A really good attribute point allocation...

[UserUnfriendly]

sith grenadiers, or heavy sith troopers, toss plasma and near endgame, thermal detonators at you, which depends on reflex saves...

which is dex based...

i've also found with a high dex character, that even if you get hit, you hurt less with high dex...

to find out exactly what is happening with attack rolls and etc, go to the menu where you see dialogs, then press "x" button to see the exact attack rolls and results...i've noticed that sand people have very high attack ratings, and hit you more than others...and rancors have huge attack points...that screen is where you find out the exact numbers...

here is the infamous str vs dex argument...

a bonus in str will give you attack and damage bonus...

pro: kill them before they kill you, and early on in the game, crummy weapons will still do respectable damage...

con: load up on medpacks and exploit the infamous pause/heal cheese, cause every yahoo on the planet will hit you...(when you get hurt in the middle of battle, press start, to go into the menu...now go to inventory screen, not your equipment screen, scroll until you see a medpack, and press the green button to use it..you will see when you return to the battle that you've been healed, and you did NOT use a combat action to heal yourself, so you can still cast a force power, or attack that round... )

a bonus in dex will give you attack and defense bonus...

pro: later in the game, you meet some very tough customers indeed, and you have access to some very powerful crystals...so you will do more damage than before, with better weapons...

and your defenses are better, so you're going to get hurt less often...even against rancors, they will sometimes miss you, which is always a good thing...and even if you get hit, i think a good defense will thin out some of the damage...

there are some major str boosting equipment in the game...

con: your attacks won't do as much in comparison to a jedi with identical equipment, but high str.

generally overall, i believe a high dex will offer better survivability...and less frustration..

a high str character is better for powerusers and people who have run thru the game at least once, so they know what to prepare for, and have a good strategy in place before creating the high str jedi...

[Jack Dell]

here is why dex over strength without question. A strength build will net you a maximum (without cheats) of 8 dmg, that is not a lot for sacrificing everything else. It doesnt even add to the reflex save score. Also, your to hit can be higher with dex than with strength, simply because items for boosting dex are better period. So not only can you get insane defense of high forties (without cheats) using force powers, but you can also get a higher to-hit. The damage will eventually be less important as lightsaber crystals can give you a lot more than 8 to damage so damage really ends up being less important.

And yes you can even manage not to get hit by rancors and malak, of course natural 20s cannot be avoided, but thats about it. Higher to hit, insane reflex saves, and killer defense. I dont know where the debate is... seriously. I mean you can go for strength but it really is only cosmetic. Im not really in the mood for calculations but if you want ask me and ill show you how you can get insane defense bonuses, though its not really hard and its cheat and exploit free.

[jeremiah]

I prefer strength for Guardians since it works with both meelee and lightsabers for chance to hit. Especially early in Taris when meelee weapons are all you have to work with. Those focusing on critical strike builds, strength is a given. Power attack builds I would not mind dexterity but would really miss the versatility of strength for a meelee character. Besides Guardians have the vitality points to take a few hits. I would not dismiss strength altogether as bonus strength damage are also multiplied by critical hits.

With force using focused builds, then I agree dexterity is the way to go. Just use disruptor pistols for occasions when enemies have shields in the early game in Taris (of course for very pathetic damage output). But later on as Jedi, then alternating between force powers, lightsaber and pistols (especially ones that can inflict different types of damage) makes strength superflous.

[sun_facer]

Relax....

Alright... no one get edgy here... ok? It's just a forum...
Like I said, i'm just thinking aloud. This is the fun thing with forums isn't it? => to have disagreements and to share. There is no such thing as "no issue". Coz at the end of the day, it is not about right or wrong, truth or myth. It is about choice. Life is like that, this game is like that.

All this that I am saying, I further qualify that the choice over style of game play. Defensive or offensive. I dun like to pile on force powers. Force shield to me is a real chore. I cant imagine taking the 1st 2 or 3 turns to put on speed, valor, shield, immunity... wa.. I just want to go into battle. So, I only put on speed. I dun even bother with immunity when facing DJs. Jolee may help with Valor once in a while... but i dun really bother. So... I hope you can see where I am coming from. I am not in the business of dodging everything.

I will like to thank UserUnfriendly for the lesson given. I will be watching the die rolls the next time I play.

Yeah, the maths can be a little tedious sometimes yeah? Yes, I know. I heard this so many times already => high dex better defense => get hit less. I understood the point raised. Lemme restate the point given to me.
High dex + shield => better defense at about 40.
My fav PC starts at 14/14/14/10/14/12. From this discussion, i am being persuaded that the rest of the 5 attribute points should go into dex. 5 attribute points is only +2 to defense and reflex. If I wanted better reflex, I start off as a scout. The class matters more to saves than those 5 attribute points.

Having said that, lemme say this - let those who have eyes see and those who have ears hear. I am not saying that high dex is a waste. I have 3 PCs with high dex. No... if a player has chosen to go with dex, then go all the way.

But... after fighting through the game in all difficulty levels several times, it is my observation that +3 or +4 to defense from dex just does not matter. If one is serious about defense, then force shield, armour and char class is more important. A +4 to defense from dex is 8 points in dex at the expense of others.

Anyway, from what I hear, high defense helps in the major battles I pointed out. But with a +8mod to strength, I barely see Malak beyond the second turn. He goes off running to milk his juice and he hasn't even taken down my verpine shield. +8 may not sound like a lot. But with flurry and master speed, it is an additional 3 x 8 damage.

Dun misunderstand, I am not comparing which build is better (dex or str). I am merely thinking aloud from my observations.

"Good hunting out there" - Tatooine gate guard.

[UserUnfriendly]

having tried both dex and str builds, i am leaning tword dex, but i find equally valid the high str, high con builds...both work, and both work really really well...

i think that people were just putting two cents in cause its a topic that a lot of people find very interesting indeed...i still do...

[Jack Dell]

yep sorry if i get a bit worked up, heh. My main reason is that with high defense you don't need to invest in both strength and constitution. Dex will do the job for both, allowing you to survive better and still hit just as good or even better than with strength (for less damage though). I agree that it is wrong to say it isn't valid, in fact it is ridiculous. I was thinking as in one compared to the other, but strength-oriented characters are just as valid, if only (to my opinion) a bit less efficient.

[UserUnfriendly]

[QUOTE=Jack Dell]yep sorry if i get a bit worked up, heh. My main reason is that with high defense you don't need to invest in both strength and constitution. Dex will do the job for both, allowing you to survive better and still hit just as good or even better than with strength (for less damage though). I agree that it is wrong to say it isn't valid, in fact it is ridiculous. I was thinking as in one compared to the other, but strength-oriented characters are just as valid, if only (to my opinion) a bit less efficient.[/QUOTE]

bit more of a challenge...and a bit more fun to play...you have to keep a stock of good energy shields, and you use a lot more stims, and med packs..you need disabling force powers early, and more of them...

[Jack Dell]

yep, it could be lots of fun, though my one experience with it didn't go as well as I thought it would so it kind of put off str based fighters for me.

[sun_facer]

Wait, what level difficulty are we talking about here? I never had trouble with a defense of 24 (+4 speed). I get bruised a little from some fights.. but never life-threatening.

I recently tried an armour wearing guardian... at the sacrifice of speed.. hmmm... good str.. pretty good defense... but not really as powerful as a robe-wearing one.

The highest defense I had for a single PC was 28 (+4 Speed, +6Shield).. that gives 38 total. But the thing is the darn shield lasts only 20 secs, which is about 6 rounds or less... and it takes too much force points for a guardian to cast in every battle. Speed is 20 points to cast.. and it emptied me out in the final stage real quick. I noticed the dodging was a lot better... but I never was in trouble much in the first place.

I tried this 38 defense Jedi on the 2 terentaks... and got smacked silly as always.. there seems no running from a tough fight with those fellows.

[Psychoman]

my über mega build was scout 4/guardian 16 with stats of 15/14/14/8/15/10, this build only works good for the DS though, because of a few items. in the end, counting the best equipment, i had 26/18/14/8/20/10. every time i could, i put points into wisdom, though i probably could have raised str to get more damage and attack but i didnt really need to... in the end my damage was 14-56. i used a DBLS with heart of the guardian, upari and krayt dragon pearl ending in 5-40 damage and +7 attack. i didnt really have trouble with anything.

[Klorox]

I know this is a perfect example of thread necromancy, but I think it's a great thread and some new people (just like me!) can add some stuff to this thread and learn from it as well.

I love the original stat distribution put out by userunfriendly.

I'd change one small thing though:

I would start with a 16 DEX and 15 WIS. The WIS really doesn't help too much until you get off of Taris, and the extra +1 from DEX might save your hide. At level 4, you can bump WIS or DEX, because your next bump (unless you level to 8 on Taris) will be as a Jedi (where you'll want the extra WIS point).

I'd still pump DEX as the levels go by, but a final total would be +4 DEX and +1 WIS instead of +5 DEX.

Again, this is just a tweak on his original idea. Now I'm off to play my Scout4/Sentinel16!

EDIT:

I changed my stat distribution slightly:

STR 11
DEX 16
CON 9
INT 10
WIS 15
CHA 14

I'm cool for Taris, because Scouts start with a +1 CON implant, and since I plan on becoming a Sentinel, I'll get a +3 CON bonus later on! The odd STR score might come into play somewhere along the road (then again, it might not help at all), but the point is that a 9 or 10 CON doesn't matter to a Scout/Sentinel.