KOTOR 2 - Notes from my 2022 playthrough

WARNING: the following contains heavy spoilers about KOTOR I and KOTOR II. Do not read it if you haven't played the game yet.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: these are loose notes from my 2022 playthrough. They are very poorly organized, as they were only ever intended for my own personal use.

ANOTHER WARNING: you saw that there were going to be spoilers, right? If you haven't played the games, stop reading now.


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KOTOR playthrough idea: unified story between I and II

This will be a unified playthrough between KOTOR I and KOTOR II. I planned the character backstories, builds, and even a fanfic outline before starting the playthroughs. The idea is to make it feel like one unified story in two parts, rather than two separate stories in the same universe.

===== KOTOR II =====

This Exile never regains her connection to the Force on her own. Her condition is permanent. She is only ever able to use the Force through connections to others. At first, this is because of the bond with Kreia. Later it is via connections with her companions. This Exile may *think* she has reconnected to the Force, but that's just Kreia manipulating her and setting false expectations.

Turns out that the whole Force Bond thing with Kreia was manipulation all along. Kreia was exploiting the Exile's ability to make connections with others to feed things back to the Exile. Kreia's knowledge of Sith Sorcery made her able to do this very powerfully. Kreia can almost trivially use it to convince the Exile that her life depends on Kreia's (so that Meetra won't kill Kreia if she finds out Kreia has been manipulating her) and also to foster a general sense of connection and dependency. But it is all a front, and there's no harm whatsoever to the Exile when Kreia dies.

Because of her condition, this Exile can pretty much only use Force powers that affect herself or others she has a connection with. So heal and buffs, really. Maybe she can use some of the other stuff (not sure if there are enough non-attacky powers to not take any attacky powers and the game will require me to pick *something*) but if so it is only the first rank (and therefore not very powerful).

Might also be cool if Kreia lied about why she was blind. She tells the Exile that her eyes atrophied from disuse and that she can see better through the Force. In fact, she's aware that her own confidence in herself is one of her biggest weaknesses. So she destroys her own vision and instead has to see by using the eyes of others. She's established in-game as an expert at mental manipulation and even gives the Exile lessons in sensing other people's thoughts. It isn't a big stretch to think that she could use the vision of other people by mentally connecting with them. The reason she'd do this to herself is to strengthen her connection to the Exile, making her dependent on the Exile. She failed with Revan because, even though Revan internalized many of her teachings, Revan kept herself separate and eventually separated from and superseded her. Kreia doesn't want this to happen with the Exile, who Kreia desperately needs for her long-term plans, so she forces herself into a situation where she's obligated to maintain that connection. It also means she basically bumps into stuff a lot if she's alone. Heh.


At the start of the game, Revan has left on her vision quest. When Revan left, she was working out a new, better way of relating to the Force. She's pretty sure that Meetra will be key to it. So she sends Juhani to find the Exile. Which means Juhani finally has a non-bugged messenger quest, hooray. Anyway, this Exile finds out that Revan had saved the Jedi Order instead of destroying it. But that she'd then left it in pretty good shape and it was in danger of falling apart. Juhani, has been searching for Meetra for some time, maybe years, and doesn't know how terribly the Order is actually doing. Meetra sets out to see what she can do to keep things together until Revan returns. Even though she can't feel the Force, which she knows will make this pretty challenging. Then she finds out that the Jedi are basically wiped out, and the fate of the whole galaxy is pretty much on her. She knows she can't do this alone, so she decides to rebuild the Jedi Order.


So, how does a Jedi without the Force rebuild the Order? With Jedi companions, of course. Meetra's search at first is to find the Jedi Masters to try rebuilding the Order through them. But along the way, she figures out that they're more part of the problem than the solution, and realizes that she needs to completely start over with her own people. So while she doesn't immediately give up on the Masters, she starts training a new generation of Jedi as a backup plan.


Light Side. Female. No damaging Force Powers. Not even stuns. She'll have to do all her damage via weapons/grenages/mines. With no stuns, Sneak Attack will be hard to come by, so normal damage will need to be sufficient. My Jedi party members are not under the same restrictions, so they could stun for me, but then solo fights, notably two of them at the end of the game, would be hard. This is character will be, by design, sub-optimal at combat. This is a story-oriented playthrough and, while I want to make the character as effective at combat as possible within the bounds of my restrictions, I an acknowledging and accepting some combat limitations.

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Build possibilities:

KOTOR II equivalent of a Scoundrel/Guardian, to combine Sneak Attack with Force Jump and one-shot enemies. Unless I save that for my 2023 KOTOR I run. Would I want/need to wear armor? If so, would the Force powers (mostly just buffs for this Exile) that I want to use be restricted?

Or maybe a KOTOR II equivalent of the Sneak Attack based Blaster Jedi I just played in KOTOR I, to see how they compare between games. Assuming a Light Side run, it'd be Scoundrel/Jedi Watchman. This actually fits well story-wise in a way. The Jedi Council took my lightsaber, so why would I use one? Even having built a new one, I might have a chip on my shoulder about that, and want to prove I can do just fine without it.

But if I don't let myself take stunning powers, is a Sneak Attack gunslinger really viable? I won't be able to stun. I should probably either relax my restrictions to allow stunning, or else do a non-sneak-attack gunslinger.

Here are some KOTOR II Gunslinger Jedi guides:
Here is a discussion on the best blasters in the game.
Someone on Reddit said this about blasters:
The best blaster pistol in the game is the Mandalorian Disintegrator. The best options are (IMO), in order:

=========

Force Powers that this version of the Exile would be allowed to use (includes only selectable powers, not things granted by the game at various points, like Breath Control) That's a total of 12 selectable powers, but of course many have multiple ranks. Adding up all ranks, it would take 33 selections to take all of them.

A few of these are iffy, as they are attack-ish: Throw Lightsaber, Advanced Throw Lightsaber, Force Redirection (although Deflection seems fine). But the game requires me to pick powers, so I have to take something, and these seem the least rule-breaky for my self-imposed restrictions.

Assuming I take 15 levels of my base class, I would get this many selections for each before prestiging: My last playthrough, I got to character level 30, which would give for the prestige portion: Assuming I hit level 30 again, this means that the minimum number I'll get to select (if I go Guardian/Watchman or Guardian/Weapon Master) is 31, which is sufficient

The max I could get is 40 (Consular+Master) which is too many. I'd have to break the rule. But I'm probably not going that combo anyway.

A Consular/Watchman or Consular/Weapon Master gets 36, which is still too many.


So really, I don't have to worry about how many Force Powers I get, regardless of class combo. All of them will get plenty

One possibility, let's see if this works out:

Guardian/Weapon Master (more feats)
or
Sentinal/Weapon Master (more skills)

Guardian gets 9 feats by level 15, Force Jump (boo) and Unarmed bonuses (boo)

Sentinel gets 8 feats, Unarmed (boo) + Force Immunity (cool), and all skills except Demolition and Repair


Guardian class skills: Demolitions, Awareness, Persuade, Treat Injury
Sentinel class skills: Computer Use, Stealth, Awareness, Persuade, Treat Injury
Weapons Master class skills: Demolitions, Awareness, Persuade, Treat Injury
Watchman class skills: Computer Use, Stealth, Awareness, Persuade, Security, Treat Injury

So Guardian+WM gets everything except: Computer Use, Stealth, Repair, Security
And Sentinel+WM gets everything except: Repair
Watchman is no better than Weapons Master in terms of class skills, but would get more skill points.

I can use a feat to get rid of the cross-class thing, but feats are precious. Sentinel would only waste one feat to get all skills, while Guardian would waste four, more than negating its feat bonus. Also, Guardians get 1+INT at level up, but Sentinel gets 3+INT. But maybe I don't care about skills that much? Or maybe I do. I should decide how I feel, because this is a big factor in choosing which.

The Sentiel immunities are also super nice, while the Guardian class feats are all useless to me.

There seems to be no benefit in pushing either base class past level 15.

I think Sentinel is winning.

Weapon Master cannot select: Caution, Close Combat, Conditioning, Empathy, Gear Head, Stealth Run. If I want any of that (and I definitely want Close Combat and Improved Close Combat!) select as Sentinel.

Weapon Master is the only class that gets Superior Two Weapon Fighting. Also gets a damage reduction feat (Inner Strength) and a melee bonus (which is wasted on me for this playthrough), and a blaster bolt deflection when a lightsaber is equipped (also wasted this playthrough).

Watchman would get more skill points, Sneak Attack, and Force Camouflage. But would give up Superior Two Weapon Fighting

Weapon Master gets 15 feats and 15 Force Powers through the first 15 levels. Watchman gets 8 feats and 15 Force Powers.

Weapon Master gets more Vitality but fewer Skill Points.

Watchman gets slightly better saves.

Overall, I think Weapon Master wins for this build, as Sneak Attack will mostly be wasted (because I'm not doing stuns), Superior Two Weapon Fighting and Vitality are both really important, and the Sentinel immunities make the better Watchman saves less significant. The main relevant thing Watchman gets is (lots of) extra skill points. But hopefully I'll have enough of those to open dialog options as a Sentinel already, and party members can most of the other skill-related things. But it could go either way, and there's nothing I do in my base class that would prohibit me changing my mind from Weapon Master to Watchman mid-game before I get my Prestige Class.

I'm playing as female, so I won't get Battle Precognition. This is a disadvantage, because I won't be able to add my WIS modifier to my Defense. And I'm playing Light Side, so I'll get STR as a Weapon Master mastery bonus instead of the sweet damage bonus that Mauraders get. So my major choices are all nerfing myself. But whatever, the game isn't THAT hard.

Stack DEX. I won't need a ton of WIS for this build.

Use whatever fully upgradable blasters I can get. Random loot drops make this a bit unpredictible. Mandalorian Disintegrators are great if I can get them.

Pick one of Rapid Shot/Power Blast/Sniper Shot. I don't get any for free.

Blaster slots:

I need to get unadjusted CON to 18 to use the best implants.
Possible starting stats:
I could go higher on stuff that affects combat (DEX, CON) by dropping other things, but past 16 it takes 3 points to advance an attribute, which is a lot. And for story purposes, I have trouble seeing Meetra with low stats on some of these things, even if it is mathematically better.

Something said I get an alignment bonus of +3 CON. Does that count toward the implant requirement? If so, I don't need this much starting CON. But if not, I do. Probably start high anyway, just to be safe, as early CON is useful and I'm skeptical it would count.

INT of 14 gets me 3 skill points per level as a Weapon Master. That lets me keep Persuade and Security (the two my companions won't be covering) at maximum, and gives me 1 more point to play around with as desired.

If I want to fully repair T3, I'll need to bank some skill points from earlier in the game, so I can get to 21 on Repair and Computer Use. I could also have to take the Class-Skill:Repair feat, which means delaying some other feat. But there's no reason I can't get there if I choose to.

Interesting thing someone said: why put points in INT, it only gives a bonus to skills? Good question. I'm glad you asked. It depends on whether you want to have Master Critical Strike or Master Flurry (or whatever it is the ranged variants are called). Flurry just gives you an extra attack per round, but Crit Strike quadruples the chance of a crit. As it so happens, both feats deal about the same damage. But, Critical strike has another function: it can stun opponents. For melee the DC of this stun is based on STR bonus, but for ranged it's based on INT bonus. But if I take Power Blast as I'm currently planning, I don't have to overdo INT, just take enough to get the skill points I want.

Somebody else said Master Power Attack/Master Blast is mathematically better than either of the other two


UH-OH: DESPITE THE CLASS TABLE ON STRATEGYWIKI, THE MAIN CHARACTER DOES NOT GET TO SELECT ANY FORCE POWER AT CHARACTER CREATION (LEVEL 1). SO THAT IS 2 FEWER POWERS THAN I THOUGHT JUST BASED ON THE TABLE. SOME OF THE ABOVE IS THEREFORE INCORRECT.

That's mostly okay, because all it really means for the final build is I'm not obligated to take either of the Throw Lightsaber powers, which I was iffy on and really only taking because the game required me to take *something*.

Also, I get more "for free" granted feats at level 1 than strategywiki says. Notably, I start with Rapid Shot, meaning I don't have to take it later.

======================

Here are per-companion skills for this playthrough:

Companion Points/Level Computer use Demolitions Stealth Awareness Persuade Repair Security Treat Injury
Atton 4 X X X X
GO-TO 4 X X X X
HK-47 3 X X X to at least 10
no need to max
Kreia 4 X X X X
Mandalore 2 X X
Mira 5 X X X X X
T3-M4 4 X some some X X
Visas 3 X X X

Bao-Dur's skills for this playthrough are fully spelled out in his build, so he isn't listed here. He covers all crafting needs, so other companions can pick skills based on gameplay needs.

Also, Disciple isn't listed because his available skills can be very different depending on when (or if) he is converted to a Jedi. I assign his skills situationally.

I have Mandalore take both Demolitions and Awareness mostly for Onderon and the Ravager, where I won't have Mira. Treat Injury probably makes more sense for him than Demolitions, so if the main character has decent Demolitions by then, Mandalore can take Treat Injury instead. Awareness is probably still good, as he's likely to be out in front a lot.
The main character eventually gets all skill except Repair. But doesn't get Demolitions until level 16. Atton and Bao-Dur can handle that in the early game, then Mira can handle it until the main character gets it.

======================

Normal group, once I get them: This covers all skill needs. Damage will be almost strictly weapons-based, which fits this playthrough well. Mandalore would probably be a better melee dps, but would bring fewer skills, and having two Force-Sensitives fits this playthrough better, as it means the Exile is drawing off connections to two people and not just one. If I want to try out ranged-only to see how I like that, Atton is my best choice for both skill and story reasons.

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Meetra progression details per level (g = granted, s = selected)

Character Level Class Level Attributes Skills Feats Force Powers
1 Sentinel 1 STR: 8 (-1)
WIS: 10 (0)
CHA: 10 (0)
INT: 14 (+2)
CON: 16 (+3)
DEX: 16 (+3)
 20 points
Computer use +2 (2)
Stealth +2 (2)
Awareness +4 (4)
Persuade +4 (4)
Security +4 (4)
Treat Injury +4 (4)
Demolitions +0 (0)		 Critical Strike (g)
Flurry (g)
Power Attack (g)
Power Blast (g)
Rapid Shot (g)
Sniper Shot (g)
Jedi Sense (g)
Force Immunity - Fear (g)
Jedi Defense (g)
Weapon Proficiency: Blaster Pistol (g)
Weapon Focus: Blaster Pistol (s)
2 Sentinel 2 5 points
>Awareness +1 (5)
Demolitions +4 (2)
(cross class)		 Unarmed Specialist (g)
 Burst of Speed
3 Sentinel 3 5 points
Persuade +2 (6)
Security +2 (6)
Awareness +1 (6)		 Two Weapon Fighting (s)
 Force Valor
4 Sentinel 4 CON +1, 17 (+3) 5 points
Persuade +1 (7)
Security +1 (7)
Awareness +1 (7)
Computer Use +2 (4)		 Force Aura
5 Sentinel 5 5 points
Persuade +1 (8)
Security +1 (8)
Awareness +1 (8)
Computer Use +2 (6)		 Energy Resistance
6 Sentinel 6 5 points
Persuade +1 (9)
Security +1 (9)
Awareness +1 (9)
Computer Use +2 (8)		 Unarmed Specialist II (g)
Force Immunity - Stun (g)
Improved Two Weapon Fighting (s)		 Heal
7 Sentinel 7 5 points
Persuade +1 (10)
Security +1 (10)
Awareness +1 (10)
Computer Use +2 (10)		 Close Combat (s) Force Deflection
8 Sentinel 8 CON +1, 18 (+4) 5 points
Persuade +1 (11)
Security +1 (11)
Awareness +1 (11)
Computer Use +1 (11)
Bank +1 (1)		 Battle Meditation
9 Sentinel 9 5 points
Persuade +1 (12)
Security +1 (12)
Awareness +1 (12)
Computer Use +1 (12)
Bank +1 (2)		 Master Two-Weapon Fighting (s) Knight Speed
10 Sentinel 10 5 points
Persuade +1 (13)
Security +1 (13)
Awareness +1 (13)
Computer Use +1 (13)
Bank +1 (3)		 Unarmed Specialist III (g) Knight Valor
11 Sentinel 11 5 points
Persuade +1 (14)
Security +1 (14)
Awareness +1 (14)
Computer Use +1 (14)
Bank +1 (4)		 Force Shield
12 Sentinel 12 DEX +1, 17 (+3) 5 points
Persuade +1 (15)
Security +1 (15)
Awareness +1 (15)
Computer Use +1 (15)
Bank +1 (5)		 Force Immunity - Paralysis (g)
Improved Close Combat (s)		 Improved Heal
13 Sentinel 13 5 points
Persuade +1 (16)
Security +1 (16)
Computer Use +1 (16)
Bank +2 (7)		 Improved Rapid Shot (s) Force Barrier
14 Sentinel 14 5 points
Persuade +1 (17)
Security +1 (17)
Computer Use +1 (17)
Bank +2 (9)		 Unarmed Specialist IV (g) Improved Battle Meditation
15 Sentinel 15 5 points
Persuade +1 (18)
Security +1 (18)
Computer Use +1 (18)
Bank +2 (11)		 Master Rapid Shot Master Speed
16 Weapon Master 1 DEX +1, 18 (+4) 3 points
Persuade +1 (19)
Security +1 (19)
Computer Use +1 (19)
Demolitions +12 (14)
Bank -10 (1)		 Weapon Focus: Lightsaber (g)
Greater Prestige Sense (g)
Deflect (g)
Increase Melee Damage (g)
Superior Two Weapon Fighting I (s)		 Master Valor
17 Weapon Master 2 3 points
Persuade +1 (20)
Security +1 (20)
Demolitions +1 (15)		 Superior Two Weapon Fighting II (s) Force Armor
18 Weapon Master 3 3 points
Persuade +1 (21)
Security +1 (21)
Demolitions +1 (16)		 Inner Strength 1 (g)
Unarmed Specialist V (g)
Superior Two Weapon Fighting III (s)		 Master Heal
19 Weapon Master 4 3 points
Persuade +1 (22)
Security +1 (22)
Demolitions +1 (17)		 Improved Force Barrier
20 Weapon Master 5 DEX +1, 19 (+4) 3 points
Persuade +1 (23)
Security +1 (23)
Demolitions +1 (18)		 Precise Shot I (s) Master Battle Meditation
21 Weapon Master 6 3 points
Persuade +1 (24)
Security +1 (24)
Demolitions +1 (19)		 Master Force Barrier
22 Weapon Master 7 3 points
Persuade +1 (25)
Security +1 (25)
Demolitions +1 (20)		 Inner Strength II (g)
Unarmed Specialist VI (g)
Precise Shot II (s)		 Improved Energy Resistance
23 Weapon Master 8 3 points
Persuade +1 (26)
Security +1 (26)
Demolitions +1 (21)		 Increase Melee Damage II (g) Master Energy Resistance
24 Weapon Master 9 DEX +1, 20 (+5) 3 points
Persuade +1 (27)
Security +1 (27)
Demolitions +1 (22)		 Precise Shot III (s) Force Resistance
25 Weapon Master 10 3 points
Persuade +1 (28)
Security +1 (28)
Demolitions +1 (23)		 Force Immunity
26 Weapon Master 11 3 points
Persuade +1 (29)
Security +1 (29)
Demolitions +1 (24)		 Unarmed Specialist VII (g)
Inner Strength III (g)
Precise Shot IV (s)		 Redirection
27 Weapon Master 12 3 points
Persuade +1 (30)
Security +1 (30)
Demolitions +1 (25)		 Revitalize
28 Weapon Master 13 DEX +1, 21 (+5) 3 points
Persuade +1 (31)
Security +1 (31)
?		 Precise Shot V (s) Improved Revitalize
29 Weapon Master 14 3 points
Persuade +1 (32)
Security +1 (32)
?		 Master Revitalize
30 Weapon Master 15 3 points
Persuade +1 (33)
Security +1 (33)
?		 Increase Melee Damage III (g)
Unarmed Specialist VIII (g)
Weapon Specialization: Blaster Pistol (s)		 Force Body
31 Weapon Master 16 3 points
Persuade +1 (34)
Security +1 (34)
?		 Improved Force Body
32 Weapon Master 17 3 points
Persuade +1 (35)
Security +1 (35)
?		 ? (s) Master Force Body

- The last few feats are nice, but don't really change much. Which is pretty cool, because I get to enjoy the (mostly) complete build for awhile.
- If I get additional levels beyond character level 32, just do whatever seems best. I'm out of allowed Force Powers, so maybe just take something but never click it.
- If I want to fully repair T3, I'll have to push Computer Use and Repair, and probably bank some skill points from Sentinel to use as Weapon Master (when I have fewer to spend). I'd also have to take the Class-Skill:Repair feat, thereby delaying other feats, so not sure it is worth it. I don't really use WIS for much in this build.
- Feats could be shuffled a bit according to need, subject to level and class restrictions. For example, do I take Improved Rapid Shot before or after the Close Combats? Could go either way depending on how things are feeling.
- Ditto for Force Powers. They're roughly in priority order, but could be shuffled a bit as desired.
- I wasted some skill points at level 2 to raise Demolitions to 2, even though it was still cross-class, because I wanted to recover mines on Peragus. Together with some +Demo gear I found, that was enough to recover everything until Atton because a party member and could take that over. - I ended up with one more skill point banked when I switched to Weapon Master than I expected. Never when back to figure out where I'd gotten the math wrong, so the build above is probably slightly inaccurate on skill points somewhere before level 16.
- I used a Vibrocutter on Peragus because there were no proper blaster pistols available yet. I could have used the mining laser but - just no.
- When I found a workbench, I crafted a Long Sword and an Ionite Edge (extra damage vs droids) and basically walked through most of Peragus. While that doesn't fit my concept for the rest of the build, it makes sense for Peragus because we're explicitly told several times that using blasters could ignite the whole asterioid and destroy the station. And I didn't really have the feats to use a blaster well yet anyway.
- On Citadel Station, I crafted two Field Survival Pistols, and upgrades for all slots of each. They weren't great weapons, but they were better than anything I had found at that point.
- The build, as expected, started a little slow, and I felt underpowered at first. Around level 9, when I got Knight Speed and Master Two-Weapon Fighting, it started feeling better. By that point, I had enough Force Power buffs, along with my initial CON bumps, to either absorb or shrug off a fair amount of damage. My own damage output was low, but steady and dependable. Fights tended to be long but I was rarely in danger of dying.
- I did turn down difficulty from Normal to Easy for the first two Handmaiden fights (the no buffs or powers fights) because this build just wasn't designed for unbuffed melee. I did the rest of the fights on Normal, though.
- Getting Master Rapid Shot at level 15 and Weapon Master at level 16 noticibly improved my character. Things got a lot easier.
- Shortly after that, I crafted the best possible blaster upgrades (thanks Bao-Dur!) and the build felt completely overpowered. I have Mira similarly upgraded blasters, and she also had Master Rapid Shot by then. Stuff was falling so fast that I hardly ever took time to buff.
- The final fight was pretty easy. I had two levels saved, that I used for full health bars. But if I hadn't, I could have used Life Support Packs or Master Heal and been fine. I didn't have to do any kiting or line-of-sight breaking or any of the other tricks I've done with some other builds. I just stood there and shot.
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Planet order for this playthrough:
  1. Nar Shadaa (get Mira as fast as possible. Get GO-TO as well. Visas may show up)
  2. Dantooine, just through Jedi Enclave (get Disciple)
  3. Duxn/Onderon (get Mandalore)
  4. Finish Dantooine
  5. Korriban