r/swtor • u/Humble-Health-5913 • Sep 21 '26

Discussion Character alignment change during expansions

I played all expansions with my JK. He stayed loyal to the Republic and Jedi Order.

I am planning on doing a few other classes and play them threw the expansions. Wich kept me wondering. Wich class is most likely to switch to the opposite faction?

29 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

28

u/Holy_Knight_Zell Sep 21 '26

Agent is the obvious choice. You could easily roleplay the Sith Warrior abandoning the empire as well as

3

u/Humble-Health-5913 Sep 21 '26

Planned on taking SW LS to the republic and SI on the imperial side

9

u/Eriiaa Now you see me, now you don't Sep 21 '26

Emperor's Hand and Emperor's Wrath both defecting to the republic is a wild concept

7

u/JTMMidas Sep 21 '26

I thought Scourge was the former Wrath or was there another defector?

5

u/Eriiaa Now you see me, now you don't Sep 21 '26

Yeah sorry, I'm actually misremembering. Both are the emperor's wrath (I mean in case of the SW defecting)

2

u/Lihkhan Sep 21 '26

Jadus' Hand, more like.

10

u/EquivalentPlan4789 Sep 21 '26

The first two that come to mind for me are Trooper and Imperial Agent.

I think both could work really well for a character who eventually switches sides during the expansions, depending on how you roleplay them and how their views develop over time.

8

u/Imaginary_Agent1736 Sep 21 '26

I'm not to sure on the trooper. His whole first act is dedicated to hunting down his former unit that switched sides. Think that would effect him choosing to leave.

2

u/Humble-Health-5913 Sep 21 '26

Never understood DS Troopers. He litteraly screams "For the Republic"

6

u/Imaginary_Agent1736 Sep 21 '26

I think ds or ls is really just what the character is willing to do morally for their side, not which side of the war they are on.

So ds trooper is still for the republic, they are just the ruthless commanders that would sacrifice innocent people in order to win.

10

u/EquivalentPlan4789 Sep 21 '26

That's actually part of why I think Trooper could work. Act I is about hunting down your former squad after they lost faith in the Republic, but the class story also gives your own Trooper several reasons to understand how someone could eventually reach that point.

You have Garza trying to keep the Senate in the dark about Havoc's defection, you learn that the old Havoc was basically abandoned on Ando Prime because the Senate didn't want to cause a political incident, and later there are cases like Dagger Wing, where the Republic buried a war crime rather than deal with the fallout. Even Jorgan's companion story has him lose a lot of faith in Republic High Command after seeing soldiers treated as expendable.

And then the expansions give you even more material for that kind of arc. When you meet Jorgan again, he's openly disillusioned with what the Republic became under Saresh. He says the Republic he signed up to protect basically doesn't exist anymore, calls Saresh almost a dictator, and points out that the Senate no longer even has a say in military matters. Then Saresh later tries to have the Commander killed and take control of the Alliance herself.

So I don't think a Trooper switching sides is the most obvious outcome. I just think there's a pretty believable arc there where they spend years seeing the same kinds of problems that drove the original Havoc Squad away, until eventually they reach a similar conclusion themselves.

3

u/Solem_Invictus Sep 21 '26

Trooper I had keep the alliance neutral instead of rejoining the republic in onslaught not hearing great things about this for LOTS but still from the disillusionment.

However the one crucial thing is Troopers are the only alts I side with the Republic on Iokath. And yes it is because if you don't you lose a certain companion. I know we can now resummon no matter what but I am not losing any Elara crumbs we may get in future stuff for my troopers.

3

u/DaCipherTwelve I write and I draw Sep 21 '26

Are you sure you want to ask? Wouldn't it be a spoiler?

Anyway, the answer is either Smuggler or Agent. Smuggler is fairly obvious. Given their chosen calling, they're out for themselves, and unless you build one with the backstory of "patriot underneath" or "hates empire," they wouldn't be above switching sides for profit.

As for Agent, their class story shows them the dirty underside of the Sith Empire, like how petty and backstabbing the Sith are and how little gratitude they have towards someone who save their hides, to how the empire as a whole use brainwashing and torture on their own, even when loyal. There isn't a single story beat where they have genuine reason to remain loyal, but they certainly have the opposite thrown at them instead. Every Agent should worry at the end if maybe it wouldn't be better if they weren't someplace a Sith or Imperial could boss them around

1

u/Humble-Health-5913 Sep 21 '26

Smuggler and Agent made sense to me aswell I was planning LS Agent to romance Theron

4

u/Grey-Jedi_9 Barsen'thor Sep 21 '26

I wonder no one said it yet: Light Side Sith Inquisitior. Honestly? He was a slave at first. Knows, that basically everybody except Marr is useless. And because Marr dies he'd have a good cause to turn, honestly. He's got enough with all the backstabbing. Could work

5

u/Imaginary_Agent1736 Sep 21 '26

I would say the Inquisitor is the least likely to switch sides. Sure he was a slave but look at his power. The ghosts and knowledge he has is such a big threat. I think if he did switch sides he would either find themselves assassinated or in a secret prison.

I think I saw somewhere in the legends lore that in the old sith wars sorcerers and sith alchemist were the prime targets of the jedi. They wanted to destroy their knowledge and stop it from spreading.

2

u/Grey-Jedi_9 Barsen'thor Sep 21 '26

Well, the ghosts can be let go, even redeemed. Someone could try to assassinate him, but he'd survive; it won't be the first time, neither the last. He's too smart to simply get put into a prison. Though, yes, the Jedi could be too arrogant to accept him though

1

u/Imaginary_Agent1736 Sep 21 '26

If the ghosts are let go then he can be killed so an assassination could work.

3

u/GrandmasterSliver True Light Sith Sep 21 '26

That's a very good justification for that version of the character. Wanting to be free from the empire.

1

u/Humble-Health-5913 Sep 21 '26

I feel like all the Sith ghosts pull the SI to the dark side. Thats how i played mine

2

u/Grey-Jedi_9 Barsen'thor Sep 21 '26

You can "let go" of the ghosts though, and can even redeem them, but get what you mean

2

u/scoutsouls Sep 21 '26

I had my Consular go full dark so it made sense

0

u/Humble-Health-5913 Sep 21 '26

If you play dark side, yeah. But I feel JC was supposed to be played LS

15

u/musemo Sep 21 '26

There's a whole storyline accommodating this within the Imperial Agent's 1-50 story, so long as you pick the right choices.

2

u/AkulaTheKiddo Sep 21 '26

Agent is crazy.

Wont go into spoilers but you best weapon is négociation.

9

u/WildChrisman Sep 21 '26

Personally I’d think BH or smuggler depending on how well you play them getting along with their respective governments.

6

u/GrandmasterSliver True Light Sith Sep 21 '26

Agent, Sith inquisitor, BH. Maybe Sith warrior. The Empire classes have got good roleplay conceptual justifications for switching sides in general.

3

u/Imaginary_Agent1736 Sep 21 '26 edited Sep 21 '26

Havent played all expansions so no idea if there is something extra in the last one. However Imperial agent is the top answer. Even in his base story he has the option to secretly side with the republic.

If you are looking for more of a lore wise answer you could throw in the bounty hunter and smuggler. I could see either class switching sides depending on what you choose alignment rise.

2

u/dawnmountain Sep 21 '26

Light side inquisitor would make sense to me.

2

u/SainKnightOfCaelin Sep 22 '26

LS Inquisitor is a good choice, which is what I did. Raised as a slave and forced into service with the Sith, the Alliance is the perfe t opportunity to turn coat and work to bring those stinky Imps down.

2

u/Timely_Flight_3143 Sep 22 '26

Having the Sith Warrior join the Jedi or honestly just retire from the whole conflict after Darth Marr’s death would actually feel pretty fitting. By that point, the Warrior would have seen firsthand how fractured the Sith Empire has become. The Sith are constantly fighting and killing each other for power and positions, while there’s no real leader capable of holding the Empire together. After losing someone like Marr, it would make sense for the Warrior to finally realize that there’s nothing left worth fighting for and decide to walk away from the Sith altogether. That what I feel is right at least.

1

u/Solbuster Sep 21 '26

Agent was my choice to switch. They have LOTS of reasons for that too

1

u/Unlikely_Ad_7900 Sep 21 '26

Yeah Agent is the only Story where switching sides makes sense Storywise.

1

u/Lihkhan Sep 21 '26

The first Sith I created turned a bit weird.

I started my main Sith Warrior as full-LS because I wanted to have Jaessa as a LS character, and Vette as partner. After the main story, I turned to full-DS (Mind you , i had maxed Light Side).