Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - Any% No Major Glitches Guide

v5.6: Male/Female Scout/Scoundrel -> Jedi Guardian Route (Light Side)

This route defeats Malak on the Star Forge as fast as possible without major glitches. Timing begins upon clicking “PLAY” after character creation and ends when the screen cuts to black at the start of the Malak Death cutscene. A load-removal tool and auto-splitter is available for LiveSplit thanks to glasnonck and XeroHR (results may vary for Windows 11 users); times are sorted based on load-removed times, since load times vary significantly in this game, and saving is frequent. This guide will cover the character build for the run, as well as a detailed route.

If you have additional questions, you can check out the KotOR Speedrunning Discord which is linked on the game’s sidebar on speedrun.com. There’s a bunch of friendly folks there willing to answer questions!

Table of Contents:

NMG Ruleset

REMEMBER to show yourself restarting the game at the beginning of each attempt.

The Any% No Major Glitches (NMG) run is a middle-ground category between Any% Unrestricted and Any% Glitchless.

The following glitches and tricks are banned in Any% NMG:

Note: Door Clipping includes GP Warps that bypass locked doors.

These glitches and tricks are allowed:

Character Build

Choosing a Build

There are two character builds that are nearly identical in terms of average performance for the Any% NMG run: a Scoundrel build focused on Sneak Attack and a Scout build. Both builds use Two-Weapon Fighting and Flurry for their combat, and both become a Jedi Guardian at level 4. Which build you pick is up to personal preference, but the general benefits of each are as follows:

Scoundrel:

Scout:

Overall the real comparison is the guaranteed Alacrity for the Scout vs. the better combat for the Scoundrel. If Scoundrel can save four combat rounds due to the effectiveness of Sneak Attack, it makes up for the time loss due to no Spire Alacrity. There’s also a very small chance (see Credit Route) that a random Alacrity can drop on Endar Spire, meaning the best outcome would be a Scoundrel with the random Alacrity drop. Some runners may prefer the slightly better bulk and consistent early timesave of a Scout, and Scouts could also get lucky combat rolls on the relevant fights.

Character Creation

Choose whichever class you want based on the discussion above. Either Male or Female works for both builds, with the only difference being one conversation (plus another in a backup strat). Initial Attributes:

Attribute Scoundrel Scout
Strength 18 18
Dexterity 12 12
Constitution 14 14
Intelligence 8 10
Wisdom 8 8
Charisma 12 10

We are going to focus on melee attacks with a lightsaber, so we max out Strength immediately, and get enough Dexterity and Constitution to help us survive. The points in Charisma ensure all Persuade checks will succeed without the need for Force Valor; if you really wanted to, you could do 14 Dex and 2 fewer Cha at the cost of needing Force Valor before key Persuade checks with Yuthura, Lashowe, Czerka Guards on Kashyyyk (for Scouts), and Bastila.

Scoundrels should use 8 Int and 12 Cha, while Scouts should use 10 Int and 10 Cha. Scouts need 10 Int to reach +4 net Computer Use and save a computer spike when hacking, while the extra feat for Scouts is Empathy, canceling out the difference in Charisma as far as Persuade goes.

Initial Skills and Feat:

Skill Scoundrel Scout
Computer Use 0 4
Demolitions 1 1
Stealth 1 0
Awareness 0 0
Persuade 4 0
Repair 0 0
Security 1 1
Treat Injury 0 4
Feat Chosen: Flurry Focus: Melee

The points in both Demolitions and Security are strictly for tricks; 1 point in Demolitions enables the MC to perform Jedi Mine Trick, while the point in Security is for a door on the Endar Spire.

For Scoundrels, the point in Stealth guarantees a Stealth Field Generator in the initial footlocker, which we sell for 40 additional credits in the early game. Scoundrels put points in Persuade but not Treat Injury (TI) because Persuade is a Class Skill while TI is not. We will put more points in both once we become a Jedi Guardian.

For Scouts, the points in Computer Use (and 10 Int) let us save 1 spike while hacking on the Endar Spire, yielding a smoother spike route on Taris. Scoundrels do not need this because they have a guaranteed spike drop in their initial footlocker. Scouts put points in TI but not Persuade due to Class Skills, and also put more points in both when they become a Jedi Guardian.

We choose Flurry because it’s an overall better combat feat for the run; more attacks per round yields more bonus damage from Sneak Attacks. We choose Flurry or Focus: Melee over Two-Weapon Fighting at character creation because it takes longer to select, so at level 2 it’s faster to pick Two-Weapon Fighting. Since character creation isn’t timed, this is optimal.

Leveling Plan

Scoundrel:

Level STR Feats Skills
1 18 Flurry, Sneak Attack I, Scoundrel’s Luck Demo to 1, Stl to 1, Per to 4, Sec to 1, Save 5
2 18 Two-Weapon Fighting Save All
3 18 Sneak Attack II Save All

Scout:

Level STR Feats Skills
1 18 Weapon Focus: Melee Weapons, Flurry Com to 4, Demo to 1, Sec to 1, TI to 4, Save 2
2 18 Two-Weapon Fighting Save All
3 18 Empathy Save All

Jedi Guardian:

Level STR Feats Powers Skills
4 19 Improved Two-Weapon Fighting Affect Mind, Stun Droid Save All
5 19   Force Valor Save All
6 19 Improved Flurry Burst of Speed Per to 9, Rest in TI
AL7 20   Stun Awareness to 1
8 21   Disable Droid Per to 10
9 21 Master Two-Weapon Fighting Knight Speed Per to 11
10 21 Master Flurry Knight Valor Per to 12
AL11 22   Stasis Awareness to 2

Auto-Level Attributes:

Skill Notes:

Feat Notes:

Force Power Notes:

Experience Thresholds

There are four important XP thresholds in this run:

Level 5:

The minimum XP for the run leaves you up to 220 XP short of reaching Level 5 before becoming a Jedi. This threshold is critical for the rest of the run, so you’ll need to make sure to get enough extra XP before then. Thankfully, this is usually trivial, and can be done in three possible ways:

Level 9, Level 11, and Bastila and Jolee’s Level 10:

The minimum XP for the run misses all of these thresholds, so we bring Juhani and Zaalbar to Hrakert Station with us so that they and the insane Selkath can get extra kills while we run through the station collecting underwater gear. The most extra experience needed to hit all three thresholds is 3,450 XP, which generally requires Juhani and Zaalbar to kill all three patrol droids in the first long hallway, and at least a couple insane Selkath to die from either each other or the droids. There are a couple ways to check how your XP looks, and a couple backups if you’re likely to fall short.

Checks:

Backups:

Party Experience:

The reason the last threshold is a range is because of how Party Experience works in KotOR. Typically, party members get 80% of the XP that the main character gets, whether or not they are in your party or even recruited yet. There are, however, a few exceptions:

Thus the last XP threshold depends on how many extra Sith Soldiers die on Endar Spire. The level up is forced when you kill the front two soldiers in the bridge, and there are three relatively simple ways to try to kill extras:

Whether you choose to do employ these methods or not is up to you; it’s entirely possible to hit the highest XP threshold of 55430 XP without extra issue, and each of the above (except the first) does slightly slow you down on Spire.

Equipment Plan

Head: Verpine Headband - Found on Dantooine, Casus Sandral’s corpse

Gloves: Strength Enhancer - Found on Taris, Sith Governor’s corpse

Body: Jedi Knight Robe - Found on Dantooine, Nemo’s remains

Weapon: Double-bladed Lightsaber - Found on Taris, Brejik’s “corpse”

Belt: Nerve Amplifier Belt - Found on Tatooine, Chewed Twi’lek corpse

All of our equipment should be equipped once we leave Tatooine, with the exception of the Solari crystal which is placed after Korriban. We’ll also use the Combat Suit, Prototype Vibroblade and a basic Vibroblade while on Taris.

Credit Route

The new credit route always has exactly three shopping trips. Our credits all come from either selling items we don’t need or looting credits; we also loot some extra corpses to be able to afford all the stims we want on Korriban.

Shopping Trips

1. Larrim on Taris

2a. Zelka on Taris

2b. Crattis Yurkal on Dantooine

2c. Selkath Merchant on Manaan

3. Czerka Shop on Korriban

Buying Alacrities

The second shopping trip for Adrenal Alacrities depends on whether or not you get an Alacrity on the Endar Spire. Scouts are guaranteed an Adrenal Alacrity in their initial footlocker, while Scoundrels must rely on an unlikely random drop. An Alacrity can drop randomly either when recruiting Trask or when looting the Sith Heavy Trooper in the Starboard Section. Both opportunities are only a 1 in 240 chance, meaning you have a net 0.83% chance of getting at least one random Alacrity on Spire.

Your second shopping trip should be:

As noted, the chance of a random Spire Alacrity is extremely low, so Scoundrels will almost always be shopping with Zelka, whereas Scouts should never shop with Zelka and will usually shop on Dantooine. Shopping on Dantooine is 10-11s faster than shopping with Zelka. Shopping on Manaan will be extremely rare, but saves about 4s over shopping on Dantooine if you are that fortunate.

You should only have to do one of these shopping trips unless you use extra Alacrities somewhere, either because MC dies somewhere on Taris or you accidentally use one where you shouldn’t have.

Other Random Loot

There are a few other random drops possible on the Endar Spire that can affect your initial shopping trip with Larrim. Most are centered around grenades; you need to leave Larrim with at least 2 Concussion Grenades (and 1 Frag Grenade if you’re doing the Lower Sewers GP Warp), but with random loot you could have up to 4 Concs and 3 Frags. The more of each you get, the easier the fights with the Assault Droid (for Concussion Grenades) or the Rakghouls during Lower Sewers GP Warp (for Frag Grenades) will be.

1. 2x Concussion Grenade

2. 1-2x Frag Grenade

3. 1x Battle Stimulant

4. 1x Adrenal Stamina

Any other random loot can be sold to Larrim for extra credits that will go towards either a fifth stim from Zelka as a Scoundrel, or additional Life Support Packs on Korriban.

Alignment Route

Alignment in KotOR is a sliding scale from 0 to 100, initialized at 50; higher numbers are Light, lower numbers are dark. Shifts in alignment are determined by a matrix; every alignment-shifting action is classified as Light or Dark, and then assigned a level (either Low, Mid, or High). The player character (Revan) can either be aligned as Very Dark, Dark, Neutral, Light, or Very Light. The more opposed your alignment and the action’s classification, the more drastic your shift in alignment; for example, a Light-aligned character performing a High Dark action will have a large shift, while a Dark character performing a High Dark action will have a smaller shift.

Here is the alignment route used in the run:

Aligned Action Type Delta New
Neutral Game Start 50 50
Neutral Save the alien informant Low Light +2 52
Neutral Agree to kill Gadon Thek Low Dark -2 50
Neutral Threaten Janice Nall to get T3-M4 Mid Dark -4 46
Neutral Persuade Yuthura to admit you to the academy Low Dark -2 44
Neutral Snitch on Kel Algwinn to Uthar Wynn Hardcoded -5 39
Dark Spare Yuthura Ban Mid Light +6 45
Neutral   Low Light +2 47
Neutral Stay true to the Light Side on Lehon High Light +6 53
Neutral   Highest Light 10 63

Snitching on Kel Algwinn is for some reason hardcoded to always give -5 alignment.

The only relevance of alignment in the run is equipping the Solari Crystal. We must be at 60 alignment or higher (the boundary between Neutral and Light) in order to equip any Light Side restricted equipment. The Solari crystal is Light Side restricted, as well as being extremely good. While we used to try and equip the Solari Crystal after Korriban, the only fight that is adversely affected (on average) is the first phase of the Leviathan Malak fight, which goes from an 87% chance of a one-round to a 63.6% chance. Delaying Solari until after Lehon allows for a much more streamlined alignment route, saving enough time that the small risk of an extra round on Leviathan Malak is justified.

Almost every alignment shift we make is faster than the alternative:

The only shift that doesn’t save time is sparing Yuthura, which at 2-3 seconds lost is the fastest way to preserve our alignment enough for the big shift on Lehon to make us Light-aligned.

Route Overview

This is a brief outline of the route for the Any% NMG run, including planet order and smaller skips:

  1. Taris
    • Reach the Undercity and recruit Mission and Zaalbar to access Vulkar Base
    • Defense Turret Skip to access Vulkar Garage
    • Use Accelerator Warp to exit Vulkar Base
    • Skip the Brejik Fight to rescue Bastila
    • Recruit T3 to access Sith Base
    • Kill the Sith Governor to get the Launch Codes
    • Steal the Ebon Hawk and escape Taris
  2. Dantooine
    • Become a Jedi Padawan
    • Redeem Juhani to the light side
    • Find the Star Map in the ancient ruins
  3. Manaan
    • Raid the Sith Base to recover the Data Module for the Republic
    • Sonic Buffer to skip the Mother Firaxan
    • Find the Star Map on the ocean floor
  4. Tatooine
    • Save Teleport into the Eastern Dune Sea
    • Skip the Krayt Dragon to obtain the Star Map
  5. Korriban
    • Infiltrate the Academy
    • Earn five prestige points with Uthar Wynn
    • Find the Star Map in Naga Sadow’s Tomb
  6. Leviathan
    • Rescue the crew using Mission
    • Skip the spacewalk sequence
    • Skip the Saul Karath fight
    • Defeat Darth Malak and escape
  7. Kashyyyk
    • Save Teleport to skip visiting the Wookiee Village
    • Recruit Jolee Bindo to access Lower Shadowlands
    • Find the Star Map in the Lower Shadowlands
    • Save Teleport to the Wookiee Village to Return to the Ebon Hawk
  8. Lehon
    • Rescue the Elder Warrior and obtain Ship Parts
    • Use the Rakatan Ritual to enter the Ancient Temple
    • Defeat Bastila and stay true to the Light Side
    • Repair the Ebon Hawk and fly to the Star Forge
  9. Star Forge
    • Find and kill Darth Malak

The reasoning for the middle planets:

Detailed Route

This section will describe all the actions you’ll need to take for the Any% NMG run.

Notation:

Conversation Notes:

Abbreviations:

Jump to a Section:

Endar Spire

Pre-Run Setup

Endar Spire

Starboard Section

Taris 1

Upper City

SHOPPING: Larrim
- SELL ALL EXCEPT:
  - Medpacs
  - Computer Spikes
  - Frag Grenades (keep if you want to do the Lower Sewers GP Warp)
  - Concussion Grenades (if you have any)
  - Alacrity, Stamina, or Battle Stims (if you have any)
- BUY:
  - 2x Concussion Grenades
  - Battle Stimulant
  - All 4 Minor Mines
- SCOUTS (AND SCOUNDRELS WITH AT LEAST 1014 CREDITS TO SPEND) CAN ALSO BUY:
  - 1x Frag Grenade (only if you want to do the Lower Sewers GP Warp)

Lower City

Undercity

Sewers

The Sewers are one of the riskiest parts of Taris, as MC has to run past a lot of enemies with not a lot of Vitality. Try to keep MC’s health high while in the Sewers and use medpacs as needed.

Vulkar Base

Rescuing Bastila

Taris 2

Upper City

Sith Base

For most combat in the Sith Base, MC should use Flurry, Zaalbar should use Improved Power Attack, and T3 should use the Shield Disruptor.

You will probably need your first memory reset somewhere in the Sith Base.

Escaping Taris

Dantooine

Jedi Enclave

Dantooine Savannah

For Dantooine and Manaan, Burst of Speed and Force Jump are the fastest forms of movement. Try to Force Jump wherever possible and always keep Burst of Speed active.

Ancient Ruins

Jedi Enclave

Manaan

Ahto City

Sith Base

Hrakert Rift

Tatooine

Note: For Tatooine and almost every planet afterwards, Save Teleports are the most efficient form of movement. These are more effective if you do NOT have Force Speed or Alacrity active, so try to keep it off as much as possible. Force Skips can still be done by casting Force Speed twice to cancel it.

Anchorhead and Dune Sea

You will probably need your second memory reset somewhere in Anchorhead or the Dune Sea.

Krayt Dragon Skip

Leaving Tatooine

Korriban

Dreshdae

SHOPPING: Czerka Shop
- SELL ALL EXCEPT:
  - Advanced Medpacs
  - Computer Spikes
  - All Mines
- BUY:
  - 6-8x Life Support Packs (stay above 2500 Credits)
  - 5x Echani Battle Stim
  - 5x Hyper Adrenal Alacrity, Strength, and Stamina
  - If you had to buy the Nerve Amplifier Belt, buy instead 4x Echani, 3x Hyper Alacrity, 4x Hyper Strength (no Stamina)
- End: <150 Credits

Gaining Prestige

You will probably need your third memory reset somewhere in Valley of the Dark Lords.

Tomb of Naga Sadow

The Leviathan

Detention

Bridge

For the rest of the Leviathan, you have to keep Carth and Bastila close to you in order to go through loading zones. Do your best to make sure they don’t wander off, as that can and will lose you a lot of time. It can help to QS/QL here, and you may wish to use Speed for movement for consistentcy.

You will probably need your fourth memory reset somewhere just before or just after Saul Karath Skip.

Hangar

Kashyyyk

The Great Walkway

Upper Shadowlands

Lower Shadowlands

Leaving Kashyyyk

You will probably need your fifth memory reset somewhere while leaving Kashyyyk.

Lehon

Save Teleports are again very useful for movement on Lehon. Be careful not to overuse them, as we want to avoid game crashes.

Beaches

Ancient Temple

The Star Forge

Note: The game has now deleted data so that your Save Teleports are greatly weakened. It’s fastest to use Knight Speed and Force Jump for movement on the Star Forge.

Deck 1

Deck 2

Command Deck

Darth Malak Fight

If Bastila and Jolee are not level 10, you won’t be able to use the Stasis strat, as they only learn Stasis at Auto-Level 10. This XP threshold is slightly higher than MC hitting level 11, but usually if you hit level 11 you can use this strat.

This video shows the Stasis strats described below.

Version History

v5.6 (October 2024)

v5.5 (September 2024)

v5.4 (August 2024)

v5.3 (August 2024)

v5.2 (August 2024)

v5.1 (August 2024)

v5.0 (July 2024)

v4.3 (May 2022)

v4.2 (May 2022)

v4.1 (December 2021)

v4.0 (November 2021)

v3.3 (August 2020)

v3.2 (June 2020)

v3.1 (April 2020)

v3.0 (April 2020)

v2.2 (November 2019)

v2.1 (September 2019)

v2.0 (June 2019)

v1.3 (May 2019)

v1.2 (March 2019)

v1.1 (March 2019)

v1.0 (March 2019)

Closing

If you made it this far, congratulations! Thanks for reading the guide. Please let indykenobi know if you have any comments or questions (best way to contact is via the KotOR Speedrunning Discord).

I’d like to acknowledge glasnonck and thinkshooter, whose runs got me into KotOR speedrunning, as well as glasnonck, sheepmetal, and wurwilf, who all discussed this category before it was implemented.

Just remember, Pazaak is not for everyone.