[2021] Developer Insight: Maul

[ Developer Insights - Kit Reveal ]



Hi Holotable Heroes,

Maul-rats unite! The Dathomirian who became a Sith apprentice-turned-Ruler of Mandalore-turned-crime syndicate leader is coming to Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes.

Although he’s lost the title of “Darth,” Maul is still a force to be reckoned with, as chronicled in the Dev Insights below.

The Basics:

• Unsurprisingly, Maul is a powerful attacker. True Damage output is his primary means of dealing damage. This is because True Damage ignores defense, which makes him effective against Tanks.
• Most of his damage comes from his Special, “Seething Rage” which has zero cooldown...but there’s a cost. Maul cannot use this ability unless he has “Anguish” - and you’ll probably want to wait until he has five stacks of Anguish.
• Maul has the Mandalorian faction tag, a nod to his time as ruler of Mandalore.

Unique Attributes:

• Maul’s kit introduces the all-new Debuff, “Anguish,” which makes Maul take damage at start of turn. However (and quite thematically), when Maul takes damage it is converted to Offense for that turn.

Inspiration:

• Maul’s aggressive attacker status is inspired by the destruction and havoc he wreaks on his foes after Ahsoka, needing a distraction, frees Maul from captivity.
• Maul’s Basic animation is inspired by the moves he showed off against Ahsoka during their epic battle in the Throne Room.
• One thing we know about Maul for sure is that he hates Kenobi. This hatred is manifested in his kit, as Maul’s kit is the first to have a call-out to another specific unit. At the start of battle, Maul gains three stacks of Anguish, unless there is an enemy Kenobi (as in, any Kenobi unit in Galaxy of Heroes), in which case Maul gains the maximum stacks of Anguish.
• This version of Maul will not have the Sith tag, as he has been divested of the "Darth" title at this point and has turned his focus to putting together a criminal syndicate.

Strategy Tips:

• As mentioned above, Maul and Lord Vader are useful squadmates, as Lord Vader adds to Maul’s Health pool and Maul helps Lord Vader defeat enemy tanks more quickly. Also, Lord Vader reaches his Ultimate ability more quickly with Maul by his side.
• Reading into this further suggests Maul benefits from having high max Health. Lord Vader will increase Maul’s overall Health, and it seems like the two will make a good pairing when placed in the same squad
• You’ll be tempted to use “Seething Rage” early on, given there is no cooldown. However, it’s also smart to build up to max stacks of Anguish and use all of them consecutively.
• Another fun tactic related to Anguish centers around trying to time Maul’s Special “Fervent Rush” to defeat enemies, as it will reload his stacks of Anguish to be unloaded on enemies during his next turn.

FAQ:

• Maul’s kit states “Mandalorian allies have +5% Max health for each Mandalorian ally at the start of battle and +25% Offense.” To be clear, the +5% Max Health stacks, but the +25% Offense does not stack.
• When Maul’s kit mentions “if this character is defeated by a status effect, Mand'alor will not be granted to anyone” those effects include all status effects that deal damage or defeat an enemy. Examples include, but are not limited to: Thermal Detonators, Damage Over Time, Expose, Burning, Deathmark, Pain, Plague...you get the idea.
• “But, wait! Didn’t ignoring defense lead to some character changes?” Yes, but True Damage is different, as it does not allow for Critical Hits, which is where things really started getting out of hand.