Intro
Hi this is an advanced guide on combat for Lightsaber Brawling. Special thanks to Noel’s dueling guide for explaining a lot of the similar mechanics from Movie Battles II.
Contents
1] Saber styles.
2] Blocking points, Force points and HUD.
3] Blocking and basic movement.
4] Attacking, damage, interrupts and combos.
5] Slapping.
6] Swing blocking.
7] Perfect blocking.
8] Counters.
9] ACM and ACC (Attack Chain Multiplier and Attack Chain Count)
10] Parrying.
11] Half swinging.
12] Yaw(ing.)
13] Shadow swinging.
14] Special attacks (DFA, Kata.)
1. Saber Styles.
Each lightsaber form has a unique set of animations, damage, and speed. The base damage of your saber form controls how much stamina you lose per swing (8 base damage means 8 out of 100 block points lost). See more info below:
Shii-Cho
Base Damage: 7
Animation Speed: Fast
Windup Speed: Fast
Combo Limit: 4
Makashi
Base Damage: 8
Animation Speed: Slow
Windup Speed: Slow
Combo Limit: 3
Soresu
Base Damage: 8
Animation Speed: Slow
Windup Speed: Fast
Combo Limit: 2
Crossguard
Perks: 10% bonus damage on stamina and attacking.
Darksaber
Perks: Drains 10% less stamina.
Curved
Perks: Increased Range.
Double
Perks: Increased Range.
Combo Limit: 4
Dual
Perks: Increased attack speed and damage on hit.
Combo Limit: 4
2. Blocking points, Force points and HUD.
Force points:
Force points are the blue bar on your HUD. They determine the number of force-based abilities you can do. Once you reach zero force points, you may no longer perform any more force-based abilities.
You regenerate force points automatically when you are not performing a force-based ability.
Block points:
Block points are the red bar on your HUD. They determine the number of lightsaber swings you can block without Perfect blocking (see later).
Swinging, jumping and most forms of attack also all consume block points.
You regenerate block points automatically so long as you are walking, blocking or standing still.
This is why most duelists prefer to walk throughout the duration of a fight, so that their Block points are continuously regenerating.
3. Blocking and basic movement.
In order to stay alive during duels, you need to block. To block with your light saber, simply hold right click or mouse2.
Whilst blocking, you cannot run and will not be killed from any frontal light saber swings. Be careful not to get hit in your back, however.
If you are attacked by a light saber whilst blocking, you will lose BP (Block points - explained above.) Once your block points are too low, blocking will no longer defend against saber swings.
Just like in any normal PC game, you can move forwards, backwards, left, right and in all of the corresponding diagonal directions using WASD.
You can also walk quicker if you hold right click without shift.
4. Attacking and combos.
You may also have noticed that walking in different directions allows you to perform different swings. This is another essential piece of information.
For example, if you hold D then left click, you will perform a different animation and swing to holding WA then left click.
Attacks speed varies on the saber style that you have chosen.
You also take a very high amount of damage if you are attacked during the windup of your swing, this is known as an interrupt:
In order to attack quickly, you need to learn how to combo.
To perform a combo, simply hold or tap left click and walk in different directions, you will notice that the attacks chain together.
Some of the easiest combinations to do are:
A, D, A, D
WD, WA, WD, WA
SD, SA, SD, SA
SA, WD, SA, WD
WA, SD, WA, SD
5. Slapping.
Slapping an opponent who is not blocking will result in them falling on the ground, and presents an opportunity for you to attack them whilst they are on the floor.
Slapping an opponent who is blocking will do nothing.
Slaps are useful for creating space when needing to retreat, or finishing off your opponent when they are low on stamina because they cannot hit back.
6. Swing blocking.
Swing blocking is one of the most fundamental parts to being good at dueling in Lightsaber Brawling. Swing blocking allows you to attack your opponent whilst simultaneously blocking, meaning that you cannot be slapped or disarmed.
To swing block, simply tap left click to attack, and then hold down right click straight after.
You will notice you performed a swing block when you are slowed and your block snaps back right after the swing animation finishes.
7. Perfect blocking.
Perfect blocking is a very important part of MBII, and also one of the hardest to get consistent.
Being good at perfect blocking requires good knowledge of the zones, quick reactions and an element of prediction.
To perfect block, you simply move your mouse to the designated area the swing is coming from - if your opponent swings WA then you look to their top left, for example.
https://medal.tv/games/roblox/clips/oGF4CwuUVvecU/d1337C4B9VOD?invite=cr-MSxyOTMsNDIxMjUyMTIs
Successfully perfect blocking results in you losing no BP from an opponents swing, so they are crucial to surviving duels.
Advice and good habit:
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Crosshair placement: Always keep your crosshair high above the opponents head around the area of the ‘W’ zone. This allows quick reaction to the most common (W, WD, WA) swings.
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Overlaps: Try to figure out any areas of overlap, for example there are places you can look that will block both SD and D swings/SA and A swings in one location.
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Distance: Distance affects the area of the zones, because they are relative to the model. This means that the closer you are, the more extreme your mouse movements need to be. Also, keeping your distance gives you a longer chance to react and makes PBing easier.
8. Counters.
Counters are done by anticipating your opponents swing, and then attacking back just before they hit, this results in a very quick swing which hits your opponent in return.
You can also perfect block their hit and then counter which is one of the best ways to defend yourself.
9. Attack Chain Count/Multiplier (ACC/ACM).
ACM allows you to do more damage per swing. The higher your ACM value, the more damage each of your swings does. In order to get ACM you need to get ACC.
ACC is built by successfully hitting your opponent whilst not being hit yourself, or perfect blocking their hits.
ACC cannot be built on subsequent combo hits, so if you hit a 4 hit combo, you won’t get +4 ACC, just +1 from the first body hit of the combo.
ACC cannot be built if your opponent perfect blocks the swing.
You gain +1 ACM when when, with +4 ACC.
ACM values are as follows:
+1 ACM: 1.2x damage.
+2 ACM: 1.4x damage.
+3 ACM: 1.6x damage… etc
+9 ACM (limit): 2.6x damage.
10. Parrying.
Normal parrying is where you swing in between your opponent’s swings, resulting in an 80% defense against your opponent’s swings.
This isn’t as effective as PBing as you are still getting hit but can be used to even out some of the damage your opponent does to you.
To parry, simply start a combo just as your opponent’s first swing hits you.
11. Half Swinging.
Half swinging is a built-in mechanic to reduce spam. When you spam in a combo, you will notice your subsequent hits have faster animations. However, they also have 50% reduced damage but cost the same amount of stamina.
12. Yaw/Yawing.
Yawing is the act of turning your mouse with a swing, meaning that the attack is harder to perfect block as the swing time is less and the animation looks less obvious.
The goal with yaw is to hit your opponent with the earliest part of the animation as possible, without exposing too much of your back or side so that you can be killed.
You always move your mouse in the direction of the swing, so for instance, any swings on the D side, you would turn right and any on the A side you would turn left. You can also look down with W swings and up with S swings to improve it further.
13. Shadow swinging.
Shadow swinging is where you aim to hit your opponent without being hit yourself. This can be with combos or single hits.
To shadow swing, simply run towards your enemy and swing, then yaw in the direction of your swing and run away.
Overthinking shadow swing often results in problems, so I tend to play from feel rather than mechanically working out the best direction to run after a swing etc.
You should always aim to run away using W, A and D only. When you run with S, you actually move slower, which increases your opponents chance of hitting you back.
This is an effective way to build ACM.
Additionally, landing a hit on a players block and waiting until your saber reaches back to it’s original position will reset your combo limit immediately which can help with doing back to back shadow swings.
14. Special Attacks.
Single Saber Aerial:
Space + Left click + W - Performs a jumping slash attack, which does a lot of damage if you land it. Very effective when you slap and then hit them whilst they’re on the ground. Moderate risk, high reward.
Double/Dual Aerial:
Space + Left click + W - Jumping barrage of attacks, deals a lot of damage the more hits of it you land on your opponent. Low risk, moderate reward.