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SWTOR News
11/8/09 5:16 PM -
Secret (Imperial) Agent Man 
by fsanch
, posted November 8th, 2009 at 5:16 PM
Literally a week after fans of Star Wars: The Old Republic received big news with the Jedi Knight reveal, we got another exciting news-bit with the announcement of the Imperial Agent. I do have to say, after some voiced concerns that the updates for the game were not "ramping up", two class announcements in as many weeks goes a long way to counteract such feelings. The number of classes revealed for The Old Republic is now at six, with two more still waiting in the wings. For now, let's focus a bit on our newest class for TOR.
 

The official announcement by Sean Dahlberg and the aforementioned news-bit by Now Gamer both highlight a very curious sidebar about the Imperial Agent. That interesting bit of info is that the Imperial Agent's basis does not lie in an immediately recognizable character from the Star Wars universe. The influences for the class are listed as Zam Wessel and Grand Moff Tarkin - two folks which, if you're not as deep into the Star Wars lore as some, you might not identify right away.

While you would think that the lack of comparison to a known "iconic" Star Wars character might hurt the appeal of the Imperial Agent, I think that it works in its favor. Reading up on Zam and Tarkin, the Agent appears to be a blend of cunning soldier and manipulative mastermind, a speculation readily supported by the timeline's entry about the Agents' role in the rebirth of the Mandalorians (entry 4, 14 BTC, "The Empire Changes Strategy"). The first screenshots for the class appear to display a career that will be able to play a variety of roles, from scout, to long-distance attacker, to stealthy spy.


Just as Imperial Agent subterfuge allowed the Mandalorians to become a power to challenge the Republic, so too do I think that the Agent class itself will subtly work its way into the hearts of many potential TOR players. While other classes are readily identified with a major character in the Star Wars universe, the lack of recognition for the Agent could mean that players will be able to play the career with a greater degree of flexibility, free of the pressures of Star Wars lore.

Either way, the Agent class probably won't be as heavily played as Jedi Knights and Sith Warrior,and those that do play this exciting class will probably do so without the same level of fanfare - but I don't think the Agents themselves would have it any other way.

As for the title, Imperial Agents are obviously going to be allowed to be both male and female, but I honestly couldn't resist the song reference. It's a good one, by the way - you ought to give it a listen
 
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15 Comments
Comment by Frank made on November 10th, 2009 at 10:21pm
Loving the comments here guys and gals. I think all the speculation has really fueled more interest in the class, and I'll be certainly looking at it as a choice if there aren't support classes.
 
Comment by Zioni made on November 10th, 2009 at 3:33pm
The imp agent is a nod to another icon in SW movies and lore, the imperial navy officer and another BH/Assassin/Hired Gun type. I think the only thing remaining is an underworld type, imperial/senatorial guard type and/or a hero/freedom fighter type.

Also, everyone seems to focus on the weapons for the comparison of the classes but I think a better predicter is how they play defense. I don't think there will be mirrors per se, but if there are, jedi and sith are obvious (lightsaber for defense/parries/deflections and able to wear all types of armor); then you have Troopers and BH's who both can wear heavy/medium/light armor and primarily fight from range; and now we have the imp agent and smugglers who appear to wear mostly light to maybe medium armor and we know one for sure uses cover.

The only soldier iconic to the bad guys in SW movies or lore are droids really. And I really don't see them making the 4th class for either side another heavy armor high defense type. You already have jedi/sith who clearly can soak up dmg whether it be thru saber defense or armor. And you have Troopers and BHs who the Devs have clearly stated wear heavy armor or less. Just from a balance standpoint I doubt they'd introduce a 4th sith class that wears heavy armor as well.
 
Comment by Deidare made on November 9th, 2009 at 8:53pm
I think the talent trees for this class would consist of something like: Stealth (rogue) meele dps. long ranged ("sniper", no i'm not intending that this game will be a fps like all the noobs on the forums.) dps. And a third and final Buffing spec that'll probably revolve around party buffs, rather than debuffs to enemies. The first would be called something like assassin, the secound would be scout, and the third would be cammander. This is just what I think, given the way the class looks.
 
Comment by mauler5858 made on November 9th, 2009 at 9:18am
One person from the EU that is not getting mentioned here, is this character seems very much like Mara Jade when she was an Emperor's Hand.
 
Comment by Bzrk made on November 9th, 2009 at 10:25am
I thought about that too, but Mara Jade was more of a Sith Spy/Agent. The term Sith and Imperial are used loosly by many people on the boards, but it actually means something very different imho. :)
 
DH Team
Comment by Zoidberg made on November 9th, 2009 at 12:02pm
Mara Jade is a unique form of agent, as she was force sensitive. During the time period she was active it was logical for her to be recruited by the emperor to serve as his eyes. The Jedi Order was dead and unable to recruit all force sensitive children any longer. The Emperor also followed the the rules, so Vader was the only other guy allowed to have a lightsaber.

And you are right Bzrk, Imperial refers to the political establishment, while Sith refers to the anti-jedi organization that played the role of puppet-masters in the Empire. We just like to use Sith to refer to one side because calling them the Empire sometimes confuses us with Palpatine's Empire. Why couldn't they just call themselves the Galactic Liberation Army or something, because then we can go back to our Command and Conquer days and call them the GLA.
 
Comment by Deidare made on November 11th, 2009 at 9:28pm
I too agree, something like The Liberation army would simplfie the whole sith/imperial problem, because their totally different. Even though they "work together". In reality, however, it is the sith who rule the "empire" which as you said it is often mistakened for Emperor Palpatines empire, but really should be used to refer to the "relationship" of the sith and the imperials. Technically speaking this is the only Imperial Empire class so far. (hince the name...) Bounty hunter isn't either alligence, and sith is well... sith. My guess is the final empire class will be another imperial class. Either being something like "imperial medic" (yes i know its definantly not iconic) or the more Iconic Imperial Engineer. AkA the Techno Union, with Iconic members Wat Tambor (one of my favorite badies from star wars!) and Poggle the Lesser. My guess is Imperial Engineer (or for another name: Techno Engineer).
 
Comment by jendy made on November 9th, 2009 at 9:18am
"a career that will be able to play a variety of roles, from scout, to long-distance attacker, to stealthy spy."

Are you pointing here on some kind of talent/skill points which will specify the role of the class??? i wonder what "talent trees" there will be to pick from for BH or trooper if there is gonna be that system. any ideas about these 2 classes?
Sry for my english
 
DH Team
Comment by Zoidberg made on November 9th, 2009 at 11:54am
Your English is fine.

As far as talent trees, it is always possible these are hints at the talents for these classes. I look forward to playing as an Agent, and I will likely go for the long-distance role. If it is any indication of other Bioware games in development, Dragon Age:Origins shows an interesting talent system that allows for many branches and hybrids. There are about three or four areas for each class, followed by two specializations that can be chosen out of four.
 
Comment by Bzrk made on November 9th, 2009 at 2:59am
I think the Imperial Agent IS based on iconic characters in the Star Wars universe. Only it isn't really based on one of the characters in the movies, but more from the Expanded Universe. I've got loads of books and comics where Imperial Agents are used extensively.

So the Imperial Agent is totally viable as a playable class in SWTOR. I like them :)
 
Comment by snafu made on November 8th, 2009 at 8:53pm
I agree that we should definitely not underestimate the potential appeal of this class. Assassin classes are super popular in my multiplayer gaming experience, especially among the younger player base (13-19 years old).
 
Comment by Panzzer made on November 8th, 2009 at 8:28pm
A lot of people had seemed to link this Character with the smuggler but it more closely resembles a trooper.
 
Comment by MrWarlock made on November 8th, 2009 at 5:59pm
Having a sniper rifle is going to make this class very compelling to play, looking forward to some of the long distance skills that the Agent will have. (Head shot) :)
 
Comment by Fedaykin made on November 8th, 2009 at 5:32pm
From my experience the Agent is doing a nice job getting people excited for non-force users. This was the class 'they where looking for' and seeing him and her with that huge sniper rifle pulled alot of people across the line.
 
Comment by kamakaze189 made on November 8th, 2009 at 5:27pm
nice post