Darth Sidious #25-2 Tips and Tricks

Darth Sidious #25-2
Reviewer: Stephen


ATTACKTIX CLASS: Leader
STAR WARS CLASS: Sith
POINT VALUE: 30
SPEED: 8
SPECIAL POWER: Recover (Sith or Separatist)
SPECIAL POWER RATIO: 16/26 (62%)
ATTACK TYPE: Striker (Lightsaber)


Darth Sidious is a bit slow in advancing up the field, but if you're able to strike in spite of his hanging robes, he can smack your opponent's figures down quite effectively. You can also rotate his left arm immediately in front of or behind his head so that his robe doesn't impact your swing nearly as much.

Sidious's ability to Recover from being taken down makes him a formidable enemy, particularly given its high probability of coming up and its ability to use either Sith or Separatist figures to bring Sidious back from being defeated. As long as you've got a team of naughty figures supporting him, Sidious may be a force on the playing field for quite a while.

Tip for attacking with Darth Sidious:
Darth Sidious's flowing sleeves can be a pain in the rear. They droop down and can impair proper striking technique in a nasty way. Thus, I highly recommend rotating Sidious's arms up to get his sleeves out of the way. Put his left hand behind his head so that his left sleeve sticks almost straight up, and align the hilt of his saber with his neck. He'll only knock down a couple of figures in a four-figure group (or 30- and 40-point strikers and Force blasters) this way, but it makes for a robe-free strike. If you can get your right hand's fingers out of the way of his striking sleeve, align the hilt of his saber with his waist line (or a bit lower); he can knock down four tightly-packed 30- and 40-point strikers and Force blasters this way.

Sidious is the Sithergizer bunny: he keeps going and going and going...with lots of different figures that will support him. Make sure you have as many Sith and Separatist figures on Sidious's team to give him the best chance of popping right back up after being knocked down.

Tips for attacking Darth Sidious:
Sidious isn't quite as solid as his Series 2 apprentice. At 10 Tix, a small missile or Force blast to the upper chest or head will take him down. From 15 Tix away, a well-aimed large missile or Force blast to his top half. A really well-aimed small missile to Sidious's chest can also take him down; however, small missile attacks are likely to be more successful from 5-10 Tix away. It'll take a half-power swing from a striker to knock him down, though a quarter-power swing will scoot him across the table around 5 Tix.

To be sure about taking Sidious down, you'll have to eliminate the Sith and Separatist forces on his team. Fortunately, his slow speed (for a striker) will help ensure that he can take on your strikers only when you're ready for him. Thus, you might want to keep a shooter force back to pick off Sith or Separatist figures on Sidious's team, then close a striker team in for the kill when only Sidious and another figure is left on the team.

Alternative Strategies
Sidious might make an ideal anchor for a second-wave part of a team. If you team him up with Darth Maul, or Series 1 Darth Vader with some Troopers surrounding Sidious, you'll have a team that'll take great advantage of synergistic special powers. Keep a guard of shooters around Sidious to make sure his Recover power doesn't get called upon to act too many times before making a final, devastating series of strikes against an opponent.

Of course, you could always let Sidious lumber his way up the playing field, daring your opponent to take him out. If you back him up with another striker or two, he'll be harder to knock down, and he'll be ready to wade his way through your opponent's figures with relative impunity.