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What are the best Force Powers for each class and alignment?

I'd think the Speed tree and Valor tree are very important for Guardians. What else is really important?

What powers are best avoided (other than opposite alignment powers)?

Klorox wrote:What are the best Force Powers for each class and alignment?

I'd think the Speed tree and Valor tree are very important for Guardians. What else is really important?

What powers are best avoided (other than opposite alignment powers)?

Speed and Valor work equally well for all Jedi classes - even if a consular with relatively little power in melee combat uses 'em, they still get extra hits with speed, extra boost to all stats with valor (including wisdom, intelligence and charisma, all of which improve force powers) and if combined with master flurry or master critical hit, you get extra hits... up to five per melee round with a master flurry/master speed combination. That can be the difference between doing no damage and doing some damage, and using master valor with it improves your chances of hitting.

Personally I like to have at least one mass-effect weapon, like Force Wave or Master Force Storm, as well as Force Immunity.

Force wave all the way. To me, it's the best force power there is. Fighting becomes so easy once you have this power, and it's a neutral power. Best of all, while you have to be level 18 to have force lightning, you only have to be 15 for wave, and IMO it's much more useful than lightning. Also, wave is area oriented and can go through walls, killing your enemies before you even see them!!!!

It's been a while since I last played the game. Played as a guardian and I chose Force Speed, Force Valour, Force Wave, Force Jump and other buffing powers plus Throw Lightsaber.

DesR85 wrote:It's been a while since I last played the game. Played as a guardian and I chose Force Speed, Force Valour, Force Wave, Force Jump and other buffing powers plus Throw Lightsaber.

Curious here: With Force Jump, will a Guardian really use Throw Lightsaber often?

Klorox wrote:Curious here: With Force Jump, will a Guardian really use Throw Lightsaber often?

Don't recall using it often. I only found it useful for the last boss fight. Most of the time, I use if to do some far range damage.

I can't imagine a guardian ever using throw light sabre, very strange choice IMO. The only force power I'd advise any (and every) class to have regardless of alignment is Life Drain it's very useful in the final encounter.

Why I used it was because I followed the Gamespot's guide advice of learning throw lightsaber for the last boss fight (As it was my first time playing KOTOR). They also recommended Drain Life as well but since I was playing as a light-sided character, I avoided it due to the penalties and chose Throw Lightsaber instead.

As you've probably sussed now Des, the penalties don't matter for Life Drain in the final encounter.

The first time through though I didn't realise that either, but I used the hit, run, heal routine to beat Malek, took ages but did the trick.

The first time through, I was Light Side and well... I was Light Side. I can't stand there and let him use them like that! It's... it's.. not Light Side-ish.... and discovered that other Neutral power that works to shorten the battle by a lot. He seems a wimp after that.

Anyway... I think Throw is one of the least useful power to have personally. The amount of damage dealt is slightly poorer than most of the Dark Side powers for direct damage and is only truly useful in certain encounters with a fully fledged Light Side Consular and only if you are wont for paying the high price to use those Dark Side powers.

It would have been more useful if it dealt the saber's damage (along with any bonus effects from any crystals you've added) instead of a straight out damage for the power alone. I've not played with it much (only had Jolee use it once just to see how it works), but if someone confirms that it does what I think it does not, then I'll have to revise my opinion on it.

As for must have powers: Speed, Force Immunity & Breach and Push trees; maxed out where possible. The rest are only for coolness, because you can.
I personally do not favor Valor much since it take another round to cast, and I always buff with the 1st to stated powers. Spending another round for minimal advantage +2/3 (not that you really need it) is less effective (to me) than wading in with your saber one round earlier... not to mention another round of risking all your buffs get breached.

Just about all the force powers are worth learning, but some are used for the same situations. You don't really need to get Force Wave if you already have Stasis Field. You also don't need Force Storm if you already have Force Wave.

What are the best based on class and alignment?

Light-side guardian and sentinel:
*Master Speed (you know)
*Force Wave/Stasis Field (don't need both)
*Force Whirlwind/Stun (don't need both)
*Cure (don't need Heal)
*Adv Throw Lightsaber (don't need if you already have force wave)
*Stun Droid/Disable Droid (don't need destroy droid)
*Force Armor
Have allies learn Heal and Master Valor.

Light-side consular:
*Force Wave/Stasis Field (don't need both)
*Force Whirlwind/Stun (don't need both)
*Cure (don't need Heal)
*Adv Throw Lightsaber/Force Storm (don't need both)
*Master Valor (there will be times when you fight alone. you need the wis and cha modifiers)
*Stun Droid/Disable Droid (don't need destroy droid)
*Force Breach (there will be times when you fight alone. you need to remove buffs from enemies who use Force Immunity)
Have allies learn Heal.

Dark-side guardian and sentinel:
*Affect Mind (don't need dominate mind)
*Master Speed (you know)
*Force Wave/Horror (don't need both) (don't need Insanity if you go with Horror)
*Choke (might not want Kill)
*Death Field
*Force Storm/Disable Droid/Adv Throw Lightsaber (pick one)
*Force Immunity
Have allies learn Imp Energy Resistance and Plague.

Dark-side consular:
*Affect Mind (don't need dominate mind)
*Force Wave/Horror (don't need both) (don't need Insanity if you go with Horror)
*Plague (there will be times when you fight alone. you need this to lower enemy saving throws)
*Death Field
*Force Storm/Disable Droid/Adv Throw Lightsaber (pick one)
*Force Immunity
*Force Breach (there will be times when you fight alone. you need to remove buffs from enemies who use Force Immunity)
Have allies learn Imp Energy Resistance.

Stun/Disable Droid is fairly cheap. Even with the alignment penalty, it won't cost that much for dark-siders to use. A problem with Force Push/Wave is that it pushes the enemy back, thus preventing you from hitting them with your weapon. The fact that it can stop you from hitting them for a turn can negate the damage that Force Push/Wave actually does. Force Push/Wave is best learned by consulars and other ranged fighters, imo. Force Whirlwind keeps an enemy in place and stuns them longer than Force Wave. Your build might benefit more from getting Force Whirlwind and Stasis Field, instead of getting Force Wave. Adv Throw Lightsaber isn't the best ability, but the great thing about it is that it hits EVERY time. An enemy cannot resist it. You might cast Force Storm twice and one of the times it gets resisted. Then, you cast Throw Lightsaber twice and it hits both times and technically does more damage than Force Storm could've in that situation. Oh, and it only costs 2 force powers to master. Light-siders don't need Force Immunity. Force Armor and Valor raise their saving throws by a lot already. Force Breach is useful to consulars who need to remove the Force Immunity buff from enemies. Melee-oriented Jedi don't really need to get it. There aren't many enemies who actually use Force Immunity.

Why do you advise having allies learn Master Valor instead of PC?

Klorox wrote:Why do you advise having allies learn Master Valor instead of PC?

I'm sure it's because it's a force power that affects the entire party - your main character doesn't have to learn it and waste a whole upgrade tree on it if one of the characters that's in the party casts it.

Yeah, Valor affects the entire party. There is no reason to have your PC learn it, unless you are a consular, in which case, you'll need Valor even when your party isn't around to cast it on you.

I'm very surprised Force Persuasion isn't on this list.

I did put Affect Mind (Force Persuasion) down for dark side characters. You can still get it if you're light side, but most of its uses will get you dark side points. It isn't really the best power to get either. It doesn't help you much, especially if you have a naturally high persuasion already. It's really more of a gimmick that can help you gain some extra cash.