It's Friday, so sit back and enjoy another blog post for 5 Fandom Friday! This week's topic was actually submitted by me, because there are just so many awesome neglected droids out there asking for our attention. In this blog post, we're going into space to look at my five favourite droids from the MMO Star Wars: the Old Republic (SWTOR). But if that's not your cup of tea: fear not, because I'll be sharing my five favourite non-SWTOR droids at the end in a bonus paragraph. Just make sure to only watch the videos if you've already played SWTOR or don't care about being spoiled.
(Source: xLetalis)
1) HK-55
This paragraph contains spoilers for chapter 1 to 8 of the Knights of the Fallen Empire expansion.
A list of favourite droids would of course not be complete with a specimen from the HK series! HK-55 is my absolute favourite from SWTOR. A guardian droid rather than an assassin droid, HK-55 fits Republic characters more than other models. Everyone remembers HK from the hilarious scene in the Zakuulan Swamp above. I was heartbroken when he was killed by Arcann. As I did qualify for the subscriber reward, I was able to recruit the reconstructed model, but it's just not the same. Note that earlier in SWTOR you can acquire HK-51, an earlier model of the series. Although he has quite the personality, he just doesn't hold up to HK-47 from the KOTOR games, in my opinion.
RE-M0 is the well trusted droid of doctor Godera that you encounter during the jedi knight story on Taris. I love how Godera programmed him to refer to "Imp scum" and "Republic cowards" (Godera is strongly against the peace treaty, because he believes it just gives the Empire more time to build weapons). Like HK-55, RE-M0 sacrifices himself so the player will succeed and save his master, but luckily he does have an intact memory core that can be used to rebuild him. I was delighted to learn that there is a new warbot droid companion available that uses the skin of RE-M0. It was going for an affordable price on the galactic trade network (three million credits), so now I can walk around with my own RE-M0 on all my characters. Take that, Imp scum!
Do you have any favourites? N.B.: the comment section is open to spoilers!
5 Fandom Friday is a weekly event organized by the Female Geek Bloggers group on Google+. You can look up past and upcoming topics on The Nerdy Girlie.
(Source: Retale - RE-M0 starts at 3:04)
2) RE-M0
This paragraph contains spoilers for the jedi knight storyline on Taris.RE-M0 is the well trusted droid of doctor Godera that you encounter during the jedi knight story on Taris. I love how Godera programmed him to refer to "Imp scum" and "Republic cowards" (Godera is strongly against the peace treaty, because he believes it just gives the Empire more time to build weapons). Like HK-55, RE-M0 sacrifices himself so the player will succeed and save his master, but luckily he does have an intact memory core that can be used to rebuild him. I was delighted to learn that there is a new warbot droid companion available that uses the skin of RE-M0. It was going for an affordable price on the galactic trade network (three million credits), so now I can walk around with my own RE-M0 on all my characters. Take that, Imp scum!
(Source: SupaHsuB - not my raid group)
3) Master & Blaster
The third boss encounter of the Ravagers raid on Rishi (Shadow of Revan expansion) features a twin droid fight: Master and Blaster. Blaster is a huge droid, and if you progress far enough into the fight he'll call out: "Ohhhh, you've done it now! Here comes the Master!" - after which a tiny astromech that hits like hell called Master drops down. If you wipe early on, Blaster taunts you with "Didn't even need the bo-oss!" Their voices are so well done that it's a pleasure to listen to (unfortunately, they are very soft in the video). I've died over and over for weeks at this spot when doing hardmode (now called veteran mode) progression raiding, and they still crack me up.4) T7
T7 is SWTOR's version of R2-D2: a cute little astromech droid that follows the jedi knight player around whilst making the typical bleeping noises. A fun characteristic is that T7 talks in mathematical equations to you. It's always enthusiastic sentences such as "T7 + jedi knight = unbeatable!" that makes you smile.
(Source: RatedFluffy)
5) 2V-R8, Imperial ship droid
Every Imperial player gets a ship with it's own protocol droid that looks after your ship, 2V-R8. This little bugger is programmed to be in constant fear of its master and will drop gems like "Seeing you aboard this ships always warms my circuits, master - it reminds me I'm still functioning." During the Knights of the Fallen Empire expansion (slight spoiler incoming), during which the player will lose all their companions, players will overhear 2V-R8 complain about his horrible previous master (you, if you're an Imperial) to C2-N2 (the Republic ship droid) before being reunited. This always cracks me up.*) Bonus: non-SWTOR droids
But that's not all! Of course there are also many awesome droids outside of the Star Wars: the Old Republic MMO. My number one favourite droid would be Data from Star Trek. Okay, it's an android, but let's not talk semantics. Data is at the center of some of the best Star Trek episodes of all time, and uplifts The Next Generation series as a whole. A typical Data episode holds a mirror to humanity and raises philosophical questions. (For instance The measure of a man. If you haven't seen that episode, seriously, go watch it.) It also makes you smile, because nobody can resist this lovable being. Another awesome droid is Wall-E from the ditto named movie. If you haven't seen it yet, this is another I would definitely recommend - but for other reasons. Wall-E is designed for sorting trash, but he is capable of so much more! If I need cheering up, I'll rewatch Wall-E. All my other favourite droids are from the Star Wars universe: there are just so many good ones! K3S-O from Rogue One was an unexpected hit for me. Being an ex-Imperial droid, K3S-O looks scary, but he is the best. Without going into details in case someone here hasn't seen the movie yet, K3S-O provided for one of the most heartbreaking scenes. Then there's the golden couple C3PO and R2-D2 - I'm counting them as one, because what would they do without each other?! Finally, BB-8 from The Force Awakens gets the cuteness award. And the handiness award for carrying around a portable built in lighter.Do you have any favourites? N.B.: the comment section is open to spoilers!
5 Fandom Friday is a weekly event organized by the Female Geek Bloggers group on Google+. You can look up past and upcoming topics on The Nerdy Girlie.
No love for M1-4X? He's so hilariously over the top. Just load up a trooper and click on him, and you'll get comedy gold like:
ReplyDelete"As usual, we are left with no alternative than COMPLETE VICTORY!"
"I don't need to talk to you about anything right now, sir!"
Sure, he's not very deep, but he's very entertaining.
Haha, I do love that overly optimistic, patriotic chatterbox. If there were more than five slots he'd definitely be up there!
DeleteI believe Blaster's quote goes: "Here comes the boss!" Since the little droid's designation is BO-55... and I have to admit that while that is funny, they wouldn't rank on a favourite droids list of mine. I find them a bit too over the top to really hit the spot for me.
ReplyDeleteLike the Nickster above, my own #1 would undoubtedly be M1-4X! Hm, wonder if I can think of another 4...
Oh, you're totally right! I forgot about that fun fact. Not sure how, seeing as I've been doing the encounters for two evenings a week for more than a month. I guess, at the end my attention went to making it to the electrified fence in time to save repair costs. I will update it in the blog post.
DeleteEven though it took us such a long time to take the pair down, I do really enjoy that fight. It is so well designed! Apart from the droid's temperaments (I do realise you don't get to really know them, since they're just a boss encounter) that's what made me put them on this list. :)
I do share your love for M1-4X (even if he's not on top for me). Surely you can come up with four other droids, though?
Since the definition of droid seems to be pretty flexible I guess I will add my favorites. I will be following the bonus route though since I don't play SWTOR.
ReplyDeleteMy first pick would be Nick Valentine from Fallout 4. Although this may be cheating since his personality and memories came from an actual human instead of being programmed.
From the same game but from the Automatron DLC there is Jezebel. Her completely consdencending attitude towards humans is always funny.
From Fallout: New Vegas there is ED-E, an eyebot we can get as a companion. I like how he plays music when combat starts. He also plays an important role in one of the DLCs.
Also from Fallout: New Vegas there is Victor the securitron who saves you right at the beginning of the game and acts like a cowboy. Yes Man is another securitron from the same game that is pretty hilarious. He is so enthusiastic about everything. :)
Lastly, but not least, there is Legion from the Mass Effect series. I like how when you first meet him you can see he is starting to act more like an organic even though he doesn't realize it or understand why he did so.
Only when I had already finished the blog post, I thought of Legion! I'm a huge Legion fan: I'm just so impressed with what they did with that character. But you know this, probably. I dedicated a whole blog post to it on Ravalation back when I was playing through Mass Effect for the first time.
DeleteOf course, all the other droids you mention I'm unaware of, so I'm left feeling a complete gamer noob. Indeed, it's just a very select range of game types that I enjoy playing, so I guess I'll have to live with it. It's not like I need to prove anything anyway. :)
I figured that was the case. Legion is definitely the best character in Mass Effect 2. A shame we can spend so little time with him.
DeleteIf it makes you feel any better that is how I felt when reading your post. The only one I vaguely recognize was HK-55 because of HK-47 from the Knights of the Old Republic game. And I also tend to be pretty selective when it comes to the games I play. After all they can be quite costly in terms of money, time and energy.
I know, sorry! I figured some people would read it that weren't familiar with the droids, so that's why I added the videos rather than just images. Now you can actually see them move and hear them talking / making bleeping noises. So people would get an impression without having to play the game. :)
DeleteHK-55 is different from the earlier models (both in KOTOR and the one in SWTOR) in that he is not dark side aligned. He isn't an assassination model but a guard model, and because of that he fits my main character(s) better. Unlike in KOTOR, you can't see the alignment of companions in SWTOR, but if you could, I'm pretty sure HK-55 would be neutral rather than dark side aligned.
No need to apologize. I know full well that one of the focus of your blog is SWTOR and any accomodation you do in these posts for non-SWTOR players is a bonus. Good idea with the videos though. :)
DeleteHm. That is interesting. I guess it also makes sense. If I recall correctly HK-47 was modified to suit Revan's needs and sense of humor. So I guess it makes sense that later models would fulfill a different role, with a different personality.
In SWTOR my favourites are T7 who I use on not just my Jedi Knights, but a few other characters. I love those equation expressions and his plotline about old masters.
ReplyDeleteBut M1-4X gets the best lines and he's a fun companion - even when he stand on the furniture. [Favs are still Blizz and Ranos though - but not droids.)
Non SWTOR I'd agree with Data and absolutely I love Wall-E. But what about Huey and Dewey from the cult sf film Silent Running with Bruce Dern, they are characters.
I agree, the equations are a great find! I also like what you said about the old masters' plotline. It explores that droids have the potential to outlive their masters. Just like many material things do in our offline non-Star Warsy world, which is why they can carry special meaning (here the archaeologist in me wakes up) - only those aren't sentient, of course. HK from KOTOR must've been an inspiration for this. In my opinion those developers did an even better job. HK always kept the horrible endings of his previous masters a bit vague, so you started to wonder if he had anything to do with it.
DeleteI haven't seen Silent Running, nor had I heard of it up until this point. I looked it up and it sounds intriguing (especially being an amateur botanist)! I'm not sure if I'll watch it, though. Thrillers make me feel awful, and those murders sound as if it can be a movie that could trigger my anxiety.
I have to agree on T7 and HK-55 they were both good. I also loved M1-4X because he was written rather amusingly (plus trooper was my favorite).
ReplyDeleteWall-E, there's a movie I forgot about but enjoyed. Should put it on my wishlist.
Since I am really talented at forgetting plot lines, I should probably rewatch Wall-E one of these days. It's such a nice movie when you're ill or otherwise physically drained. I first have to watch a bunch of Disney movies that I missed as a child, but then Wall-E is up for sure!
DeleteMy memory of Silent Running was that it was sad but also kind of positive and feel good. The murders are not a big scary element as far as I recall.
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me know. I'll put it on my to watch list then. :)
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