The last time I wrote about Star Wars: The Old Republic for Choose My Adventure was in 2019. Obviously a lot has changed since then, but the MMORPG itself still feels and looks as comfortable as when I left it.

All the same, it’s been a while since I returned to the game in any capacity. I seem to recall firing it up maybe a year or two ago, back when I was hoping to play the game in my family group as a group but got frustrated with how being a tank didn’t feel very good. In any event, I elected to take this turn back in this galaxy far, far away to reacclimate myself with my bundle of characters.

First off would be that tank character, a Sith Inquisitor that I’ve taken up with the Sith Warrior combat form. Grouping gnarliness aside, it was good to be back in the boots of this creepy old man that I’d cobbled together and I found myself enjoying the overall combat routines of the class and spec I’d assigned for him. SWTOR always feels like one of those games that I never really forget how to control, partially because I’ve had years of experience with it by now.

The story for this class itself is at what I believe to be the start of act two here, if I remember the structure of SWTOR correctly, which is new territory for me. Or at least it’s been long enough away from the game that I don’t really remember the narrative beats; the only stories I’ve actually seen to completion over my years of play have been the Bounty Hunter and Sith Warrior.

This reintroduction to my Sith was a good stepping stone into the game overall and made me pleased that I remembered the base mechanics of it all. The story at this point was put on pause for a moment after I headed to Tatooine. I figured I should take a few more moments to dig through the rest of my roster before I got too involved and wrapped up in things.

The next character on the list was my Republic Trooper, who is using the Vanguard Plasmatech spec. This one took a bit more getting used to since there’s that whole heat buildup and spend mechanic with the class, but I eventually got back into the swing of things here too. Most of this one’s combat routines appears to be all about missiles, missiles, missiles. And a rail gun shot now and again when it procs.

Of the ones I played, I kind of felt like I was zoning out the most with this one in terms of its narrative. It didn’t really help that this character was on Alderaan, which I consider to be one of the more boring parts of the game in general (top of the list will always be Taris for me), and I also don’t immediately recall everything about the Trooper’s story prior to this point beyond “Havoc Squad are a bunch of traitors.” Perhaps that’s all I really ever need to know, but I’m hoping to push through this one sometime.

Next in line was the Jedi Consular, which I rolled up as a Sith Assassin because the Consular’s base specs and abilities are boring as all hell. Seriously, who thought that tossing pebbles at foes would be indicative of a combative Jedi’s fantasy?

Anyway, if the Trooper was mediocre, the Consular was actively boring. Even with the fun of using Force Lightning to stun and walk up behind foes to stab them in the back, this just felt really lackluster in action. It probably didn’t help that my character was wielding a big bonky staff instead of a saber staff, but then what are lightsabers in this game if not glowy pool noodles? I don’t know. Maybe this one gets better, but I was not motivated enough to really find out more.

Last in line was my Smuggler Sniper, who ended up being incredibly fun to play from both a narrative and gameplay standpoint, even if he’s the lowest-level character in the roster. I was almost immediately reminded why the Sniper combat spec is the most fun of the ones I’ve played, and it had been long enough since I played the opening beats of the Smuggler class story that I was amused and engaged all the way. I’ve gotten him off of Ord Mantell at least. Man is he a rugged good boy.

As you fine readers can likely guess from all of this lead-up to this week’s poll, it’s a question of which character to focus on. There are a few considerations for me that I’m paying attention to, namely the story beats and the combat maneuvers; I’ve maintained my preferred player status, so I’m not fully hamstrung by the free-to-play restrictions, which is leaving me open to just simply enjoy the narrative and gameplay ride for the time being, completely unbothered by the pressures of being a group lynchpin in the MMO trinity. I’ve always felt as if SWTOR is best played as a pile of single-player RPGs anyway.

At least for now. Maybe we’ll see if I should do group things later.

Obviously I’ve got thoughts on what I’ve re-experienced here, but that’s not to suggest that I’ll not fully follow the Will of the Polls. On the contrary, being guided to moving through some of the more underwhelming members of my alt roster would be motivation enough for me to get through the more humdrum parts and see what the class has to offer from a story and gameplay perspective. That is to say to not let all of my feelings sway any of your decisions here; I’m willing to push onward if you’re willing to read.

So, let’s see what direction I push onward to.

What class should I main for the time being?

  • The Inquisitor. Get all Sith-y
  • The Trooper. Push through the vanilla.
  • The Consular. Maybe this gets more interesting later.
  • The Smuggler. Snipe 'em all.

View Results

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Polls will wrap up at the usual time of 1:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, September 12th. For now, I’ll have to put this one aside and see where things fall. Ideally some results will become immediately clear and I can dive right in at pace, but we’ll see how it all shakes down. Either way, it’s nice to be back.

Welcome to Choose My Adventure, the column in which you join Chris each week as he journeys through mystical lands on fantastic adventures – and you get to decide his fate. Which is good because he can often be a pretty indecisive person unless he’s ordering a burger.