Class Combinations & Stat Distribution Basics

I'd like to start out by saying I'm not a hardcore guide maker - it might not be pretty. Also, the information is a combination of personal experience, hours of googling and scowering random websites and sifting through flamewars, and restarting the game multiple times testing stuff due to my altoholic nature. I love making characters in any game, probably more than actually playing. Any math data is pulled from various forums, and I try to go with the most popular ideas.

At the start of the game, you are given 3 class options, and later on in the game 3 Jedi class options.
- Any class from the start can pick any Jedi class.
- You must pick a Jedi class to advance past a certain point in the game.
- Any combination is valid, each with its own benefits.

Basic classes:

Soldier - Focuses on combat and feats.
Scout - A balance between feats, skills and combat.
Scoundrel - Focuses on skills, relies on stealth, allies, or environment to defeat enemies.

Jedi classes:

Guardian - A tanky warrior who takes the lead in combat.
Sentinel - A balance between defense and force powers.
Consular - A force powerhouse who pumps out abilities.

Probably what you're here for - how to distribute your initial points, points while leveling, level saving, etc.
Remember, almost anything is viable, though some combinations may prove more difficult.

I could copy tens of pages of "why", but here's basically what you should do.

1. Pick a playstyle, and thus a main stat:
   - Strength: If you plan on using a lightsaber/melee a lot.
   - Dexterity: If you want a lot of defense AND/OR plan on using ranged weapons a lot.
2. Decide whether or not you want to focus on skills or feats:
   - Skills are things like hacking, repair, demolitions, persuasion.. the things that open up dialogue and fun stuff.
   - Feats are things like abilities, proficiencies, and talents... the things that make you a badass.
   - A balance is usually best if you know a lot about the game, and use allies to your advantage.
   - Soldiers get the most feats, Scoundrels get the most skills, Scouts get a balance.
   - Remember you can use allies to do things like hacking and healing, though it may not be convenient to be stuck with a droid all the time if you want things hacked, etc.
   - You can't have it all without cheating!
3. Decide if force powers are extremely important to you:
   - The Wisdom and Charisma stats affect your casting abilities.
   - Wisdom is the primary stat, giving more force points and basically making your powers stronger.
   - Charisma does affect your powers, similar to Wisdom, but not as much. It does however affect your chance to be successful at Persuasion in dialogue!
   - Later in the game you can Jedi mind trick people, and the Charisma stat is less useful, IF you invest in the power! A smooth talker can spend his powers elsewhere.
   - You have options!
4. Save levels!
   - Everyone's opinion varies throughout KOTOR forums, but the general idea is that you should stop leveling up anywhere from 5-7, then once you become a Jedi, level up all at once.
   Depending on your class, and if you want more force powers or not, is what determines the best level to stop, and as far as I can tell, if you're not going for ABSOLUTE PERFECTION, then it's really not important. I've found 5 to be the lowest I could stop while still being able to finish Taris, and possibly complete all the bonus stuff like defeating Bendak Starkiller. This also gets me more force powers, which is fun, though I lose out on certain class Feats that are gained automatically at certain levels, since I'd switch to a Jedi class before reaching them.
   - Overall, level saving is generally effective, and hitting level 9-10 on Taris as a beginner class will make the rest of the game harder.
5. And finally, a general guideline for distributing stats at the start:

Put 15 points into your primary stat, Str, Dex, or Wis (for casters).
Put 14 points into two or three secondary stats, Str, Dex, Con, Wis.
Put 10-12 points in Int, Con, Cha.
It does cost you 2 points to go from 14 to 15, which is why you should only do this for your primary stat, and going to 16 costs you another 2, which isn't worth it.
You get a total of 5 more of these primary attribute points as you level up, which are best spent dumped into your primary stat. Most guides online will show something like:
15 + 5
14
14
10
14
10
.. And the +5 is from leveling up throughout the entirety of the game.

6. As far as WHICH skills and feats, that's entirely up to your playstyle and I'm not covering advantages/disadvantages of those in this guide. There are however, plenty of them out there that show, for example, how many points of repair are needed to fully upgrade HK47 (a hot topic), or whether dual wielding is more effective than single wielding, flurry vs power attack, etc. Use the google machine for that stuff.

Unfortunately, the game semi-restricts your role capabilities depending on these initial choices - for example taking only 12 points in Str and 8 in Con will make it near impossible to be a melee character, as you'll die rather quickly and do little melee damage. If you really want the game to go smoothly and not break your keyboard every time you get into a boss fight, you'll want to plan ahead in KOTOR. But also remember, you have options- you can use allies to tank, and sit in the back with a blaster, pump yourself full of stims, or kill enemies in ways other than combat, or even with stealth (though the stealth is pretty ineffective and slow in KOTOR).

Scout/Guardian

I start as a Scout:
STR: 15 + 3
DEX: 14 + 2
CON: 12
INT: 12
WIS: 13
CHA: 11

This gets me a decent balance of skills, feats, and force powers, while I focus on melee combat. I like to do a bit of everything, and obviously lead the charge, so I build strong and semi-healthy, usually with a teammate who healbots, like Bastila (though I hate her guts).

Skills: Computers, Repair, Persuasion
Computers and Repair because they're class skills, and I like to hack computers and make disabled droids do my bidding and help thin out enemies. Persuasion, while not a class skill and thusly more costly to level up, is amazing. It makes the dialogue that much better, which can net not only creds but some funny and well, awesome moments.

Feats: Dual wielding, Flurry, Toughness, Conditioning, Jedi Defense
Two sabers looks cool, I think from a numbers perspective they have higher burst potential but less DPS, I personally don't care. LOOKS COOL, STUFF DIES. I have allies and powers to fill in the gaps. The defensive stats because I hate reloading, and love ranged teammates so I need to tank. HK and Bastila is my usual posse. Amusing HK and pissing Bastila off simultaneously makes me giggle.

Powers: Insanity, Lightning, Kill, Drain Health, Throw Saber
AoE, AoE, AoE. I can beat someone to death, but only one person at a time. Being able to mass CC with Insanity, clear those waves of weakling droids with Lightning, jump into a group and full heal with Death Field, or dish out some ranged damage with Throw.. it's just, nice versatility.

Darkside: I always end up dark side, every playthrough. I like the abilities, and I like the credits. Plus, most of the NPCs in KOTOR just seem to aggravate the hell out of me, and deserve to meet a horrible end, after I've squeezed the last bit of usefullness from them.

Thanks for possibly reading, hope I helped a bit with this old ass game and its confusing PnP system. Enjoy!