character build

[jdbrose]

im planning on being a soldier/gaurdian and im just wondering which attributes would make for a more fun and better gameplay experience.

first of all im planning on going towards the light side of the force. anywho i cant decide which set of attributes to choose:

strength - 18
dexterity - 14
constitution - 10
intelligence - 8
wisdom - 12
charisma - 10

or these attributes:

strength - 17
dexterity - 14
constitution - 10
intelligence - 8
wisdom - 14
charisma - 10
with an extra point in constution, intelligence, or charisma


to be honest i like the first set of attributes cause i can kick all sorts of ass with the strength...but i will also like to play around with forces...which led me to the second set of attributes. but of course it will take me 12 levels to reach 18 strength and ill have an extra point that doesnt increase a modifier.

as for the other attributes constitution isnt that important to me cause i can just add items that boost it, intelligence isnt that great cause other characters will be better anyways, and finally charisma isnt needed cause ill just boost persuasion or use affect mind.


i also have another question which is....if i get an extra plus one modifier in wisdom at say...level 8, will that count for previously earned levels (levels 1-7 in this case)?

any input will be appreciated

[Darth Zenemij]

Well i personaly like the whole Scout then Gaurdian thing but I guess Soldier and Gaurdian would also be good. Charisma is also how much force is available to you to use. With a higher Charisma, less force points will be needed for the power, IIRC. But other than that go with the Second set of stats You will need all the charisma, wisdom and intellagance that is available; Via you can gain more strength as a Gaurdian anyway.

And welcome to the Forums.

[Ripe]

Scout is much better starting class then Soldier (even for Guardian). Also in KotoR Strength is completly useless stat so you can leave it at 8 and spend those points on any other stat since they are much more usefull (lightsabers use Dexterity for attack rolls and not Strength despite what the manual said, and you would not use that many melee weapons other than lightsaber).

[Noober]

Uhm....WTF??

Scout is not better than a soldier (particularly if you get to level 4-6). May people seem to ignore things like Vitality and Attack Base. Saving throws are not important in this game since you can get immunity to pretty much anything that could cripple you.

Strength is the best stat in the game! It does affect to hit. Who told you otherwise? Lightsabers use either STR or DEX.

[Ripe]

As a 8th lvl soldier you get 16 vitality points and 2 points higher base attack bonus then 8th lvl scout which is not a big deal by the end of the game. You also get 3 feats more than scout but that is offset by the fact that scout get Implant 1, 2, 3 which mean that you get equal number of feats. As a scout you also get Uncanny Dodge 1 & 2 that remove penalty for being suprised.

So do I want 80 Vitality points, +8 base attack bonus, one good save (Fortitude) and 8 free feats (Soldier) or 64 Vitality Points, +6 base attack bonus, all good saves, 5 free feats, Implant 1-3 and Uncanny Dodge 1-2 (Scout)? Considering the fact that I would probably use some of those soldier feats to take Implant (otherwise I can't use them) I will ALWAYS go with Scout over Soldier in this game.

As for strength vs. dexterity: strength bonus is used only for melee attack and melee damage; dexterity bonus is used for ranged attack, melee attack with lightsabers and defense. If you go with strength you will deal slightly more damage (3-4 points) which by the end of the game is completly unimportant (even on crit that's only 6-8 points more) while those 3-4 points on your defense might mean difference between surving the encounter or not surviving the encounter. Guess that depend on your game style but I'll ALWAYS choose to have bonus on both attack and defense then attack and damage.

I did not take skills into acount here but as a scout you get more skill points than soldier and you have more class skills, and you add your dexterity bonus to your stealth score. Those are not such a big issues because skills are not that important in KotoR (they are much more important in KotoR II).

You may said that Scout over Soldier is a powergamer point of wiew, which unfortunatly it may be true but choosing Dex over Str is based more on a roleplaying than powergaming - people use blasters not swords in SW universe so dex is of more use than str to inhabitants of that galaxy (I'm hoping they'll remove swords from KotoR III).

[Noober]

Assuming you use all feats to take implant, the only difference is saves and HP/Attack. As I have stated, there is practically no point in saves as most things are easily saved against or negated. Therefore the only difference is in HP/Attack (especially important in early levels).

In the STR vs. DEX debate, I will always choose STR because of the simple fact practically every creature I face will die in a single round, thus rendering Defence irrelevant (not to mention that the increase is DEX is probably at least as negligable). Perhaps even more important is that Critical Strike's stun is based on STR, not DEX.

I don't care the least about skills, seeing as if you were to set INT to 8, you would lose feats as a Scout, but not as a Soldier (you must get a minimum of 1 point a levelup).

I have nothing against powergamers, seeing as I am one. I base my choices on experience as well as theory, however.

[Ripe]

I agree that skill and saves are unimportant but you forget Uncanny Dodge ability of a Scout. True VP/Attack is important at early in the game (first 5-6 level) but by the end it's totaly unimportant (300 or 316 VP makes no real difference, +38 or +40 to attack make a very small diference). Uncanny Dodge remove all penalties that you face because you are suprised (and I think that it also remove the penalty of loosing initiative to your opponent even if it does not say so in feat description) which come in handy at higher level when attacked by camouflaged opponents.

Strength modifier does help set Fortitude DC for Stun on succesfull crit but it's secondary to character level - on low level everybody save, while on high level they usualy have very good Fortitude save so they made it about 50% of time.

[Darth Zenemij]

[QUOTE=Noober]Assuming you use all feats to take implant, the only difference is saves and HP/Attack. As I have stated, there is practically no point in saves as most things are easily saved against or negated. Therefore the only difference is in HP/Attack (especially important in early levels).

In the STR vs. DEX debate, I will always choose STR because of the simple fact practically every creature I face will die in a single round, thus rendering Defence irrelevant (not to mention that the increase is DEX is probably at least as negligable). Perhaps even more important is that Critical Strike's stun is based on STR, not DEX.

I don't care the least about skills, seeing as if you were to set INT to 8, you would lose feats as a Scout, but not as a Soldier (you must get a minimum of 1 point a levelup).

I have nothing against powergamers, seeing as I am one. I base my choices on experience as well as theory, however.[/QUOTE]

Well if you want to forget about Dex then don't become a Gaurdian, But overall my scout/gaurdian was the best I played. Soldier/Gaurdian is just typical, seeing as how they focus on Strength and light saber Mastery, as Ripe posted, Dex is more better on your lightsaber and what not, Dex is probsbly one of the most important attributes to a gaurdian. But I would also Recomend any Scout and prestige class. I think that Scouts Over all sre the best.

[Noober]

Rofl, Uncanny Dodge is a useless ability. Not only would you have to be a complete imcompetant to be surprised, but initiative is pointless with Force Jump or Force Powers (*cough* Wave *cough*).

[QUOTE=Ripe]True VP/Attack is important at early in the game (first 5-6 level) but by the end it's totaly unimportant (300 or 316 VP makes no real difference, +38 or +40 to attack make a very small diference).[/QUOTE]
Regardless, it's better then some pointless saves.

[QUOTE=Ripe]Strength modifier does help set Fortitude DC for Stun on succesfull crit but it's secondary to character level - on low level everybody save, while on high level they usualy have very good Fortitude save so they made it about 50% of time.[/QUOTE]
ONLY 50% of the time?? 50% is godly (esp. when you have 4 attacks). I would take a 50% chance to have 4 extra attacks, over not getting hit once in a while.

[QUOTE=Darth Zenemij]Well if you want to forget about Dex then don't become a Gaurdian, But overall my scout/gaurdian was the best I played.[/QUOTE]
How many times to I need to say that if you can kill practically any enemy in a single round (even Malak), then there is little point in Defence (and therefore DEX).

[Cuchulain82]

The str vs. dex debate is well documented here- search the old threads. UserUnfriendly posted extensively about it. The end result is that it comes down to what you like:

Str- +to hit and damage (and crit attack)
Dex- +to hit and defense (and grenades)

I don't think blasters are a good choice for a Jedi, so I don't include them in my rationale. If you want to use blasters, choose Dex.

I personally go with Strength. I've played the soldier-guardian with 18 str. It was very straightforward. I think scout is a better starting class.

Edit- check out this thread. It talks about point allocation and str vs. dex. No one puts more thought into things like this than UU