Sith Inquisitor: You Are in Command Now

Unlimited Power

“If I were to die, all the knowledge you seek about the true nature of the Force will be lost with me. Learn the power of the Dark Side!” –Darth Sidious, Star Wars III:  Revenge of the Sith

The Sith Inquisitor is a careful and calculating strategist, priding his or herself on manipulating others and gaining power in the Force. This is the class who can channel that most dangerous and deadly of all Force abilities, Force Lightning. Pure, dark energies dance from their fingers, lashing out to destroy any who oppose them or stand in their way.

Coupling their mastery of force lightning with the deadly finesse of a lightsaber, Inquisitors can heal their allies, cause great harm to their adversaries, and even shield companions from the worst attacks of their enemies with great skill, quick and deadly movements, and the supreme mastery of shadows and the dark energy of the Force.

The Inquisitor lurks in the shadows, striking with deadly precision and cloaking their presence with ease until it is too late. They collect power, hidden lore, and forgotten secrets, all in the goal of adding to their mastery of the Force. Finally, the Inquisitor is a true master of complex plots and hidden machinations, priding themselves on their ability to neatly line up both allies and adversaries like helpless pawns on a Holochess board and moving them into position as the situation requires.

Character

“Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design.” -Darth Sidious, Star Wars VI:  Return of the Jedi

Your character begins on the origin world as a slave, first entering Korriban from a transport vessel bringing newly discovered Force-sensitive persons to train at the Sith Academy. Dialogue choices run a fairly wide range, so much so that I found it difficult to break them down into general categories. At times, you are able to select options that lead you towards more of a Light-side path, showing respect or kindness to your fellow trainees.

A number of dialogue choices highlight the Inquisitor’s ruthlessness and willingness to inflict terrible pain not only on enemies, but also prisoners or even just the weak – often, these include the dialogue choice of shocking someone (which I have to confess, is very tempting). Other times the dialogue allows the Inquisitor to focus on a more cold and calculating aspect, less openly violent and more subtly dangerous.

Finally, there are a myriad of options in how you interact with other Sith – everything from formally polite and sincere, to rude and dismissive, to flattering or even a bit groveling.

For the Sith Inquisitor, it’s hard to really pinpoint categories for dialogue. Instead, everything feels very fluid and dynamic, less of a cliché and constant stereotype and far more complex and difficult to summarize in only a few words. Ultimately though, this makes sense for the class that embodies Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious – someone who can be charming, calculating, ruthless, cunning, polite, violent, and compassionate in turn, depending on the context and what that situation called for. The Inquisitor, moreso than any other class, is truly the Chess master.

Story

“The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner; now I am the master.” -Darth Vader, Star Wars IV:  A New Hope

The story for the Inquisitor begins on Korriban, ancient homeworld of the Sith and a repository of great dark force energies. You arrive with other acolytes, stepping off the transport vessel and straight into your first encounter with an individual you will soon learn to loathe.

For the Inquisitor, much of the origin world story centers around being a slave that was discovered to have nascent Force talents; many of the individuals you encounter constantly remind you of your lack of worth compared to your compatriots in training, and by the time you finish the starting area, believe me – you will absolutely have learned to channel and master a lot of rage and resentment, as any good Sith should.

My largest issue with the story is not so much the story itself, which is fantastic and immersive. It’s the fact that as an Inquisitor, you are allowed to select Sith Pureblood as a racial option. The problem with this is that Purebloods are considered above the other races in the Empire, superior in nearly every way – in fact, you even pick up quests along the way to actually measure the “purity” of current Sith leaders to determine if they have the desired level of Sith Pureblood flowing in their veins.

When I first started my Inquisitor character, I rolled as a Pureblood – but the more I quested, the more I found myself struggling to make sense of the discrepancy between my race and the way all the non-player characters (NPCs) and quests treated me. Ultimately it became so distracting that I re-rolled as a Twi’lek instead.

Now, from a meta-gaming standpoint, I understand why the developers made this decision, even if I disagree with it. Given that the Jedi side has a race (Miraluka) that can be both Knight and Consular, it only makes sense to have the same balance of the Force-using Sith race (Sith Pureblood). Nor is it feasible to write a completely separate entry area for Sith Pureblood Inquisitors, granting them access to a story that made more sense for their lore and background.

I also realize that not everyone is quite as interested as the lore or background as I am, and in fact many players may not even be aware of the special status of the Sith Purebloods. All that said though, as a player I did find it disruptive – so that was my only complaint with the story. Otherwise, the story held together very well and really did help the player learn to channel rage, resentment, and anger for the better use of their emerging Sith power. Plus, it’s very hard to resist any opportunity where the quest dialogue offers you the choice to shock someone (there’s a reason I named my test character Milgram).

Abilities

“Young fool…Only now, at the end, do you understand.  Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the Dark Side.” -Darth Sidious, Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi

The Sith Inquisitor’s stock ability is force lightning, and this appears linked to many of your starting abilities.  At level 1, Inquisitors begin the game with the following abilities:

• Thrash (close-range melee attack)
• Saber Strike (a second, more powerful melee attack)
• Shock (a Force lighting attack that also stuns weaker enemies)
• Mark of Power (a buff that increases party member’s primary stat by 5% and also reduces elemental damage by 10%)
• Seethe (Inquisitor self-heal, with a very nice and fitting animation)

After the initial level 1 abilities, the Inquisitor gains roughly one new ability per level in the starting zone, as follows:

• Level 2: Force Lightning (ranged, single-target damage spell)
• Level 3: Overload (an Area of Effect, or AoE, knockback and damage spell)
• Level 4: Whirlwind (a crowd control, or CC, ability that removes an enemy from combat for 8 seconds or until they are attacked)
• Level 6: Electrocute (a damage ability with a stun)
• Level 8: Recklessness (a buff ability that increases your next damage or healing ability)
• Level 9: Unbreakable Will (an ability to free you from any movement impairing effects)

Itemization

“I can feel your anger. It gives you focus, makes you stronger.” –Darth Sidious, Star Wars III:  Revenge of the Sith

Sith Inquisitors seek willpower, first and foremost. Willpower gives them stronger spells, more energy to draw from, and an endless reserve of dark energy to lob at their adversaries. As a secondary stat, Inquisitors will see endurance on gear.

Sith Inquisitors begin the game with weapon proficiencies in Vibroswords, Training Sabers, and Lightsabers. Inquisitors can only make use of light armor, though as they move into their advanced classes, they are able to fulfill tanking roles, healing roles, and damage-dealing roles equally as well.

Combat

“The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.” –Darth Sidious, Star Wars III:  Revenge of the Sith

Combat as a Sith Inquisitor is highly enjoyable, and provides a very dynamic and engaging combination of good crowd control abilities, ranged spells and damage abilities, stuns, and melee damage abilities that will appeal to many different styles of player.  Inquisitor is one of the most versatile classes in the game, able to perform tanking, healing, ranged damage, and melee damage roles.

As Inquisitors are limited to light armor, the class can be a little “squishy” at first, especially if you find yourself in combat with groups of four or more. However, even at early levels you will find a very solid repertoire of stuns, knock-backs, and crowd control that allow the Inquisitor to juggle multiple adversaries with ease once you’ve gotten a little practice.

In fact, the class is so well-designed that you almost start to feel invincible in combat – which, given the philosophy and temperament of an Inquisitor in Star Wars lore, seems only fitting.

Companion

“I’m looking forward to completing your training. In time you will call *me* master.“ -Darth Sidious, Star Wars VI:  Return of the Jedi

The Sith Inquisitor’s first companion is an unusual creature, an eerie Dashade named Khem Val. He devours Force energies from both Sith and Jedi alike, using the power to fuel unnatural strength. According to legend, Khem Val is said to have devoured over a thousand Jedi at the battles of Yn and Chabosh. He is a hulking monstrosity, dangerous, powerful, and a little frightening in both appearance and demeanor.

In other words, he is the perfect choice of companion for a Sith Inquisitor. You encounter Khem Val fairly late in the story progression, though it’s definitely worth the wait when you do. As befits the fragility of an Inquisitor class (especially at early levels), Khem Val serves as a tank, providing protection for the growing Sith and occupying enemies while the Inquisitor channels Force lightning and hurls dark energies at foes.

Personally speaking, I was iffy on Khem Val at first. Having played most of the other starting zones by that point, and experiencing the myriad options for companions that other classes offer, having a looming, creepy monster following me around was not my ideal situation. The more I played though, the more Khem Val grew on me.

He is definitely strange and unsettling in appearance – and the more I played my Inquisitor, the more I enjoyed that. He seems to fit the Inquisitor well – quiet, brooding, and terrifyingly powerful and dangerous. In sum, I realized that Khem Val really is a very well-suited companion for the Sith Inquisitor, adding an even greater sense of eerie and unsettling disquiet to the Emperor’s class. Also, what is more frightening to your Jedi enemies than having your companion drain the very life Force from them as they die, only to fuel his own strength?

Summary

“I can feel your anger. I am defenseless. Take your weapon. Strike me down with all of your hatred, and your journey towards the Dark Side will be complete.” –Darth Sidious, Star Wars VI:  Return of the Jedi

The Sith Inquisitor class felt like everything it should in terms of the Star Wars universe: fast, deadly, and deceptively dangerous. The quests are well written and provide plenty of intrigue and darkness, while the dialogue choices allow for the player to create an incredibly complex personality through a myriad of responses.

The story really does a thorough job of encouraging the player to feel anger, rage, and resentment and wanting to channel that into terrible power that they can unleash at will upon those who have wronged them – or merely stand in their way. The combat feels smooth and fluid, and provides an engaging mix of ranged and melee abilities that are sure to appeal to players who enjoy spellcasters as well as those who enjoy hand-to-hand melee combat.

All in all, this Republic-minded lady definitely found a lot to recommend about the Sith Inquisitor, and I can understand why this is one of the most popular player classes in the beta.