Mace Windu: Non-Force

Mace Windu is a strong No-Force player. His block range and his quick combo are his main tools but players who are adept at quick "nulls" and backhands add more tactics to this character.

As everyone knows, Mace has normal health and his movement speed is normal. His speed gives him a slight upper hand when going against slower characters if used correctly.

If you are dueling with Mace you'll want to avoid giving free openings. Keep your finger on the block button because your enemy knows you most likely won't be dashing them. This will make your opponent more aggressive toward you. Many dueling Maces win their battles by having patience and not giving the enemy a reason to attack. If you sprint around a lot as Mace you won't do as well as someone with a powerful dash. You want to bring your enemies in closer so you can get them with your powerful combo.

Mace's combo is one of the quickest in the game, just a couple swings and then bam it finishes with a final spin-around. You want your enemy to get close to the combo not only because it will harm them, but it usually knocks them down too. If you're facing a higher health opponent and they take the full force of your combo, they are often stunned but still alive. The knockdown can aid you in finishing them off at that point. His combo has a small hole in it, between the two swings and the final spin hit, so be aware of that gap.

There are a couple basic tactics you can use to pull in the average duelist, the first being fake sprint. If you act like you are sprinting toward them, they will then react in some way. On average, they will move to the side and get closer to you. If you do this a few times they may think they have an opening to dash you, but keep that block handy. If your block lands when they attack they will either stand there, or they will roll away. Standing there means you can kill them quickly, rolling away means you need to use a follow tactic that even the best players die from. More on the follow tactic in a bit.
Another way to pull in your opponent is by doing short jumps. Single jumps that do not tax your energy but make your enemy thing they can get in close enough to take you out as you land. While dueling with Mace, the less time you're in the air the better. If they come in close get ready for an attack. Try to land before they get there. If you feel that they will get there before you land. Jump a couple more times to get away. The bigger the distance the better (tougher against Vaders though).

Once you do have your opponent in close, you'll want to either kill them or stun them, or both :). Your combo is your best but for an easy killing blow. Sometimes your opponent will sprint in acting like they are going to dash but stop and start their combo. Try to angle yourself away from their saber and perform yours, it will usually kill or stun with damage. The enemy's back is usually the safest spot to attempt to combo when they are mid swing. Depending on who you are fighting, like a Maul or Grievous, you may get sucked into their combo from behind so be careful. Just watch for the holes in their combos or wait for them to finish and have block down.
When they are close you can also attempt a backhand or two, angle yourself so they are slightly to your right and behind you since your backhand is swung along your right side. This gives you a higher opportunity of knockdown. If you do stun them you can finish them off with a combo or a slam.

"Nulling" on Mace is pretty easy too. Many people nowadays interchange "null" and stun too easily, so I will go back to my old standby of what I defined "null" as before the community knew it as that. I always called it a sidestep click. In essence it's a single click instead of your full combo, but not head on to provide a better chance to take less damage.
If your opponent in a duel is coming at you with a dash, sometimes all you have to do is move to the side slightly and single click your mouse. This seems to work very well as Mace and you can get an instant knockdown too. Finish up with a combo or slam. Now depending on lag and the characters you are facing this will not always work. It's tougher on a Vader for example, so try backhand instead.

Before I get into the following tactic, you'll want to at least attempt Mace's dash here and there. It sometimes works well and sometimes leaves you open for a death. To explain the dash better I'll quote myself: "...he jumps forward a bit and does this squatting double swing." That is the extent of his dash. However you can follow it up with a combo and that is where the value comes in. If you time his little hop close enough to an enemy you can surprise them. You'll appear in front of them swinging and finishing up with a combo. Granted all they have to do is move away to avoid this, but you can take out the enemy who was planning on you waiting for them to attack.
His dash also has a slight knockdown feature if you get good at it too. It works best when your opponent is rolling or when their back is to you when you dash. But this is where the follow tactic comes in handy with mace.

Time and time again you will see a player dash roll dash roll, or combo roll combo roll. It becomes such a habit for them to roll after they have missed, that you can exploit it if you are quick enough. If you are able to block or avoid an opponents attack, get ready to sprint. You have to react very quickly, following whatever direction they decide to roll which is usually left or right. If you go after them too late, they may come up from a roll with their block on. They could also start backhanding like crazy or comboing. Once you get the hang of chasing a roll you'll know the timing. If you are not going to get the kill back off or you'll probably be stunned by a backslash.
Anyway chase them and you can either start comboing where they are finishing their roll, or you can dash them as they are rolling. The dash will most likely stun them if you time it right (the actual swing hitting them). Now this is all depends on lag too. If you are facing someone with 40+ ping lower than you, you'll have a very difficult time getting them by the time they stand up. It never hurts to try though.

There isn't a way to describe Mace's slam timing. You just have to learn when and where to jump over time. It's best to learn the distances by playing force, but in no force you can use his slam to your advantage too. If a character is low health, you do not have to hit them directly in order to finish them. The slam does a bit of AE (area effect) damage, or splash damage. You can also use it to finish someone if you won't be able to make it quick enough to combo them before they recover. So let's say you stun someone but you rolled away not knowing you stunned them. By the time you sprint in and try to combo they may be up and backhand. Try the leap-slam and finish them that way instead.

In full map Mace is strong if you use him wisely. You most likely will not win ground level battles against Mauls, Grievous', and Vaders. So use the maps levels to your advantage. Make the enemy come to you as often as possible.
You will always want to keep an eye on your mini-map. The silly deaths are the ones where you aren't paying attention. Whenever you are moving to a new area do a quick circle and look for those dots. You can see a red dot easier if they are in your awareness cone. You can still see them outside the cone but not as well, so keep one eye on the mini-map at all times.

I discourage leaping to buildings where enemies are as Mace. The reason being if you leap to a building they are on and you slam, you are leaving yourself completely vulnerable if you miss. If you leap to a building and don't slam, you have a chance of being dashed before you can get block up. So if you do not want to die a lot, avoid jumping to roofs where enemies have a clear shot at you (flat roof east side of Mos Eisley).

In each no force guide I have mentioned the use of backhand against aerial attacks, as always use this as much as possible. Not only does it stun the enemy but you may go unscathed. Sometimes you do take some damage, be it lag or bad timing, but if you're full health you generally won't die if you land the backhand. Be careful though of if you backhand your opponent off the ledge, they may not be stunned depending on how they fall. I can't quite explain this properly but it's generally a wall bounce effect like in force. It shows them fallen and stunned but they recover faster. This happens the most of they go head into a wall after being backhanded off a roof. If they get flung off and continue rolling on ground level, you can generally catch up and finish them off before recovery.

I always like to change directions up while using Mace full map. You can frustrate your enemy by jumping up to a roof when they come down, or jumping down when they go up. You can also act like you are running away around a corner but come back real quick and surprise them. If they are waiting on a roof for you to jump up and give them free opening, do the same right back, don't fall into their trap. I usually circle their roof a few times often changing which way around I'm going then just get up on a different roof and wait for them. It's very pointless to jump to a roof where an opponent is waiting for you to do just that. It's much easier to throw them for a loop for a little bit so they know you are not going to fall into the traps.

Keep your awareness up, because most of the time you won't just be going 1v1. You will always be fighting multiple people. Mace's combo does extremely well against multiple people. Sometimes your enemy will rush in thinking he'll have you just as you're finishing his teammate, but will be stunned by your final hit. That's their messup, so kill them too. Try to get twofers, because if you're on a roof and two jump up at you while you're swinging, you're likely to do some damage. Avoid the Mauls and Grievous' head on, because they will most likely get you with their long reach. These are the characters you want to combo their open back while they aren't paying attention. Sometimes starting the combo before you get to these guys is better too, they have an uncanny nack for single-click-throwing-you forward-stun. So if you hit them with the final there, you can avoid being hit in Mace's combo gap.

If you want to survive a little longer, just play a bit more defensively with Mace. Avoid using his slam on an unstunned opponent (unless really low health) and keep your eye on the mini-map.