Knights of the Old Republic Party Optimization Guide

Knights of the Old Republic is a masterpiece of Western RPGs and a game I've continued to come back to over and over again since its release. I believe I've discovered the optimal party composition which maximizes damage, crowd control, and support abilities. The ideal party consists of:

1. Strength-based Scoundrel with Melee Weapons and Light armor
2. Dexterity-based Jedi with Ranged Weapons and No Armor
3. Wisdom-based Jedi with Lightsaber and Medium Armor

One thing that I've discovered in this game is that Force Powers can be cleanly divided between powers that benefit from a high Wisdom and Charisma score and may be cast in Armor and those which do not benefit from Wisdom and Charisma and may not be cast in armor. There is only one exception to this for a light-side Jedi. Stasis Field cannot be used while wearing armor, however, Stasis is allowed. To optimize the party, we need two Jedi to split the Force Powers between them. Our armored Jedi acts similarly to a Cleric in traditional RPGs and is responsible for healing the party and using Stun Droid, Stasis, and Force Wave to disable enemies. The unarmored Jedi uses Force Valor to buff the entire party and uses Force Speed to maximize her attacks per round with her ranged weapons to provide DPS. The Scoundrel is pure DPS and works with the Armored Jedi to get sneak attacks on disabled enemies.

Your Player Character can fill any one of these roles, but he's best suited in the armored Jedi position, as otherwise, you'll need to spend the precious few feats of the NPC Jedi on armor proficiencies, while the PC can gain these for free from his base class at character creation.

Our Player Character works best as our Armored Jedi/Support Character due to his unique ability to have two classes. We use our base class as a source of armor, feats, and hit points while our Jedi class allows us to focus on our force powers. I recommend going with the Scout as the base class for several reasons. Firstly, due to Force Valor, we'll be able to reliably get our dexterity to 14 without spending any points in Dexterity, so we just need medium armor proficiency and not heavy armor. Secondly, when you consider that Scout has 3 free implant feats, you get the same amount of feats as you would as a Soldier. Also, we want to have Flurry which the Scout gets while the Soldier gets Power Attack. The only thing we lose as a Scout instead of a Soldier is 2 Hitpoints per level, a slightly lower attack score, and heavy armor and heavy weapons proficiencies. As a Scout, we gain better saving throws for Reflex and Will which is extremely helpful in the later parts of the game. Once we become a Jedi, we select Jedi Consular for his passive bonus to Difficulty Classes and +3 to Charisma with Light Side Mastery. In combat, this Character is responsible for disabling the enemy and healing the party, while our companions focus on damage.

Upon Character Selection, choose the following stats:
9 STR, 8 DEX, 8 CON, 8 INT, 17 WIS, 18 CHA
Put all points into Wisdom as you level up

Skills: put all points into Repair during the Scout Levels and save the remaining skill points until we become a Jedi. Once we become a Jedi put we all our skill points into Persuade

Feats: Focus on Defensive feats, choosing Dueling, Toughness and Conditioning to increase our Defense, Hit Points, and Saving throws. For your 10th feat, we choose Improved Flurry for extra damage in the final boss fight

Force Powers: Select Force Powers that take advantage of high Wisdom and Charisma score. This includes Heal, Destroy Droid, Stasis, and Force Wave. In the late game, we select Force Valor and Force Breach, these last two powers are restricted by armor but are necessary for the final boss fight.

Items include:
Weapon: Saber with Mantle of the Force, Jenruax and Upari
Armor: Heavy Exoskelton
Implant: Cardio Power System
Head: Circlet of Saresh
Hands: Sith Power Gauntlets
Belt: Nerve Amplifier Belt

Our Ranged Jedi fills the gap in Force Powers left by our armored Jedi. She uses Force Valor to increase the stats of the whole party while also using Force Speed to increase her own ranged DPS. I recommend equipping Bastila with Dual Blasters and putting her in this role for the majority of the game and then replacing her with Juhani and Heavy weapons in the late game. The Baragwin Heavy Repeating Blaster is the best ranged weapon in the game, but other heavy weapons are generally not as strong as two blasters and you can't get the Baragwin Heavy Repeating Blaster until very late in the game.

Focus your attributes on Dexterity, as this is your primary means of defense and offense.

For skills: Put points into Computer Use for Bastila, but for Juhani use Stealth and Awareness

Feats: Two Weapon Fighting then Rapid Shot for Bastila and Heavy Weapon Proficiency for Juhani, then Implants, then Rapid Shot

Force Powers: Her main Force Powers will be Force Valour and Force Speed. Afterward take Force Armor, Energy Resistance, and Force Resistance. Plague is a good Force Power to take with our final slots as it has a DC of 100 and works regardless of our characters Wisdom and Charisma Score

Equipment:
Weapon: Baragwin Heavy Repeating Blaster
Armor: Qel-Droma Robes
Implant: Advanced Alacrity Implant
Head: Heavy Targetting Optics
Hands: Advvanced Stablizer Gloves
Belt: Baragwin Stealth Unit

We round out our team with Mission. Mission is our main source of DPS, combined with the disabling powers of the armored Jedi, Mission can consistently provide sneak attacks and do massive amounts of single-target DPS. Mission also has the added benefit of providing much-needed skills to the party. Focus on strength and equip her with dual swords and watch her cut through enemies like no Jedi ever could.

Attributes: Put all points into Strength

Feats: Do Dual Weapons first, then go into the Flurry tree

Skills: Computer Use, Demolitions, Stealth, Awareness, and security. With our PC having Repair and Persuade, we will have full skill coverage between the two characters

Equipment:
Weapons: Two Baragwin Assault Blades
Armor: Light Exoskeleton
Head: Advanced Bio-Stabilizer Mask
Hands: Dominator Gauntlets
Belt: CNS Strength Enhancer

In the early game, our PC character will be very weak, as we won't have any force powers to take advantage of our high Wisdom and Charisma, and all our other attributes will be very low. I recommend selecting party members to best utilize the weapons that you have in the early game. Zaalbar's Bowcaster makes a solid weapon for our PC and allows us to contribute some damage in the early game. Zaalbar makes a very good melee user while Carth works best as a ranged DPS in the early game. Once you get Bastila, use her as a tank/support and have her use her lightsaber in Melee.

Recommended Early game build:

Carth: Carth is our Ranged DPS in the early game. We want to keep him equipped with Dual Blasters most of the time, however when we first start to encounter Rakghouls we should equip Carth with Dual Swords so he can be our front liner until we find Zaalbar. Having a Rakgoul engage a party member with blasters equipped means they will get a massive penalty to defense and will fall easily.

Skills: All into Demolitions
Feats: Toughness Tree than Implants

Mission: Mission is our skill monkey in the first dungeon but she doesn't really shine until later in the game. In the early game keep her back with a single blaster, but when she gets to level 5 we can take Two weapon fighting and give her a second blaster to increase her damage. When she reaches level 4, have her put a point into Strength which will help when we take her on future missions.

Attributes: into Strength (for later)
Skills: Computer Use, Demolitions, Stealth, Security
Feats: Two Weapon Fighting

Zaalbar: Zaalbar is a welcome addition when you first find him as he serves as a great melee fighter. He has Wookie toughness which provides additional vitality as well as damage reduction, plus his Strength and Constitution Scores are extremely high. Have him take two weapon fighting and equip the Prototype Vibroblade and Mission's Vibroblade

Attributes
Skills: All into Computer Use
Feats: Two Weapon Fighting

Bastila: Bastila works best as a Paladin-type character. Make her take spells that buff herself or the party and use her as a front-line fighter. It's worth noting that Dexterity applies a bonus to attack rolls to Jedi when using a lightsaber, so put all points into dexterity to max both attack and defense. While Computer Use is a cross class skill, all her class skills are frankly useless, so put them into Computer Use

Attributes: Dexterity
Skills: All into Computer Use (cross-class)
Feats: Two Weapon Fighting
Force Powers: Focus on Aura, Valor, and Burst of Speed. Take Energy Resistance at Level 7.

T3-M4: You'll never use this guy in combat, but you switch him into your party whenever you need someone to look at a computer or droid. Put all points into anything that boosts skills.

Attributes: Intelligence
Skills: Computer Use, Demolitions, Repair, and Security
Feats: Caution, Gear Head

Canderous: Canderous comes with Heavy Weapon Specialization and a unique Heavy Weapon equipped. However, when we get him at the start of Davik's Estate there is no way to upgrade his weapon. Instead, put points into Two-Weapon Fighting and have him equip Dual Swords (Prototype Vibroblade and Mission's Vibroblade). This is particularly helpful against the final fight of Taris, as Melee weapons ignore the energy shields on Calo Nord.

Skills: Demolitions
Feats: Two Weapon Fighting

Part 1: Endar Spire and Taris

Part 2: Dantooine and Tatooine

Part 3: Kashyyyk and Manaan

Part 4: Korriban and Endgame