Sure, Scourge gained some experience. That doesn’t translate into his skill improving “immeasurably”. For all we know, in the absence of any kind of clarity from accolades or character statements, Scourge could have hit his ceiling as a Force wielder and duelist. The onus is on you to really demonstrate this big improvement your argument hinges on with clear evidence, not just wishful thinking.
Oh gee, "some" experience? Let's not oversell it here. 🙄
Scourge has more combat experience than almost anyone in the mythos. Experience is an incredibly valuable asset in combat. It's knowing how to react to situations, knowing your own abilities so perfectly that you do them without thought or effort. It's pretty much what Maul's was trying to achieve in your quote about his training.
Also you do realise that hitting his ceiling as a duelist would mean perfecting his abilities with every lightsaber form, right? That's the ceiling of what you can accomplish as a duelist. Which is more than Maul ever achieved. And I've already given you statements from Revan and Nyriss exclaiming Scourge's immense potential. He still had an immense amount of power to achieve. Hitting his ceiling as a force wielder would be doing so and it's what I've been arguing for.
According to what did he improve as dramatically as you’re suggesting? I’m afraid a timeskip alone isn’t going to be sufficient evidence here.
You're kidding right? He's still possessed "immense potential" in Revan and then he had 300 years of fighting the most powerful Jedi and Sith. And he was working to help the Hero of Tython and save the galaxy from Vitiate himself. He had every reason to push himself to be as ready and able as he could, plenty to aid him in doing so with his 1100 powerful opponents and the almost unlimited resources at his disposal (since Vitiate would obviously give Scourge the absolute best to make his Wrath as effective as possible) and ridiculous amounts of time in order to achieve all of this. Scourge was already a master swordsman and lightsaber prodigy in Revan. He clearly has the means, motive and opportunity to massively improve his swordsmanship.
That would be nice, if you could prove it. Unfortunately Maul’s technical skill is beyond Scourge’s, and he’s a more adaptable and unpredictable to boot.
Ridiculous. You really don't think Scourge ran into anyone with Maul's skillset in those 300 years? Don't delude yourself. It's stated that Scourge's experience allows him to analyse someone and identify their flaws merely in a brief observation. He can do the same to Maul.
That’s unfortunately inaccurate, Neph. Maul’s folio of tactical accomplishments is a few inches thicker than Scourge’s. From taking the best Jedi of his era and maneuvering them into locations of his own choosing in duels, to throwing entire strategies away on a whim, to being outright stated as being a scheming mastermind and heavily tactical duelist by starwars.com and some reference books. I can’t see how Scourge compares in this department.
No, Maul's stupid. Sorry to say. Firstly, Maul's never even registered to "the best Jedi of the era". Qui-Gon Jinn is nowhere near the best. And being a good duelist doesn't make it impressive to get manoeuvred. Lightsaber skill has nothing to do with tactics. And throwing away strategies on a whim is supposed to impress me how? Lastly, scheme's aren't combat tactics, duh. Vitiate is a scheming mastermind but you guys still lapoon him for his bad tactics.
Which is all lovely on-paper, until you realize that even with all of these external edges, Scourge has failed to demonstrate any feats beyond Maul’s ability, and has received inferior accolades. Sort of embarrassing in a way - Maul is everything Scourge is and more, and that’s without any fancy Force-leeching or augmentations, just his own raw power.
Scourge has appeared in one book immensely below his prime and in a game. Nothing embarrassing about it. In fact it's more embarrassing that even with all his exposure, Maul's still going to lose to Scourge.
And this matters to a lightsaber? If anything the fact that Scourge wears armor is a hindrance to someone as fast and agile as Maul.
Did you even read the rest of my post?
"But even the heaviest suits of armor allow Sith to quickly move across the battlefield and swiftly crush their foes." - Swtore.
The Sith's armor is designed to allow quick movement in the legs and arms while still being capable of resisting lightsaber blows.
Feats for this shield generator? Does it even protect from TK, and can it be used in combat? As for the armor, Maul tends to go for the throat or heart, so that shouldn’t matter much. And I mean, is there anything particularly great about Scourge’s Force defences? Kenobi, for example, is highly skilled in telekinetic defences (raising deflective barriers to repel blaster bolts and flamethrowers, and deflecting RotS!Vader’s Force assaults - he also has other impressive TK feats to draw on), and yet Maul has repeatedly torn his defences down and at one point left him wheezing on the ground, clutching his throat. Why would it be any different for Scourge?
Advanced shield generators can repel lightsabers (I think this was established even in Kotor) and Swtore says they can repel lightsabers and heavy weapons with ease. And obviously it can both be used in combat (literally the whole point of it) and can be used to block directly force attacks like pushes, force waves and shoves, but not things like grips.
LMAO @ Kenobi being highly skilled in force defenses. 😆
Maul can't choke out Scourge, don't be stupid. Scourge is too powerful for that. He's no Kenobi.
Actually, I remember that Aryn cut through Malgus’ armor and pierced his skin in Deceived. Having said that, sure, the armor protects Scourge from blunt force anywhere below the neck. He’s just boned against a lightsaber or telekinesis.
Which was my point, a direct hit only caused Malgus to wince. Not, you know, die. That counts as tanking lightsaber hits. Scourge's armor is likely better than Malgus' was. And TK usually is blunt force.
Mm.. I’m not sure if a few arbitrary (though still very cool) facets of Scourge’s make up that haven’t shown him to be anything more than Maul can handle are as important as well, Maul being better at basically everything.
And I'm not sure that having a half dozen advantages stacked in his favor counts as "arbitrary." Scourge is just a better Maul than Maul. He was unbeaten for 300 years. Maul's career was an embarrassment by comparison. He's comparably powerful, has everything stacked in his favor and eclipses Maul's saber mastery. The only thing Maul's better at is losing his legs.