Sometimes luck is more important than skill, but it never hurts to have both.
Lawlessness has become common in the wake of the devastating war between the Republic and Empire. Shifting political allegiances and marauding pirates have made independent space travel a dangerous enterprise. Cut off from traditional supply routes, entire star systems waver on the verge of collapse. An adventurous spirit who’s not afraid to break a few rules can make a handsome profit hauling cargo to these hotspots, but it requires fast reflexes, fast wits and a fast draw with a blaster. Even then, the life of a Smuggler is always a gamble.
Stacking up enemies as fast as they stack up credits, Smugglers only survive in this galaxy by being slick, sneaky and street-smart. Whether sweet-talking an attractive alien or bargaining with a hardened criminal contact, the Smuggler’s charm is a notorious asset, and often the ticket to turning around a deteriorating situation. If circumstances get too complicated, though, count on a Smuggler to always have an escape plan. Experienced in flying under the radar, Smugglers are amazingly elusive. Yet when backed into a corner, they quickly become cunning and often deadly combatants.
Above all else, Smugglers make their own destinies. Despite their affinity for credits, Smugglers have been known to turn down lucrative opportunities when the clients have demanded too much control. Some Smugglers are even more discriminating—refusing to work with slavers and representatives of the Sith Empire. It’s a business where one is always looking for trustworthy allies, but they are often few and far between. Whether running an Imperial blockade or shooting down a double-crossing gangster, Smugglers are always flying by the seat of their pants. Every deal carries the chance for wealth beyond their wildest dreams… or an anonymous death in the harsh void of space.
Vanguard
Tank
Short Range
Powertech
DOT Damage
Commando
Healer
Long Range
Mercenary
Melee Range
Sniper
Weapon: Blaster Cannon
Mirror: Mercenary – Bodyguard
Type: Burst Damage
Mirror: Mercenary – Gunnery
Type: Damage Over Time
Combat Medic is a healer discipline, which makes it harder to learn than a damage class for most new players
Most players recommend to level as a damage discipline, then switch to healer when you are ready for group content
Combat Medic has an easy to use free heal and all the abilities are clickable right away
But it can be harder to learn to keep your energy up compared to other healing disciplines
Gunnery is long-range, making it easier to hit moving targets compared to melee disciplines for new players
Your main ability requires you stand still while you use it, like a turret, but you can choose to make it activate instantly
Most abilities can simply be used, you don’t need to activate them in any way first
Gunnery is pretty simple to pick up the basics of with a guide
Assault Specialist is long-range, making it easier to hit moving targets compared to melee disciplines for new players.
Of all the long-range classes, Assault Specialist is the most mobile! You don’t need to stand still for a large majority of your abilities.
If you are able to watch your debuff timers, this discipline is decently easy to learn with a guide, however it is harder to learn than its other Mercenary damage option, Gunnery.
Combat Medics are the most flexible type of healer, great for healing groups or single characters.
Med Shot, green beam of love heal, very visible and fun
Kolto Bomb, giant green healing splat on the ground
Echoing Deterrence, reflective super shield with a heal (optional)
Propulsion Round, jump backwards quickly
Concussion Charge, push enemies back
Concussive Round, knock an enemy out of the fight
Hold the Line, fast movement speed and immunity to knockbacks (optional)
Cryo Grenade, short stun (optional)
Stealth Scan, find hidden enemies (optional)
Boltstorm, flashy blaster fire that changes color based on your weapon’s color crystal
Demolition Round, an exploding round that does high damage
Electro Net, slows your enemy in a net and makes them take damage when they move
Assault Specialist is all about keeping your damage-over-time abilities on your enemy as they are about to run out, rather than button mashing them over and over, and getting free abilities by throwing a bomb then shooting it to blow it up.
Incendiary Round, what’s not to like about tossing a ball of fire at your opponent?
Serrated Bolt, fires a special round that causes the target to bleed over time
Weapon: Blaster Rifle
Mirror: Powertech- Shield Tech
Shield Specialist is a tank style, which means it does less damage, but can stay alive more easily
Most players recommend to level as a damage style, then switch to tank when you are ready for group content
In group content, tanks are expected to take a unique leadership role, not just do damage, which can be challenging for new players
Shield Specialist is the simplest to learn of the three tanking styles
Vanguard tanking is my favorite Combat Style and main character!
Plasmatech is very mobile and very easy to jump and move around with while playing.
It is a short-range class, but you can use many of your abilities even if you are farther away, making it easy to hit enemies even if you are not very coordinated when it comes to making your way to your enemy.
All of your abilities can just be used right away, you don’t need to activate them first in any way.
Plasmatech is a DOT or damage-over-time class, which means you set things on fire – then let them burn over time. So to do big damage you need to learn to not simply set your enemy on fire over and over.
Tactics is very mobile and very easy to jump and move around with while playing.
All but one of your abilities can just be used right away, you don’t need to activate them first in any way.
Tactics for me was not too hard to learn – it has a few more steps and things to watch for compared to Plasmatech, but wasn’t too bad!
Shield Specialist focuses on keeping yourself alive with various defensive abilities, self-heals, and shields
Infused Kolto Packs, shield that increases as you take damage
Ion Storm, blasts a cone of ionizing energy at multiple enemies
Artillery Blitz, hits multiple targets at once with flashy plasma blasts
Shoulder Cannon, fast mini missiles with an optional heal
Taunts, causes enemies to focus on you
Impact Charge, leap to an enemy
Harpoon, pull an enemy to you
Neural Surge, stun many enemies around you in carbonite
Riot Gas, defensive gas cannister
Plasmatech definitely felt like one of the easiest classes to learn how to play the basics of for me so far with a guide! It’s pretty simple and rotates through key abilities. Even just pressing random buttons worked pretty good, though it didn’t do a ton of damage.,
Durasteel Armor, increases both your armor and your damage output
Plasma Flare, deals high plasma damage to a target
Tactics focuses on stabbing enemies with a knife and using a stacking buff called Power Lode to your advantage.
Cell Burst, unleashes stored energy to deal high damage
Gut, guts the target with a vibroblade, dealing additional damage over time
Weapon: Blaster Pistol
Sawbones is a healer style, which makes it harder to learn than a damage class for most new players
Most players recommend to level as a damage discipline, then switch to healer when you are ready for group content
All three healer styles are not too hard to start healing with, just select a player and heal with a green ability
However Scoundrel Heals has a second resource to manage called Upper Hand, which makes it slightly trickier to start with
Scrapper is punching range, which means you must be very close to your enemy to attack, but you have a jump ability and roll to help you close the gap between you and your enemy
This style is very mobile and you can easily run and jump around while fighting without any issues!
Most abilities can simply be used, you only need to learn to activate a few of them
Scrapper is pretty easy to learn the basics of compared to other disciplines.
Ruffian is a damage-over-time discipline which means you need to build up your attacks over time, layering them together, which makes it slightly harder to learn than burst discipline which do damage right away
This style is very mobile and you can easily run and jump around while fighting without any issues!
Most abilities can simply be used, you only need to learn to activate a few of them
Scrapper takes slightly longer to learn than other disciplines, but is easier to get really good at compared to many other disciplines
Sawbones focuses heavily on healing-over-time. Sawbones excel at group healing.
Kolto Waves, large group heal
Slow-release Medpack, heals your target over time and can be used on any number of targets
Kolto Cloud, heals your target and additional targets nearby
Stealth, to sneak past enemies, the only healer with stealth available
Smuggle, group stealth (optional)
Dirty Kick, short stun (optional)
Scamper, roll forwards quickly
Trick Move, jump to an enemy (optional)
Flash Grenade, group stun/distraction (optional)
Surrender, drop all your money and lose enemies’ attention
The Scrapper style focuses on punching enemies in the face, big or small. It’s a fast and fluid discipline.
Weapon: Double Blaster Pistols
Sharpshooter has you take cover and not move. Cover makes Sharpshooter a very difficult class for newer gamers to learn, as many fights require moving around – but you can ignore the cover mechanic while learning Sharpshooter if you want.
Sharpshooter is long range – if you can handle the cover mechanic, you can hit targets very, very far away compared to most classes which makes it easier to find targets to hit than short-range classes.
Sharpshooter is the simplest of the three Gunslinger disciplines – using a very basic move set, you can get away with using only 4 abilities if you aren’t worried about doing max damage.
I was originally intimidated by the number of abilities Sharpshooter had, but found it very easy and intuitive to play once I read a guide and it felt there was less to memorize than many other disciplines.
Saboteur is long range – if you can handle the cover mechanic, you can hit targets very, very far away compared to most classes which makes it easier to find targets to hit than short-range classes.
When I was learning Saboteur, I found it was easy to learn the basics of, but harder to fully learn than the other two Gunslinger disciplines.
Dirty Fighting is long range – if you can handle the cover mechanic, you can hit targets very, very far away compared to most classes which makes it easier to find targets to hit than short-range classes.
Sharpshooter focuses on long range pistol attacks, taking advantage of a free attack available after every main attack, and taking advantage of their large number of buffs.
Hunker Down, become immoveable
Hightail It, roll and go into cover
Scrambling Shield, large group shield (optional)
Bombing Run, your ship attacks for you (optional)
Saboteur is all about shooting things, throwing grenades, and setting things on fire!
Dirty Fighting focuses on making sure you have Vital Shot and Shrap Bomb debuffs on your current target before using Wounding Shots, a channeled ability that is your weakest attack on its own, but generating the biggest hits you can do if supported by your Damage over Time abilities at the right time.
Bodyguard is a healer discipline, which makes it harder to learn than a damage class for most new players
Most players recommend to level as a damage discipline, then switch to healer when you are ready for group content
All three healer styles are not too hard to start healing with, just select a player and heal with a green ability
Bodyguard has an easy to use free heal and all the abilities are clickable right away
But it can be harder to learn to keep your energy up compared to other healing disciplines
Arsenal is long-range, making it easier to hit moving targets compared to melee disciplines for new players
Your main ability requires you stand still while you use it, like a turret, but you can choose to make it activate instantly
Most abilities can simply be used, you don’t need to activate them in any way first
Arsenal is pretty simple to pick up the basics of with a guide
Innovative Ordnance is long-range, making it easier to hit moving targets compared to melee disciplines for new players.
Of all the long-range classes, I.O. is the most mobile! You don’t need to stand still for a large majority of your abilities.
Bodyguards are the most flexible type of healer, great for healing groups or single characters.
Kolto Shot, fun easy free heal
Kolto Missile, giant green healing splat on the ground
Responsive Safeguards, reflective super shield with a heal (optional)
Jet Boost, push enemies back
Hydraulic Overrides, fast movement speed and immunity to knockbacks (optional)
Electrodart, short stun (optional)
Heatseeker Missiles, an exploding round that does high damage
Innovative Ordnance is all about keeping your damage-over-time abilities on your enemy as they are about to run out, rather than button mashing them over and over, and getting free abilities by throwing a bomb then shooting it to blow it up.
Incendiary Missile, what’s not to like about tossing a ball of fire at your opponent?
Serrated Bolt, fires a special round that causes the target to bleed over time
Shield Tech is a tank style, which means it does less damage, but can stay alive more easily
Most players recommend to level as a damage style, then switch to tank when you are ready for group content
In group content, tanks are expected to take a unique leadership role, not just do damage, which can be challenging for new players
Powertech tanking is my favorite type of tanking!
Pyrotech is very mobile and very easy to jump and move around with while playing.
It is a short-range class, but you can use many of your abilities even if you are farther away, making it easy to hit enemies even if you are not very coordinated when it comes to making your way to your enemy.
All of your abilities can just be used right away, you don’t need to activate them first in any way.
Advanced Prototype is very mobile and very easy to jump and move around with while playing.
All but one of your abilities can just be used right away, you don’t need to activate them first in any way.
Advanced Prototype for me was not too hard to learn – it has a few more steps and things to watch for compared to Pyrotech, but wasn’t too bad!
Shield Tech focuses on keeping yourself alive with various defensive abilities, self-heals, and shields
Firestorm, blasts a cone of fire at multiple enemies
Deadly Onslaught, hits multiple targets at once with flashy plasma blasts
Rising Phoenix, leap to an enemy
Carbonize, stun many enemies around you in carbonite
Oil Slick, defensive ground oil
Pyrotech definitely felt like one of the easiest classes to learn how to play the basics of for me so far with a guide! It’s pretty simple and rotates through key abilities. Even just pressing random buttons worked pretty good, though it didn’t do a ton of damage.
Immolate, deals high fire damage to a target
Thermal Yield, increases both your armor and your damage output
Advanced Prototype focuses on stabbing enemies with a knife and using a stacking buff called Power Lode to your advantage.
Medicine is a healer style, which makes it harder to learn than a damage class for most new players
Most players recommend to level as a damage discipline, then switch to healer when you are ready for group content
However Operative Heals has a second resource to manage called Upper Hand, which makes it slightly trickier to start with
Concealment is stabbing range, which means you must be very close to your enemy to attack, but you have a jump ability and roll to help you close the gap between you and your enemy
This style is very mobile and you can easily run and jump around while fighting without any issues!
Most abilities can simply be used, you only need to learn to activate a few of them
Concealment is pretty easy to learn the basics of compared to other disciplines.
Lethality is a damage-over-time discipline which means you need to build up your attacks over time, layering them together, which makes it slightly harder to learn than burst discipline which do damage right away
This style is very mobile and you can easily run and jump around while fighting without any issues!
Most abilities can simply be used, you only need to learn to activate a few of them
Lethality takes slightly longer to learn than other disciplines, but is easier to get really good at compared to many other disciplines
Kolto Waves, large group heal
Kolto Probe, heals your target over time and can be used on any number of targets
Infiltrate, group stealth (optional)
Debilitate, short stun (optional)
Scamper, roll forwards quickly
Holotraverse, jump to an enemy (optional)
Flash Bang, group stun/distraction (optional)
The Concealment style focuses on knifing enemies, big or small. It’s a fast and fluid discipline.
Weapon: Sniper Rifle
Marksmanship is long range – if you can handle the cover mechanic, you can hit targets very, very far away compared to most classes which makes it easier to find targets to hit than short-range classes.
I was originally intimidated by the number of abilities Marksmanship had, but found it very easy and intuitive to play once I read a guide and it felt there was less to memorize than many other disciplines.
I was originally intimidated by the number of abilities Marksmanship had, but found it very easy and intuitive to play once I read a guide and it felt there was less to memorize than many other disciplines.
When I was learning Engi, I found it was easy to learn the basics of, but harder to fully learn than the other two Gunslinger disciplines.
Virulence is long range – if you can handle the cover mechanic, you can hit targets very, very far away compared to most classes which makes it easier to find targets to hit than short-range classes.
Marksmanship focuses on long range pistol attacks, taking advantage of a free attack available after every main attack, and taking advantage of their large number of buffs.
Covered Escape, roll and go into cover
Cover Pulse, knock everyone away form you while in cover
Ballistic Shield, large group shield (optional)
Orbital Strike, your ship attacks for you (optional)
Virulence focuses on making sure you have your Corrosive Dart and Corrosive Grenade debuffs on your current target before using Cull, a channeled ability that is your weakest attack on its own, but generating the biggest hits you can do if supported by your Damage over Time abilities at the right time.
Yes
No
And finally thank you to Zahk who helped type up all the 1,000+ abilities in the game for each class so we could make the summaries and the basic class guides for each discipline, and helped with testing and formatting for this page!
Sentinel
Marauder
Guardian
Juggernaut
Shadow
Assassin
Sage
Sorcerer
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