The best KOTOR guide that you will ever read

Strategy and Theory

This build is the culmination of nearly 20 years of KOTOR fandom and hours spent theorycrafting and testing.

Objective: Create a powerful character build capable of tackling any challenge, including solo runs on Impossible difficulty

Offensive Strategy

To win a war, we must defeat the enemy. Our ability to do so is crucial.

Our offensive strategy is based on these key principles:

• As much damage as you can
• To avoid any damage from misses, be accurate
• As quickly as possible, destroy the enemy
• You can bypass any defenses that the enemy may have (shields/force power)

The secondary benefit of focusing on our offensive power is that we are able to protect ourselves from damage if the enemy is dead.

The best way to output a lot of damage quickly is with melee weapons such as vibroblades and lightsabers, these weapons have the highest base damages in the game and can be upgraded to further increase damage and accuracy, additionally and most importantly these weapons Scale with our Strength attribute – Each Strength modifier increases Attack by 1 and Damage by 1

Ranged weapons and force power are unable to scale and can inflict as much damage as melee weapons. It is important to create a character who excels at melee combat .

Defensive Strategy

While offense is important, we must not neglect our defense. Otherwise, we could lose the battle against the enemy.

Our defensive strategy is based on the following key principles:

• Mitigation
• Mitigation
• Mitigation

To survive impossible difficulties, you must avoid damage through mitigation.

Sources of mitigation:

Defence (AC) – Our first line of defence, the enemy cannot damage you if you he cannot hit you. If our defense is greater than the opponent’s attack roll, they will miss their attack (unless they roll a natural 20,

Lightsaber Deflection – An ability unique to lightsabers that allows them to deflect and reflect damage from blasters – [This feat allows a character with an equipped lightsaber to deflect blaster bolts at any time. A character is attacked by a blaster bolt. An opposing roll is made to stop the attack. The blaster bolt will be deflected if the result is higher than the attack roll. If the attack is beaten with 10 or more, the blaster bolt is deflected at the enemy.

Improved Energy Resistance – [This power absorbs the first 15 points of damage from sonic, fire, cold, electrical and energy attacks.] Significantly cuts down the damage we take from any kind of elemental attack which comprise the majority of the damage in this game (lightsabers, blasters and grenades)

Breijik’s Belt and Armband for Brejiks – [Absorbs the first five points of damage from Bludgeoning and Slashing attacks (respectively,)] These items absorb melee and are always active when equipped (Vibroblades do (Slashing damage, and animals/beasts do) Bludgeoning injury)

Improved Toughness – [Absorbs the first 2 points of damage from any source] This does not stack with the above but protects against any other damage type not covered (Piercing/Poison/Force powers/Universal) etc.

Energy Shields – An extremely underrated item type that allows the user to absorb set a amount of damage before using up a charge, if possible always use these in conjunction with the mitigation methods above, in this way Resistances cut off the first X points of damage and then any extra damage gets absorbed into the shield, this will ensure you will get the most optimal use out of shields.

Classes

Soldier: 7

Combat-ready fighter who is unmatched in combat ability

Jedi Guardian: 13

Jedi Guardians fight against evil forces and the dark side. They are skilled in combat training and the masterful use of a lightsaber.

Guardian 13 and Soldier 7 are balanced to maximize the number of feats, force points/powers and force points. Soldier 8 and Guardian 12 are fine, but slightly less so as you will lose a forcepower and a few forcepoints.

Soldier:

The Soldier is the most powerful base class for a melee fighter, it gains +1 base attack per level and +10VP per level, it additionally gains a feat every level and feats are essential for a powerful character. The Soldier also has Treat Injury as a skill and Medium/Heavy Armour specialisation, which allows us to wear Light Battle Armour (or Taris) on Taris, which will be our best slot on that planet.

Jedi Guardian:

Very similar to the Soldier but with the addition of force powers to further augment our melee prowess, the only class to have access to the [Force Jump] and [Weapon Specialisation: Lightsaber] feats.

Attributes

Starting Attributes

Strength: 16

Dexterity: 14

Constitution: 10

Intelligence: 8

Wisdom: 14

Charisma: 14

Attributes Strategy

Strength– This stat determines our ability to hit the enemy and increases damage. It is our best stat, as this build relies heavily on killing enemies quickly. Start with at least 14 points. You can get all 5 points by leveling up to Strength.

Dexterity Secondary stat for melee characters. Strength is our higher attribute, so Dexterity won’t affect our chance of hitting but will instead increase our Defence. Although it may seem tempting to lower this, Jedi will be wearing robes and not armour so you will need Defence to be strong.

Constitution– Increases the VP that we gain at every level. This stat is generally overrated because you only feel its effects at higher character levels. However, because of our feat and class choices, we will still have plenty of Constitution points and plenty of VP. 10 Constitution is fine for Impossible difficulty.

Intelligence Dump stat, not needed for this build, with 8 Intelligence, our class choices, and 1 skill point per level, we will still be able to max out Treat Injury, which is the 1 skill for this build.

Wisdom: This is our second most important stat. Every Wisdom modifier increases our FP/level and Force Power DCs, Will save, and our Treat Injury skill rank. This is important because Jedi Guardian Class has a low FP/level and no bonuses for DCs. We need to compensate by having high Wisdom to make sure we can use all our force powers efficiently. This stat is worth 14 points.

Charisma is essentially the same as Wisdom, but without the bonus of our Will save or treat Injury. It starts with 14 points which it will remain at because there are very few opportunities to increase our Charisma beyond character creation.

Skills

Treat Injury

This is the best skill in the game! This is especially important for our close combat character

Basic medpacs heal 10 Vitality points + Wisdom modifier + the user’s skill to Treat Injury.

Advanced medpacs heal 20 Vitality points + Wisdom modifier + + (2x user’s skill to Treat Injury).

Life support packs heal 30 Vitality points + Wisdom modifier + + (3x user’s skill to Treat Injury).

As you can see, higher levels of medkits increase the user’s ability to treat injury. This means that you will be healing for a lot of VP.

An Advanced Medkit, which costs 71 VP for level 20 and has a Wisdom of 21 will heal you for 71 VP. A Life Support Pack will cost you 94 VP.

We won’t be using the Cure or Healing force powers (Treat Injury will be better). There is no natural healing in the game, so Medkits will be the only way we can heal any damage.

Other skills: Although we only have the skill points to one skill, Persuade is the next best skill. Awareness + Demolitons would be the second if we had both.

Feats

This feat progression is highly optimised. However, if you wish to replace in Level 2 with , then you can take in Level 5 and in Level 14.

Level 1: Two-Weapon Fighting I

Level 2: Weapon Concentration: Melee Weapons

Level 3: Implant Level 1

Level 4: Improved 2-Weapon Fighting

Level 5: Increased Power Attack

Level 6: Implant Level 2

Level 7: The Toughness

Level 8: Master Two-Weapon Fighting

Level 9: None

Level 10: Weapon Focus: Lightsaber

Level 11: None

Level 12: None

Level 13: Weapon Specialisation: Lightsaber

Level 14: Master Power Attack

Level 15: None

Level 16: Implant Level 3

Level 17: None

Level 18: None

Level 19: Increased Toughness

Level 20: Master of Toughness

Force Powers

Absolutely Essential

Burst of Speed/ Knight Speed/Master Speed

This is the most powerful buff in the game. +2 Attacks per turn is unstoppable. The +4 to Defense is the icing on top. To make sure you don’t get hit while dealing insane damage, max it as soon as you can. It lasts for 36 seconds.

Energy Resistance / Improved energy resistance

Damage Resistance 15/- Energy, Sonic Fire, Cold, Electrical is the other powerful buff in the game. It renders blaster fire useless and greatly reduces damage from lightsabers and grenades. It lasts 120 seconds so make sure you have it active.

Excellent

Force Valor / Knight Valor / Master Valor

This powerful buff increases your character’s attributes by +5. It will improve your character in every way. This buff is powerful, but it only lasts 20 seconds so it can sometimes be difficult to fully utilize it.

Stun / Stasis/ Stasis Field

An extremely powerful offensive ability that disables enemies from attacking. This ability has an additional effect if the enemy resists (with). Even if the force power is resisted, the enemy is subject to the -4 Defence penalty and is slowed down! This ability is effective regardless of enemy resistance!

Situational

Force Resistance / Force Immunity

Force Immunity and Force Resistance give you about a 25%/50% chance to resist all harmful force powers. However, there aren’t many difficult fights where you need to fight difficult force users. There are some other ways of resisting force powers (Items with the Immunity:Mind-Affecting trait) making the value of this force power dubious but still okay.

Force Suppression / Force Breach

This ability is very rare and only works against Darth Malak. You can cancel his buffs. In that case it is quite useful and only costs 2 force points. It’s often worth picking it up at the end of the game.

Not Recommended

Cure / Heal

Treat Injury heals more points for less FP. This is a convenience power that Guardians don’t have many of and it’s a luxury they can’t afford.

Equipment

Best in slot at the Endar Spire

Combat Suit Defense Bonus: 4

Longsword: Damage: Physical (slashing,), 1-12

Best in slot at Taris

Light Battle Armor – Defense Bonus: 7

Echani Ritual Brand Damage: Physical (Slashing), 3-13. Attack Modifier:

Brejik’s Arm Band – Damage Resistance: Resist 5/- vs. Slashing

Brejik’s Belt Damage Resistance: Resist 5/– vs. Bludgeoning

Nerve Enhancement Package – Immunity: Mind-Affecting

Verpine Headband Saves: Will +3

Note: Brejik’s Arm Band remains equipped for the remainder of the game

Best in slot at Dantooine – Start

Davik’s War Suit Defense Bonus: 8

Double-Bladed Lightsaber – Damage: Energy, 2-20

Brejik’s Belt Damage Resistance: Resist 5/– vs. Bludgeoning

Eriadu Strength Amplifier – Strength: +2

Retinal Combat Implant Immunity: Critical Hits

Verpine Headband Saves: Will +3

Best in slot at Dantooine – End

Jedi Knight Robe Defense Bonus: 2

Double-Bladed Lightsaber Damage: Energy, 2-20 + Rubat + Signil

Eriadu Strength Amplifier – Strength: +2

CNS Strength Enhancer Saves: All +2 Strength : +2

Retinal Combat Implant Immunity: Critical Hits

Verpine Headband Saves: Will +3

Best in slot PreLeviathan

Qel-Droma Robes Defense Bonus: 5 Wisdom +2 [Restricted To: Light Side]

Double-Bladed Lightsaber – Damage: Energy, 2-20 + Solari + Krayt Pearl

Eriadu Strength Amplifier – Strength: +2

CNS Strength Enhancer Saves: All +2 Strength : +2

Sith Regenerator – Regeneration: 2

Circlet of Saresh Wisdom: +2 [Restricted To: Light Side]

Best in slot PreStar Forge

Double-Bladed Lightsaber Damage: Energy, 2-20 + Heart of the Guardian

Or

Baragwin Assault Blade 2 – Damage: Physical/Energy/Sonic 6-36

Dominator Gauntlets – Strength: +5

CNS Strength Enhancer Saves: All +2 Strength : +2

Sith Regenerator – Regeneration: 2

Circlet of Saresh Wisdom: +2 [Restricted To: Light Side]

Best in slot at Star Forge

Star Forge Robes Defense Bonus: 5 Savings: All +2 Wisdom +5

Baragwin Assault Blade 2 – Damage: Physical/Energy/Sonic 6-36

Dominator Gauntlets – Strength: +5

CNS Strength Enhancer Saves: All +2 Strength : +2

Sith Regenerator – Regeneration: 2

Circlet of Saresh Wisdom: +2 [Restricted To: Light Side]

Tips and Advice

• The Endar Spire is not a place where you can actually die, so don’t use any medication or grenades.
• Trask Ulgo, the physical manifestation of a deity is able to break the fourth wall.
• Use all your grenades to Taris, as they are only effective early game, with the exception of Thermal Detonators.
• A lightside character is slightly stronger because they can use certain items only, but a darkside character will always have more power.
• Adrenal stimulants are wonderful and you should buy them.
• The Taris Undercity promises Rukil a promised land. It is real.
• Keep a few Antidote Kits handy, as poison can really lower your stats.
• Bioware had originally intended for you to be capable of romance Mission Vao, but they changed their mind.
• Dueling is better than Two-Weapon Fighting if you have a non-minmaxed player.
• Power Attack and Flurry are nearly identical in their effectiveness.
• Canderous is the most powerful member of a party.
• Piercing damage can be done by frag grenades or frag mines. A mandalorian energy shield will protect you from this.
• Twitter shouldn’t find out about the age gap that exists between the player character (and Bastila).
• Constitution is a better stat in the next game if your level goes beyond 20.
• It is impossible to resist adhesive grenades.
• Carth is your most annoying companion, but also the least loyal.
• Maximizing your lightside points will give you a constant +3 Strength to be a Guardian.
• The Force is inherently bad, which is why it takes willpower not to turn to the dark side.
• Each class has a different height. Soldiers are the tallest, while Scoundrels are the shortest.
• The peaceful option regarding Sand People is not necessarily the “good” option.
• If you’ve never done the Genoharadan quests before, they are great fun and well worth it.
• Only offer to open a strange box if you are good at solving riddles.
• Gizka is adorable and cute.
• Consider switching to a physical damage weapon if your enemy is using an energy shield.
• Skills are much more useful and important in the second round.
• For more credits, sell items to the Yavin Station merchant.
• Credits found in the Unknown World don’t count because they can’t be spent.
• Sleheyron was originally supposed to be a major world, but it was destroyed during development.
• Persuasion can be described as a dice roll. You can repeat the persuasion checks until you succeed.
• It is impossible to persuade Hutts.
• Do not overload any terminals you use.
• Pazaak is inherently unfair, because you are forced first.

 

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