Hammer

Could someone please explain to me what this April fools thing is and why everyone is so upset, etc? I REALLY don't get it..... As for the patch......where CAN I find it? I LOOKED EVERYWHERE!!!!!

yup SSD ISD <{POST_SNAPBACK}> This is correct. The SSD was the most powerful capital ship the Empire ever produced, second only to the Death Star, which was an orbital battle station/planetoid constuct. The SSD had about 500 Turblolasers, etc. The ISD came in several flavors: ISD 1 and ISD 2. ISD 1 was much much weaker, about half as powerful as the ISD 2. It carried about 100 turbolasers and 60 Ion cannons. The SSD was considered 5 times more powerful than an ISD and about twice as powerful as an ISD 2 all things being equal. What made the ISD 2 so much more powerful than the ISD 1 besides extra firepower, was its shield system....although all the ISDs had the shield generator weakness issue....(IE: the shield generators we exposed on the top of the bridge at the edge of the shield system), the ISD 2 also had a *much* stronger hull as well. The SSD was about 7 kilometers long while the ISD's were 1-2 kilometers long. The Death Star was 120 Kilometers at its equator and had over 1000 Turbolasers, 1 Million troops, hundreds of starfighters and of course, the dreaded Superlaser. The 2nd Death Star was slightly larger than the first one, had an even more powerful Superlaser (due to the extra focusing lenses) and carried even more troops. The Death Star was clearly a strategic weapon more than a tactical weapon, although it could serve both functions if neccesary, The Darksaber was essentially an extremely scaled down death star built around the Superlaser, which was probably THE most powerful laser ever developed by the Empire. More on the lines of a scabbard built to house a sword, if you will. What is most often missed in the discussions of these weapons is the tremendous amount of resources required to build them. A Victory Star Destoyer, which is about half as powerful as an ISD, required a year's worth of resources from a single planet to build, while Death Stars would require resources from several SECTORs! That's why they took so long to build and there were so few of them. We aren't even getting into maintenance yet, either, which was another headache. You may recall in ROJ, Darth Vader visiting the Second Death Star ostensibly to ahmm "motivate" the workforce to get "back on schedule?" Production was a big problem in the Empire.

Is it just me or does the Ravager in the cutscenes look very similar to a Star Destroyer? These ships are thousands of years of development apart..... I could've sworn those are shield generators on the top of the Ravager...... If so......How is this possible??? Any opinions? Hammer.

I have to disagree with the "share the blame" philosophy. LucasArts, as is their contractual right, demanded someone to develop Kotor 2 in a specific timeframe under certain conditions. OK...as the licensor, they can do this. Contract Requests for Proposal are let out for all kinds of products and services. If one doesn't feel one can't meet the conditions, then one negotiates to change them or walks away from the business. LucasArts would be forced to change their timeframe and expectations if no bidders came forward or felt they could meet the conditions. This decision was simply about money and status. To a startup, doing KOTOR 2 would be a flagship project. In other words, its too good to turn down. Obsidian Entertainment agreed to certain terms, so crying about a short timeframe is crapola. I think nearly everyone on the forums will agree that the FINISHED product falls short of the standard we had set coming from KOTOR 1, especially in the area of too many bugs. The FULL RESPONSIBILITY for this shortcoming rests ENTIRELY with Obsidian Entertainment. They grossly overestimated their abilities given the timeframe constraints and project requirements. As a consumer, who votes with his/her hard earned dollars, I have the right to expect a perfect game. This doesn't mean KOTOR 2 is horrible, just that it could have been better and any responsibility for it being less than that rests FULLY and SOLEY with Obsidian Entertainment. PERIOD. This is a simple case of what the market will bear. If one feels one can't meet the deadline or conditions....then one has an OBLIGATION to say no. Perhaps Bioware said no to KOTOR 2 for this reason, perhaps not. Either way Obsidian Entertainment certainly could have walked away from the opportunity. No one made them take on this project. I can understand why they didn't walk away, but THAT issue may be the core issue in this whole matter and why KOTOR 2 turned out the way it did. Let's all hope that KOTOR 3 is given more developmental and quality control time. With a new engine....there is some hope there. Hammer.

If you are looking for easy money with which to buy items, all you need to do is talk to the Handmaiden. Choose the dialogue option where she teaches you Enchani fighting. This is done without armor, etc. When finished, put your armor on, then talk to her. One of the options is to ask her to put clothes on. She argues about the necessity (geez--why can't I find someone with that attitude?) and chose the statement that clothes restrict movement, making one a better fighter, etc. She will then put on the Handmaiden's robe. Go to her inventory, take the robe off her so she is armorless again, then talk to her and repeat the dialogue to put clothes on. You can repeat this infinite times. The robes can be sold for about 2000 credits a piece or alternately broken down at the work station for about 200 parts depending on your repair skill rank (20). If you've already progressed with the Handmaiden in the story, just take off her armor in inventory and then when talking to her select the dialogue option that asks her to put clothes on. This is the EASIEST way to make money in KOTOR2 that I've found. Hammer.

Remeber the cutscene where Darth Nihilus is introduced on the Ravager? The one where he Force Chokes Visas and makes her beg like a dog???? What's he saying to her, because for the life of me....with the marbles in his mouth he could be telling her to do anything.....and I personally think he is. Geez....the guy needs speech therapy...his voice sure causes me pain! Sample: I crushed your insignificant planet with my Force Bad Breath...why can't I sense this broken Jedi? BOW to me you.....xxxxx! Don't fail me now.....etc etc.......insert Darkside threat here...... Hey Scotty...you got a hull patch.??? No Capten...the warp cores failin' & I don't think she gonna hold together!!!!! opps sorry, wrong sci--fi What's your take?????? Hammer.

Wrong sources. They're both from Zahn's Thrawn trilogy. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Correct---Jor'uus C'Both WAS from Thrawn's Triology (forget the name of it) but The Eye of Palpatine was the name of the automated SuperStar Destroyer built by the Resurrected Emperor...(Again, I'm not sure of the name of the Novel)

Yep. When you get the personal crystal from the cave on Dantooine, simply talk to Kreia. One of your dialogue options will be to ask her about your personal crystal. If the crystal doesn't properly reflect your level, Kreia will tell you to take it out of your lightsaber and bring it back to her. Do so and she'll focus on it and it will be upgraded to whatever properly reflects your Character's game level. The max level for the crystal is Level 10, which is equivalent to about Character Level ~28 or so. Pretty easy, eh? Hammer.

OK. The personal crystal's level is tied to your character's level and alignment. The max level for the crystal is level 10. It takes about Charater Level 28+ to get the personal crystal to level 10. I have the numbers for each level/alignment should there be interest. Post back and let me know and I'll make the info available. Here's a Lightside teaser-- Level 10 Personal Crystal: Attributes: Attack +3 Dex +6 Str +5 Wis +7 Specials: Lightside Only +5 Damage vs Dark Side Slow 25% Chance on Hit for 6 Seconds, DC 22 Notes: This white crystal radiates an immense amount of light, almost blinding anyone who looks at it. Hammer.

Darth Rad explained how the Hssiss trick works. In the PC version, you simply use the mouse to keep clicking on the Jedi's body. As to conserving Force Points...the tomb is a dead area that doesn't allow you to automatically regenerate force points. You can regenerate health points. The reason this is important is because you average between 300-450 xp per Hssiss killed. Spamming 3-4 Force Storms generally is enough to kill say 10-20, generating between 3000-5000 xp, but drains your force power. This means it won't take too long to level up your character. The problem is that without some form of Force point regeneration, you will not be able to use your force powers on a continual basis to kill Hssiss, but instead have to resort to melee or other tactics. This is a very slow option compared to spamming Force Storms. Using Drain Force or Regen Force Items allows you to recoup your Force Points quickly...allowing this to be continued until you reach Level 50 should you desire, upon which you run into the Level 50 character restriction. It works for both Lightside and Darkside characters. Its just that Force Storm and Drain Force are going to be more expensive for Lightside Characters....but that's really not a problem--you'll have more than enough force using this strategy and even nicer, it has no negative effect on your alignment. Its also important to have full force powers when finished with this....because Revan waits around the corner...and once you are in the Tomb, you can't leave until you've defeated him. Ok? Hope that helps explain things. Hammer

Osiris: Maybe it seems pointless to you. Ok---That's your opinion and you're entitled to it. If you're open to a counter-argument, here's another perspective: Reasons why one might want to level up this way: 1. Want to max skills for gameplay/item creation. 2. Desire the main character to be all purpose w/skills 3. Want to have more force powers 4. Want higher attribute points. For me, I wanted a few more to increase my INT for skills and my CON for the higher implants (takes 4 levels to earn a pt) 5. Higher Quality Item drops seem to be linked to Character Level. 6. Want to put some levels in their prestige classes so as to earn all bonuses. Hammer.

For those utilizing the Hssiss Unlimited XP exploit.....I have a trick that might assist you in recovering even more force points. Several Clever posters have pointed out that while NORMAL methods of Force Point recovery has been turned off in the Secret Tomb in the Shyrack Caves on Korriban, one can still recover Force Points by using the Force Power Drain Force. This is most effective of course at its 3rd Tier or Master Level and does work well. I've also noticed that if you have a force regeneration underlay or force regeneration lightsaber crystal that these too work well. With both in play.....force points aren't an issue at all. I went from Level 22 to Level 42 in about 25 minutes......so Force Storm AWAY!! Speed might lead to the Dark side....but ahhh, what sheer joy it is to be evil!!! Hammer. "NOW I AM THE MASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jeremiah: That is correct. The bonuses do NOT overlap or complement each other. The highest of the two rule. Also, the max dex limit on the armors *seems* to affect the bonus rating....so the modifier that is applied for dex effects EVERYTHING that uses the dex modifier. In turn, this effects to hit ratios, dc checks, armor class, blaster defl. etc. Yikes! Might be yet another bug......Hmmm. Someone hand me some RAID! The Zeison Sha/Jal Shey Armors aren't really good for Jedi given this *flaw* unless you REALLY desire the extra underlay choices that come with using Light Armor and KNOW you won't have a Dex Modifier greater than +4. You can cost your AC quite a few points in the process over even the lowlyest Jedi Robe, not to mention the other negatives. IMHO, it isn't worth it. Hammer.

I had the same problem with Akkere not giving me the Thorium Charges, perhaps because I didn't do things in the correct order, etc., but I did notice that when I got the charges on Korriban and then used them on the cache on Dxun....that I still had them in inventory. Hmmm......yet another bug? Perhaps this is another example of the inventory bug.....where things show up in the inventory list that aren't really there.....? Hammer.

Thanks!!!! It worked for me. Very nice!!! Hammer.