The Neutral, Light, and Dark side Force powers have now been thrown into groups. There is no Light, there is no Dark, there is only Force. Allocating your Force stars can be a frustrating task. So many to choose from and so few choices allowed. As before, I will briefly explain the new Force powers and how I perceive their importance in multiplay. I will also give my opinion as to which powers are the most important in each "group". In the last section I will discuss possible setups depending on the "Rank" setting of the game. As always, please send in your ideas and strategies. Let me know how you allocate your stars.
Group 1: Jump, Projection, Seeing, Speed, and Push
Projection: Basically useless since your "decoy" only holds up his fists. A "fun" Force.
Push: I consider this to be another "fun" Force. It can be useful in maps with high cliffs (Push your enemies off the edge) but overall it's usefulness is lost next to the other "Neutral" powers in this group. If I am certain I will be playing on a map with a lot of "drop-off" points (some people call these maps airframes), I may throw a star or two in, otherwise it gets the big zero.
Group 1 overview: Jump, Seeing, and Speed are your main concerns in this group. I try to allocate 3 stars for Jump, at least 2 for Seeing, and at least 1 for Speed (depending on the "Rank" of the game you are in). Even if you are allowed to choose 4 from this group, don't bother. Choose the 3 and move on; save your stars.
Group 2: Pull, Lightsaber Throw, Grip, and Far Sight
Lightsaber Throw: Used correctly it can deal out a decent amount of damage. Unfortunately the throw leaves you defenseless, even more so if you don't catch your saber. Very useful in "Saber only" games, but I wouldn't go up against a Concussion Rifle with this attack.
Far Sight: I imagine this power would be very useful in Single player mode, but you definitely don't want to "leave your body" when there are other Jedi running around looking to take your head.
Group 2 overview: Allocate a minimum of 2 stars to Pull and Grip (4 if possible). There are times that I purposely don't allocate any stars for Grip just so I won't use it. Depends on what kind of mood I am in. Grip is a powerful tool and in my opinion belongs in Group 4. Regardless of this, in MotS, Grip is a necessary skill. If playing "Saber only", I would probably throw 4 stars into Lightsaber Throw.
Group 3: Persuasion, Health, Blinding, and Chain Lightning
Chain Lightning: A very useful offensive Force power which makes this group even more difficult to choose from. From what the manual says, the amount of stars you allocate will increase the number of enemies that will be effected by your attack. If this means that damage does not increase with the increase of stars, putting 1 star in may not be a bad idea (hoping for viewer input on this one).
Group 3 overview: I would like to allocate all 4 of these powers. You will, at most, have the option to choose 2 (see chart below). Personally I consider Health a necessity, so that's one. If you are playing in a game that allows Personalities, always allocate Blinding. I am tossing Persuasion out because of the noise it makes. Any Jedi hearing that noise will activate Seeing and you just wasted mana. Even against the non-Jedi, they can still hear you. Basically, I always choose Health and Blinding, but if in a Jedi-only game (and you have Absorb to counter Grip), I could see giving up Blinding for Chain Lightning. Your call.
Group 4: Absorb, Destruction, Protection, and Deadly Sight
Again, you will be able to choose 2 of these powers at most. Given the defensive powers of Absorb, I allocate 4 stars to it when at all possible (when I get the Concussion, I like to keep it). The second choice is yours. I choose Destruction because it compliments my defensive style of setup. Deadly Sight sometimes works when playing a KFY game (you can still do damage when outside the "anti-force" boundary). I personally refrain from using Protection. In my opinion, people with the big green glow are just asking for a beating. :-)
Force Defense:
Each level of Force Defense takes 2 stars AND eliminates a category of Force powers to choose from. Jedi Masters (Rank 8) and Knights (Rank 7) will not want to allocate this "power", but there are certain ranks where it can be a wise choice (see below for more info). This power is always on and reduces damage taken from (or protects you from) Force attacks (Push, Pull, Grip, Blinding, Destruction, Chain Lightning, and Deadly Sight). Please note that this "protection" is not automatic. Defense is still a mana based power, so if you don't have any Force mana, is will not protect you. There are other variables involved as well (in other words, don't count on it working all the time). At level 4 (8 stars) you are invulnerable to Pull, but at level 3 it may not protect you 100% of the time. I've also noticed that Defense can protect you from being frozen by the Carbonite gun.
Rank Chart
The chart below shows how many Force powers you are allowed to pick from each group depending on the "Rank" of the game you are playing. The star total at the bottom of each Rank show the total amount of stars you will have to allocate.
| Max Rank | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Group 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Group 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Group 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Group 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Star total | 24 | 21 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 3 |
Rank 7 (Jedi Knight) is the max rank for a Jedi playing in a game that allows Personalities. This will probably be the most popular game. My current setup for this Rank is: Jump-3, Seeing-3, Speed-1, Pull-2, Grip-3, Heal-2, Blind-3, Absorb-4.
At Ranks 5 (Charge) and 6 (Disciple), I advise putting 2 stars (1 level) into Force Defense. You are already denied the chance of choosing from Group 4, so your only loss is 2 stars.
At Ranks 3 (Apprentice) and 4 (Journeyman), I advise putting 4 stars (2 levels) into Force Defense for the same reason. If anything, this will help you against Grip users. You can take Seeing down to 0 or 1 star since you no longer have to worry about Blind or Persuasion. There are a lot of dark areas in MotS so keeping Seeing could be a good idea.
Submissions
From Praetorean on 06.23.98:
In regard to the Chain Lightning subject. Stars mean enhanced damage; it will take 3 strikes of lightning to kill someone that has full health if you have 3 stars on Chain Lightning. I use 4, which can kill someone in two uses.
From Kurgan on 08.21.06:
I actually find Far Sight to be a rather handy power in certain situations. Despite the obvious usage to "spy" (only really useful to relieve boredom, explore an unfamiliar map or aid in camp/sniping) it also has a very interesting and cool function. It allows you to actually save yourself from long falls without damage (but not into bottomless pits). As you are falling, look down at the ground and activate the power right before you land (like a few feet before you hit) and it will "pause" your fall so that you don't take damage (or at least survive a normally fatal fall). I'm not sure if it needs to be at level 4 for it to work since I've only ever tested it with 4 stars, but try it and see.