Hi mates, I am going to play my first Star Wars campaign under the FFG flagship and I'm seeking some guidance. The game will be a FaD using the pre-written adventures until we get a hold on the rules and dice.

Right now I'm torn between two characters concepts and I will like to ask some questions to see what specializations will complement their careers:

First one will be a Pantoran Makashi duelist, but missing any rank on Reflect made me consider dipping into the Niman spec for getting some Reflect talents and maybe Seer to improve my FR.

Second one is a Mirialan Ataru Seeker. I'm planning to take Seer for some flavor and improving my FR, but I'm not sure if I need to dip into another lightsaber spec to cover the Ataru weaknesses if any, maybe Niman, or Soresu...

I'm open to suggestions. Thanks for your time.

Don't plan too far ahead yet. Focus on a single characteristic and perhaps 2 or 3 skills associated with it. Think more about having something to do in most encounters, combat, social, exploration etc.

So the Pantoran will be an excellent Face character, lots of social skills, great with Cool (one of the initiative skills), and deadly in a Lightsaber Dual. But be wary that many social skills are opposed by Willpower, so if NPC's talk back and you don't have ranks in Discipline or a higher than starting Willpower then you will struggle.

Do you need Reflect? Perhaps, but there are many ways to get a few ranks of Reflect if your finding it a problem. Niman Disciple, Protector, and Sentry all have at least 1 rank in Reflect and a Force Rating talent if you're keen on that.

For the Mirialan the biggest weakness in Ataru is not having any enemies left to kill... no seriously their limit is in Strain Recovery, they can burn a lot of Strain. Hawk Bat Swoop is excellent for recovering strain, if you roll Light Side pips, but that then limits your offence.

IF you go Ataru Striker, taking Seer will be an Out of Career spec, so it'l be 10XP higher than if you started with Makashi Duelist. However, Ataru is a seriously badass spec, particularly since it does include multiples of both Parry and Reflect, whereas Makashi Duelist lacks any Reflect talents, but has more Parry talents. a good complement to Ataru is Soresu. It's probably the best defensive form there is, whereas Ataru is the best offensive form. Somoen who is a master of both would be seriously badass.

One other thing you should consider when making your choice is your career skills as well, not just the talents. What base Career overall, do you want your character to be. Starting as a Ataru Striker, you're a Seeker, which includes both Piloting skills as well as Survival, Vigilance and Knowledge (Xenology) on top of the Ataru Strikers skills. Makashi Duelist is a Mystic, which has Coercion, Charm, Knowledge (Lore), Knowledge (Outer Rim), Perception, and Vigilance as it's career skills.

Mates,

Thanks for the information. I am more inclined for the Ataru Striker/ Soresu Defender. Most of the times I end being the Face of the party so this will be a nice refreshing change.

I see my character starting as an explorer for the Order looking for lost Jedi temples and relics, later taking Soresu and maybe Protector to be Tank/Support and Field Medic.

The career skills for Seeker are fantastic for exactly that, especially that you can be pilot/driver with your Agility

Thanks guys!!!

I'd say sit down and play the game...learn how it all works, get the mechanics down....THEN start trying to min/max a character.

I don't think it's a good idea to get a second lightsaber spec until you reach 1000 XP or more, unless the second spec is Niman. Ataru benefits greatly from a high FR.

My plans is to keep Ataru for a while I really like that spec. Maybe dipping into Navigator (didn't see that spec before) for the FR and continue my explorer wanderer/ theme and down the road Soresu. I really like to envision a long term goal for my characters if I make it awesome if I don't, oh well... regardless I always enjoy the ride.

If you're going ataru and want FR you can stay in the Seeker career and go Hermit(Savage Spirits) as it also has 2 FR bumps.