The original Lara Croft movie, starring Angelina Jolie, was going to be on TV over the weekend. And we all know that Lara Croft likes to use two pistols as she raids the tombs. Since I've never used pistols in KoTOR with the main character, I decided to try and make the main character as close to Lara Croft as possible, within the confines of KoTOR. I've since played through the game with her, and it worked perfectly, even better than I thought it would!
So, here is the Lara Croft Player Character Profile for SW KoTOR.
I try to make sure that all of my character profiles are non-gender specific. However, for this build, the character must be a female, because Lara Croft is. A male could be played out just as easily of course, but to stay in the heart of the build, it should stay female. Oh, and I found that the portrait (face) with the ponytail braid and the few bangs in front resembled Lara Croft the most, so that's the one I used.
I decided that she would start as a Scout, and then become a Jedi Guardian. I would have preferred that she started as a Scoundrel, but due to the free feats given via the Scout versus the feats with the Scoundrel, the Scout won. You'll see why when you read the details below. And besides, the Scout clothing looks closer to what Lara Croft would wear, doesn't it?
And now, here's what you've all been waiting for... the details.
Name: Lara Croft (Obviously)
Beginning Class: Scout Level 7
Jedi Class: Jedi Guardian Level 13
Force Alignment: Light-side
| Attribute | Start | Mod | End | Mod | Bonus Description |
| Strength | 10 | +0 | 10 | +0 | not raised |
| Dexterity | 16 | +3 | 30 | +10 | raised via 5 lvl-up points & equipment bonuses |
| Constitution | 12 | +1 | 12 | +1 | not raised |
| Intelligence | 14 | +2 | 14 | +2 | not raised |
| Wisdom | 12 | +1 | 17 | +3 | raised via SF robes |
| Charisma | 12 | +1 | 12 | +1 | not raised |
| Final Saves | Final Stats |
| Fortitude: 24 | Vitality: 226 |
| Reflex: 33 | Force: 144 |
| Will: 24 | Defense: 31 |
(The saves are greatly increased due to equipment boosts.)
As usual, you will get 5 attribute points through level ups during the game. I put all of them into Dex, to raise it from 16 to 21. Since Lara is going to use her pistols for nearly all of the game, Strength is unnecessary. You could refuse to put any attribute points into Strength and leave it at 8 with a -1 modifier, freeing up two more attribute points to use elsewhere, but I simply prefer to avoid negative modifiers altogether for all my characters.
A high Dexterity is a must, because it will boost the to-hit factor for the pistols, making them better to use, and at the same time the modifier (of eventually 10) will boost the defense as well. Defense is a must when wielding pistols, as it's nearly impossible to defend against melee attacks otherwise. I raised Constitution to 12 for the same reason. It'll give added vitality for every level. Dexterity will also boost the lightsaber attack rating, should you decided that during a particularly tough fight Lara needs to fight melee.
I raised Intelligence to 14, in order to have 24 skill points to distribute at character creation, and then 4 skill points to distribute at every level-up. Why so many skills, you ask? Primarily, so I could fully repair HK-47 and still have enough points in the other skills to be worthwhile. In case you didn't know, HK-47 requires a 17 repair skill to fully repair. Fortunately, you can use the Valor force power tree to raise it a couple points. I like to make balanced characters as much as possible, both combat and skill, so don't be surprised to read future builds that have quite a few skills.
Jedi Guardians receive the least amount of Force points, and the least amount of Force Powers. And, with that in mind, Lara Croft isn't really the type of person to use offensive powers. She has spent her life training, in self defense combat. Therefore, in this build, she only has self-affecting Force Powers (most of which are light-sided). With the exception of Force Supression/Breach, no one will be resisting or saving against her powers, because they will all be affecting herself, but more on that later. I only mention it now to explain why her Wisdom and Charisma attributes are relatively low, each at 12 for most of the game. They won't need to be high to affect her.
A Brief Note on Skills:
If you like doing most things yourself in the game, like I do, then build up the skills for Lara. If you don't mind using the other teammates to do certain jobs, then you don't have to bother. I leave it up to you to decide. Each person's play style is different. However, remember, this is supposed to be as close to Lara Croft as you can get, and she is quite smart as we know her. With an Int score of 14, you'll have plenty of skill points to distribute as you please.
Here are Lara's final feats:
17 are automatic, 12 are manually chosen, and 2 are given via equipment bonuses
*feats with this mark are automatic and free
Two Weapon Fighting, Improved, and Master (3 chosen)
Light* and Medium* Armor Proficiency (2 free)
Empathy (1 chosen)
Flurry* and Improved Flurry (1 free, 1 chosen)
Conditioning (1 chosen)
Implant Lvl 1*, Lvl 2*, and Lvl 3 (2 free, 1 chosen)
Rapid Shot*, Improved and Master (1 free, 2 chosen)
Pistol Proficiency* and Focus* (1 auto-free, 1 equipment-free)
Rifle Proficiency* and Focus* (1 auto-free, 1 equipment-free)
Lightsaber Proficiency* and Focus (1 free, 1 chosen)
Melee Proficiency* (1 free)
Uncanny Dodge 1* and 2* (2 free)
Toughness and Improved (2 chosen)
Force Jump*, Improved*, and Master* (3 free)
Jedi Sense*, Improved*, and Master* (3 free)
Force Sensitivity* (1 free)
You really can't go wrong with this feat selection for this specific build. The free non-Jedi feats listed above are exactly why I finally chose the Scout class over the Scoundrel class. Due to my selection of equipment to boost attributes, I required lvl 3 implants, the first two levels of which are free with a lvl 5 Scout.
I went to lvl 7 in order to get Uncanny Dodge 2. You would get the same amount of feats (except Uncanny Dodge 2) with a level 5 Scout, and you would get a few more Force powers since you'd get more Jedi Guardian levels, but with this build, more Force powers are unnecessary, and there's nothing wrong with the bonuses to saves from Uncanny Dodge 2.
Because this was my first time using pistols with the main character, I wasn't quite sure how well it would go during combat, so I planned for Lara to use a lightsaber as a backup to her guns if she needed it for the tougher battles. That's why I chose Improved Flurry and Lightsaber Focus. The Lara Croft we all know and love is adept in using melee weapons (though she doesn't use them nearly as much as her guns), so it's reasonable to assume she would be adept with a lightsaber, especially as a Jedi Guardian. That being said, I had her use pistols for the entire game, and she never had much of a problem. The final battle with Malak was sort of challenging, but I still beat him using the pistols.
Having the lightsaber isn't absolutely necessary with this build, but if you're not that used to KoTOR yet, it's good to have it as a backup. Lara will be more effective and efficient in combat with the lightsaber compared to the pistols as they are inherently more damaging than even the best fully upgraded pistols. Pistols make up for that with differing effects though, like chances to stun, physical damage, or ion damage, depending on which you choose to wield. And in the spirit of the Lara Croft character, pistols should be used whenever possible, because they are her specialization.
Here are Lara's final Force powers (14 total):
Cure/Heal (2)
Burst of/Improved/Master Speed (3)
Force/Knight Valor (2)
Force Resistance/Immunity (2)
Energy Resistance/Improved (2)
Affect Mind(1)
Force Suppression/Breach(2)
Most of these Force Powers are light-side aligned. Some are neutral and none are dark-side aligned. Because of this, and the fact that Lara Croft isn't the type of person to use offensive powers, this build is for a light-side aligned character.
I chose these Force powers to buff/boost Lara's defense and abilities in combat. Again, it's because of her use of pistols instead of melee. The more buff she is, the better. When I played it out, she relied on Master Speed more than the other powers, because it boosts her defense, and gives her extra attacks per round. Coupled with Master Rapid Shot, it let her take down most enemies in a single round.
Note: Force Suppression and Breach were chosen last. They're needed to eliminate Malak's 'Jedi Batteries' in the final fight of the game. Otherwise, with those batteries, you would have to face Malak up to 9 times before finally being able to kill him.
And now, for the equipment. Before I list it, I must say that many of these items are premium & unique and are therefore expensive. Save all the credits you can to buy the belt, head, implant, and hand equipment in the following list. Some of the equipment will not be available until after escaping the Leviathan, when Mika Doran's shop in the Korriban Cantina becomes available, so you'll have to go with different stuff until then.
Here are Lara's final equipment set:
Gordulan Reaction System (+4 Dex) - Implant Lvl 3, bought from Mika Doran in the Korriban Cantina
Combat Sensor (+2 Dex, Pistol Focus & Rifle Focus feats free) - Headgear, bought from Tybark on Manaan
Karakan Gauntlets (+1 Dex, +3 to All Saves) - Hand gear, bought from the hanger bay kiosk on Tatooine.
Star Forge Robes (+5 Defense bonus, +2 All Saves, +5 Wis, Light-side specific) - Found on Star Forge, lvl 2
Qel-Droma's Robes (+3 Defense bonus, +2 Wis) - In the cave on Korriban; wear until you can get the SF robes later
Verpine Prototype Shield (each arm) - One can be found on Saul's corpse, others can be found in the Temple of the Ancients on the Unknown World. Any shield will work.
Adrenaline Stimulator (+2 Dex, +4 to All Saves) - Belt bought from Mika Doran in the Korriban Cantina
I suggest buying the CNS Strength Enhancer (+2 Strength, +2 to All Saves) from the Twi'lek shop on Dantooine as soon as possible to use until you can get the Adrenaline Stimulator. Then, put the CNS Enhancer on one of your teammates so that s/he can make use of it when Lara no longer does. There is a +3 Dex implant that you can buy on Kashyyyk that Lara can use until the Gordulan Reaction System can be purchased.
The rest of the equipment can be bought as soon as you have enough credits. If you're running low on them, don't worry. You should have enough after you loot the Leviathan to get most of them, if you can wait that long. Otherwise, try your hand at Pazaak or try swoop racing to get more credits.
And last, but not least, here are the three final weapons of choice for Lara:
Pistols:
Main Hand: Saul's Sith Assassin Pistol (loot off his corpse)
If you go with the exact build listed here, it will do 7-19 damage per attack, with a +34 attack rating.
For the off hand, if you don't want to 'cheat', purchase Cassus Fett's Heavy Pistol from the first shop in Dreshdae on Korriban and fully upgrade it. It'll do somewhere around 6-18 damage. However, since Lara Croft uses two of the same pistols as we see her, I duplicated Saul's pistol with the Manaan Glitch that I will describe in another post. Saul's pistol is the best in the game, so it seemed fitting that she have two of them to weild. I don't consider it to be cheating, per say, but some of you reading this might, so you do have other options.
Off Hand: Copy of Saul's Sith Assassin Pistol, same damage with a +32 attack rating.
Backup/secondary weapon:
Lightsaber: Double-bladed/Staff
Color: Blue
Crystal Upgrades: Solari & Upari
Damage with this specific build: 6-31 both hands
Main Hand: +35 attack rating
Off Hand: +33 attack rating
The only time I was tempted to use the lightsaber was during the final battle with Malak. As I said already, I accomplished the fight with pistols, but I figured it was prudent to have a backup plan in case. I recommend that you save your game before you begin the final fight with Malak, and then play it out with each weapon set. You'll be surprised at how different the fight will be, both in tactics and in length.
Well, that is the complete Lara Croft PC Profile for SW KoTOR. If you have any comments and/or suggestions, feel free to use the comment option available at the bottom of this post.
I hope you've enjoyed this player character profile. Feel free to try it out yourself, and play as a Star Wars version of Lara Croft! Tweak it, mess with it, and see if you can improve it for YOUR playing style. This build is perfect for my playing style, but if yours differs, and it just might, there's enough leeway to allow changes. At the very least, I hope this information will give you inspiration for your own character profiles.
So, until next time, may the Force be with you.
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