New KOTOR thread

[DrSpike]

It's installed. Should I be good ( ) or evil ( )?

The fate of the universe lies in the hands of the Other Games regulars.

[Guynemer]

I have yet to play , so I can only tell you that I greatly enjoyed playing through the game . It barely missed my Top 10 ballot in the other thread.

I plan on playing in the not-too-distant future.

[DrSpike]

I'm thinking I'll go with a male light side scout, with whatever the jedi version is of that.

Then if I like it the game should be replayable as a dark side warrior female.

[Illuminatus]

No! Play with evil side! It is much.much, much, much,much, much, much, much, much more fun!

[DrSpike]

Even if I replay as evil I'm not going to just kill people indiscriminately..........the fall to the dark side should be from accumulated difficult choices, not pure evil. I hope it works like that but right from the word go their are obvious 'look out for yourself and screw your promises' options.

[Kassiopeia]

I'm thinking I'll go with a male light side scout, with whatever the jedi version is of that.

Your character class choice in the beginning doesn't affect your jedi class selection, one can become any jedi from any class.

Even if I replay as evil I'm not going to just kill people indiscriminately.........

Good idea. I tried to replay as an evil by being a complete ****, but it just didn't appeal to me. So I'll try to bring the dark side in a bit more tastefully. Unfortunately the game sometimes lacks the "stylishly evil" option, there are only "obnoxiously righteous" and "disgustingly malign".

[DrSpike]

Well I played a bit tonight, though I am an RPG noob so I was just accepting the recommended skill point allocation when I levelled

I've just reached the lower level on Taris.......I am not being obnoxiously righteous so far. My character tries to stay out of fights, including other people's fights if he can't see any advantage in them. He is, however, generally good.

I am not sure what not protecting the uniform guy and the guy that owed the crime boss money does to my dark/light side ranking.

[Guynemer]

You will see "Light Side Points" or "Dark Side Points" when your status changes. Comes up in the same box as XP and whatnot after a relevant action.

[Sandman]

For me, playing as a bad character is unbearable. The nice thing about KOTOR is that it's actually fun to talk your way out of situations.

[bipolarbear]

Evil is more fun, but good is harder. It depends on if like fun, or a challenge. That isn't to say though, that evil doesn't harbor its own challenges.

[Dis]

Light side generally feels better.

But there is one evil deed I was thoroughly impressed with. I'll try not to spoil it. But it involves the NPC Mission on the world at the end by the Star Forge. Truelly one of the most despicable acts I have ever done in a game . I felt truelly nasty doing that one.

Plus the clothing for dark side looks too cool. I should have taken a screen shot of me in my Darth Revan robes with some dark sunglasses on (I can't remember what type of visor it was) standing over the dead body of Darth Malak. I just looked too cool.

But the light side is generally more satisfying to play with regards to moral choices you make. You don't feel as much like a slimeball.

[Dis]

As for being evil. You don't have to be truelly despicable (although I was my second time through the game). You can opt to just do things for money. Demand money for everything you do. More of a mercenary type. That's what I'm doing in my current NWN game. I don't want to just go through threatening to kill everyone for no reason.

[BustaMike]

Has anyone else checked out the downloadable content on Xbox? It's been out for a few weeks now and it's pretty cool, though some of the stuff is overpowered.

[DrSpike]

Ah, so those early decisions didn't lose me any light side points.

I hear you on the mercenary point btw, that sounds much better than just killing all for no reason.

However, if I'm playing as a good but not angelic guy this time a bad but not awful guy (or gal) might be too close. Hmm, I'll think about it.

[DrSpike]

Can I just ask.........what's the link between the Jedi Class and your type. I assumed you'd get an advantage from picking the Jedi class that gels with your type, but reading online today it implies not. What's the deal?

[Kassiopeia]

You start with your regular class, and then you just carry over the skills gained there to your actual class. I can't think of any way for them to gel together; however, I do think the strength of the Soldier will be useful as a Jedi, as you'll want to use the lightsabres (a friend suggested lightsabre damage is fixed in the sense that it doesn't take str into account, so this may not be so).

In any case, from my experience the Jedi classes you get to pick don't benefit too much from how you chose to develop your character in the beginning. Hence I avoid leveling up like the plague and go above level three or four only until after becoming a Jedi, this is even more crucial when you consider that you can not progress higher than a total of level 20 (your regular levels + Jedi levels). Ergo I had a level 16 Jedi Consular who was a level 4 Scout when he became a Padawan.

Also, remember that you retain all your nifty skills you might have acquired in Persuade, Computers and so on, and my Scout had heaps of Persuade points and managed to avoid using Force Persuade quite a lot. Then again, that's pretty meaningless since usually you can use those skills through your party members who are much better at them anyway. Except for Persuade; the only party member capable of using it is your own avatar, he is the only one who can advance in it, and I'd recommend strongly throwing points at it if you are going to want to talk your way through situations. Regular Persuade using your wits and charm is different from the Force Persuade, though both can be used (you'll see what I mean when you get the choice of using either one).

Your stats do matter. If you have a high dexterity and constitution, you might fare better as a more combat-oriented Jedi class. I myself concentrated on wisdom, intelligence and charisma, and naturally became a more of a support character, a Force mage if you will.

In other words: there is no link between your original class and your jedi class. It's not unlike dual classing in D&D.

[DrSpike]

Thanks. However if you want to be a Consular it must make more sense to start a scoundrel with wisdom, intelligence and charisma. That way there is more synergy between early choices and later ones, right? I'm presuming the stats you choose to start with aren't wiped entirely when you become a jedi (this may not be the case). At the very least as a scoundrel you get lots of skill points for persuade which gels as you say with the Consular.

[Kassiopeia]

I didn't remember that the scoundrel got points on persuade... that does make sense. I went Scout/Consular more on personal taste, the Scout felt like the kind of person I'd be and the Consular was an obvious choice for the leet force powers. Besides, the scout got points on persuade pretty damn well too, I had something like +30 in the end and practically no one could resist my silver tongue - and with those who could, I used the Force (except with Hutts ).

Btw, I don't think intelligence affects Jedi powers much; in fact, those points would probably be better spent on constitution and dexterity. Having a high int on the main character for me is more of a personal ego thing than something useful.

[Kassiopeia]

By the way, there are now persistent rumours of a KOTOR 2.

I wonder what the setting would be... perhaps a simple continuation in the style of Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2, though I think I'd much rather enjoy a completely new and different setting, a millennium later perhaps.

Good news is that apparently the studio making it is Obsidian Entertainment, which has a handful of people from the late Black Isle (Fallout 2, Planescape: Torment) working in it. I wonder what happened to Bioware, maybe they didn't think a new KOTOR could ever be anything but a regurgitated version of KOTOR 1 (not that I'd necessarily mind that).

An interesting suggestion has been making it a sort of Neverwinter Nights in a Star Wars setting, making it very modifiable and easy to add your own campaigns and whatnot.

[Spaced Cowboy]

Okay, I'm almost done with the light side game that I'm playing. Is it that much different with the dark side to merit another 40 hours of play (keep in mind that I've got 3 brand new games waiting).

[DrSpike]

DP

[DrSpike]

My plan is to go with a light side consular this game. Then if I play again I can do a combat oriented figure who might be tempted to slip towards the dark side.

[DrSpike]

I played a bit further tonight..........just finished the lower sewers.

I went for a scoundrel guy to set up consular plan, but I'm not finding it easy to work with his advantages. Stealth is nice, but rarely do there seem to be alternatives to attacking, and he is not that great at it. Anyone else that played this way want to comment?

[Jethro83]

I could never get a Scoundrel/Consular build to work properly. Even with super meat grinder party members like Juhani and Canderous, and the extremely powerful Force abilities, it was nearly impossible to stay alive. My consular builds usually start out as Scouts instead.

The only scoundrel I managed to play all the way through was a Guardian. And the damage she would do with her Force Jump, added to the extra damage from her sneak attack feat was an enormous advantage in battle. It doesn't normally suit a scoundrel to favour strength and constitution instead of dexterity, but in this case, it worked for me.

[DrSpike]

Hmm I hope I haven't made the endgame hard. At the moment I have Mission (another relatively fragile scoundrel) and Carth, and it was really tough going ploughing through all the Rakghouls and Slaver people that captured the wookie.

[duke o' york]

Been reloading a lot?

[DrSpike]

Yeah.

I am sure the game is probably balanced so that you can play well with the Scoundrel, but it seems tricky early on. His plus points in terms of skills seem hard to use to me.

[Frankychan]

Originally posted by Doc
It's installed. Should I be good ( ) or evil ( )?

The fate of the universe lies in the hands of the Other Games regulars.

EVIL


Say what you want, and do whatever pleases you. The freedom will feel enormous and you'll have unprecedented power and prestige!!!

I played my first character and I got to tell you that it is waaaay more fun than being a good-two-shoes.

[DrSpike]

Well having played the opening few quests a few different ways I'm settling on good jedi warrior. But the game looks enjoyable enough to warrant a replay as maybe an evil sith force mage or something later.

[Dis]

Originally posted by Spaced Cowboy
Okay, I'm almost done with the light side game that I'm playing. Is it that much different with the dark side to merit another 40 hours of play (keep in mind that I've got 3 brand new games waiting).

I wouldn't say there is that much more content. But I do feel like it is worth playing. I actually didn't play for a couple of months, and then played through as the dark side. Aside from dialogue, much of it is the same until near the end. And that is when you take a divergence.