Just finished KotOR for the first time...

[CorporalClegg]

P.S. I don't know how anyone else feels about this, but I have to say I *hate* The Disciple. I mean bloody hell, I used to think Kaiden and Carth were dull, but this guy makes dishwater look like a veritable kaleidoscope of colour!

I totally agree. I've always hated him.

Not only is he a total bore, but his story is totally irrelevant to anything whereas Handmaiden's is actually tied to one of the main sub-plots.

Not only that, his build design his a joke and is the worst possible combination. He's a total liability.

And this has now all be exacerbated since the hero has been canonized as a woman. So now you're supposed to use him.

In any case, yes, there is (or was) a mod you could install the made it so you'd always get Handmaiden. It was kind of buggy and I don't even know if you could still find it at his point.

 

[Mr_Homn]

I liked KOTOR a lot when it first came out, but ever since Mass Effect came out I lost interest. Plus for some reason KOTOR 2 bored me to hell and I stopped playing midway through the game when it first came out.

I'm also pretty sick of the star wars universe these days, and that's a big reason why too.

 

[Itisnotlogical]

P.S. I don't know how anyone else feels about this, but I have to say I *hate* The Disciple. I mean bloody hell, I used to think Kaiden and Carth were dull, but this guy makes dishwater look like a veritable kaleidoscope of colour!

I totally agree. I've always hated him.

Not only is he a total bore, but his story is totally irrelevant to anything whereas Handmaiden's is actually tied to one of the main sub-plots.

Not only that, his build design his a joke and is the worst possible combination. He's a total liability.

I remember when I first found him and realized that he was supposed to join my party, I hoped that I'd done something wrong and went back to... Telos? (can't remember the planet's name) to try and grab Handmaiden again. It was so frustrating to look at the party select screen and say "Well, I'm stuck with this guy"

 

[Owain Taggart]

I will say though that the locations we do get as a little disappointing, especially compared to KotOR 1. While it's nice that the maps have terrain that isn't totally *flat* as it was in KotOR, there's just too many caves and metal corridors for my liking. I've yet to recapture the feeling I got when I first stepped out onto the Dune Sea. That "now *this* is what a Star Wars game should look like" feeling.

It's been so long since I've played it, but maybe I should give it a shot again now that the mod's released. I certainly don't remember the more varied terrain, but I think my favourite location was Dxun. It was one of the more unique locations in the game and felt like they'd put the most effort into that location.

Anyone got a link to the mod? I looked at the site for the Restoration project, but that hadn't been updated in forever the last time I looked.

 

[Reverend]

In any case, yes, there is (or was) a mod you could install the made it so you'd always get Handmaiden. It was kind of buggy and I don't even know if you could still find it at his point.

I'll have to have a look around and see what I can find. I did spot one that I thought was right, but there was no description to speak of and a bunch of comments saying it didn't work. I wonder if it might be easier to just use a save editor?

I remember when I first found him and realized that he was supposed to join my party, I hoped that I'd done something wrong and went back to... Telos? (can't remember the planet's name) to try and grab Handmaiden again. It was so frustrating to look at the party select screen and say "Well, I'm stuck with this guy"

I had a similar experience. I kept wandering around the hidden academy talking to all the handmaidens, thinking I'd missed something. How hard could it be to mod I wonder? I don't recall any of the characters ever referring to the PC's gender and even if they did, I'd gladly accept the off pronoun slip in exchange for the Handmaiden.

It's been so long since I've played it, but maybe I should give it a shot again now that the mod's released. I certainly don't remember the more varied terrain, but I think my favourite location was Dxun. It was one of the more unique locations in the game and felt like they'd put the most effort into that location.

Anyone got a link to the mod? I looked at the site for the Restoration project, but that hadn't been updated in forever the last time I looked.

This is probably where you want to go.

 

[firehawk12]

The gender of Disciple/Handmaiden matters insomuch as it ties into how they react to Atton/Visas later on. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to suggest that they were going for love triangles there and that, back then anyway, I don't think gay characters in Star Wars was a possibility.

I remember there was a mod to make Handmaiden recruitable for female PCs, but I figure that must break the Restoration mod.

 

[Itisnotlogical]

The gender of Disciple/Handmaiden matters insomuch as it ties into how they react to Atton/Visas later on. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to suggest that they were going for love triangles there and that, back then anyway, I don't think gay characters in Star Wars was a possibility.

I remember there was a mod to make Handmaiden recruitable for female PCs, but I figure that must break the Restoration mod.

Juhani, an optional character from the original game, was originally going to be lesbian but Lucasarts said "nuh-uh" IIRC.

 

[PsychoPere]

Juhani was a lesbian. She simply didn't have a "full" romance like Bastila or Carth.

 

[Reverend]

^There was still a semblance of it left. As in one or two lines of dialogue right after you chase a fallen Bastila off the Rakata temple roof. I may be wrong but I think a lot of her dialogue was cut. I noticed that in the scene on the Ebon Hawk, just after the revelation that you're really Revan, every companion chimes in with thair view on the matter...everyone except Juhan.

Speaking of in-game romance, is there any worth noting in KotOR 2? I'm playing as a female (obviously) and so far the only possible candidate I've noticed that would even make sense is that ex-Sith trooper/smuggler bloke. Though so far I haven noticed any romance dialogue options. I suppose the blind Sith girl (I forget her name) could be a possibility, but her dialogue tree just goes in circles and I think I've maxed out her approval already.

I don't think Mira is an option given her personality...that plus the fact that she's pretty much a fan service character already, anything else would be overkill. I mean a hot female Mandalorian bounty hunter turned Jedi?! Add bisexual and/or being a Twi'lek to that and the fanboys might just do themselves an injury.

 

[firehawk12]

Female gets Atton or Disciple (one of which is depicted in my avatar, which I guess I haven't changed in 6 years or whenever KoTOR2 was the new thing :lol).

Male gets Visas or Handmaiden.

And, there's a big hint of Juhani's relationship with another Jedi if you decide to go dark side and... not recruit her into your party. Another female Jedi confronts you about that decision.

 

[Geckothan]

KoTOR is so much fun as darkside caster (my favourite build is 5/15 scout/consular - you guys know about the awesomeness of level saving, right?), especially once you're developed enough to just AoE everything and cause lots of chaos!

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

KoTOR is so much fun as darkside caster (my favourite build is 5/15 scout/consular - you guys know about the awesomeness of level saving, right?), especially once you're developed enough to just AoE everything and cause lots of chaos!

Yes, i always try to level only the absolute minimum to get off Taris, some missions are a bit difficult to do that way, though... beating Starkiller for example can be near impossible if you save too much.

 

[Reverend]

I did try that, but I was struggling at Lv5 and had to level up to 7 to get off of Taris. I did at least choose my feats and stats with the expectation of building a strong, single lightsabre wielding guardian. On my first attempted playthrough (well, the first one that got off Taris) I had no idea my character would become a Jedi so I built her to be a heavy weapons & armour specialist. Totally hobbled my character when she got to Dantooine.

I might try level saving at '5' again if I decide to do a dark side playthrough.

 

[Geckothan]

KoTOR is so much fun as darkside caster (my favourite build is 5/15 scout/consular - you guys know about the awesomeness of level saving, right?), especially once you're developed enough to just AoE everything and cause lots of chaos!

Yes, i always try to level only the absolute minimum to get off Taris, some missions are a bit difficult to do that way, though... beating Starkiller for example can be near impossible if you save too much.

It's always possible to beat him even with incredibly gimped characters if you use lots of buffs/energy shields and just kite him around with grenades, though it might take a few attempts.

 

[CorporalClegg]

^
All it takes is four plasma grenades (even on difficult) as long as he doesn't save on more than two of them. With the best armor upgraded and best shield, you can just strafe left and right and spam the grenades for an easy kill.

Honestly, I think the Governor is the hardest part of a Level 2 run, especially with a Scoundrel. Yikes!

 

[Reverend]

I think I've finally encountered a game breaking bug in Kotor2. I'm at the part where you clear all the sith out of the Telos station, Mandalore turns up, asks if I'm ready then a pre-rendered cutscene of Republic ships arriving plays then...a black screen. If I save and reload then I'm right back where I was, but I can't go anywhere. Mandalore is still there, but talking to him again just brings up the usual conversation tree and there's no way to use the exit he's standing next to.

The bugger of it is that the last save before I got to this area is all the way back in the HK factory (don't know why the bothered restoring that as it's a bloody tedious slog!)

 

[Reverend]

OK, so I reloaded and played through from the HK factory onwards, got to the same point and the same thing happens...bugger. Don't know what I've broken but I've done some googling and can't find anyone else with the same issue, so it must be something I've done. Oh well, looks like I won't get to see Kotor 2's famously disappointing ending after all.

 

[Camren]

OK, so I reloaded and played through from the HK factory onwards, got to the same point and the same thing happens...bugger. Don't know what I've broken but I've done some googling and can't find anyone else with the same issue, so it must be something I've done. Oh well, looks like I won't get to see Kotor 2's famously disappointing ending after all.

You're not missing much. Kreia has some interesting info to reveal towards the end but beyond that it's entirely forgettable.

 

[Reverend]

^That was kind of what I was looking forward to though. I've just started reading the Revan novel (my first SW book in a decade!) and it's getting to the bit where they're talking about the Exile, so I wanted to be caught up.

Not to worry though, I'm sure I can find an LP on youtube and see what I've missed.


Side note: By an astonishing coincidence, I appear to have picked the canon gender and appearance, which is a first for me!

 

[Camren]

^That was kind of what I was looking forward to though. I've just started reading the Revan novel (my first SW book in a decade!) and it's getting to the bit where they're talking about the Exile, so I wanted to be caught up.

Not to worry though, I'm sure I can find an LP on youtube and see what I've missed.


Side note: By an astonishing coincidence, I appear to have picked the canon gender and appearance, which is a first for me!

If you didn't get to it, there's also the "explanation" from all the Jedi Masters that you rescued (if you didn't kill them all) which reveals information about the protagonist. I found it to be somewhat nonsensical but I suppose it was another landmark moment in the game.