An Unstoppable Force of Darkness.

 

There are not many foes who are as feared as the Sith Warrior. Both powerful and iconic, they are the fist of the Dark Side. They empower themselves through channeling their anger and hatred. Darth Vader is the true original concept of what a Sith Warrior should be. He is skillful in lightsaber combat, ruthless and unforgiving of failure in his subordinates and above all Vader served his master with unquestioning loyalty…. well, until he threw him down a shaft at the end of Return of the Jedi. The Old Republic looks like it is going to deliver us a Sith Warrior Class that is true to the nature of the concept.

The Warrior is based around melee combat with either a single or duel lightsabers depending on class specialization and uses force abilities such as Force Leap and Force Choke. This is not a ranged class. This is not a healing class. The Sith Warrior is a high armor/damage close combat specialist. It looks like the two specs (specializations) available to the Warrior in a group situation will be Tank or Damage. The tank spec is called Juggernaut and will focus on high armor and survivability, single light saber combat and threat generation. There has also been mention of “Dark Side Auras” that will strengthen allies and/or weaken foes. For those of you who are new to the MMO style of game play, the Juggernaut is the guy you want to stand behind most of the time. The Marauder is the damage spec and it will most likely be fast paced, aggressive and no doubt stylish. Marauders are your duel wielding Sith class. Personally I was hoping against hope that I could make a Zabrak Sith Warrior with a double bladed saber in the style of Darth Maul, but it seems the developers have decided to save the double bladed sabers for the more force orientated classes. Still, personal fantasies aside, duel sabers should prove both fun to play and stunning to watch. If it is raw dark side melee death and destruction you wish to play, then this will be you.

So, you’re a lean, mean, dark side fueled killing machine… with a pretty little blue skinned girlfriend. From what i can gather, all Warriors get the same Associate, who is a blue skinned Twi’lek named Vette. Born into slavery, separated from her family, became a pirate… you get the general idea. The true combat benefits of Associates is still a little foggy, but i believe they will probably lead to some storyline advancements and generally run your ship for you. Yes, you get a ship.

A Fury-Class Imperial Interceptor is what you shall have. Looking like a streamlined silver and black arrowhead, this ship is very sexy in my opinion. It is big enough for you and a small crew to rattle around in without tripping over each other. The true differences between the ships all the classes are being given is still to be fully explained but, as i just stated, this one looks stunning.

This is the Sith Warrior Class Introduction Video.

 

Combat System.

The Sith Warrior will harness his Rage as a combat mechanic. Basically you will have a rage bar under your health bar that is filled by some abilities and drained by others.

Force Choke

- Darth Vader style. Channeled ability that chokes your target.

Force Charge

- Distance closing leap ability. Has an interrupt mechanic.

Saber Throw

- Throws your lightsaber at an enemy.

Surge

- Powerful attack on your target with an area of effect knock back.

Impale

- Impale your target with your lightsaber. Might have a knock down effect.

Invincible

- Massive damage reduction for a short amount of time.

This final video is the Warrior Progression Video. Look out for the Marauders teleport / shadowstep ability. Also it is worth noting that not only does the Juggernaut block almost every blaster bolt that comes his way, but the artists have done an amazing job with his armor so that he actually looks like a tank.

 

-Gav.