Image: Respawn, Electronic Arts via HGG
My name is Gibson Vasela. I am a freelance writer who has been playing video games for almost 20 years now. I play all kinds of games, but I especially love immersive sims and RPGs.
Reviewed by Jeffrey Hsu
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor improves on its predecessor in nearly every way. The story is more thrilling, the enemies are more diverse and engaging, and the combat is much more interesting and customizable. But with new foes and greater threats than ever before, you’ll need to wield and master the best lightsaber stance for each encounter in Jedi: Survivor.
In the previous entry, you could only use two stances: Single Blade and Double-Bladed. But now, we have a total of FIVE different stances for you to choose from! But out of these five choices, which one is the best stance in Jedi: Survivor? We’ll be answering that question by ranking each and every one in this guide.
How to Change Your Lightsaber Stance
Before we head into the ranking, we’ll quickly go over how to change your lightsaber stance in Jedi: Survivor. There are two ways to do this.
The first can only be done when you initially unlock a new stance. After testing it out for a bit, a menu will appear on your screen prompting you to select whether or not you want to equip your new stance. You can also swap out any stances you have for other ones that you’ve unlocked.
The second (and more common) way to change your lightsaber stance is by sitting at a meditation point. These are big, blue circles scattered around the game’s world. Cal can interact with them to begin meditating, and from there you can opt to change your stances from the button prompt shown on screen.
You can only have two stances equipped to Cal at once. However, there is no limit to how many times you can change your lightsaber stance at a meditation point. If you’re about to go up against a certain enemy or know that a certain encounter is up ahead, it’s a good idea to swap out your stances to something better suited for what’s coming up.
But just what are each of the five stances good at? We’re glad you asked…
Ranking Every Lightsaber Stance in Jedi: Survivor
So with all of that out of the way, let’s figure out what each lightsaber stance is good at in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
Single Blade
For the first lightsaber stance that we’ll be discussing in this ranking, we have Single Blade. The Single Blade stance is the most recognizable and iconic lightsaber stance in the Star Wars series, utilized by most Force users. Cal is no exception, having used this stance since he was a Padawan.
As the default starting stance in both Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor, you’ll find its biggest strength is its versatility. It features completely balanced stats in all areas, meaning that it is good for both defensive and offensive play styles.
However, this versatility is also the stance’s greatest weakness. It does not specialize in any particular area, so you don’t get any major benefits to using it compared to other stances (parrying isn’t any easier, you don’t get a better range, etc). Luckily, it remains reliable and viable throughout the entire game.
Best Skills for Single Blade Stance
As for skills that you should invest in with this stance, there are a few. The first one we recommend is called Dash Strike. As the name would imply, you quickly dash forwards and can hit an enemy from far away. Having more range on your attacks and a gap closer is always a plus.
Another great pick is Aerial Assault. With this skill, you’ll be able to jump up into the air and plummet down to land a deadly attack on whatever is beneath you. Jumping functions as an alternative to dodging, and being able to add some offensive capability to it is much appreciated.
The last one I recommend is called Twofold Reflection. Normally, you can only reflect one blaster bolt before you have to deal with a short cooldown. However, this skill allows you to reflect two in a row, giving you more defensive capabilities.
Crossguard
For the next pick on this ranking, we have the Crossguard stance. This is a stance that is relatively new to the Star Wars universe, most notably used by Kylo Ren in the Sequel Trilogy. With this stance, your lightsaber will have two short blades on the side of its hilt and function similarly to a claymore.
In order to unlock this stance, you’ll need to head to the Shattered Moon that orbits Koboh. You’ll unlock the option to visit this moon once you progress through the main story. After you’re finished clearing out the research station there, you’ll gain access to the Crossguard stance.
The Crossguard stance is characterized by its slow, heavy attacks. Each hit with this stance will deal noticeably more damage, making it a great stance for taking out targets with high health. It’s also very good for guard breaking.
However, Its main downside is that attacks with it are noticeably slower, so you’re more at risk of getting hit while swinging. The range is also not particularly stellar, so you’ll have to get closer to targets to damage them.
While it has amazing potential, it’s widely considered the hardest stance to master in Jedi: Survivor. You’ll have to know how to buffer your attacks and animations to bring out this stance’s full potential. Not to mention, you’ll need to be precise with your parries. If you’re a fan of games like Dark Souls, you’ll find this stance to be right up your alley.
Best Skills for Crossguard Stance
There are two standout skills that I recommend you get for the Crossguard stance. The first is called Charged Reflection. If you reflect a bolt from a blaster with this skill equipped, the bolt will become supercharged and do damage to not only the enemy that fired it but all other surrounding enemies as well.
Next, we have Impact. After you jump up into the air, you can slam your lightsaber into the ground to deal a shockwave of damage to nearby enemies. It’s fantastic for staggering foes and following up with a heavy attack.
Dual Wield
The next stance we’ll cover in Jedi: Survivor is the Dual Wield stance. You may have recognized this stance from the animated Clone Wars TV show, as it’s the preferred stance of Assaj Ventress, Count Dooku’s apprentice. If you equip Cal with this stance, he’ll have two lightsabers, one in each hand. This stance is unlocked during the prologue of the game, after you defeat the first boss.
The Dual Blade stance is highly agile and focuses on quick rapid strikes. Additionally, due to its speed, you’ll be able to parry enemies with it much faster than with any other stance. I highly recommend you equip this stance before fighting most bosses in Jedi: Survivor. I can’t adequately express how much parrying helps with fighting them. However, this lightsaber stance gives Cal a very small stamina bar, meaning it isn’t the best for defense.
Best Skills for Dual Wield Stance
As for skills that I recommend you get ASAP, there are three. Split Reflection is a good skill to get early on. With it, when you reflect a bolt from a blaster back at an enemy, it will turn into two bolts and hit a second nearby enemy. This is incredibly useful for whenever the game throws a lot of ranged enemies at you all at once (which is a common occurrence).
The second skill that I recommend is called Twin Vipers. By default, Cal can only throw one of his lightsaber blades at a target. But with this skill, he’ll be able to throw both of them! The first will go to your main target, while the second blade will be thrown to another enemy. Lastly, you should also get Dancing Blades. With this ability, when you throw your lightsabers at enemies, they will ricochet off of them and hit additional nearby targets as well.
Blaster
Moving down the list, our next one is the Blaster stance! This is something that many people were looking forward to in Jedi: Survivor when they first saw it in the early trailers. With this stance, Cal will hold a blaster pistol in one hand, and his lightsaber in the other (which will use a single blade). It’s very rare that a Jedi will use both a lightsaber and a blaster. The only one I can think of was Ezra Bridger from Rebels, who had a blaster pistol built into his lightsaber.
You can unlock this stance by progressing the story up to Jedha. After you reach the temple of cultists and reconnect with an old friend, you’ll be given a blaster pistol before you leave on the Mantis.
The most obvious benefit of using this stance is that it gives you very good range. This stance was a LIFE SAVER during the Rancor boss fight, as I could use it to safely do damage to him from a distance. There are no significant downsides to using this stance, but ammo is pretty limited. The only way to regain ammo is by getting up close and hitting an enemy with your lightsaber.
Best Skills for Blaster Stance
The first skill that I consider a must-have for this stance is Efficient Heat Transfer. With it, you will be able to fully charge your blaster in a shorter period of time. Charging your blaster will deal more damage, so being able to use this attack much faster is very handy. Another great skill is Improved Clip. This increases the total ammo in your blaster by three shots, allowing you to do a fully charged shot two more times.
Last but not least, the third skill I recommend you prioritize is the Point Blank skill. When an enemy is about to hit you, you can fire a shot at the right moment to throw them off. This works as an alternative to parrying and is particularly good because you can use it to parry unblockable attacks (the ones where the enemy will turn red before striking)!
Double-Bladed (Saberstaff)
And finally, taking spot number 1 on this ranking, we have the Double-Bladed Stance! With this stance, Cal will wield a saberstaff instead of his usual single-bladed lightsaber. This is the same stance that Darth Maul used in the Phantom Menace. Interestingly, this stance is widely frowned upon–but not outright banned–by the Jedi Order. This is because the saberstaff is designed to overwhelm and intimidate an opponent, making it an aggressive and fear-inducing weapon.
This is the best overall stance in Jedi: Survivor for several reasons. First of all, it’s amazing for crowd control. It can consistently hit multiple targets at once and evenly deal AoE damage to enemies surrounding Cal. Given how often the game throws groups of enemies and multiple targets at you, you’ll find yourself appreciating this stance.
Additionally, its combos offer some amazing mobility and reach. You can keep a practically infinite chain of swings going and saw through a crowd to reach your main target. The stance also has some of the best defensive capabilities. You can reflect multiple blaster bolts within a short period of time, which is excellent for killing enemies that use heavy weaponry.
The only downside to the Double-Bladed stance is that it’s a bit weaker than the others when it comes to dealing single-target damage. That’s not to say it can’t work, but you’ll probably want to switch to one of the other stances when dealing with bosses or other major enemies.
Best Skills for Double-Bladed Stance
While there are plenty of great skills for this stance, there are two must-have skills. The first one is called Multifold Reflections. With this, when an enemy shoots blaster bolts at you, you’ll be able to reflect the bolts to nearby targets in addition to the enemy that fired the bolts. This is great when dealing with squads of imperials that have a heavy infantry unit shooting at you.
The second skill I urge you to get is Repulsing Burst. When you jump up into the air, you can activate this ability to make Cal crash back down to the ground and deal AoE damage to all surrounding foes. This is an amazing crowd-control ability that you should frequently take advantage of.
Join the High Ground!
And that’s it for our list ranking every lightsaber stance in Star Wars: Jedi Survivor! What are your thoughts on our rankings? Be sure to let us know down in the comments. And while you are at it, make sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter for more Jedi: Survivor content.
Happy gaming!
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