How to Create Obi-Wan Kenobi in SWTOR: Full Build Guide

This SWTOR Obi-Wan Kenobi Build Guide is designed to be as faithful to the lore and authentic as possible within the constraints of the game. You’ll find everything you need to know in order to create a toon in SWTOR and play like Obi-Wan Kenobi, from the physical appearance and outfit to abilities and gear recommendations.

Note: This build is not optimal for endgame content and should only be used when playing alone or role-playing with friends. It is beginner-friendly and does not require you to be at level cap to play it.

Physical Appearance

ObI-Wan Kenobi is a human male with an average build that has light brown hair, a full beard, defined eyebrows, and light-blue eyes. Here are the physical appearance parameters I recommend using for Obi-Wan Kenobi as he appears in Revenge of the Sith and the Clone Wars TV show:

SWTOR Obi-Wan Kenobi Build - character appearance

Sex: Male
Species: Human
Body Type: 2
Head: 4
Scars: 1
Complexion: 40
Eye Color: 1
Beards: 29
Hair: 11 (or 10 in character creator)
Hair Color: 3
Skin Color: 16

SWTOR Obi-Wan Kenobi Build - howto make your character look like the hero

If you are creating a new character, this is done during the creation process. You can use the Appearance Design Tool on the Fleet to alter the appearance of an existing character, but this will cost you Cartel Coins each time you do it.

Outfit and Weapon

I recommend the Steadfast Master’s Robes and Blademaster’s Attenuated Lightsaber, both of which can be purchased from the Cartel Market or GTN (from someone else who purchased it from the Cartel Market).

SWTOR Obi-Wan Kenobi Build - what saber to pick

SWTOR Obi-Wan Kenobi Build - what outfit to pick

SWTOR Obi-Wan Kenobi Build - Outfit Front

SWTOR Obi-Wan Kenobi Build - Outfit Left

SWTOR Obi-Wan Kenobi Build - Outfit Right

SWTOR Obi-Wan Kenobi Build - Outfit Back

Story, Combat Style, and Gearing Choices

This section will focus on key choices you’ll have to make in order to end up with a playstyle and story that fits Obi-Wan Kenobi’s character.

Origin Story

Obi-Wan was a Jedi Knight, though I think the later Acts in the Jedi Consular storyline match his character better since they are focused primarily on diplomacy rather than warfare.

SWTOR Obi-Wan Kenobi Build - Outfit Front with a Lightsaber

I leave the decision to you. If you are a new player and have not experienced either of the storylines, you may be interested to know that the Jedi Knight is hinted to be the “canon” story. This is pure speculation, stemming from the fact that BioWare usually always features a Jedi Knight character in the lead role in nearly all of their teaser trailers.

Combat Style, Discipline, and Ability Tree Choices

Obi-Wan typically uses a single lightsaber in combat and is a master of Form III, Soresu. He is renowned for his defensive prowess, so Defense Guardian is the clear discipline choice.

Build Essentials:
Cyclone Slash
Unyielding Justice
Saber Reflect

Defense Guardian is a tank discipline that utilizes Soresu Form. The choices I recommend focus on directly improving your survivability and empowering or giving access to notable abilities Obi-Wan would use. It will take longer to defeat enemies as a tank discipline, though you’ll survive longer.

In order to compensate for lower damage output, consider setting your companion to DPS or using “Skank Tank” gear instead of Mitigation Tank gear.

Legendary Implants and Tactical Item

Since Obi-Wan Kenobi is known for his defensive prowess, I recommend using tank implants and a tactical item that boosts your survivability. You gain access to legendary implants at level 80 and tactical items at level 75.

Retaliator Package

The Retaliator Package removes the cooldown on Riposte, enabling you to use it after dodging an attack a lot more often instead of mostly after Guardian Slash, making Riposte to a proper counter-attack. It comes with tank stats.

Force Resistance Package

The Force Resistance Package slightly increases your damage reduction at all times and comes with tank stats. Make sure to get the dark blue one because the light blue version doesn’t work for Guardians.

Grit Teeth

The Grit Teeth tactical lowers the cooldown on Saber Ward when you take damage, increasing the overall uptime. It can only be crafted by Biochem and you can purchase the schematic from Kai Zykken in the supplies section of the fleet if you have that crafting skill or buy it from someone else on the GTN.

For more information on gearing, check out my guide on Which Mods to Buy from Hyde and Zeek. For an Obi-Wan build, I recommend gearing like a Mitigation Tank, which is focused on increasing stats that boost damage mitigation, like Shield Rating, Absorb Rating, Defense Chance, and Endurance.

Key Abilities

In this section, I’ll be going over specific Defense Guardian abilities that match Obi-Wan Kenobi’s fighting style, including lightsaber swings, Force attacks, and defensive maneuvers. To be clear, this is not a complete list of all Defense Guardian abilities, I am only shining a spotlight on the ones that are quintessentially Kenobi.

Offensive Abilities

These are attacks that deal damage to one or more enemies. Typically, they cannot be used at the same time as one another. Some of them cost Focus, which is the Guardian’s class resource and most of them have short cooldowns that prevent them from being spammed.

Warding Strike

Unlocked at level 15
Warding Strike is a lightsaber swing that deals a moderate amount of damage to a single enemy, generates 6 Focus, and grants buffs that increase your damage reduction and improve the effectiveness of your shield generator.

Guardian Slash

Unlocked at level 35
Guardian Slash is another lightsaber swing. It’s your most powerful attack and deals damage to other nearby enemies if you’ve used Warding Strike recently. It also knocks down any normal enemies you manage to hit with it.

Force Push

Unlocked at level 43
Obi-Wan’s signature force ability is Force Push and thankfully, Guardians have access to such an ability. Sadly, it isn’t quite as powerful as what he uses on the big screen, but you’ll still be able to yeet enemies across the battlefield and deal a moderate amount of damage in the process.

Riposte

Unlocked at level 4
Riposte can only be activated if you recently used Guardian Slash, dodged an attack completely, or one of your attacks missed. Riposte also slightly increases your defense chance (meaning it will be more likely for you to dodge future attacks and be able to use Riposte again). In addition, Riposte can be activated at the same time as your other attacks, so make sure to use it as soon as it becomes available.

Slash

Unlocked at level 1
This is a basic lightsaber swing that deals moderate damage to a single enemy and has no cooldown, but costs 2 Focus per activation. It is weaker than the attacks I’ve mentioned already, but if you have spare Focus, this is a great option to use while you’re waiting for a stronger attack to become available.

Cyclone Slash

Obtainable at level 27
Cyclone Slash is extremely similar to Slash. The only differences are that it can hit multiple targets, but doesn’t deal quite as much damage as Slash, so only use it instead of Slash if you can hit multiple enemies.

Strike

Unlocked at level 1
Strike is your most basic lightsaber swing. It deals a small amount of damage to a single enemy and has no cooldown. In lieu of dealing more damage, it generates 2 Focus instead of costing any, so you are always able to use it assuming you’re in range.

Force Leap and Guardian Leap

Unlocked at levels 1 and 39 respectively
Obi-Wan is known for making dramatic entrances, like leaping down from above and issuing a polite greeting to his adversary, or jumping away to a higher elevation to give himself an advantage. Force Leap allows you to jump directly to your target from far away while dealing a little bit of damage and generating a few Focus. Guardian Leap allows you to jump directly to a targeted ally, like a companion, group member, or friendly NPC while reducing the damage they take for a short time.

Defensive Abilities

All of these abilities can be activated at the same time as other attacks and offer some sort of temporary boost to your survivability. Their cooldowns are significantly longer than that of most attacks.

Force Kick

Unlocked at level 19
Obi-Wan often uses fancy kicks alongside his lightsaber swings and force attacks to disrupt his opponent. Force Kick doesn’t deal any damage, but interrupts the target’s current cast and prevents it from being used again for a short time. It can be used at the same time as your other abilities, so be sure to use Force Kick if you see your opponent casting something. Longer casts tend to be more dangerous, especially if the ability has a foreboding name.

Saber Reflect

Obtainable at level 68
Saber Reflect causes you to use your lightsaber to reflect all incoming non-melee damage back at your attackers for a few seconds, just as Jedi like Obi-Wan did on the front lines in the Clone Wars. It’s great if you bite off a bit more than you can chew if you accidentally attract the attention of too many enemies or to redirect a singular powerful attack that you might otherwise want to interrupt with Force Kick.

Saber Ward

Unlocked at level 15
Saber Ward is similar to Saber Reflect in that you’re using your lightsaber to defend yourself. However, unlike Saber Reflect, Saber Ward works against all types of damage and lasts over twice as long, though it works differently for different types of attacks. For weapon attacks, it significantly increases your chance to dodge them completely (enabling Riposte), but for other attacks, it absorbs part of the damage you take.

Focused Defense

Unlocked at level 56
Focused Defense heals you when you are attacked, but it can’t be activated while you have high health. It’s great for mounting a comeback against formidable adversaries just as Obi-Wan did when he managed to fend off both Maul and Savage on Florrum.

Enure

Unlocked at level 43
Enure grants temporary extra health and removes cleansable debuffs, it’s great for when you just need to last a little bit longer against a tough adversary. If your health is lower than the amount granted by this ability when the effect ends, you’ll survive with only a single point of HP left, so you better make sure you’re the only one left standing!

Warding Call

Unlocked at level 60
Warding Call is much simpler than your other defensive abilities, it just reduces all damage taken by a substantial amount for a brief period of time, so if you’re taking a lot of damage and not sure what ability to use, activate Warding Call.

If you want more information on how to play and gear this discipline optimally for group PvE content, like Flashpoints and Operations, check out Dongo’s 7.0 Defense Guardian PvE Guide.

This concludes the Obi-Wan Kenobi Build Guide. If you have recommendations for tweaks or slight variations in appearance or other abilities that might fit well, or if you have a favorite character you’d like to get a build for, leave a comment.

If you want to play as Obi-Wan’s best friend and Jedi brother, the Anakin Skywalker SWTOR Character Build Guide is at your disposal.

Physical Appearance

Outfit and Weapon