Star Wars: The Old Republic reveals Imperial Agent its newest class

by Rubi Bayer Nov 6th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Classes, New titles, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

We've got Trooper, Smuggler, Jedi Knight, Bounty Hunter, Sith Warrior, and now Imperial Agent. BioWare revealed the sixth class for Star Wars: The Old Republic today on their forums. This news comes as absolutely no surprise to those who attended the EA Press Tour earlier this week -- they enjoyed advance information from producer Blaine Christine.

Imperial Agents are a rogue class of sorts, doing their work for the Empire with high-tech tools to help them infiltrate the republic and assassinate enemies of the Sith Empire. The announcement from Sean Dahlberg says that Imperial Agents are "heavily inspired by several classic Star Wars characters such as Zam Wessel and Grand Moff Tarkin. [...] Players who choose to be Imperial Agents in The Old Republic (TOR) will see the underbelly of the Empire in a whole new light."

The Holonet will be updated next week with the Imperial Agent, but the class already has its own forum on the official site and discussion is going strong.

Tags: bioware, classes, imperial-agent, lucasarts, star-wars-the-old-republic, swtor

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Grey said on 12:15PM 11-06-2009

I ain't playing an Imperial Agent if he has to look like Tony Dungee

LaughingTarget said on 2:52PM 11-06-2009

Fine, your loss. I'll play and take the Wily Wookies to the galactic Super Bowl and win.

snowleopard233 said on 12:25PM 11-06-2009

Zam Wessel and Grand Moff Tarkin?

You mean the chick that got killed two minutes in Episode II and the old guy that got the Death Star blown up in New Hope?

Yup, they’re um, pretty badass. Then again, someone’s probably made an entire book series and set of comic books about these characters in an effort to squeeze the universe of its juices even further

torak said on 1:22PM 11-06-2009

lol, the "Grand Moff Tarkin"??? Yeah, whenever I see a new SW game hit the shelves I'm always eager to play a character just like him! He is like the first guy to pop to mind when I think of SW.
I always seem to be disappoint though and I can't figure out why no one ever gives this character the love he so obviously deserves.

I hope they have a bit more "inspiration" to work from then that.

Zink said on 1:33PM 11-06-2009

LMAO@ 1...he does look like him

THAC0 said on 1:46PM 11-06-2009

Zam Wessel and Grand Moff Tarkin?! LOL

Zam dies right away and i have no clue who the other guy is. I guess by agent they mean bounty hunter? I'd be much more impressed if they used Bossk, IG-88 or Zuckuss for an inspiration.

Lateris said on 1:55PM 11-06-2009

Yes! Bounty Hunter and this class are what I have been really interested in.

Jimbo said on 2:08PM 11-06-2009

"Grand Moff Tarkin... I thought I smelled your foul stench when I was brought on board." -Princess Leia.

I wonder if this class will get some awesome scent based attacks. Seriously, Grand Moff Tarkin? He was not an AGENT he was a bureaucrat.

mpdivo said on 2:40PM 11-06-2009

I'm not big in SW lore but it seemed like Grand Moff Tarkin was a mix of military and bureacratic. He was a Grand Moff but he still held his military rank which seemed common under the empire.

My guess is that he rose through the ranks through the services intelligence division, modeled more on the SS than any of the current services intelligence warfare areas. His younger days are unclear and undocumented.

If playing this class will let me rise to the rank of Grand Moff, I think this is the class I'm going to play. I much rather be a Grand Moff than a Jedi...remember, it wasn't a Jedi that brought down the Death Star, but a flawed engineering plan and a lack of Operational Risk Assessment (ORM). : )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfDEyLbUSxo

RogueJedi86 said on 4:32PM 11-06-2009

Agent should get scent attacks only if Jedi get elevation-based attacks like Obi-Wan. Notice in every fight Obi-Wan fought in the prequels(and subsequently won), he was on uneven ground. Obi vs. Maul? Obi was in a pit, lower elevation, he won. Obi vs. Jango? A stalemate, but only because his uneven ground clashed with Jango's being a Fett. Dooku? Even ground, Obi lost. Grevious? Hanging off the edge of a hangar's rim, lower elevation, Obi won. Obi vs. Anakin? The titular "I have the high ground!" fight, Obi on a slightly higher hill, Obi won. If Obi-Wan had been the one to fight Palpatine, he would've won easily. All he had to do was jump on Palpatine's desk, instant high ground, he wins. Or he gets in the Senate Chamber, lots of uneven terrain, Obi-Wan wins by default. It's just like a Law of Physics in Star Wars.

So if we go by the movies, Jedi should have attacks based on vertical orientation in relation to their foes. :)

kabshiel said on 1:00PM 11-08-2009

You've never been to the DMV? Bureaucrats can be brutal.

RogueJedi86 said on 4:39PM 11-06-2009

I think BW's analogy is that Agents are like self-serving politicians rising through the ranks. They start as lowly assassins(like Zam Wessel) trying to prove themselves, but as they do more jobs, their status in the Sith Empire rises, with them eventually rising to a status like a Grand Moff(like Tarkin), whilst still going out to kill people. In that regard, it sounds intriguing, especially with the potential for their class storyline. While the Sith Warriors rise through the Sith ranks to challenge the Empire, the Agents work the political, non-mystical side, rising to the top without fancy powers or swords.

Evalia Magic said on 5:08PM 11-06-2009

Wookiepedia is your friend, too:

As the Republic transitioned into the Galactic Empire, Tarkin rose in prominence through his connections to Palpatine. He was in command of the invasion of Kashyyyk and the occupation of Mon Calamari. In 18 BBY, a group of citizens stood on a landing platform directly underneath his transport, protesting the Imperial taxation on Ghorman. Tarkin ordered his ship to land regardless, crushing hundreds to death. The event marked the first of many acts of cold blooded mass murder at the hands of Tarkin.
This incident was labeled the Ghorman Massacre by Rebels. This action led to Palpatine giving him the rank of Admiral. This marked the early formation of his "Tarkin Doctrine" of suppressing dissent through state terrorism. Tarkin himself often told Palpatine that he should "rule through the fear of force rather than through force itself." He also had a unique relationship with Darth Vader, who trusted Tarkin's judgment to the point of sparing Admiral Conan Antonio Motti's life after Motti had openly defied Vader.
Sometime during the era, he committed the Atravis Sector Massacres.

Nev said on 3:31PM 11-07-2009

I SO want this game to succeed... but I cannot see the masses wanting to roll anything other than Jedi Knight or Sith Warrior, and Bioware just hasn't made any of the classes as epic. You've got the Lightsaber mythos... vs. cannon-fodder Troopers or a throwaway expanded universe creation.

fatpanda said on 4:35AM 11-08-2009

unless people actually read what Evalia Magic just posted above you...Grand Moff Tarkin is f'ing BRUTAL. I'd play this class.
Lots of people would rather play as smuggler or bounty hunter. I think there will be a pretty decent balance.

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