move, turn so that your oppenent is in the 1-2 o'clock position relative to you, that way your saber will be pointing at them. If they rush you, they'll impale themselves on your still-dangerous saber. That's why I've marked this recovery time as "special"-- if you count the fact your saber is still dangerous until the animation is finished, then effective recovery time is shorter.

It has been reported that you can begin a medium slash and halfway through it hit jump + attack and you will begin the medium finisher. This is similar to pulling off the Strong finisher. (Thx, Tam) I have verified this through testing. The timing is more difficult because of the speed of the initial swing, but it is possible.

Rear Sweep (Medium) - (opponent close and behind) back + attack

• Damage : 80 or 160 or 240
• Recovery : Moderate
• Usage: This does a turning, corkscrew sweep. Useful in the right hands. If your opponent is VERY close and in the 8 o'clock position relative to you, you can actually strike three times with this for a total damage of 240 points. Incidental, non-swing damage is frequently inflicted with this attack, so you may get an extra 5, 10 or even 15 points of damage out of it depending on how you time it.

Strong Stance -- All the best players I've met have used this stance. This should be renamed to, "Experienced Stance" or "Thoughtful Stance" because it is the only stance that allows you to choose a swing and move in the direction of your choice. The range is fantastic; as is the damage. The finishing move is almost always a 1-hit-kill and can be launched from a myriad of other attacks. The under-used vanilla jump attacks are also tactically superior to the other stances. Healers and Drainers got you down? Hit them once to knock off their default 25 shields and let them heal all they want, because the next time you hit them with even the basic strong swing, they're dead.

This stance also has the advantage of blasting through weaker defenses. If you've not been putting 3 levels into Saber Defense, you're going to get eaten alive by Strong stance players. The overhand chop is especially viscious (forward/backwards + attack). It's been reported that some have a lot of success with the back + right + attack swing breaking through defenses while someone's on the move (thx, Lord Nodata). After testing, I've found that this is because this diagonal swing will go underneath another swinging saber. If the opponent isn't swinging, then this isn't as effective as a downwards cut.

Defense Holes: left and behind

Moves: Finisher (Strong) - (half second after the start of any strong swing) jump + forward

• Damage - 100-200
• Recovery Time - Long (special)
• Usage - This is the most powerful swing in the game (Maybe. See Strong Back Sweep below). You'll see a lot of newbies spamming this move once they've learned it. Using it halfway through a regular swing or after a vanilla jump attack works equally well; only the range is different. Make sure to stay turned towards your target all the way through the animation as your saber is still dangerous even when completely buried in the ground in front of you. Many have died walking over that subterranian saber. At certain points during the animation it is uncounterable except by some force powers(push always works). Very early in the swing you can be cut down out of the air fairly easily, but the window of opportunity is very short. My advice is if you see someone start this, get away from them, then retailate, or use force push on them (using force pull is a great way to commit suicide here).

Strong Back Sweep - (opponent close behind) back + attack

• Damage - 120 or 240 or 360(!)
• Recovery - Moderate
• Usage - This has the potential to be more powerful than the strong finishing move. I've backed someone into a corner and hit them 3 times with this one swing. Once with the wind up, once with the start of the swing, and once with the end of it. I'll try to duplicate it and post a demo later. This should be possible with the medium version as well since they're the same animation, but I haven't tried that yet. This beats the medium version anyway for just that reason: same animation, more damage.

Chained Attacks

Because of the way swings are chosen in jk2, by moving in a particular direction and hitting attack, the usefulness of chained attacks is somewhat dubious. This means that when you are attacking your opponent with fast medium (or light) stance swings you have two choices. You can either: 1--choose which swing you want, or 2--move in the direction of (or away from) your opponent and take the swing that direction gives you. It is seldom (1 out of 8 times) that your opponent will just happen to be in the direction of exactly the swing you want to do. To me, this makes both medium and light stance pretty useless since you should always control your position before your swing. Hence, every swing after the initial one is just potluck depending on which direction you need to move in at the time.

Kicks

If you don't use kicks now, start. They're the fastest attacks in the game and their damage ignores shielding. 20 points armor-piercing damage is not to be scoffed at. Nor is the chance that you will knock your opponent down a la force push. Kicking can be done by either pressing forward or sideways into your opponent and hitting the jump key. Forward does a back flip-kick and sideways does a side flip-kick. Extra style kudos for using the side flip-kicks. Many times I have turned off my saber during a duel and kicked someone to death from full health. It's a most humiliating way to die. This is a great way to set your opponent up for a coup-de-grace.

I have a big problem with No-Force matches because they don't allow kicks, which are the only counter against a rushing player in that environment (aside from a disengaging roll, but all that does is drag out the match. No, blocking i don't consider a counter, because it has a random factor associated with it). I generally won't play them for that reason.

Rolls

Rolls are the better of the two faster movement modes, the other being jumping. You can move about a map faster by constantly rolling rather than running. Rolling has the advantange over jumping of better directional control. While jumping, air control is minimal, but you can actually completely reverse direction during a roll by quickly flicking the view around 180 degrees just as you start the roll. The only drawback is the slight recovery time that leaves you open to attack.

Wall-walking and flips

Wall-walking - (Gotta have level 2 jump) run along side a wall while strafing in its direction and hit and hold the jump key. You'll run up the wall. Release and hit jump again quickly to flip off the wall. Simply release to fall to the ground.

A neat trick is to wall-walk along irregular surfaces. This will give you an extra boost up every time you hit another polygon surface. You can hit the sky box in duel_jedi outside near the stream doing this. Make sure you hold down jump all the way through the walk if you try this.

Wall-flip - run forward into a wall and hit jump just as you make contact. You'll do a back flip off the wall. Hitting and holding the back key will give you enough distance from the wall to get behind a closely persuing opponent.

Saber Locking

Who wins a saber lock is determined by two factors: who can click their attack button faster and who can use force push more without running out of force power. Try to finish a successful saber lock with a push, otherwise while absorbed in your clicking fervor, you'll make an accidental swing after knocking them over that won't reach them. If you're using the strong stance then you won't have enough time before they recover to get in another swing.

Saber Defense (blocking)

After a very thorough amount of testing, I have compiled a large amount of surprising information on saber blocking. I'll organize this into three sections: the affect of the Saber Defense Force power, the "blockability" of the different stance's swings, and Saber Throw blocking.

First of all, spending points on level 3 saber defense IS worthwhile when blocking blaster fire or saber swings. Far fewer blaster shots will make it through your defense with a higher skill level. Defending against a saber swing isn't quite so simple. Raising your defense will increase your chances of blocking an attack, but equally important is the placement of your saber at the time your opponent makes his attack. If you can maneuver you saber between your player model and the incoming saber swing, your chances of blocking will be massively more successful. This, I believe is why Light stance and Medium stance are thought to be(or are) more successful at blocking strikes--because if you're facing your opponent then your saber is between the two of you, which is exactly where it needs to be. This is more important when you have a low saber defense score, as you'll have to "manually" block most incoming strikes if you want to survive. Think of having high defense as blocking on "auto".

I feel I have to break this to all the Light and Medium stance proponents out there: there's yet another reason not to use your styles. A player can render himself completely invulnerable to your Light Style attacks and about 90% resistant to Medium attacks simply by getting level 3 saber defense, squatting in a corner and facing you. That 10% of Medium that will hit is the finishing move (sometimes) and the occasional swing that gets a bit behind him. I did this over and over again to verify it, and I am sorry to say it's true. This even works against many of the Strong stance swings, although you can break the defense nearly 100% if you get extremely close. That's because the swing's range is so great that the saber ends up behind the opponent and effectively gets them in the back. I actually killed myself on my assistants immobile outstretched blade while trying to score a hit with Light Stance. Did we need any more reasons not to use it? There are two exceptions to this: The light stance backstab is completely unblockable when your opponent is crouched, and the Light Stance lunge move can break through maybe 5% of the time.

Light Stance Blockability - you can block this all day long even with only level 1 saber defense. Someone using this is basically going to have to get behind you or far to one side to hit you with anything or charge blindly into you while you are swinging at them. The backstab is fully blockable, and is oddly moved off to the right sometimes by the block (make that very oddly), but is unblockable by a crouched target. The lunge move is also easily blocked by a stationary opponent, but not a moving one.

Medium Stance Blockability - Slightly more effective than light style because of its greater range which makes its attacks come more from the sides or behind than the Light Style counterparts. These are still blocked easily by looking at your attacker directly and not moving or attacking. The Medium finisher move is blockable, but rarely, because it slices down from above and to the side. The rear sweep attack is blockable but is dangerous in 3 different stages, all of which must be blocked if you are positioned correctly. This combined with the strangeness of the attack makes the chances of a successful block very slim.

Strong Stance Blockability - By far the least blockable of the stances. The oft-decried "Death from Above" finisher is actually blockable, but the close positioning required to do so is not only difficult, but seemingly inconsistent. Better to just get out of the way. I have not seen a successful block yet against the strong back sweep swing. This is for all sakes and purposes, unblockable. Of special note is the overhand vertical swing (forward or backwards + attack). This swing actually hits a stationary target twice and was the most successful at breaking through the "squatters" defense mentioned above. Many times the first hit near the head will be blocked, but the second hit near the knees will not. The backwards+right swing is also very penetrative when it connects low in the animation near the feet.

- Saber Throw Blocking - The saber defense skill appears to have no effect whatsoever on whether or not a thrown saber will be blocked. Even with only level 1 defense every front-impact throw can be successfully blocked using any stance as long as you are standing still. The only throws that will connect are those that attack from the sides or behind. Someone is always vulnerable to a throw while they are attacking. Despite beliefs to the contrary, testing has shown that it makes no difference whatsoever whether you throw at the feet, the body or the head--all frontal attacks will still be blocked.

Countering "Death From Above" (DFA)

Also known as the Strong Finishing Move or Strong Leap Attack, this move seems to have caused players more grief than any other saber move. The ease with which it can be done, the massive damage it inflicts, the ability to rotate the swing during execution, and the huge hitbox it seemingly has make this cut one of the most effective in the game.

Though difficult, there are several saber-only ways of countering this move. The simplest of those would be to get out of the way. The drawback to that is that if you retreat too far then you have gained nothing, but neither have you lost anything. Learn to judge the minimum safe distance from the DFA and retreat no farther than you must--that will maximize your ability to counter. Another easy solution is to back away and throw your saber where they land. It's a quick 30 points of damage and they are completely defenseless against it. That's the strategy I recommend for FFA private duels: a few of those and they'll think twice before using DFA again. I would not recommend using this against someone who can heal themselves through heal, drain or by picking up nearby health and shield packs. All that would do is drain your force by 3 bars that could have been used on a more effective tactic. Third, you can attempt to counter their DFA with one of your own. The timing for this is very tricky, as is judging the distance and angle of your target. I have found that if you begin the swing that will lead into your DFA as soon as you know which direction they are lunging in, then your timing will drop you on top of them just as they are recovering from their slice: it should be a duel-winner. Lastly, if you find someone repeatedly spamming this move, you can choose to crowd them by staying close. The DFA-user is very susceptible to a counterswing very early in their execution when their saber is far back over their head. Try staying right on top of them and using a lot of the forward/back + attack downward chops and the back + right + attack diagonal uppercuts with the Strong style.

Though this isn't a guide on using force powers, in the interests of being thorough i'll mention a few force power counters. First, and most simple, using Force Push on them while they are in the air is 100% guaranteed to push them away from you. This may just serve to disengage you from melee for a few seconds and not allow you to counterattack, but it is very effective when in a closed in space where other strategies are not viable and when your enemy is close to a bottomless pit. Force Lightning can also be a big help. Being able to damage your opponent without ever entering his DFA range will force him to either change tactics or face eventual death (you are unlikely to kill him on the first shot, even by using up a full charge from your force pool). The Drain and Grip combination is a winner in this situation, though it uses up a ton of force power. The idea is to Drain them while avoiding their initial swings, then to Grip them once they hit the ground with their DFA. At that point, either complete the grip for full damage, or carry them to the nearest bottomless pit and drop them in for an easy kill. The last tactic is the most difficult, but can be the most punishing. Once they complete the DFA, there will be a very brief recovery where they will be completely vulnerable to being Pushed or Pulled from close range. If you time it perfectly, you can rush them at this point and knock them over 100% of the time. The importance of grasping the opportunity at just the right point cannot be stressed enough! If you go too soon, you risk being hacked by their still-dangerous saber. Too late, and they can counter your Push/Pull or simply get away. Follow the knock-down with a powerful swing and this could win you the duel.

Getting Up off Your 4$$ and Back Into the Fight

Getting knocked down by kicks, Push and Pull is a common occurrence in jk2. Getting up quickly and avoiding the incoming saber aimed at your head is not so common. There are three ways to get up: a back flip, a high back flip, and a kick-flip.

A simple back flip is done by pushing one of the directional movement keys or your attack button when you're knocked to the ground. This performs a low backflip off of the ground to a standing position. The Good: very fast; gives you a chance to block incoming attacks if you stand completely still and face your opponent immediately after getting up. The Bad: you're a sitting duck; the Strong overhand chop can frequently break through your block and hit you once or twice; if you don't get up quickly, then instead of blocking that cut you're going to take it in the teeth.

The high back flip is accomplished by mashing your jump key repeatedly when knocked down. This performs the same animation as the simple flip, but gets some air between you and your attacker. The Good: fast; most horizontal swings will go underneath you. The Bad: not as fast as the simple flip; a saber hit will throw you a good distance, which might result in a falling death; still susceptible to the overhand chop.

The kick flip is like the high back flip except that as you hit the jump key, you push forward towards your opponent. Done properly, this will not only avoid damage from the incoming attack, but will inflict 20 points of kick damage on your opponent. The Good: fast; can counter-attack; may knock the opponent over. The bad: enemy has to be within kick range.

Notes: You are not helpless while getting up. You are free to use Force Push, Pull, Protection, Absorb and many other force powers as soon as you begin to get up. If your enemy is a little too slow to come in for the kill, you may succeed in knocking him flat with Push or Pull. Another Light Side tactic would be to turn on Force Protection as soon as you get knocked over. That way, even if you do get hit with the incoming swing it will take off far less damage. Make sure to turn it off quickly after getting up as it drains your Force pool quickly.