Darth Drabek

Seriously, would anyone expect to see Renaissance art on the LucasArts forums? And that's why I only frequent these boards. There are intelligent people here with the capability to form complex sentences and therefore, coherent arguments. Although the board has lost some strong personalities to "spoilerphobia," there is still intelligent debate to be had and many things to learn. There are too many forums out there that make me feel dumber just for visiting them. Luckily, this is not one of them.

That just about sums up the whole game. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Oh come on, it wasn't that bad.

Thanks dude... Say, friend, ya got any of that good sasssparilla? :cool:

I know for balance reasons they decided to have less lightsabers in this game. That was good, because in KOTOR, when you only had three Jedi in your party, it was still possible to accumulate lots and lots of lightsabers. Now that you are the "last of the Jedi," it makes sense for lightsabers to be rare. But I agree with the comments about the random item generator. I think it's fine for boxes and footlockers, but enemies should drop the same stuff every time. I can see minor variations, like sometimes you will recieve a short lightsaber instead of a regular, stuff like that. But the loot dropped should have some sort of correlation to the enemy (i.e. was he/she armored? jedi? ranged or melee? shielded? you get the idea). I really like getting random stuff out of containers. It was shocking to get an adrenaline stimulator, one of the best items in KOTOR, real early in KOTOR 2. My first playthrough I got the +4 DEF robes that allows a +4 DEX bonus and all force powers on the Telos surface. Haven't seen that yet this time and I'm pretty far into my second game.

Force Enlightenment is the three main buffing powers from KOTOR (Aura, Valor and Speed) all rolled into one power that you can cast for something like 35 FP. Here's the catch: It casts only the powers that you already have paid into - for instance, if you have master speed but nothing from the Aura or Valour trees, you're better off just casting master speed, because it costs less. So, it's a useful power if you have paid into it in advance, so to speak. I used it a lot during the endgame to instantly give me my master valor and master speed. I'm glad it works the way it does, because I'd be pretty ticked off if I got powers for free with force enlightenment that I chose earlier in the game. ....Of course, it would be a lot more useful if the defense bonuses from speed and aura actually WERE ADDED TO YOUR DEFENSE.

Dueling hasn't been improved in TSL, but single saber is definitely a viable path. My first character was a DEX-based Sentinel/Watchman. The defense bonus of getting the master dueling as fast as possible helped me stay alive through anything. When you add naturally high DEX to Battle Precognition and the Circlet of Saresh, Ossus Keeper robes (I found them in the museum in Onderon) and other DEX and WIS augmenting gear to the +3 defense from dueling, you become unhittable by anyone save Sion. Add in Master Valour (and master speed, if it worked like it was supposed to <_< ) and I was running through the Trayus academy with about 50 defense, dispatching assassins, marauders or anyone without incurring even a scratch. Also, the scarcity of lightsabers and crystals in this game made going single saber a better choice. There just isn't as much to go around, especially once you start training your companions. If you want to give them sabers, and have a decent one yourself, it's better not to spread your crystals over two sabers per character. In KOTOR, I always ended up going with two sabers just so I didn't have cool crystals sitting around unused. Overall, master dueling, master speed, high DEX and WIS, lightsaber finesse and master power attack make for an unstoppable character. I picked power attack, because it doesn't reduce my defense and the extra damage makes up for low strength. Also, that critical threat range bonus with master power attack does wonders for a keen saber. When I performed a master power attack with master speed activated, it seemed like one of my three attacks per round was always doing 100-150 damage. Ridiculous.

I was very happy to see that Adum Larp (pretty close on the spelling), the Rodian merchant with a "noble purpose," survived the bombing of Dantooine.

Wow that was fast.... talk about service! Thanks a lot Akari. :D I guess I'm just not used to the new menus yet.

Remember when you were in the menus in KOTOR, you could read through a recap of how the battle went. You know, the behind-the-scenes roll mechanics stuff. I don't think this feature is in KOTOR 2 - at least if it is, I can't find it. This kind of bums me out because that section was really helpful for me, as I really didn't know anything about the d20 rules when I started KOTOR. The "Feedback" section helped me learn how saves work, along with how feats like flurry or critical strike affect your attacks and how your stat modifiers affect your performance. I liked being able to see opponents defense and to hit ratings, and being able to see how my roll stacked up to theirs. The other night as I was playing, I opened a door and two souped-up Dark Jedi cut down a full-health Visas Marr in one turn. I thought "Hey, are these guys really that tough, were those critical hit flukes or should I be really worried right now for my remaining party members?" I know most video games don't give the gamer the ability to look at those behind-the-scenes numbers, but this is KOTOR 2, not a button-masher, so my expectations are a little higher. I understand that this is a really small part of the game; I also understand that many gamers would never even glance at that screen. Hell, most people probably didn't know it was in the first one. Still, if the engine keeps track of all that stuff anyway, why cut it out so we are unable to see it if we really want to?

(Coming up for air, 22 hours in) I think the NPC interactions were lacking in KOTOR; it always felt forced to me when we would stop running across a battlefield and I would hear "Hey, Carth - I've always wondered....." Whether it's Visas and the Handmaiden's rivalry, Bao-Dur's contempt for Mandalore or Atton's distrust of droids, NPC interaction seems more natural this time. I'm actually glad that my companions argue or discuss things (especially me) amongst themselves when I'm not around. It helps fill me in on a personal history that my character is aware of, but I am not - a plot device I think Obsidian used effectively. Also, the crew squabbles fit in with the tense atmosphere aboard a small vessel with a crew with serious fundamental development. I think, so far, the character development has been on par with the original and the story has great potential - I can't wait to find out what happens next! Time to dive back in. :D

So masteries are back eh? I haven't made up my mind about whether I like this or not - I had the Xbox KOTOR, so I have no experience with them. On one hand, I can see it as a reward for devotion to a specific ethos, but on the other hand, I don't want to have a weaker character just because my conscience is a little flawed. Stat bonuses are nice, but I don't think I'm going to be far enough to one extreme or the other to get the bonuses. My first playthrough is not going to be light or darkside, it's gonna be from the gut. I can't bring myself to kill NPCs for the hell of it, but I can rationalize my way out of some not-quite nice guy decisions (if the price isssss RIGHT!)

After watching the gamespy video that takes place on the Hawk and watching the dialogue between the PC and Handmaiden concerning Visas Marr, I am even more pysched about this game! Influence is going to make "for every choice, a consequence" a reality.

I didn't look at the guide too closely, but I browsed the extensive list of weapons and upgrades, force powers and feats that is in the appendix. I thought that was pretty nice. They did have Feat progression charts for the NPC's, showing what at what levels Atton, Mira, ect. get feats. They even gave recommended builds for them. I didn't look too closely because these charts were near the biography info and I DON'T want to know about these characters and their shady pasts just yet (even if Prima was dumb enough to spoil stuff in the first few pages of the guide).

It appears so. Which is actually quite nice because you can really spread out the skills amoung the party members. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That is really the big factor for me. If my skill-savvy NPC's can use the workbench to create stuff, I will play as a Guardian and max out Awareness and Persuade for max dialogue options and keep Bao-Dur, Mira or Atton with me at all times for their skills. If not, I'll play Sentinel and keep at least one tank in the party.

I didn't buy it... too much temptation since I don't have the game yet. But I wanted to learn some new info and they happened to have it at the EB games near me. You're getting a freakin' encyclopedia of KOTOR 2 man. That guide is huge. It has a lot of cool info about the NPCs (which I only scanned to avoid spoiling the story for me), but I did notice that Prima put everybody's starting attributes in there as well as recommended builds for all the party members.

It seems like people (sentinels especially) are gonna have really high skills this time around. That's good, because some of the better upgrades in the game have prerequisite skill levels to create/install them. I was reading the Prima guide at EB games today (carefully, to avoid spoilers :ph34r: ) when I noticed that lightsaber upgrades require diverse skills! I might have them mixed up, but the lens, emitter and power core upgrades each require a different skill to make them. For instance there was some piece of equipment that added a load of ion damage - you needed a security skill of around 18 to install it. I think all the emitters had repair as their prerequisites; the power of the upgrade increases in proportion to the skill required to create it. I believe all the lens upgrades were tied to the awareness skill, while the power core upgrades had a prerequisite level of computer skill needed to create them. Only a few had security prereq's (I don't know why any would at all, doesn't really make sense to me... maybe the hand dexterity). The best upgrades in each category required scores in the mid-20s of their respective skill, but had some SERIOUS bonuses. I didn't read them all (didn't want to sit there for an hour incurring the wrath of the clerk), but Obsidian wasn't kidding about the ridiculous amounts of combinations. Besides all the creatable upgrades (and there's a completely different set for regular melee weapons) there's a bunch of new crystals as well, including most of the ones from the first game. There was even a crystal that increased the CHA and WIS of the user. To say the least, I was very impressed with the sheer amount of items in this game.

I remember reading somewhere that only the Sith Lord prestige class gets Force Crush. I think it was in the Prima guide excerpt on the offical KOTOR 2 site. :D

Still, I wouldn't think that a double-bladed saber should get a higher strength bonus than a single saber. More damage, sure, cause there's...uh, two blades, but maybe a lesser to hit rating. Both of those are swung with two hands, as opposed to one melee weapon in each hand. Does that strength bonus times 1.5 thing go for single sabers or just double-bladed? I think it should because a Jedi would generally swing his saber with both hands if its his only weapon, but then again, I don't write D20 rules. I think that Jedi/Sith with two sabers should be few and far between, so I'm all for requiring some serious dedication (spending lots of feats) toward the ability to overcome big penalties.

Using a feat to make something a class skill sounds interesting. Yeah, in KOTOR you could take repair-savvy NPC's with you if you needed to repair something, just like you could with any skill. But there were those instances (mostly the HK-47 repair sidequest) where only the PC could do it, so it makes me wonder about the workbench stuff. If I am the one loaded up with skills, I won't have to worry as much about having skill people in my party - I'll be rolling with tanks.

Thanks for the info. I saw on another post that Sentinels get average feat progression, as opposed to Guardian fast and Consular slow. I agree that Sentinels were weak in KOTOR, but I think they will be much more useful in KOTOR 2. I am considering playing one so I will be able to load up persuade and awareness for extra dialogue options ($$$) and repair and treat injury for the whole item breakdown and creation thing. I want to be able to make some awesome items, maybe they'll be good enough to offset the low BAB. I'm guessing that you can't use Bao Dur or another repair specialist to do all the breakdown and creation for you?

Thanks VIctory6 for posting that info!!! "sentinel- 8- 6- avg- avg- avg" "consular- 6- 8- slow- slow- fast" Prima can suuuuuuck it! Bummer about the implants though. I might have to bump that past 10 in this game I guess.

Siorfin and Sol, thanks for posting this stuff. Without the game, we will quite happily feast on these tidbits. :D I was wondering what feats the different classes get at creation. Does the game start you off on one of the main attack feats (power attack, flurry or crit. strike) or can you pick your choice at character creation? I also would really like to hear that the Prima guide was wrong about Sentinels having the fewest feats.

Well, since you have the game and can check the manual, I'll take your word over the guide. Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better. Still, Prima needs to hire better editors so they don't have misleading assertions in their guide!

From the Prima guide: "Guardians get the most feats, while Sentinels get the fewest." What the hell? I thought the goal was to make the Sentinel class MORE feasible to play this time! I really want to have high INT/skills to get the full experience of this game but who's going to pick Sentinel over Guardian with high BAB and lots of feats or the Consular with wicked force powers and MORE FEATS THAN SENTINEL! One of the things I hoped was different in KOTOR 2 was the fact that the Sentinel and Consular class had the same amount of feats. This isn't the direction I hoped the change would go. The sentinel should be in between, the way it is with VP and FP.... (sigh). I better be able to use these skills to get me out of combat cause too much of it will probably kill me without many feats.

I wonder if Hades skips the Fellowship of the Ring when he reads (or watches) the trilogy. Seriously, what's wrong with exposition? It is a helpful tool to introduce characters or develop the plot. How would we know who Calo Nord was without the cantina scene on Taris? It's the developer's way of advancing the plot in other areas of the galaxy. Like, "while Revan and his posse are dropkicking Sith on Korriban, Malak is trying to turn Bastila to the dark side." It's an obvious point that while you're watching a video, you're not playing the game. But do you really mind?