Character Stats and Creation

Links to specific information:
Alignment
Class
Attributes
Skills
Feats
Force Powers
Weapon Choice and Feat Maximization
Derived Statistics

The information laid out here is designed to help you with the creation and leveling up of your main character; however attributes, skills and feats also apply to any companions that you bring along with you. Since there is too much information for one page it has been categorized for your convenience.

Upon starting a new game you will be faced with several important decisions about your main character which will determine to a great extent your playing style. Before you do anything else you will first want to choose what alignment you want to be. Depending upon your light and dark actions your alignment will change.

While you start off perfectly neutral, dialog choices and actions you take can shift you one way or the other. Because of the large impact on your game it is best to decide beforehand what alignment you intend to play as and act accordingly.
More on Alignment

Now for your first choice in the game, when you click new game you will choose a gender and a starting class. Gender only creates minor dialog differences and a different possible romance. There are no other differences in any abilities or quests.

On the other hand, your class is the foundation of your character and as such changes your abilities radically to the point where it will change your entire style of game play. This is an important decision so do not rush it.
More on Class

Next you will can either customize your character or let the computer decide the remaining stats for you. In general letting the computer choose your stats for you is not a good idea. No matter what the help text says it is not an optimal build. While you can play and win the game with a quick character, I would not advise it.

After choosing your class and gender the next thing you will choose is your portrait. There are no differences in game from choosing any portrait so choose one you like. Some portraits will actually change the look of other minor characters in the game, but nothing important.

Assuming you are customizing your own character, you will customize your attributes. As everything is affected by your stats, they are very important. They are the fundamental pillars of your build. For melee characters one needs to decide whether to focus on Strength or Dexterity. This can affect your choice of which combat feat is most effective, as well as your ultimate weapon choice.
More on Attributes

Once your attributes have been chosen, you must choose which skills to invest in. This is greatly determined by your starting class. Some classes gain more skill points than others allowing for a greater range of abilities, and each class has a different set of class skills which rise faster than others; however most skills are not vital, as there are almost always several paths to take when completing quests. Don't worry too much if you find out later that you did not optimize your skill distribution as it is not very important.
More on Skills

Another vital aspect of your character are the feats he or she chooses. This will greatly determine your combat strategies as well as some other facets of the game. How many feats and which ones you choose will be determined by your class, so you should get a good understanding of what each feat does before choosing.
More on Feats

While you do not receive any force powers upon creating your character as they are only available to Jedi, Force powers are an integral part of character leveling and needs to be considered, as they are the most powerful abilities in a Jedi's arsenal.
More on Force Powers

One should also have in mind what type of weapons one will ultimately be wielding. Whether it be two one-handed lightsabers, a double-bladed lightsaber, or a single lightsaber this choice will greatly affect which combat feats are most effective and will change your character considerably.
More on Weapon Choice and Feat maximization

Once your character is complete you can start the game. However there may be certain statistics about your character that you may not understand. While I will not go into detail about all of the internal game mechanics, certain key statistics should be understood so that you can better equip yourself.
More on Derived Statistics

Character creation is an integral part of the game and should not be rushed, for if you rush and choose without thinking you may end up with a character you do not like. I suggest that you read each of the detailed sections to get a better understanding of the game mechanics.