Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic (XBox)
Optimal Character Build Guide by ZEROGURU
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< - INTRO - >
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Hey guys i am writing this guide to creating your own Star wars: knights of
the Old Republic character ( KotOR ). i have seen plenty of guides saying that
my build is the best, or, this is the only way to beat solo if you use my
build.......bull. I must admit i am a power gamer, i crunch numbers and i
calculate things so i know how my character is going to handle before i get him
out into the game. i really like games that use a system similar to that of a
classic PnP ( pen and paper ) because i can calculate what the game is doing
EXACTLY! i can calculate dice rolls and stat bonuses and how they really effect
my character. so if you enjoy number crunching this guide isnt for you, because
im going to be doing all the calculating for you so you can just pick what you
want your character to do, and select stats and abilitys that allow for that tohappen. now on to the guide, im not going to put that legal crap in here
because if your petty enough to steal my work, first im flattered you would go
through that much trouble, and second i didnt do this to be recongnized by the
public as a kotor god, and plus its halfway through 2010 when im writing this,
the game is old but i recently picked it up and saw some of the guides and was
appauled at the ammount of people who were contridicting things in other
guides. it is confusing to try and look up stuff for this game. so enough of my
babbling and onto the guide
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< - how the game works - >
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ok so your probably wondering what im talking about when i say how the game
works, i mean how the game takes your characters stats and transits them into
the game. now the game is based on an engine that runs like a classic pnp game.
so basically behind the scenes 'dice' are being rolled to see how much damage
you do, if you hit your enemy, if you dodge, pretty much every action in the
game. i will explain myself here.
STATS
ok when you first see your attribute screen when you have selected your class
you were probably more than a little bit confused, am i right? no shame in that
i was too. you probably didnt know what the stats meant. well first things
first you need to learn about modifiers. these handy little numbers are beside
the number you actually change and this is the number the game uses to add to
rolls and put your stats into the game. so modifiers are important, look at the
graph below.
Stat number mod
8 -1
9 -1
10 0
11 0
12 1
13 1
14 2
15 2
16 3
17 3
and so on........
so the game calculates the mod not the actual number. its important to know
this because it can really optimize your character. but there is one thing that
makes putting a stat at 15 worth it, you will gain 5 more points to allocate by
the time your max level (20). so if you put your strength at 15 you can
eventually get it to 20, which is a good thing. another note, always dump these
points on one stat for maximum benifit. so heres the rules dont put any stat
past 14, except for one, and put that one to 15. besides that the freedom is yours.
now onto what each stat means
- str: basically helps melee damage and helps you hit enemies.
- DEX: effects defense values and your ability to avoid enemy attacks
- con: the mod effects the health you gain at each level, simple enough.
- INT: adds skill points you get to allocate, not too importannt but shouldnt
be neglected
- WIS: This effects how many 'force points' aka mana you have for force powers,
important!
- CHA: effects the persuade skill and basically is the same as wisdom, adds
force points.....idk either!
there you have it.
DEFENSE
Ok defense is pretty important but how does it work? its very complicated but i
will try to explain it. defence on this game isnt your classic negate damage as
usuall in games like this, its how hard your character is to hit, defense
relies on dexterity the most so get this mod up if you want a character that is
harder to hit. sounds underated but it is very vital!
CRITICALS
Ah the infamous critical hit! this game doesnt really explain how they are
calculated but thats where i come in right? ok basically each weapon has a
critical range. average is 19-20, what this means that if you roll a 19 or 20
you will roll another dice, this could mean double damage or an extra 1 damage,
its all random so yea, crits shouldnt be your bread and butter in this game
(sorry rogues) but they should not be ignored by all means! a weapon with a
good crit range may just give you that extra push to finish a boss fight or
kill that last enemy. dont forget about it.
SAVES
ugh, this will be hard to explain but here i go:
- Fortitude will help you resist special feats used against you, mostly
physical feats like flurry or critical strike.
- will saves protect from force powers like stun or fear
- reflex protects from projectiles like grenades and from blaster bullets
now where do the numbers come in? well basically your save is added to your
roll and their mod is added to theirs, so these are defensive numbers. in the
scheme of things a save of 3 is average and anything above is good. so there
you have it.
blah blah blah, now onto the fun stuff!
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< - class - >
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ok here is where the game starts off, your scared and alone and they tell you
to pick a class? now i bet 75% of people chose soldier for their first
character, which is fine, but i will give you the info about all three classes.
----- SOLDIER -----
your basic grunt, i like soldiers for a few reasons, one is they tend to have
the highest vitality and another reason is that they make the early portion of
the game, ( Taris ). soldiers get alot of feats which make them really strong
in the combat department but they get no really good bonus class feats and you
might as well give up in the class department! but in this game soldiers have
one distinct advantage over the other classes, combat is always an option.
somtimes hacking or picking a lock will make things easier but if your really
good at combat you can handle the hard way 99.9% of the time. here are their
bonus class feats:
- Armor proficiency heavy
- weapon proficiency: blaster pistols
- Weapon proficiency: blaster Rifles
- Weapon proficiency: heavy weapons
- Weapon proficiency: melee weapons
- power attack
- power blast
ok now let me comment on each of these, for the armor proficiency heavy, its
useless really. you will get more benefit from robes when your a jedi (more on
that later). for your weapon proficiencies, really you wont get any use from
any except melee weapons because once you become a jedi you will be using a
lightsaber, if you arent, then your silly =). power attack is ok i guess but
flurry is much better and i wouldnt waste filling out that feat to master,
power blast is for blasters, might help you on taris but, really taris is
pretty much a tutorial in this massive game. so in the bonus class feats
department the soldier does poorly. but on the bright side you have really fast
feat progression so no biggy!
now onto the soldiers feat progression, its the fastest of the three, you will
gain a feat every level except 17 and 19. thats really impressive but in
retrospec, you really should at max be level 8 when you become a jedi so you
will get 8 feats from being a soldier, which is alot. soldiers rock in feat
progression!
now for the downfall of the soldier, its not that big of a deal but it hurts
non the less. your skills will suffer, you have some not so grat selections as
your class skills:
- Demolitions
- Awareness
- Treat injury
yuck! but in the grand scheme of things its not that bad since your focus is
beating down enemies not hacking computers right? so focus on blowing stuff up
(demolitions) and meding wounds (treat injury). treat injury allows you to get
more health out of the use of medpacks if you didnt already know that =)
OVERVIEW: solid class, good for begginers, fun to play. makes taris less
frustrating and is good for those people who want a 'tank' build. i like the
soldier and ammount of feats you get are fun to allocate.
PROS:
- lotta health
- attack bonus is high
- lots of feats!
CONS:
- lack of skills
- poor class feats
- no defense bonus
----- SCOUT -----
Your classic jack-of-all-trades character, they get average feat and skill
progression. they are probably my favorite class for numberous reasons and they
are well rounded when it comes to being able to mix and match your teammates.
they have good class skills and get a not so shabby ammount of feats. they
cannot match the soldiers feat progression or the scoundrels skill progression
but they kind of are a hybrid between the two.
they have the best bonus class feats IMHO:
- Armor proficiency medium
- Weapon proficiency blaster pistol
- Weapon proficiency blaster rifle
- weapon proficiecy melee weapons
- Flurry
- Rapid Shot
ok heres the breakdown on these feats, as far as proficiency goes they match
the soldier once you become a jedi because youll be wearing robes and using a
lightsaber, they get flurry which is an awesome feat and probably my favorite
of the three (critical strike, power attack, flurry) and rapid shot which is
useless once you become a jedi. so they get better bonus class feats than your
soldier. now they also get bonus feats as you level, unlike the soldier. here
are those:
Level 1: implant level 1
Level 4: uncanny dodge 1, implant 2
Level 7: uncanny dodge 2
Level 8: implant level 3
this is where the scout really cashes in. see if you were planning on getting
most of these on a soldier your pretty much better off going with a scout for
several reasons. for one they can now almost match a soldiers feat progression
because they just got 4 feats you probably are going to get and they have
uncanny dodge, which ups your ability to dodge enemy attacks (imagine that!)
and you cannot get it unless you are a scout. so they are really a cool class
to play
class skills
- computer use
- demolitions
- awareness
- Repair
- treat injury
they have 2 important class skills, repair and computer use. repair has a neat
little side effect to it, if you have your repair high enough, you can upgrade
HK-47 and make him substanctially stronger. this is important if you plan on
using him in your party. i like their selection of class skills
OVERVIEW: well rounded class with the ability to enter combat and use skills.
has good feat progression although not as customizable as a soldiers but if you
plan to use the feats they get free and like the sound of uncanny dodge, then
you cannot beat a scout when it comes to feats. their skills are nifty and
repair is always somthing i invest in so i can lugg around HK-47 and have him
really woop up on people. plus repair gives you more opportunities to gain xp
by repairing droids. somthing valuable if you ask me.
Pros:
- class feats are fun, get good stuff free!
- have better skills than a soldier
- adds versitility over a soldier or scoundrel
Cons:
- not specialized in a specific thing
- not as combat efficient as a soldier
- not as skill oriented as a scoundrel
----- SCOUNDREL -----
this is the class that Han Solo would be. a sneaky little computer hacker,
smuggler, security breaking artist. these are the rogues of the KotOR universe
and i know you guys like rogues. they are interesting to play and add a
challenge to the game not before seen by the other 2 classes. but is this
challenge weakness? i dont think it is weakness, i dont see any potential class
build as weak unless you really are horrible at making characters. they
specialize in the art of stealth and persuasion. they are they exact opposite
of a soldier and have amazing skill progression.
class feats as follows:
- armor proficiency light
- weapon proficiency blaster pistol
- weapon proficiency blaster rifle
- weapon proficiency melee weapon
- Scoundrels luck
- Sniper shot
- critical strike
ok scoundrels luck adds bonus to your defensive ability to dodge attacks,
usefull when you arent adept at combat. they basically match a soldier when it
comes to weapon and armor proficiency because of robes and lightsabers. sniper
shot is a blaster feat, so eh....kinda cool. critical strike has uses with this
class which i will explain here in a second.
they also get a nifty little feat every other level known as Sneak attack. this
has 10 levels of progression and is what makes the scoundrel worthy of playing.
this allows you to do tons of damage on stunned enemies, or enemies unaware of
your presence when your stealthed. this makes them very fun to play as you can
sneak around and be all roguish while you burst damage your foes. downside is
if you get ambushed by alot of people, but just make sure your teammates are
close to follow.
remember how i said that critical strike would have its uses with this class,
here it is. if you manage to land a sneak attack on sombody you do extra damage
right? well what if you land a critical strike on them while you land a sneak
attack on them? o yea you guessed it, major damage. actually enough damage to
somtimes 1 hit a lesser foe and cripple a strong opponent. this makes a
scoundrel exciting and fun to play. and you thought these skill mongers were
useless. speaking of skill mongers onto the class skills:
Class skills
- Demolitions
- Stealth
- Awarness
- Persuade
- Security
they have several really cool skills like stealth and persuade, stealth should
be your bread and butter with this class as you sneak attack your way to
victory =). you should focus on persuade only if you dont plan on using jedi
mind tricks. if so it is sort of over doing the whole speechcraft thing.
awarness should be raised a small ammount so you can detect mines. try to dump
alot of points into stealth since you will need them to land your sneak attacks.
OVERVIEW: i like the play style of this class, it is fresh and different than
any of the other classes and allows you to do burst damage. in the skill
department it is looking good but the feats suffer unfortunantly. but there are
ways around that!
PROS:
- fun playstyle
- massive burst damage
- awesome class skills
- skill progression
- sneak attack FTW!
Cons:
- Lacking combat ability
- Lacking feat progression
- makes beggining of game HELL
- rely on teammates more than other classes
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< - Jedi Classes - >
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ok now for the part you have been waiting for, the jedi classes. these will
carry you through the bulk of the game so its important to pick one that favors
your playstyle and one that maybe balances out your class selection or
reinforces your original selection. - WARNING - im about to rant:
ok i saw some guys class building guide say hybrid characters arent as
effective as classes that follow their cooresponding jedi (soldier-guardian for
example), ok i wont mention his username but where did he get this info? this
is 100% a load of crap! i actually will encourage you to make a hybrid because
they are well rounded and mix up your gameplay from your class selection. Dont
listen to people and follow their word, Hell dont even follow mine blindly,
although im not going to give you a large guide about all my template classes
you can have, you should see that all these builds people make are opinionated
thats why i straight shoot you the facts and let you plan you own character, Ya
Dig? ok im done being a troll. onto the jedi classes!
Note: all jedi recieve persuade as a class skill, so now it only cost one point
to upgrade. also all jedi get lightsaber proficiency and jedi defense from the
get go. plus you get a free feat that gives you 40 free force points =)
----- GUARDIAN -----
these are the most prominent jedi throughout the saga. examples are: Luke
Skywalker, Darth Vader, Obi-One Kanobi, Count Dooku. they are the the jedi that
matches up with the soldier class but that doesnt mean you have to pick your
cooresponding class, some of the most powerfull characters are hybrids of
classes and jedi.
- per level -
10 vitality points
4 force points
Progressive feats:
- Lvl 1: Force jump
- Lvl 6: improved force jump
- Lvl 12: master force jump
these feats are nifty to have, force jump is really effective against enemies
with blasters and jedi defense just reeinforces that protection. this also
saves you some feats because now there is no need to spend 2 feats to max out
jedi defense because you close in on those enemies instantly. plus it allows
for you to have the first attack, good to be the aggressor when you are good at
killin stuff =p!
the guardians also get defense bonus which is nice if you previously had none
or want to reeinforce your defensive ability. they have average power
progression which is good but really all jedi have average power progression so
it isnt an advantage on the other 2.
Overview: Guardian is a good class and force jump is so fun to have! you feel
very jedi like when you use it and its helpfull too. i like that they have
defense bonuses and they are perfect for the person who wants to become a
fighting force or wants to take their combat prowess to the next level.
PROS:
- Force jump is fun!
- defense bonuses
- lot of health
Cons:
- force jump can get you killed
- force powers not as strong as they could be
- low force points aka mana
----- SENTINEL -----
Not a prominent jedi class in the saga, you see a yellow lightsaber on rare
occasion, Bastilla is a Sentinel. they match up with the scout class and remain
sort of balanced between combat and force powers
- per level -
8 vitality points
6 force points
progressive feats:
- Lvl 1: force immunity: Fear
- Lvl 6: force immunity: stun
- Lvl 12: force immunity: paralyzation
these feats are not as appealing to the eye but the immunities offer will help
alot in the course of the game, fear and stun are some of the favorites of dark
jedi and being paralyzed by other means in let me tell you aggrivating. with
implants you can make yourself immune to crits and your a jedi's worst
nightmare, their 8 vitality points ends up being slightly less than a soldiers
but the extra force points go along way. they dont impress me very much
anywhere but they dont disappoint me either.
overview: Sentinels are a solid class, if you want to be a defensive god pick
them. they have immunities and they can be made into great paladin type
characters with the ability to cast and fight without mastering either of the
two. dont underestimate them.
PROS:
- immune to alot of burdening afllictions used by dark jedi
- balanced
CONS:
- immunities not fun to play with =(
- not impressive in one area
----- CONSULAR -----
Jedi super strong in the force are consulars. Yoda and Palpatine are both
Consulars. they wield green bladed lightsabers, and can really balance out a
build between combat and force powers if you do it correctly.
- per level -
4 Vitality points
10 Force Points
progressive feats:
- Lvl 1: force focus
- Lvl 6: improved force focus
- Lvl 12: Master force focus
force focus makes your force powers much harder to resist which is a good thing
if you plan to be flinging powers around. their 4 vitality points per level is
sketchy, but you can really make up for it with buffs and heals that you will
cast (or sucking the health from enemies * evil grin * ) but as hard as those 4
points per level are to your health the 10 force points per level for your
force points is epic! you can cast pretty much as long as you want to at higher
levels. they actually can be effective at combat if you pick the right feats
and class before you become a jedi.
Overview: i think consulars are a really awesome class, really all the jedi are
=). but i enjoy squeezing off force powers and feeling like a overgrown yoda is
a good feeling, a good feeling indeed!
Pros:
- lots of force powers
- lots of force points
Cons:
- low Vitality
- not frontline material
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< - Saving Levels - >
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ok this is a hot topic around all the boards, to save levels or not to save
levels. well really its a matter of the build your doing. most of the time 5/15
is the way to go. 5/15 means you stop at level 5 before you become a jedi, then
you get more levels of being a jedi and thus more force powers. this has a
couple of issues though for one, it makes taris alot more annoying. two it gets
old seeing that little L over your picture in the corner of the screen. but
overall saving levels is the way to go, 5/15 is the way to go most of the time
when you do.
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< - my builds - >
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ok you know how earlier i wouldnt force my builds on you, i lied. no im joking
these are just the 3 builds i have used thus far and each has beaten the game
on normal difficulty with ease. my planet order for each was
tatooine-koribean-kashyykke-mannaan ok before you fanboys go hating on me i
know they arent spelled right. ok well take a look, note: i dont encourage you
to use my builds unless thats what you were already set on, make your own i
almost guarentee you if you didnt do somthing really crazy it will do what you
want it to do.
----- 5/15 Scout/Consular -----
this guy was really really effective. i know of several people who recomended
this build so i did my first playthrough with it. it was fun and he worked out
really really well.
Stat distribution:
Str- 14 +2
Dex- 20 +5
Con- 10 0
int- 10 0
wis- 15 +2
cha- 14 +2
10 Feats
Jedi Defense 2 and 3 (1 is free)
lightsaber proficiency lvl 2 (1 is free)
dueling 1-3
toughness 1-3
implant lvl 3 (2 and 3 were free)
19 powers!
force cure 1-2
force armor 1-3
force speed 1-3
force throw 1-3
stun droid 1
stun 1-3
throw lightsaber 1-2
force valor 1-2
this build was amazing! i could use master speed to make up for my lack of
combat skill and for the tough battles force armor and valor came in handy.
toughness gave me that extra defense i needed to stay alive and dueling allowed
for me to use 1 lightsaber with bonuses to my defense so i again could stay
alive longer. i dumped my extra 5 points into dex so i was harder to hit. i
actually managed to be a force to be reconed with in melee combat and i used
force powers when i started to lose in melee combat. when i wanted to burst
damage i could at will, master speed is so amazing! it should be taken on with
every build.
----- 5/15 Scoundrel/Sentinel -----
i know what your thinking, this build would be an epic fail, but really it was
so efficient at what it did that i think i could have soloed that playthrough.
stat distribution
str- 14 +2
dex- 20 +5
con- 10 0
int- 12 +1
wis- 14 +2
cha- 14 +2
9 feats
jedi defense 2 (1 is free)
lightsaber proficiency 2 (1 is free)
dual weapon fighting 1-3
toughness 1-2
implant 1-2
16 powers
cure 1-2
force speed 1-3
stun 1-3
force throw 1-3
force armor 1-3
stun droid 1
throw lightsaber 1
doesnt seem impressive but hear me out. i was immune to fear, stun, and
paralyzation. i used a level 2 implant to be immune to mind controlle, i wore a
belt to be immune to critical strikes (when i wasnt using my stealth
generator). i had a +5 mod on my dexterity so i dodged alot. i had scoundrels
luck so i dodged even more. i started off each fight with a stealthed sneak
attack, usually eliminating one enemy, i then spammed whatever stun power i had
avaliable at the time, then i went to town on them with more stealth attacks
because they were stunned. i could stun a droid and do the same thing. i could
also give myself room with force wave. i used a double sided lightsaber for max
damage. i beat the last boss in literatly 2 min. he was awesome.
----- 5/15 Scout/Guardian -----
pretty straight forward. i used the feats from the scout and basically
"soldierized" him once he became a jedi, he was my dark side character so i had
alot of fun with him
stat distribution
str- 20 +5
dex- 14 +2
con- 14 +2
int- 10 0
wis- 14 +2
cha- 15 +2
12 Feats
Flurry 2-3 (1 was free)
jedi defense 2 (1 was free)
toughness 1-3
conditioning 1-3
dual weapon fighting 1-3
16 powers
drain health 1-3
Fear 1-3
Force lightening 1-3
force speed 1-3
force choke 1-3
throw lightsaber 1
you can tell what he is good at....bashing peoples faces in! he could also
repair HK-47 which made me really happy =). i liked that he had force jump, i
liked it alot although it got me into trouble somtimes. my offensive powers
were amazing, i found myself using force storm alot and i pretty much spammed
master speed every fight towards the end of the game. he seemed even
overpowered at some points. i enjoyed having canderous and HK-47 with me even
though it seemed as if i was tanking for them because all the enemies sort of
ambushed me and left them pretty much alone. but thats where i got the
overpowered feeling, they really couldnt kill me because the dps that my party
was putting out was massive!
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< - closing comments - >
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i hope you enjoy my guide, i took great care in writing it because i didnt want
to put in any false information. my builds stat distribution might be a little
off but you see where my focuses were. dont be afraid to think outside the box,
actually be afraid to think inside the box because as you saw some of my odd
class combinations turned out unexpectedly godly =) enjoy the game! remeber
stay original its what makes the game fun.
