So Apparently Handmaiden Won't Go Jedi After a Certain Level or Point in the Game

[Edge]

Could someone please tell me what the level or point in the game is?

[Edge]

Gosh this game is just so friggin buggy it ruins the whole experience. There was no indication that I couldn't level her up before making her a Jedi. Then suddenly she won't be a Jedi and that's it, whole game wasted. Awesome.

[cerberusiv]

First off there is no level beyond which you can't make Handmaiden a jedi. Your character has to be level 18 to do the third sparring round, then you can make Handmaiden a jedi. That is basically it. I don't level up Handmaiden at all until she is a jedi to get the maximum number of jedi powers for her.

There is a way you can screw up making Handmaiden a jedi - if you get too much influence with Visas before you complete Handmaiden's training then Handmaiden will not talk to you so you cannot complete her training. If you have done this it can be fixed with a save game editor - there is a guide on exactly how to do this in the guides section (link at top of this page).

As for the whole game wasted there isn't that much difference between jedi and non jedi Handmaiden, it certainly doesn't mean you can't complete the game.

Yes. the game is notoriously buggy. Subscribe to TSLRCM in the workshop if you haven't already and start a new game. It fixes a lot of bugs and glitches.

[Edge]

I'm afraid you're incorrect. There is a point after which you can't make Handmaiden a Jedi. I have zero influence with Visas. I have maxed out influence with Handmaiden. It's because I waited to level 26 for unarmed combat VI, which put me past the fourth planet. After that you can't make her a Jedi.

It ruins the whole game for me because the entire reason for this playthrough was to try out unarmed Handmaiden.

The whole reason I had to level her to 26 is what I consider a bug in the first place. Instead of her chracter level being used for unarmed combat, only her Soldier or Jedi level is used. So if you want to try an unarmed playthrough with her, you either have to leave her at level 6 until you make her a Jedi when you hit 18, or you can do what I did and actually be able to use her through the game but not be able to make her a Jedi until you've gotten all the unarmed upgrades you can (which is still a less than ideal situation because she'll never get all the upgrades).

[Emmental]

All jedi classes get free unarmed specialist feats.

[cerberusiv]

I did not think anyone would leave trying to make a companion a jedi until that late, particularly Handmaiden as she is perfectly capable using unarmed combat without necessarily getting all the unarmed combat feats.

I presume the reason Handmaiden cannot be made a jedi once you have found all the jedi masters is that once Kreia sends you to Dantooine she will no longer offer the conversation about Handmaiden's mother. Alternatively, once you have confronted the masters in the rebuilt enclave there is no opportunity to speak to Handmaiden until after the confrontation with Atris - and after that there isn't much opportunity to use Handmaiden anyway. So it is about reaching one of those two points in the game, rather than level.

I play on hard difficulty and leave Handmaiden at level 6 until I can make her a jedi - which means usually that she is not available for the crystal cave and enclave sub level on Dantooine and all of Nar Shadaa, which isn't that much really. Make her a jedi at that point and equip her with a good pair of gloves (I prefer the Gammorean gloves that require Master Power Attack to use) and she is good to go. Not getting the final one or two unarmed specialist feats is pretty irrelevant as it would be so late in the game anyway that there would be little or no opportunity to use her after getting those feats.

[Edge]

Originally posted by Dave:

All jedi classes get free unarmed specialist feats.

You and the point may have passed each other in the night, but that's about it.

[Edge]

Originally posted by cerberusiv:

I did not think anyone would leave trying to make a companion a jedi until that late, particularly Handmaiden as she is perfectly capable using unarmed combat without necessarily getting all the unarmed combat feats.

I presume the reason Handmaiden cannot be made a jedi once you have found all the jedi masters is that once Kreia sends you to Dantooine she will no longer offer the conversation about Handmaiden's mother. Alternatively, once you have confronted the masters in the rebuilt enclave there is no opportunity to speak to Handmaiden until after the confrontation with Atris - and after that there isn't much opportunity to use Handmaiden anyway. So it is about reaching one of those two points in the game, rather than level.

I play on hard difficulty and leave Handmaiden at level 6 until I can make her a jedi - which means usually that she is not available for the crystal cave and enclave sub level on Dantooine and all of Nar Shadaa, which isn't that much really. Make her a jedi at that point and equip her with a good pair of gloves (I prefer the Gammorean gloves that require Master Power Attack to use) and she is good to go. Not getting the final one or two unarmed specialist feats is pretty irrelevant as it would be so late in the game anyway that there would be little or no opportunity to use her after getting those feats.

That is all opinion. Now, it's not necessarily bad opinion. I can probably agree with close to 100% of it.

But what is a fact is that Handmaiden gets unarmed combat feats as a special feature of being an Echani Handmaiden, yet her unarmed combat skill resets to zero when she changes classes. This was clearly a mistake as it makes no logical or gameplay sense.

[cerberusiv]

I have long been aware that levels in different classes don't stack towards the unarmed specialist feats. Bao-dur is arguably worse affected than Handmaiden. My comments were on the basis that we are stuck with the issue and can only play in a way that minimises the effects.

I've not paid much attention to this with the main character but am under the impression this doesn't happen with the jedi class/prestige class transition? (I had an interesting playthrough recently using only unarmed combat with the main character).

[Emmental]

Originally posted by Edge:

Originally posted by Dave:

All jedi classes get free unarmed specialist feats.

You and the point may have passed each other in the night, but that's about it.

That is so rude. My point was you make her a jedi as early as possible or not at all IF you want her to max unarmed specialist. There is no other way unless you use a save game editor.

[Edge]

Originally posted by cerberusiv:

I have long been aware that levels in different classes don't stack towards the unarmed specialist feats. Bao-dur is arguably worse affected than Handmaiden. My comments were on the basis that we are stuck with the issue and can only play in a way that minimises the effects.

I've not paid much attention to this with the main character but am under the impression this doesn't happen with the jedi class/prestige class transition? (I had an interesting playthrough recently using only unarmed combat with the main character).

I don't think it resets for the main character. I can't say for sure, though, as I have never done an unarmed playthrough.

I was trying out an unarmed playthrough with the Handmaiden because her special ability--Echani Strike--only works with unarmed combat. Just seemed like a fun thing to try out. I knew my options were either to leave her at 6 until Jedi or go to some breakpoint for unarmed combat and then make the switch. At first I was going to switch at 22. Then I thought, well, she only really needs Jedi Speed, let me go to 26 and get one more unarmed level. That was my fatal mistake.

Anyway, what do you think is the best attack feat for unarmed? I tend to lean towards Flurry because unarmed only has one attack. Seems logical that the fewer attacks you have organically, the better that extra attack is vs. augmenting existing attacks with Critical Strike or Power Attack. Now, Critical Strike is pretty much out because of the single attack and because unarmed has a threat range of only 20 to begin with. Power Attack is somewhat interesting because, 1. strength is your only option with unarmed--there is no unarmed finesse. 2. The -3 to hit will mean nothing since dueling is your only option for unarmed. And 3. Handmaiden starts with a free level in Power Attack. But still, with so few base attacks, the extra attack has to win out. That's my take anyway. Any other thoughts?

[cerberusiv]

Originally posted by Edge:

Anyway, what do you think is the best attack feat for unarmed? I tend to lean towards Flurry because unarmed only has one attack. Seems logical that the fewer attacks you have organically, the better that extra attack is vs. augmenting existing attacks with Critical Strike or Power Attack. Now, Critical Strike is pretty much out because of the single attack and because unarmed has a threat range of only 20 to begin with. Power Attack is somewhat interesting because, 1. strength is your only option with unarmed--there is no unarmed finesse. 2. The -3 to hit will mean nothing since dueling is your only option for unarmed. And 3. Handmaiden starts with a free level in Power Attack. But still, with so few base attacks, the extra attack has to win out. That's my take anyway. Any other thoughts?

Handmaiden gets a lot of feats so I go for Power Attack if I find a pair of the Gammorean gloves I mentioned but generally I prefer flurry for melee combat as I believe the extra attack is the most effective option. The reason I go for giving her the maximum jedi levels is to get force speed powers early as the extra attack stacks with flurry giving 3 attacks per round. So she ends up with both flurry and PA but I mostly select flurry when queuing her combat actions. Interestingly, I find PA to be useful when she fights her sisters before confronting Atris as it is more controllable if you are trying not to kill them.