SWTOR: Republic Class Stories Ranked Worst to Best

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In Star Wars: The Old Republic, players get a choice between 2 factions, each with 4 unique classes. All of these classes come with their own personal story line. For those with the noble goals of the light side at heart, we’ve ranked the Republic’s class story lines from worst to best.

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The Best Republic Questlines in SWTOR, Ranked Worst to Best

Crafting these rankings for SWTOR was a challenging task, given the exceptional quality of each class story. Let’s not misconstrue the term “worst”; even at position number 4, there’s plenty of thrilling adventures and unforgettable moments to enjoy. Every class promises a unique and engaging experience.

4/4

Trooper

The Trooper is any player’s chance to see the front lines of the Republic through the eyes of an elite soldier. Their class story is written and structured like a classic war film, and much of the plot focuses on commanding an elite squad in operations across the galaxy.

The war between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire is present in every SWTOR class story, however it receives more focus in this storyline. In most class questlines, the war is largely tertiary to the story. They tend to focus more on the struggle between Jedi and Sith than Republic and Empire.

Troopers, meanwhile, will have a different view of the war. They get up close and personal not just with the gruesome battles, but also with the detrimental effects the war is having on regular people. Therefore, the Trooper receives missions with a bit more grit than the standard SWTOR affair.

It feels a bit harsh to call the Trooper’s story the worst in all SWTOR. The questline isn’t bad, it’s just not particularly interesting. In theory, it could be among the most engrossing in the game. In practice however, there isn’t much to keep players engaged. The questline begins with a slow start and never rises above this.

Although the Trooper’s class story contains few glaring flaws, it equally contains few glaring strengths. The choices offered to the player fail to represent particularly meaningful questions, instead merely falling into the common Star Wars trap of being mostly simple, binary, unnuanced decisions.

Despite all that has been said, the Trooper is not an altogether bad choice for players. They have fun gameplay options, their companions can be interesting, and they have some of the most striking outfit designs in the game. It is unfortunate, then, that this questline is so bland and boring.

3/4

Jedi Consular

A returning class from Knights of the Old Republic, Jedi Consulars are the most spiritual members of the Jedi Order. They often take the roles of wise masters, diplomats, or researchers. Think of the Jedi Consular as Yoda, while the Jedi Knight is Anakin Skywalker.

As such, they are the more force-focused and inner-minded of the available two Jedi classes. Because of this, their storyline is quite a bit slower than their more swashbuckling counterpart in the Knight. A bulk of the story focuses on diplomacy, maintaining the relationship between the Republic government and the worlds within its borders. Fitting the Consular’s role in the order, the questline also explores the nature of the force and its effects on the people who use it.

The primary flaw which keeps the Consular’s class story from higher placements in this ranking is its slow-as-molasses opening. It takes a long while for the story to really get going, with an introduction far slower than the Consular deserves. Any SWTOR prologue can be a bit of a meandering chore, but the Consular’s prologue is the most glaring example.

The classic bit of writing advice “put your best foot forward” is inversed within the Consular questline’s structure. All of the worst bits in this story happen in the prologue and the first sections of Chapter 1. The quality then starts to improve as the story progresses past this point. In later chapters, there’s quite a lot of genuinely interesting content. Unfortunately though, the unrelenting boredom of the Tython and Coruscant missions is sure to turn many players off from the class entirely.

2/4

Smuggler

If you’ve ever read any of the old Han Solo adventure novels, the Smuggler’s storyline will feel very familiar. A high energy romp around the galaxy in search of fame, fortune, and revenge awaits players who choose the Smuggler. As said, Smugglers are Han Solo analogues, complete with a ship that feels like a kitbash of the Millennium Falcon and KoTOR‘s Ebon Hawk.

The questline starts off strong and rides the high of its opening all the way to the finish line. As well, the allies made along the way (including your very own Chewbacca stand-in), while not always fully fleshed out, are fun. Taken as a whole, fun is really the guiding principle of the Smuggler’s story.

Ultimately, the storyline repeatedly exhumes an upbeat, lighthearted tone dripping with wit and humor. It’s not the best Republic questline in SWTOR, but it offers a lot for players who enjoy their scoundrels.

Though it doesn’t have anywhere near as much to say as other class questlines such as the Imperial Agent, the Smuggler storyline is nonetheless a great time. It lacks a certain amount of narrative substance, however this is balanced out by the fact that no other SWTOR class story matches the Smuggler’s energy or humor.

That being said, there is something to be said in the fact that the player has a unique amount of choice in how the Smuggler is characterized. One Smuggler could be a dark-aligned nihilist with selfish motivations, or corrupted by their quest for vengeance. Meanwhile, other Smugglers could be light-aligned and genuinely loyal to the Republic, or only merely helping the Republic because they’re eager to pay them.

It’s possible for the Smuggler to feel just a bit more like your character than certain other available options. If you can live with a lack of substance and depth in favor of fun, romantic, daredevil escapades, then the Smuggler may be for you.

1/4

Jedi Knight

Another returning KoTOR class, the Jedi Knight’s main questline is a classic Star Wars story through and through. It is our pick for the best Republic class story in SWTOR. It feels like a mishmash of all the best aspects of Episodes 1-6. You get a plucky Astromech droid companion, rise through the ranks of the Jedi Order, and partake in more than a few deadly clashes with Sith Lords.

As said previously, the Jedi Knights are the more swashbuckling defender types between them and the Consulars in the Order. While they still use and study the force, Jedi Knights focus more on lightsaber combat than their more diplomatic counterparts. They are more suited to the warrior life than Consulars, and this shines through in their storyline. Where the Consular engaged in diplomacy and improving political relationships, the Jedi Knight is facing destiny itself in tense duels and pulse-pounding battles.

For players new to The Old Republic, we would strongly recommend the Jedi Knight as a starting class. The story introduces you to a variety of the game’s core concepts. Players will learn a lot about the general state of the galaxy here, useful information to have in the game. As well, the events of the Jedi Knight’s storyline have repercussions in other stories. For example, the fate of a specific companion for the Knight is directly referenced and incorporated into the Sith Warrior storyline (and that companion also plays a big role in a SWTOR tie-in novel).

In addition, the ending of this class’ storyline is a key plot points in two of the game’s major expansions. Granted, certain Imperial class stories are a fair bit more interesting than the Knight’s. Nonetheless, this does not detract or prevent the Jedi Knight from possessing by far the Galactic Republic’s best quest line.

Join the High Ground

We hope you enjoyed our ranking of the best class questlines for SWTOR‘s Republic. Noble guardians of the Light Side should now be further prepared to bring hope to the galaxy and protect the high ground!

Do you agree with our post? Do you disagree? Maybe you have some extra thoughts. Feel free to discuss our rating in the comments below. Also, be sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter for extra SWTOR content.

Happy gaming, and may the force be with you!