So here I am, a newly minted Shadow with a Double-Bladed Lightsaber and and a bad attitude. I've picked up the same Skill set that I did as Tasia: Artifice, Archaeology, and Treasure Hunting. Partially to reflect Alia "remembering" things she knew as Tasia, but mostly because there are only a couple of Jedi in our Guild, and I wanted to make sure I could get Lightsaber crystals as I advanced.
Honestly, the Jedi Consular story didn't grip me the way the Sith Inquistor, Sith Warrior, or even the Republic Trooper's did. Maybe it was because I was playing against type, or because I felt more pressure to level up quicker to get to 10 before our first Guild Game on Monday, but it just didn't seem as interesting. As usual, I'll reserve detailed analysis for the spoiler section after the portrait.
Other than that there's not much else to say. The downside to the way that The Old Republic mirrors classes is that when I went from Sith Inquisitor to Jedi Consular, I ended up playing the exact same character. it is only now, at level 10, that things have changed, and I haven't had a chance to do anything with the new abilities yet. So we'll conclude things here and go to the spoiler section.
Tasia, Level 16 Sith Sorceress, Imperial Fleet
Alia, Level 10 Jedi Shadow, Republic Fleet
(SPOILERS follow.)
(Beware of falling SPOILERS.)
Right, so the Jedi Consular starting story involves you tracking down some ancient training holograms that date back to the founding of the Jedi Order. However, when you try to recover them, you discover that one of them has been stolen. The rest of the plot involves your finding out who stole it, why, and what was so special about that one hologram. Along the way you learn some cool things about the beginning of the Order, and have to make some tough decisions, but even so it still didn't feel as much about me the way the other storylines I've played through have. It felt like any Padawan could have done my job.
Part of the problem, I think, is the way the game encourages you away from playing an interesting character. There are mechanical benefits to going All Dark Side or All Light Side, so if you want as effective a character as possible, you should pick a lane and drive down it as fast as possible. You start getting access to Light Side or Dark Side only gear as early as level 10, and the only way to get either set at that level is to be a saint or a mass murderer. There's not a lot of room for character nuance if you want to be able to get the cool Red Lightsaber. And that's a shame.
That said, I have had fun playing the Bad Girl of the Jedi Order. There's one point where you discover a Force Sensitive Flesh Raider. The Flesh Raiders are marauding cannibals who raid the local Twi'lek village for food. You've tracked down this particular Flesh Raider and the Twi'lek boy he's kidnapped, and discovered that he wants to get Jed training! The Light Side decision is to take him up on it, but if you pick the Dark Side version, you get to use the Force to hurl him off the cliff edge he's standing on and into a huge bonfire in the middle of the Flesh Raider camp! It was a pretty cool moment.
Going Dark also lets you encourage passion, which in this case meant that I conspired to conceal a sexual relationship between Padawans in defiance of the Jedi Code. Considering that it's supposed to be possible to romance some of your companions, I wonder how Light Side Jedi handle that contradiction? No nookie for good Jedi?
Well, that's not going to be a problem for Alia, who's got 650 Dark Side points already. Watch out, world, there's a Dark Jedi on the loose!
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