Star Wars Galaxies Pre-CU Profession Information

Here is a listing of all of the Professions you can choose, with a little description of the pluses and minuses. To see how many points you can spend on a particular template, I recommend the following Character Builder site: http://www.swgcharacterbuilder.com/swg-cb.php?as=126&t=5

Starting Professions:

Artisan:Artisan is the base skill for all things crafting. Players who wish to become Armorsmith, Weaponsmith, Architect, Droid Engineer, Chef, Tailor, or Merchant, must work their way through certain trees in the Artisan field. Surveying (the ability to find extractable resources in the outdoors) is also in the Artisan tree. At Master Artisan, you gain the ability to create some of the cooler vehicles in the game.

Brawler:Brawler is your melee fighting tree, and those wishing to persue Commando, Smuggler, Teras Kasi Artist, Fencer, Swordsman, or Pikeman should select this starting profession. PvP characters will often take 2-3 of these skills in order to "defence stack." This makes them harder to hit and/or more immune to special moves put on them (dizzy, knockdown, stun, etc.).

Entertainer:Entertainer is where you start when you wish to become proficient in Image Designer, Musician, or Dancer.

Marksman:Marksman is a prerequisite profession for Rifleman, Pistoleer, Smuggler, Carbineer, Squad Leader, Combat Medic, Bounty Hunter, and Commando. Bounty Hunter and Commando require Master Marksman.

Medic:Medic is the healer/scientist profession and is required if you wish to advance to Doctor (Requires Master Medic), Combat Medic (Requires Master Medic), and Bio-Engineer (only requires the Organic Chemistry tree). If you have a few points left over in your fighting template, consider putting them in the Pharacology (Pharmacology III is typical) tree of Medic. That will allow you to use more powerful Stimpaks (healing packs) which can be the difference between life and death.

Politician:controls the setup and control of player-run cities. This profession is not a pre-requisite for any others.

Scout:Scout is a varied profession and it is a pre-requisite for Squad Leader, Creature Handler, Bounty Hunter, Bio-Engineer, and Ranger. Advancing in the Scout tree helps you in Terrain Negotiation (getting around faster on foot and in vehicles), mask scent (staying undetected by hostile creatures), trapping, creature harvesting (see Ranger for more information), and setting up camps. Many of these are useful to a variety of templates. Good place to dump some points if you have leftovers.

Elite/Hybrid Professions:

Architect:These guys create houses, furniture, harvesters, and city buildings. Unlike most of the crafting professions, Architect doesn't require Master to make the best items available. In other words, several of their items do not have a quality listed, so Master-level experimentation is not needed. Harvesters are the exception to this rule.

Armorsmith:Nothing too mysterious here. These guys create armor. For Pre-CU, 99% of the time this will be Composite armor. If you are going to be an AS, you will want to be a master so that you have access to the maximum amount of Experimentation points (12).

Bio-Engineer:These guys create big, nasty pets and additives which significantly increase the effectiveness of Chef foods and Tailor clothing. They are usually played by the certifiably insane. Again, BE's should be Master or nothing, to maximize experimentation points. Those choosing BE to make pets will sometimes choose to Master the Scout profession to max out their Mask Scent ability.

Bounty Hunter:This profession has a number of unique features. They get to use a Heavy Weapon (Light Lightning Cannon), they get their own quests (to hunt NPC marks and Jedi players), and several good special attacks. A couple of typical templates include 4-0-0-0 Bounty Hunter (this gets you all the way up the Investigation tree, which enables you to hunt Elite NPC "marks") and Master Bounty Hunter, who is an all around good combat profession. With MBH, you also have enough points left over for Master Creature Handler. This is a very fun template.

Carbineer:Probably the least popular of the firearms professions, this one deals with mid-range weapons. Although there are some very good carbine weapons out there, the lack of a best of class weapon is probably the main reason for it's obscurity.

Chef:These guys make food and drink which serve as buffs Can be very lucrative. You will want to be Master if you take this profession up.
Combat Medic:While this profession has some skill with the rifle, it is their Damage-over-time (DOT) abilities that set them aprart. Basically, CM's inject their enemies with diseases that do damage to them over time, or have other detrimental effects. This is usually considered a PvP profession. They can also give out area-effect heals.

Commando:Heavy weapon specialists, these guys really pack a punch. Fairly rare, due to the heavy pre-requisites. When you run across one in PvP, you will typically run the other way. Also very effective in PvE, but if you choose to Master this profession, you won't have too many points left over for other goodies.

Creature Handler:In the Pre-CU timeframe there is much debate about the usefulness of Creature Handlers. For those looking to min/max their PvP templates, Creature Handler is not usually in the mix. It can, however, be an excellent compliment to ranged professions. The typical scenario is sending your pet in to attack a creature while you shoot it from out of striking distance. CH's usually become very attached to their pets and like to show them off at any given opportunity.

Dancer:Dancers and Musicians perform in cantinas. They can buff the mind pool, heal combat fatigue and heal wounds. These professions are very popular for socially-oriented characters. They work for tips exclusively, so keep them happy.

Doctor:These guys are the main buffers and healers. You will often see them standing around in busy locations offering their buffs. Not as altruistic as Dancers and Musicians, you usually have to pay first before you receive your buff. Some are setup as buff-bots in houses that charge a fee for you to enter. They run a constant macro that accepts your invitation to a group and buffs each of 6 categories, before dropping the group. Make sure that you are not already in a group when you invite them, to ensure that they target the correct person for the buff.

Droid Engineer:Droids have many, many uses. I will attempt to list a few, but I'm sure I won't get the whole list. Storage, creature harvesting, battle tanking, repairing other droids, medical assistant, interplanetary surveying, and several others. Will probably want to master and not dabble.

Fencer:Master of the one-handed melee. This profession can be used to great effect for PvE and is often stacked as part of a PvP melee template.

Image Designer:Can change your appearance. Works for tips. I have no experience or advice. I'm sure that this can be dabbled in and not mastered, though.

Merchant:Ability to place vendors and advertise them on the global market. Very easy experience to gain (you get experience by having a vendor placed). 3-0-0-4 is my suggestions for lots of bang for the buck vendoring fun.

Musician:Dancers and Musicians perform in cantinas. They can buff the mind pool, heal combat fatigue and heal wounds. These professions are very popular for socially-oriented characters. They work for tips exclusively, so keep them happy.

Pikeman:Masters of the polearm, these guys are usually considered to be quite formidable for PvE, and less so for PvP. Their weapons are typically too slow to compete in fast-paced PvP action.

Pistoleer:Viable both for PvP and PvE, pistoleers are usually kiting (running and shooting) to be most effective. Scatter pistols are often the weapon of choice.

Ranger:Ranger is like an advanced version of the scouting skill. With advanced Camping, additional Terrain negotiation and traps offered, the main reason that this profession is usually chosen is for the Field Bioscience tree. This tree provides tracking and, most importantly, a big boost to Creature Harvesting. This skill allows everyone in the Ranger's group with the harvest skill to collect more Meat, Hide, or Bone than they normally would. If you have the points to spend, I recommend only 0-0-4-0 in Ranger.

Rifleman:The long-distance marksman of the group, a Master Rifleman is a formidable choice for PvE. Although you will get very similar results with all of the firearms professions, Rifleman is usually preferred for its ability to seriously wound or outright kill many creatures before they get in melee range. There are also several good choices for high-end weapons in this category. For PvE, use a T21 or DxR-6b [Acid Rifle from the Geo caves]. PvP, stick with the Jawa Ion Rifle. The main reason for that is, well, it's stun damage and all armor is vulnerable to stun. This is, of course, unless it has the super-secret-special stun layers, in which case, it has 10-15% resist to stun. If you have an amazing T21, you can use that in PvP as well.

Smuggler:Smugglers offer a unique blend of fighting and crafting. On the fighting side, they are formidable in both PvE and PvP (when paired with the right combination of other professions.) They have the ability to feign death, which is useful for confusing both NPC opponents and other players. They also are have some good weapon specials. On the crafting side, they can create contraband spices, which offer temporary and sometimes unpredictable buffs, and they can slice weapons. These guys are shifty, though, so be careful before handing over your best rifle. It should be noted that Smugglers don't have control over what type of slice they put on weapons. Sometimes you get one that increases damage and sometimes you get one that decreases attack speed. Don't blame them if you don't get what you want!

Squad Leader:This seldom-used profession offers enhancements through group buffs, both in the form of Scout and Marksman skills. To make full use of a template containing Squad Leader, one would have to group almost contstantly. It is commonly felt that your points are more wisely spent elsewhere.

Swordsman:Two-handed melee weapons are the swordsman's forte'. They have very good defenses vs. melee and devastating area affect attacks, making them a popular choice for people wishing to do solo missions and attack lairs. For PvP, swordsmen often stack defences with other melee skills. Don't let the name fool you, some of the best weapons available to an aspiring swordsman are actually blunt weapons, used to pound their foes into submission.

Tailor:Creators of fine and functional fashion are the tailors or SWG. They often depend on tissues from Bio-Engineers to give their clothes a extra boost, and they make some handy items as well, like bandoliers and utility belts.

Teras Kasi Artist:Often considered the easiest and most formidable melee profession, the TKA excels at PvE and PvP. Their ability to meditate and their excellent defenses make them a popular choice in many templates.

Weaponsmith:One of the most demanding and lucrative professions when done correctly, these icons of the galaxy are often some of the most respected guys (and gals) in the galaxy. Easy to learn and difficult to master, you will surely want to go all the way to Master WS if you choose this profession.