Howdy, can I get some build advice? I am kinda lost on what direction to go and I have listed below my overall wish list.

• Dual Wield( I have read its not optimal, but I like the way it looks).
• Juyo Berserker - I plan to walk the line and slowly go dark side.
• I would like to construct some nice sabers
• I might need to be capable of being the "face" character

I can use pretty much anything from any of the books.

I have read on here that a Juyo with deflect is not optimal and they should focus on soak or whatever. Is this true?

Here is what the rest of the group is playing.

• Pilot/Sniper

• Ewok/Slicer

• Doctor/Scientist

• Droid Mechanic

• Mando/Bounty Hunter

Thanks again

What rules has the gm set.

Juyo Berserker is something of a "glass cannon;" while they're not nearly as fragile as an Ataru Striker, the function of the JB is to be aggressive and take out the enemy before they can take you out. They don't have access to Reflect all, which is a problem when dealing with ranged attacks, and their ranks of Parry are fairly sparse, which can be an issue if you're dealing with opponents using weapons with the Pierce or Breach quality. Delving into Colossus helps alleviate that concern, but has it's own problem in that you'll still be stuck at Force Rating 1 even with two specs under your belt. Or, you could go out of career and grab Armourer, which not only makes you more durable, but grants eventual access to a Force Rating talent and adds Mechanics as a career skill (see the next paragraph).

For lightsaber building, you'll want to invest in Mechanics, since that's the skill used to build hilts and modify the crystals, the later of which is important as you'll have to go into a second (or third if you took Colossus as I suggested above) spec if you want to get past Force Rating 1. It's not a career skill, so buying it up will be a bit more expensive, unless you buy a spec that offers Mechanics as a career skill.

For the face aspect, you can get by with the Influence power pretty well without having to invest points into Presence or even the various social skills. The control upgrade that lets you add your Force dice to social skill checks is nice, but you're hampered by being at Force Rating 1 for a while, especially if you opt to dive deep into the Juyo Berserker's talent tree. Honestly, you're probably not going to be real well suited for this as your career and spec's main focus is bashing bad guys until they drop, but I supposed it's better than not having any sort of face in the group.

In terms of characteristics, Brawn and Willpower will be your big ones, with Cunning coming next (having a decent score here helps with Perception, Survival, and a few other useful skills). Agility isn't bad, but isn't vital. Intellect and Presence are almost your dump stats, as the one Presence skill you care about (Cool) is already a career skill for you, and apart from Mechanics the same can be said of the majority of the Intellect-based skills.

I have read that some people say spend most of your starting exp to raise stats and not on skills/talents. Is that the approach I should take?

3 minutes ago, daggertx said:

I have read that some people say spend most of your starting exp to raise stats and not on skills/talents. Is that the approach I should take?

Definitely. More dice=more symbols potential. Upgraded dice just raise your odds of rolling symbols.

5 minutes ago, daggertx said:

I have read that some people say spend most of your starting exp to raise stats and not on skills/talents. Is that the approach I should take?

Depends on the length of the campaign.

If you're only going to be playing a handful of sessions, then not really as you won't get to any of the "good stuff" in that short time frame.

If you know the campaign is going to be going for several months at the very least, then yes, it behooves you to put as much of your starting XP into characteristics as you can, as it'll make your character more broadly capable.

Also, don't feel that you have to push Brawn up to 4. Yes, doing so does make this build very capable in melee combat and a bit more resilient, but it also narrows your options and capability when faced with situations that don't require a brute force approach. That, and the only downside to not having Brawn 4 at the start as opposed to getting your Brawn up to 4 later via Dedication is that you won't get the +1 to wound threshold, but that's a fairly minor trade-off.

Thanks for the help.

It is going to be a long term campaign and hopefully I dont make a mistake at the start and regret my character choice later down the rode.

Here is the thing Juyo Berserker is a highway to **** step on the gas quick trip to the Darkside. It gets worse when used with Unmatched Ferocity.

Embrace your hate can cause you to go Darkside in a single encounter because you can have 2 ranks in it so you gain conflict equal to the current darkside points in the pool twice per Encounter.

I have seen a character go from light side Paragon to Darkside in a single game session because Embrace your hate plus Unmatched Ferocity.

He killed everyone in a hallway battle on an epic scale not seen since Daredevil or the Raid.

6 hours ago, daggertx said:

Thanks for the help.

It is going to be a long term campaign and hopefully I dont make a mistake at the start and regret my character choice later down the rode.

Like Decorus says, Berserker is less a "slow slip into the dark side" and more a "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!!" kind of specialisation. You can slowly stumpble towards the dark side with literally any Force spec.

If you want to be kind of a face character, the Mystic's Makashi Duelist lets you use your Presence for Lightsaber combat. Mystic later on also offers Magus, essentially the Palpatine spec.

I can third Decorus' sentiment.

I am playing a JB in a friend's Clone Wars AU game and I sunk pretty low darkside pretty **** quick. However, I expected that. If you look at the tree, it's telling you a story. There's only one path to take on it, and it gets dark quick, But near the end of the progression, there's opportunity there for redemption.

I saw that tree and decided that was the story I wanted to tell with this character.

5 hours ago, micheldebruyn said:

Like Decorus says, Berserker is less a "slow slip into the dark side" and more a "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!!" kind of specialisation. You can slowly stumpble towards the dark side with literally any Force spec.

I'd disagree. Yes, it has two talents that net the character automatic conflict each session, but I'm pretty sure there was a dev statement somewhere that ranked conflict talents only give 1 point of conflict, not 1 point per rank.

As long as the player doesn't commit numerous conflict-generating actions each session, only earning an average of 4 conflict on top of what the talent gives, the character won't insta-plummet to the dark side if the GM is using the Morality rules as the book outlines them. Per Sam c/o the Order 66 podcast, the design idea is that a PC who earned an average of about 5 conflict each session would generally stay in the mid-range of the Morality scale, given an average result of a d10 roll at the conclusion of each session.

As they're written, it takes pretty determined effort and intent to go full on dark side, making it possible for a gradual slide towards the darker end of the spectrum without going full-on dark sider, with a Morality score hovering in the low 30's to mid 40's. Granted, it is entirely possible to get high rolls on the d10 and have your character pushed towards the higher end of the Morality spectrum, just as its possible to get low rolls and be plunged below the 30 threshold.

If a character acts like a blood-crazed murder-hobo, then yes they're going to be pushed to the dark side, but that's true no matter what career/spec combo they pursue. A Consular/Niman Disciple or Guardian/Soresu Defender may not get to dark sider status as a Juyo Berserker, an Aggressor, or a Magus, but that's only because those last three have auto-Conflict talents that make the slope a little more slippery.

17 hours ago, Decorus said:

Here is the thing Juyo Berserker is a highway to **** step on the gas quick trip to the Darkside. It gets worse when used with Unmatched Ferocity.

Embrace your hate can cause you to go Darkside in a single encounter because you can have 2 ranks in it so you gain conflict equal to the current darkside points in the pool twice per Encounter.

I have seen a character go from light side Paragon to Darkside in a single game session because Embrace your hate plus Unmatched Ferocity.

He killed everyone in a hallway battle on an epic scale not seen since Daredevil or the Raid.

I saw somewhere that you only get 1 conflict for having the talent even if you have it more than once

What about taking padawan then rolling into Juyo later after getting some quick deflect/parry?

Start with jedi:knight via the short/quick path to power rule in collapse of the republic (only characters jedi:knight or jedi:general are eligible) those 2 starting specs can spend 30 of their starting xp to raise starting fr to 2 to qualify for knight/general.

Knight gets you slightly face-ish (leadership and negotiation) and gets you improved parry if you HOLD 2 sabers one can have defensive bonuses on the off hand weapon and a high damage/pierce in the attack hand.

On 12/17/2019 at 1:04 PM, Daeglan said:

I saw somewhere that you only get 1 conflict for having the talent even if you have it more than once

Juyo gives 2 conflict a session.

It has a talent where each time you use it in an encounter adds the darkside points in the destiny pool to your conflict and 2 ranks means you can do it twice an encounter.

Unmatched ferocity lets you take multiple combat actions in a single round building up conflict and strain each time you take an additional action.

9 hours ago, EliasWindrider said:

Start with jedi:knight via the short/quick path to power rule in collapse of the republic (only characters jedi:knight or jedi:general are eligible) those 2 starting specs can spend 30 of their starting xp to raise starting fr to 2 to qualify for knight/general.

Knight gets you slightly face-ish (leadership and negotiation) and gets you improved parry if you HOLD 2 sabers one can have defensive bonuses on the off hand weapon and a high damage/pierce in the attack hand.

GM is not going to go for the quick path to power.

17 hours ago, daggertx said:

What about taking padawan then rolling into Juyo later after getting some quick deflect/parry?

16 hours ago, EliasWindrider said:

Start with jedi:knight via the short/quick path to power rule in collapse of the republic (only characters jedi:knight or jedi:general are eligible) those 2 starting specs can spend 30 of their starting xp to raise starting fr to 2 to qualify for knight/general.

Knight gets you slightly face-ish (leadership and negotiation) and gets you improved parry if you HOLD 2 sabers one can have defensive bonuses on the off hand weapon and a high damage/pierce in the attack hand.

Only if the GM allows it. I wouldn't.

6 hours ago, daggertx said:

GM is not going to go for the quick path to power.

Smart.

We have been playing at the table since 94 (AD&D) and I can talk him into a lot. I know his limits though!

5 hours ago, Tramp Graphics said:

Only if the GM allows it.

That goes for everything

5 hours ago, Tramp Graphics said:

I wouldn't.

Why not?

Also would you go for knight level xp rule in FaD (150 earned xp and +9K credits or a lightsaber?)

17 hours ago, EliasWindrider said:

That goes for everything

Why not?

Also would you go for knight level xp rule in FaD (150 earned xp and +9K credits or a lightsaber?)

Why not? simple. Becoming a full fledged Jedi knight is something a character should earn . The same with becoming a Master. That means paying their dues through the training and/or experience by working down the talent tree in order to get to that additional Force rating required to take those specs. So, if the player wanted to play the Jedi career, start out as a Padawan, as is proper for Jedi. If I were specifically doing a Knight level campaign? Sure. If the Knight Level character puts in enough of that XP into his or her first spec's talent tree to get down to the necessary Force rating talent, then sure, take the Knight spec. as a second spec.

4 hours ago, Tramp Graphics said:

Why not? simple. Becoming a full fledged Jedi knight is something a character should earn . The same with becoming a Master. That means paying their dues through the training and/or experience by working down the talent tree in order to get to that additional Force rating required to take those specs. So, if the player wanted to play the Jedi career, start out as a Padawan, as is proper for Jedi. If I were specifically doing a Knight level campaign? Sure. If the Knight Level character puts in enough of that XP into his or her first spec's talent tree to get down to the necessary Force rating talent, then sure, take the Knight spec. as a second spec.

That's BS reasoning, book says starting in knight is appropriate for someone who just graduated from padawan. Stories commonly start with rookies, newly minted professionals rather than kids. A jedi's on screen journey doesn't have to start as them being a juvenile.

Let's try to avoid derailing this thread too much please? It's a good argument, but I'd suggest starting a different thread for it as I don't think it will contribute to assisting the OP.

20 minutes ago, EliasWindrider said:

That's BS reasoning, book says starting in knight is appropriate for someone who just graduated from padawan. Stories commonly start with rookies, newly minted professionals rather than kids. A media's on screen journey doesn't have to start as them being a juvenile.

It isnt a BS argument. The Quick path to power option is an option the GM does not have to allow. Not to mention the Padawan tree has some REALLY good talents

😁

So anymore build ideas? The first game is tomorrow...

59 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

It isnt a BS argument. The Quick path to power option is an option the GM does not have to allow. Not to mention the Padawan tree has some REALLY good talents

Here's the reason WHY @Tramp Graphics argument is BS

While starting as a padawan/teenager is A valid place to start a jedi's story, it is not the only valid place to start their story, e.g. we don't see mace windu or yoda, or... (actually most jedi) as padawans on screen.

To put a finer point on it, why can a soldier's story start with him/her being a "commando" but a jedi's story can only start with him/her being a juvenile? No other career choice in the game has that restriction. (While clones are younger chronologically, they are still adults)

Moreover, why are people being so literal with spec names? A jedi career and "knight" spec could represent a sith apprentice or a jedi padawan. Based on what we see onscreen in TPM, obiwan's capabilities seem to be closer to a jedi:knight (spec) with a few hundred xp rather than the padawan spec, even though he hadn't been "knighted" yet in universe.

Regardless of whether the padawan spec has some "really good talents", a player might not want to take it. For example my current favorite 3 spec jedi build is jedi:knight/niman-disciple/padawan-survivor. The padawan survivor tree has the same layout as padawan and some of the talents are the same, but I'd much rather have constant vigilance and the secrets of the jedi and improved talents than the padawan's interesting talents. Of course you can't start with padawan survivor as a first spec because it's a universal. However taking padawan and padawan survivor is largely (not completely) redundant