In Star Wars The Old Republic, many players will be looking to play one the most popular character in Star Wars history: the Jedi Knight. Unlike Star Wars Galaxies, where players had to unlock Jedi status, in this new game players will be able to unlock the SWTOR Jedi Knight from day one. In fact, you can also be a Jedi Consular, a Sith Warrior, or a Sith Inquisitor, but that is a different story for another article.

The Jedi Knight is your basic lightsaber-using warrior, just like Luke Skywalker was in the movies. These Jedi use lightsabers of many colors, but blue is reserved for the Republic whereas red is reserved for the Empire. The Jedi Knight is not just a simple fighter though and progress into two different classes.

The first Jedi Knight progression is the Sentinel. The Sentinel is a damage-dealing class which actually dual-wields lightsabers. It is also one of the only advanced classes in the game which can only perform one function: damage dealing. If you do not want to deal damage in end-game, do not pick a Sentinel!

The Sentinel has two different specializations; one focuses on dealing damage up front whereas one gets stronger the longer it stays on its target. Obviously, up front damage is great for PvP whereas damage over time is great in PvE. So you can switch back and forth between the two talents based on what you are participating in.

The other option for advanced class for the SWTOR Jedi Knight is the Guardian. The Guardian is a tanking class and is the closest class to what most people think of as a tank in a fantasy-based MMORPG. It is a melee class which uses a variety of abilities to control enemies and keep hate, all while having a lot of talents to improve its HP and defense.

The Guardian also has an off-spec which allows it to deal damage. This way, if you are not really all that interested in tanking in your free time, you can switch over to a damage-dealing spec and solo or PvP. All of these are valid options.