Plo v. Maul: The Definitive Guide

[Guest Pizza the Hutt]

With much hand-wringing, shouting and cursing, I finally dispatched of Darth Maul with the glacially slow Plo Koon. I'm going to estimate that it took me well over 100 lives to accomplish this, so I'm going to post exactly how to do it to save everyone else the trouble of going through what I did.

I'm not going to cover anything except for the parts of level 10 that deal with Plo fighting Maul.

 

First encounter:

 

When you first walk into the room where Maul is waiting, target him as you start creeping towards him. Unleash the x, x, square, L2 combo just as he starts to run toward you. Do it immediately as he starts to run or even a little before. If you wait until he's on top of you, you have no chance. This combo in this situation will often give you a pair of whacks on Maul to start off the sequence. If he blocks the entire salvo, hold down your blocking button and jump backward (you have to been in lock mode for this to work...the last thing you want to be doing is running away from Maul with your back to him).

 

From here you only need to know one combo: square, square, x. This has nearly a 50% success rate if you do it right. By right I mean make sure there's a decent bit of distance between you and Maul...don't attempt to fight him up close and personal unless you really like those four- and five-hit combos he'll nail you with.

 

Here's the most important part of fighting Maul: if he blocks your s, s, x combo, immediately jump back once or twice (I like the extra room two jumps back gives me, but you can back into walls very quickly that way). Repeat the combo after jumping back. When you hit Maul, wait until your swing if finished and then immediately fire up the combo again. You have to be somewhat deliberate when pushing the buttons...it's hard to do in the heat of the battle and I lost many lives when I hit the buttons too fast and ended up with a single slash instead of my combo.

 

When you get the combo/jump back thing working to perfection, you'll have a good shot at beating him in one-on-one encounters.

 

Second encounter:

 

This is in the hallway immediately after the first encounter. Know that you have one health up and *two* force ups waiting for you after this battle. So go ahead and use your L2 + x lightning force power up. It's almost a guaranteed hit every time you use it, and the two force ups will refill your force bar before the next encounter. Spare your health bar at all costs during this stage!

 

Third encounter:

 

This one's the easiest, IMO. I'm not sold on the lightsaber power-up, but it does seem to offer a marginal advantage over the regular saber. If you can grab it and make your way to Maul quickly, you might be able to sting him for 3-4 combos while you still have it. Meet Maul as far out on the bridge as you can while still leaving enough room for your combo...you don't have a lot of room to backup before you hit the edge of the catwalk. If you can land 3-4 combos, you'll probably be able to finish him off with your L2 + x force power. That's my preferred strategy.

 

Fourth encounter:

 

The most difficult, IMO. Maul likes to lay back and sting you with his lightning. It sucks for two reasons: one, you have a hard time getting close enough to land your combos, and two, he's prone to knocking you off the catwalk. (Note: make sure you grab the "hidden" extra life at the back of the second-to-last rung before this sequence). My advice here is to come in and pre-empt his force powers by using your own L2 + x lighting. Use it to get in close and start whacking away with your combo. Depth perception is difficult if you are on the far side of the catwalk attacking toward the foreground, so be careful using the "stick and move" strategy. And don't backup *too* far or Maul will plant a bolt up your ass. Be very wary of the edges...make sure you'll be falling back onto the catwalk and not into the abyss.

 

For some reason this seems to be the shortest of the five battles...it takes fewer hits to make him exit stage right.

 

Final encounter:

 

This is really no different from the first two encounters. Use your combo and your L2 + x power as needed. When you get knocked down, immediately block and retreat (in lock mode) to avoid those killer Maul combos. Don't let him push you into the force field, as he seemed to enjoy doing to me. The final reactor room sequence seems to bring out the best in Maul...he's a little harder to hit from my experience, and he seems to take more punishment before finally keeling over and dying (damn cockroach!).

 

When you do beat him, feel free to release a primal scream. You'll have earned it.

[Guest Pizza the Hutt]

With much hand-wringing, shouting and cursing, I finally dispatched of Darth Maul with the glacially slow Plo Koon. I'm going to estimate that it took me well over 100 lives to accomplish this, so I'm going to post exactly how to do it to save everyone else the trouble of going through what I did.

I'm not going to cover anything except for the parts of level 10 that deal with Plo fighting Maul.

 

First encounter:

 

When you first walk into the room where Maul is waiting, target him as you start creeping towards him. Unleash the x, x, square, L2 combo just as he starts to run toward you. Do it immediately as he starts to run or even a little before. If you wait until he's on top of you, you have no chance. This combo in this situation will often give you a pair of whacks on Maul to start off the sequence. If he blocks the entire salvo, hold down your blocking button and jump backward (you have to been in lock mode for this to work...the last thing you want to be doing is running away from Maul with your back to him).

 

From here you only need to know one combo: square, square, x. This has nearly a 50% success rate if you do it right. By right I mean make sure there's a decent bit of distance between you and Maul...don't attempt to fight him up close and personal unless you really like those four- and five-hit combos he'll nail you with.

 

Here's the most important part of fighting Maul: if he blocks your s, s, x combo, immediately jump back once or twice (I like the extra room two jumps back gives me, but you can back into walls very quickly that way). Repeat the combo after jumping back. When you hit Maul, wait until your swing if finished and then immediately fire up the combo again. You have to be somewhat deliberate when pushing the buttons...it's hard to do in the heat of the battle and I lost many lives when I hit the buttons too fast and ended up with a single slash instead of my combo.

 

When you get the combo/jump back thing working to perfection, you'll have a good shot at beating him in one-on-one encounters.

 

Second encounter:

 

This is in the hallway immediately after the first encounter. Know that you have one health up and *two* force ups waiting for you after this battle. So go ahead and use your L2 + x lightning force power up. It's almost a guaranteed hit every time you use it, and the two force ups will refill your force bar before the next encounter. Spare your health bar at all costs during this stage!

 

Third encounter:

 

This one's the easiest, IMO. I'm not sold on the lightsaber power-up, but it does seem to offer a marginal advantage over the regular saber. If you can grab it and make your way to Maul quickly, you might be able to sting him for 3-4 combos while you still have it. Meet Maul as far out on the bridge as you can while still leaving enough room for your combo...you don't have a lot of room to backup before you hit the edge of the catwalk. If you can land 3-4 combos, you'll probably be able to finish him off with your L2 + x force power. That's my preferred strategy.

 

Fourth encounter:

 

The most difficult, IMO. Maul likes to lay back and sting you with his lightning. It sucks for two reasons: one, you have a hard time getting close enough to land your combos, and two, he's prone to knocking you off the catwalk. (Note: make sure you grab the "hidden" extra life at the back of the second-to-last rung before this sequence). My advice here is to come in and pre-empt his force powers by using your own L2 + x lighting. Use it to get in close and start whacking away with your combo. Depth perception is difficult if you are on the far side of the catwalk attacking toward the foreground, so be careful using the "stick and move" strategy. And don't backup *too* far or Maul will plant a bolt up your ass. Be very wary of the edges...make sure you'll be falling back onto the catwalk and not into the abyss.

 

For some reason this seems to be the shortest of the five battles...it takes fewer hits to make him exit stage right.

 

Final encounter:

 

This is really no different from the first two encounters. Use your combo and your L2 + x power as needed. When you get knocked down, immediately block and retreat (in lock mode) to avoid those killer Maul combos. Don't let him push you into the force field, as he seemed to enjoy doing to me. The final reactor room sequence seems to bring out the best in Maul...he's a little harder to hit from my experience, and he seems to take more punishment before finally keeling over and dying (damn cockroach!).

 

When you do beat him, feel free to release a primal scream. You'll have earned it.

[Guest ShadeShifter]

Congradualtions on beating Maul with Plo. I thought that I was going to have to buy a new controller before I finally beat him.

 

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[Guest ShadeShifter]

Congradualtions on beating Maul with Plo. I thought that I was going to have to buy a new controller before I finally beat him.

 

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[Guest mtw4]

Pizza, I hope this works. I got my head kicked in so many times this week I didn't even feel like experimenting with new techniques. I'm having trouble hitting my rhythm with that square, square, x combo that has been suggested elsewhere as well. I've only gotten him 2-3 times in a row with it, and then I miss with a single swing and it's punching bag time with my yellow head.

 

Since it got me past the first two fights for the first time last night, there must be something to it so I'll keep trying. I think the game designers were on crack and could have made it just a tad more reasonable with Plo.

[Guest mtw4]

Pizza, I hope this works. I got my head kicked in so many times this week I didn't even feel like experimenting with new techniques. I'm having trouble hitting my rhythm with that square, square, x combo that has been suggested elsewhere as well. I've only gotten him 2-3 times in a row with it, and then I miss with a single swing and it's punching bag time with my yellow head.

 

Since it got me past the first two fights for the first time last night, there must be something to it so I'll keep trying. I think the game designers were on crack and could have made it just a tad more reasonable with Plo.

[Guest Pizza the Hutt]

Remember that if you miss on the combo, you MUST IMMEDIATELY retreat using the jump-back method with the attack lock on. Don't try to stand toe-to-toe with Maul or it will be a quick death. It isn't easy, but a fully trained Jedi Knight with the force as his ally can defeat Darth Maul.

[Guest Pizza the Hutt]

Remember that if you miss on the combo, you MUST IMMEDIATELY retreat using the jump-back method with the attack lock on. Don't try to stand toe-to-toe with Maul or it will be a quick death. It isn't easy, but a fully trained Jedi Knight with the force as his ally can defeat Darth Maul.