------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Platform: PC with patch 1.03 installed Copyright 2005 Stephen M. Shipione RW Thomas (rw_thomas@hotmail.com) Version 1.0 - March 13, 2005 This CharacterFAQ can be distributed only after asking the author's permission and only in its entirety. You may not use this guide to make any kind of monetary profit, nor can you post it anywhere that requires viewers to pay a monthly fee. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is (c)2003 BioWare Inc. Star Wars and all related characters are (c)1977-2003 Lucasfilm ltd. ----------------- * Abbreviations * ----------------- Throughout this guide I'll use certain abbreviations for the sake of brevity. This section lists the most commonly used abbreviations and what they stand for. STR MOD = Strength modifier DEX MOD = Dexterity modifier CON MOD = Constitution modifier INT MOD = Intelligence modifier WIS MOD = Wisdom modifier CHA MOD = Charisma modifier VP = Vitality points (same as hit points for those D&D-types like me) SP = Skill points FP = Force points LVL = Level --------------------- * Table of Contents * --------------------- 1. Starting Classes a. Scoundrel b. Scout c. Soldier 2. Starting Stats 3. Jedi Classes a. Jedi Consular b. Jedi Sentinel c. Jedi Guardian 4. Suggestion on Feats 5. Suggestion on Force Powers a. Light-side Powers b. Dark-side Powers c. Universal Powers 6. Special Alignment Bonuses 7. Problems with the game -------------------- * Starting Classes * -------------------- You start out the game playing one of the three non-Jedi classes. At some point in the game you are taught the tenets of the Jedi Code and permanently change to one of the three Jedi classes. For the remainder of the game, your character level will be the sum of the number of your non-Jedi levels and your Jedi levels. The maximum level allowed in the game is 20, meaning that if you have 7 levels in your starting class when you become a Jedi, then you can only reach 13 levels of your Jedi class. No matter which class you started out with, you can change to any one of the three Jedi classes, which means there are nine possible class combinations in the game. The more you carefully plan your character up-front, the better you'll enjoy playing it. NOTE: Whatever skills, abilities and feats you have in your starting class transfer over to your jedi class when it becomes available. This also holds true for class skills. Another note on leveling-up your character. When you get the little yellow arrow symbol over your picture icon, you can choose to level-up your character at that time or choose to level-up later. This allows you to essentially "save" some of your level-ups until you gain your Jedi class. At the beginning of the game, you're forced to level-up at least once (you can't leave the bridge of the Endire Spire until you are 2nd level), but you can choose to not activate the others until later. Some people choose to stockpile levels until they become a Jedi then have several Jedi levels-worth of force powers and force poitns at their disposal. If you rush through Taris (the first planet), avoid all the unnecessary side-quests, and only do the bare minimum...you'll have enough experience to be character-level 6 with very little needed to make level 7...you'll also probably sill be neutral on your lightside-darkside alignment bar. If you do every side-quest on Taris, fight every opponent possible and do everything you can to squeeze any experience points possible out of Taris... you'll have enough experience to be character-level 8 and you'll probably be more than half-way toward one end of the lightside-darkside alignment bar. Do you stockpile levels or not??? That's up to you. It's theoretically possible to get through Taris as a level 2 character...but that final battle on Taris will be incredibly hard...even for soldiers. Being level 6 or higher is almost overkill for Taris encounters (except maybe for the duel in the ring with Bendak Starkiller), so the happy medium seems to be level 4...which leaves 16 Jedi levels left...that's a descent balance in my opinion. The statistics for starting classes are shown below: Scoundrel --------- (6 + CON MOD) = vitality points per level (4 + INT MOD) * 4 = starting skill points (8 + INT MOD) / 2 = skill points each level-up Feat Progression: 1,2,5,8,11,14,17,20 Class Skills: Demolitions Stealth Awareness Persuade Security Starting Feats: Armor Proficiency: Light Critical Strike Sniper Shot Weapon Proficiency: Blaster Pistol Weapon Proficiency: Blaster Rifle Weapon Proficiency: Melee Weapons Pros: Highest skill points available 5 class skills out of 8 including Persuade & Security Sneak attack ability Scoundrel's luck ability Cons: Few vitality points Treat Injury is a cross-class skill Only starts with light armor proficiency Slower feat progression Commentary: This class is good for those who are looking towards becoming a force-throwing Jedi Consular from the back of the party who has high Persuade skill, or for those who really love the sneak-attack ability (+1d6 damage every odd # level). Prior to becoming a Jedi, scoundrels are better at defensive and/or ranged combat support roles while leaving the melee combat to the soldiers and some of the scouts. Dexterity is the primary attribute, followed by intelligence, charisma and wisdom. Strength is rarely needed for a scoundrel. If you are interested in skills, then the scoundrel is a good choice especially when you follow-up with choosing consular as your jedi class because between the two classes every skill ends up becoming a class skill. This means that if you are a scoundrel that really wants to repair HK-47 and/or really likes slicing into computers...save some of your scoundrel skill points until you become a consular and buy those skills at only one point each instead of 2. :o) As for how far to progress as a scoundrel before becoming a jedi...that depends on how much sneak-attack you want at the cost of jedi powers. A 5th level scoundrel has +3d6 sneak attack and another feat to spend. This is a popular point at which to change classes. Scout ----- (8 + CON MOD) = vitality points per level (3 + INT MOD) * 4 = starting skill points (4 + INT MOD) / 2 = skill points each level-up Feat Progression: 1,2,3,5,7,9,11,13,15,17,19 Class Skills: Computer Use Demolitions Awareness Repair Treat Injury Starting Feats: Armor Proficiency: Light Armor Proficiency: Medium Flurry Rapid Shot Weapon Proficiency: Blaster Pistol Weapon Proficiency: Blaster Rifle Weapon Proficiency: Melee Weapons Pros: 5 class skills out of 8 including Computer Use & Repair Can get Repair high enough to upgrade HK-47 Can play any role needed (once customized) Implant feat progression come free Uncanny dodge Starts with Flurry Starts with Medium Armor Proficiency Cons: Does not excel at any one thing Not as many vitality points as a soldier Not as many skill points as a scoundrel Feat progression less than a soldier Commentary: This class is good for offensive ranged combat and supportive melee combat, but not as able to survive toe-to-toe in melee like the soldiers can. They have less vitality points than soldiers but more than the scoundrels. They have less skill points than scoundrels but more than the soldiers. Therefore, the popular mindset is that scouts are a "Jack of all trades, Master of none". It all boils down to how you build your scout. The free implant feat progression is nice, but you don't get the 3rd implant feat until scout level 8...which is after you want to change to your jedi class. The 2nd implant feat as well as the 1st Uncanny Dodge feat come in at lvl 4, which is a descent place to switch to your Jedi class. The base flurry feat and the ability to upgrade HK-47 are also nice, but at the expense of the feat progression and vitality points of the soldier. Other than wanting a fully-upgraded HK-47 or just wanting more skill points than a soldier at the expense of vitality and feats, playing a scout is a good starting class for a healthier (aka more VP) future Jedi Consular or a more skilled future Jedi Guardian. Wisdom is the primary attribute, followed by dexterity and intelligence. Soldier ------- (10 + CON MOD) = vitality points per level (1 + INT MOD) * 4 = starting skill points (2 + INT MOD) / 2 = skill points each level-up Feat Progression: 1 feat every level except 17 & 19 Class Skills: Demolitions Awareness Treat Injury Starting Feats: Armor Proficiency: Light Armor Proficiency: Medium Armor Proficiency: Heavy Power Attack Power Blast Weapon Proficiency: Blaster Pistol Weapon Proficiency: Blaster Rifle Weapon Proficiency: Heavy Weapons Weapon Proficiency: Melee Weapons Pros: Highest vitality points available Most number of feats in the game Can wear any armor except Jedi robes & droid plating Cons: Few skill points Only 3 class skills Must spend feats to get flurry Commentary: This class is good for the offensive melee combat 'Tank' that can go toe-to-toe with many of the foes in the game. They don't have many skill points to play with, but with all those vitality points and feats available you won't be using your skills much anyways. For the hack&slash player, this is the class to pick. This class is good for players that want to do maximum damage as lightsaber-wielding Jedi Guardians, or for players that want their future Jedi Consulars to be able to last longer in a one-on-one lightsaber fight with tough bosses (like the final boss, for example). I've even seen (and experiemented with) a dual-pistol-wielding Jedi that started out as a soldier. As strange as it may seem, it is actually quite successful and a refreshing change to the standard stereotype Jedi builds. As far as main attributes, strength is the primary attribute followed by constitution and dexterity. ------------------ * Starting Stats * ------------------ Once you pick your gender, starting class & your portrait, it's time to set your starting ability scores; but what exactly do these ability scores mean? Basically, they determine a bonus or penalty that is applied to different things you can do throughout the game. The lowest attribute value in the game is 8 and I've not tested what the highest value is yet (though with some cheats enabled I did get attributes fairly high without maxing it out). A table showing the attributes and their corresponding modifiers is shown below: Attribute Attribute Value Modifier --------------------- 8 or 9 -1 10 or 11 0 12 or 13 +1 14 or 15 +2 16 or 17 +3 18 or 19 +4 20 or 21 +5 ...and so on. As you can see, raising an attribute from even to odd (like raising from 10 to 11) DOES NOT increase your attribute modifier. You'd have to put in another increase to make the attribute value even again in order to get the modifier to go up. At character creation, you start out with all 8's and have 30 points to spend. You can raise any attribute as high as 18 to start the game with. At first look, one might think that three stats could be raised by 10 points each giving a 1st level character three 18's. However, the catch is that not every attribute increase costs 1 point each. Raising an attribute ONLY costs one point each until the attribute value reaches 14. After that, it costs 2 points each until it reaches 16, then it costs 3 points each until it reaches 18. What this means is that once you raise an attribute value above 14, it becomes more costly to keep raising it, as shown in the following table: Attribute Increase Point cost ------------------------------- From 8 to 9 1 From 8 to 10 2 From 8 to 11 3 From 8 to 12 4 From 8 to 13 5 From 8 to 14 6 From 8 to 15 8 From 8 to 16 10 From 8 to 17 13 From 8 to 18 16 As you can see, to raise one attribute to 18 will cost 16 out of your initial 30 points, leaving you with only 14 points left to spend on the other 5 attributes. This is one of the reasons why it is so crucial to spend these initial 30 attribute points wisely. The good news is that there are plenty of items throughout the game that will allow you to increase your attribute values, some are purchased from vendors and some are found as treasure or loot. The bad news is that despite these attribute-boosting items and abilities available, anything that boosts your intelligence attribute will NOT equate to having more skill points at level-up time. One more note on attributes is in regards to soldiers with low intelligence and their low skill point progression. The game is programmed to always give you at least one skill point at level-up, even if your skill point equation comes out negative because you left your intelligence attribute at 8 (meaning a -1 modifier). So even if you make a soldier with an 8 intelligence, you'll still start out with 4 skill points to spend (instead of 0), which is the same as if you has raised your intelligence attribute to 10 (meaning a 0 modifier). This might be considered exploiting a bug by some, but when compared to other classes in the game....pretending a soldier's intelligence score is 10 instead of 8 at creation or level-up isn't going to unbalance things enough with the other classes to be a real concern. So, with that said, lets determine where best to spend your 30 points. First thing is to think ahead to what kind of Jedi you want. If you are going to concentrate more on force powers and less on lightsaber fighting, you'll want a higher wisdom and charisma score. If you are going to concentrate more on lightsaber fighting and less on force powers, you'll want a higher constitution and strength. If you are going to concentrate more on skills and less on lightsaber fighting, you'll want a higher intelligence score. Once you determine what kind of Jedi you're aiming for, it's time to spend those 30 points. The build that I've found to work with most class combos is simply to leave intelligence at 8 and raise the other 5 attributes to 14. With the numerous attribute & skill enhancing items available in the game, this build lets you pretty much raise any attribute or skill high enough to get through whatever tough spots the game throws your way (at least on normal). This looks as follows: Strength 14 +2 MOD Dexterity 14 +2 MOD Constitution 14 +2 MOD Intelligence 8 -1 MOD Wisdom 14 +2 MOD Charisma 14 +2 MOD If you want to concentrate on offensive melee combat...there are strength- boosting items in the game (stims, implants, gloves, belts, some upgradable armors). If you want to concentrate on defensive and/or ranged combat...there are dexterity-boosting items in the game as well (stims, implants, gloves, belts, masks, some upgradable armors). If you want to concentrate on force- throwing...there are wisdom-boosting items in the game (a mask and two special jedi robes) as well as a charisma-bonus for maxing-out in light-side alignment (consulars only). If you want to concentrate on skills...there are skill-boosting items in the game (gloves, belts, masks). The only builds where I'd do something different are for the ranged scoundrel- consular who doesn't want to ever see melee combat and who insists on having more skill points. For this case, I'd leave strength at 8 and raise the rest to 14. This gives you 24 skill points to start with and 5 per scoundrel level afterwards. If you want even more skill points, then you can take 4 from constitution and raise intelligence to 16 which will give you 28 skill points to start instead of 24 (but you'll still get 5 each level-up afterwards). Once you become a Jedi consular you'll get 2 skill points per level. Yes, your strength is awful, but lightsabers are based on strength OR dexterity (whichever is higher), which means if your dex is higher than your strength, then dex counts for lightsabers to-hit. The scoundrel-consular build is usually in the back of the party using force powers from a distance, but high -enough defense to avoid hits from many enemies (except powerful bosses like Malak). This looks as follows: Strength 8 -1 MOD Dexterity 14 +2 MOD Constitution 14 +2 MOD Intelligence 14 +2 MOD Wisdom 14 +2 MOD Charisma 14 +2 MOD ...or for those that want more skill points... Strength 8 -1 MOD Dexterity 14 +2 MOD Constitution 10 0 MOD Intelligence 16 +3 MOD Wisdom 14 +2 MOD Charisma 14 +2 MOD ...or if you want a scoundrel-consular with more force points... Strength 8 -1 MOD Dexterity 14 +2 MOD Constitution 10 0 MOD Intelligence 10 0 MOD Wisdom 16 +3 MOD Charisma 16 +3 MOD The other build where I'd deviate from the standard allocation of points is for the soldier-guardian who refuses to waste time with skills or offensive Jedi force powers. This would look as follows: Strength 16 +3 MOD Dexterity 14 +2 MOD Constitution 16 +3 MOD Intelligence 8 -1 MOD Wisdom 10 0 MOD Charisma 10 0 MOD The game awards attribute increases for characters every 4th level. Since the maximum character level is 20, that means that you'll get 5 more attribute points to allocate once you spend your initial 30 points towards your attributes. The question then becomes "Where do I put those last 5 points when I get them?" Again, that depends on what you want your character to do during the game. With my standard build (8 INT and 14 elsewhere), I'd put one into charisma (leaving it at 15) and put the rest into wisdom (bringing it to 18). The reason for this is that I love the "Light Side Only" items in the game, which include the special bonus for maxing-out the light-side alignment. For a Jedi Consular, maxing out the light-side alignment gives you a +3 charisma bonus which means my 15 charisma (+2 modifier) becomes an 18 (+4 modifier). For Jedi Sentinels, I'd put one point into constitution (making it 15) and put the rest into Wisdom because the light-side alignment bonus for Sentinels is a +3 to Constitution (bringing my CON MOD from +2 to +4). For Jedi Guardians it depends on whether or not I care about force powers. If I don't, then I'll alternate putting one point into Strength and the next point into Constitution. This would put my strength at 19 and my constitution at 18. The light-side alignment bonus for Guardians is +3 to Strength, which raises the modifier from +4 to +6. If I do care about force powers with my Guardian, I'd alternate between a point into Strength first and then a point into Wisdom. The things to look for during the game are attribute-enhancing items that (when equipped) will raise your stats to an even number. For example, if you have a 16 strength and find some "Strength +1" gauntlets...they won't give you any immediate benefit. However, one of your NPCs could possibly get some benefit from wearing them in the meantime (like Canderous who starts out with a 15 strength). Now let's take a look at those prized Jedi classes. ---------------- * Jedi Classes * ---------------- Jedi Consular ------------- (6 + CON MOD) = vitality points per level (2 + INT MOD) / 2 = skill points each level-up (8 + WIS MOD + CHA MOD) = force points each level-up Feat Progression: 1,3,6,9,12,15,18 Force Power Progression: 1 / lvl Bonus Force Powers: 1,3,9,15,18 Special Abilities: Force Focus line Class Skills: Computer Use Demolitions Awareness Persuade Repair Treat Injury Starting Feats: Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Lightsaber Jedi Defense Force Focus Pros: Highest number of force points Highest number of force powers Force Focus makes force powers much harder to resist 6 class skills including Computer Use and Repair Cons: Low vitality point progression Low skill point progression Low feat point progression Summary: This class is good for those who want to specialize in force powers. You'll have plenty of force points for combat, especially if your wisdom and charisma scores are high. Defensive roles are popular with consulars due mainly to the lower vitality and feat progression. If your starting class was scoundrel, all skills are now class skills but you won't get too many skill points to spend as a consular. Saving skill points from your scoundrel levels to use on computer use and/or repair is not a bad idea...especially if you really want to upgrade HK-47 but don't want to start out as a scout. As for items...you could either find items that raise your weaker stats (like +CON Implants, for example)...OR you could find items that boost your wisdom even higher for even more force points (like +2 WIS robes on Korriban and a +5 WIS mask on Kashyyk). Jedi Sentinel ------------- (8 + CON MOD) = vitality points per level (4 + INT MOD) / 2 = skill points each level-up (6 + WIS MOD + CHA MOD) = force points each level-up Feat Progression: 1,3,6,9,12,15,18 Force Power Progression: 1 / lvl Bonus Force Powers: 1 Special Abilities: Immunity line Class Skills: Awareness Persuade Treat Injury Starting Feats: Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Lightsaber Jedi Defense Immunity: Fear Pros: More vitality points than consulars Immunity line (Fear, Stun, Paralysis) More skills than Consulars (barely) Cons: Same low skill progression as Guardians Fewer force points than Consulars Not as many vitality points as Guardians Same # of force powers as Guardian Same class skills as Guardian...only 3 Skill point progression NOT as advertised Summary: Other than the Immunity line, there really isn't much of an incentive to play a Sentinel as opposed to a Guardian or a Consular. With identical class skills and skill point progression as a Guardian, the only reason to pick Sentinel over Guardian is you want more force points at the cost of some vitality and two feat points. Jedi Guardian ------------- (10 + CON MOD) = vitality points per level (4 + INT MOD) / 2 = skill points each level-up (4 + WIS MOD + CHA MOD) = force points each level-up Feat Progression: 1,3,6,7,9,12,13,15,18 Force Power Progression: 1 / lvl Bonus Force Powers: 1 Special Abilities: Force Jump line, Lightsaber Specialization Class Skills: Awareness Persuade Treat Injury Starting Feats: Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Lightsaber Jedi Defense Force Jump Pros: Lightsaber Specialization (+2 Damage) available Force Jump line is highly useful Lots of vitality points More feats than any other Jedi class Cons: Low skill points Only 3 class skills Low force points Summary: This class is great for causing damage with lightsabers due to the ability to specialize in them (+2 damage). The force jump ability is a great way to cause initial damage, second only to the scoundrel's sneak-attack. The low force points usually become a problem if using offensive force powers alot, though it's enough to cast buffs before battle to raise your stats temporarily or to heal the party in a pinch after battle. Guardians tend to be popular choices for soldiers that want to continue playing melee tanks right on the front lines in combat, though they CAN play other roles. ----------------------- * Suggestion on Feats * ----------------------- If you've read through any of the other FAQs available, you probably have noticed that there are mixed opinions on whether to pick the Flurry line of feats versus the Power Attack line of feats for melee combat players. In the early levels of the game (aka Endire Spire & Taris) Power Attack does come in handy for quickly inflicting lots of damage. However, in the middle and late stages of the game it quickly becomes too costly in terms of defense penalty to consider using regularly because the penalty does NOT go down as you upgrade it. Flurry's defense penalty, on the other hand, DOES go down as you upgrade it, plus you get an extra attack with Flurry. This combined with the extra attack you get from wielding 2 weapons and the extra attacks you get from casting the 3rd level Jedi Power 'Master Speed' give you 4 or 5 attacks per combat round with a minimal defensive penalty. So with that said, I suggest all soldiers and the more melee-driven scouts go with Flurry and Two-Weapon Fighting feats. For the scoundrels and less melee- driven scouts, I suggest the Critical Strike line instead. If you don't want to invest feat points in Two-Weapon Fighting, then you should consider Dueling as an alternative because if you're not gonna go offense, then you should raise your defense and Dueling does just that...providing you're wielding a one- handed weapon. Dueling gives you +1 defense and +1 to attack for each feat point you put into it up to a maximum of +3 defense and +3 attack. Once you get your Jedi class, Jedi Sense comes automatically with your level- ups, so don't worry about saving feat points for those. Look instead for feats like Lightsaber Weapon Proficiency upgrades. Avoid the Armor Proficiency upgrades...what you start with is all you really need. Many of the Jedi Force Powers don't allow you to cast them while wearing armor anyways. And when you are in combat the game won't allow you to pause and take-off your armor. If you want to deflect blaster bolts back at those shooting at you, then spend the feat points on Jedi Defense...otherwise avoid this feat line. Consulars might want to consider one feat point towards this, but nothing past 1. Feats like Caution, Empathy and Gear Head are to be avoided. If you really want to increase your skills, equip an item that has +skills on them while you do your skills-related action...then unequip it when you're done. Conditioning should be avoided for the most part unless you are finding that you have an uncanny knack of regularly failing your saving throws. What does this mean? Basically FORTITUDE saving throws help keep you from getting stunned during combat, REFLEX saving throws help you avoid the full brunt of the effects of grenades and blaster weapons, WILL saving throws help you avoid the full brunt of the effects of some of the more offensive Jedi Powers. Scouts have the best saving throws of any class in the game. Fortitude Saves get a bonus from your Constitution Modifier, Reflex Saves get a bonus from your Dexterity Modifier and Will saves get a bonus from your Wisdom Modifier. Toughness is a feat line that might be worthwhile if you find that you just don't have the vitality you need during battle. Another draw towards this feat line is the 2nd level Toughness feat...it negates the first 2 points of damage you receive. This is great for the early part of the game (Endire Spire and Taris), but not as beneficial later-on. Scoundrels might want to invest their 1st-level feat bonus into the 1st Toughness feat to give them a little more vitality to survive the early levels, but no more. Toughness is also good for soldier NPCs who have tons of feats coming their way and are looking for a place to invest them. Unless you're building one of those ranged-combat Jedi characters, avoid the ranged weapon feats Rapid Shot, Sniper Shot & Power Blast. They're just the ranged versions of Flurry, Critical Strike & Power Attack (respectively). As tempting as it looks, the Melee Weapon Specialization line does NOT count towards lightsaber weapons. That's why they have their own weapon specialization line. Avoid them unless you've decided that one of your soldier NPCs should use melee weapons instead of their given ranged weapons. ----------------------------- * Suggestion on Jedi Powers * ----------------------------- For what it's worth, I think Jedi Powers are the best part of this game. There are quite a few ways to throw around your Jedi Force Points on both the light and dark side of the force. You can obtain or upgrade any Jedi Power that you meet the level requirements for; however, the amount it costs to cast many of the Jedi Powers depends on your position on the light-side/dark-side alignment bar. The only exception to this is for 'Universal' Jedi Powers. They cost the same to cast for everyone regardless of their light-side/dark-side alignment. One other note that I've yet to verify is in regards to using opposite-aligned powers. I've heard somewhere that if you continually use opposite-aligned powers you'll eventually start moving along the alignment bar that direction. For example, you're a light-side Jedi and you start using Force Storm as your main attack action. It'll cost you a bundle to cast it, but supposedly after you use it lots of times it gets cheaper to cast it and therefore move you further down the dark side. *shrugs shoulders* Like I said, I've not verified this yet and I've still got some testing of other things to do. Light-Side Powers: ------------------ Cure, Heal - All light-side Jedi and even neutral Jedi characters (like Jolee) should max this out as soon as it becomes available. Having Jedi in your party with Cure or Heal and the script set to 'Jedi Support' will literally be a life-saver especially in a pinch. Sell-off most of the medpacks once all Jedi have this. However, you might want to keep the Life Support packs around for the final boss fight in the game since you'll be fighting all alone with NO ONE to heal you except yourself. This is one of the only two Force Power line that you can cast while wearing armor. Stun Droid, Disable, Destroy - This is a good line of force powers for two of your Jedi to pursue. The top two levels of this line will damage droids, which is nice. This is the only other light-side Force Power line that you can cast while wearing armor. Force Aura, Shield, Armor - A descent line of Jedi powers. This is one of those powers that you can't cast while wearing armor. If you're wearing Jedi Robes, then this is a good line to invest in as it will boost your defense a bit. Force Valor, Knight, Master - A great power to cast before a fight, or before attempting a skill since it gives a +2, +3 or +5 to ALL attributes AND saving throws. Knight and Master levels even give poison immunity to the party. If you have an odd-numbered attribute like a 17 strength, then the Master level will boost the modifier by +3 which turns your 17 Strength to 22, which raises the modifier from +3 to +6. This power is WELL worth the investment for light- side Jedi. However, you can't cast it while wearing armor. Stun, Stasis, Stasis Field - This is another good line of force powers, but you might not want EVERY Jedi in your party to pursue it. Pick one Jedi to pursue this line. If you want to give this to Bastila, then make sure another Jedi also pursues this line. This is another line of powers that you can't cast while wearing armor. This power is very useful in my opinion since I can walk towards a group of enemies, cast Stasis Field, and watch as they all are unable to fight for several seconds. Consulars can greatly benefit from this since it will make it easier to fight-back when attacked suddenly. Dark-Side Powers: ----------------- Drain Life, Death Field - This is the dark-side answer to the light-side's Cure line. Not only does this damage foes, it transfers that damage into healing points for you. Definitely give this to Jolee as well as yourself if you're playing the dark-side. Slow, Affliction, Plague - This is basically a debuffing power that drops your opponents' attributes and speed. If you upgrade it all the way to Plague, you will also be able to poison your foes; however, Plague won't let you wear armor while casting it whereas the lower 2 levels will let you wear armor. Juhani starts out with Slow, so this is the one character I'd select to invest in this line. If you do decide to let Juhani invest in this, don't have her invest in the light-side Stun-Stasis progression. Fear, Horror, Insanity - This is a good choice for dark-side Consulars to go after. This weakens enemies by making them too-afraid to attack you. It's neat to walk up to a group of enemies, cast Insanity, and watch them cower in fear while you "Wipe their pathetic bodies off the face of the galaxy." However, non-consular players might not want to invest their precious few force powers along this line. No armor restrictions along this line, which is nice. Shock, Lightning, Storm - This is a favorite among dark-side Jedi that causes damage to groups of enemies from a relatively safe distance. The only drawback to this line is the armor restriction. Jolee should pursue this as well as your Jedi-Robed dark-side character. Wound, Choke, Kill - This offensive-line stuns & damages opponents. This is an excellent way to finish-off enemies, especially once you get to the top level. Kill will let you easily defeat opponents whose vitality has dropped to half or lower. Jolee should definitely pursue this line as well as your dark-side character. No armor restrictions here, which is nice. Universal Powers: ----------------- Burst, Knight, Master Speed - Every non-armored Jedi should max this line out. Yes, this means that you can't wear armor while casting this line of powers. Burst level increases movement speed and adds +2 to defense. Knight level increases your defense bonus to +4 as well as giving you one extra attack per round. Master level gives you an additional extra attack per round. That means once maxed out, you get +4 Defense and 2 extra attacks per round. Combine this with Master Flurry and you get 4 attacks per round with a penalty of only -1 to defense. Force Resistance, Immunity - Don't start pursuing this line until you're ready to tackle Korriban or Manaan. Tatooine and Kashyyk only have 1 group of 3 dark jedi each, so it's not worth pursuing it just yet. But there's a Sith embassy on Manaan and the Sith academy is on Korriban, so you'll need this line at those parts of the game. You can't cast this line of force powers while in armor and it is only useful against dark jedi. If you don't have this line by the time you get near the end of the game, you'll find it very difficult to get through. Energy Resistance, Improved - This is an ok force power line, but unless you're a Jedi Consular with force powers you can't find another place to spend, don't bother. You'll absorb sonic, fire, cold & electrical attacks with this line, so it'll help against those dark jedi who use Force Storm against you & your party, but there are other force powers you could invest in that would help you better. Affect, Dominate Mind - Only the player character can use this since it opens- up new dialog options throughout the game. It only works on weak-minded people so if you're talking with someone strong-minded they'll see right through your attempt to play with their minds. If you're going the diplomacy route through the game, this is a force power line to invest in. If you're a dark-side player who wants to force someone to give you more credits on some quests, then you also can benefit from these powers. Otherwise, don't bother. No armor restrictions here. Force Push, Whirlwind, Wave - This is a useful line of force powers with no armor restrictions. It temporarily incapacitates as well as damage one or more foes. Whirlwind will incapacitate a single foe for several seconds. Wave will damage multiple foes & push them back a bit. I haven't found this line to be all that helpful when compared to other force powers I could invest in instead. Then again, the end boss uses Whirlwind against me...so perhaps it's worth something. Force Supression, Breach - This line only debuffs a dark jedi's buffing powers and you can't cast it while wearing armor. One of your NPCs might get some use from this, but when you consider the force powers you'd be giving up to invest in this line....I don't think it's worth it. Then again, dark jedi seem to love using this against you. Throw, Advanced Throw Lightsaber - This line may not seem like much when compared to other force powers since it only does 10-60 points of damage. BUT there is NO saving throw for this...meaning it ALWAYS HITS and ALWAYS CAUSES DAMAGE. No worries about resisting this force power and there's no armor restriction. The Advanced Throw Lightsaber will attack multiple enemies near each other, meaning if you come up to a group of 3 enemies side-by-side...you just aim for one of the end guys and it'll hit all 3 in order for 10-60 damage each. Not bad for a guaranteed hit if you find your attacks are constantly being resisted by tough enemies. ----------------------------- * Special Alignment Bonuses * ----------------------------- Once your character is built and you begin playing, certain actions and dialog options cause you to add either lightside points (light blue) or add darkside points (red). The more you walk down the path in either direction, the less your force powers of that alignment cost you in terms of force points. For example...cure and heal are light side powers. The more light side points you get thoughout the game...the less it costs in force points to cast it. But the drawback to that is that it costs more force points to cast force powers from the other side. Which means that if you get more light side points...then cure and heal will cost less, but dark side powers like force storm cost MORE. If you play the game consistently getting all the way towards one side or the other, you get a special alignment bonus based on your jedi class. For Jedi Consulars, full dark side alignment will give you an extra 50 force points. Full light side alignment will give you a +3 to your charisma score. For Jedi Sentinels, full dark side alignment will give you immunity to poison. Full light side alignment will give you a +3 to your constitution score. For Jedi Guardians, full dark side alignment will give you an extra +1d8 damage Full light side alignment will give you a +3 to your strength score. If you get all alignment points on Taris to go towards one side or the other... you should already be about 1/2 way there by the time you get your Jedi class. It is possible to get full alignment on either side before you get to level 14, which is around the time you have 2 pieces of the map and are working towards your 3rd piece. Problems: The Jedi Sentinel is SUPPOSED TO BE the one with 'Average Skill Progression' according to the game manual. Since the Jedi Guardian and Jedi Consular are supposed to have 'Low skill progression', this implies that the Jedi Sentinel is SUPPOSED to have better skill progression than both the other Jedi classes. However, I've run numerous tests (observing Bastila's progression as well as building my character as a Sentinel) and have discovered that the Jedi Sentinel's skill progression is identical to that of the Guardian. Perhaps it's just something to do with the difference between the XBOX version and the PC version. I don't own an XBOX and haven't played the game on an XBOX so perhaps someone can run tests to see if the same problem is found there as well.