Saber combat: all the tips to become a pro and win (almost) 100% of the time

This'll be a long post, but I think it'll be worth it because saber combat seems to the thing I see done wrong most of the time in Battlefront 2, and it's something I know the BF2 playerbase needs help with it. Whether you're new or a veteran, I hope you learn something new from this.

So to duel in an elegant way and an effective way, you'll want to:

1. Learn your character

 I'll be posting a thread ranking all saber heroes, you'll see more info on each character in there, but, for example, constantly swinging at someone to deal damage is almost always a bad idea when you're using Rey, but with Dooku or Luke, that's a different story. Every character is different. You can't sustain good defense with Vader (once upon a time you could, but he seems to run out of stamina very quickly when doing anything now) but as for Obi-Wan that'll do, even if you don't hurt your opponent by doing so. Learn each character and take the time to learn the best techniques and tactics for each of them.

2. Keep an eye on your stamina

 You might be sat there thinking, "I already do that." And you might, but from my experience people do love to run themselves out of stamina very quickly by either spam swinging (even though there is a way to counter that, which I'll get onto later) or spam blocking, and getting their stamina drained when the other person attacks them. Once they're out, they just stand there, and if you have a character who has the swing speed of speedy Gonzalez like Luke, you can get about 3 hits (or about 400 damage) in before they start to regain, or more if their regen is slow. So, keep an eye on your stamina and give yourself time to regain by dodging. Which leads me in nicely to the next tip.

3. Use your dodges properly

You might be a bit confused by the subheading, but most people often use their dodge to dodge into the front of somebody and start a spamming match. While this can work, you'd be much better off using your dodges to dodge to the side of someone and give them stun when they attempt to block you getting you free hits, or dodging behind someone to get hits. Also bear in mind that heroes deal bonus damage from behind. I wouldn't recommend overusing the dodge either. Trying to dodge constantly to make up ground on someone is going to run you out of dodges, and they have different uses other than battle. Always leave a spare dodge so that you can use it to dodge away from someone if you're on low health, or need to regen stamina. If you overuse your dodges, you'll have no dodges left to dodge away when you need to dodge away. If you leave a spare dodge or two, you can dodge away to regenerate health and stamina, which could be the difference, in HVV, to be able to allow your teammates to get there before you get overrun, and you dying. In hero showdown, it can be the difference between a win and a loss.

4. Learn Parrying, perfect parrying, and chambering

 This is seriously important. The amount of times I've parried a spam swinging Dooku or Luke to death from almost full or full health is dumb at this point, so you'll want to learn how to parry. To parry, you need to attack pretty much as their attack lands on your block. It has millisecond timing, so don't be worried if you can't do it first time. Time it too early and you'll both get hit, too late and you just strike against your opponent's block. If you can parry, you're a whole lot less vulnerable to spam swingers- and it's a more elegant way to kill as well compared to out-spamming someone. You can also parry abilities- every ability you can block, you can parry.

 Perfect parrying is when you attack just after someone's attack connects with your block. Once again, it has millisecond timing, so don't be worried if you can't do it first time. It enables you to damage someone so quickly, but you do drain lots of stamina (see tip above for a tip on managing your stamina).

 Chambering is when you perfect parry each other, but it requires almost nanosecond timing, and it's unlikely it'll occur often.

5. Be unpredictable

 I saw a player called VShxle in hero showdown who was very erratic with his playstyle. He would sometimes run around with his saber deactivated, run away, strike, block at thin air, and behave weirdly. Though it may not seem productive or elegant, it makes it impossible for your opponent to predict what you'll do. I tried that playstyle on a good player who almost beat me in a round of HS, and it worked. Poor him, he was psyched out and didn't know what to do to counter me, so I got an easy win against a player I had otherwise been closely matched with.

6. Don't spam

 No but seriously, DO NOT SPAM SWING. Not only will it annoy the person you're playing against and make them inclined to spam swing you back and give you a taste of your own medicine, it'll leave you out of stamina and you could get parried to death as well, or struck to death after you've run out of stamina.

 The same applies for spam blocking. Not only is this annoying for your opponent, it also doesn't do anything to help you win the fight. You can be a defensive player, but take time to learn parrying as its way more effective than simply holding block. Besides, any good player will dodge behind you and shave off about 300 health in 2 seconds flat if you're spam blocking.

7. Learn the playstyle of your opponent

 If you learn the playstyle of your opponent, you can exploit weaknesses in their playstyle and kill them. An aggressive player? Parry them and they'll soon be dead. A spam blocker? Dodge behind, or to the side of them to get free hits in. There is so much you can do to exploit all types of players and playstyles. A person who overuses their dodges? Be patient, use your abilities and swings to tactically bring them down (if they've overused their dodges, dodge immunity will not protect them against abilities or your saber swings). Which leads me nicely into the last tip.

8. Have some patience

 Granted, it can be hard if you're against an annoying spam blocker, but trying to rush the fight is going to have you being parried to death or struck down. Be patient and sometimes just wait for a suitable opening to strike, or a suitable mistake. Sometimes it's best to draw a fight and not even try to win it. Being able to out-wait your opponent at the end to draw is actually sometimes very valuable.

10. Increase your sensitivity (Tip 9 is given by @TRlALON in the comments)

 I increased my sensitivity from like 45% to 90% and it has helped so much with quick rotation to turn round and parry an opponent's attack, or to dodge behind someone and turn around, or to overall play well consistently, especially in a 1v1 saber fight. If you're playing on a higher sensitivity, then you can win the fight easily if both of you are around the same skill level. You can out-rotate your opponent and it's much easier to be looking at them when you have a higher sensitivity.

11. Learn when to use aerial attacks

 If somebody is running off, and you want to disrupt their health regeneration and they jump, then you can jump after them and slash then whilst they're in the air, and this will disrupt their health regeneration and allow you to put them on the back foot whilst they desperately dodge away from you. Sometimes, you can use an aerial attack to kill someone on low health- just finish them off with a jump attack- it looks stylish.

 So, what did you think? Did you learn anything new? Are there any tips I've missed out? Let me know in the comments!