VIDEO Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

So I'm in the Sand People camp on Tatooine at the moment but I keep being defeated by the Sand People. I passed the guards and turrets to get inside the base with the Sand People robes but when I go into the room with the chief my party just keeps being killed. Any tips?

 

You have two choices Grievousdude. You can abandon the Tuskan Camp until you gain enough power to slay the Sandpeople (Dark Side) or return to Anchorhead and go to the store at the gate to the Dune Sea. There you can buy HK-47, who can speak Tuskan and communicate with the Tuskan Raider Chieftain (Light Side).

 

I'll do some dark side-ish things - I usually duel Bendak Starkiller on the account of a) him being someone who needs stopped and b) it being worth a lot of creds, XP, and a sweet blaster pistol. KotOR II there might be a few more things, although I'm not sure.

Well, I think I found the wake-up part of KotOR - seriously, three Sand People make for a harder fight than three Dark Jedi?

 

Apparently if you are not the Chosen One, Tuskans can take you down. I find that odd too DarthCane. How is it that Dark Jedi and Darth Malak are easier to defeat than a Tribe of Tuskan Raiders?!

 

Well, I'm managing, but only via cracking out my full repertoire of Force powers and rediscovering my old Master Critical Strike + Master Flurry one-two punch.

Another odd thing - I recall that you would get attacked at random by groups of three Sand People, which after defeat would yield the required sets of Sand People outfits to sneak into the camp. Well, first off I don't remember those foes being quite as tough - instead of generic warriors, they're two "elite warriors" and one "holy warrior" per group. Part of the reason it's so difficult is that they have freaking energy shields! Second, they don't yield the Sand People outfits on death; the only way I've been able to get those is to attack the large group of Sand People guarding the pathway to their compound, which I've never had to do before.

 

DarthCane, I discovered that it is best to become a Jedi Consular to get access to the most powerful Force Powers (At the Star Forge I was unstoppable, even when my party died). I have tried Jedi Guardian and Jedi Sentinel. Choosing a Jedi Consular class, I got to the Star Forge without dying but maybe once or twice during my play through the game. As Guardian I haven't even gotten past Kashyyyk. As a Sentinel I am a Manaan, but I keep getting defeated by the Dark Jedi and Selkah Apprentices.

I had the same thing happen during my three play throughs. As a Consular I only encounter the typical Tuskan Warrior and with each kill I got the robes you need to enter the Tuskan Camp. As a Jedi Sentinel I ended up facing Holy Warriors and the Elite Warriors and was slain repeatedly. On one hand this is great because it is proof KOTOR changes when you play through each time, on the other hand it is frustrating.

 

I did fine during my previous Soldier/Guardian playthroughs; unlike a lot of posters here I claimed all eight of my starting class levels before going in as a Jedi and did it again this time as a Scout/Guardian. What I've been doing in my Tusken encounters has been to have HK-47 start sniping one of the Tuskens (hopefully stunning him) while my PC casts Knight Speed and Force Aura and Bastila casts Knight Valor, Force Shield, and if she has time Burst of Speed or Stun on one of the Tuskens. With all that I can generally take them down without a problem.

I only did one incomplete Scoundrel/Consular playthrough, and overall I liked the Guardian better. I just cast a few buffs and then let my sabers do the fighting. A good strength stat coupled with maxing out the two-weapon fighting, flurry, and critical strike trees will take down most enemies in short order without requiring offensive Force powers. Force Jump is a great way to avoid the grenade spam you tend to encounter in late game, not to mention a nice way to open a can of whup@$$ on the enemy. As a soldier starting class between my natural strength stat and some items I had equipped my character was throwing unarmed punches harder than Big Z by Level 20; pair that with the two most powerful sabers in the game and the final duel with Malak was the only real challenge to my rampage.

 

Interesting, it sounds like you have mastered the mechanics of the game DarthCane. That you know what powers and skills to give characters. I need to learn how to do that, because most of the time I'm winging it and picking what I like best.

 

You just need to play up the strengths of each character, I guess. Sentinels are supposed to use their Macguyver skills (like when you get the Jedi class test, it's the Sentinel who tries to pick the lock to open the door) so I got inspiration from that to get ready for fights using lots of demolition. Like when you speak to the people at the sand crawler and then get attacked by a whole bunch of Sand People, that's one of the toughest fights for me personally so I plant mines all around us before talking to the people. more balanced characters so also use a combination of Jedi powers and your Flurry or what-have-you. Having a high treat injury also helps. Lastly, I found this helpful in building a Sentinel: http://www.gamebanshee.com/starwarskotor/strategies/jedisentinel.php

Admittedly, Sentinels were far superior in KotOR II.

 

That fight at the sandcrawler is tough primarily because as soon as you toast one wave, the next turns up. By the third wave you've probably drained your Force points and have a fair bit of damage. I don't think I've tried the mines before on that one, but it's a perfect case for it - you know they're coming and roughly where from, so no reason not to chip some points off of the first wave.

Overall KotOR can be frustrating because it's turn-based and relies on your stats; tactics play a part but overall your build will define how you play the game. It's not like say, Mass Effect where I could play a squishier ranged class like an adept quite offensively. As far as base stats, Strength governs your damage and ability to hit with melee weapons and Dexterity defines your defense and ability to hit with ranged weapons. If your intent on being a melee combatant, which is probably the case, you should prioritize Strength over Dexterity. This playthrough I started with Dexterity at 12 and I'm probably going to leave it there; Strength I think I started at 14 and may have it at 16 by the end of the game. I kind of break the mold for a Guardian because I think I racked my Charisma all the way up to 16 and maybe my Intelligence and Wisdom to 12 apiece - I wanted to have some smooth-talking skills and not be a complete idiot on the field.

That was part of my logic for starting as a scout this time - eight levels of that does nicely for building up skills and feats; my PC is a passable slicer, repairman, and bomb-disposal tech and at Level 11 I already have most of my desired feats. For melee combat I have the full Two-Weapon Fighting, Critical Strike, and Flurry progressions. At the master level Critical Strike does a ton of damage if it connects and has a chance of stunning an enemy. Following that up with a Master Flurry deals a lot of damage; with two weapons you're already getting an extra attack per round, and coupled with Master Flurry and Force Speed you can get in even more hits per round (up to 8 is what I've heard). The faster you drop an enemy the better, especially when you're fighting a mob.

As far as Force powers, for a Guardian you just go with ones that will make you do more damage and last longer in a saber fight. Force Speed adds to your attack and defense, Force Armor adds to your defense, and Force Valor will boost attributes in combat. Heal will also make it easier to patch yourself up without burning medical supplies, and Force Immunity may save your hide against a Dark Jedi. Lightsaber throw I generally only take at the first level, because it's useful at the end for taking out the stasis pods.

 

Thanks for the tips DarthCane. I now know I have been wasting points on Dexterity. I usually get Force Immunity (or else Darth Bandon will kill you immediately in his fight; plus he has two Dark Jed, not one for fair fights I guess. Such a Sith). I don't typically upgrade Force Armor, but now I think I should. Force Valor I usually take to the second tier. Force Heal take to the highest tier. Only Consulars can have a level three tier Force Heal, which makes your whole team have full heal without using much force points (one of the reasons I love Consular class).

Thanks VictoryClassWoman for the tips on being a Sentinel. I will use those Demolitions to help me sort out threats in the future. I once saw a video where a player set up mines all the way up to Malak on the Star Forge and then when duel commenced, he ran away from Malak and he ended up being blasted.

 

Higher CR.

It's based on the RPG people.

 

The mothers and children. Slaughter them LIKE ANIMALS.

 

I actually prefer to reason with the Tuskans in the camp via HK-47. You get to learn Tuskan history and lore. More importantly you find out why Sand People are so violent towards outsiders (all sentient life except Tuskans).

 

Ehh, slaughtering often just grosses me out I suppose, and if you enjoy that then there's plenty of unavoidable carnage throughout the game even for Light-siders. Maybe I get too involved in the story and can't help but feel the pain in the Force whenever a life is lost. I can't describe how much more satisfying it is to bring HK-47 into the camp and reason with the Sand People while learning more about them; it makes you realize that "we" (the characters we identify with in the story) have been just as harmful to the Tuskens as they have to us, and they are as afraid of us as we are of them. Plus I'm a huge fan of intelligent non-violent solutions, which are unusual enough in games and movies.

Here, the game goes further to give the Sand People some much-needed context to their situation. They seem evil but they are the planet's natives who were being invaded and pushed around, and they are truly afraid that settlers coming in and disturbing their way of life will have dire consequences according to their legends and stories about their past and what they have learned from it (I love HK's commentary). The stories explain why they get violent towards outsiders. It's about survival. At the same time the Sand People have culture that can be difficult for literate/industrialized societies to understand, such the dislike of writing down their stories (if it's written down, it can be taken away from the people and their words get twisted. So they keep their stories as oral tradition). It's very fascinating. I think I have heard of the Sand People being compared to other indigenous peoples who got invaded/colonized? Something about the portrayal of Native Americans in early movies being similar to the Tuskens. There's always another side to the story.

 

My favorite explosives-related dispatch of Darth Malak was during one Soldier/Guardian playthrough, after I had destroyed all the stasis pods. I accidentally maneuvered him onto a section that had a ramp going down between him and my PC, and the game won't allow Force Jumps over obstacles. And it just so happened that I'd hoarded up at least 20 thermal detonators and enough other grenades that my PC could have probably blown up the entire Star Forge ... I'd toss a thermal det, the poor sod would get blasted off his feet, and then right about when he got back up I'd lob another one. Repeat until you get a dead Sith Lord.

Where the mines come in most handy is in dealing with the two terentateks on Korriban, although that only softens them up. The best way is to set up a load of mines, bait them into the field, and then run for the lever so you can get into the Star Map chamber. Then equip a blaster or two and peck them to death with impunity.

 

I can heard Kenobi, "thermal detonators, so uncivilized." Then again, if you can get rid of a Sith without risking life or limb, why not lob grenades at em.

 

I think between the Mass Shadow Generator, the Star Forge, and Revan's plan to wipe out the entire Sith race in TOR we can argue that he was a proponent of overkill.

 

Well you can never accuse Revan of doing anything halfway.

 

It's funny because in KotOR 2 I think G0-T0 said something about preferring Revan over Malak because Revan was more careful and methodical with his conquests and actually planned for their future, leaving many people and infrastructures alive/intact, and Malak was more "wipe them all out/destroy everything" with little thought for the consequences, as with Taris.

 

Revan was a real Sith Lord, while Malak was a brute. Revan as you said was realistic and knew how to properly plan his attack, while Malak was just full of malice and wanted to massacre everything.

 

Speaking of picking up the nuances of the game, one thing I've learned is to only sell to one merchant, provided you have the PC version of the game with Yavin Station. Suvam Tan gives you the best return on items, including the bonds from the Tatooine swoop races; I went there as soon as I finished Tatooine and walked out with a bloody fortune and a very nice set of light Baragwin Shadow Armor. Going to pick up one or two other useful items on Dantooine before heading to Kashyyyk.

Later in the game, provided you wipe out the Trandoshans trying to muscle Tam around, you get the freaking best weapons, armor, and other goodies out of him. At that point I make sure to pick up the two special lightsaber crystals he has (each of which costs 20-25,000 credits); my character dual-wields so that gives him the best two sabers in the game. Other fun items to pick up are the biggest BFG in the game and the best heavy armor.

 

The PC version of KOTOR has Yavin Station? I find it quite frustrating how PC editions get extras that console versions don't. They did that with Halo CE and Halo 2.

 

Since you don't seem to be playing an RPG on a class strength basis DarthCane, can I suggest you consider Scoundrel/Guardian? Sneak attack. That is all.

 

Being jealous of Yavin Station is like being jealous of your friend's car, which in this hypothetical example is the same car you own in equivalent condition, but with a new wax job.