maia

I wonder how useful Int is in dialogues. Originally I have thought to jack it up to 14 for my Consular to have 2 points/level, but it seems unnessesary with the new system. So, apart from getting a boatload of skill points, is there a good reason to increase Int to 14 and beyond? Also, is Force Valor timer still running during the dialogues/cutscenes? It was aggravating to click through dialogues as quickly as posssible in KOTOR, just to be able to take advantage of the buff...

Didn't read any spoilers, but I suspect that I'd love the ending. Happy-go-lucky endings of computer games, fantasy and even sf novels have been getting on my nerves for some time, so any change would be welcome. Also, this "delay the inevitable" that was mentioned makes far more sense in a series than the whole "Defeated that evil for all time. The evil we face _again_ a couple of years later is a completely new and shiny one" formula. PST has a great ending for a good character, but I never understood why an evil one would want to through it.

2 separate finesse feats? I am not sure that I like it... What can you tell me about repair? Will I need it for a certain character's quest or not? Also, can't you return to those doors on Peragus once you have gotten Atton? The way I see it, I'll just make him into my skill factory. He gets at least 4 points per level, yes? Enough to cover my skill needs, if he can apply all skills he has to the construction of items on the benches.

One thing that strongly irritated me in KOTOR was that the buff timer ran merrily on during the cutscenes and dialogues. If I was fighting somebody that indulged in a lot of talking, my buffs would be stripped all the time (but FPs won't regenerate to compensate, no sir) and my first character even died _after_ defeating Malak because my buffs ran out dueing his last oratory. Has this been fixed?

Another bummer. IIRC they said something about making single-weapon fighting better, but I guess not. Why would I need to put points in demolition or in any skills besides persuasion, awarness and possibly treat injury? After all, I can have a skilled party member craft for me. Or are there items only a PC can craft or quests where only PC's skill counts? Repair of a certain droid, for instance ? Oh, and do we neeed to use a finesse feat for our Dex to count towards "to hit" with the lightsaber? The guide excerpt said something like that... 16 Con to use a middle of the way implant?! I guess I'll forgo implants in this game. Character with enough Con to get the best ones won't have much challenege anyway - they say that the difficulty level is the same as in the first game.

What on earth is a "prestige sense"? Jedi Master seems quite disappointing, no? I expected quicker FP recovery and your powers becoming practically irresistible. Instead we get 2 boring and fairly "nebulously" described powers... I wouldn't have thought so, but as per Prima's description, Watchman seems more worthwhile. LS Consular with maxed Wis and Cha + Stun Force tree + Sneak attack... Yum. I don't exctly see why Watchman is made weaker than Assassin - ori s there some other feat/power the guide didn't mention that compensates for the lack of 3 levels of Sneak attack?

But can't I use an NPC to craft items? There are quite a few "makes X" in the descriptions of party NPCs and in the Prima guide excerpt they say that there is no reason for PC to have repair, etc. Bummer about the implants. Pretty strange, too, as characters with hig Con don't need any usually, it is the frail characters that do...

Don't forget us, folks! We are burning with curiosity.

A couple of other builds I intend to play: DS male Jedi Sentinel, saber-staff: Str 10 Dex 16 Con 10 Int 14 Wis 12 Cha 14 Don't know about the prestige class, - the Sith Lord is a possibility, but I'd have to look at the other 2. Will pump Wis to 14 on level-ups, the rest will go to Dex. From the skills - certainly repair, but don't know about the rest. male LS Jedi Guardian/Weapons Master, possibly an armored one and extremely abrasive - I'll try to alienate all the party NPCs apart from an odd love interest (Mira?) and see what happens. Probably a single saber and concentration on the Critical Strike Str 18 Dex 14 Con 12 Int 8 Wis 12 Cha 10 All level-up attribute points to Str. A female Dark Consular/?, single-saber: Str 10 Dex 14 Con 10 Int 8 Wis 16 Cha 16

I'd like to know: Are skills worth it this time around for the main character? Which are the best? Which if any should be raised to the max? Are there many things that only a PC can do - i.e. can we use NPCs to make things on the bench, repair certain droids , etc or is it for the PC alone? Are mines truly deadly or can they be shrugged off? Is it useful to scout ahead with a stealthed character? These conversations that can be overheard, can only PC do it, or would a party NPC do? Dual-wielding versus duelling feats - did something change? Is dual-wielding worth it for a non-Guardian? What new feat treas have been added? Lightsaber and Force forms - what do they actually do? Stats would be best. Do we need to spend feats to get them? Do old Force Powers work the same as in the first game? What new FPs that can be picked on level-up have been added? Detailed info on the prestige classes (this will probably take awhile). TIA .

Couldn't agree more, Muad'dib, except that I wouldn't have been against getting only 3 or 4 old companions back (and the little tin-can wouldn't be my choice) and the rest just getting cameos/sidequests ... it seems to me that Revan would be essentially a loner and as hard on companions as TNO was. And if they wanted an all-new cast why place the new game so close in the timeline? If we are to have totally different main characters and cast every game, then for Pete's sake space them out, so that those greatest heroes/villains appear only every couple of decades or so!

Don't think that they are going to change much with Int - after all they have the same amount of skills. So, Int under 14 probably won't provide any extra points/level again....

Well, the character guide Dark Consular referred me to has this to say about Cha: "CHA - CHA affects the persuade skill, and modifies all the same Force Powers that WIS does. It also affects FP gain (though I don't think it should). It's a good idea to split points a bit between WIS and CHA." I don't remember seeing anything like that in the manual. I always thought that Cha affected FPs, but Wis affected whether our powers are resisted by targets and how we resisted hostile Force Powers.

Did Cha in KOTOR also determine how difficult our Force Powers would be to resist against? Didn't know that, I thought only Wis had that effect... Anyway, 30 points altogether to distribute, right?: female LS Consular/Jedi Master: Single saber, duelling feats to max Str 10 Dex 12 Con 10 Int 14 Wis 16 Cha 14 I may yet pump Cha to 15 instead of Dex, but I don't know. Skills: Persuade and Awarness, perhaps later also Treat Injury (assuming that the game is diificult enough to warrant it). PS: having read more carefully, Int 12 is indeed useless, as I murkily remembered. You got to have 14 for an extra skill point (a bit steep if you ask me). Well, well. I'd say +1 to hit +1 AC is more useful than a an extra +1 to whatever Cha affects this time around.

Remind me - do I get an additional skill point/level for Int 12 or do I need to go to 14?

Shrug. IMHO, with the direct continuation of KOTOR we could have had only those NPCs that survive in any case in our party and others might have gotten cameos - exactly as they are doing in TSL. I don't care much that we are getting new companions, but IMHO another super-powerful Jedi (who wasn't notable enough to be mentioned in the previous game) with a dark past is an overkill. We just as well could have gotten Revan who recovers after a grave injury (hence only lvl 5 or so in the beginning) and starts to unravel whatever mystery the game has in mind, while facing events and people out of his past (which never happened in KOTOR). Dark or light ending of KOTOR could have been determined via questions, too. Finally, yes, it makes no sense to have a however long series of games with the same protagonist, but either duology or trilogy should be feasible and in fact preferrable. If they want to use a new protagonist every time, at least the games should be spaced by several decades in the timeline. It doesn't make sense that while all the attention was focussed on Revan and Malak there was that incredibly powerful young Jedi who in the end is going to outstrip them both, but who passes completely under the radar in the first game. YMMV.

So, what's the difference between a Tech Specialist and a Scout? And I hope that the Wookie is a Soldier this time around, for pure destructive power and better hps. Maybe the Handmaiden is a Soldier, too. IIRC Akari said once upon a time that some NPCs would change from a non-Jedi class into a Jedi one during the game and she is the most obvious candidate...

Of course since there'd be at least 2 other Jedis in our party - both Kreia and Visas Marr already have Jedi classes, don't they? , not to mention Atris, I don't see how the Sith can remain in delusion that we are truly the "last" for long. No, IMHO there ought to be something special about the PC... Some kind of connection with Revan, most likely. And I don't mean the usual sibling/parent/clone thing, but some secret.

Well, I just hope that they updated the duelling feat so that you get +2 AC +2 to hit per feat level. Then using a single sabre would be very much preferrable not only for consulars but also for chars specialising on critical hits, etc.

Very interesting. I hope that we get some indication (from dialogue, etc) of what might influence the NPCs, otherwise it might seem a bit random. Oh, and I hope that mad persuasion skillz and/or Dominate Mind would make influencing noticeably easier. I'd really like to plumb the characters of both Kreia and Atton on my first play-through with a LS Consular and I hope that via Persuasion I'd be able to do so despite their apparent antagonism.

IIRC, Kreia's Exp bonus has its last upgrade at lvl 13. I'd say that she remains with the party for the first half of the game. The scene we saw in the trailer probably doesn't lead to her demise.

Candy also talks to the PC on the Starforge, though, and says how this battle is the greatest thing to happen to him . So I can easily see how a DS Revan could turn him back to his killing ways. Also, re-uiniting the clans and leading them back to greatness would certainly be a worthy goal. IIRC, Candy even says that something like this might happen. And the glory Candy would get for his participation in Malak's fall (not to mention mad warrior skillz he aquired in the process) would make him worthy of the honor in the eyes of other mandalorians.

Official face could be the one in the mask . And they could say that Darth Revan was a deeply mysterious character and that no records of Revan's true identity survived, so that not only the gender is uncertain, but also the date of death, because there are rumours of Revan being seen afterwards and taking part in Malak's defeat.

I played with Bastila and Carth the first time, through, taking Jolee instead of Bastila where I was forced on Kashyyk and instead of Carth on Manaan. After Bastila was taken, I replaced her with Juhani. The second time, through with an evil character (no light powers), I went with Canderous and HK-47 as soon as I could get him and Canderous and Carth before that. Basically, my experience has been that as long as you give your soldiers good items and develop them as melee fighters, they are better in a fight than Jolee, but very boring to use. Fully upgraded HK-47 is quite good as well if properly equipped.

Well, if they have implemented different player profiles like Akari said they wanted to, I'll play 2 chars side-by-side - an LS Consular with points in Awarness and Persuasion, and a DS Sentinel with Repair, Awarness, Stealth and possibly something else. Would have to see more about the prestige classes to make my choices there.