I know this is an old thread but...
You should APPLAUD players who try to do things other than just fight. Yes maybe he wasn't perfect but the fact he doesn't want to be a combat murder hobo is fine. If you're doing ALL combat all the time and barely peppering in social stuff then you might be doing it wrong. In any Star Wars movie there are 3-4 battles and the rest is all social/knowledge/planning, etc. So, I wouldn't come down on him for trying to not fight. His approach might not be great in your examples but... it's not a bad thing. This isn't a "Kill things and take their stuff" system.