Star Wars Saga Edition: Defensive Tank?

[Particle_Man]

I was thinking Jedi 7/Soldier 1/Jedi Knight 7 so far, focusing talents on:

Block, Deflect, Redirect Shot, and Damage Reduction 10 as Jedi,

Harm's Way as Soldier

Shii-Cho, Soresu, Shien, and Force Fortification as Jedi Knight.

The Force Techniques might involve a lot of Force Point Recovery.

Feats could include Weapon Focus (Lightsaber), Triple Crit, & Skill Focus: Use the Force, but I haven't figured out all of it yet.

I was thinking maybe Jedi Master for the last 5 levels, and using some of that Rebuke and Negate Energy mojo to increase the defensive tank aspect.

So am I missing something important, or am I on the right track?

 

[RigaMortus2]

Improved Damage Theshold might be nice too...

 

[Particle_Man]

Good point! And I think I will forget about Jedi Master and take 2 more levels of Jedi, 2 more levels of soldier (for Devastating attack) and 1 level of Elite Trooper (for Greater Devastating attack). I could also throw in Whirlwind attack (with a one feat prerequisite, that is quite a nice one, in case I am bodyguard to someone that can't move as easily as I can, and we get mobbed).

 

[Acid_crash]

If you want to really focus on defense, you can maybe substitute levels of Jedi to Soldier and take the Armor Talents to boost up your Reflex defense more.

 

[Donovan Morningfire]

A pure defensive tank would be better served with Soldier and Elite Trooper levels than any kind of dip into Jedi.

As Acid_crash mentioned, the Armor Defense tree is great for jacking up your Reflex Defense. Pick up advanced melee weapons for a vibro-ax if you want to crank out the damage, since the lightsaber's ability to bypass DR doesn't effect combat very often (unlike RCR where it pretty much negated armor and got unholy damage increases for Jedi/Sith wielders). Harm's Way is great for making sure the bad guys attack you instead of your buddy. Devastating Attack will go a long ways towards ensuring the other guy is either out of the fight quicker, as you'll have a better chance of moving him down the condition track. Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization further boost your damage potential.

Elite Trooper's intrisic DR isn't as nice as the Control talent, but you don't have to spend Force Points to use it either. And it does provide you with some nifty combat talents too boot. The Improved Defense feat is just as good (if not better) than Niman, since you're going to have a lot more feats than you would talents.

One thing to watch out for with Whirlwind Attack is that there's been some grumbling about potential errata/clarification on the WotC boards to state that it affects all adjacent characters, not just opponents. Don't know if it'll happen or not, but just a point to consider.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

One thing to watch out for with Whirlwind Attack is that there's been some grumbling about potential errata/clarification on the WotC boards to state that it affects all adjacent characters, not just opponents. Don't know if it'll happen or not, but just a point to consider.

What's the reasoning behind that (possible) errata? It doesn't work that way in DnD... different systems I know, but not that much so.

SRD Whirlwind

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

What's the reasoning behind that (possible) errata? It doesn't work that way in DnD... different systems I know, but not that much so.

SRD Whirlwind

Well, the SAGA version is pretty different from the original feat. Essentially, you turn your melee attack into an area attack.

 

[Donovan Morningfire]

Well, the SAGA version is pretty different from the original feat. Essentially, you turn your melee attack into an area attack.

Hence, the crux of the problem, as you normally can't distinguish between friend or foe with an area attack (I know there's a Force Talent that lets you exclude people when using a Force Power with a cone effect, but that's all that comes to mind). I've read some people ruling you hit everybody adjacent to you, others that you bypass adjacant allies. Personally I'm leaning towards the hit everybody (especially with the drastically reduced prerequisites).