The Best Solo Class in Star Wars: The Old Republic in 2023 - A SWTOR Gameplay Guide

[@_Asvaria]

My most beloved will always be Sith Inquisitor. Bounty hunter is on the second place and Jedi Guardian on the third. I’m recently playing Smuggler so maybe that might change (but Inquisitor will always be my n.1) Also, I adore the „Light Side Sith switching for Republic” and „Jedi going dark and becoming Imperial” scenarios.

[@Renfail]

Good choices

[@kojiattwood]

Imperial Agent and Inquisitor were a lot of fun, great writing.

[@Renfail]

Fully agree!

[@vikingraider1961]

At the start, when the game first came out, companions were a bit different depending on which class you were playing. Elara Dorn, for instance, was the best healing companion in the game (and, yes, I've completed all 8 story lines - some of them multiple times). The upshot was that commando trooper with Elara Dorn healer was sorta "easy mode"!

[@Renfail]

Ayep, a LOT different back then. I miss decking them out in their own sets of gear the most.

[@vikingraider1961]

@@Renfail - I'd get a new bit of kit for my character and then spend some time transferring the "hand-me-downs" to each of the companions. As for the "look", being a member of a military "squad" made it easy! Unlock the Havoc Squad uniform from the cartel market and "viola"!

[@ingolf82]

@@vikingraider1961 it's the same with Arsenal Mercenary and Mako, it is really easy, you do so much damage and she just heals you up. and you get Mako first, so really easy.

[@OnBrandRP]

My Jedi Guardian is easily my favorite solo class.

[@Renfail]

It feels the most classic, right?

[@АндрейБронников-ы6ъ]

Before 7.0 or now too?

[@ingolf82]

for solo play, I always recommend tank classes. The Assassin/Shadow or the Powertech/Vanguard or the Guardian/Juggernaut. then you set your companion to heal and go. you can solo 2 man heroics without any problems, even some 4 man are soloable if you are good. for that I recommend the Assassin/Shadow because you have stealth. Survivability is what you want. you can also do healer classes with a tank companion, but I prefer tanking as I prefer being in control of what the enemy is focusing on. it's funny, in a star wars game, I prefer playing the non-force users over the force users. my personal favourite specs are: Arsenal Mercenary and Marksmanship Sniper/Sharpshooter Gunslinger. Engineering/Saboteur sniper/gunslinger is fine too.

[@Renfail]

All fun!

[@ingolf82]

@@Renfail I played this game from the start back in 2011 and the game used to be way harder to play, you couldn't just solo everything easily. I remember doing the Jedi knight story and I had problems defeating "Kira's brother" (description of the boss), because you had to use Kira Carsen for the fight and she was a dps companion only back then, you couldn't pick. Doc was the healer. Before you could switch specs on your companion, the game was harder. the last boss in the story forced you to use T3 and he was a tank, you couldn't set him to healer like now.

[@Renfail]

@@ingolf82 I much prefer the way it plays these days

[@solypsomancer9540]

It's not my favorite combo but my most survivable combo is running solo Flashpoint as commando/merc healer with dps companion and combat Droid. Your pet and Droid are nigh on unkillable even without your heals but with them it's almost cruel to mobs. Plus tons of aoe kaboom.

[@Renfail]

Absofreakinglutely!

[@WakkasLove]

My favorite combo so far is Sage/Inquisitor for main combat style, and Shadow/Assassin for my secondary. It is SO satisfying to stealth past what I don't want to fight and both are amazing for PVE solo. I also tend to play light-side, regardless of if I'm playing Empire or Republic, because those choices just suit my personality. I also find it fun to have my Sith Inquisitor have a Jedi Shadow secondary combat style. I mean, Revan was both, why not my light-side Sith? :)

[@Renfail]

There ya go :) And yeah, stealthing past all the things = FTW

[@Morozov97]

Dude you're like me!

[@Renfail]

@@Morozov97 epic

[@Renfail]

it's part of D&D so no. Go away, troll@@fu6817

[@tjm7768]

Wow... I've never considered D&D as a base for game mechanic qualifications. Considering I personally never played, but I know enough about it to say it is a brilliant deduction. @@Renfail

[@Empress_Xena]

Played the story for all the classes. My favorites are my Operative and Marauder

[@Renfail]

Nice!

[@jameskoskidescamps2497]

Thank you, am new; downloading the game; dont know much; watching your videos.

[@Renfail]

Have fun!

[@williamsimpson6190]

I was a part of the Beta for this game. Got a cool "Founders" badge and everything. I agree with everything you said. Funny thing I noticed in your video is that the classes you chose were the way the game started with. My first team character, (because I actually had friends that played all the way through, before they left for other games) was the Gunslinger. He was the best. My first solo character was a Sith Juggernaught. And you forgot to mention the copious amount of Vader fun with being able to use force choke then force push only to use a force jump/slash to finish them. Question: Dose anyone else try to use their abilities in such a way that when you kill someone, you do it in the most cinematic way? Or is it just me? Great vid, I will look through more of yours for more inspiration. Thanks! And may the Force be with you!

[@Renfail]

Cheers :) And I totally hadn't realized that but yeah, all the ones I chose are the classic ways they were played LOL!

[@MisterLobb]

I started with the sentinel. Loved the starter planet quest line. My first evil side (though I played it subversive light side) was the agent, and I think that was the best of the stories, although the smuggler & bounty hunter stories a lot of fun too. Watching this I realized I never played the tank specs.

[@MisterLobb]

@@Renfailthey did design the archetypes well.

[@SvendleBerries]

- *"Question: Dose anyone else try to use their abilities in such a way that when you kill someone, you do it in the most cinematic way?"* When I used to play juggernaut a lot, I liked to try and finish fights with force crush. Just because if the last damage tick killed them their death animation was actually them being crushed along with a loud _CRUNCH_ lol It was brutal.

[@JeyWooly]

the video i was looking for. thank you!

[@Renfail]

cheers!

[@JeyWooly]

@@Renfail made sure to subscribe 😎

[@C3R3ALM4K3R]

Honestly the with warrior is without a doubt my favorite class story in the game man I’ve played him like 5 times each time doing different things and I love it

[@Renfail]

nice

[@Perceval777]

Recently I came back to the game after many years. I really like most of the improvements and changes, I picked trooper commando and I can't wait to unlock a second combat style to add sniper or vanguard. (^-^) I miss the old ship interior background during character creation and training all the skills at the trainers though, small things but I liked them roleplay-wise.

[@Renfail]

The game is in a REALLY good place these days IMO.

[@MisterLobb]

Yeah, making trainers obsolete is a small disappointment.

[@MisterLobb]

I like the gunslinger, but mine are bounty hunters. Created two couple years apart, an unconsciously made them both the same spec.

[@Renfail]

Nice

[@chaoticneutral7528]

I like the sith marauder and sith assassin. Assassin for running past all those annoying mobs, marauder for those times I just wanna kill everything.

[@Renfail]

Nice!

[@bwestacado9643]

The Sentinel (preferably the Watchman) is my favorite class of Jedi. It's cool you get to play as them in this game

[@Renfail]

it's fun :)

[@serenav8029]

i like all SWTOR Stories but in no particular order my Top 4 are: Agent (great story (best Ship) Smuggler ( the first story i played) Consular (i have done this Story 8 times or more i just love it.) Inquisitor ( i have also Done this Story line 8 or more times.)

[@Renfail]

Cool

[@Wsquared43]

I love this game! I wish I had a better PC so I can play more. I have to turn the settings all the way down just to be able to run it smoothly. I played through 6 or 7 classes that way. Still loved every minute of it! KOTOR is still my favorite game ever made and this game really is up there close

[@Renfail]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@ZedNull.]

Its not really just an aesthetic choice when the light vs dark counterparts perform differently, hatred assassin is 99% of the dps parse leaderboard and shadow isnt for example.

[@Renfail]

Depends on the POV

[@MrKsan05]

This is all just my opinion, The best story is Imperial Agent, then Inquisitor. The best classes are the Sith Sorcerer, this is my favorite class , then Bounty Hunter. I played in beta but after finishing a couple of stories quickly became bored with the game. I've just came back to it and want to finish up the other stories I didn't in the first run. I remember having so much fun with the Sorcerer, it is hard to play anoter class because I remember that fun, I know the class was OP at launch though, not sure now.

[@Renfail]

have fun :)

[@ftsquintyd2844]

very nice

[@Renfail]

Thanks

[@jaminallen3119]

Fun video thanks. Good opinions too. I went with the Shadow Consular as my first and main solo. (And samr with the Sith Assassin). I felt theybare great fornsolo olaybas they can stealth and skip alot of trash mobs or stealth out of a near death senario. Thoroughly enjoyable 10minute view with that video 🖖

[@Renfail]

cheers

[@slipshankd1307]

I remember when on Ever quest people were selling special weapons for thousands of dollars

[@QenaitheCustodianGuard]

I went for bounty hunter operative, I really like the stealth element and kind of rogue-ish gameplay but I will try mercenary at some point as well, as groups of enemies can be somewhat awkward as an operative, so far at least.

[@Renfail]

Fun times!

[@tolgaozdemir5800]

I say this as someone who has been playing this game since 2012. I played all classes and maxed them out. There used to be no dual specs. and you had to have 16 classes. Actually every class is successful for PVE but, I think the best ones so far are PT/VG, Mara/Sent, Jugg/Guardian. With these three classes, you can enter any solo combat without worry. High damage, high durability and non-stop.

[@Renfail]

Lots of fun!

[@nicolas.p1750]

Which one is the best, like above them all amongst the one you said?

[@tolgaozdemir5800]

@@nicolas.p1750 Which one is better depends on people's playing style. These are the most successful pvp classes according to my own statistics in the last 12 years. Right now Sorc/Sage is ridiculously strong, but it wasn't usually like that. Once upon a time, Operative/Scoundrel was a class to be feared to face in one-on-one situations. In short, different classes may come to the fore from time to time. The first classes I mentioned are the ones that are generally successful and if I had only one choice, I would choose PT/VG.

[@Renfail]

Depends on the person@@nicolas.p1750

[@kubrick5073]

I love playing as a Tank with a dps companion

[@Renfail]

indeed!

[@TheRoibm]

I play Swtor on and off since it became f2p as a solo story game. Now I'm only logging in for weekly seasons or when a big story update comes along. I have every class max level with purple 336 gear (at least on body and weapons) even if I don't need it but its super funny that its possible. Anyway, what I found out to be my personal best way to solo, they are 2 factors that are very important: Much cleave and low cooldowns. Much cleave is pretty clear in story mission or Heroics we fight 99,9% groups of adds we want to kill quickly and there are 3-4 classes, that are just insane doing it. Hatred, Rage, Pyrotech, Marksman. Hatred has just insane easy dot spread and and aoe spammable, plus pretty good burst if you spec it that way. Plus stealth. Stealth is great, sadly the other stealth spec in Operative is just not my favourite. The burst specs cleave is non existent and the dot spec has to spend way to many gcd's before it becomes effective and its dot spread needs a Tactical Advantage (or upper hand) and has a pretty long cooldown. Pyro is kinda the same than Hatred. Big cleave, spammable dot spread and really good burst as a dot class. Plus insane defensives. Rage is kinda the forgotten brother behind its other spec. But having Enrage plus Force Leap of cooldown after every fight, plus a passive that lets you spam every ability in your toolkit without cooldown for a few seconds after activating Enrage (including Smash aka your Aoe) is the most satisfying gameplay for me. If Rage hat stealth I would not play anything else. Marksman is if you only want to press 1 button. Surpressive Fire all the way. Don't forget to grab the Tactical, that increases Surpressive Fires damage by another 10% and the passive that increases its damage by 25%. This is the class, which has an AOE spec btw. You don't need it. If you encounter a boss the rotation is also super easy and straight forward, really love this class.

[@Renfail]

I'ts fun for story for sure.

[@nicolas.p1750]

Thanks for the feedback, as a new player and f2p who want the best class for solo content, which one do you believe I should pick? ( also, is stealth really mendatory?, if so please include the best class available that has stealth) Thanks 😊

[@TheRoibm]

@@nicolas.p1750 Stealth is of course not mandatory, but it makes things a lot smoother. Sometimes you just don't want to fight every enemy in your way. Assasin/Shadow and Scoundrel/Saboteurs are the only classes with stealth. Technically Marodeurs/Sentinel also have stealth but its only a short period with a long cooldown. I would go with Assasin/Shadow and spec into Hatred/Serenity. Those have insane aoe, no cooldown on dot spread while also having one of the best single target damage. If you play a tech class go with Powertech/Vanguard and spec into Pyrotech/Plasmatech. Those don't have stealth but all of the good stuff Hatred/Serenity has. Thing about solo content you fight add groups 99% of the time and they die very fast. So you want to avoid long cooldowns on key aoe abilities. Imo you also want to avoid range. Being meele will make stacking and burning adds so much easier. But at the end thats just how I like to play. But for me it works very well.

[@nicolas.p1750]

@@TheRoibm Thanks you so much for answering that fast :D

[@jamesspencer9472]

Fantastic video. Sooooo what you make a good companion for a smuggler?

[@Renfail]

Any. They all can switch stances

[@Wombatmetal]

I am getting back into the game after some years; I was in the beta test and the game has come so far. My first class was Smuggler - Gunslinger and it was a lot of fun. Right now I am playing a Sith Warrior - Sorcerer build, as I really like Vette. I may also try an Operative - Lethality build. With Gunslinger as secondary. May do the Agent story - it's such a good story. Wish I could pick up Mako though

[@Renfail]

Enjoy!

[@antonkavaliou5587]

I think that you need to play as you would have done in the place of the character. That's why it's an RPG. But purely evil or a good Sith or Jedi to play when passed for all classes.

[@Renfail]

Lots of options

[@huntor52]

I need a guide! just came back haha.

[@Renfail]

You got this!

[@C3R3ALM4K3R]

Tb to the days when malavai was the goated companion for early with because he healed and revan expansion quest to gear companions

[@Renfail]

yep!

[@cris_j]

I enjoy the mechanics of force lightning so much I even use it with republic characters, I'm sure to the concern of my teammates...

[@Renfail]

hahaha for real....FORCE LIGHTNING!?!?! RUUUUNNNN

[@thunder9236]

All the classes feel fun but the worst performing classes feel pretty bad. The commando is just awful. Its super cool visually but its underwhelming in damage. Consular-Sentinel is probably my favorite because of the duality between a strong physical fighter and someone seeking peace without physical force. The damage is great too.

[@Renfail]

I've never noticed any issues with damage

[@ZulSii]

Sith assassin darkness/hatered are quite fun to solo play

[@Renfail]

enjoy!

[@gardenow9373]

Hello, I'm new to SWTOR. I wanted to choose Sith Assassin as DPS, but after your video I doubt. How good is he at solo flashpoints? Should I change my mind and take the Sith Sorcerer?

[@Renfail]

Everyone can solo. Companions are adjustable. Play what you want.

[@WakkasLove]

Play both. Each has a different class story. Then you can take the Assassin or Sorcerer as your characters secondary combat style.

[@TheGamerCasual]

I am in the same boat.. I tried sorcerer.. and even tho I was lv 6, I had a hard time staying alive along with constant cast timers where I can't move didn't impress me any.. so it's hard for me to understand why everyone raves about the sorcerer. I switched and made an assassin.. and have been mowing down everything I come across. Also telling me and the OP to play anything we want isn't answering our question. So here is my question.. I want to play a class where I don't have to worry about dying.. where I can walk through any content I want solo with ease and enjoy the story. Now.. which class would y'all recommend. Thx

[@Renfail]

@@TheGamerCasual All of them. With companions, you literally can set your companion to heal mode, play what you want, and you will never die. There ya go.

[@WakkasLove]

@@TheGamerCasual You are rude, demanding answers from strangers just trying to help. If you are dying constantly, you are probably not geared. I solo heroics with my Sorcerer. Very little she can't do with regards to solo content. In groups, she never dies. And like Renfail says, set your comp to Heal. Also, be sure you have your companions "Like" set high. Give them gifts to "gear" them up. Level 50 is highest.

[@ashtalavista8671]

i understand your way, but if you really want a solo char you do aguardian dps. an off tank. full armor, good dps, you're on it. ;) but like you said, every class is op.

[@ashtalavista8671]

and the smugler as a "franc tireur" (it's the frenche name") is ones of the best aoes you can find, and ok you can die fast but you have the time to do many damages ;)

[@Renfail]

for some

[@remirez2k3]

my main is a sith sorc lightning spec and she is nasty deadly with lightning abilities

[@Renfail]

cool!

[@feroxonpc307]

I'm struggling to play the agent and scoundrel as I love my lightsabers, I really need to play the agent story, i've heard good things!

[@Renfail]

It's James Bond in space. SUCH a great story :)

[@feroxonpc307]

@@Renfail How do you feel about the non-lightsaber classes in the expansions? I've heard it can feel weird to be beating these powerful enemies with blasters.

[@Renfail]

@@feroxonpc307 Doesn't bother me in the least. I love ALL Star Wars; I am not one of those toxic fans who tries to dictate what is or isn't allowed in Star Wars and runs around calling Disney the devil. I love the IP, I have since I was a child, and I will until they roll me into my grave :)

[@feroxonpc307]

@@Renfail Hell yeah, I think I might give the agent a try then!

[@darkndanger2552]

Great video!

[@Renfail]

Thank you!

[@CombatGrunt2Fast4u]

Honestly the easiest way to play solo is a heal spec with a tank companion. It’s not going to be fast, but you WILL NOT DIE!

[@CombatGrunt2Fast4u]

Also, the Juggernaut and the Guardian are literally the same thing with different animations. The same with Sorc/Sage, Assassin/Shadow, …

[@heylolp9]

Light side Sith playthroughs are the real Canadian experience Shoot first Say sworry after The Geneva Checklist will be your friend

[@Renfail]

lol

[@Daygard1]

Just played this game for the first time, less then a month I’ve gotten to 80 and for me the games nothing more then trying to find locations. 1 to 10. Solid 4.

[@Renfail]

some people have no taste =)

[@Dontmatter321]

Imagine judging a game after 1 month of play! 😂

[@Boznete]

Sith warrior is my fav, juggernaut

[@Renfail]

nice!

[@bengamer123]

My favorite combo is Merc and Operative, sure the inconvenient is to have 2 sets of armor. I play merc for FP and OPS and Operative for dailies.

[@Renfail]

There ya go!

[@KXNG_BXNZ]

Daaaamn bro, no love for Havoc Squad?

[@Renfail]

Trooper was good, but not Scoundrel good =P

[@KXNG_BXNZ]

@@Renfail The only ones I've had trouble getting through the story were the Jedi stories, I just get bored Plus not a big fan of their combat I think the Agent was my favorite one, such a good story

[@FazlyIrneldi]

Assasin, stealth save alot of time

[@Renfail]

Stealth saves SO much time!

[@FazlyIrneldi]

@@Renfail OMG thank you for replying sir

[@pspsora]

its assassin and shadow because they have a lightsaber and stealth. done.

[@virtuallettuce35]

well said

[@MrChristophSteininge]

It is a Bioware game, ever since NWN1 Bioware games want you to be good. Mostly you get cooler lines when playing nice. They tried very hard with this game. But the tendency is clear.

[@Renfail]

It's fun that's all I care about :)

[@MrSmithwayne]

operative cannot do 5 man very well, you die very fast at the final bosses which is not what I find important.

[@Renfail]

groovy

[@mousey_2]

what if i want to be like a Mandalorian? xD

[@Renfail]

bounty hunter

[@mr.rainbowlovescoffee]

But there's only one Han Solo 😂💪🌈☕

[@Renfail]

Maybe :)

[@Koppa_Cabana]

This is the most misinformed video I've ever seen. First of all you're mixing up origins stories and combat styles (ex: sith inquisitor isn't a class anymore so are you talking about sorcerer maybe ???) this is very confusing. Guardian isn't dmg focus and juggernaut is ???? Wtf it's literally the same class lmao there's absolutely no difference between an juggernaut and a guardian th'ats the point of MIRRORED classes. Rage/Focus is one of the highest dmg spec rn and vengeance/vigilance does rlly high parses on a lot of bosses. And somehow merc does a ton of dps now ??? Arsenal is still the second lowest dps in the game (this was even worse at the moment of the video where both spec were very trash) Marauder/sentinel wearing heavy armor ? Since when ? Mara/sent are wearing medium armor also where did you see that mara/sent was an aoe focused class ?? because it isn't veangeance/viligance is however. Also annihilation/watchman spec as on of the highest survability in pve you can littereally solo MM bosses without a pet. Sniper/Slinger is a range class we agree on that but how are you staying behind as a solo player ? Are you playing with a tank pet ? But then you're losing a lot of survability by not playing with a healer pet and the video was about survability...This gets very confusing at this point. Also engi/sabo and viru/dirty fighting does hight dmg but marksman/sharpshooter is the lowest dps in the game so be specific when you're saying that sniper/slinger does a lot of dmg. Also Sniper/Slinger is one of the tankiest spec if played correctly. And I'm not even talking about all the trivial informations that are just wrong like you need to be close to use interrupt as a sniper/slinger when you just have to log in the game and read the description where it says 35m range. I'm not against doing guides for new players but at least inform yourself about the topic that your guide covers. At this point I even wonder if you're actually playing the game.

[@Renfail]

And your comment is the most ignorant. Move on.

[@2023roadstervet]

You not even Legendary yet.. #weak

[@Renfail]

Mate, I get paid to play video games. I'm winning every single day.

[@rednekcrazzy938]

Should I do a with warrior sorcerer? Or do inquisitor sorcerer? What’s the diff?

[@Renfail]

The warrior will wear heavy armor; the inquisitor will not. Pros/cons to each.

[@rednekcrazzy938]

@@Renfail thank you. Wasn’t sure how big the change would be. I’d think the heavy would be worth it for a sorcerer right? Make it a bit more survivalable?

[@williamsimpson6190]

@@rednekcrazzy938 You could but don't forget that you get a companion early on in the game. With that companion, Sorcerer would start with Val Kem, you make them a tank and then you could stand back and fry most mobs. Most satisfying. The game is tooled nowadays to be survivable with base uncommon gear through most of the main story. Only when you start to do other activities, such as flashpoints, that you might need to bulk up your defense. What ever way you choose to play you will have a blast. Enjoy!

[@dulappen494]

@@rednekcrazzy938 I think there is a slight misunderstanding here, as a sorcerer you'll always be using light gear, no matter if you choose the backstory of a warrior or the backstory of an inquisitor.

[@WakkasLove]

Warrior is Melee, Sorcerer is AOE/Spells-at-a-distance. Both are fun.