Well, there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t get at least a few hits on the site for people looking for what the ‘best’ storyline in Star Wars The Old Republic is. It’s a tricky subject matter because it is almost entirely subjective. What does someone define as ‘the best’? It’s like all those people who claim that the game isn’t “Star Wars”-y enough but can never actual explain what the hell that means. And while all the reviews aren’t finished yet, I have indeed played through every single class story at this point. So I might as well give people what they keep asking for. This is my personal Worst to Best Class Storylines for Star Wars: The Old Republic.
#8: Trooper
Anyone who has read my review for the Trooper should not be surprised to find this at the bottom of the list. The problem is just that the entire Trooper story pretty much ends with Chapter One. Chapter Two and Three feel like filler. There’s nothing built up to them. There’s nothing tying them together. Chapter Two is a horrific abomination of sheer pointlessness and Chapter Three does very little to improve on that already low bar. On top of that, these two very bland chapters then go out of the way to try to paint your character as the instigator for the renewed war. Not just that the war has begun while you were fighting like some other class stories. No, that the Empire has renewed it’s attacks directly on the Republic as immediate retaliation for your actions. Granted, it might just be an excuse but damn is that being thrown under the narrative bus.
The shame of the whole thing is that the prologue and first chapter are actually really solid and I would actually recommend playing through them. But once you get to level 30 and start Chapter Two the whole story takes a hard nose dive and never truly recovers.
#7: Sith Inquisitor
The Inquisitor is a classic case of biting into a Peanut Butter Cup and finding it filled with Cookies & Creme filling instead. It might not be bad, but it sure as hell isn’t what you signed up for. Look anywhere for what the Inquisitor is pitched as and you’ll find comparisons to the subtle machinations of Palpatine, manipulating forces into completing your ends, and being a grand puppet master with all the powers of the dark side at your beck and call. What you actually get is more akin to Indiana Jones in space. You find relics, pursue ghosts, and end up using more magic in this space opera than your average D&D game and the Mass Effect 3 ending combined. In other words, it doesn’t deliver on what’s promised. In fact, it rarely even tries to. It goes off in some completely different direction and then shouts back at you that it doesn’t know what your problem is, this is the way it always intended to go.
Of course, that’s not what puts the Inquisitor so low on this list. Not alone at least. No, the real reason this one got marked down so much was quite simply that it spends so much time painting your character like a complete and utter idiot. You walk in traps, blindly trust those who clearly are trying to kill you, and routinely must be saved by a third party to avoid certain death. None of these are a result of your choices or actions either. These just happen to you regardless. Then somehow you get a seat on the Dark Council out of all of this. Talk about fricking failing upwards. I honestly can’t play through the Inquisitor story without feeling that the game is actively insulting me at times.
#6: Jedi Consular
Let me just say this, because I know some of you are reading this and saying ‘Didn’t Vry like the Consular in his reviews?’ I adored the Consular… Once the plot actually got started. Honestly, the Consular is almost the antithesis of the the Trooper. The best stuff comes after Chapter One. The downside is that those first 30 levels? They can be nightmare of tedious repetition. The same tasks over and over with only slight changes. Chapter One at least has the mystery element to it, but you can only really appreciate the mystery once you reach the end and can see all the threads connecting things.
But honestly? If I wasn’t writing a review for this website, I don’t think I ever would have made it out of Chapter One. Hell, I don’t know if I could pull of getting past the prologue. But if you can do that, then you are in for an amazing story about galactic diplomacy, building alliances, and commanding your own personal army to do battle against an enemy that could literally be anyone. It sometimes feels a bit more like Star Trek instead of Star Wars, but that’s okay. It’s different and in a good way. By the end of Chapter Three, your Consular has done more to preserve the Republic than any other class. So yea, the first two parts of the story knock this one pretty far down on the list, but don’t think that it is by any means a terrible story once you wade through the boring parts. Especially with the 12x XP thing going on, now is really the time to see where the Consular shines cause you can get through the boring crap in a day now.
#5: Bounty Hunter
Oh Bounty Hunter, I do adore thee. Probably one of my own personal favorite stories. I just like the flavor. So why is it only at number 5? Well, probably because it is a straight-shot, middle of the road, nothing terrible but nothing blow your mind away amazing story. It’s solid, with no doubt. But there aren’t many instances I can look back and go – yea… that was f***ing awesome. But there’s also nothing I can point to you and say “this completely sucked”. It’s an average story that will be made better if you like the concept of a bounty hunter or mandalorians. Which I do.
#4: Sith Warrior
The Sith Warrior is another example of a very solid narrative that has no real hitches in it that I can look back at and wail about and it would be just another solid middle-of-the-road choice like the Bounty Hunter other than a few shining highlights. Namely, the Corrupting a Jedi Padawan into becoming your apprentice storyline, the sheer amount of information you learn about the Emperor and how he works, and what is probably the best written villain in the entire game. The villain essentially does everything that the bad guy from the Inquisitor story wants to do, but without constantly having to make your character look incompetent to make the villain look more menacing.
I described the Sith Warrior in my review as the quintessential Sith experience, and I stand by that statement. If you ever wanted a taste of being Darth Vader would be like, then look no further. You’ll find no problems here.
#3: Smuggler
If there were three words to describe the Smuggler story it would be: Silly. Fun. Adventurous. The story is full of laughs as you roam across the galaxy dealing with the back alley scum that no other class gets nearly as much access to. Pirates, shady deals, backstabs, all mixed with a hefty dose of charm and chuckles, this is THE story for a good time. The best part is that it actually does a great job at telling a pretty grand story that ends up turning into something much larger by the end.
If there was something I could say that was shining about the Smuggler that puts it so high on the list it would be that the story just snowballs itself down a mountain. It starts small and simple and then builds in both size and momentum, but instead of just becoming a bigger narrative in terms of scale it actually builds on what has come before. Chapter One is an excellent example of this when by the end of it you’ll look back at the events of the Prologue and see exactly how much of it was actually spent setting things up that you probably didn’t even think twice about.
The story also shares some traits with our #1 on the list in that several story elements actual vary wildly depending on your light and dark choices. Another reason the story feels so much more alive than many of the others on this list.
#2: Jedi Knight
What do you think of when you hear the name ‘Star Wars’? Brave heroes struggling against an impossible enemy? Epic battles waged across planets? A showdown between the forces of Light and Dark? The Jedi Knight story has all of that. From earning your first lightsaber, to a final duel against the Sith Emperor himself (sort of) I would go as far as to describe the Jedi Knight story as being the essential Star Wars experience. It’s everyone people imagine a Star Wars video game would be like, and hit pretty much hits a ton of the same notes as the Original Trilogy. Straight to the not uptight but wise mentor being killed off only to guide you via force ghost to your next plot point.
But beyond the simple Star Wars experience, the Jedi Knight also plays with some of your expectations. What if you became evil? How would those around you react? What about when faced with the moral decision of what to do with your enemies? Your choices early on do help shape the story later. Mostly in flavor, but in rewarding flavor regardless when you get to see so many old faces return to help you in your moment of victory.
If you want to play through the epic space opera adventure story, this one if for you.
#1: Imperial Agent
So if Jedi Knight encapsulated the perfect Star Wars story, why is it not at number one? Well because for all it’s solid strengths, the Jedi Knight is a straight forward plot with only flavoring changing based on your choices. What if the whole story changed based on your choices? If the actions you took would have radical different impressions on what rise to power your character had? That may not be the essential Star Wars experience, but that certainly sounds like what we’d expect from a game brandishing the name of BioWare. It’s for that reason that our number one spot goes to the Imperial Agent.
The Agent’s story is not only full of mystery and exciting well done plot twists, but also delivers many of the crucial details of how the story of The Old Republic shakes down. Want to know why the Voss are so brutally neutral? The answer is here. How the hell is the Empire losing the war? The answer is here! You combine that with tons of amazing plot twists that build and build in a massive web of intrigue that reveals the Star Wars equivalent of the Illuminati pulling the strings behind everything? That’s fricking awesome!
And oh yes, your choices do matter in the Imperial Agent story. There are THREE completely different directions the second chapter can take depending on your choice at the end of Chapter One. Oh sure, you still have to go the same planets in the same order, but the greater narrative is shifted drastically depending on who you are working with and why. For once in this game do you actually feel like your actions have consequences and are not pre-determined with only slightly different dialogue. At several points I actually had to step back from my keyboard and THINK about which dialogue option to choose knowing that this may well indeed alter events and since it’s a MMO with no saves to fall back on – it’s all for reals.
An amazing story with amazing plot twist and actual consequences to player choices that will keep you on the edge of your seat for each cut scene. That’s why the Imperial Agent is my Number One Best Class Storyline.
If you want to find out more about these storylines you can find my Spoiler Free Summary page here that also has links to the far far less spoiler free reviews.
Vrykerion 
Agree with almost all your orderings. The only ones I’d swap would be 3. Warrior 4. Smuggler.
I do think that Consular is very interesting to play as a ruthless ‘Dark Side’ Jedi. It does make chapter 1 a lot more bloody!
Great job.
Excellent write-up. There are a couple that I would personally rank slightly differently: I have a soft spot for the trooper story since it was my first, and where you see the knight as providing an essential Star Wars experience, I saw too many clichés. But you make good points about all of them.
I’m curious to which of the other class stories made the top 3 for other people and why?
Interesting read of course. Some comments of my own:
Inquisitor – Tend to agree with you on this one. The Indiana Jones comparison is apt, though I looked at Act One as being Tomb Raider and Act Two being Ghostbusters. Also, imo the Inquisitor has some of the most annoying and unlikeable companions I’ve seen thus far in the game. To be fair though the story did have some redeeming moments. The Inquisitor stories on Balmorra and Voss stood out in my mind, and although most people will be none too surprised by the big betrayal, it did not happen in anything like the way I expected. Also, to it’s credit I was mostly satisfied with the way it ended.
Consular – I don’t know, this one felt a bit disjointed to me, like the three acts bore little relation to each other, and that whole diplomacy thing of Act 2 seemed shoe-horned in as an excuse to go to the remaining planets, though I agree with you that the diplomacy angle felt more like Star Trek than Star Wars. I didn’t actually think it was a bad story, but to my mind it failed to come together in my mind as anything like an integrated whole. On the plus side though, I really liked the companions, even the Trandoshian which a lot of people seem to complain about. Also, there was a surprise near the end and the ending left me with a mostly pleasant feeling. I would also add that unlike many others, I actually liked the prelude with your first Jedi superior, Master Yuon, but she seemed to quietly drop out of the story after Coruscant, never to be heard from again.
Warrior – I’m one quest away from finishing this one, but assuming they don’t blow it at the end, it will get my vote as the best so far. I felt very connected to this story from the beginning, and it was great to see light and dark choices really making a difference. Also, the companions were head and shoulders above the Inquisitor companions. It would be hard for anyone to dislike Vette, and Jaesa Willsaam seemed like a less annoying version of Ashara Zavros. All in all the warrior story has been a very pleasant surprise for me.
Agent – I’ve finished this one up through Alderaan, and maybe I’m speaking too soon, but to my mind the Agent story has been greatly overrated by people. To me it seems like your typical cloak and dagger spy stuff with a heavy dose of Zero Dark 30 thrown in, to say nothing of the betrayals you can see coming a mile away. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve mostly enjoyed it thus far, I just don’t think it’s the monument of video game writing that a lot of others seem to think it is. The purple prose of Red Lucy from Fallout New Vegas it is not. 😉 Also, like the Inquisitor, the Agent seems to have a very odd and unlikeable bunch of misfit companions, though I must admit that Kaylio is a piece of work, and the actress who did her voice has her quirky dysfunctional personality nailed. Again though, I may revise my opinion at the end, but as it stands now I think the Agent story is mostly good but overrated.
Smuggler and Bounty Hunter – Recently started these, and all I can say at this point is that it’s nice to see some swtor class stories that don’t seem to take themselves too seriously; For example, when first walking in to the Madalorian Enclave I was expecting to see big booted Mandalorians and some sinister SIth overlords, but imagine my surprise when I encounter instead a middle aged cowgirl and a wookie as overseers! lol
Thanks for all your thoughts! Always good to hear other opinions on here. 😀
Not to spoil too much, but yea. The Agent story doesn’t really take off into OMG territory until the very end of Chapter One and properly in Chapter Two. The first chapter is pretty much establishing the status quo and introducing you to a lot of the faces you’ll be working with. It does feel fairly stock early on, but in my opinion that serves to offset what happens later when everything starts getting… well, complicated seems to be the most appropriate word for it. But in a good way. Like any good spy story should.
(Also: All hail Crysta the Space Texan!)
Well, I’ll give my two cents then. From worst to best, these are the ones I’ve played so far:
Jedi Consular: I haven’t gotten very far with this one, just to the beggining of chapter one, so there’s not much to say yet, except it’s a bit boring up to this point. Based on your summaries, I’ll probably like it a lot more once I get further in the story.
Trooper: Great prologue, greater first chapter, boring second chapter. The third chapter is much better than the second, but still nowhere near as good as the first or even the prologue. I’m at the begginig of Voss right now and I hope the ending can save the story to some extent.
Sith Inquisitor: I finished this one and I enjoyed it. In my opinion, it wasn’t as bad as you made it out to be, but it still has plenty of flaws, starting with the annoying companions who have pretty much no reason to be with you (most of them). I didn’t find Ashara as bad as most people, although she was kind of annoying sometimes. Also I loved the ending when you throw Thanaton around the room like a ragdoll. That was glorious.
Bounty Hunter: I finished this one too and it was great. This story has one of the best companions in the game, which is Mako. I love her. Besides that, the story is well paced and a welcome change of pace compared to most of the others, since you start as a freelance bounty hunter and don’t really need to join the empire. You can follow whichever path o want. It shows a part of the Star Wars universe that is not usualy very explored.
Jedi Knight: This story can be described basically as: “Knights of The Old Republic 3” and that’s great. It’s currently my favorite story so far and I agree with you assessment on it. It trully is the essencial Star Wars experience. It was the forst story I played and the first I completed. It’s trully great and I enjoyed it a lot.
I haven’t really played the other storylines yet, but I plan on finishing the Trooper storyline, which I’m currently playing and then going for the Imperial Agent.
Revisiting your writeup on the Agent, yeah, since I’m nearing the end of Chapter One I probably spoke a bit too soon. Still in all I see what seems to be a couple of predictable betrayals brewing, most notably the Watcher woman and probably Kaylio. Also, Darth Zhorrid is a certified nut case. 😉 That said, I do look forward to continuing it hopefully sooner rather than later. I think what caused my mild antipathy though was how tired I got seeing people self-righteously and pompously raving about it in swtor gen chat; in typical fanboy fashion acting like anyone who thinks different is an idiot.
Finished the Warrior story, and I have to say that although the ending was maybe a tad anticlimactic, I definitely had loads of fun getting there. At the moment my Inquisitor is kind of my go-to alt for post-class story content, but I may have to do some with my warrior as well. BTW, still have not done Shadow of Revan yet. Too busy trying to get through all eight class stories.
Concerning the Trooper, I had not planned on doing that one, but enjoyed Ord Mantell so much with my smuggler that I decided to do it after all. My experience thus far has corroborated what you wrote. That is, the prelude and Chapter One have been surprisingly good. It’s interesting in that of the eight classes, it’s the only one that to the best of my knowledge isn’t really a true Star Wars archetype, which is why I suspect many players pass on it. It feels more like Mass Effect meets Star Wars, albeit with a little less of the Hollywood military clichés that annoyed me so in MA. I would also add that General Garza is rapidly turning into a General Nuisance lol, love to hate character, and I fully expect her to betray the Republic (a military coup?) at some point.
I know the game has had it’s detractors over the years, but there are two places it scores very high marks with me. The obvious one is the storytelling, and you don’t truly appreciate the swtor storytelling until you’ve seen how bad it usually is in other mmo’s. Also, of the 6-7 mmo’s I’ve fleshed out, swtor has the most variety of content and things to do by far, and I can see it pleasing both casuals and min-max hardcores.
That said, there are two places where the game darkens considerably. The first is the community. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve met some great people in the game, but on the other hand as someone else so aptly noted, swtor has more than it’s share of ADHD-greedy-entitled-elitist players, to say nothing of the often toxic general chat. To illustrate, in the other mmo’s I’ve played my ignore lists typically runs in the five to fifteen range. In swtor though, between all my alts it’s probably well over a hundred now. What’s wrong with this picture?
Also, the Cartel Shop is EA at their most greedy. I mean, even subscription players get gouged by it. At least in Guild Wars 2 if you see a piece of armor or weapon you simply must have, you can exchange store bought gems for in game gold and buy it. In swtor however, you have to either grind and save to pay the extortionist prices people are usually asking on the auction house, you can play the market (if I wanted to do that, I would be doing it in real life, not in an mmo ;), or worst of all, you can gamble on the Cartel Packs. Further, the Cartel Shop has seriously hurt crafting. Anyway, sorry for the rant.
One more thing. I’m keeping an open mind about the upcoming expansion. However, there are two things that trouble me about it. The first is they seem to be dumbing down companion management, and the other is that Bioware seems to be seriously messing with their own lore that they’ve so painstakingly built since the very first KOTOR game. Also, I’m definitely going to miss the 12x boost. It’s given me a great deal of freedom in picking and choosing what content I want to do. In any event I hope my fears about the expansion are unfounded, we’ll see shortly I guess.
PS….Yeah, Crysta is a hoot! 😀
I would have to disagree about the inquisitor storyline to an extent, but you did state what i kind of took away from it. some things weren’t suprising, and the ghost chasing and binding required me to do research into force ghosts to get behind (because it did sound more like something out of a fantasy game to me).
the painting your character as an idiot stops happening after Kallig saves you for the last time for the most part (which made me cringe a bit, someone would normally understand that all tombs have an angry ghost by now). there are of course places where they stumble like a bafoon after where the player can predict, but inquisitor has the unfortunate job of being a slave turned sith and literally not told a single thing until right before it’s about to gut them.
otherwise it was basically indiana jones learning magic to kill ghosts and take their power to destroy Bison.
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Wow I hated the Knight story. It felt like EVERY planet was the same plot: have to recover some powerful weapon that threatens to destroy the planet, then decide whether to keep it or destroy it. And the choice is irrelevant.
First, thanks for your work.
Second, i have read all your reviews, they are pretty entertaining, im waiting for the Agent one. The thing is, i have played the Smuggler and Agent, and im thinking if playing an extra story or leaving the game (im just a FTP. Well, Prefered Status, but not buying an expansion, at least for now). So, do you think that knowing already the main story will make it boring? I felt like that migth have happened to the agent, but not to the smuggler, since one is about the plot and the other about the funny moments.
Any recommendation? Most fun to play, best companions, etc.
I always recommend the Bounty Hunter. The plot itself isn’t as mind blowing as the Agent, but it’s a solid story. Where it shines is both in the emotional investment – it’s a story of revenge and getting revenge – and the questionable gray moral areas it explores in terms of essentially being someone who can kill for money. Honestly, I recommend going into it with no pre-determined path (No LS, or DS path decided) and just playing it all by ear. If you’re like me, the way your character makes choices at the start might change by the time you reach the end.
So really, it’s a good choice I think since the plot isn’t really the driving factor as much the emotional reaction to the narrative. The companions are endearing and you should find at least a few that you enjoy the conversations with (probably not Skadge. No one has ever liked Skadge. I will eat an entire bag of oreos if any actually liked that guy.)
So yea, I recommend Bounty Hunter. Not a OMGAwesomeSauce story, but a solid one that can really resonate with ya.
Better get out your bag of Oreos. 😉 Like I said in my post below, for me Skadge was the most memorable of the ‘beast’ companions (Khem Val, Qyzen Fess, etc.). He was so over the top and made me laugh pretty hard at times, and it was priceless when Mako called him a creep! lol Also, taking Skadge to Voss was like the proverbial bull in a china shop.
At least for me, the hands down best companions were with the Bounty Hunter and Sith Warrior, and the worst was the Sith Inquisitor. Even though I liked the Inquisitor class and story, to my mind the companions are the oddest most annoying bunch of misfits in the game.
Hey, long time no see and all that, and sorry for my previous rant. I’ve since wizened up and learned how best to avoid unpleasant social encounters (through judicious use of ignore and being very selective about my flashpoints), though if anything the Cartel packs have gotten worse since KOTFE.
That said, I’ve since finished the Bounty Hunter and Jedi Knight stories, and here’s my quick take:
The Bounty Hunter was an unexpected pleasure. For one thing I really liked the Chapter One Great Hunt and how the story and characters didn’t seem to take themselves too seriously. To my mind though the Great Hunt ended much too soon, after which the story sort of took a mild nose dive. However, this was more than made up for with the magnificent ending that really struck a chord with me. I loved it and didn’t see it coming at all, and it left me with a very warm feeling. Also, the Bounty Hunter has some of the best companions in the game. I even liked Skadge. He was so very over the top and made me laugh more than a few times, definitely the best of the ‘beast’ companions. And of course I can see why everyone loves Mako (voiced by none other than Lacy Chabert). She’s up there with Vette as being one of the best companions. I also liked how the companions seemed to interact with each other much more than they did in the other class stories. The parting shot of you and your companions on the Mantis bridge was a golden moment. I may have to reroll and do the BH story again at some point.
I’m sorry to say that for me the Jedi Knight story was a moderate disappointment. Thinking back on it now I seem to recall very little about it. I remember liking the story on Tatooine as well as ‘General Ackbar’ lol and your ‘R2D2 companion, but little else. Also, I was expecting a big epic ending like KOTOR1 but it didn’t happen at all. I remember finishing it and thinking, “Was that it???” For me the Jedi Knight story was no where near as interesting as the analog class Sith Warrior story, not even close. Don’t get me wrong, it was maybe not a bad story, but for me not particularly memorable either. It could be that I had very high expectations going in to the Jedi Knight story that were not met. Hope I don’t encounter the same situation with the Agent story. I have very high expectations for it too the way people keep praising it in the blogs and forums.
Wow, came into this thread late, but very good write up. Agree with a lot.
Inquisitor is more like Ghostbusters, should have followed more dread like Warrior.
Agent now appears to be the Citizen Kane of SWTOR, thought I was a bit underwhelmed. I did like the twists and you definately get laid. In its defense, I haven’t played through alt endings, but I haven’t really felt the pull to.
JK is epic but vanilla. I would have loved to have had my dark side choices result in something significant.
For me SW is my personal favorite. Voice acting for both m and f is brilliant, and companions are best in game. Felt the most empowering and to me, had the most emotional element. Jaesa v Vette rocks.
Smuggler and BH are fun ole westerns.
Haven’t even played Consular or Trooper.
I feel like my impressions of these classes is almost the opposite from the writers. Admittedly I have only finished the full story for 2 classes, but have done the first 4 planets for all the other classes.
My order is…
8. Jedi Knight- I have nothing good to say about this story so far. I hate my companions, they are either annoying to listen to or kinda bitchy and sarcastic. I feel like the story is impractical, the likelihood of sending a green Jedi was pretty slim. Seriously why didn’t they send a Master out on such an important quest?
7. Smuggler- This story would probably be higher up on my list if I liked pirates or hunts for buried treasure. I feel like the crew I have so far has no reason at all to be with me. I some how keep having to make these deliveries that get botched everytime. I am some how the most incompetent smuggler in the galaxy.
6. Bounty Hunter- This class would be a lot more fun if Mako didn’t exist, but she whines at every decision I make. Her trying to find out her heritage is pretty interesting though. I am so over the Skavek thing, can I just kill him already?
5. Imperial Agent- I think this article ruined this class for me, my expectations are too high and now everything just feels blah. If the whole storyline played out like the Prelude it would be great but I feel like an errand girl rather than a spy. The only part that keeps me interested is my personal backstory for my character in playing a fanatical but extremely good imperial agent.
4. Sith Warrior- I have nothing really to say about this class, except I feel like my sith warrior feels more like a spy than my agent, so far.
3. Trooper- I haven’t finished Chapter 1 year but so far this story is what feel an epic Star Wars adventure should be.
2. Sith Inquisitor- I completed the full of this story and loved EVERY second. It was gripping and every wall I hit or drawback just made my character hungry for revenge and more power. I loved all the companions and the way I got them. I loved how each chapter was a cause and effect for the others.
1. Jedi Consular- This story was awesome, it started out small and grew from there. I was the only one who could help and being a Jedi I was willing to risk my life to do it. I enjoyed the diplomacy and ambassador duties. I feel like this is what a Jedi does, they protect the republic.
Always good to see other opinions on this! Thanks for commenting.
I finally completed the IA storyline and maybe it was a glitch or something but it kept thinking I killed people that I let live or that I did something evil when I was completely light side.
((This was my post from a while ago, I just don’t use WordPress anymore)
I finished all the core storylines for each class,finally and the way I would order it now is
8. Jedi Knight- Seriously I found this class to be a complete drag. It was boring, formulaic and improbably.
7. Sith Warrior- Everything that the article says about Sith Inquisitor is what I got out of my play through as a Sith Warrior. Seriously you start out as lackey and end up getting played and betrayed time and time again. It doesn’t feel like you amass any sort of power base or do anything that has far reaching effects.
6. Bounty Hunter- I don’t have a single fond memory of this class and few negative ones other than the entire premise of chapter 1 being drawn out and utterly boring.
5. Smuggler- I feel like the entire story just disappeared after Chapter 1, it was trying way, way, way to hard to railroad you into being Han Solo.
4. Trooper- I liked that my decisions and the way I spoke to people mattered. I do feel though a bit like they treat you like a dumb grunt no matter how much rank you amass though.
3. Imperial Agent- Honestly the storyline was pretty cool. I mean it kept thinking I killed people I let live and making lightside choices didn’t seem to change anything but what really made this storyline less than perfect is that the end was a huge let down. Of all my characters this was the only one I invested in with a back story and stuck to it 100%, so at the end when faced with a choice the logical option based on events just made me feel like every action I had taken up to that point had been for nothing.
2. Sith Inquisitor- There isn’t anything negative I can say about this class or the storyline, it was truly awesome. I felt like I had a power base behind me and my decisions mattered.
1. Jedi Consular- This class is Star Wars for me! Truly epic storyline, fully immersive. I got to make a difference and it felt like I was really a Jedi rather than some sap roped in to fight because other people had decided they were too important to do it.
This is kind of upsetting. my first character was the imperial agent. It was great and i loved it, now i feel like any other classes story is going to be disappointing by comparison.
Not necessarily! This list is one person’s opinion after all. Even some other people in the comments here don’t list the Agent as high in their personal lists. It’s all about your own taste after all. Heck, I tend to rate the bounty hunter higher than a lot of people I’ve spoken to out of sheer personal preference adding to the enjoyment factor. Each story is different and brings different things to the experience. So you never know which is YOUR best until you’ve tried them out. 😀
Personally, Inquisitor was my favorite, I loved finding the artifacts so I could gain their hidden power and earn my seat on the dark council. I highly recommend Inquisitor.
I’m glad some people enjoyed it! I think I might have liked it more if I knew what I was getting into more. It does have a nice healthy share of bad ass moments though, that I cant deny.
I’ve only finished with Jedi Knight and Bounty Hunter and liked them both. The Jedi Knight is the typical Star Wars Heroic Journey and playing it completely Light Side made it even better. My BH is also light side, except for shooting that dude on Alderaan, because fuck those guys. The Trooper story is extremely disappointing because, essentially, they spring a major plot twist barely an hour into the game. In fact, pacing in general is the Trooper’s problem. If they had let you build a real relationship with Havoc Squad and then had them defect at the end of Chapter 1 – seriously, stealing a prototype super-bomb from the Balmorra Arms Factory makes more sense than hoping to salvage one from Ord Mantell – ti would have had impact. It’s like, play Ord Mantell straight, you and Havoc Squad against the Separatists. Then on Coruscant show how the soldiers are dissatisfied with the political leadership and butting heads with General Garza. Show how she pushes them for results then criticizes their methods while taking credit for their successes. (and what was with the camera repeatedly putting her ‘Granny J-Lo booty’ front and center every time you talked to her? Is she Miranda Lawson’s great aunt or something?) Taris would show the futility of the Republic’s strategy – soldiers in a meat grinder over a ruined world. During Balmorra, the Trooper could see the other members of Havoc Squad making secret arrangements, keeping them out of things, etc, and finally they defect, along with a large contingent of other Republic Special Forces and prototype ordinance from Balmorra’s arms factories. Chapter 2 could be rebuilding Havoc Squad and taking down the traitors, then Chapter 3 would be using your newly forged and tested unit to take down the Superweapon and turn the tide of the already-engaged war. It’s like they try and shove too much into the Trooper and none of it develops properly.
Good review. Felt the same for 1 (best) & 8 (worst) but would’ve ordered it as follows:
8. Trooper
7. Hunter
6. Consular
5. Inquisitor
4. Knight
3. Warrior
2. Smuggler
1. Agent
Reasons:
8. Trooper: Lacked a bit of interest story wise but cool spin that General Garza, head of ‘Pub military, was a *spoiler alert* very darkside babe *spoiler alert*.
7. Hunter: Similarly lacked a bit of interest. Felt nostalgic for a Mandalorian plot more akin to KOTOR. In its defence liked the ‘challenge the champion’ theme which shon at tidy times during the plot.
6. Consular: The ghost thing went on a bit long but good sense of team player and Republic custodianship in the final chapters.
5. Inqusitor: Interesting that SWTOR starts you off on the premise that Sith have rules – a different way of thinking to most of the EU. Your quest bringers are your enemies. You fend for your survival and power like a savage beast vying for dominance. The plot plays nicely on the Sith theme, you break rules and eventually own a pyramid on the Dark Council. Not a very good pyramid, e.g, ‘Chief Dust Collector’ rather than ‘Chief Executive Officer’ but you work your devious ways up onto the galactic board of directors just the same. Like the review points out it’s not a new concept and nothing reaches out and grabs you about it but feel its story had some cool warmth and didn’t lack as much as the Consular, Hunter & Trooper plots IMHO.
4. Knight: Some of the so called super weapons were lame as and boy is the ending anti climactic. But ditto what the review says – classic KOTOR. In the run up to the finish, fun characters and a cool experience.
3. Warrior: This one’s a beast. One word to describe Baras (your main quest giver and naturally *spoiler but not really since you’re a Sith* protganist *end so called spoiler*). This guy has his paws in everything. He’s crafty, a schemer, evil and powerful. Somehow the Sith Warrior reminded me of the Imperial Agent story but you’re a Sith and Baras takes you on his well crafted plan every step of the way. Ending is kind’ve cool as well, not as cool as the Inquisitor ending possibly, but still very cool.
2. Smuggler: The plot/story line is absolute cordial. You’re a spacefaring cowboy, pirate, etc. If you love ‘adventure’, I would argue, the very premise behind the original SW trilogy, this is your one to play. Do you like Guardians of the Galaxy? Well you’re Star Lord with your very own warrior furry animal *cough* wookie *cough*.
1. Agent: James Bond, 007. You’re an Imperial ‘secret agent’. Everything matches Bond – fancy car (ship), fancy gun, codename, M like quest giver, you get the blonde bombshell with the sexy British accent (just reskin Ensign Temple), get to wear the handsome Imperial uniform, and equip it on your alts. Nicely, instead of the clasic M being a little blunt and unemotional, this one has a slight twist b/c he’s an Imperial (naturally), so does the Imperial *spoiler alert* betrayal *close spoiler alert* thing like a true blue. The other thing is, this class actually lends credit to the fact you are Imperial and not a Sith (Yes they are different), And yeh, your brain is what gives you the edge over your “masters” *cough cough* spolier or not, you’ll never know unless you play the class.
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This is fun! It’s an incredible amount of work you’ve done with the reviews. Predictably I differ in the ranking, but not because I disagree about the quality of the writing. I’m just a sucker for Sith so I get more personal enjoyment in each single moment of the Sith storylines, even if objectively they’re worse than others. My ranking, based on the fun I had, would be:
8. Bounty Hunter
7. Jedi Consular
6. Imperial Agent
5. Smuggler
4. Trooper
3. Jedi Knight
2. Sith Inquisitor
1. Sith Warrior
In general the writing in this game was outrageous fun. I couldn’t wait to hear what my inquisitor or my smuggler would say next. Of course I chose all the flirt options with the smuggler, lol.
Hi,
Great set of reviews and I would agree with you in your order. I’ve heard rumblings that the later stories (SoR, KOTFE etc) are better done as a force user. I’ve done up to the end of SoR as my knight and its been alot of fun. My favourite imp side classes are sniper and merc so I wanna play through the empire side of those stories as one of those but was wondering if you had any suggestions as to what story fits the imperial side the best?
Cheers
While KOTFE and KOTET certainly have their moments where a Force User makes the most narrative sense – namely some of the interactions with Valkorian and the events of Chapter 12. The role of the Alliance Commander that you fall into is much more of a tactically minded role than anything else. The story does a good job giving you those moments where the characters recognize that before becoming “The Outlander” you might not have had a reason to do this but now you kind of have to. My Imperial Agent was told at least once that “You were molded by the shadows of covert ops but you must be willing to step into the light and seize control” or some such.
Honestly, the one class I had the hardest time justifying playing through the story with was my Sith Warrior. I WAS the Emperor’s Wrath. Now all of a sudden I turn against him? Because he tried to kill a lot of people? Hell, _I_ kill a lot of people. FOR the Emperor no less.
Other Imperial classes that fit would be:
– Agent: You are military minded and most of KOTFE is running a guerilla military op against Zakuul.
– Bounty Hunter: They need someone to kill the Emperor. You are the best at hunting down and killing a target.
– Sith Inquisitor: Honestly, I could see the Inquisitor in KOTET being very much a successor to the Agent’s Darth Jadus. Especially a Light Side Inquisitor (Do not let that alignment fool you – they are manipulative bastards).
Thats pretty interestng about being the wrath and then having to turn sorta thing. Thanks for the feedback, I think I’ll do it as an agent or perhaps try out the inquisitor, I hear assassin is pretty fun.
I finished the Imperial Agent storyline a few days ago and I think its good but not amazing,incridible or the best one.Its a spy story,if you watched movies like Mission Impossible or 007 you may have an idea of what you will be getting into.Its worth playing or watching on Youtube,I liked it but I dont think its everything people say.
Hi! First I would like to say thank you for this list! Second I am wondering the chapters listed in these reviews is that just for expansion 1 or 2 and 3 as well? I’m just getting into the game and am curious on what to make for long run story. I am playing Counselor with a friend and a BH with my brother. Any thoughts on the other expansion stories?
Hope to hear back and thanks again for the read!
Hi! So I just got into the game and prefer to play as Republic! Does this listing include the expansions after the first? If it doesnt did those expansions change your mind on any of the classes?