"The Imperial Knights wear specially crafted armor that uses materials found in the armor of one of the greatest imperial duelists of all time, Darth Vader."
He's really got tons of feats against a multitude of different Jedi Masters, (most notably Kenobi and Galen) and has tons of accolades towards the complexity and crisp execution of his lightsaber technique, but listing all of those would be time consuming. Honestly the fact that he was able to defeat Maul's clone prior to ANH speaks best for his ability at his peak, if Fightsaber is to be taken into consideration.
Spoiler:
Would have made a crack here about TPM Maul being a better duelist than Revan, but I lack the necessary smiley to correctly deliver the punchline.
The main ways of gauging Vader are;
-Skill accolades denoting "one of the best of all time" dueling skill.
-Accolades stating that between ANH-ESB/RotJ, Vader became far and away more competent as a duelist.
-His ability to fight evenly with Ben, whom had only lost some of his dueling skill since RotS - this being Vader far from his prime himself.
He also has his even fight against RotJ Luke, whose aptitude for dueling is extraordinary, his fights against various groups of Jedi, his ability to hold his own against Maul circa ANH, and the impressive level of technical mastery involved in his hybrid lightsaber form (although academic knowledge and technical skill doesn't necessarily mean much in comparison to dueling feats).
Someone can probably explain Vader's capabilities better than me... but hype that has actually been realized isn't to be dismissed. Take what Vader could do circa ANH and then consider how he would have done after massive improvements.
I put his dueling ability roughly on-par with RotS Anakin, personally.
Originally posted by ILS
It was a pyrrhic victory. Vader held his own against Maul, but he lost in terms of his ability to perform.
Held his own pretty well, I'd say, considering that it was the longest duel I've ever seen in a Star Wars comic. Furthermore, Maul ended up dead.
The fact that Vader can sustain massive amounts of damage, whereas other combatants like Maul can be taken out with singular blows is also a part of combat effectiveness you know. Maul may have been more skilled, more agile, and landed more hits--but Vader can take those more hits, and that's ultimately why he was able to win.
Originally posted by NewGuy01True enough, Vader's durability is essentially why he won and should always be considered. Although, maybe if Maul would have just stopped monologuing to him for two seconds he might have sealed the deal but, eh.
Held his own pretty well, I'd say, considering that it was the longest duel I've ever seen in a Star Wars comic. Furthermore, Maul ended up dead.The fact that Vader can sustain massive amounts of damage, whereas other combatants like Maul can be taken out with singular blows is also a part of combat effectiveness you know. Maul may have been more skilled, more agile, and landed more hits--but Vader can take those more hits, and that's ultimately why he was able to win.
I look at it sort of how I looked at Bulq's death at Vos's hands.. Bulq was clearly better, but Vos got lucky. And the stupid finishing move style slice Bulq/Maul attempt at the end of their respective duels are just awful.
What about his speed feats, some of which are incredibly good? Such as appearing to teleport, being likened in speed to Yoda and jumping over blast bolts or something.
Is this just dueling feats?
Originally posted by ChaosTheory123
Surviving for an extended duration Force Lightning from a pissed off amplified by natural lightning Starkiller Clone comes to mind :hmmSame one that channeled enough force lightning in a short enough timeframe to power a laser cannon that destroyed an ISD that was likely shielded.
That was an experimental, highly advanced cannon. That significantly muddies the issue.