Is it practical to not use a lightsaber?

[Slippery Williams]

Non spoilery awnsers please, just a simple, yes, no, yes but very tough, etc will do.

Just wondering if the game/skills/weapons are balanced enough to focus on ranged/blaster weapons seeing as there are a lot of skills for them available. I'm asking because I just want to play my own way and may feel like using blasters and investing in ranged weapons and force powers but realize the game is probably focused/balanced all around melee combat and force power usage?

My favorite star wars character is the Kyle Katarn from the Jedi Knight Dark forces series of games. I really like him because he isn't pure light/dark side and just uses all the tools and powers at his disposal. I'm the kind of person in Bioware RPGs that never plays pure light/dark/paragon/renegade and just does/says what I really want to do/say naturally and just seeing where the game puts me on its morality slider. Yeah I know this nerfs force powers and paragon/renegade conversation options in Kotor and Mass Effect and I never get the 'golden' endings, but I've never been a fan of that kind of morality in games. I prefer stuff with shades of grey like Deus Ex, Alpha Protocol and so on.

[Gamrx1]

you can easily play through without a lightsaber but id keep one handy just incase you get in a scenario when you need it. better to be prepared right? its a game that supports all the play styles, however if you ever face a jedi or someone with a lightsaber it may be best to use a lightsaber against them as well. but thats just my opinion.

in short: if you use only a blaster it may get difficult in some spots but you should be okay, for saftey id invest in at least a couple force powers and keep a lightsaber handy incase you need it

[cerberusiv]

Yes, it is possible to play through without using a lightsaber. You could go with blasters or non-lightsaber melee weapons or even unarmed.

However it would be advisable to get the force power that lets you deflect blaster bolts without a lightsaber and you will need a few other key force powers, specifically force speed, healing and one that enables you to freeze groups of enemies, also possibly energy resistance .

I would strongly advise using the restored content mod (TSLRCM) as that allows you to find the better weapons and equipment earlier than the vanilla game.

[Slippery Williams]

Originally posted by Gamrx1:

you can easily play through without a lightsaber but id keep one handy just incase you get in a scenario when you need it. better to be prepared right? its a game that supports all the play styles, however if you ever face a jedi or someone with a lightsaber it may be best to use a lightsaber against them as well. but thats just my opinion.

in short: if you use only a blaster it may get difficult in some spots but you should be okay, for saftey id invest in at least a couple force powers and keep a lightsaber handy incase you need it

Aye I'm gonna keep the saber, I just want to use all the tools at my disposal, saber, blasters, force powers, etc

[Slippery Williams]

Originally posted by cerberusiv:

Yes, it is possible to play through without using a lightsaber. You could go with blasters or non-lightsaber melee weapons or even unarmed.

However it would be advisable to get the force power that lets you deflect blaster bolts without a lightsaber and you will need a few other key force powers, specifically force speed, healing and one that enables you to freeze groups of enemies, also possibly energy resistance .

I would strongly advise using the restored content mod (TSLRCM) as that allows you to find the better weapons and equipment earlier than the vanilla game.

Aye got the cut content mod all installed. I am investing in things other than ranged weapons, I just wanted to know if it was still practical to use ranged weapons/blasters alongside my force powers and saber. Thanks

[ÄmJii]

I actually tried out the Blaster Jedi (I went with Consular/Watchman for CC & Sneak Attacks) on my last playthrough on highest difficulty. It was... surprisingly easy all things considered, possibly little easier than my Lightsabre characters. Force Deflection/Redirection makes a huge impact on ranged duels (unlike KOTOR 1, ranged enemies hit like a truck) and Master Speed allows easy run 'n gun kiting around melee fighters.

[Hassat Hunter]

http://lparchive.org/Knights-of-the-Old-Republic-II/

No lightsaber, no powers like speed. Overall awesome humour too, and in-depth things that tells you plotpoints you might have not realised on your own (probably best not to if your first game though). Overall great read-through.
Also dabs on missing content, but of course you'll see that ingame with TSLRCM ;)

[Benson]

It's not practical at all. But you can totally make it work with enough feats. Be sure to get Force Deflection.

[ÄmJii]

Bumping this thread a little bit, I just completed my 2nd Blaster Jedi playthrough as a Sentinel/Weaponmaster at the highest difficulty level. This wasn't even a min-max approach, but my character solo'ed everything past midgame... on highest difficulty.

Key to success was to use Disruptor line of pistols (for that 18-20 Critical Range) and upgrading them on workbenches whenever possible. I upped my Repair to 20 (to get max number of Components when breaking down useless items) and left the crafting skills for Bao-Dur & T3-M4 to cover.
I also passed up on Jedi Robes entirely and went with Jal Shey armor to get the most upgrade slots (you REALLY want to Damage Resistance upgrades!).

Using this approach I ended up character who had 5 Attacks per round (dual wielding + Rapid Shot + Master Speed), 30% Crit chance (Critical Range 15-20) and critted regularly for 70-90 damage PER HIT. Only 3+ enemy groups had any chance getting to striking distance before biting the dust.