As with many of our other walkthroughs, if you have any additional quest information or find something we missed, please do not hesitate to let us know. Most of our walkthroughs are the most in-depth yet easy-to-read you can get on the 'net, and we expect this will be the same. Happily, some of the extra stuffing comes from your help.

Please take a look at our Walkthrough FAQ before starting the walkthrough; it has no spoilers and should help a lot to clarify questions you may or will have while playing. Read on for general advice and a brief introduction to the walkthrough and excellent RPG.

Walkthrough Legend:

  Light Map Marker = Exit or Elevator to another map.
  Dark Map Marker = Event or Encounter within a map.
(LS/DS Points) = Light Side/Dark Side Points opportunity.

Note about Dark Side points: they're very easy to come by and usually obvious, so you won't see as many (DS Points) in the walkthrough. (LS Points) are not as obvious, and sometimes doing good deeds will get you nothing except satisfaction, if even that. Therefore, we have included more of these opportunities.

Introduction

You can play KotOR any way you want: good, balanced or evil. At any point in the game your main character will sit somewhere on that light/dark continuum, and it will influence most everything you do, from Force Point cost (mana consumption) to NPC disposition towards your party. Sometimes you might even feel guilty about a choice you made: help where you shouldn't have, hinder where you should have. The beauty of KotOR is that at almost any point in the game, you are not beyond redemption (for good or for evil), though in the sequel, you may find it more difficult to move to the dark side than in the first.

If you liked Knights of the Old Republic, you're sure to enjoy The Sith Lords as well but I would strongly recommend playing the discounted original first. Generally speaking, the gameplay and game engine of KotOR II remain almost identical with a few changes and additions, and it's another lengthy adventure. Character development offers a few more choices this time around, with new powers and lots of new items, and the inventory system has been slightly reworked for the better, especially weapon switching. For all intents and purposes, the game takes away the level cap, so you can become as powerful as there are enemies and quests in the game. A reasonable level to expect in The Sith Lords while doing all quests and taking on all creatures is somewhere in the upper 20's.

Advice

The easiest way to play through the game is to choose a side and in general, stick with it. The most powerful force powers have made that choice, falling either on the light or dark side. Your choice will determine how much those powers cost to use. Sticking somewhere in the middle will give you no bonus deductions for either the light or dark side force powers, but no negatives either - making it too something to consider if you dare. Choose your force powers to suit your play style.

Throughout the game, there are countless opportunities to gain light and dark side points. In the first game, it was far, far easier to become evil than to become good. In this one, you'll find it more difficult to go either way, though will have no problem if you remain on one path.

There are four main areas to explore after you leave Telos for the first time. Dantooine and Korriban were in the first game but will be different now, and the two new ones, Onderon and Nar Shaddaa, are all of your choices on the Galaxy Map. You can visit these planets in any order, but I've found that Nar Shaddaa is overall the most difficult, so in the walkthrough, I put that third... for a continuity reason I won't waste your time with here. Still, many people prefer to do them in their own order and it's perfectly acceptable and playable, even for newcomers, so refer to the appropriate section of the walkthrough and you'll be alright.

Money, Items, Combat & Bugs (Xbox)

Your choice of weapon can get you through a lot, but when you're in trouble, combat can be much easier if you use grenades, stims and judicious use of force powers. If you're playing the light side or a balanced character, the Stun, Stun Droid and Heal series of force powers can be invaluable. If you're playing the Dark Side, the Drain Life, Wound and especially Shock series can be just as handy. As for universal powers, Force Push (and eventually Wave), Battle Meditation and Speed are highly recommended. When you're picking Force Powers later in the game, try and focus on a few sets of them, rather than spreading them around. You'll have a more powerful character that way.

KotOR II is different than the first in that most of the best items are randomly generated in containers. By the end of the game, you may have several of a really good item but have never found another. Save most of your money for items that are expensive to buy rather than medpacs and stims. Search everywhere and in every container. This walkthrough strives to cover all the minor and significant events or encounters, as well as any above average yet items you come upon that are static. It obviously cannot cover, nor would we want to spend the time, writing down the contents of every container since they are random now - life is important too.

Remember to "bash" open locked footlockers and doors if your party does not have a high enough Security skill. The Plasma Torch you receive at the beginning of the game is ideal for this, so remember that. Unlike the first game, some doors absolutely cannot be bashed, so must be either unlocked by a console or destroyed using a mine.

The bugs. Save often, and use many different slots. There seems to be an occasional random crash bug, so be sure to save. There are also several text bugs, some dialogue sound bugs not matching the text and dialogue loop bugs that may occur. Hopefully the PC version will fix many of these problems. Despite these, my copy was fairly stable and didn't crash often, just occasionally.

Most of all, have fun and play any way you want... there really is no wrong choice. On with the Walkthrough FAQ.