The Fanatical Swordsman

 
As most people who play Star Wars: The Old Republic know, Bioware considers their Story as their “fourth pillar,” along with Exploration, Combat, and Progression. Because of this lofty goal, they had every storyline fully voice-acted, and they gave each class their own completely fleshed-out stories.

I want to rank each story by its natural divisions. Each story has the Prologue and three Chapters. The Prologue is separated into two different sections (in my mind) of the 1-10 Starter Planets and Coruscant/Dromund Kaas. I will tackle the 1-10 Starter Planets today.

I will give my ranking first, then I will fully explain my position with potential spoilers, so if you just want to see what I think, don’t go past the big spoiler text. Feel free to comment on all of the rankings and provide your own if you want! Be sure to add your reasoning as well! Also stay tuned for more rankings of the additional parts, as well as the ultimate story ranking at the end! Which class will win?

Here is my ranking. They are also links in case you only want to read my analysis of certain classes. Be careful while scrolling!

1. Trooper – 10/10
2. Inquisitor – 9/10
3. Agent – 9/10
4. Bounty Hunter – 8/10
5. Smuggler – 8/10
6. Warrior – 7/10
7. Knight – 7/10
8. Consular – 5/10

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

 
 
 
 

 

Trooper

Rating: 10/10

Reason: Overall, the Trooper had the exact feel I was wanting. You have an awesome team with cool specializations, you are an expert at what you do, and people respect you (that is, except Aric Jorgan). The twist at the end of Ord Mantell is the real reason why this is number one, however. It really sets the tone for the rest of the story. You are promoted and given a huge responsibility, but the sense of betrayal really drives you through Chapter 1.
 

 

Inquisitor

Rating: 9/10

Reason: The Inquisitor really has three things going for it in this section of the story: puzzles and intrigue, resentment, and Khem Val. Because of the nature of the Inquisitor, it is very much a story about increasing your power through the exploration of your abilities and the relics of the past imbued with power from their former owners. The resentment comes from being the absolute underdog: a slave from the dregs of Sith society. You will be elevated, but not without a lot of hard work. Khem Val is what really makes this part of the story though. He one of the few companions you have to defeat in combat to obtain, so that was an interesting part of the story. He is a humorous character; I mean, how many companions in the game clean up after your level-grinding massacres by EATING THE VICTIMS?!? He also has a rich and interesting history, so all in all, any story that brings a character like this to you makes for a great addition to the game.
 

 

Agent

Rating: 9/10

Reason: The Imperial Agent gets the number three spot mainly because of the Bond-like first part of the story. I really enjoyed the accents this character used throughout his career, which (in addition to other things) also reminded me of Michael Westen from Burn Notice. Subterfuge, sabotage, and deception are the hallmarks of this first part of the story. Also, to this class’ advantage, it doesn’t have any precedent in the official canon really. This means Bioware could really go all out and create whatever story they wanted, which turned out quite nicely.
 

 

Bounty Hunter

Rating: 8/10

Reason: The Bounty Hunter was almost as interesting as the Agent to me. You are a hopeful contestant in the Great Hunt, a Mandalorian-run bounty-hunting competition. The first part of the story is marked by a brutal act for which you seek vengeance. This part of the story and the ensuing relationship with your companion Mako is actually quite touching, and the process of getting into the competition is fun and feels pretty epic. Overall, a good start to a fantastic story. The only complaint I have is they should have had the brutal act by Tarro Blood come later. This would have created more emotional attachment with the victim(s).
 

 

Smuggler

Rating: 8/10

Reason: I have raved about the Smuggler story from day one, mainly because it was my first SWTOR experience. As you can see, though I deeply love it and have an emotional bond with it, I have tried to be honest about the other stories as well, and so this story gets placed a little lower on my list than I would probably like. The good things about it are the Smuggler one-liners (as always), the revenge aspect, the ever-present [Flirt] factor (male Smuggler), the ONLY actually smuggling that we do in the entire game practically, and the inclusion of another great companion, the ever-loyal bro, Corso Riggs. Overall, a good experience, even if the quest for getting your ship back can get a little monotonous sometimes.
 

 

Warrior

Rating: 7/10

Reason: This is a strong story from start to finish, but it does get a little cliché. I expected a Warrior to be awesome, brutal, epic, and totally dominate the competition. That is exactly what happened. Kinda predictable, but if you like the Sith ideal and like being that kind of person (at least in a game), then it is the perfect story for you. A lot of the character-building depth in the story comes later in the story, so while you feel awesome, it only gets a 7/10 for me.
 

 

Knight

Rating: 7/10

Reason: This class has a lot going for it, both aesthetically (can anyone say “lightsaber”) and in the future parts of the story. The big issue comes in the predictability of this first part of the Prologue. I really expected most of it, if not all of it. It was so cliché, that I almost gave it a 6/10, but then I remembered two things: T7-01 and Bengal Morr. The first companion that you get, T7 is a little spitfire droid. I love the “math-speak” that he uses (like “T7 + Jedi = good times for all”). Bengal Morr is the first nemesis that you face as a Knight. After his defeat, like any good Jedi, you can try to redeem him to the Light side of the Force. Doing so has ramifications later, which is why this one gets bumped up to a 7/10.
 

 

Consular

Rating: 5/10

Reason: It isn’t that I hate the WHOLE Consular story. I do, however, hate the Prologue in its entirety. It is boring, slow, cliché, and full of the typical Jedi stuff without all of the things that make the Jedi interesting. To top it all off, instead of a full-fledged Dark Jedi to fight like in the Knight story, you get a local villager with delusions of grandeur, which is not epic at all. The only redeeming aspect (which bumped this from a 4/10 to a 5/10) is the exploration of Jedi history on Tython. It could have been more detailed and involved a few more puzzles frankly. It is heavy on the talking, and not so much on the learning and the puzzle-solving that I expected. It is weird, as a scientist, I really expected to like the Consular the best of all the classes for the exploration-of-lore aspect. There was not as much as there should have been. It was almost TOO MUCH of a MMO for me. Oh well, it gets better, don’t worry!

Check back next time for my analysis of the rest of the Prologue on Coruscant and Dromund Kaas!