Yoda: Non-Force

Yoda is a weak, but fast character with a very damaging saber combo, good block, great dash attack, and is the hardest character to hit, but has only one move that causes any knockdown or stun.

Yoda is probably the strangest Jedi to play as. His size is very helpful in avoiding certain attacks such ass the emperor's charge attack. This size factor also makes him one of the hardest heroes to knock down. Attacks such as the emperor's dash will go right over him completely and will never even touch Yoda. This size factor can allow Yoda to get in close and hit people while only getting hit with glancing blows which have little chance of knocking him down. Because of this, you will find that in duels, you will frequently get a tie rather than outright winning a duel.

Yoda's saber combo is also very unique. I (Sneek) will not go in depth into it because there is only one part of the combo that is worth using, and that is the first swing. Yoda's first swing with his saber combo is more powerful than any first swing in the game, provided all three hits connect. Because of this, the rest of his combo is useless. Never use it. This one hit is a very effective tactic in a duel, because you can approach with your block up, click once, and your opponent has one fourth of his health remaining, which is very easy to take off with one dash.

The dash is a very quick move which can be run out of, and has the unusual quality of allowing stamina regeneration during the dash. The dash includes two swings, and then if you click multiple times, yoda will do a pivot flip after the two swings. However, in a duel, this pivot will make you very vulnerable. You should stick to single clicking for yoda's dash, so that you only do the two swings, which have no pivot time after them, you can immediately run after you attack and get away. Yoda's dash has a very wide range, wider than his saber, so keep this in mind. The weakness with yoda's dash attack, is that it has no chance of knocking down, and during the attack, you are very vulnerable to null or backswing. Always be mindful that you are not running into these, because if you run into a null or backswing in a duel, it is over, you lose. So it is advised that you try and trick your opponent and not just run straight at him predictably.

Yoda's air attack is somewhat like Obi/Anakin, and Mundi's. It is a stab that doesn't do a whole lot of damage. The only applications I've found with Yoda's air attack, are hitting people in the air (obviously) and doing a jet jump (sprinting and jumping) and then immediately clicking to do a fast air stab.

The last thing worth mentioning for Yoda is his backswing. Yoda's backswing is vitally important to him, because this is the only attack he has which can knockdown. Some uses with backswing include running at your opponent and backswinging, or blocking, and walking up and backswinging. Backswing is even better defensively, if someone is running at you, throw out a backswing and they will probably fall. Don't be fooled by fake sprints though.

As to Yoda's abilities during a full map non force fight, I (Mawk) feel he is pretty effective.

One thing you MUST think about with Yoda, is how long it can take to kill an opponent. In full map you will most likely be taking a few runs at your enemy before they die. So you have to learn the art of stalking. You need to be very good at escaping when needed, because Yoda will not always win a head on saber fight. With good tactics and practice you can do very well with him.

The first thing I will mention in regards to Yoda in non force, is you will need to learn sprint jumps, or jet jumps as Sneek calls it. These quick jumps help you move from building to building, without using much energy. It makes it so if you are on the same level or jumping to a level just a bit higher than you, you won't have to expend all that energy from jumping a couple times for a further distance. Since most of the buildings on mos eisley are roughly on the same level, this tactic is very effective, especially for Yoda.

If you leap from building to building, be sure to check your minimap. Someone could be hiding behind a dome and the second you land they will come out and saber you. If you see a dot show up when you jump, you'll still have enough energy to BACK OUT of the jump. So be sure to always conserve energy for a quick escape.
You must think of Yoda as an assassin in non force. He is NOT a tank. His attacks need to be quick and deadly if you want to survive.

His dash is pretty good in full map. One good thing is you won't always be going head on against an opponent and you can sneak a dash in and get away. If you do go head on against someone, don't just blindly dash them, you can easily be nulled. I find myself sometimes waiting for the enemy to come to me and as they get to me (generally jumping up/across to where I am) I do a quick dash and damage them. Then you can sprint around a corner and get up on another roof as they follow you. If you repeat this a couple times you can pretty much kill them without taking damage. This is generally against the people who aren't really good at non force. Follow Sneek's advice with doing a single click dash, this does just as much damage as hitting them with it and continuing the dash past them. The continuation usually misses and you can wind up being vulnerable. So single click them as you dash and it will just do the first part of it.

His aerial attack is actually quite damaging. It isn't as effective in duels as Sneek mentioned, mainly because you're going face to face and you can't hide much. But in full map if you land an air attack you can do some decent damage. There are key moments to do this. The first moment to do an air attack would be when someone is leaping at you. They can be leaping up to you, or can be leaping across from you, or even leaping down. Yoda has plenty of energy to jump and his height makes it so you have smaller jumps. You can time your jumps even with the enemies and strike them in mid-air. This will do enough damage for if they come after you a combo, or a couple dashes can finish them off.

Another time to do an aerial attack is when the enemy is below you and does not see you. They can be busy looking at one of your teammates elsewhere or whatever. Calculate your jump so you will land on their head and end up slightly in front of them. This is fairly easy to do. As you land on their head click once, do not click more than once or timing will be thrown off. This will hack them a bit of damage. They will be surprised and start swinging. If you time this right you can land and instantly begin a backslash. Since they will be moving forward to swing at you they can be stunned with your backhand. Finish them with a single click of your combo to do the most damage. This will defeat anyone if executed properly, due to the damage of the aerial, the backhand, and the combo. The only problem you should have is against a Grievous with the damage reduction on. At that point I'd just wait it out til you see that green orb around them go away.

Yoda's combo as Sneek mentioned, is deadliest in it's first click ONLY. You will waste your time and leave yourself open to attacks if you do the full combo. You can of course do the full combo if you've stunned someone with a backswing, but look out for other enemies. The first click does a 3 part hit that not many realize, it takes about 7/8 of health on a normal health character, and about 3/4 on a higher health character.

The best way to execute his combo is by approaching someone from behind, clicking once, and getting out of there with roll or jump. If they are full health you can finish them off with a well placed dash or aerial attack. If they were already lower health you will have an easy kill. If you DO attempt to take someone head on, do not just click click click, because you will die while taking them with you, and a 1/1 kill/death ratio isn't that great. If they come at you head on, try to keep your saber on them and click once and try to escape. This generally works and try to get away before being stunned. I've also found that rolling is generally the best way to get Yoda away, you can then sprint out of there. His jump doens't seem to get the height you want, and against taller villains he can be snagged back down with their saber.

Overall you want to always be changing directions with Yoda. Go in and do some damage and get out of there. Even if it's sprinting around the bottom of a building and coming up behind the person you just damaged. You have to move quick and precise with him. Stalk your opponents by knowing where they are, and make sure you continue relentlessly attacking the person you've damaged. No point damaging someone and starting over with someone else, because usually it takes a few runs.

Be patient, quick, and escape when you need to. Don't stick around for a fight with Yoda. He's like a flying creature that swoops in, bites a piece of you, flys away, and comes back again. Keep that in mind when you fight non force with him.