to my experience force mind tricks don't give dark side hits, as long as you mostly use it to save money...and while the skill is highly useful in the beginning to get good results for quests, i really like using affect mind to get more money...since my wis and charisma is 14, i rarely fail a force power...
plan on saving points to upgrade hk-47, can you go thru the game with a persuade skill of 4 (cha bonus)???
i've been using the dantooine natale/santreal (sp?) light side points exploit to get to max light side on chapter 3, i get the glowing column of light, where is my charisma increase???!!!
try this as a stats template...
16 str
15 dex
8 int
8 con
14 wis
14 cha
with the five attribute raises per game, 18 str and dex...
this set offers a nice compromise between the ones who optimize for efficiency, taking 14s for everything since you're not paying more than one point per attribute, and the people who put a lot of points into their favorite, usually strength, to very high numbers for combat bonuses...
optimized for both brute force and force powers...
two light sabres or melee weapons (early on) for critical strike attacks, wading thru stacks of many sand people, to stun them all and let my npcs finish them off, one double bladed light sabre for massive purely physical attacks..