Darth Maul: Non-Force

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.