Version History
(1.0) 12/04/02 - Wrote entire sabers section.
(1.1) 15/04/02 - Added in force section and added more to sabers.
(1.2) 17/04/02 - Added in useless stuff to make my guide look cooler and so people don't steal it.

Sections 1.0-General Sabering
2.0-The stances
2.1-Light
2.2-Medium
2.3-Heavy
3.0-Using the Force
3.1-General Force Tips
3.2-Light
3.3-Dark

Note: Print this out and practice what I'm telling you. You won't regret it.

Writing this cause I have nothing to do right now, and I think it will benefit some of our less experienced members. I'm going to assume that you aren't a complete newbie, and at least know the basics. Anyway, I'm going to be covering pretty much everything I know. That included: When and when not to use certain moves/stances, strengths and weaknesses of each, how to use force powers in conjunction with the saber, diff force powers, and even a little bit on gunning. I'm going to start off with NF sabers, because force can really mess you up if you use it excessively (instead of learning proper saber ownage) when you're learning, so practice and learn all of the saber stuff first. * Maybe (lol)

General Sabering (1.0)
These are a few very important tips. I guarantee that after reading this short section, you will be better almost instantaneously. * If you take anything away from this guide, I want you to remember these, and apply them to every aspect of your sabering. No matter what stance you're in, force or not, no matter who you're facing, these apply to every stance. Keep that in mind.

-You don't need to mash the attack button. Holding it down works better, and gives you better control. You pretty much need to use this technique to use the heavy stance, due to its speed.

-Don't attack where someone is. People with half of a brain will move out of the way. The trick is to attack where someone will be. Example: Someone is charging you, you start a heavy swing. Instead of aiming right at em, turn/strafe slightly left or right, chances are, you'll get them as they're trying to evade. This is probably the most important thing I can teach you. Words cannot express how important this is. You need to see this in action. Apply this technique to EVERYTHING.

-Another important point. Know your enemy!! Learn and adapt to their fighting style! Know which techniques they use and discover ways to counter them. There is a counter to everything. I can't show them to you, you have to learn them. Eventually, you will be able to counter most everything that comes your way automatically. At the point, saber duels start to get extremely intense.

-Know your saber. Know what move you're going to do before you actually do it. The LAST thing you want to be doing is hitting someone in the arm when you were aiming for the head. Play around in an empty game and practice getting the saber to do what you want. I'm not going to write out all of the combos know to man, so you're on your on here, except for a few that I find very useful.

-Use your environment to your advantage. Back people up into walls, corners, anything. Sometimes you can roll over small objects that launch you into the air.

-Upward slashes take out people who roll or jump alot.

-Swing with the mouse. If you start a horizontal slash with heavy, and your opponent moves away, simply move with him. This also needs to be demonstrated, but you get the idea.

-Be patient, there is nothing worse than someone who charges blindly. This is called the 'headless chicken' style.

-Don't change stances just because your opponent does. Stick to the styles that YOU know best, because you'll be more able to counter an opponent with a style that you're familiar with.

-Finally, the last general sabers tip. If you can pull this technique off, nobody on earth will be able to beat you. "Don't get hit," -- NK_Ren You're going to need to do whatever it takes to avoid getting hit. Generally, I avoid jumping since it leaves you open for attacks. Rolling is quicker, but has a slight recovery time. I still use it much more, because you can get out of some impossible situations with this, and you're usually far enough away from your opponent to react to their next attack.

The Stances (2.0)
From this point on, I'm going to assume you've read the general section, and have practiced it.
If not, then go read it right now, you need to know it all. I'm going to explain the basic uses of each stance, as well as more specific descriptions of how to take down certain enemies. The tips here probably aren't as useful as the general ones, because the general tips are MUCH more important to good sabering.

The Light Stance (blue) (2.1)
This stance is fairly useless for offense. However, it is the best for defense against gunners. It can deflect any incoming blaster shots. That includes the bryer, stromie rifle, bowcaster, and repeater primary fire. It CAN block the primary fire of that ball throwing gun (dunno name lol) but it seems very erratic. I only use this stance offensivley if I know my opponent will die in 1 hit from it. Other than defense and occasional schwing, this doesn't get used.

Stance specific
-Front lunge/stab attack: Crouch and press forward + attack

-You can chain an infitite number of swings with this, just hold down attack and move in the direction you wish to swing. Generally, people who run forward holding attack get killed very easily, so don't do that. Ever.

-Against 2 or more, change your stance cause light sucks. lol.

The Medium Stance (yellow) (2.2)
The most versitile stance of the three, you can pull it out for a variety of situations.
For defense, it can block sabers better, (because it isn't as weak as light, and can even stop heavy swings sometimes) but is a little less reliable than light for stopping blaster shots. Offensivlely, it is more powerful than light, and nearly as fast. I will usually pull this out after landing a heavy hit to finish them off. Overall, I use it much more than light.

Stance specific
-Vertical jump/downward slash: Run forward at your opponent and move your crosshair over top of them so it turns red. If your crosshair is not red, the move isn't happening, period. Now you must hit jump and attack at the exact same time. You have to be fairly close to your opponent for this to work. Useful for killing heavy-jump monkeys as long as you avoid the saber.

-Do a horizontal slash one way, then reverse direction and go into a spin. The spin starts immediatly, so you can catch em coming back at you after evading the first. Awesome fake-out move, I love this.

-This stance has a lot of spins, making it good against 2 or more saberists. Likely they will both attack, and you can spin to hit them both. You gotta be careful when doing this. Hit and run is your friend here, you don't wanna get caught up between 2 people. When this happens, you're dead, no matter how good you are.

The Heavy Stance (2.3)
This is what I use most of the time. Devastating offensive capabilites can end a fight before you know what happened. Defensively, it sucks. It is horribly unreliable agaist guns, and is too slow to deflect sabers much. This stance is all about timing. Remeber when I told you that you need to know what you're going to do before you actually do it? This is especially true here. Heavy is a little tricky to use, since you need to hold direction + attack down for a little longer to get the swing you want. The horizontal slash has HUGE range, I use this a ton. It helps to set slightly to one side after you begin to swing, and then back again, in the direction of the swing. Standing still is fine, but this technique allows you to cover a much greater area. The overhead is clumsy to use, you really need to be precise with it, as it doesn't leave much room for error. Sounds crappy, but it isn't. It is faster than nearly all other heavy attacks. Like baseball? This stance is great for smashing people off ledges. I really don't have much to write for this stance, because it totally lacks combos of any kind. However, if ya read the general section, and apply those techniques, you're going to own.

In regards to the heavy-jump move, I'm not going to be writing it here. That may seem sorta lame to you, but I want everyone to learn without it, as to not use it excessively or become a jump monkey. This is the same reason why I'm not including force just yet (actually it might be because I'm sick of typing right now.)

Using The Force (3.0)
Adding force powers are going to totally change your strategy. Usually, there will be less actual saber fighting. I'm going to show you how to use the force effectively in conjuction with your saber. You should already be fairly good with your saber, because you don't want the force to change your dueling style.

Light Powers (3.2)
The light side requires a little more thinking than the dark side, because it has no offensive capabilities. When I'm playing light, I max absorb and heal. Absorb counters all force powers. So you've got a few seconds to take em out with your saber before it runs out and you're fair game again. Usually I know which players are light/dark, and as soon as I see a dark, I just hit absorb and run after em. I don't need to explain why heal is useful. Light side isn't really hard to use, you just need to be prepared ahead of time for the drain monkeys. I also find that light is better for gunners, due to its defensive nature. A gun does more damage than lightning grip, so that makes them fairly pointless if gunning (unless gripping an enemy flag carrier) Gunning seems to go well with light, because you can just hit absorb/protect and blast em all to hell.

The Dark Side (3.3)
Quite different from light in that is it completely offensive in nature. When playing dark, I max out grip and drain. A heavy hit will take your opponent down to where you can (usually) take them out with grip alone. Its helpful for tossing people as well. I use drain because it can (as I said earlier) render your opponent useless, as well as heal you. It is an excellent counter to lightning. Just be careful about using it against a light sider, because they'll probably use absorb. I don't use lightning at all, because it is easily countered by absorb/drain, doesn't do much damage, and you need to aim it. Usually when I see someone, I'll drain them and move in for the kill with my saber. If they run I just grip em. If you're in a battle with another drain monkey, make sure you get the drain off first. Make sure you drain all of his power, and don't let him get enough left to drain you. Then you can grip/toss/saber/gun him.

Conclusion
In conclusion, if there's one thing you take away from this, make sure you learn and live the general sabering section. The stance section has some useful tips, but applying the general section to everything you do is imperative. Again, I don't think it is possible to put some of the things here in words. It just isn't the same as seeing it demonstrated. If anyone has any questions on any of this, just ask. Hope it helped.

NK_Zephorath
NK_Dragon@hotmail.com
Yes, I have 2 names.
http://www.neon-knights.com