For obvious reasons, modding the game locks out the ability to gain achievements and installing modifications then uninstalling modifications for achievement purposes requires a refreshed game installation (or at least it did the last time I had mods installed).

I, personally, would highly recommend playing the game vanilla and un-modded first, before installing mods on later play-throughs. Not only would it be really cool to see more of the community earn the game achievements, but the vanilla gaming experience is still worth the time and effort. It helps illuminate some of the buggier content and makes the player more appreciative of the hard work that the KOTOR modding community does.

An absolutely massive thank you to the KOTOR modding community, it is thanks to everyone that this game is still alive and beloved to this day.

First and foremost, nothing in this guide is a "this is how the game is meant to be played"; it is simply a compilation of information that I assembled regarding what it takes to navigate the entire game with fluidity, rather than compromising over early game choices.

Second, this is also not a companion guide and nothing in this guide is actually related to how anyone should influence the companion characters. While there are some comments regarding companion influence, these comments are meant in a more global sense than anything definitive.

Third, I am only human, get information wrong all the time, which I care very little about and did not spend my time dredging the internet for copy & pasted materials. Instead, I wrote an all original piece of work based on my own personal observations and experience with the game.

If you get through this guide and decide it's necessary to initiate a semantic debate in the comments, go have a hard look in the nearest mirror at the two tiny black dots that are equidistant from each other on your face and deeply consider your life and the choices you make and how unhappy you are with them. Then, go find something else better to do with your life and maybe feel a little better inside.

The goal of this guide is to help players, new or old, learn about key game concepts that are important to take into consideration before even starting the game. If careful consideration isn't put into the character creation screen, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2, can be very punishing. While there are some details that can be ironed out, there are other's that quite definitively cannot. This means that if the player is not careful, they can potentially lock themselves out of finishing a play-through at various stages of the game, which is one of the many lessons learned through over a decade worth of play experience.

Try using T3-M4 or G0T0 to complete the final companion level, it just doesn't work...

Important and Key Factors to note from the very beginning are:

Limited Experience Point (XP) Pool

There are certain aspects of the game that need to be accounted for such as, the fact that the available pool of XP is both finite, and continuously limited in that for every increase in player level, the availability of certain XP pools begins to decrease. The most pertinent example being the XP given by defeated enemies, which continuously decreases as the player gains levels. - an XP guide is in the works.

However and very fortunately, the limited XP situation can be manipulated and gamed in several ways. An example of this is the ability to actively change the difficulty level when passing skill checks, opening the in-game menu and increasing the difficulty will increase the difficulty of the skill check and therefore the number of XP gained from completing the interaction, afterward the menu can then be re-opened and the difficulty turned back down. While this is a small gain, for example the difference between +50 and +75 XP Lock-picking Security check can over time make a significant difference.

(This may actually be based on information for KOTOR 1 and not KOTOR 2, I no longer remember)
Another example would be the one and only group of enemies that re-spawn and allow the player to indefinitely farm them for items and therefore credits, as well as a continually diminishing pool of XP. This group of enemies is the group of Wraid's found on Tatooine around the sand crawler. If you play the game vanilla with no mods, there will always be Wraids to farm. Pro tip, don't sell any items until you can fly to different planets, go to Tattooine farm wraids and win all the Race Vouchers from the local speed racers. Travel to Yavin 4 and only sell items to the merchant there, you should be able to sell then buy back certain items like the Race tickets infinitely for credits.

Lastly, there is mine field farming, collect mines, plant a few of them at the edge of a map boundary, proceed through to the next map then turn around to collect the mines and yield some small bounty of XP, rinse and repeat this trick near level ups to push characters to the next level instead of using the XP found in the level to do so. Do not plant too many, they will disappear while passing between map boundaries and be lost for recovery.

Play-Style is everything

Dedicate some time before creating a character to deciding on how you want to approach the game, this is because while there are many different play-styles available, it's best to maximize the players approach to whatever particular strengths they wish to have and to make sure those strengths are co-aligned with some of the more restrictive game physics. Some of these restrictions will be discussed in greater detail later, but the most pertinent example is also the next key point.

This cannot be worked around, if you build your character incorrectly, you can and will find that progressing through the mid to late story is incredibly difficult, if not altogether impossible. This also applies to the additional party members, one time I was stuck with an ill built G0-T0 on the final level where you have to fight the really strong Razghoul things and another was using Baodur, except he was passed out and I had to fly around using his Remote Droid to activate the computer panels before Bao-dur woke up.

The Light Side and Dark Side of the Force Require Different Play-Styles

Whichever side of the Force you choose to play on, definitively defines the approach the player must take in developing their character. While this may seem relatively obvious, there are certain subtleties to each side of the Force that if not carefully considered, can make or break the character. By in large, this is perhaps the most restricting set of game physics that needs to be considered before finalizing a character build.

Simply put Light side characters can pretty much do whatever they want, Dark side characters however must be entirely oriented to a Strength build with heavy armor and no access to the Force or entirely oriented to overwhelming their opponents with sheer will through Wisdom and Charisma multipliers alone.

Before proceeding with any character creation decisions, carefully contemplate which side of the Force the player shall choose to walk, because this decision has significant consequences later on.

Before going into the discussion of Light vs Dark, it is very highly recommend to pick one or the other and not diversifying paths or attempting to be a "Grey Jedi". It's not that it can't be done, it is that too much Force utility can be a very bad thing during the end game, and that playing as a "Grey Jedi" requires even more thought and pre-planning then a specialized Jedi. There is a trait that can be taken which increases the benefit of neutrality and a robe and crystal that can be equipped, but it means that every social action and reaction has to maintain an absolute balance between good and evil otherwise the benefit of the traits and passives are lost.

Simply put, attempting to maintain this balance takes even more forethought and pre-planning, or at least a willingness to pay absolute attention to the play-through than I have ever been willing to deal with. This may be an amazing path to walk since the core of the game interactions with Kreia are centered around the subject, it is simply something that I haven't explored due to seeing it as more effort than it is worth.

Light vs. Dark

The most critical factor to take into account when considering the choice of a Light side or Dark side character, is that the decision isn't about the specific side or the type of action choices, it is about the decision to buff or to de-buff.

Light Side = Buffs
Dark Side = De-buffs

Buffs = "Free" Stats at the cost of Force Points (FP)
De-buffs = Require overcoming opponent DC checks in order to apply and sustain the de-buff at the cost of FP

Light Side = Force Heal at the cost of FP, the cost minimizes with alignment increases while the potency increases
Dark Side = Life Drain, must successfully roll against opponent DC checks in order to maximize healing potential, unsuccessful rolls yield low potency healing at a high FP cost

What these simple facts mean is that there is a wider range of versatility in choosing a character who specializes in an alignment with the Light side of the force compared to a Dark side character, simply because a Dark side character Must Be Built to specialize in overcoming Wisdom and Constitution saves or they Must Be Built into an unstoppable melee tank with little or no utilization of the Force.

While players can purchase Force powers across the different classes and simply suffer at the cost of the misaligned power, it is better to specialize in one specific side of the force and to simply maximize the chosen alignment in order to maximize the potency and minimize the costs of the related force powers. A maximized Light Side Jedi can use Master Valor for free to actively restore health and regain FP simply by casting Master Valor because of how strong the attribute buffs are. This is because Master Valor adds an additional % of points to the overall health and Force point pools and when it is casted at maximum strength, the refreshed buff will restore that % of points to the player, which equates to an essentially free heal and if the power is used when the players pool of Force Points is empty, the power will actually generate a new pool of Force Points equal to the % given by the attribute buff.

Conversely, a character who maximizes the Dark Side and tries to use Master Valor, will gain a buff, however it is not as as strong, lasts for a shorter period and costs significantly more Force Points, so it is no longer free and costing the player.

This means that:

Light Side = Player choice through role versatility due to the ability to freely buff the character and party at the cost of FP, which at the highest levels is either significantly reduced or refunded in some cases.

Dark Side = Restrictive in that the player must build a pure tank or a pure Force caster in order to defend against buffed characters and/or to be able to de-buff their opponent.

Hanharr or Mira?

Aside from the players main set of decisions when it comes to which path of the Force to choose, the second factor to take into consideration would be: which playable character would the player like to collect, Hanharr or Mira?

Light Side = Mira, a rogue whose main weapon of choice is a blaster and her wrist rockets, however she can be very easily converted into a Jedi by exposing her to random acts of kindness and then walking around Narshada.

(Despite being "blaster-oriented", Mira actually builds nicely into a melee role for Jedi conversion)

Dark Side = Hanharr, a Wookie whose main weapon of choice is a set of melee vibro-blades. Unable to become a Jedi, however they are equipped with a special ability that increases their combat effectiveness.

Depending on the depth of the main characters alignment at a specific point, this will cause either Mira or Hanharr to become collectible. Mira is collected through having a well of Light Side points when arriving on Nar Shada and proceeding through the Docks, Hanharr is vice versa. They can each be collected and later converted to either the Light or the Dark side depending on the players actions, but the main point is that the player's alignment affects who spawns where and when and should be taken into consideration.

A Note on Korriban Mid-Game
There is the hidden entrance located at the back of the Shryak Cavern on Korriban which can be used to boost the players Force Alignment in one direction or to flip-flop in the other. It's highly suggested to use the boost to maximize whichever alignment the player has chosen to walk, however it can also be used for those who wish to walk one path of the Force, then the other for whatever reason.

One example of how to tactically use the cave using the previous comment would be starting the first half of the game on the Light Side to collect Mira, then using the cave to reverse to the Dark Side in order to corrupt Mira, or vice-versa for Hanharr who can be semi-converted to the light side.

This same tactic would apply to any or all of the companion characters. Start the game on the Light Side to build positive influence points, then use the cave to convert to the Dark Side in order to more easily convert the companion characters into Sith rather than Jedi through the influence of the main character without needing to perform wanton acts of destruction or negatively affecting the companion influence scores.

The player character should always be optimized for some mixture of the three, with one particular strength and one particular weakness. To be weak in any two areas is to spell disaster for the later phases.

A Side Note on Gender Selection and the Subsequent Party Members

Unfortunately, there is an ironic sense of sexism to the game, in that choosing a male player character is actually the most beneficial over choosing a female player character and here is why:

Choosing a male player character unlocks the Handmaiden, sparring with the Handmaiden gives you a passive ability called Echani Defense which adds the Wisdom modifier to the attack or defense score.

Choosing a female player character unlocks the Disciple, and unfortunately due to bugged gaming content, getting friendly with him yields no additional passive skills other than an dialogue revealing an inclination towards Echani training with no further results.

Therefore, the true choice isn't whether to be male or female, it's a decision to forego a passive ability that is essential to Force Casters and incredibly helpful to all of the different play-styles, because it turns an inclination to use the Force into directly sharpening the players combative strength.

This means that:

Male Characters - Better Force Casters, due to the aforementioned passive
Female Characters - Better Melee characters, due to the lack of said passive

Attributes:

Strength - Effects chance to hit and the range of melee damage dealt
Dexterity - Effects chance to hit with ranged weapons, as well as the ability to dodge ranged and melee attacks
Constitution - Effects the amount of HP gained during Level Up, as well as Fortitude DC checks

It is highly recommended to raise this stat to at least 14 during the player creation stage and then to invest 2 more points, raising the total to 16 as early as possible for the greatest health gains and to open access to top tier implants

Intelligence - Effects the number of additional Skill points awarded during Level Up

Raising the attribute to 14 is enough for an overwhelming number of Skill Points on all classes except the Sentinel, if they would like to maximize skills, a minimum of 16 is required

Wisdom - Effects the number of Force Points awarded during Level up, and effects Will DC checks
Charisma - Effects Force potency, provides bonus to Persuasion and affects party members chance to hit

Effects Force potency is key here because this skill raises the effectiveness of Force Powers i.e. better Force Heals, stronger and harder to resist Life Drains, longer Stasis Fields, more deadly Force Chokes

Melee Play-Style

Choosing a brute strength, high constitution approach is one of the only ways a player can truly survive in the end. If the best defense is a good offense, then creating a character built to be an unstoppable offensive machine is perhaps the best defense. This play-style is best suited for: Guardians and Sentinels.

A melee Play-Style requires investments into:

Strength - High Strength means the highest possible chances to hit with the strongest possible damage

Dexterity - Low Dexterity is required in order to be provide a moderate defense or even no Dexterity since the player will likely be wearing Force Restrictive armor

Constitution - High Constitution allows for the equipping of implants and provides additional HP at level up

Intelligence - Low Intelligence is required on Melee characters unless the player wants some brains to go with the brawn

Wisdom - Medium Wisdom gives the player at least of a chance of defending against force powers and adds additional chance to hit, if Echani Defense is taken. It is very important to take this over Dexterity because the player will require Wisdom to defend against Force based DC checks, due to the fact that this will be their greatest weakness

Ranged Play-Style

Since the player starts out as a Force wielding Jedi from the very beginning, there is relatively little to no use for a player build dedicated to using ranged weapons. This role is mainly dedicated to the droids. The reason for not dedicating the player or even the playable characters to the use of ranged weapons is mainly due to the increased concentration of Dark Jedi that spawn in KOTOR II, which makes light-saber dueling essential. However, it doesn't mean that it isn't possible and my best recommendation would be to create a ranged character that is a utilitarian who attempts to utilize the best of everything. I've found this role to be best attempted with the Light Side and near impossible using the Dark side of the Force. This play-style is best suited for Jedi Sentinel.

A Ranged Play-Style requires investment into:

Strength - Low Strength is compensated for by investing in the feat that adds the Dexterity score to chance to hit if it is higher than Strength

Dexterity - High Dexterity is required to hit things with blasters, as well as providing a higher dodge rate, taking the aforementioned combat proficiency also turns having a high defense into additional offensive melee capabilities

Constitution - Medium Constitution is required in order to equip implants and have a deep enough HP pool to survive

Intelligence - Medium Intelligence is required in order to afford investments into sneak and demolition skill, to land Critical attacks and set up mine ambushes, these are essentials to this type of build.

Sneak up, lay a minefield, fish for an enemy using a critical attack with a blaster, run away preferably around a corner and let the mines do all the hard work, clean up with a melee weapon.

Wisdom - Medium Wisdom allows the player a pool to draw FP from and adds to chance to attack if Echani Defense is taken

Charisma - High Charisma is necessary to make the most out of what little Force points the player will have access to depending on the level of investment into Wisdom, as well as increasing the overall party effectiveness

Force Caster Play-Style

This play-style has the most synergy with the Dark side of the Force, due to the fact that Dark side Force users have to have tremendous amounts of Wisdom and Charisma in order to counter their opponents defense rolls. While a decent investment into Constitution and Dexterity are also necessary, if a dedicated Force Caster cannot roll past their opponents DC checks, they will be doomed. This is perhaps one of the most difficult play-styles to try beating the game with, I know that I've always had an incredibly tough time, due to my underestimating how much Wisdom is actually enough and attempting to re-invest in combat skills to compensate. This play-style is best suited for the Jedi Consular.

A Force Caster Play-Style Requires investment into:

Strength - Low Strength, in fact almost no strength is necessary, definitely enough to make it +0 or +1 maybe

Dexterity - Medium to high investments in Dexterity are required in order to compensate for no strength by making a moderate investment and taking the feat that adds the Dexterity score to the chance to hit instead of Strength

Constitution - Moderate to high investment into Constitution up to 16 will be required in order to have a deep enough health pool to survive boss dueling

Intelligence - Low to medium investment in intelligence

Wisdom - High wisdom is absolutely necessary, and then every possible buff should be taken to further it and the rest of the stats. Echani Defense is required in order to survive and land hits during combat

Charisma - Moderate to high investments into charisma since charisma increases the potency of force powers, decreases the cost of spending both aligned and mis-aligned powers and increases your allies chance to hit, whom you shall deeply rely on in order to survive

This topic is a subject that is highly debated, however, regardless of the chosen play-style, something must occupy the characters hand(s). If something is not occupying a hand, then it should, unless the character is specializing in one-handed weapons, otherwise space and precious modification slots are being wasted.

There is one sole exception to this rule, and that exception is Bao-Dur. In order to have access to his Shield-Breaker attack, Bao-Dur must be left unarmed and this is not a disadvantage. From the very beginning an unarmed Bao-Dur is an almost unstoppable killing machine, if it weren't for the fact that at this point he can't deflect blaster bolts with his hands and has low HP. When thinking unarmed, think Monk class, and it is actually a feasible and viable combat alternative on the right characters, even the player. The Handmaiden is one who also benefits greatly when used in this way due to her unique Echani Training skills.

One-Handing Weapons and the Duel Circles
The only reason to make player characters who are one-handed specialists is so that they can successfully compete in the unarmed duel circles. This is because the same feats that add to the character attack and defense while wielding a weapon in one hand, also apply while unarmed. Other than that, the cost of this highly specialized development is the additional crystal and part modification slots that are lost in locking up the free hand. Classically, only high strength and constitution builds with moderate dexterity should be the ones to attempt the duel circle, since the first one at the end of Telios is very difficult to beat otherwise and also requires Improved Power Attack. Improved power attack and high strength are required to enable the player a chance at knocking their opponent(s) out of the dual ring and the constitution for the health pool to survive the rain of blows from the multiple opponent rounds.

One-Handing Weapons In General
One handed specialization is suited to either strength or dexterity builds and primarily best suited for the Jedi Guardian and Consular. This is because of the bonus modifiers from the previously mentioned skills are required to maximize their defensive capabilities in single combat and the additional skill that uses Dexterity in place of Strength, can be used to play a character with boosted Dexterity and no Strength the same as a character with boosted Strength and Dexterity.

Dual Wielding and Strength Builds in the Duel Circle
Typically, the only play-style that will be successful as both a Dual Wield Specialist and Duel Ring combatant, is one in which they can rely on a very high strength stat to get through the unarmed fights in the Duel Rings. This is because for each feat that adds +1,+2,+3 to attack and defense while unarmed is the same as having Strength and Dexterity scores of 20, which is roughly 8-12 attribute points, while the other option costs three feats.

Dual Wielding in General
Dual wielding is best suited for dexterity based Guardian or Sentinel builds, the strongest attack roll possible is one involving a Jedi using the trait that substitutes Dexterity for Strength scores, a main light saber, a balanced light saber, appropriate crystals, the influence of Master Speed and Valor who is attacking using Master Flurry who will potentially hit for a total of six attacks with a damage potential of 40+ per hit depending on the crystal and equipment buffs. This is roughly 240+ in a single attack round which will one-shot most enemies.

The greatest upside to dual wielding would be the additional +5 modification slots that are gained by holding a balanced short saber in the off-hand. Alternatively, high dexterity characters benefit from wielding a Double-Bladed Lightsaber and using Master Flurry, with a Master Force Speed buff for multiple additional attacks in "one" attack round. Double-Bladed weapons lose the benefit of additional modifications at the benefit of generally higher damage and chance to hit ratios.

While filling 10 modification slots with prime upgrades may seem somewhat daunting, the other benefit to playing as a male character and taking the Handmaiden, is that there is a bug in the game that allows the player to generate an infinite amount of Handmaiden Robes which can then be broken down for 250+ components at the work bench, meaning that they can be harvest to make the best modification parts available to the player.

Just go talk to her, ask her to dis-robe and then ask her to re-robe, open the equipment screen and remove the newly added robe, rinse and repeat this cycle for the free Handmaiden Robes and convert them into the necessary parts. Alternatively, while she is dis-robed, leaving the ship and adding her to the party will also equip her with robe, which can then be removed and the process repeated.

The only true purpose in using a blaster for the player is as a secondary side arm, and even then only those with at least moderate investments into Dexterity will do more than a small amount of damage.

Other than the playable robots, nobody uses blasters. Hanharr and Mandelore, who are the only ones who don't get Force powers or the ability to wield a lightsaber, are better off with a vibro-blade anyways, the best player usage for a blaster is for sneak attacks.

Characters invested in Dexterity and Intelligence, will benefit the most from purchasing the Critical Strike feats and these can be used in combination with Sneaking to score guaranteed long range critical strikes on enemies. In the case of the Sentinel, the attack type is already unlocked with no feat cost, except improvement. In other words blasters aren't meant for much more than use as point-and-click fishing poles and serve no other purpose other than as a one time attack meant to provoke the enemy into chasing after the player into a carefully planned trap.

The only characters to really benefit from an investment into blasters are specifically the droids because these are the only weapons that they can equip. Even Mandalore and Hanharr benefit more by specializing in melee combat over ranged combat. Just take a look at their starting attribute stats once they join the party, the 'choice' should become readily apparent since they only gain from investments into strength and melee combat, whereas they will begin to lose their edge investing towards ranged combat.

The assassin droid HK does unlock an ability that allows it to wield melee weapons, however there are no additional benefits or combat feats to be taken, so he overall gains more from a heavy gatling blaster than trying to invest into strength for a melee based assassin droid.

When investing points into dexterity for for Mira or Atton, simply plan to convert them into Jedi/Sith and then get the feat which adds their dexterity score to their chance to attack.

The three available starting classes are the:

Guardian: Melee combat inclined, more HP and combat feats, fewer force powers and FP
Preferred Attack: Power Attack = + damage, - chance to hit
(Game Difficulty - Easy)

Sentinel: Greatest utility through getting the best of both worlds, average HP, feats, force powers, and FP
Preferred Attack: Flurry and/or Critical Strike = + extra attack round, - defense and/or +damage on successful sneak attack
(Game Difficulty - Average)

Consular: Inclined towards Force Casting, greatest number of force powers and highest FP gain,
lowest number of combat feats and smallest HP gain.
Preferred Attack: Basic or Normal Attack = No attack buff or debuff
(Game Difficulty - Hard)

The Prestige classes are based on the players Force Alignment and become available at Level 15, they are:

Jedi Weapon-Master / Sith Marauder - Melee combat oriented, most feats & HP, fewest Force Powers & FP

Jedi Watchman / Sith Assassin - Utility Oriented, continued average gains between feats, HP, Force Powers and FP

Jedi Master / Sith Lord - Force Casting Oriented, highest FP and Force Power gains, lowest HP and feat gains

The class chosen should dictate the players play style in that a Consular shouldn't be selected and then built into a strength based melee dedicated character. While it's not impossible, building that way is simply asinine, in that the true strengths of the class are being ignored and forsaken which will inevitably end with a weakened character unable to defeat the late game opponents.

This means that the prestige classes should be used in order to 'double-stack' on character strengths, or they can interchanged in order to compensate for a specific weakness. An example of this would be starting as a Consular then building into the Master / Lord prestige class or choosing one of the combative prestige classes like the Weapon-Master / Marauder in order to round out the totality of the characters strengths and weaknesses, however doing this could very well result in a character that is weaker overall so doing so should be carefully considered.

If a player is building a Force Caster from a Consular with high Wisdom, it only makes sense to further deepen their pool of FP by continuing along that role, while selecting the opposite melee oriented option would increase their Health pool moving forward it would stunt their previous strength and just result in mediocrity.

I'm sure that there is a lot more in which I can discuss, however I can't effectively play the game right now, so I will be modifying the guide as well as uploading an XP maximization guide later on when I can re-play the game.

This guide is currently a work in progress, but I hope that I shed some light on some of the game subjects and that other players found it helpful.

Please feel free to like, favorite, and leave comments below.

Keep an eye out for my other guides across other franchises such as Resident Evil, Grand Theft Auto, Final Fantasy and various other games like Sega's ultra horror survival game - Alien: Isolation.

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