Republic Trooper Guide

As war breaks out across the galaxy, you'll find the Republic Trooper on the front lines. Absorbing damage with heavy armor and the Trooper is an elite mid- to short-range tank. Depending on the player's advanced class choice, the Trooper wields the Republic's latest defensive technology or massive assault guns and can  has potentially all the makings of a highly survivable primary healer. The Republic Trooper also boasts one of the most interesting and cohesive Episode 1 stories in the game, in that it can be believably played from the dark or light side perspective.

Starting Out as a Republic Trooper

Advanced Classes for the Republic Trooper

Commando

Combat Roles:

• Melee and Mid Range DPS
• Healing and Stealth / Positional Attacks

Equipment:

• Main Hand – Assault Cannon
• Armor – Heavy

As primary healers go, no advanced class on the Republic side can match the Commando. Wielding a two-handed Assault Gun, their DPS prowess is nothing the snicker at. Featuring more area-of-effect damage attacks and better range than most DPS classes, the Commando is a capable damage dealer, especially during level-up.

Choose the Commando if you found that the early Trooper abilities short on variety and you see yourself in a combat medic role as the game progresses. 

Vanguard

Combat Roles:

• Tank, DPS

Equipment:

• Main Hand – Blaster Rifle
• Off-Hand – Shield Generator
• Armor – Heavy

If you've enjoyed the playstyle of the Republic Trooper from levels 1-10, foresee yourself sticking to a tankish, first-in, damage absorption role later in the game, and aren't really looking to hybridize things with heals. Simply put, when it comes to gathering threat at range, no other Republic class or advanced class can equal long-range tanking prowess of the Vanguard.

Note that Vanguards typically have two offhand options - a shield generator and a power generator. I typically keep both upgraded but rely on the power generator for levelling. The shield generator comes in very handy for flashpoints, warzones, and other grouped content where survivability is at a premium.

Republic Trooper Companions

As with all classes in The Old Republic, Imperial Agents will gain new companions as part of the natural class quest storyline progression. The Republic Trooper’s companions and the planets where they are obtained are listed below:

• Aric Jorgan – Ord Mantell
• Tanno Vik - Balmorra
• M1 4X – Nar Shadaa
• Elara Dorne – Taris
• Yuun - Hoth

Crew Skills

There are three main types of crew skills in The Old Republic: Crafting, Gathering, and Missions. Players are restricted to only one crafting skill from the list, but may choose any combination of gathering or mission skills.

The three most beneficial Crafting skills for the Imperial Agent are as follows:

Armstech – This allows you to craft your own weapons and barrel weapon modification. The Imperial Agent's first companion carries a bonus to Armstech efficiency, allowing you to craft weapons and the prinicpal weapon modification, barrels, more quickly. Couple this with Scavenging and Investigations to be a largely self-sufficient Armstech crafter.

Armormech - This allows you to craft your own armor and armor modifications. A great thing about Armormech crafting is that you have the largest pool of looted items to reverse engineer. Couple this with Scavenging and Underworld Trading to be a largely self-sufficient Armstech crafter.

Biochem – Nothing beats being able to produce your own consumables. Biochem will not only allow you to craft your own stims and medpacks, but unlocking the Artifact quality will produce a non-consumable version, essentially giving you access to a reusable stat boost or heal. The reusable stims are particularly great for PvP players, since you can keep using them each time you respawn if you die during a match. Couple this with Bioanalyis early in the game to max it out quickly. Note that your second companion has a bonus to Bioanalysis efficiency.