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Neutral or Universal Force Powers

1. part

 

Universal powers include both defensive and offensive powers. These can be used by the Sith and by the Jedi, too. In this section you can read many of them, but not all. I would like to introduce them, explaining what are they good for, what is their effect, and I wanna give you some examples from several sources, like from the movies, from the Clone Wars cartoon, from the Clone Wars 3D, and from a book. Hopefully you'll enjoy this.

Mind tricks

 They refer to a spectrum of Force powers which influence the thoughts of sentient creatures, most commonly used to coerce into agreement by suggestion through voice manipulation, or to cause one to reveal information. This allowed its practitioners to resolve matters in a non-violent way. The concept of Force Persuasion, as we learned in the KotOR series, was the use of the Force to exert influence. Some species were known to be quite resistant to its effects, requiring more skill, for example Hutts and Toydarians. For example Revan could persuade Motta the Hutt, but Luke Skywalker failed in his attempt to persuade Jabba the Hutt. When using a Jedi mind trick, a Jedi often waves his or her hand to aid in the persuasion. The Jedi uses a peculiar tone of voice along with a casual facial expression. The sentient being that was the object of the mind trick tended to adopt a casual tone of voice but a peculiar facial expression. If the trick succeeded, then the target person agreed to whatever was being told to them. Moments later, they felt puzzled about their new opinion, but didn't change it back. Usage of the mind trick was a moral issue for the Jedi, violating the individual's free will and conscience. Therefore the Jedi were strictly proscribed from using it for personal gain, reserving its use for when it would serve the greater good. The Sith and other Dark Jedi however, had no qualms about the usage of the ability. mind_trick_assajj_clonewarsAlso known as Dominate Mind or Control Mind, Mind Control was the dark side equivalent of the Jedi Mind Trick, though Mind Control was much more invasive, being a Sith power. It took complete control of the mind of the victim affected by the power. Assajj Ventress  used dominate mind on Captain Rex to make the clone contact Anakin Skywalker, and to lure the Jedi back. Higher levels of masterymindtrick_quigon allowed mind_trick_lukemore people to be controlled. In the films Qui Gon Jinn used this power on Watto, but failed. Luke Skywalker used mind tricks on Bib Fortuna to make Fortuna lead Luke in front of Jabba, and succeeded. The two best well-known mind trick users were Obi wan Kenobi, kenobi_mindtrick_sandtrooperand the Emperor. Kenobi kenobi_mindtrick_sleazebagganoused the Jedi mind trick on a sandtrooper (these are not those droid you are looking for) in Mos Eisley. He mind tricked Elan Sleazebaggano in the night club to finish up selling death sticks, and to go home rethink his life. Palpatine might have used this ability to control Anakin, Padme, and even the Jedi Order, and also the whole Senate. Force corrupt was a dark side ability that could temporarily control the minds of other sentient beings and make them serve, talk, act for one's own cause. During the Galactic Civil War, it was often employed by Mara Jade and Palpatine himself. In the Jedi knight series the player can take control of enemy soldiers and make them serve the cause of the gamer by attacking other enemy units. In the KotOR series the gamer can open new dialogues with high dominate mind or mind-trick, can buy things cheaper, can get rid of enemies, even can convince them to commit suicide. Affect Mind is a power that gives the main character extra dialogues in conversations but does not always work. Dominate Mind is a better form as before but has more dialogue options and higher chance of success.

Beast control trick

 You could try this force power in Kotor2. Exile learned this power on Dxun from Kreia. This power only affects beasts. It distracts the animals but they become undistracted if the gamer gets to close or interacts with the beasts. Beast Confusion makes the beast attack enemies for the character and won't become undistracted if player gets to close. Anakin Skywalker was a master of this Force. beast_control_anakinHe has this ability by instinct. He first tried this power in the Geonosis arena, calming down the raging Reek, making contact with the beast, even forcing the Reek to act like a horse, and it really let Anakin to climb on his back, and ride it as Hannibal rode the war elephants, destroying other droids, and killing the Nexu to save Padme Amidala. Later beast_control_anakin_cwAnakin used this power again, when in the Clone Wars 3D cartoon he jumped on a dragonfly-like beast, which first flew away with Anakin, but he tamed it, and came back to rescue Ashoka from Assajj Ventress. Also, Luke Skywalker was pretty skilled in this Force power. He used Beast trick in the book Survivor Quest, when some Wolvkil beasts attacked him and his wife, Mare Jade. Luke used the Force to get in the brain of the beasts, and tranquillized all, so the beasts lay down, and felt asleep.

Battle Meditation

 Adds +2 to attack damage and will saves and speeds up health regeneration and affects all party members in the Kotor games. This power lasts 20 seconds. Improved Battle Meditation is the same as before but any enemy that fails a will saving throw suffers -4 to attack, damage and will saves, while Master Battle Meditation adds +4 to attack, damage and will saves and speeds up health regeneration. The well-known, and maybe the best at Battle Meditation was Bastila Shan, you can find more details on this power in my Bastila Shan article.

Force Speed

 was a Force power that allowed the user to maintain sprinting speeds (even moving backwards) for a brief time. Greater skill granted greater boosts to speed and/or greater duration. The power also apparently enabled the user to run for extended distances with no visible signs of fatigue. The increased speed of the Jedi enabled him to see the world and the entities around him in slow motion. This allowed the Jedi to dodge attacks easier, and attack quicker with greater accuracy. The duration and the amount of speed were subject to the user's force_speed_qui_obi skill in the Force. With sufficient skill, one could actually run on vertical surfaces for brief periods of time. (eg Wall run in Jedi Academy) Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn used this ability to escape from force_speed_winduTrade Federation droidekas. Mace Windu used this to gain speed for a long-distance Force jump he was about to perform in the Clone Wars cartoon. Asajj Ventressspeed_assajj used this in the arena while fighting the other gladiators in the same cartoon. Kyle Katarn had to use this ability in a test prepared by Luke Skywalker to regain his lightsaber in Jedi Outcast. Jaden Korr also had to use this ability during his training on Yavin IV in Jedi Academy. In Kotor1 and Kotor2 you can select Burst Of Speed, so to double the character's speed. Later your Exile can develop Knights Speed, where the character's speed is doubled and he gets an extra attack per round. This power lasts the same time as the prev. one, but better. Master Speed require Level 15, but the character gains two extra attacks per round.

Force push

 was one galen_marek_force_pushof the core Force powers that both Jedi and Sith utilize. This power was a basic push using the Force that would send a burst of Force energy at the target, throwing it away from the user. It was useful in games for knocking enemies off bridges and into walls, or for pushing buttons in hard-to-reach areas. In Star  Wars: The Force Unleashed a simulation system called Havok is used to allow the Secret Apprentice to force push a large number of things or persons at once. With practice, a skilled Force push_dookuuser could increase the range and arc of the blast without lowering the average kinetic energy, creating a blanketed wave instead of a focused impulse. Truly gifted practitioners could generate a concussive blast that would radiate from them for dozens of meters in all directions, detonating with the force of a conventional explosive. force_push_brutal_yodaMaybe the strongest Force Push what I have ever seen was utilized by Yoda in the chancellor's room, when he Force Pushed the laughing Palpatine so much, that he flew through the room, rolling on his desk, pushing down his chair, and falling on the floor with the shame of being covered by this whole pile. This power was an effective tool for keeping enemies at a distance. A well-aimed push could have sent the target crashing into a nearby wall or other obstruction, resulting in bludgeoning damage and possible disorientation or blackout. For example Yoda has so hardly push_yoda_royal_guardscrashed these two royal guards into the wall that they stayed down during the time Yoda and Palpatine dueled. Particularly ruthless Force users would use a well-timed Force push to send their enemies tumbling off from narrow passages or into deep chasms. Beyond offense, this power had many useful applications, such as activating a control panel that was out of reach, or pulverizing heavy debris and other obstructions too large to remove without specialized equipment. A trained Force user can resist Force Push, presumably by generating an opposing pressure surge whose wavefront cancels out their opponent's attack. The opponent usually responds by ramping up the pressure to compensate for the increased resistance. From here it becomes a telekinetic arm-wrestling match, with a seemingly motionless facade belying each combatant's desperate struggle to overpower the other. A good example was provided by push_obiwan_anakinAnakin-now-Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi when they dueled in the control room of the mining platform on Mustafar. The two had simultaneously used the ability while resisting each other's at the same time. Like magnets of the same pole, the force finally hurled them towards to the opposite sides of the room. The advanced form of Force Push is Force Whirlwind and the strongest version is the Force Wave.

Force Pull

 A telekinetic ability using the Force that could cause a material body to draw close to the caster. The greater the user's aptitude with this, the heavier the object that could be pulled or the more wide arc or radius of the Force Pull. It could be used to pull weapons from enemies, or, at higher levels of skill, the enemies themselves to be brought closer to the Jedi's lightsaber range. This power was also very useful when a chasm or hole lay between the caster and the enemies. It could also be used to pull foes to the ground. Jedi knights and masters often use Force Pull on their lightsaber, if that was knocked out from their hand in a fight. Anakin uses Force Pull on pull_obi_wanMustafar when he dropped his lightsaber out of his hand when fighting Obi wan Kenobi. He could just in time to recapture it to defend a mortal blow. Also, they previously Force pulled their sabers out from Grievous's pocket when they were captured on the board of the Invisible Hand. General Kenobi Force pulled his saber back after Anakin and ashoka_force_pullAshoka destroyed the shield generator. Ashoha Force Pulled a huge wall down to save his master's life who was surrounded with droids in the Clone Wars 3D. Later Anakinforce_pull_windu Skywalker himself Force Pulled some droids closer and cut them into two with a single slash of his saber. Mace Windu used Force Pull on his lost lightsaber in the Geonosis arena after the Reek attack to defend himself against Jango Fett. He was luckier then Obi-wan, force_pull_lukewho couldn't pull back his saber on Kamino, because Jango Fett tied Kenobi's hands with his harpoon. Luke Skywalker Force Pulled his lightsaber out of the wall of the pull_kenobiice cave of the Wampa. But not only lightsabers were Force Pulled in the movies, Master Kenobi Force Pulled the holomap ball before he left yoda_pullthe training chamber when Yoda taught the young Padawans. Yoda also Force Pulled his lightsaber out of his belt before the fight with Count Dooku, and after the fight he Force Pulled back his staff into his tired hands.

Thanks for your attention, come back to CustomStarWars soon, we will continue soon with the second part of this article!

 written by: Norbert Rostas 2008.09.30.

 

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