KotOR1 - any advice?

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purpleblob

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So, since I recently managed to finish Jade Empire, I'm thinking of having another go at KotOR1. Any advice on what I can do to make the experience more enjoyable?

Last time played, I sunk in 20+ hrs, not sure how far in I was in term of the story though.
 
One general tip which comes to mind is to save your level ups until your character becomes a jedi class. So while you will be gaining levels in Taris (likely all the way to level 8 if you do most side content), it is vital not to use all those precious level ups there, since it is much more lucrative to save them for later when your character becomes a jedi.

Generally speaking most optimal way of building your character is 4 or 5 levels a non jedi class and 16 or 15 levels jedi class. :)

Most fun combination is imo scout - jedi class. The reason for this is following: Scout gains implant level 1 & 2 at level 1 and 4 for free. This is an huge advantage since implants grant your character all kinds of cool bonunses. Also Scout gains uncanny dodge at level 4 which is a nice perk for a jedi. Then he has best class skills (eg. repair, demolitions, computer use, treat injury etc).

So my opinion is that level 4 or 5 is enough to finish Taris (first planet). Ofcourse you could level your scout to level 7 where he gains uncanny dodge 2 and even to level 8 where he gains implant level 3, but IMHO you benefit much more from jedi class levels than scout levels. While the challenge is harder during early game as you will be saving level ups, the joy of becoming a jedi is much greater when you can instanly pump few levels for your jedi class. But if you feel that Taris becomes a hell of a grind this way, just level up and ease your pain. 8 scout / 12 jedi class is perfectly fine way to finish the game, but you will have much less jedi powers and feats.

Which jedi class then? I like guardians since they're most combat focused they have the amazing force jump ability which allows you to hit the enemy from the other side of room with saber. The downside of Jedi guardian is that they gain least ammount of skill and force points. If you want more balanced character go for jedi sentinel. He is a mix of combat & force powers and perhaps easier for a beginner. Sentinel gains most skill points as well which is pretty good advantage. The third class, concular gains most force powers of all jedi classes, but he gains least ammount of feats and he is weakest class in pure melee combat. Plus one of his class skills is repair which is pretty nice thing. Then again this doesn't matter much since he will dominating enemies with his amazing powers, but it can be a painfull character to play during early game. :)

Other tips:
  1. Don't pick feats that boost skills. It is just wastefull and pointless.
  2. Don't put skill points in Security (you have plenty of companions who have security skill).
  3. Repair skill is important, since you want to repair a certain droid companion. Level 17 in repair is needed to unlock everything in this droid.
  4. Blasters will only hold until about level 8, at that point everyone that is using a blaster is likely to need a melee replacement. So don't pick feats for your character that benefit blaster use. Instead choose one of the following combat styles: Duelling or two weapon fighting which benefits you better in the long run. Just choose one path and then level it to lvl 3.
  5. Also for your character, pick combat feats which are suited for melee combat. In other words, don't take power shot, take power power attack instead. Or critical strike instead of critical shot. Jedi's weapon is the lightsaber so no sense learning anything which doesn't boost it.
  6. Again a personal preference of mine, but don't put too many points into Constitution or Intelligence after you leave the character generation process. Neglecting them at character generation is not fun either, but i wouldn't suggest raising them much. Don't go higher than 14 con or 12 int imo. These two attributes do too little to be worth further development. You know this from baldur's gates. Constitution is not an important stat usually. Offense is the best defence and it is better not to get hit than get hit. Higher intelligence just gives you more skill points and gives you few skill bonuses.
  7. The reason for not focusing on CON for is simple. Jedi wear robes not armor. While you can keep wearing armors even after becoming a jedi, most armors have force penalties and don't support high dexterity bonuses from force speed power. Then again there are armors which are more suited for force users, but you gain them much later in the game.
  8. Dexterity, strength, wisdom and charisma are most important stats for jedi.
  • Dex allows you not to get hit as it improves your Armor Class a little bit, but strenght adds more dmg. So you will be killing enemies much faster in melee. It is possible to have a dexterity focused build, e.g a fitness build, but having more balanded str / dex ratio in the begining and then focusing on str is a more straight forward way of building an effective melee character. For example High STR + Master Flurry + Master Speed is one most devastating melee attacks you can pull off.
  • Wisdom & charisma are important for a jedi since boosting them boosts your force powers. Charisma is nice for social situations as well.

Hope this helps! :)
 
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Vital you save up your points!? Come on, the game isn't that hard!

My only advice is based off some old memories: at a certain point in the game there are three planets to explore. You'll need to explore all three but you're allowed to chose the order. Unless some kindly soul has done some modding to balance better, the enemies don't scale at all. Whatever planet you pick first will be a bit difficult. The next will be a good bit easier. The last will be a cake walk. So, whatever planet you're most interested in seeing is the one you should do LAST - because the story and exploration will be the only entertaining things on that planet.
Don't pick feats that boost skills. It is just wastefull and pointless.
ACK! PUN!! Hmm, no smiley though - looks like second degree punning. ;)
 
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Based on my fuzzy memory, Dez offered excellent advice :)

Personally, I prefer Scoundrel because of my love for rogue-like classes - and you can deal sick damage from stealth if you build it right.

I second that you should stop at around level 5 and wait until you become a Jedi. No, not because it's "hard" - but because real CRPG fans love to make smart choices! ;)

Remember that it's an old game these days - but, at the time, it was utterly fantastic.

Definitely one of my favorite games of all time.
 
Well vital for the fun factor… I rather play super awesome kickass almost overpowered jedi guardian than just ok jedi guardian. :) I didn't mean that these games were hard, but for me it is fun to optimize to get most out of jedi class.

edit: I'd like to clarify futher that playin a star wars game and not the least a freaking jedi is something like a childhood dream for me. Jedis kick ass in movies thats why a jedi character in a star wars game should kick ass.

My point was not to say that this game requires great planning because of difficulty curve. I just wanted to help purpplebob to make her game experience more enjoyable as she asked. :) Heck this game could be likely finished even if the player would just click autolevel during each level up, but it wouldn't as fun as making your jedi character really awesome.
 
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Dez provided some phenomenal tips.

I chose Soldier/Consular on my first go around. My allies were a necessity early on. However, past a certain point, the amount of Force Powers you obtain will eventually put you in the "ridiculous" category. Still, it's a ton of fun to have so much variety as a Consular. It has tons of party support, such as keeping your teammates alive longer and subduing groups of enemies, skills of that nature.

And the bit about leveling is very important. You want to make the most of your character when you are introduced to the order of the Jedi, and if you level up too much while on Taris, you'll potentially miss out on some truly amazing skills that you might want when you become a Jedi. The level cap is 20, so take 4 or 5 levels to do whatever you wish pre-Jedi, then use up whatever you have left post-Jedi, and go from there. Remember that you can choose when to level up, so if you hit level 4 or 5, that doesn't mean skip the rest of the sidequests, it just means you can allocate however many levels you want, then ignore leveling up until you become a Jedi.

I also completely support the recommendation of implants - they are remarkably helpful. Don't ignore those!!

KotoR is an absolute gem of a game. Maybe I'll give it another run this holiday season and try the Scout. :thumbsup:
 
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Just letting you guys know, I'm not a SW fan and I found KotOR absolutely boring the first time I played :p

I'm hoping your advice will help me enjoy it more this time around so I can actually finish it.
 
Yeah, half the attraction is the setting to us fans. It it wasn't for that, then I'd just rate the game good. I played as a Consular since I wanted all the force magic stuff. It was pretty fun!
 
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I am also an advocate of ‘saving levels’ ... you will need to do several level-ups to survive early on, but the game is really not too difficult so you can easily divide your 20 levels (the cap) as 4-base & 16-Jedi.

My preferred combination is Scoundral / Consular

The reason I like to conserve Jedi levels is with my favored character build I can become a walking artillary platform, using force to blast and immobilize enemies while I am ultra-speed and multiple hits-per-round. :)
 
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Just letting you guys know, I'm not a SW fan and I found KotOR absolutely boring the first time I played :p

I'm hoping your advice will help me enjoy it more this time around so I can actually finish it.

Well, the setting had a LOT to do with the appeal for me.

It came out right in the middle of the Lucas prequel travesty - and, for my part, practically saved Star Wars. I was almost weeping with joy because all was not lost :)

I'm not sure why you'd bother playing it again if you didn't care for it last time. Why not find something a little more modern? ;)

Anyway, I really do think it's the kind of game you should have played at release to really appreciate how great it was.

That said, it's still fun if you enjoy powergaming - and I think it's one of the best games of all time in terms of the ending and the last level.

One of the very, very few games I enjoyed more towards the end than the beginning - because everything clicked for me. Everything from story, exploration, progression, loot, atmosphere, C&C, dialogue, audio - and so on - just worked beautifully. The only real weakness, to my mind, was the combat and lack of tactical options. However, the combat does have the advantage of being fast - so you never feel like you're grinding filler.

The locations you get to explore are also delightfully varied - with each having their own unique atmosphere and challenges. Very much unlike later Bioware titles - it's almost completely free from repetition.

The story is super cliché today - and I'm sure you'll see certain things coming a mile away.

But it surprised me in several ways - and represented the ideal Star Wars romantic fantasy.

Oh well, those were the days.
 
Yeah, half the attraction is the setting to us fans. It it wasn't for that, then I'd just rate the game good. I played as a Consular since I wanted all the force magic stuff. It was pretty fun!

Agreed. Also, atmosphere was done so well in every section of the game, and the music aided in that regard too. I was so deeply immersed.
 
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I'm not sure why you'd bother playing it again if you didn't care for it last time. Why not find something a little more modern? ;)

Three reasons, DArt.

1. I had more fun with some of the older games recently then I did I back in the days - like NWN
2. Newer games aren't holding my interest for long
3. Everyone around me calls blasphemy when I say I'm not a SW fan :p so giving it another try
 
3. Everyone around me calls blasphemy when I say I'm not a SW fan :p so giving it another try

Well being a Star Wars fan and being a fan of KotOR don't necessarily go hand in hand. I've been a huge SW fan for 25+ years, and I wasn't as impressed by KotOR as some of our fellow Watch members. :)
 
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Three reasons, DArt.

1. I had more fun with some of the older games recently then I did I back in the days - like NWN
2. Newer games aren't holding my interest for long
3. Everyone around me calls blasphemy when I say I'm not a SW fan :p so giving it another try

I'm curious: did you watch Star Wars back in the day as a kid?
 
I played Dark Forces way back which was a revelation. Tried KotoR once when it came out but it couldn't really hold my interest. Maybe until Tatooine? Reading about the game now makes me want to try again though, so who knows.
 
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