SWTOR EUROPE

Mirtos finds Imperial Agent  news ... from darth hater site

thanks finding that :D

Literally a week after fans of Star Wars: The Old Republic received big news with the Jedi Knight reveal, we got another exciting newsbit 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 longway 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 newsbit 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!