Kyle Katarn,
Combat Instructor
Jedi Academy
#29/40
Date Reviewed: August 5, 2009
Ratings:
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale 1 being the
worst.
3 ... average. 5 is the highest rating.
100 pt: 2.50
200 pt: 2.50
Killer_Nacho
Kyle Katarn,
Combat Instructor - 46 points
Faction: New Republic
HP: 140
Defense: 19
Attack: 13
Damage: 20
Abilities: Unique, Melee Attack, Double Attack,
Disruptive, Lightsaber Duelist
Force 2, Force Renewal 1, Lightsaber Block,
Lightsaber Riposte, Master of the Force 2
Commander Effect:
Allies within 6 squares gain Lightsaber Duelist.
Today we take a look at the new Kyle Katarn from
Jedi Acadamy. It seems they decided to make him a
bit different from Jedi Battlemaster, who was pretty
self-sufficient. This Kyle is more of a team-player
which can be an absolute pain when used against
melee pieces.
First of all, the stats are decent but a little low
what you would expect for 46 points. The 140
hitpoints is good but the 19 defense and 13 attack
are a bit low for what you would expect at this
level. Kyle does have quite a few abilities that
will make his life easier, though. First of all,
this Kyle has Disruptive, an ability that negates
enemy commander effects. Disruptive may be one of
the most underrated abilities in the game, as it can
single handedly turn the tide of the game in your
favor.
Aside from that, this Kyle seems to be built to
counter other Jedi. With an awesome combination of
Lightsaber Duelist, Lightsaber Block, Lightsaber
Riposte, and Master of the Force 2, this piece can
be an absolute pain for any Jedi. Lightsaber Duelist
raises his defense to a much improved 23 while
Lightsaber Block and Riposte will give you a chance
to block and counter against any hit. You can even
combine him with the new Leia Skywalker, Jedi Knight
to re-roll his Lightsaber Block saves. Unfortanutely,
this still doesn't account for his inability to take
nonmelee hits. He can be an absolute pain for melee
units, but against shooters he will go down quickly.
His commander effect is somewhat of a double-edged
sword. On the one hand, Lightsaber Duelist can be a
useful thing to pass to allies within 6 squares.
Once again, against a Jedi-heavy squad, this can be
a very useful commander effect. However, against the
more common (in this current format) shooters, this
is still pretty useless. Not to mention the fact
that he is a commander denies him access to General
Wedge, which denies him the Evade he so desperately
needs to survive against nonmelee threats. Still, he
can be used in combination with Wedge to give all
followers Lightsaber Duelist as well as Evade, which
could be useful in itself, but still... I would
almost have rathered him not to have this commander
effect.
The piece isn't bad. The problem is that we already
have a better Kyle Katarn for most situations, his
Jedi Battlemaster version. For just 8 more points,
he gets slightly higher stats, an extra attack,
Gernades 40, and a larger array of good offensive
force powers. Oh yeah, and did I mention that Jedi
Battlemaster is a follower and therefore gets access
to Evade and Mobile Attack? This Kyle can be good,
but he will have trouble outshining his other self.
The only reason you would run this Kyle over the old
one is for the Commander Effect, which is iffy at
best.
100 points: 1.5/5, A 46 point commander that is
outdone by another version of himself... there is no
reason to use this version over Jedi Battlemaster in
this format.
200 points: 2/5, He may be able to see some use here
but I still don't like him.
I really like
this version of Kyle Katarn and it’s a really good
reflection of the version you see in the video game
Jedi Academy. Kyle is supposed to be the New
Jedi Order’s combat specialist. As such, he comes
equipped with Lightsaber Duelist. Being able
to teach that ability is reflected in his commander
effect which gives Lightsaber Duelist to
characters within six squares of him. Throw in a few
Mouse Droids and suddenly your New Republic Jedi
squads have some pretty big teeth and pretty big
defense numbers if you happen to be facing off
against another squad of Force users. However, Kyle
is not limited to just being an instructor. His
stats are pretty solid as Jedi go and thanks to
Disruptive, he can really help mess up your
opponent’s commander effects by stripping them from
characters within six squares of him.
His Force
powers reflect his impressive skills with a
lightsaber. With both Lightsaber Block and
Lightsaber Deflect, he can protect himself from
damage across the board and thanks to Master of
the Force 2, he can protect himself twice per
round. Not only can he Block attacks, he also
has the option to use Lightsaber Riposte to
dish back damage. Conceivably, he can do 60 points
of damage (two hits from a Double Attack and
another one from a Lightsaber Block and
Lightsaber Riposte combo—as much as 80 if you
decide not to block any melee attacks coming in at
him) in a turn, which is pretty impressive. Add in
his Force Renewal 1 to keep him flush with
Force points and Kyle is a pretty solid
figure.
However, he
does have a couple weaknesses. His defense score of
19 isn’t that wonderful, though is on par with other
versions of Kyle (one point higher than the original
from Universe and one lower than Jedi
Battlemaster out of Legacy) but unlike the
other defense-weak Kyle, he doesn’t have Stealth
to protect him. Though he does have the ability to
ward off damage thanks to his Lightsaber Block
and Lightsaber Deflect, it’s still a pretty
big drawback and you’ll have to place Kyle carefully
if you want him to last long.
100 POINTS: Here, he’s
honestly not that bad a fit. In a format that is
generally dominated by Force-using beat sticks (save
a few notable exceptions) giving a squad access to
Lightsaber Duelist via Kyle’s commander
effect could be pretty strong. Though the New
Republic does lack a very strong beat stick, the
combination of Kyle and Shado Vao could be pretty
nasty and give the New Republic some presence at the
100 point level. SCORE: 3.5
200 POINTS: Kyle will
become a little less effective as a commander here
since there are more people that can reap his
benefits, however, with the growth in number of
Disruptive pieces out there, Kyle is going to
have to be careful that he doesn’t get jammed
up by those pieces as well. His damage output is
pretty solid compared to other New Republic pieces,
however since the big squads at the 200 point level
aren’t all Force-using beat stick based, his
Lightsaber Duelist commander effect may not
wind up coming in to play as much at this level.
He’s still a solid piece, but he won’t be used to
his fullest at this level because of this. SCORE: 3
