BioWare's latest MMORPG, Star Wars the Old Republic (SWTOR) is developed all around the Star Wars theme. As such, the classes, species and characters within the game are all taken from the big screen movie. The Jedi are thus a must-have to include in SWTOR. Gamers will be able to play as a Jedi Knight and advance as either a Jedi Sentinel or Jedi Guardian when the game is released this December 20, 2011.
As can be easily guessed by Star Wars fans, the Jedi Knight class aligns itself with the Galactic Republic and makes use of the lightsabers as their main weapon on the battlefield. Besides the use of lightsabers, the Jedi Knights are also capable of using force skills for various purposes. This class is known to frequently lead armies into battle against the Sith Empire. For the Jedi Knights, action is the name of the game. The three known species available to the class include Human, Miraluka and Zabrak.
The two specializations for the class, otherwise known as advanced classes are the Jedi Sentinel and Jedi Guardian. The availability of advanced classes in the game enables gamers to further customize their characters in terms of skills, builds and capabilities. The SWTOR Jedi Guardian specialization lets the Jedi enhance protective and tanking abilities. The Sith Empire counterpart, is the Sith Juggernaut. As a tank, the Jedi Guardian also taunts enemies to distract them from the less protected Republic classes and inspires allies when in group fights. This makes the advanced class a much desired member in group fights as well as full fledge battles. As a Jedi Knight, the Guardian is regarded as a damage dealer (DPS) regardless. In other words, a damage-dealer with enhanced tanking and protective abilities.
The three skill trees available to the class are Vigilance, Defense and Focus. Focus, which is also available to the Jedi Sentinel, lets the class further specialize with advanced Force techniques such as taking on the Shii-Cho lightsaber form. The Defense skill tree is suitable for gamers who looks forward to protecting allies while Vigilance, lets the guardian emphasize on single-blade offense.
The SWTOR Jedi Sentinel on the other hand, can be viewed as a pure and truly enhanced damage dealing class. With that in mind, it is not unusual to come across Jedi Sentinels wielding dual blades. With this advanced class, it is all about focus and control. For example, Sentinels are very adept at creating webs of damage using two lighsabers at the same time. As soon as they see a loophole in the enemy's defense, the Sentinel is usually fast to take advantage of it.
The specialization offers three skill trees. Focus, which is a shared one, Watchman and Combat. The Watchman skill tree allows the Jedi Sentinel to effectively take on the Juyo Lightsaber form while Combat lets the Sentinel take on the Ataru Lightsaber. Juyo Lightsaber form makes the Jedi more dangerous in fights while Ataru Lightsaber focuses on dispersing enemies with attacks.
Whichever of the advanced class gamers choose to play, they are both sure to provide a memorable experience in the vast Star Wars galaxy.