I know that their combat animations are more flashy and acrobatic to make them seem powerful, but all of those cartwheels and back flips seem very Makashi like.
Registered: Feb 2005
Location: Hiding from zombies
No, overall, Makashi is said to be a refinement of saber to saber precision fighting. Flashiness only gets you killed. Notice that Dooku expends as little effort as possible to deflect blows and to defeat enemy attacks. His style is a little inconsistant in ROTS, but then again I personally think everyone fights the same in that movie. Anyways, flipping and acrobatics is primarily Juyo or Ataru. But Malak and Revan are damn near difficult to speculate for. Here's why:
Malak wanted power and dominance. He would not use Soresu in lightsaber combat, period. It does not suit his temperment. Likewise, Shii-Cho is a simple style and doesn't give its user any edge. Malak would chaff under this I believe. Ataru -might- be used, but if so, only to aid in his combat effectiveness, much like the Wizards of the Coast RPG creation of the Sokan style (A style that relies on rolls and flips to evade enemy gunfire.) I'm thinking in particular, Shien fits Malak most. The power hits and reflection tactics, combined with the wide power strokes and the emphasis on ripostes makes this fall heavily into Malak's favor.
Revan? Revan is eh... harder to work with. For one, Revan's personality is only hinted at, and we receive next to no insight as to how he/she fights. For one thing, we see Revan flourish his weapon in the FMV, and then fall into a stance that would best be described as defensive if you ask me. Revan didn't get all ready to flip or jump at the enemy, and if Shii-Cho uses such a samurai-esque stance, I'm an ewok garden gnome. Makashi would be desireable, but not entirely practical. If I were Revan, I would practice Makashi and Shien or Soresu, and then work on Juyo. Why? Well, Makashi was still very popular at this time, despite blasters being apparent. Jedi and Sith were still numerous. And when you're a Sith Lord, you have to back up your shit a lot, so that helps. Shien or Soresu would be to aid in nonlightsaber combat, plus it strengthens defense with again, emphasis on efficiency. And lastly Juyo is a combination of those styles, so it would be a natural advancement. But for all I know, he uses form zero. Hell, we never saw him strike anyone down in a cutscene.
It's worth noting that in the shade image of Revan in KOTOR II uses two equal length blades. either this is drawn from the Exile's memories or from Kreia's; it's also entirely possible that this was made by Obsidian staff to make Revan seem more 'hip and cool', since dual wielding is the best thing since sliced bread thanks to Salvatore.
Registered: Feb 2005
Location: Hiding from zombies
Nihilus' attacks are different from normal saber enemies, just like Malak blocks differently. In particular, Nihilus seems very nimble despite its tall size. i'm thinking Makashi, since it would have no need at all to fight non-Force users. That much is evidenced by the way Nihilus dominates everyone on that ship. But I don't think it's mastery of Makashi; couldn't have been enough time for that.
Registered: Feb 2005
Location: Hiding from zombies
Possibly. Sion does swing hard when he confronts Kreia the first time in game. And he is a bit of a brute. As for Kreia, the best way to figure her out is to have all the forms and question her on each. Clearly, she doesn't care for Soresu, but she does speak highly of Shii-Cho. Makashi she stresses caution. The others I've forgotten because I haven't played a Guardian or Sentinel in quite some time. And I never did learn Niman.
Registered: Feb 2005
Location: Hiding from zombies
Not really. Niman cannot be effectively mastered, since it is really only studying various forms for a short period of time. Someone who mastered all the forms included in Niman would be a master of everything but Makashi. And then they would (assuming they lived this long) go on to master Makashi and create an entirely different style based on that.
Registered: Feb 2005
Location: Hiding from zombies
Actually, Yoda would be a poor candidate for lightsaber mastery. His size limits his power, and it makes him have to put more emphasis on Force aiding his movements, not to mention he is ancient. The advantage he would have over another duellist of the same caliber would be being harder to hit, and honestly that shouldn't be a problem for a good duellist. A good duellist kills quickly, like Kun did. Yoda, to be honest, spends more time trying to overwhelm his opponent rather then trying to kill them. And because of this and his size disadvantages, he will never be the greatest duellist.
Registered: Feb 2005
Location: Hiding from zombies
Actually, I've seen more than a few pictures of her from the site where she uses a double bladed lightsaber, and I'm not talking just screenshots either.
Sep 4th, 2005 04:49 PM
