This guide will help you learn how combat in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor works by showing you how to fight against various opponents. These foes will fight you in melee, ranged, or both but a calm mind and quick reflexes will allow you to prevail in any challenge!
This guide will assume you know the basics of combat and how to perform combos, dodge, parry, and reflect. For more information about combos available to you, consult with our Jedi Survivor Starter Guide and Jedi Survivor Stances Guide.
There are no story spoilers in this guide. Just helpful tips, tricks and strategies for the many different types of opponents you will face while playing Star Wars Jedi Survivor!
Table of contents
Timing
Combat in Jedi Survivor focuses on one thing, timing. Regardless of your selected difficulty, timing will be an important factor whether you’re on the offensive or defensive. Cal primarily uses weapon attacks with his lightsaber but also has the ability to use the Force or as the story progresses, a blaster.
Timing plays an exceptionally important part to dodging attacks. While you can dodge attacks within a fairly large window, learning to dodge right before the attack will have you dodge in slow motion for a second. When you do this successfully, you will regain a small amount of Force.
This is vital to know as there are very few ways to restore Force in the middle of combat. While you can get perks that increase Force with Stims or by defeating enemies, being able to dodge to restore Force is important to learn for boss fights.
Timing can be a large factor for your attacks as well, especially in the case of Special Attacks and the Crossguard Lightsaber. This weapon attacks rather slowly in exchange for heavier hits. To use it successfully requires knowledge of an opponent’s attack patterns and to account for pre and post swing animations.
Always study your opponents so you can plan out when to strike with any weapon. Enemies are particularly vulnerable to attacks and Force powers right after or even during an unblockable attack!
Movement
Movement is an important aspect in combat that can be easily overlooked. Your current position can prove to be an advantage or disadvantage to a combat scenario. Use movement to perform what is known as “Kiting”. This has an enemy follow you to a position where they could be drawn into friendly fire, pushed off a ledge, or distract them by having them fight another enemy.
While you can always dodge unblockable attacks, it can sometimes be more advantageous to jump over enemies during this time. This is useful in several boss fights and against grounded enemies in general as you can then attack them from behind where they’re vulnerable.
Just be aware that some enemies have powerful area abilities tied to their unblockable attacks such as the Bedlam Smasher. These units in particular can create a circular energy field that will damage you even if you jump above them.
Using the Force in Combat
The Force is your ally and you can use the Force to change the tide of battle. There will be ample opportunities to use the Force in combat such as pushing an enemy off a cliff or pushing back explosives.
The Force is particularly helpful when you’re feeling outnumbered. If you chose the Soaring Lift skill from the Telekinetics tree, you can lift some enemies up to give you some time to deal with other enemies.
Then there’s Force Confusion that you can use to make enemies into temporary allies. This is especially useful when used on enemies that have area abilities or can take some hits for you as you take the time to heal or run.
If you’re jealous of an opponent’s firepower, you can use it yourself with the Redirected Strength Perk. You get a meat shield and a ranged weapon for a small amount of time.
Fighting Ranged Opponents
Ranged opponents are typically easier to take out than melee opponents as with proper timing of your reflect, they don’t pose much of a threat. As you advance in the game, you’ll encounter tougher and smarter ranged opponents such as the B2 Super Battle Droid or Commando Droid. For now, let’s focus on basic ranged units such as Stormtroopers and B1 Battle Droids.
These units are equipped with a blaster rifle and can occasionally throw grenades at you. If you’re fighting a group of these units, the Twofold Reflection (Lightsaber), Multifold Reflection (Double-bladed Lightsaber), and the Charged Reflection (Crossguard) skills can help you take out multiple opponents when reflecting.
Alternatively, simply shoot them with your blaster pistol when you obtain the Blaster Stance.
Tougher ranged opponents such as the B2 Super Battle Droid will take numerous reflections to take down, so it might be more efficient to close the gap and attack from melee range.
Ranged Commando Droid can be slippery as they’ll have the ability to dodge blaster bolts reflected back at them. When dealing with enemies like these, get closer to them before you reflect. This shorter distance will mean they have less time to dodge when you reflect a blaster bolt.
Fighting Melee Opponents
Melee opponents are surprisingly common in a galaxy full of firearms. Blocking and Parrying these foes is very important to save your Stamina Bar for blocking and reflecting while breaking their own guard.
Melee units such as Scout Troopers and B1 Battle Droids don’t pose much of a threat by themselves but you should be careful about being outnumbered. Area attacks are very useful for fighting multiple melee opponents.
If you have the luxury of a one on one duel, take some time to not attack but instead study the attack patterns of your enemy. Each enemy has a set amount of combos that they can use so if you know the combos for one of them, then you know the combos for all of them. More advanced units will have more combos available to them and will prove far more deadly.
The most common melee opponent you’ll run into are the Bedlam Raiders. They’ll prove far more aggressive and challenging than Scout Troopers with their swift attacks and decent range. Avoid using Force Pull on these units as they’ll use the pool to attack you the second they reach you.
It can be easy to become overly confident if you got your parry timing perfected. Some enemies are better dodged than blocked as the risk of receiving lethal damage is too high. Two such examples of this are Bedlam Smashers and KX-Series Security Droids.
Bedlam Smashers have some of the most powerful melee attacks for common enemies found in Jedi Survivor. One or two hits at higher difficulties can easily defeat you. When dealing with these strong yet slow opponents, it’s better to dodge their attacks entirely so you can attack them from the sides or back.
KX-Series Security Droids are a prime example of dodging over blocking. These droids will occasionally punch or shoot you but they often rely on trying to grapple you. A successful grapple will leave you vulnerable to fire from other opponents until you are eventually set free. Other opponents that can grapple you may not be as merciful as the KX-Series Droid, so it’s imperative to dodge when appropriate.
Fighting Mixed Opponents
This section contains some minor spoilers for Jedi Survivor in the form of enemies you eventually encounter.
While uncommon, you’ll encounter enemies that can use an equal mixture of melee and ranged attacks. These could be Hybrid Commando Droids and DT Sentry Droids.
Hybrid Commando Droids will weave in an out during battle where they’ll attack at melee one moment then ranged in another. Having good timing on your parries and reflects will make short work of these enemies.
DT Sentry Droids are slower and hit much harder than a commando droid. They also take much more damage as well and can be particularly challenging. They’re often equipped with powerful weapons that will hit rather hard.
These are one of the rarer enemies that you have the ability to dismember mid-combat. By striking at them enough, you can quite literally disarm them. This leaves them only able to kick you and makes their move set far more predictable. Parries are great here as breaking their guard means you’ll be guaranteed to cut off a limb with your next attack.
Fighting Fauna
The hostile fauna you encounter in Jedi Survivor are either small and fast, or they are big and slow. They lack well defined attack patterns that humanoids and droids have and will attack you with far more reckless abandon. This unpredictability can make them difficult for some.
An example of dangerous small fauna is the Rawka. Don’t let their tiny statue fool you, they like to charge at their targets and this can be a one-hit kill on higher difficulties. This can get even worse when there are multiple rawka charging you at the same time.
Small fauna are best avoided by jumping over them or using targeted attacks such as blaster fire or a saber throw.
Larger fauna such as Mogu, Goroccos, and Bilemaws will require you to take your time. They utilize powerful attacks that can take out a large chunk of your health. It can be better to dodge them than to block or parry and rely on swift attacks in case you need to quickly dodge again.
Some fauna are so large that trying to parry them is completely pointless. One such beast is the Rancor, and they are no joke. Failure to dodge will result in you becoming lunch and one swipe of their arms means you say goodbye to your bones. Always take your time and use swift attacks to recover quickly when fighting large fauna like the Legendary Rancor on Koboh.
Fighting Groups of Opponents
It is easy to feel overwhelmed when you’re fighting a mixture of opponents that have ranged and melee units. There will be times where you’ll have to fight groups and have little space to maneuver.
Follow these tips to increase your chances of surviving such encounters:
1. Take out ranged enemies first
When fighting a group of mixed enemies, the first thing you should do is take out the ranged opponents. So long as they’re up, you’ll be shot at when trying to make melee attacks against the melee opponents. Receiving damage during your attack will stagger you, leaving you vulnerable to the melee opponents.
The double-bladed lightsaber is extremely useful for quickly taking out multiple ranged opponents. Just keep an eye on your stamina to ensure you don’t stagger.
2. Prioritize weaker enemies
After the ranged units are down, focus on reducing the overall numbers of the enemy. If you’re fighting Imperials comprised of a Security Droid and Scout Troopers, take out the Scout Troopers first. They’re far easier to defeat and the less of them there are, the less overall damage the enemy can put out.
3. Save the strongest for last
After you’ve cleared out the ranged and weak melee opponents, you’ll have maybe one or two strong melee opponents left. If the environment allows it, single them out by pulling them to a platform they otherwise couldn’t reach by themselves. If you’re skilled then you can take them both on at the same time.
The standard lightsaber and crossguard lightsaber are good for wrapping things up due to their higher base damage over the double-bladed lightsaber, dual wielded lightsabers, or blaster with lightsaber.
4. Use the environment to your advantage
There is a principle of lightsaber combat that the Jedi are taught, this is known as Sokan. Sokan teaches Jedi to utilize their environment during combat. How can you embody the principles of Sokan in Jedi Survivor? You can do the following:
- Push one or more enemies off a ledge
- Use rocks or other objects to throw at enemies
- Force a one on one by pulling an opponent to a platform you’re on
- Place melee enemies between you and ranged enemies so reflected bolts hit the melee enemies.
- Lure opponents into an environmental hazard such as an electrical trap or energy beam.
- Jump down onto an opponent to one shot them
- Push a Flametrooper into a wall so their fuel tank explodes
- Use a nearby Meditation Point to end combat and reset enemies.
- Get the high ground so melee opponents can’t attack you, leaving you to deal with ranged opponents more easily.
Anything and everything can be used to your advantage if you’re creative enough.
Fight with Companions and Mounts
During certain times, you’ll be able to have a companion fighting by your side. They can help take down opponents that would otherwise overwhelm you but you can also command them to focus on a particular enemy.
This is done by pressing Ctrl + LMB (PC), RB + X (Xbox), or R1 + ◻ (PlayStation 5).
After you’ve learned how to tame Nekkos on Koboh, you’ll be able to ride your valiant steed into combat. Your attacks are far more limited with you only being able to swing your lightsaber on the sides or fire your blaster pistol when you unlock it.
Use hit-and-run tactics when mounted as you’ll easily outrun melee opponents. You’re still able to reflect blaster bolts while mounted so ranged units shouldn’t pose an issue if you’ve been practicing reflects.
Use your Tactical Guide
Last but certainly not least, check your Tactical Guide in the Menu. Every time you defeat a new enemy, you’ll gain information about them including tips on how to beat them. This is incredibly useful for learning things like “Listen carefully for signs a shiverpede may be lying in wait” or how an opponent can counterattack even after being parried. Check them out when you get the chance!
