So now that the warrior book has come out and there officially is no two weapon fighting specialization for melee characters like Gunslinger for ranged I was wondering if anyone has made their own homebrew ones?

Thinking either it's own specialization for Jar'Kai or take Niman and have an alternate version that doesn't get the Force Rating talent and instead of a few of the other Niman talents gets a few two weapon talents.

One would be a talent that lowers the difficulty of two weapon fighting.

Another would possibly be a talent that allows for your two weapon fighting to hit two opponents instead of the usual one.

I guess the core question is how much do you really need for Jar'Kai? All you really need to be an effective two-lightsaber combatant is a shoto as your primary weapon (for the Accurate) and the Paired Weapons attachment from Fly Casual (reduces cost to trigger the secondary weapon's hit to 1 advantage). Spend a maneuver to Aim before attacking for an extra boost die, and you've got a pretty solid chance of striking with both weapons.

We've also seen in canon (pre- and post-reboot) that a number of Jedi are capable of dual-wielding pretty easily. Ahsoka does so constantly in later seasons of Clone Wars as well as in Rebels, and I believe she started out using Form V. Luke's done it numerous times in Legends, and he doesn't really adhere to any one particular Form.

Personally, I think a full spec is probably too much, especially since we're talking about Breach 1 weapons. A double-bladed lightsaber is pretty much a murderstick thanks to the Linked 1 properly, so a spec that makes dual-wielding a pair of Breach 1 weapons not only easier but adds other perks as well is probably testing the game's combat balance to a breaking point.

My thought is that if you really want a Jar'Kai ability is to just simply create a "Jar'Kai Training" special talent, which allows the user to mimic the Gunslinger talent that reduces the difficulty of attacking with two weapons, and then allow PCs to purchase that talent for 25XP.

Or, if you want a bit more complexity than a single talent, make it operate similar to a Force power, with a basic ability that starts off minor, such as reducing the advantage cost to hit with the second weapon by one (minimum of one), and then add a couple upgrades that provide ranks of Accurate (max 2), Defensive (max 2), Lethal Blows (probably no more than 2), an upgrade to bolster Sunder (target item is damaged one additional step?), as well as an upgrade making disarms a bit easier (reduce the advantage cost by one but can be used even on a miss)and cap it off with a Mastery Upgrade that lets you reduce the difficulty by one.

I would really have loved to see a dual wielding talent in Makashi Duelist in place of Defensive Training. Only having a single rank of that talent is such a waste (I don't mind having two+ ranks like Niman Disciple offers).

I have a few melee characters and brawl characters that have also looked for a two weapon spec that gives same satisfaction as gunslinger. I guess as a GM I don't look at a lightsaber or breach as a reason not to have a spec for melee two weapon fighters and also don't think the base rules is enough

2 hours ago, HappyDaze said:

I would really have loved to see a dual wielding talent in Makashi Duelist in place of Defensive Training. Only having a single rank of that talent is such a waste (I don't mind having two+ ranks like Niman Disciple offers).

Niman and Makashi together? Defensive Training-3. Pure joy.

3 hours ago, Vondy said:

Niman and Makashi together? Defensive Training-3. Pure joy.

Heck, Niman Disciple and Shii-Cho Knight.

My PC in a friend's on-hiatus campaign has those two specs (started Shii-Cho, branched into Niman). He's not too serious a problem from a distance, but the boy can chew through and spit out Inquisitors like nobody's business, thanks to a combo of Defensive Training 3, Parry 5, Improved Parry, and Sense (control upgrade for defense + Duration + Strength upgrades) and enough Brawn and ranks in Lightsaber to largely ensure he'll hit and it will hurt , whether it be from Improved Parry or just a standard lightsaber attack.

26 minutes ago, Donovan Morningfire said:

Heck, Niman Disciple and Shii-Cho Knight.

My PC in a friend's on-hiatus campaign has those two specs (started Shii-Cho, branched into Niman). He's not too serious a problem from a distance, but the boy can chew through and spit out Inquisitors like nobody's business, thanks to a combo of Defensive Training 3, Parry 5, Improved Parry, and Sense (control upgrade for defense + Duration + Strength upgrades) and enough Brawn and ranks in Lightsaber to largely ensure he'll hit and it will hurt , whether it be from Improved Parry or just a standard lightsaber attack.

Also good!

I would actually take Ataru as a base, you only need to make a single change. Replace Saber Swarm with:

Dual Wield: Perform a manoeuvre to reduce the difficulty of the next two weapon combat check you make this round by 1.

Hawk Bat Swoop already provides a way to hit with the second weapon with Force Pips.

I dunno if a special Specialization is really necessary as other's have shown there are plenty of options within other specs. The key is to be good, ie. have a high Skill Rank and the appropriate Attribute. Really it comes down to rolling well enough to hit and activate the second hit.