I am going to play this wonderful game yet again. Even if I have played KotOR II way too little, I still enjoy KotOR I much more, despite playing it for so many times.

Anyway, I confess that most of the time I used cheats, but this time I'm going to try to beat the game without any cheats.

My question is, what is the perfect build? I try to increase Intelligence at the start at maximum, so I can get a lot of skill points, but yet when I play with melee weapons I always find myself:

*miss*
*miss*
*miss*

I just can't deal damage with melee weapons, even if my Strength is high, and most of the killing is done by my party members. How do they do it?

Thanks,

Teo

The 'attack' number isn't actually the damage you do. It's rather the chance to hit:

Attack- Chance to hit opponent (1d20 die roll + STR mod + weapon mod +/-
Feat/Force bonuses). Must equal or beat opponent's DC. Note: DEX mod
used for ranged attacks.

Damage- Amount of hurt done by successful Attack, measured in VP. (Weapon die
roll + STR mod + Feats bonuses - defender bonuses).



You'll have to find a balance between the two. As you see, 'strenght' modifier is the key word. :)

Your problem is probably that your opponents defense modifier is too high for you, which makes your chance to hit extremely low. And the lack of strenght makes it so, that even IF you hit, it won't do much damage.

For more info, check this guid on the underlying systems of Kotor 1 and 2.. :)
http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/920601/36362)

Depends on what kind of char you want, personally I like to be a "glass cannon", dishing out tons of damage while not getting hit 99% of the time, though that 1% is painfull, it's not fatal.
note: this char must be lighside/neutral, otherwise he'll run out of force fast.

Char creation:
Class: scout
Str: don't go higher than 10 except for rp reasons, feel free to make it 8 if you need the points.
Dex: at least 15, higher if you have the points to spare
Con: 10, you can bump it a little higher, though it kinda ruins the idea (I had 8, do so at your own risk).
Int:14, this is only if you want to repair HK, otherwise you can make it 12, or even 10
Wis: 14, force powers can still fry you, so don't dump this, should you have points to spare, feel free to boost.
Cha: 10, not really necesary, though I wouldn't let it go in the negative.

note: while the game dosen't say so, you use your dex to hit targets with lighsabers if it is higher than your strenght.

Skils: depends on your int, more int lets you pick more, but theese are my favs persuade is most important, heal for making your med packs work better, and repair for fixing HK.

All extra atribute points gained from lvlng go into dex.
Level your scout til you reach lvl 5, then stop lvlng up until you become a jedi. Then choose guardian, this is in order to let you have 15 jedi lvls.

Feats: implants, flurry, proficency:lightsaber, and dual wielding are most important, you can switch dual wielding for dueling if you wish.

Force powers: cure, speed, valor, aura, afect mind, + three points to put into whatever you like.

As you may have noticed, this guy won't use armor once you go jedi, only robes (despite what the game says, max dex bonus while using robes is infinite).

How to survive Taris: use guns in the begining, and use Z and Bastilla to keep foes at bay. Any big badies get grenades up their behind (ion ones for droids), and make minefields to awoid wasting to many grenades. Since you won't be lvlng up after lvl 5, do the grenade dance against Bendak.

Gear: +dex is your best friend, as well as things that prevents people from frying you with the force. As for crystals, +damage is perfect since you hit many times a round.

Hope this helps.

My question is, what is the perfect build? I try to increase Intelligence at the start at maximum, so I can get a lot of skill points, but yet when I play with melee weapons I always find myself:

*miss*
*miss*
*miss*


You may be using dual wield weapons since the very start of the game. That's unadvisable at least until you get the Dual Wield feat, which allows you to be quite more precise.

Thanks everyone, for the advices.

Well, yes, I do use dual wield weapons. Thanks for the tip, I'll try a different strategy.

Yeah, don't use two weapons (or double-bladed weapons) until you have at least the first two, and preferably all three of the Two Weapon Fighting feats. The penalty to your chance to hit is just too high for most of the game otherwise.

If you're talking just about fighting, dual-wielding Soldier/Guardian, dual-wielding Scoundrel/Guardian (7/13) using Master Speed and Force Jump as much as possible, or some x/Consular build where x is low for Force Power pwnage.

However, the perfect build IMO doesn't really equate to the "most powerful," but rather one that can get the most out of the game in one go and still be a formidable combatant, either melee or Force powers.

I think the game lends itself to starting off as a Scout, because repairing HK to get his full story makes his character, plotwise, a lot more intriguing. The implants feats are extremely valuable as well, and as a Scout you can get them for free (usually I would recommend leveling as a Scout to get the first two, and then choosing the third after you become a Jedi). In certain spots throughout the game having skills helps you expose more of the story or open up some minor plotlines, and it helps you out with gear early, though you can bring party members with those skills with you if you want.

As far as Guardian, Sentinel, or Consular, it depends on your style of play. If you're trying to maximize your combat potential as a Guardian, dual-wielding is the way to go. Flurry vs. Critical Strike vs. Power Attack is not terribly important. Power Attack is the best for experienced players who know how to gear up their guardians and buff for melee combat, but the weaker or less likely to hit you are, the worse Power Attack is mathematically; Flurry and Critical Strike are comparable when you aren't always hitting your opponent, though Critical Strike tends to be a bit better more often IIRC. Double-bladed with the highest damage crystals you have is better for overall damage with Flurry and Power Attack, but two weapons with Critical Strike allows you extra crystals for other things. Two full sabers looks cool, but a shortsaber is better against difficult opponents--in fact, try to keep a "balanced" weapon in your off hand (it will say if it's balanced in the description) to avoid taking a penalty to your chance to hit in your main hand.

Consulars might be better off with a single saber and the Dueling feat tree for extra defense and chance to hit, in which case Flurry or Critical Strike is the way to go.

Get Master Speed and keep it up at all times during combat, both for defense and the extra attacks.

Force Wave and either Insanity (Dark Side) or Stasis (Light Side), and the full Heal line of Force Powers are the others I wouldn't leave home without.

Use the shields in your arm slots. You get tons of them during the game, so there's no reason not to. Make sure you are using the right type of shield for your particular opponents. Save a handful of the most powerful energy shields for the final battle.

If you're going to be using lightsabers, don't waste early feats on blasters or melee weapons. Unless you're using Force Powers exclusively, you should try to grab three feats in a combat method (Power Attack, Flurry, or Critical Strike), and if dual-wielding, all three Two Weapon Fighting feats. I would also recommend getting all three implant feats since later implants will really help you boost your stats, which makes Scouts a nice choice for a starting class.

Statwise, I always start with DEX, WIS at 14, and CHA at 12 or 14 (giving up 2 ability points elsewhere to raise one stat to 15 or higher is silly to me...the marginal benefit of 15 or 16 vs. the two or four points you could put elsewhere makes it a bit of a waste in my eyes, but to each his own). Being able to persuade in conversations is nice in a number of places, and higher CHA will help with that. It also helps your offensive Force Powers. CON at least 10, and I would go with STR at least 10. Strength helps damage, but if your DEX is higher (there are more items that help DEX), lightsabers base their chance to hit off your DEX instead of your STR, so you don't need STR that high, and DEX helps your defense also. Some people still want the couple extra points of damage, so they dump extra points into STR. You don't lose much by lowering it to 8, but I dont' find a huge advantage elsewhere to taking a penalty in it unless I plan on forgoing Force Powers completely. INT 14 if you care about skills, which you should if you want to "get the most out of" a single runthrough.

That's how I would do it. Scout/Guardian if you want to melee, Scout/Consular if you want to spam Force Powers. IMO Scout/Guardian fits the story best, but that's really subjective. At least 12 Jedi levels, preferably 15 to maximize your feats.

Thanks for the advice, about attributes I emphasized on Strength and Intelligence, because I wanted skills badly, made them about 20 and 18. Constitution and Wisdom were at 12, and the others I left them at 10. Can't say I cared about Dexterity and Charisma, because I didn't use blasters or needed Charisma.

I will begin my second playthrough with a Dark Side female soon, so I will keep your advices in mind. I want feats to be as frequent as Canderous', though, because they really help. I didn't have trouble at the game at all in my last playthrough, only the final confrontation with Darth Malak was painful. Everything else was so easy, but at the end Malak proved too much. I found myself planting a line of deadly mines in order to beat him. I was lucky he lagged or something and he just stared at me for half a minute or so, so I could plant my mines. Even the Trandoshans at Yavin were easy pickings.

Yeah, I am replaying KotOR (I'm nearly done) and I followed some of what mur'phon said, and it seems to really work. I think that the "perfect build" gives a a well-rounded PC. By that I mean, he or she, is balanced in combat (generally feats/attributes), and in force powers. I like to try to get through Taris not-leveling up, so that I have those level ups as a Jedi. I find that really hard to do with a scout because of all of the 'benefits' that this class gets. You have the implants feat for free. I think that this feat can be invaluable, if you really think about it. I went through my current playthrough not leveling up until I got a Jedi class (my classes were Scout/Sentinal because of the skill points). I think that I made a little bit of a mistake with that because I was only able to get Implant Level 1. Bummer for me....

I think that if you want a really good rounded PC, you should go with the scout/sential classes. Another way to get a well-rounded PC, you should go with opposites. Yeah, that sounds a little wierd, bit I think that this really does work. For example, start out as a soldier, and then become a Consular. Being a soldier gives you some good combat skills (feats/attributes), and being a Consulat gives you good force powers. They offer you invaluable skills, and force powers. I really have felt a sense of fulfullment with the build that I am telling you about.

Force Powers

All the way up to Force Wave
All the way up to Stasis Field
Heal
Death Field (for an easier final battle ;))
All the way up to Destroy Droid
Force Immunity (I don't really think that it aids you that much, so this one is totally up to you.)


I think that is all that I used. :/

Feats

Dueling/Two Weapon(depending on what you prefer)
At least two fully upgraded combat (ex. Master Flurry, Master Power Attack)
At least level 2 Toughness (for the extra vitality points.)
Or conditioning instead of Toughness
Gear Head if you want the extra points.


Attributes

Strength - 12
Dexterity - 15
Constitution - 14
Intelligance- 14 or 15
Wisdom -15 or 16
Charisma - 10 (I don't really see the point for this attribute, but give it 10 so that you don't have the subtraction)


Forgive me if I missed one. This is generally what I follow when I play KotOR. I think that it gives you a really good game. I had some time to kill, and I felt like typing, so here it is. Oh, and thanks for the advice too murph! :xp:

Charisma plays the same roles than Wisdom in the efficiency of Force Powers. It makes them harder to resist and/or boosts their effects. So a smart thing to do at character creation is to increase reasonnably both WIS and CHA instead of just maxing one out. Example : CHA 14 / WIS 14 : modifier for FP +4, points spent 12. CHA 10 / WIS 18 : modifier for FP +4, points spent 16.
And I've heard that Charisma increased your party's attack/defense/saving throws, although I never found out how it exactly worked.

And I think you could save the Destroy Droid tree to get Force Speed. Two extra attacks deal more damages to droids than this power, though of course you lose the stun effect. But most of the time you've got guys like Jolee in your party who are terrible with a lightsaber, and who can definitely invest in this kind of power.

Master Force Valor is sweet too. Depending of whether your stats are even or odd, you get +2/+3 to attack, defense, damages, saving throws, VPs, FPs, Force saving throws, Force offensive throws, and skill checks. And you become immune to poison. Gotta love this power.

As for your attributes, they look pretty nice. But don't forget that a 14 or a 15 in Intelligence is the same thing, except you've wasted 2 points at character creation. Without going too much into game mechanics, 14 sounds like the ideal value to use in every "perfect build".

See I think it's best to go a Scoundrel - -> Guardian combination.

Scoundrel because of Charisma bonuses, and that so in terms of charming/persuading people it's much easier and lends it self towards plot advancement.

In terms of combat, the Scoundrel gets the uncanny dodge bonus, which when combined later as a Guardian, gives you a good defence.

In terms of combat, the Scoundrel gets the uncanny dodge bonus, which when combined later as a Guardian, gives you a good defence.

Isn't the Uncanny Dodge tree Scout feats? I thought Scoundrel only had Sneak Attacks and Scoundrel's Luck. You're right though, that's a versatile combination of classes. And Force Stun + Force Jump + Sneak Attack bonus, or Stealth mode + Force Jump + Sneak Attack bonus, well, it's instant kill.

^

Hmm, I might have to try that out. I guess that you could say that I am still kinda experimenting.

Here is the build I used in my last game. Click! (http://teodesetkata.hit.bg/kotorteo.JPG)
Most of the time it was extremely easy. As I said earlier, the only hard part I had was the final battle. Had to plant mines.

Here is the build I used in my last game. Click! (http://teodesetkata.hit.bg/kotorteo.JPG)
Most of the time it was extremely easy. As I said earlier, the only hard part I had was the final battle. Had to plant mines.
The only thing that I think could have made that battle easier is:
...That you should have gotten at least Force Drain, or Death Field if you reallly wanted it to be easy. With this, you can just drain the life out of all of the captured Jedi that Malak has. YOU can use all of them during the battle. At the very least, you would have to defeat Malak twice. I think this power is very helpful for this battle. ;)

Isn't the Uncanny Dodge tree Scout feats? I thought Scoundrel only had Sneak Attacks and Scoundrel's Luck.

I stand corrected; my mistake, tis been a while since I played KotOR. :)

You're right though, that's a versatile combination of classes. And Force Stun + Force Jump + Sneak Attack bonus, or Stealth mode + Force Jump + Sneak Attack bonus, well, it's instant kill.

Aye it is :)

Hmm, I might have to try that out. I guess that you could say that I am still kinda experimenting.

It defiantly comes recomended, and there are bonuses to the extra Charisma for force powers (making them more effective); which makes up for the lack of other Force bonuses Guardian's receive. :)

Thanks for the advice, human. Now that I am playing DS Force Drain would be a suitable Force Power not only for that battle.

It defiantly comes recomended, and there are bonuses to the extra Charisma for force powers (making them more effective); which makes up for the lack of other Force bonuses Guardian's receive. :)
Oh, okay then. I am replaying TSL, and I am starting out as a Guardian. Thanks for the advice too. :D
Thanks for the advice, human. Now that I am playing DS Force Drain would be a suitable Force Power not only for that battle.
Of course. I used that power a lot throughout the entire game. It is helpful all around.

Another piece of advice is to stay on the neutral side. I stayed just above the neutral side, but hey. Staying more neutral helps with DS force powers, and LS force powers. The aren't heavy penalties; however, there will still be some.

Oh, okay then. I am replaying TSL, and I am starting out as a Guardian. Thanks for the advice too. :D

Ahh, see in TSL, I think the best combination is Sentinal and Jedi Master.

Don't recall ever really using sentinel class in either game for my pc. Usually used gaurdian, occasionally consular, and then bumped up to Sith Lord/Jedi Master or Weapon Master in TSL. For KOTOR it was mainly soldier/gaurdian, but occasionally consular.

Don't recall ever really using sentinel class in either game for my pc. Usually used gaurdian, occasionally consular, and then bumped up to Sith Lord/Jedi Master or Weapon Master in TSL. For KOTOR it was mainly soldier/gaurdian, but occasionally consular.

Sentinel isn't great in KotOR but in TSL it's the best of the initial Jedi Classes; you get a lot of skill points, and it is a good balance between Consular and Guardian.

My perfect build is like this:

Lightside Scout 4/Sentinel 16

STR 11 (12)
DEX 14 (28)
CON 11 (14)
INT 14 (14)
WIS 14 (24)
CHA 14 (14)

Starting stats are listed, with final stats, including items, in parenthesis.

My level-up stats go +1 STR, +4 DEX. The CON is boosted by 3 with Lightside Mastery.

This doesn't look at all like an "ultimate" build by any stretch of the imagination, but it really works for me. My definition of "perfect build" is very similar to what Robb Stark said above.

I really don't like switching around party members, and this character with her 14 INT and class choices can get about 20 in Computer Use, Repair, Persuasion and Demolitions, with a few points left over for Treat Injury. Some other skills are covered by my main NPCs (Awareness & Stealth: Juhani) or just never needed (Security).

I use Juhani as my main tank, and she functions quite well in that role. I don't know why she has such high saving throws, but it helps a lot! I give her all STR boosting equipment. I use Carth as my ranged attacker, and I like the silly romance with him.

====

I do believe the best combatant in the game is a 7/13 Scoundrel/Guardian. But I never can pick how to go with the very small selection of feats he gets, as is seen in my earlier thread.

Sentinel isn't great in KotOR but in TSL it's the best of the initial Jedi Classes; you get a lot of skill points, and it is a good balance between Consular and Guardian.
Not to mention all the immunities you get if you stick with it to Watchman/Assassin. Oh, and Sneak Attack too.