Hey ho guys,
was kinda out of touch with this thread but got back up and read through all discussions and tips. And i have settled on Niman. For everyone who is in a similiar spot I will lay down my thoughts:
Circumstances: My character is a Jedi Padawan and i want to progress to Knight, for narrative reasons. To flesh out my Character i wanted to take a Light Saberform as the third spec (rather second and Knight third).
Contestants: As mentioned i was contemplaiting Light Saber forms. The following were contestants: Makashi, Soresu, Ataru and Niman.
Now we get to the gritty Stuff: My characters Job outside of combat will be two to threefold: Co-pilot, little bit Mechanic but most of the time be a source of "Jedi-Knowledge". The last part to a degree as Kanan is to Ezra in the Rebels series. Without the necessety of my char being the Face guy (which is also bad since i will GM at least 40% of the sessions) Makashi was on the cutting board. The nail in Makashis coffin is, that we are not playing in the old republic, and that our enemies include Storm Troopers, Inquisitors Bounty HUnters and the like. For all but Inquisitors Makashi just feels bad so thats that. Next to Soresu. Soresu is supposed to be the best defensive Form (lore wise) but every defensive thing it does Niman + Knight can do better. This means the only true benefit of Soresu would be to have Int as the Lightsaber characteristic. Niman on the other Hand allows my char to aquire a higher force rating, being the better defensive Form. This plus the fact that i can cover the Jedi Teachings and mechanic stuff by talents made me cut Soresu.
So now it was down to Ataru and Niman.
Ataru being the best offensive Form (HBS + SS is insane), having the second best utility (HBS, quick strike and quick draw jump up and saber throw) and having Ataru technique. Esp. the technique is a huge plus for Ataru since piloting stealth and ranged combat are Agi based. Niman on the other hand offers the best utility (draw closer, FR, force push if check failed, sum djem and so on), it is insanely good defensively (3 ranks of parry and reflect and 2 defensive training) while it is suprisingly good offensive with draw closer, sum djem and force push. It only weaknesses (the absence of improved parry and reflect) are shored up by knight. Also Padawan has temple training which boosts the offensive capabilities and Knights saber throw adds well to the Kit.
So all in all Padawan/Niman/Knight (PNK) > Padawan/Ataru/Knight (PAK) for me. The only thing where PAK excells PNK is when fighting minion grps, since HBS and SS make them the meat grinding death spinning jedi of doom +2. In all other aspects i feel PNK is superior.
Narrative wise: I like both PNK and PAK. PNK feels much more like Kanan, Rebels Ashoka or Cal Kestis (after Ilum) while PAK feels a whole lot like Ezra or Clone Wars Ashoka, and i imagine my character to be more like Kanan or Cal after Ilum. This ultimately led to my decision. I hope my thoughts are clear, and that they are helpfull to others.
Again huge Thx to all of you.
Edited by HeleonWoW