With reports that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic gets a remake developed by Aspyr Media, RPG fans take a look back at one of BioWare’s most beloved games. As with all BioWare RPGs, the player’s companions are at the heart of the story, accompanying the protagonist in choosing between the dark side and the light.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic has some great companions, but some far outshine others in terms of usability in gameplay. While some fans may not agree, here’s a full list of them: KOTOR‘s companions, an explanation of what makes some special, and why others miss the mark.
Updated September 15, 2022, by Ritwik Mitra: It’s a shame that the Knights of the Old Republic remake has been indefinitely delayed. Fans have been looking forward to experiencing one of BioWare’s best RPGs, but it’s not the biggest loss out there. After all, the original game is still quite playable to this day and is quite fun in its own right. Players may have to make some visual compromises, but the tactical gameplay is solid and the story of this title still holds up well. One of the best parts of Knights of the Old Republic was its wide cast of great companions, which most fans remember to this day. This was BioWare’s character writing at its peak, with each party member having credible motivations and compelling character arcs of their own. Of course, some characters are just more memorable than others, with this Knights of the Old Republic companion list showing their overall impact in the game.
S-Tier Companions
Carth Onasi
Carth Onasi is the first-ever full-time companion to step in Knights of the Old Republic, and his availability during the game is one of his greatest assets. Carth first joins the player on Taris. The first part of the game takes place before the player can rediscover his powers of power, making the use of Carth as a high-accuracy tank particularly useful in preventing new players from being killed by Sith, mobsters, or Rakghouls. Even after the player starts to come into his own, Carth’s dual-wielding bonus and high Dex make him a great fighting buddy.
Carth’s tragic backstory and long time with the player make the arc of his relationship with the protagonist particularly satisfying in the game. It’s a shame that a planned segment where a player of the dark side romanticized with Carth was able to rejoin him at the last minute was pulled from the retail version. Overall, however, Carth is one of the KOTOR‘s most useful companions and most engaging characters.
Jolee Bindo
Jolee Bindo strikes a lot of contrasts with Carth, but still manages to be one of the game’s best companions. Unlike Carth, Jolee is not available until later in the game. However, it is his role as Gray Jedi that makes him one of the KOTORThe best fighters and most interesting characters. As a Gray Jedi, Jolee does not follow the light or dark side of the force.
It’s a great idea breaking out Star Wars‘ binary morality and makes Jolee a much lesser known character type than some of the others in the game. In terms of in-game stats, this means he doesn’t lose as many power points with certain powers as the player’s light Jedi companions. Not only that, but Jolee has access to more powers than any other companion – Jedi or otherwise – in the game.
A-Tier Companions
Mission Vao
Mission Vao, like Carth, is one of the companions that the player gets into the game first. However, her rightful place in the A-Tier will not be known until she reaches a higher level. As a villain, players can make her stealth attacks particularly powerful, which is great when combined with a character like Jolee who has powerful control over the crowd.
Her low damage at lower levels makes her less useful early in the game, but Mission’s late-game usefulness and her interesting role as an optimistic take on the usually cynical Han Solo archetype make her one of KOTORbest companions.
Bastila Shano
Bastila Shan is in the A-Tier largely for story reasons. There is even a strong argument that Bastila is the deuteragonist of Knights of the Old Republic. She is vital to the main story from start to finish and is most influenced by the player’s power alignment of each character in the story.
However, unlike the S-Tier characters, she’s harder to optimize for combat, with stat mismatches making her less than ideal as a damage dealer or tank. However, the sheer importance of her character negates most of these complaints.
HK-47
HK-47 is a Hunter-Killer assassin droid that Revan used to take out Jedi across the galaxy, but one of his many memory erasers may have gone a little too far. As a result, this amnesiac droid gets stuck in the same boat as its master for quite some time.
He has an interesting connection to the main character’s past and a lot of great lines for the “meat bags” on the other side of the screen to enjoy. While he may not have the sheer versatility of some companions, the game would be all the less without HK-45 and his rambunctious personality.
Juhanic
When it comes to tanks, there is no KOTOR companion better than Juhani. She has Force Aura from the start, gives her a Defense bonus and saves throws which, added to her high base Con and Dex, make her a great damage sponge.
As one of the first queer Star Wars characters, she also played an important role in broadening the horizons of the Star Wars universe and the stories it wanted to tell. It was a step in the right direction that has maintained the franchise for the most part.
B-Tier Companions
Canderous Ordo
Unlike Juhani, Mandalorian Canderous Ordo is particularly unlucky when it comes to starting skills. With decent head stats, he’s a good fighter, but far less useful than similarly built characters like Carth. This makes him a somewhat redundant character, which is a shame.
His connection to Mandalorian lore, his biting wit and his loyalty add some interesting elements to his character, but ultimately Canderous isn’t quite as impressive in combat or characterization as the one in the A-Tier. As a result, he takes a hit in terms of overall usability in the game.
Hall bar
Zaalbar is an interesting character, but only really in combination with Mission. Without her, it’s hard to see him as much more than a Chewbacca expy. Of course, that’s not to say he doesn’t have many memorable moments in the game, but they lack a fair amount of impact given his limited vocabulary.
In combat, the Wookie can’t wear armor, making his impressive 20 in Str and Con less and less useful as the game progresses. This is especially problematic as he is designed as a melee fighter and will often take a lot of damage even from the most carefully planned attacks.
C-tier companions
Trask Ulgo
It’s a shame that Trask is one of the best KOTOR companions. After all, he is the whole reason why the player even manages to embark on this adventure of a lifetime, linking together fragments of their lives to try to understand their role in the main story. Without Trask, it’s possible Darth Revan would have just died aboard a starship with little to no fanfare.
Unfortunately, players just can’t spend enough time with Trask to guarantee him a higher ranking. He essentially serves as a guide during the tutorial portion of the game, helping players learn the ropes when it comes to the combat system before going wild in the main game. However, towards the end of the first level, the duo encounter a Sith Lord named Darth Brandon. Trask realizes that this enemy is impossible to defeat and bravely sacrifices his life so that the player has enough time to escape from the ship.
T3-M4
Knights of the Old RepublicIts droid companion, T3-M4, is arguably the weakest in the game. T3-M4 may not be the game’s most useless follower, but with weapons limited to blasters and a lack of useful combat skills, he’s one of the weakest fighters in the game.
His high Int may make him an occasional handy passive party member, but that’s about it. That said, his charm more than makes up for his status as the worst party member in the game from a gameplay standpoint.
Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic is currently available on mobile, PC, Switch, and Xbox One.
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