Emperor Palpatine: Force Guide

Overview:

The Emperor (Emp) is a weaker character in Force but like Yoda he can be deadly while controlled by the correct person. His saber is strong if you click rapidly. His health is a bit lower than normal. His dash is strong when timed properly. His force powers are choke and lightning, and he has a lightning slam. He can also float.

The Emp moves slower than normal run speed. His dash is one of the few unique dashes in the game where you can knock the enemy down. The dash is difficult to master though, because if you click your swing at the wrong time, it will not knock them over and you will usually die. Never try the dash at a great distance, you will usually run out of power. The dash is best used at close distances either after choke or after you block a force attack. When you are sprinting toward the enemy be sure to begin clicking just before you reach them. If you click as you reach them, you won't knock them over. Once they are down finish them off with your saber.

The Emperor has a float similar to Vader's. To activate this you must hit jump twice. You will be able to stay in the air for about 4 seconds before falling back to the ground again. There are advantages to his float: is escaping, choke float, lightnight float, or his lightning slam (which I will get to at the end).

In a saber fight, the Emp is occasionally powerful. He will seem slow when he begins his combo, BUT if you time it right, he is surprisingly very quick. So in essence, he has a slight warm-up time before his saber is quick. Generally when you get past the first two swings he speeds up. Now you do not want to go head on with an enemy unless you for sure can land his final swing. The first two little swings make you vulnerable to a backhand or interruption, but the third knocks them down. There is also a gap between the first swings and the final stun swipe, enemies can backhand you or escape in this time. So what I try to do is start the combo without touching them and hit them with the last swing.

The Emp is a survivalist, hiding in the shadows, rather than an all out warrior type. People realize that his saber is weaker at the start, so you may be hunted. No, I lie. You WILL be hunted. As the Emperor more heroes will double/triple team you than any other character. Once you get good at the Emperor, you can defeat these double teams easily. I highly recommend spending times on roofs, or behind buildings. You will always need to hide.

The first way to beat the enemy is using your force powers. Choke is the easiest to use and can lead you into the dash very easily. As mentioned before with Vader, when you choke someone there is a slight downtime when it is released. This gives you just a bit of time to make your dash as the enemy recovers from choke. If you are close to the enemy and have full power, choke them a bit then begin your dash. Don't forget to swing just before you get to them and KEEP moving through to knock them down. If you get to them and stop and begin swinging, they can usually escape. You will know if you are doing it correctly by his left-right saber sweeps. The normal combo begins low-to-high side swing. Sometimes it is difficult to tell if you are still dashing because he's extremely slow anyway. If you do knock them over, backup or turn around and finish them off. If you fail to knock them over, get your block up quickly and hide (you will be low power from the choke and dash).

You can also use choke alone. If you choose to choke and get the enemy to just below half health, be prepared for another choke and dash because they will come after you.

The next force power is lightning. This force power is under appreciated but is very powerful. This power is what's known as an AE (area affect) attack. This power will hit multiple enemies in range, teammates too. It has an area like a small half circle in front of you. The range of lightning is short and to master this you will have to test it. If you are on a roof that is just one level above ground, you will be able to look down and lightning the enemies below. This is good for when you are semi-trapped but still want to do some damage. If you have full power and every flash of lightning hits the enemy, they will die (unless a gunner). This means that a single lightning hit takes roughly 1/8th of a hero's health.

As the Emp, many heroes will attempt silly acrobatics to avoid getting choked while fighting you. This is usually Luke and is usually a few jumps over you before actually landing. This is something you need to be careful of. Luke's downward aerial attack on the Emp is devastating. It can kill you in one hit. Do not jump up or they will swing mid-air. Do not stay where you were to begin with, this usually leads to them jumping over you, then back over you, then back on top and killing you. You want to give them the impression you are not moving, so if you believe they will land, move out of the way and choke. You can also wait for them to do the landing swing and dash them (be sure to knock them over).

The reason I am mentioning them jumping over you multiple times, is you have lightning. If they are going to pull their Cirque Du Soleil act, then you want to lightning as they are jumping over you. This will either lead to two things: Them landing to avoid further injury, or them hiding. If they land, switch quickly to choke. Or if you are brave you can saber them. If they go into hiding, they will likely try the circus jumping again in which you will again do the lightning. If they are low health they will try to run, you can sometimes catch their tail end with a lightning. Heroes also retreat to roofs. If you are below and they try to jump to a roof, keep lightning on and at least take some of their health.

Another unique lightning move is the float lightning. If an enemy is on a roof you can jump and activate your float and hit them with a few lightening shots as you float by. You can also do float choke.

The Emperor's lightning slam is my last main topic:

Unlike Mace's earthquake slam, the Emp's downward lightning attack takes a character's health only to half (save for Chewie). If executed properly, You can take out whole crowds of heroes. One of my favorite moves is being on a roof and hitting lightning on a group of heroes. There is a good chance that eventually you can get a couple of them to half health. Be sure they aren't facing you and begin your jump and float (spacebar twice). When you are floating all you have to do is click and the Emp will begin his downward slam. This is also an AE, but it can affect anyone around you in a circle (including friendlies). If an enemy is half health or below they will be shot away from you and die. The only exception to this rule is if they have damage reduction on. When I first was getting use to the Emperor I did a lot of roof hopping just searching for half health enemies to slam when they weren't looking. It is very fun and fulfilling. Just be careful if your allies are in the area, because it takes their health too with team dmg set to on.

There is another move I would suggest to try. If a character is lower in health and on a roof above you. You can float choke them and then do the lightning slam. This makes it so they cannot pull or push you as you are getting in range for the lightning slam.

Finally, when you are double teamed, the egos of the players make it so each of them wants the kill. You will find them hitting each other if they go after you on a roof. When fighting multiple people, the combo is pretty deadly, especially the third swipe. If they are blundering be sure to take them out with that third swipe and try to avoid going head on with them, because you are easily interrupted.

Emperor vs. Pullers:

As with Vader, keep yourself away from pullers in an open area. Be sure to block yourself from them with a building. Keep block up as much as possible. When pullers do not land a pull or two, they will back up further and try again. Try to wait for them to come to you. It is a known fact among regulars, that people who play Aayla are not very experienced in the game. I'm not saying ALL Aaylas are like this, but most. This works to the Emperor's advantage. When you get pulled (yes when), you have half a second to activate float. If there is a building close by, get behind it. An inexperienced Aayla will not pull the second time at the right moment, so hopefully you can escape. Otherwise if they are below half, try the lightning slam. I have been pulled twice and have been able to float at the last second in time for a lightning slam. If they are full health though, you are dead. Just try to stay away and make them come to you. I will always be mentioning the domes on top of the buildings, but you need to use them as much as possible.

Emperor vs. Pushers:

As long as it's not Luke doing his acrobatics, pushers are usually easy to defeat. Again, their range is the same as choke and you can generally choke them after you block a push. Be sure your lightsaber sparks before you hit choke, because game lag makes it so you can be pushed even if you see them choking. If you do not have enough endurance for a dash, just choke and escape, for you will not be able to take most of them head on.

Emperor vs. Dashers:

I will just copy what I said in Vader's for it's the same. The game makes it so when they get close and you are trying to choke them, they will stop at your front door. So when they are coming at you, be sure to choke and they will stop at your feet. If you wish you can also single click them on their non saber side, but be careful of Obi-Wan and Aayla doing this move.

Emperor vs. Gunners:

With your lower overall health, don't play around with gunners. You are slow and can hardly catch them. Choke them and get it over with. If you don't, you'll be shot. And we know how much you love dying to a Chewie bowcaster or a Leia who snipes you. Try to stay above them, or if you cannot do that, keep block on. Lightning works great, as does the slam. Try not to expose yourself, or else your head will have a hole in it quickly. I have noticed that the Emperor's combo tends to keep them from rolling away from you. It seems to suck them back to right in front of you to finish them off.