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Imperial Agent - Next class reveal?

As many or all of you have seen, the most recent timeline from the SWTOR community fansite went into detail about the Sith Empire's intelligence agents, and their role in the Mandalorian attacks. The intelligence agents are described as "Just as deadly as their Sith superiors", and their efforts lead to the creation of a new Mandalore. This manipulated Mandalore became a puppet of the Sith Empire. The video highlights the influence and power of these agents. The previous timeline video "The Mandalorian blockade is broken" followed a similar pattern. The Smuggler class was revealed around 2 weeks after it came out, and the video itself showed the importance of smugglers to the Republic's survival.

The key question here is: Is this another class hint? I would say yes. Firstly, the Imperial Agent type of class fills a clear role in the Sith side. The two revealed sith classes, Sith Warrior and Bounty hunter have clear counterparts on the Republic side (Trooper and "Jedi"), as they both fill the same role (Heavy ranged damage and Melee fighting). This leaves the smuggler as the "odd one out" of the current class pairings. The smuggler's cover system, dirty tricks, and general subterfuge need a counterpart. This is where the Imperial Agent comes in. I foresee this class as a much darker version of the Smuggler. Where the smuggler uses comical moves, including the infamous "kick", the Agent could use even dirtier tricks. I could see poisoned weapons, a sonic stunner (a miniaturized pistol capable of causing excruciating pain), and aimed shots to disable and kill enemies.



The Sith Spy also brings a unique story to the table. Each story created so far fills an iconic story or role. The Trooper fills the "war movie" role, the Bounty Hunter fills the "Mercenary" story, the Sith Warrior fills the "Dark Jedi" story, and the Smuggler fills the "Romantic war comedy". The Sith Spy's story would be a dark tale of intrigue, treachery, undercover missions, and fills the "James Bond" fantasy. I could see a variety of plot lines opening up, including infiltrating the Empire's ranks in order to root out traitors, or assassinating a Republic Senator. Bioware is attempting to create (To quote Sean Dahlberg) "8 unique classes" in terms of story as well as gameplay.

The final case for the Sith Spy comes from screenshots from the game and from the cinematic trailer. This screenshot (Credit to Alkarin for digging this one up) could easily show the spy. Note the similarity in outfit to the Twi-lek from the trailer, the use of cover, and the completely different look from the smuggler. All in all, I think the case for this class is closed. The evidence is stacked to the point where I can't see another alternative.

Comments

  • Menok's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #13 Menok Posted 9/7/2009 12:21:44 AM
    I think they've been talking too much about the Mandalorians not to have them important in the game, be it a class, sub faction or some sort of NPC "guild"
  • celtickender's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #12 celtickender Posted 9/6/2009 5:41:54 AM
    This is certainly the obvious conclusion, it's just like the smuggler video "they do this and this and this" the focus is so intently on the imperial agents that its the obvious next step. Anyone else notice how they are associating all the key "evil" words with the Sith now? Imperial, Empire, Emperor, I know these are all derivative of the same government, but it sure sounds like they are leaning really hard on the "Empire" angle more then the "Sith" to catch the classic Star Wars fans.
  • Dan Loto's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #8 Dan Loto Posted 9/5/2009 9:03:11 PM
    I agree that the Imperial Agent is a likely class but I disagree with the a lot of the evidence this article provided. I think that the woman in the "it takes skill to avoid detection by the Jedi" screen shot and the Twi'lek in the trailer were smugglers. In another interview it was confirmed that smugglers will have the option of fighting against the Jedi.
  • bjbrains's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #9 bjbrains Posted 9/5/2009 9:38:51 PM
    That's simply not true. The smuggler is a Republic class, and the developers have said that they don't have any plans to allow faction switching.
  • Dan Loto's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #11 Dan Loto Posted 9/5/2009 11:06:43 PM
    You are both correct and incorrect. It was confirmed in this interview : http://darthhater.com/2009/07/24/comic-con-panel-swtor-behind-the-scenes-panel/

    If you don't have time to listen to the entire thing here's the quote: "They certainly are a unique class as they don’t get orders from on high – they will fight the Sith, the bounty hunters, and even the Jedi should they so choose. "

    It wouldn't be faction switching since the Jedi =/= the Republic.
  • eria's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #7 eria Posted 9/5/2009 5:18:12 PM
    I think this will be the next class for sure. I always viewed it more of the "emporor's hand" type class, using someone like Mara Jade as the iconic character to draw from. I wonder however if they might have limited force powers, like some of the "hands" in other novels and such, or if they will simply be more or less copies of the smuggler's in term of game play (using cover and such).
  • Hewo's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 312
    #6 Hewo Posted 9/5/2009 4:55:35 PM
    Damn these conventions sound fun. They need to do one down south around Louisiana :(
    I agree with sado regarding the worst kept secret so far. If this isn't a class then speculating about anything else in the future would be futile.
  • Zoid's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 656
    #10 Zoid Posted 9/5/2009 9:51:02 PM
    I vote Atlanta, that way I head west, you go east, and sado goes north.
  • Ellos's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #14 Ellos Posted 9/7/2009 4:36:29 AM
    I second that as I live in middle GA
  • Chasted's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #4 Chasted Posted 9/5/2009 9:12:53 AM
    Well... With the more recent mention of Mandalorians a lot of people also thought that class will be announced soon XD

    Well, let us see what happens, aye?
  • Sedit's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 130
    #3 Sedit Posted 9/5/2009 6:38:04 AM
    Wow, very good write-up. I speculated the very same thing when DH first dissected the Vid Doc #3. There are tons of places within the flashpoint for a cover system, but since at the time the Sith had no cover using class, everyone thought it was for the smuggler. It's a pretty good bet now that it's for a spy, agent, or maybe even an assassin empire class.
  • Ellos's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #1 Ellos Posted 9/5/2009 5:33:25 AM
    No doubt about it
  • Feo's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #5 Feo Posted 9/5/2009 4:43:44 PM
    Agreed.
  • sado's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 1623
    #2 sado Posted 9/5/2009 5:55:54 AM
    At this point it's probably the worst kept secret yet in TOR.
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