New character considerations

Kaitsuburi · Post by **Kaitsuburi** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 1:32 am

For my next game of KotOR (I still need a day-two to finish my current one), I am planning on creating a non-melee dark-side character, a sort of "Sith Commander"-type. She will wear armor, use blasters, throw grenades (maybe set mines) and use a lot of The Force. High intelligence, high wisdom, high dexterity, maybe charisma. I am thinking Scoundrel 4 / Consular.

How does it sound? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

-kaitsuburi

tractrpl · Post by **tractrpl** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 11:37 am

I like the female scout, for reasons I'm apparently not allowed to say.

Snizpod · Post by **Snizpod** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 12:25 pm

I have played a couple of different blaster-wielding jedi types. I weaken them with the force and then blast away. Also, when playing this type of character I usually use other characters with blasters as well. This prevents melee opponents from killing my prey too quickly before I have a chance to wither them away with blaster fire. I do usually have one melee character though as a bodyguard to go toe to toe with the enemies that get too close and resist my force powers. Juhani is good for this.

**Spoilers below**

Class:

I would pick either a soldier/guardian or scout/sentinel or some combo therein. If you pick a soldier to begin, you may want to level up to at least 4 so that you may obtain weapon specilaization blaster pistol or blaster rifle. These feats, only available to soldiers, gives you a +2 to damage with your weapon of choice.

Weapons:

You have two choices, pistols or rifles. I have played both ways.

If using pistols, I max out two-weapon fighting and use two. I usually take out Bendak and get his pistol early in the game. I use that plus another type of heavy pistol until I get off Taris. After that I take Calo Nord's Mandalorian Heavy Pistols after I kill him and usually obtain Cassus Fett's havey pistol on Korriban and Saul's Sith Assasin pistol after I kill him on the Leviathan. Sasha on Manaan also carries a Mandalorian heavy pistol.

If playing with rifles, I usually buy Jurgan Kalta's assault rifle and upgrade it. I also usually go to Manaan first and fight Calo Nord there. The thing about fighting Calo on Manaan is that there he doesn't use his pistols and he doesn't drop them after he dies, either. I have noticed that instead he keeps chucking thermal detonators. More importantly, when you fight him on Manaan, one of his companions drops a Zabrak disruptor cannon, the only way to get one before the unknown planet that I know of. This cannon does somwthing like 8-13 points of physical damage and is a great rifle against droids and shielded opponents. The mandalorian assault rifle is also nice and stuns opponents.

Armor:

I wouldn't use armor at all. That will restrict your force powers, and you definitely won't be able to use master speed. You will want to weaken or push back enemies with your force powers and run around with speed and shoot at them. Just equip jedi master robes or dark jedi master robes.

Equipment:

This is a matter of preference. I usually get the Karakan gauntlets to boost dex and saves. I also get the gordulan reaction system implant from Mika Dorin's "special items". I used to get the adrenalin stimulator which boosts dex and saves, but I actually find the electrical capacitance shield more helpful for the final fight against malak with this type of character. I also use the stabilizer mask for protection from insanity, bonus to saves and a general bad-ass commando look. The Vacuum mask is another alternative to that.

Malak:

Malak is challenging and fun to play with this type of character. I equip a verpine shield and use speed before the battle begins. I then run and shoot while he chases me around the viewing platform. It is handy to pop a hyper-adrenal alacrity stim for this. Malak begins a round by using force immunity but this eventually runs out. After it does I usually use plague on him and keep blasting away. If you have death field, then you can use it on captive jedi to recharge FULLY both vitality and force points. I only use death field on the jedi when I need to. Other than that I don't destroy the jedi at all.

Have fun.

Brachaesnethar · Post by **Brachaesnethar** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 4:26 pm

I really enjoyed going Scoundrel / Consular... with Stasis, your relatively low hit points aren't that much of an issue in most cases, and you have a bucket-load of force points.

Kaitsuburi · Post by **Kaitsuburi** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 8:21 pm

Thanks for the suggestions!

I am definitely going to give up on armor once I gain enough Jedi powers ... This character will definitely be a lot of fun: it's a nice change away from the dual-lightsaber-wielding scout-guardian I am currently playing

I think I might pursue a single-weapon /dueling strategy with Canderous and Carth/HK-47 as support (super-blaster-heavy party). The dueling defence would be welcome and although main weapon will be a blaster rifle I will carry a red lightsaber for close quarters (well, just in case they manage to get that close to me

).

The thing that kind of concerns me is limited feats -- where do you think it will be best to concentrate in? Weapon proficiency is a must, then dueling then I am thinking implants (start with a free one as a scout) and perhaps conditioning. Which do you find more useful -- conditioning (saving throws) or toughness (stamina bonus/damage res)?

Can't wait to start

I only wish there was a way to import a custom portrait/figure ... but the ones with the game will have to do, I guess...

-kaitsuburi

Snizpod · Post by **Snizpod** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 8:55 am

I don't think dueling will affect the use of blaster rifles as they technically require two hands to wield, so you may want to save those feats for other things.

I usually go for toughness over conditioning. There are several items in the game that boosts saving throws, and several of them fit in well with a dexterity heavy character. There are also several items such as the thermal shield and electrical capacitance shield which totally eliminates such attacks as plasma grenades and force lightning respectively.

Kaitsuburi · Post by **Kaitsuburi** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 7:19 pm

Originally posted by Snizpod
I don't think dueling will affect the use of blaster rifles as they technically require two hands to wield, so you may want to save those feats for other things.

That's true -- using rifles won't get you the benefit. I was thinking it could be useful when you are cornered and you have to use a melee weapon.

Originally posted by Snizpod
I usually go for toughness over conditioning.

That was my feeling too

I mean, just look at Canderous fight early in the game ~~ he doesn't get hit so easily while Carth seems to take a few hits...

Thanks for the advice. Should be fun...

-kaitsuburi

tractrpl · Post by **tractrpl** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 8:34 pm

No I think blasters are considered dueling weapons even though they take two hands to wield. I may be mistaken, but I'm definitley sure I am not, blasters rifles and heavy weapons are treated the same as single wielded weapons. Only double-bladed weapons are treated the same way as "double weilding" aka a weapon in each hand, because a double bladed weapon is essentially the same as holding a blade in each hand and is counted as having the same strengths and weaknesses as such.

tractrpl · Post by **tractrpl** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 8:41 pm

"Dueling: Improves attack bonus and Defense when using only one weapon."

"Two-Weapon Fighting: Reduces the penalty from fighting with a weapon in each hand and from using double bladed weapons."

Notice that rifles do not fall under two weapon fighting, only double bladed weapons. Rifles do fall under the dueling catagory according to the book.

maverick8088 · Post by **maverick8088** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 9:23 pm

Personally I've never had the patience to allow my character to use a blaster when a jedi guardian does much the same thing using Force Jump and he hits a lot harder. Just seems to take forever to kill something and half the time you end up melee anyway. The only people I arm with blasters are the droids, Mission, and Carth. I just give 'em what I find, spend my credits on Items to help my sword players. Canderous and Zaalber start with such low Dex. and high Str. I wanted to play to their strengths right away

That being said, may I suggest buying Jamoh Hogra's carbine from the shop in the spaceport on Tatooine? It hits for a total of 23(once upgraded), 8 of which is physical (goes through shields), and has a huge accuracy rating. It cost around 10,000 credits but is the hardest hitting upgradeable rifle I've found in the Xbox version. Also, Calo Nord carrys two Mandalorian Heavy Pistols which are not upgradeable, but hit for 15max each. I've only gotten them from him on Tatooine though. On Kashyyyk and Korriban they were missing.

With the Weapons specializations you'll have, these should do even better. Have you thought of using Pistol or Heavy Targeting optics to get your specializations in pistol and rifle, thereby opening up more feats to be used elsewhere? I can't remember where it is (never use it) but it might be something to look for.

Snizpod · Post by **Snizpod** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 10:23 am

I considered purchasing Jamoh Hograh's carbine, but last time I played with blaster rifles I used Jurgan Kalta's assault rifle which is also pretty nice. I wasn't sure which one had the higher attack ratings.

The pistol and heavy targetting optics are purchased from Tyvark on Manaan if I remember correctly. If not I would check the Czerka rep or B'ree on Korriban.

Darth Anubis · Post by **Darth Anubis** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 5:19 pm

Jurgan Kalta's Assault Rifle is, without a doubt, the best in any aspect I can think of. It even has extra bonus damages in just about every area.

Armisael · Post by **Armisael** » Sun Dec 21, 2003 11:03 am

Dueling does not apply to rifles. Dueling only applies when the weapon being used is one-handed. Test it yourself and check the battle log.

I've played a couple of gunslingers and I'll also wholeheartedly recommend Jamah Hogra's carbine if you're using rifles - although I'd be inclined to recommend twin blasters over a rifle to begin with.

Idioteque · Post by **Idioteque** » Sun Dec 21, 2003 3:43 pm

Are there any better pistols than the Mandalorian Heavy Pistols? They beat Carth's and Bendak's blaster fully upgraded.

Kaitsuburi · Post by **Kaitsuburi** » Sun Dec 21, 2003 6:22 pm

If dueling does not apply to rifles, is it the case that two blasters would always induce more damage than a (single) rifle because of the two weapon fighting bonus?

-kaitsuburi

Armisael · Post by **Armisael** » Sun Dec 21, 2003 11:30 pm

Cassus Fett's heavy blaster is the most powerful blaster, it does 6-19 damage and has a +5 attack bonus. The best blaster combination for pure damage is Cassus Fett's blaster and a mandalorian heavy blaster (the latter is 6-13/+3), but I usually end up using a hold-out blaster of some description in my offhand (which would be especially useful for a scoundrel). Actually, I think a rifle might be statistically better for pure damage. The numbers are pretty close though, and dual wielding gives you that extra little bit of versatility.

Edit: two-weapon fighting doesn't give bonuses. It only serves to negate the attack penalties normally attracted by dual wielding. With master two-weapon fighting and a balanced offhand weapon, you'll have no penalty for dual wielding, i.e. level pegging with a rifle user.

Kaitsuburi · Post by **Kaitsuburi** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 1:28 am

Originally posted by Armisael
Edit: two-weapon fighting doesn't give bonuses. It only serves to negate the attack penalties normally attracted by dual wielding.

Yeah, this is the "bonus" I referred to above

This is in light of the fact that dueling doesn't give a bonus when using a rifle (afaik).

Apart from versatility, it seems hard to believe that an upgraded rifle would do more damage per round than a pair of upgraded blasters (given master two weapon and balanced off-hand). I guess I need to look at the numbers when I get home to my game PC...

-kaitsuburi

Armisael · Post by **Armisael** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 2:05 am

I'll do it for you.

28-93 (7-23 + 7-23 + 7-23 + 7-23)

versus...

30-89 (6-19 + 6-19 + 6-19 + 6-19 + 6-13)

So using a rifle, you can expect to have a marginally higher possible damage output. But it's insignificant enough to not really be noticable.

The thing is, though, that you have to spend three feats on two-weapon fighting to get the blasters' attack on par with the rifle's.

Snizpod · Post by **Snizpod** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 12:58 pm

The two best pistols are Cassus Fett's heavy pistol, which needs to be upgraded, and Saul's sith Assasin pistol. Saul's pistol is the nicest one in the game as it offer's 50% chance to stun Vs. save and has a higher damage output than Cassus Fett's pistol.

Duel pistols will definitely do more damage than hitting with a rifle. I have tried it both ways, though.

Armisael · Post by **Armisael** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 5:42 pm

Saul's pistol certainly doesn't have a higher damage output than Cassus Fett's, unless you're talking specifically about fighting droids...