Part 42: The Star Forge

Part 42: The Star Forge

Last time, we discovered Bastila had turned to the dark side and is now using her Battle Meditation against the Republic. With the disruptor field down, we can now join the Republic fleet in the final assault on the Star Forge...



The plan is to take a small team of Jedi in their starfighters and land on the Star Forge. The Jedi will support us while we find Bastila and stop her from using Battle Meditation against the fleet.



Not all the Jedi make it.





However, some of them do, and most importantly we manage to land safely. Well, as safely as the circumstances permit.



Somehow, our gizka are back. I have no idea why, and I don't really care. They'll offer us moral support.



We're going to want an all-Jedi party for this.



Thanks! If Malak challenges us to a game of Pazaak over the fate of the galaxy, we'll know what to do. Honestly though, we'll be screwed regardless.



If we don't stop Bastila from using her Battle Meditation the entire Republic fleet will be wiped out!

I think this Jedi lady has a unique face model. She looks very happy to be here.



Ah, here's the delegation to officially welcome us aboard.



We'll deal with these Sith - you get into the Star Forge and find Bastila! Hurry!







The Jedi engage in combat with the Sith.



I like her because she uses a purple saber.



This door leads to a large elevator, but at the moment it's locked.



Alright, friends. Carry on.



We'll proceed into the station proper.



The door locks behind us as well, so we're not going back that way.





Lord Malak, forgive me... but how can mere droids be a match for the Jedi?

You underestimate the power of the Star Forge's droid army. Dispatch the droids.

Of course, Lord Malak.



These droids are red, so you know they mean business. Red paint makes you go faster, as we're all aware.







The droids don't waste any time getting to us.



I think Malak slightly overestimated the capabilities of these guys.



Jolee levels up and learns Force Immunity. This place is crawling with dark side Force users, so that's a handy power to have.



Juhani also levels up and learns Master Speed so she can fuck everyone up. Both of them have crazy attribute bonuses and modifiers here because Master Valor is active.



Okay then, onwards and upwards.



Gah!



That wasn't actually a mine, that was just another droid ambush. We'll work our way through some more droids and proceed forward.



Destroy Droid is such a useful power in this section.



Those must be the Jedi that went ahead. Looks like they've found some dance partners.





Let's see how they fare.



Not very well, it turns out. They're all dead.



I think we might pose a slightly bigger challenge for these guys.





Those huge damage numbers make me feel all warm and fuzzy. Needless to say, these basic Dark Jedi have absolutely no chance.



Onwards!





Here's Malak's Sith buddy to report back on how the droids performed.





Ah, the Jedi. Did my droids pass their test? Did they destroy our enemies?

N-no, Lord Malak. The droids could not stop them.

Strange. I did not think there were any among the Order who could survive an attack by an army of the Star Forge's battle droids.

lt... it was Revan, Lord Malak. Your old master is with the Jedi, here on the Star Forge!

Yes... that would explain why the droids failed. Revan always was strong in the Force. Very well - send out all available troops. The apprentices, as well.

Do you... do you think they can stop Revan, Lord Malak?

Of course not! But they will slow Revan down. That will give me the time I need to fully prepare the Star Forge‘s defenses.

Malak's got a plan.





I'm sure we'll soon find out what that's all about.



Malak didn't lie when he said "all available troops", because these guys are coming out of the woodwork. The Star Forge is one big combat gauntlet, and I am not a fan of it for reasons that will become evident very quickly.



We'll just cut our way through here if you don't mind.



This whole part is one big clusterfuck of Force powers, grenade spam and all that fun stuff.



But wait, it gets better! See, on the Star Forge, BioWare opted for the Dragon Age II approach to encounter design. In case you're not familiar with Dragon Age II, that means multiple waves of reinforcements spawning in behind you in every single encounter, and it's utterly dreadful.



Eventually, we make it to where we saw Malak earlier, or at least an area that looks just like it.



More waves of enemies. Wonderful.



The Star Forge is a very linear section as well. There are two paths to deck 2, and on deck 2 there is the elevator to the west and another door to the east. We will check the east door first.



What kind of greeting is that? Jerks!



This room is completely optional but very much worth checking out.



Well, we would check it out if the game didn't spawn another giant wave of idiots behind us.



Okay, where were we?



This looks interesting. Let's have a look at the computer terminal in this room.



First off, we'll deactivate the turrets on this deck because we've already got enough to deal with in the million waves of Dark Jedi and Sith troopers Malak throws at us.



More importantly, we can use the computer to make ourselves a custom set of robes for the low, low price of a fuckton of computer spikes. We've got Jolee using the terminal because he's still got the highest Computer Use skill, so it's "only" 22 spikes for us.



It should honestly be analyzing Jolee's data because he's the one using the contraption, but it's actually analyzing Zila and generating the robes for her.





Our 22 computer spikes buy us the Star Forge Robes, the best light side Jedi robes in the game.


Stats-wise, they're similar to the Qel-Droma robes we've been wearing for a while now, i.e. Defense +5, Wisdom +5, restricted to light side. They also offer a +2 boost to all saving throws.

If you're dark side, you get Darth Revan's Robes instead. They also have Def +5, but instead of the WIS boost you get STR+4. You also get health regen instead of improved saves. The Revan robes in the vanilla game aren't the full getup with the mask and everything, but more of a black palette swap of the Star Forge Robes. Or I guess technically the Star Forge Robes are a white palette swap of Darth Revan's Robes.



Revan had the same robes in the earlier flashbacks as well, which is slightly odd because at the time she hadn't found the Star Forge yet. I'm sure there's a very lengthy explanation in some tie-in book or comic.



Anyway, time to slice our way through more waves of dudes. I'm sorry if the commentary isn't particularly engaging during this section, there just isn't anything to say about it aside from "oh, more guys". The Star Forge is one of the weakest parts of KotOR, and if we weren't doing obscene amounts of damage it'd be even more of a slog.



With the turrets out of commission and all the enemies dead, we can casually stroll to the elevator.



Up we go.



In the control center, Malak is observing the battle raging on outside the Star Forge.



And there's his Sith apprentice, the one who keeps the battle stacked in the Sith fleet's favor.







The Force is bringing us towards a confrontation with my old master. The Star Forge has drawn our enemies together so they may all die in a single, glorious day! You must kill Revan to prove yourself worthy of being my apprentice, Bastila. You must finish what began in the Rakatan Temple.

Y-yes, Lord Malak.

I sense your fear, Bastila. But it is unfounded. The power of the Star Forge will feed the dark side within you, it will give you the strength you need to defeat my old master.

With the dark energy of the Star Forge behind her, Bastila should be a more formidable opponent this time around.







With that, Bastila continues her Battle Meditation.







Malak's gone full Saturday morning cartoon villain, it seems.



Weren't we just here?



Judging from all these enemies, I suppose not.



Oh, fuck off. The only "challenge" these endless waves offer comes from the fact we will inevitably run out of Force points even if we try to conserve them (in hindsight, I could maybe have put Juhani and Jolee back to default attack behavior to be able to conserve a bit more). In this situation, I can't do much of anything to save Zila except use the inventory exploit to eat a healing item.



End!



ENNNND!!



No, seriously. End!



It looked like these Dark Jedi were trying to seal the door to the control center there.



Presumably they used the Force to do so, so the door is just open after we kill them. Bastila's waiting for us ahead...







We'll immediately go for turning her back to the light side because we definitely don't want to kill her.



Now you must pay the price. Here on the Star Forge the power of the dark side is at its strongest. This time you will not defeat me!







The dreaded Plot Stasis strikes again!



Jolee and Juhani can't help us now, that's for certain.



Looks like we are doing this one on one. Well then, Bastila, show us what you've got!



In this fight, Bastila can absorb the power of the Star Forge to buff herself up. Force Immunity is a good idea here.



As you can see.







I'll say!







As Malak teaches me the greatest secrets of the Sith, I will unlock more of my potential. Eventually there will be no limit to what I can accomplish with the Force!

I don't know about that, to be honest.





Then I will take on my own apprentice and the cycle will begin again. This is the way of the Sith, it is how we assure our leaders are always the strongest and most worthy!

Whatever you say.





Time for Round 2.



Round 2 goes much in the same way as Round 1. I'm not sure if this fight is supposed to be challenging, but we're wrecking her shit. She did get a few hits in this time as we were putting up our buffs, but really, with our build any 1-on-1 fight at this point goes like this: stay alive while applying buffs, hit ridiculous critical, win.



Sure, Bastila. That's what's happening. You actually hit us a few times there!









Have it your way.











Right. After three rounds in which she gets totally obliterated, Bastila finally realizes she is no match for us and now wants us to kill her.



Naturally, we're not doing that.







It was my responsibility to watch over you, to make sure you did not slip back into your evil ways. I was supposed to protect you from the dark side.







I really, really wish there was a dialogue option here to say something to the effect of "You're my friend, Bastila. I will not kill you." If you did her romance path, this scene works much better because you get options that show you actually care about Bastila. I'm not sure why they couldn't just have similar options on the non-romance route, just substituting "You're my friend" for "I love you" and such. The options here just make Zila look like the biggest Jedi Order fangirl in the galaxy, and she comes off kind of dumb.



But what good is a single flicker of light against the sea of darkness I am drowning in? I can never atone for my betrayal.

Failing that Persuade check isn't necessarily a disaster if you've been picking the right options throughout the conversation. Persuading her is also far easier if you romanced her, as you might assume.





But how would you be able to trust me? How do you know I wouldn't turn on you when you faced Darth Malak? How do you know the dark side wouldn't make me betray you again?







Just say "You're my friend!"



I should stay here, though. If we face Malak I am afraid his dark presence will overwhelm me. It would not be wise to expose myself to such temptation.

There we go, the old Bastila's back. The way this conversation works is that various dialogue options give you different amounts of points, and earning enough points by choosing the right options ensures Bastila is redeemed. Again, a male Revan in a romance with her will have an easier time earning those points, and hitting that Persuade check on the non-romance path also earns a lot of points but is not mandatory for getting the desired result.



In any case, as Bastila doesn't feel she's ready to face Malak so soon after turning back to the light side, she can help us by using her Battle Meditation on behalf of the Republic fleet.



I will stay here in this chamber and use my Battle Meditation to aid the Republic fleet. I am their only hope of destroying the Star Forge and ending the Sith menace. You must go and face Malak, but you have to hurry. Once I turn the battle in the Republic‘s favor we won't have much time to escape the Star Forge before it is destroyed. Good luck... and may the Force be with you.

Well, we've saved Bastila from herself. Now, only Malak remains.



Meanwhile, the space battle continues.

VIDEO: Battle of Rakata Prime







The ships the Green Squadron is using kind of look like Boba Fett's Slave I, don't they?



Yep, totally Slave I.







The squadron prepares for the final attack on the station as Master Vandar informs everyone Bastila's now working against the Sith fleet.







Red Squadron going in.







The Battle of Rakata Prime (as the battle would later be known) is pretty cool, I gotta say. Space battles were always my favorite scenes in the films, and while this is no Death Star trench run it's still a lot of fun to watch.



With Bastila turning the tide of the battle outside, we've got one last job to do and that is to face off with Darth Malak. So, let's find our old friend and finish this.



This room is empty aside from these terminals and bins next to them. The spike bins are empty as well.



Let's see what the terminals do.



Droid generator, huh?



Can't do anything with them. Hm... speaking of droids, was HK-47 created using Star Forge tech? That'd explain why he's supposed to be so effective at what he does.



Since we can't build any more droid friends, we'll just head towards the door on the other side. Nice and easy.



Or perhaps not.



Malak's got a couple of Jedi captured, and judging from how the one to our right is currently being Force choked I don't think he's planning anything nice with them.



Malak draws his saber...



...but instead of attacking us, he throws it at the Jedi being choked.



The other Jedi gets a generous dose of low-resolution Force lightning.



This is the result. Malak's just showing off now.



You made a mistake coming here, Revan. The Star Forge fuels my command of the dark side. You are no match for me here. And this time you will not escape!







I do like how the game still gives you the option to be aggressive with Malak if you wish. They didn't really need to do that considering we're on our way to the light side ending, but it's nice they did.



You are an insignificant speck beneath my notice. I have surpassed you in every way and accomplished what you never could... I have unleashed the full potential of this Rakatan factory! You had no idea of the power within this place! Its very walls are alive with dark side energies! And now, my old master, I will let the Star Forge itself destroy you!



We could've tried to stop him, you know. Oh well. Let's see what the Star Forge can do.



If you guessed "activate the droid generators we just saw", congratulations! You win nothing.



There are six Forge Droids in total, from Type A to F. You may have noticed that the terminal we used earlier was Type A as well. Can you figure out the puzzle?



We can kill these droids, but right now we'll just run past.



We're back at the Type A terminal. Now that the droid generators are active, we actually have some options here. We don't have enough spikes to generate a friendly droid, so we'll just disable the Type A generator instead. That's a lot of spikes, though.



Regardless, that's one generator down.



As we destroy the Type B droid, we can see something happens with the Type B spike bin up ahead.



Until you destroy the corresponding generator, the droids will respawn right after you kill them.



Because we wrecked the Type B droid, a computer spike has appeared in the Type B bin. I'd prefer if it gave us a few more because we're running low, though. Sometimes you do get more, here I was just unlucky with the RNG.



We have just about enough for the Type B terminal, at least. We also equipped one of our many skill-boosting accessories to reduce the number of spikes required, but even then we still need six to shut down a generator. In practice, that means we have to kill a whole bunch of droids to grind for spikes, which is in no way horribly tedious, certainly doesn't take forever, and absolutely should not have been left on the cutting room floor. UPDATE: I have been informed you can skip this whole segment by simply bashing/lockpicking the door.



Finally.



The door is now open to us.



Just gotta finish off the last droid the generator spawned before we shut it down.



And up we go again.



Here we are. The viewing platform of the Star Forge, Darth Malak's lair.



Only one more thing left to do here.



You are stronger than I thought; stronger than you ever were during your reign as the Dark Lord. I did not think that was possible.

At least he acknowledges we're pretty badass for a light side Jedi.





Once again we shall face each other in single combat... and the victor will decide the fate of the galaxy!

I don't even want to guess how many times I've heard that line.





Friendly reminder: You can save during this fight, and you probably should.



We might have destroyed all other enemies we've fought in the back half of the game, but Malak is a different story altogether. That is to say this final fight is really fucking difficult.



So far, we're doing okay. We're on enough performance-enhancing drugs to kill a krayt dragon, and our energy shield and Force Immunity ensures we're currently not taking damage from Malak's Force Lightning. If you have the belt that provides 100% Electrical immunity, you can make Malak waste all his Force points casting Force Lightning. That can be pretty useful. Speaking of Force powers, Malak is very resistant to those, especially when he can pop Force Immunity himself, so obliterating him with Force Wave like we've been doing with most enemies is not really an option here. That can be a problem if you're specced for Force powers.



I should've equipped the Verpine prototype shield instead of the Echani Dueling Shield, but we should be okay for now at least.



okay that's bad



Thankfully, our energy shield still held up. Again, with our build this fight is largely a matter of staying alive long enough to land a couple of our massive criticals.



Okay, there goes the shield. It did its job, but now we do need to get it back up ASAP and also heal. Malak hits very hard, so if your max Vitality is super low like ours, he can basically one-shot us if we get unlucky. Malak has the highest attack stat in the whole game unless you count things with guaranteed instakills, and he also has one of the highest defense stats so hitting him can also be tough. He's almost guaranteed to hit us as well, and when he does he has a high crit rate so we're gonna eat a lot of damage.



There it is. Finally landed a proper hit, and half of Malak's health instantly melts.



Come back here! We're not done with you yet!



But you were a fool. All you saw was an enormous factory, all you ever imagined was an infinite fleet rolling forth to crush the Republic. You were blind, Revan - blind and stupid!

Blind and stupid? Now that is just uncalled for.





So essentially the Star Forge is like the Star Wars superweapon equivalent of the Venom symbiote, or perhaps the Carnage one? Or maybe one of those artificial symbiote suits created by the... what were those idiots called? Life Foundation, that's it.







Malak proceeds to demonstrate by zapping one of the captive Jedi with Drain Life.



That heals him up, but doesn't go so well for the Jedi whose life force was just absorbed.



And once you are beaten I will do the same to you. You will be trapped in a terrible existence between life and death, your power feeding me as I conquer the galaxy!

I think you might have figured out what the next phase of this fight will entail. You should probably save at this point if you haven't, because I know from experience that the cutscene we just saw gets somewhat old by the 47th viewing.



Right. Our first order of business is to smash up these pods, or Malak will just keep zapping them to heal himself. If you're dark side, you can do the same with Drain Life or Death Field, the latter of which makes the fight kind of easy. Or so I hear. I've never played a proper dark side character in this game, only ever did the dark side ending out of curiosity once after I had spent the whole game as a lightsider. This fight sucked on that playthrough.



oh god Malak falling from the sky



At least we got our Master Speed back up. All our Force powers and buffs ran out during the cutscene, which is Not Good.



This is why we took Throw Lightsaber. It, Disable/Destroy Droid and Force Breach are the only ways to destroy the pods if you're playing light side. Dark side characters can also use Choke/Kill or Force Lightning/Force Storm to wreck the pods, but that doesn't get you anything aside from making them unusable for Malak.



Speaking of Force Breach, Malak just used it on us so there go our buffs again. At least the captive Jedi can now become one with the Force, and releasing them this way will top up your Force points. That said, Force points are the least of our problems. Death Field would fully restore your vitality AND Force points, which is a bit ridiculous if you ask me.



Please stop that. Really should pop Force Immunity, but we don't really have much time to stop in our tracks.



As we destroy the pods, Malak stalks us like he's Jason Voorhees.



There we are, that's the last one. Now we just need to get our buffs back up.



Right. Let's do this. Master against student, one last time (not pictured: two game overs).



Despite everything, Malak doesn't have *that* much health.



Again, the biggest problem here is staying alive long enough to land those critical hits. If you're playing a Jedi Guardian, this will be a whole lot easier especially if you're also dark side.



Another hit would've killed us, and he is in fact in the middle of the Flurry animation.



Malak actually lands the rest of the attack, but it doesn't hurt us anymore because we just managed to take him out before that.







I... I cannot help but wonder, Revan. What would have happened had our positions been reversed? What if fate had decreed I would be captured by the Jedi? Could I have returned to the light, as you did? [cough] If you had not led me down the dark path in the first place, what destiny would I have found?





But that destiny was not mine, Revan. [cough] It might have been yours, perhaps... but never mine. And in the end, as the darkness takes me, I am nothing.



Darth Malak, the Dark Lord of the Sith, is dead.



Despite everything, Malak was Revan's oldest friend, so even though we killed the Dark Lord this isn't exactly the victory we might have hoped for. We tried to show mercy as much as we could, hoping we could bring him back, but in the end Malak was too far down the dark path and the duel to the death was inevitable. It's unfortunate, but there was no way to avoid bloodshed. All Revan can hope for now is that her old friend will finally find peace.



Let's go home.



Our friends are waiting.







There's no time to celebrate just yet. I was able to use my Battle Meditation to allow the Republic to break through the Sith fleet. The capital ships are in bombardment range!







Time to go, guys.

VIDEO: Ending



]

Here are the aforementioned capital ships, waiting to destroy the Star Forge once and for all.





The main orbital stabilizers are gone, and now it's just a matter of time. How did I know those were the main orbital stabilizers?



That's how.







Oh, come on, Vandar. If we had died, you'd have felt a disturbance in the Force. Have some faith.



Their mission completed, the Republic fleet pulls back to avoid the impending giant explosion and flies off to celebrate.



The Star Forge, the ancient artifact of the dark side and monument to the Infinite Empire, falls.







And finally, the Ebon Hawk emerges unscathed.







Sounds good to me.



An unspecified amount of time later on Lehon, we celebrate our victory.





Unfortunately, that's not going to last long.







Again, knowing how KotOR II starts kind of puts a damper on the festivities. KotOR II is great, don't get me wrong, but Obsidian clearly had to figure out a setup that would accommodate either of the first game's endings, and the result was that... well, things are worse than ever, to be honest. But we'll get there when we get there.



For now, let's enjoy the moment.











Not bad.





I didn't notice Juhani before so I thought this was another scene she'd been left out of, but there she is.



Good lord, what's going on with Zila's arm? That has always bothered me in this scene.



I like how the dark side is mentioned as the camera zooms in on T3. He's biding his time.







I don't mean to dunk on this scene too much, but CARTH WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR FACE



And on that note...







...it's time to wrap things up, and say thank you to everyone who followed the LP and commented in the thread. I hope you enjoyed the ride, I certainly had a great time revisiting one of my favorite games of all time. While I could tell the writing does not hold up super well and the Xbox version is in dire need of a patch, I still had a lot of fun playing through KotOR again. It still has plenty of charm and memorable moments.

It's a shame I missed out on some stuff due to the bugs and other general jank, but I was at least able to show off most of the game and I'm happy with how it all turned out. I hope there was someone out there reading this who didn't know all the plot twists ahead of time!

After this, I'll take a short break to finish my other ongoing projects, and then it's time to once again join Geralt of Rivia on his adventures in and around Vizima in The Witcher: Enhanced Edition. Until then, thank you very much for reading, and goodbye!