Help me with starting attributes!

[AndeeG]

I played KOTOR I a while back and got up until boarding the leviathan(?) Anyways, that was a while ago so i don't remember much about stats etc. I'm currently borrowing a friend's copy of KOTOR II and have just started a sentinel. His stats are as follows:

Strength: 14
Dexterity: 13
Constitution: 14
Intelligence: 13
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 12

Are these any good for a sentinel? if not, i heard that i can alter my stats using a certain save game mod... should i do that or just leave it the way it is?

[Xandax]

Attributes are a very subjective thing of this game.
Ask 20 people and you'll likely get 20 answers

Me personally, I'd drop the strenght to 10 and the intelligence to either 12 or raise that to 14. And then dexterity to 14 and then remainder points into charisma and wisdom. As you level up, I'd use likely 2 points to dexterity and the rest into wisdom and charisma.
However, that is me personally - the next 20 people will give you differnet numbers

My advice however, is to just play the game and not worry about creating the "best" character

[JCDenton]

It depends on what kind of character you want to play.. the reply became long, but read EVERTYHING. It`s painly objective. But first, NO! DO NOT USE A SAVEGAME EDITOR! It`s not necessary at all. The game is quite easy already. I`m quite sure, that if you follow my advices, you`ll need to increase the difficulty level later, because it becomes to simple.

Basically, it starts with the everlasting enigma; Strength or Dexterity? Or both?

In my opinion you have a lot of choices. Be aware that those advices only apply to KOTOR2. KOTOR1 was different.

Since strength determines your chance to hit and your damage you could focus your points on that. In this case you could focus on medium\heavy armor and choose force powers that are not armor-restricted.

The other, perhaps better option is to invest in dexterity, and take the finesse feat - which allows you to use your dex modifier for chance to hit. Then your dexterity will determine defence, chance to hit with range weapons and melee. In the game, you`ll probably also find gloves that give you defence bonus, at the expense of some dexterity points

In addition, at a relativly early point in your game, you can learn a feat from the Handmaiden (if you`re nice to her), to add your wisdom modifier to your defence.. now, that really rocks.

You`ll also find several items that can increase your strength or your dexterity, so you have a relatively large room for "error".

But my advice is to drop strength to 10 (because damage is not as important as chance to hit), and give your man (or woman) 14 in DEX.

Constitution determines hit points and which implants you can use, so to have a variety of options available, set it to 14.

In my opinion it`s really a relief to have some skills. You get more dialog options, sometimes it gives you access to other items, and often alternative combat\quest solutions. Intelligence goes to 14 if you are a Consular, and 12 is enough for a Sentinel. Focus on the most used skills - Computer, Repair, Persuaide. If you are a Gaurdian.. i dont know, i dont have a ny experiences with guardians.. but their skills suck.

Wisdom in my opinion is goodie. It can give you bonus to defence, deteremines your force points, and savings throw - both attack and defence.

If you like to use direct force damage, then you nearly have to be a consular.. The enemies` saving throws ìn the game are quite high, so you`ll benefit from the consulars +4 bonus to difficulty class.

Wisdom negates the force cost penalty if youre a saint and are using dark side powers, and theotherwayaround...

Well, in the end I would recommend the following start to give you max enjoyment from the game (for consular and sentinel users);

STR: 10
DEX: 14
CON: 14
WIS: 14
INT: 12 (Consular 14)
CHA: 14 (Consular 12)

Take the finesse feats, take the class feats necessary to make computer use and repair class feats (costs 1 to increase), and learn the wisdom-modifier add-to-defence-skill I forgot the name for, from Handmaiden. As your level increases, increase your wisdom and dexterity.

About those skills: I KNOW your companions, especially the droids and Bao-Dur have nice skills, BUT there ARE several (if not many) situations in the game that the game DOES NOT allow you to use your companion`s computer and repair skills. So, you should let your companions focus on Demolition and Security. Security is important, because it allows you to open containers without damaging the inventory. Demolition is usable, because you`ll probably encounter 1000mines in the game... alternatively, the destroy droid force power allows you to detonate mines from a distance. That`s cool!

And, no your starting stats aren`t bad. Just increase intelligence to 14 (to get the +2 modifier to skills), and and then start increasing your wisdom and. Use implants\items that increase wisdom and dexterity (or strength). Take the finesse feats if you want to focus on dex. (you`ll still benefit from the strength modifier damage bonus)

HOPE THAT HELPS!

[Greg.]

Never start with an odd numbered stat... you get no bonus over the even number below (i.e. 13 gives same bonus as 12).

Dexterity, wisdom and charisma are what i'd advise to keep high. Intelligence is less important for a sentinel, as you get extra skills anyway. Strength is easier to augment and I dont like constitution that much.

To be honest, I don't really like the sentinel class, but thats my two pence .

[AndeeG]

I used the savegame editor once to change my attributes. I didn't cheat or anything... I'm somewhere around level 6/8 now and in the spaceship with the assassins. my stats are as follows:

STR: 10
DEX: 14
CON: 14
INT: 13
WIS: 14
CHA: 14

Comp. Use: 6
Demolitions: 0
Stealth: 5 (seems kind of pointless besides making items)
Awareness: 7
Persuade: 7
Repair: 0 (i just got the feat to make it easier to level, so i'll build it up soon)
Security: 6
Treat Injury: 5

What do you think?

[Hill-Shatar]

More rounded then mine.

I started off with absolutely no dexterity and an 18 in constitution. I can't hit with a blaster but I sure can last a long time while I try to.

I typically try to restrain myself to specific areas. If I think that I may need something (otrher than persuade) in the future, I will make a note to make my NPCs proficient in those areas.

Are you attempting to stick to the ones that yorur jedi class does not penalize you for? (1 point to upgrade instead of two for skills?) Or are you going to make the rounder kinds of charcters, and what do you have in mind for it?

Setinels are good for stealth, which I never use. The best thing typically for Sentinel's is constitution and intelligence, in my opinion. But your charcter stats look fine to me. The actual test is are they right for you?

[Alien_Newborn]

You know, those are the exact starting attributes of my most recent character. (he totally owned ALL the opposition) Therefore, I would say that those are very good attributes to start with.

[AndeeG]

I probably want to become a jedi weapon master once i'm high enough level.

[Hill-Shatar]

Then strength was a good choice. I rarely play as a weapon master... I always seem to finish as a watchmen. Good luck finishing the game.

[JCDenton]

If you are focusing on strength, take the critical strike and power attack feats. The master power attack feat gives you -3 penalty to hit, but +12 to damage, and they have to make a fortitude save (against your level + 2x your strenght modifier) or be knocked back like 5meters, in addition to become dizzy for another 5 seconds (that lets you smash them with power attack AGAIN).

So if you are level 15 and have 26 in strenght (not difficult to get with some gloves and implants) then your roll will be 15 + 2x8 = 31. If I understand the wacky combat dynamics in the game correctly, then your opponent need at least a fortitude base save at 11 to avoid this effect

In additon, at this level, with master power attack and a good lightsaber (20-50 damage) it`s not uncommon to leash out 120 in damage in 1 hit.

[Thran Baill]

Interesting JC...I've never tried that before.

My usual style of gameplay is very combat oriented...My jack-of-trades class has always been the sentinel. High STR and high WIS makes him a good class to use, IMO. But now I'm on to something different...On my 2nd game of KOTOR II I started with a level 16 consular, then switched to a Jedi Weapon Master. So for my stats, to start off with, I had something like this (my memory is hazy, sorry!):

STR: 15
DEX: 12
CON: 12
INT: 10 or 12?
WIS: 15
CHA: 10 or 12?

I like to dish the damage out, and I usually use master speed + master flurry for my primary attack method. I get in about 5 hits around 30-50 dmg, depending on what's in my saber, and how high my STR. is. The enemies don't last too long...lol. The other nice thing about the high WIS is the force power success. Although, I should probably try to bump my CHA up as well. But I find if my opening force power doesn't work, that I'm able to fight my way through just about anything.

I guess stats all depend on your personal style of game play, right?

[JCDenton]

Damn... Am I seeing double? Do I have an evil twin brother? Or are there really a pair of the same post?

Anyway.. statistically, master flurry inflicts more damage than master power attack in the long run. But this inbalance is shifted towards power attack feat as your strength increases. I could give you a mathematical explanation for it, but then this post will be unnecessarly long.. someone else probably written something about it anyway...

Besides, it doesn`t give you the cool knockback effect. :laugh:

Yes, stats depend on your gaming style. But you should focus your abilities to certain areas, and max them out. There are good explanations for each feat in the game.

The game is quite easy, I generally play on the difficullt-setting with my Consular/Jedi Master. With implants and items my stats currently are:

STR 14
DEX 26
CON 15
INT 14
WIS 22
CHA 12

HP: 185
Force Points: 384
Armor Class: 37 (Base 10 +6level bonus +8Dex +6Wis +2Lightsaber +1Robe +1Head-something +3Master dueling feat)
To hit bonus: +31
Damage: 22-55

Consular lvl 15\Jedi Master lvl 4

That`s the 3rd time I play this game, this character is as powerful as it gets I think. I could drop the Intelligence thing and increase charisma for the difficulty to save vs force bonus, but I wanted the skills for better dialouge options Besides, they`re the reason for my top lightsaber upgrades.

[Alcina]

My take is that you should have either a high DEX or a high STR(for my chance to hit), but not both. Whichever one I'm not increasing I always leave at 8, and it seems to work fine.

I also find quite a lot of mileage in leaving my WIS at 8 if I'm playing a Guardian, whose mostly whacking at things with his lightsaber rather than throwing Force Powers about.

INT is pretty much disposable; it's possible to get through the game with only one skill point per level, though I do wince at the sight of all those poor little broken items when I have to smash boxes open, and think of the really rare itmes they might once have been...

My current character:

STR 15
DEX 8
CON 14
INT 16
WIS 8
CHA 14

I've also found if you're a DS Consular/Lord, you don't actually need to hit anything except doors with a lightsaber/vibroblade, so you don't need a decent chance to hit and I've finished the game starting

STR 8
DEX 8
CON 12 (you don't get hit much if you stand at the back and throw Force Powers)
INT 14
WIS 16
CHA 16

But make sure you have enough points in demolitions to plant mines on Malachor and remember to run like hell everytime you see a bos!!

[kesi28]

Hey, I read somewhere that a high charisma stat lessens the penalty for casting cross-alignment powers.

Does anyone know if this is true?

[Phreddie]

thats true, i just dont know how high your charisma has to be to make it worth wile... i always use jsut ds and universal or just ls and universal depending... besides who needs ls powers when your Force Storm does on average 112 damage and cost 5 FP... gotta love hssiss

[kesi28]

I got this crazy love affair w/ the anti-hero. To me, the idea of a ls jedi w/ force lightning is just the bomb (call me crazy).

Back on track, is this also the case w/ charisma in KOTOR 1?