UNIT NAME: Taron Malicos

ALIGNMENT: Dark Side

CATEGORIES: Attacker, Unaligned Force User

Key Attributes:

• Devastating attacker with an assortment of potent debuffs
• Skirts the edge of madness with two new effects which improve his offensive capabilities
• Omicrons designed for the Grand Arenas game mode help both Malicos and his allies

Inspiration:

• From Taron Malicos’ appearance in Jedi Fallen Order (JFO) when Cal Kestis meets him on Dathomir.
• Powerful former Jedi who has slowly gone mad after the events of Order 66 and seeks hidden power on the Nightsister’s home planet..
• CG_Coffee had the hardest time defeating this boss in JFO, so they insisted that he be really good in SWGOH.

DESIGNER QUOTE: 

“When I first saw Taron Malicos in my initial playthrough of JFO, I immediately hoped there would be an opportunity to bring him to the Holotables, and when it came up during scheduling I very excitedly raised my hand* to volunteer to work on him. His proficiency with the Force combined with him teetering on the edge of madness really felt like a compelling narrative for a character."

“Getting the opportunity to fulfill that dream is incredible and every step of Malicos’ development was a true joy and passion project to try and do justice for this dark wanderer. It’s rare in a career like this you get a chance to do this, and it’s something I’ll remember for years to come.” -Mouse

* Clicked the “Raise Hand” button in Zoom, anyway.

Strategy Tips:

• Let your stacks of Edge of Madness reach over 20 so you can fully utilize Vile Thrash to combo with Die, Whelp! For maximum damage!
• Remember that Edge of Madness reduces Malicos’ Defense stat (not to be confused with his Protection) per stack, this leaves him vulnerable to burst damage from your opponent; keeping him healthy will be critical to help counteract this
• Malicos is an option for Lord Vader’s squad if you’d like to use your Maul elsewhere, but his main target home to make Cere’s UFU squad really punch up

FAQ:

• For the “Echo of the Fallen Order” unique, with the Omicron, does the “This effect persists if Malicos is defeated” apply to everything or only the revive prevention?
  • Only the revive prevention. The rest of the unique relies on Malicos being alive (also referred to as “active”)
• For the “Strength is Power” unique, does Malicos’ ability to use “Dark Strike” again when he has Accuracy Up or Defense Up stack with the Omicron effect?
  • Yes! With Accuracy Up or Defense Up and the Omicron active, Malicos can use up to 3 attacks in a turn.
    • (1) From using an ability on his turn 
    • (2) for having Accuracy or Defense Up 
    • (3) for having the Omicron and being in Grand Arenas
• In his unique, “Strength is Power”, it says “Whenever an enemy dispels a debuff Malicos inflicted from one of his abilities, he gains a stack of Edge of Madness until the end of the encounter.” Would this include debuffs he applies from other sources? (Something from a Galactic Challenge for example)?
  • No, this only includes debuffs he directly inflicts as part of his kit.
• Can Malicos gain multiple bonus turns from “Vile Thrash”? If, for example, he had 40 stacks of Edge of Madness, would he gain two bonus turns?
  • No, he gains a bonus turn for having 20, but no additional bonus turns beyond that
• Why doesn’t Malicos have synergy with Sith or Nightsisters?
  • The inspiration we’re using of Taron Malicos is his JFO appearance, when he has cemented himself as a former Jedi and seeking power. In this snapshot he does not work with Merrin as an ally and is quick to turn against Cal. In our game’s terms, he presents himself as a Force user who shares no alignment with Sith or Jedi, therefore he is an Unaligned Force User.

ABILITIES:

BASIC: Dark Strike

Final Text: Deal Physical damage to target enemy and gain 2 stacks of Edge of Madness (max 100) until the end of the encounter, which can't be copied, dispelled, or prevented.

This attack can't be countered.

Edge of Madness: -2% Defense per stack

SPECIAL 1: Vile Thrash

Final Text: Deal Physical damage to target enemy and gain Riposte for 2 turns. This attack has +30% Defense Penetration, quadrupled if all allies are Dark Side or Light Side Unaligned Force Users.

If Malicos has at least 20 stacks of Edge of Madness, he takes a bonus turn. For every 20 stacks of Edge of Madness he has, dispel them and gain a stack of Madness Manifested until the next time he uses Die, Whelp!, is defeated, or the end of the encounter, which can't be copied, dispelled, or prevented, and if the ally in the Leader slot is a Dark Side or Light Side Unaligned Force User, the cooldown of Die, Whelp! is reset.

Madness Manifested: -40% Tenacity per stack; the next time this character uses Die, Whelp!, it deals 50% more Physical damage per stack, reduces the current Max Health of the target enemy by 15% for the rest of the battle (stacking, excluding raid bosses and Galactic Legends), which can't be resisted, and removes all stacks of Madness Manifested

SPECIAL 2: Die, Whelp!

Final Text: Deal Physical damage and inflict Vulnerable to all enemies and Stun target enemy for 1 turn. If the target had Defense Down, this Stun can't be resisted. 

If the target enemy is in the Leader slot, increase their cooldowns by 1, which can't be resisted.

While in Grand Arenas: Deal additional true damage to all enemies and inflict Buff Immunity and Healing Immunity on target enemy for 2 turns, which can't be resisted. 

If the ally in the Leader slot is a Dark Side or Light Side Unaligned Force User, Malicos gains 20% Critical Damage and Offense (stacking) until the end of the battle.

UNIQUE 1: Echo of the Fallen Order

Final Text: All allies have +30% Critical Chance.

If all allies were Unaligned Force Users at the start of battle: While Malicos has at least one stack of Edge of Madness, whenever he scores a critical hit, all other allies gain 5% Critical Damage and Offense (stacking) until the end of the encounter. Whenever an ally is inflicted with Healing immunity, they dispel it and gain damage immunity for 1 turn, whenever they are inflicted with Stun, they dispel it and recover 30% Health and Protection. 

While in Grand Arenas: Enemies defeated by allies can't be revived. This effect persists if Malicos is defeated.

The first time another Dark Side or Light Side Unaligned Force User ally would be reduced to 1% Health, if Malicos is active, they recover 100% Health and Protection, gain Damage Immunity for 1 turn, take a bonus turn, and gain Critical Chance Up, Critical Damage Up, and Offense Up for 2 turns.

While Malicos is active, whenever an enemy with less than 100% Turn Meter gains bonus Turn Meter, Malicos gains a stack of Edge of Madness and that enemy takes true damage, which can't be evaded (limit once per turn). This damage can't defeat enemies.

UNIQUE 2: Strength is Power

Final Text: Malicos' attacks can't be evaded, enemies defeated by him can't be revived, he has 75% counter chance and 100% Health Steal, and at the start of battle, he gains 25% Offense for each other Dark Side or Light Side Unaligned Force User. If the ally in the Leader slot is a Dark Side or Light Side Unaligned Force User, Malicos ignores Taunt.

While debuffed, he gains 50% Health Steal.

Whenever Malicos uses an ability during his turn, if he has Accuracy Up or Defense Up, he immediately uses Dark Strike. Whenever he attacks out of turn, he gains 10% Critical Damage (stacking) for 3 turns. Whenever he is inflicted with Daze, he dispels it and reduces his cooldowns by 1.

Whenever an enemy dispels a debuff Malicos inflicted from one of his abilities, he gains a stack of Edge of Madness until the end of the encounter. 

While in Grand Arenas: At the start of battle, Malicos gains a stack of Edge of Madness until the end of the encounter, and all Unaligned Force User allies gain Critical Hit Immunity for 2 turns which can't be dispelled. He has +100% Max Health and +50% Mastery.

Whenever he uses an ability during his turn, he immediately uses Dark Strike. Whenever he attacks out of turn, he gains Protection Up (20%, stacking) for 1 turn. 

Whenever any other Unaligned Force User ally uses a Special ability, Malicos assists.