Revised NPC analysis

[Fedifensor]

So I stand by what I stated that Mandalore can and does make an excellent ranged character.  I don't mean to slight melee, but the Obsidian people did a nice job in bringing ranged attacks -- which were really subpar in KOTOR1 -- up to snuff as an excellent, highly viable option through the combination of various feats (precise shot, targeting, master power blast) and upgrades.

 

Mandalore is a bit sub-par compared to the other ranged characters in the game. You can compensate for it to an extent - a fully-upgraded Repeating Blaster Rifle or Charric does nice damage. His big penalty is the inability to change armor - even with upgrades, it doesn't hold a candle to some of the other armor options.

 

For sheer damage output at range, the best character in the game is a Jedi with two pistols using Master Speed. When each pistol is doing an average of 30 points of damage, firing 5 times per round (with Rapid Shot), that's about 150 per round - significantly more than Mandalore can dish out.

 

Honorable mention goes to HK-47, for his ability to kill 'boss' targets. Max out the sniper shot feat tree, give him a rifle with a high threat range, and have him shoot at high hit point targets. His assassination protocols do a great job of whittling down tough targets fast.

 

One other point to make - while Master Speed characters dish out the most damage, sometimes its better to put a character in armor for staying power. The Electromesh armor in particular, combined with the appropriate upgrades, can make a character nearly immune to Energy damage. Currently, I have Anton in this armor, wielding two pistols with Rapid Shot. His damage output dropped by 40% without Master Speed (3 shots instead of 5) - but I easily doubled his staying power. And I made sure to give him Force Redirection, making him even more resilient versus blaster fire.

[koconnor200]

Atton :

Whats the limit on back stab / Sneak Attack ?

 

I ask because in Kotor I , I was a Liightside Sentinel with Mission always hanging around and scads of wis / dex.

Zap room with Stun . mission runs in , every attack is a sneak attack , and thats like 8d6 + weapon damage near the end ...

 

With level 25 being a reasonable max level , you realize tha keeping Atton pure rogue gives him +12d6 sneak attack ? You may not want to shift him to jedi at all if you're a light sider ...

 

T3-M4

 

Just started a new game. Noticed he has a "shock" device ? 1d6 dmg per level ???? Thats the equivilent of him having Force Lightning !!!! And he gets it from the get go ? H'e's a ringer ! Only the 10d6 max on it puts limits on him.

 

Kriea

- She is a "Mage" , not a "Fighter". Don't complain her light sabre technique sucks, it's supposed to suck !!! Rack up her wisdom as high as it will go and give her some offensive force powers (stun / droid stun / force lightning) and let her rip !!!

 

24 level max = +6 on your primary char. She's got 16 wis ? Rack it up to 22 and ignore her other stats. That adds 6 to the DC of anyone trying to resist her attcks, ON TOP of the +6 DC for her being a consular. Which means they almost never save. Can you say "Extra Cripsy" ???

[Fedifensor]

The Jal Shey Neophyte armor (+3 def, +4 max dex, +1 cha) is the best force-allowing clothing or armor I've found so far and it requires light armor skill.  If it weren't for the sucky randomized loot & merchant system, maybe I would have good robes and wouldn't have to train Visas in light armor.  I had to simply because the plain Jedi and Padawan robes are not as good as the Jal Shey. 

Most of the robes in the game are mediocre. The best I've found so far is a Jedi Knight Robe, giving +3 Def and Regenerate Force Points 1 - my main character is using it. It allows you to regain force points even in places where you normally cannot regenerate force points - it really helped me in one specific part of the game.

 

The best Force-allowing armor I've found is the Zeison Sha Warrior Armor (+5 Def, +4 max dex, +1 Fort save). By the time you've gone through three of the four planets, you'll have a lot of weapons and armor you can breakdown for components, so find a workbench and make a few overlays and underlays to improve the armor. Specifically, the overlay and underlay that each give 30% immunity to energy are a good choice.

 

However, with some of my Jedi, I don't bother with powers that are restricted in armor, and just focus on outfitting them in the best armor I can find. There's one heavy armor in the game that gives a +11 Def and +4 max Dex. Add a Flexible Underlay, and suddenly that +4 max Dex becomes +7 (giving a +3 to the wearer's Dex as well)! That means your character can have an enhanced Dex of 24 and still move freely in armor.

 

You lose the benefits of Master Speed, but you don't have to micromanage the NPC in combat by clicking over to them and reactivating Master Speed every 30 seconds or so. The increase in Defense and lack of management hassle is worth the loss of damage output.

[Falconhurst]

>but about Visas, consider that if you use master speed (fundamental for every >jedi in my opinion) the defence go up by by 4, so actually your Visas have >a "base" defence rating of 31 as your mandalore. That rating can be improved >even more using other powers, but they are not so fundamental.

 

An interesting point, and I do get master speed for all jedi. The problem I have with that analysis, however, is that using master speed in every combat takes a huge amount of micromanagement. The computer rarely activates it even for jedi support/jedi defense characters; when you use it, it takes a whole round to activate it, in which you miss out on a whole series of attacks. And it is time-limited and frequently runs out before combat is over.

 

These are all things that have to be taken into account when discussing how great master speed is. I do use it, but sometimes it isn't practical to micro-manage each jedi, and the lost activation time and limited duration definitely limit its utility. I wouldn't consider its defense enhancement part of a character's "base" since, for the reasons mentioned above, it is hard to keep master speed up for all three jedi in combat much or even most of the time.

[Fedifensor]

An interesting point, and I do get master speed for all jedi.  The problem I have with that analysis, however, is that using master speed in every combat takes a huge amount of micromanagement.  The computer rarely activates it even for jedi support/jedi defense characters; when you use it, it takes a whole round to activate it, in which you miss out on a whole series of attacks.  And it is time-limited and frequently runs out before combat is over.

 

These are all things that have to be taken into account when discussing how great master speed is.  I do use it, but sometimes it isn't practical to micro-manage each jedi, and the lost activation time and limited duration definitely limit its utility.  I wouldn't consider its defense enhancement part of a character's "base" since, for the reasons mentioned above, it is hard to keep master speed up for all three jedi in combat much or even most of the time.

That's the great thing about having Kreia in your group. Activate Master Speed on either her or the main character, and both have it running. One of my favorite group combos is the main character, Kreia, and an armored NPC using ranged weapons (Mira is my favorite choice because she has skills for nearly every situation). I can switch focus to Kreia, activate two or three buff powers, and then happily throw Force Storm or other attack powers while my main is a whirlwind of destruction. The ranged character generally hangs back and supports with blaster fire without any direction from me. Simple and effective.

[Zilod]

Eh eh i do the same also i found that generally Kreia cast master speed at the very beginning of the battle... i think the order is energy protection and master speed for the skills she have in my game.

Actually it happens a lot of times that she cast master speed even if the battle is finished (but still in combat mode that need some second to clear) making my screen very blurry